May Death Do Us Part

76 Chapter 76 : The Cave

When Ella woke up, the smell of moss and dampness filled her nostrils. She weakly sat up, a dull throbbing in her head making her cup her forehead with her hand and wince in pain. When her vision adjusted to the dim lighting around her that was provided by rays of sunlight slipping into the enclosed area from the far end, she was able to see that she was in a cave.

The redhead also noticed that she was laying down in her fur and some of her stuff, together with Adam’s and the rest of the men’s things, were piled up around her. She scanned the cave from end to end but could not see her companions. Surely they had not abandoned her, because if they did they wouldn’t have left their belongings behind.

She got up slowly and made her way to the center of the cave, to her right was what she assumed was opening of the cave owing to the sunlight that was illuminating brightly in that direction. And to her left the cave seemed to go on, deeper and darker into the interior of the little hill they were in.

The lashes on her blue eyes flattered when she heard the soft flowing of water coming from the darker end of the cave.

[could that be an underground lake?]

She looked down at herself and grimaced at the sight. Her clothes and skin were smudged with blue stains of goblin blood and dirt, she was absolutely filthy. Her mother would be mortified if she saw her looking like this, she needed to clean up quick before the men returned to the cave.

The blue eyed woman walked briskly but carefully deeper into the cave where the swooshing sounds of water were becoming more and more audible with each step. It was getting darker as she moved further into the carven but luckily her vision in the dark had improved immensely, so much so that she felt she could see in the darkness just as well as she did in broad daylight.

After a few minutes of walking, Ella reached the body of gently flowing water. The cracks in the ceiling of the cave illuminated parts of it giving it an almost magical sparkle. She sighed in relief when she noticed that the water was clean and clear, and it looked so inviting.

Ella grabbed the hem of her shirt and pulled it off her body, tossing it to the side so she could try to wash it after her soak. She did the same with her slacks and boots. Now only in her panties, she walked carefully into the flowing water, she groaned lightly as the soothing coolness of the currents brushed against her skin. She really needed this.

.....

Ella placed her arm in front of her line of sight, the one a goblin had slashed earlier and inspected frantically. But to her surprise, the wound had completely healed, wow, Ella still couldn’t wrap her head around being a nosferatu. Regeneration, night vision and all of that, it was still strange to her. She couldn’t wait to reach Ervelon and then contact the nosferatu in the snowlands and ask them about her new found abilities and how to hone and control them. According to Zander, the nosferatu of the snowlands had been living this way for thousands of years, so they were the best people to guide her.

She made her way deeper into the water till the water was up to her shoulders, the woman took a deep breath, dipped her head into the water and ran her fingers through her hair to remove the dirt and grime that had stained it. After washing her hair, her thoughts trailed back to Meria, to her family, she missed them. With everything happening so rashly she hadn’t even gotten the chance to say goodbye. She hoped that she would one day get to see them again.

Ella proceeded to washing her body until she felt fresh and clean, she also slipped off her panties, washed them and placed them on a rock on the edge of the subterranean lake. She then closed her eyes and enjoyed the water, the soft movement felt so soothing against her skin. Eventually she found herself being gently swayed back and forth by the soft currents and she let them carry her with them. She needed this relaxation, the past few days had been very stressful.

The redhead closed her eyes and cleared her mind, the water carrying her gently from one point of the lake to the other. She only opened her eyes when her back hit into a soft surface, was it a moldy wall on the edge of the lake? No matter, it was the perfect place for her to lean back and maybe nod off for a bit.

Ella moved closer to the soft surface but immediately shot her eyes open when she felt it move. She hastily spun around and when her eyes caught sight of what she had been snuggling up against, they went round and she screamed.

“Ivan what are you doing in here!” 𝐟r𝒆ℯ𝘄𝑒𝒃𝚗𝒐𝘃e𝗹.c𝘰𝐦

“Ella?!” The man yelled in equal shock, “when did you wake up?!”

Ella wrapped her arms around her chest to cover her breasts and swam to the other end of the lake, her face as red as a stop sign.

“Ella I’m sorry I didn’t know you were in here!” Ivan yelled apologetically as he made his way to where he had placed his clothes.

The redhead’s eyes widened when she saw him about to leave the water. “Stop! Don’t come out of the water!”

“I just want to get my clothes and-”

“I can see in the dark!” Ella yelled as she squeezed her eyes shut and turned away.

Ivan’s heart leapt out of his chest and he sunk back into the water. He was sure that the water around him was steaming from the heat his body was producing from the sheer embarrassment. “Fuck!” The man cursed loudly. He thought that the darkness of the cave gave him some cover but now realization hit him that Ella had seen everything.

Ivan had been entrusted by the others to stay with Ella while they went out to find fresh water and hunt for something they could have for dinner. As he sat watching Ella sleep, he had heard the trickling water in the deeper part of the cave and had followed it. He had taken a bath and then decide to take a short nap on the edge of the lake awaiting the men to return or Ella to wake up.

His elbows had been rested on the edge of the lake to support him while his lower half had settled on a rock submerged in the water. His legs were spread wide because the water whipping his manhood from side to side felt calming and had helped him to doze off.

He had only been awakened when he felt a soft object lean against him, still in his half dazed state, he thought he had been dreaming until Ella screamed his name.

“Oh fuck!” Ivan cursed again, “Adam is going to kill me for sure. He’ll tie me up and leave me for the goblins I just know it.”

Ella left the water and hurriedly wore her clothes. Without turning to face Ivan, she grabbed her boots in her arms and run back towards the outer part of the cavern where her things were.

As she ran, she crushed into someone, the impact making her fall back onto her bum.

“Ella, you’re awake.”

The redhead looked up at Adam who was smiling at her in relief. He crouched down next to her and pulled her into his embrace. Almost immediately, the man pushed her back gently and studied her face, “why are you all wet? Are you okay?”

“I am, I just went to bathe in the lake but I-”

“Ella!” Ivan came into view from the darkness of the cave panting breathlessly, he was shirtless, wet and in his hand he was holding... oh dear gods.

Adam stood up and looked at Ivan, his eyes trailed down to the man’s hand which was holding wet women’s panties. The prince’s eyes narrowed dangerously at Ivan who gulped in response.

“Your grace,” Ivan muttered with his hand in front of him, ready to wade off any attack that he was sure the prince would throw at him. “I know this looks bad but I can assure you this is not what it looks like.”

Near the entrance of the cave, Zander, Odran, Beric, Roland and Ozias where storing away the canteens of water and trying to light a fire when they heard Ivan screaming in agony from a distance.

“Is that Ivan?” Beric asked the group, “what’s going on?”

“He was supposed to be guarding Ella but when we returned we found that both him and her were gone,” Odran added on, “The prince went to search for them.”

The men heard Ivan scream again, this time he was even pleading for mercy between breathless coughs making them stand up abruptly and grab their weapons.

“Sounds like another attack!” Zander yelled, “we need to help them come on!”

The men ran into the cave, their hearts pounding in anticipation wondering what sort of creature they had to face this time. When they reached the interior of the cavern, their jaws dropped to the ground when their eyes fell on Ivan.

“What the fuck is this?” Zander muttered in shock.