A Witch's Apprentice | Xiaoven

Chapter 7

DragonSpine.

Home to all sorts of winter monsters who can withstand the cold. Great. Just my luck too. When things were finally going great-, and I thought nothing bad could happen, it happens.

Teleporting this humongous house into the chilly mountains of DragonSpine? Is there nothing this man can do? At this point, frankly, I'm not even surprised at what he can do anymore. He certainly does live up to his reputation as the most wanted witch in Mondstadt.

I peek out the doorway for a moment only to see nothing but heavy snow pouring down from the sky as Barbatos immediately shoved me back in.

"Don't step in too close, I haven't yet put up the barrier." He smiled down at me, gently nudging me towards the couch, and shutting the door shut.

"Why DragonSpine out of all places? It's chilly, and cold-" I started to say.

"And dangerous." Barbatos added to my sentence, humming to himself as he kneeled down onto the floor and stroked Dvalin's fur. "The knights refuse to even step an inch near place, so we'll be safe here for a while."

"How long will we be kept here?" I asked him, bending over to look at the ground where he sat down on.

"Just a few days perhaps, or a week if I really wanted them to stop tailing me." He shrugged, giving a small pat on the head to Dvalin before getting up and stretching. I got up, following him towards a window, and opened the curtains only to be presented with the same view from before with nothing but a blizzard to look at.

"Then why not a week? Or even a month hiding up here? Steering clear from the knights would make things easier for you." I say to him, yet it seemed like he was ignoring my words, I raised my voice slightly to be heard better. "Why do you choose to only stay a bare few days up here to hide when you could go for an entire month to stay away from the knights of Favonius?"

He stared blankly at the window before turning his glaze over to me, and looking down for our eyes to meet.
"I like the excitement of being chased. It's fun." He gave me a grin, ruffling my hair and messing it up, making my bangs look floppy.

"Mhm-.." I groaned, gently pushing his hand away.

"You already talk so grown up for your age," he said. It was a sudden remark he made, making me flinch. "If you were to tell me you were some grownup stuck in a child's body, I'd probably believe you."

"..ah-, don't say such things." I forced a crappy smile onto my face. My hands were shaking so badly that I had to fist them up to stop my quivering. "You know that isn't true."

"But what if it was, hm?" Barbatos bent down to face me, reaching for my hand, but I stepped back, nearly tripping over myself.

"What's with all these questions?! Is he suspicious of me already..??!" I panicked. "My mission can't end yet-, it's barely the end of the first month from my first starting day-!"

"W-what nonsense are you cooking up in that witchy brain of yours-?" I snapped at him, trying not to stutter, but messed up immediately. "I'm just..mature for my age. I was raised like this." I told him, staring him in the eyes. Sweat dripped down my face as I was a nervous wreck. Barbatos looked back at me with a silent stare.

He blinked, letting out a chuckle as it turned into laughter.
"Pff-, you're hilarious Xiao!" He laughed, wiping away a tear that rolled out of his eye. "You should know by now that I'm just joking with you. Your reaction is just about the second best part of today!"

I winced, slightly pissed at him, but then I let out a sigh of relief, slouching my back to let out a gasp of air. "Thank the gods it was just another one of his jokes..,"