Chapter 5: Rosephira

My eyes open, slowly, I regain consciousness, the sound of the fire is everything my ears can perceive, I was shirtless, all my gear lays beside me, including my clothes and cape, suddenly I get up, in the center of the cave a fire was burning illuminating the entire cave and heating it, the creature was not there. It probably had recovered and gone, goodbye to my plan I guess ... TO THE DEVIL !, I tried to stand up, however, because of my weakened muscle I fell to the ground, I have not eaten for at least a day, maybe even more so given my memory loss, I tried again to get up, this time clinging to the cave walls, hah… at least now I can stand now, staggering I started to advance towards the cave exit.

I have no intention of dying in here, as long as I have strength I will continue to advance even crawling if necessary, at least I will be able to die knowing that I have done everything possible.

I managed to approach the entrance, step by step, ledge after ledge, until * Slip * I lost my balance. On the ground again, a few steps from the exit, I have no strength left, I reached out my hands and tried to crawl, but I couldn't, the entrance is raised and it is too steep for me to climb in this state, it's over, despite all my attempts I can't do anything, I'm stuck, I look up towards the exit, the sun is rising, I closed my eyes. What a depressing life mine was, I will die without even knowing my own name, in a forest forgotten by the gods, who am I? What happened to me? Why am I here? to die like a dog of hardship, what did I do in my life before the accident to deserve this? tears started coming out of my eyes and I broke into a hysterical cry, all that work done for nothing, I could have stayed in that field where I woke up and nothing would have changed.

tap..... tap….. tap… tap...

Footsteps ?, FOOTSTEPS!?!, I could hear a very fast footsteps noise as if someone was running in my direction, my sadness quickly changed to fear, my heart started beating fast and I started shaking, the footsteps were too fast to belong to human beings, moreover this place is remote, there is no sign of civilization and if there had been a village nearby I would certainly have noticed it,

the footsteps became stronger and clearer but they started to slow down, it was getting closer, at least now I was able to identify the direction they were coming from, they were…. ON TOP OF ME!!....

I aimed my eyes straight at the exit of the cave, I could no longer do anything but look at whoever was the cause of the noise, the noise stopped above me ....

*BOOM!!*

something fell in front of me with such force that it catapulted me to the other side of the cave, the impact raised a fuss, for a few seconds I had trouble adjusting my vision, but little by little I began to glimpse a figure, it looked like a woman, she was crouched on all fours in front of the entrance to the cave, she didn't look human at all, she was very robust and was almost completely naked except for bandages that covered her chest and shoulders, for her face, on her cheeks she had symbols purple in color, red eyes with slit pupils, long gray hair with a hint of purple on the tips, on the forehead she had two curved black and purple horns. I could also see a long black and gray tail, even her ears were strange, more pointy than a normal ear.

between her "tusks" there was a large boar, it still seemed alive, but the woman held it with such a brute grip that it was completely unable to move, it could only moan in pain.

this being was strangely similar to the creature, could this be related to that in some way?

The dust was starting to recede, the woman began to scrutinize the inside of the cave, I was still lying on the ground motionless, even if I wanted to I could not do anything so I just observed her, after several seconds our eyes met, the being froze, she widened her eyes and began to stare at me carefully, I panicked, took a big sigh and narrowed my eyes, I had to calm down, panic wouldn't help the situation, seconds, maybe even minutes passed, at one point the creature closed its jaws with violence breaking the backbone of the boar, killing it immediately, her tail began to move quickly in ecstasy, it seemed like a dog seeing its owner after a full day of absence. She spat the boar on the ground near the fire and stood up on two legs, she almost hit the ceiling of the cave, she looked at least 6 foot tall, maybe 7, even if I had been strong it would have been impossible for me to escape from such a monster. without even having time to blink, I found her on me, my heart stopped beating for a few seconds, I could no longer hold my breath and started coughing violently, my lungs could no longer hold. The creature gasped, she quickly took me firmly in her arms and lifted me to bring me close to the fire, laid me gently on the ground, and then sat down in front of me.

"Try not to die ..." She exclaimed in a calm voice as she began to skin the boar. She could speak!? Her voice was delicate and soft, while her tone was firm and authoritative.

After cleaning the carcass of the animal she began to cook the meat on the fire, then she turned to me. She reached behind her back and put her hand under the bandages, she gritted her teeth in pain as she pulled out a small branch, completely covered in blood, at first glance it seemed hollow and moreover you could hear the sound of a liquid substance inside it, the woman came up to me and put her hand on my face, I shivered, her hand was cold froze, slowly she opened my mouth and started to make me drink the substance,

"Don't worry, it's just birch sap, it will help you recover" she reassured me. I couldn't listen to her, that liquid tasted sour and dry, I wanted to throw up but my body couldn't physically react.

A strong stench of burnt meat filled the air. The woman froze for a few seconds looking into space with a dead gaze, then she realized, she jumped up awkwardly and threw herself in front of the fire, because of her sudden and clumsy movements she made the meat fall into the flames, with a quick reflex she threw her hand into the fire in an attempt to save what could be saved.

she took her hand out of the fire, between her "claws" there were various pieces of meat almost completely charred, she took one and sniffed it, a small smile appeared on her face accompanied by a hysterical chuckle.

She turned to me with shiny eyes, completely destroyed, it didn't seem like the first time this happened.

She composed herself "hehe .. Apparently, we'll have to settle ... ... Sorry" she exclaimed hesitantly, I tried to move, the forces were slowly returning to me, I felt fresher and more rested, I had remained completely motionless for at least a couple of hours, I was able to move slowly, painfully but I could do it, I tried to lift myself from the wall, my arms were shaking, my body was twitching with pain, eventually I was able to sit up.

She, seeing me move, snapped, and began to wag her tail as she looked at me with a satisfied look, a genuine smile appeared on her face.

We started eating, I took a small piece of meat and took a little bite on the rosiest surface, an explosion of flavors! I could feel the meat melt in the palate, it was soft and juicy, the aroma of the still-hot meat overpowered even the burnt flavor, the woman also began to eat albeit in an awkward and animalistic way, after taking a large piece of meat she tore it in two with a single bite.

She turned to me, swallowed, and with a big smile on her face she said

"Oh, by the way, I'm Rosephira"

huh...….