Chapter 398:
Lorelei
It hurts.
But I am accustomed to pain. I have been accustomed to pain for a very long time.The wounds on my back are deep, angry, bleeding....they... will heal. They always heal.
I lean on my elbows, my tail trailing in the water of the small cave. The salt stings the cuts, but I do not flinch. I have stopped flinching years ago.
The egg is more active than usual.
Pulsing. Glowing. Thrumming with something that feels like anticipation.
I watch it.
Could it be?
No.
For many moons I have been waiting for the human.
I am tired now. But still, I wait.
For over a hundred full moons, I have waited. My anticipation was once eager,bright and hopeful, like sunlight on the water. Now it is only disappointment. Heavy. Cold. Familiar.
I do not remember the memories of the forbidden waters. Not clearly. The memories are fragments, shards of something broken. A laugh. A hand in mine. The feeling of being held.
I remember being happy.
The human made me... happy.
