The Faerie Curses

Chapter Thirty-Six: Chased by Winter's Army

Keep...running. Don't...stop.

The cold, winter's air choked at my lungs as Glen and I veered left. Our boots skidded across the snow, and I swatted away dead branches from my face as I struggled to force my legs into a hard sprint.

Being chased as your heart is slowly being consumed in darkness proved to be more than a small workout.

Glen glanced back at me as I fought for breath, his eyes crinkling with concern.

"I'm...fine," I gasped stubbornly. "Quit slowing down for me."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

The question was so abruptly asked that it made me wince.

"Glen, is now really the time?" I exclaimed, eyeing the wolves that were yapping and snarling at our heels. In response, Glen stared back at me defiantly.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He repeated. "Why didn't you tell me that you were dying all this time?"

His face was a collage of broken emotions that were shattered and raw as his eyes never left mine.

"Because," I answered softly as we darted past a thick oak tree. "I didn't want you to look at me the way you are now." His expression was fractured with hurt. "Like I'm some fragile piece of glass that's just going to break at any moment."

The knights were drawing closer, but their roars had faded in my ears, replaced by the pounding of my pulse.

"Is that what you think?"

I looked at Glen, startled. He was chuckling.

"Marissa, if you consider even for a moment that I'm just going to give up on you and do nothing but pity you, you've never been more wrong." He smiled down at me. "You're not fragile. You never have been. Not even now as I'm watching you fighting for your last breaths right in front of me. And that, partner, is what I love about you the most."

My boots slipped on a knarled tree root and I nearly face planted into the ground in my complete bewilderment. Glen had actually complimented me without insulting me.

It had to be a miracle.

As we continued to run, I listened to his words. They kept me going. They kept me from stopping entirely.

"I think that's what drew me to you the most, when I think about it." Glen continued with a laugh as we leaped over a fallen log. "All my life I had witnessed people treat me like a god, and suddenly I walk into the academies and see you mouthing off to me like I'm no better than anyone else. It made me furious, at first." He recalled with a fond grin. "I had honestly hoped that you'd get eaten by an ogre back in those days."

I snorted loudly. "You moron."

Glen returned my snort with one of agreement. "It's true. I had never met anyone quite as frightening and irritating as you in my entire life. You weren't afraid to beat the hell out of me, and eventually the hatred turned into admiration as our rivalry grew more and more." He smiled at the memories. "You and I had so much pride. I wanted to do anything in my power to make you feel small. I tried finding as many girls as I could with pretty faces and little voices, but they were all fake like pieces of plastic. I threw them away like they were nothing. They weren't real. Not after I had met you. They weren't as beautiful as you were to me."