A few hours passed after the girl passed out from seeing me, and now I'm here waiting outside her tent in front of the campfire.
As I sit there, I think of ways to tell her that I need her help getting out of this place.
But as I sit there, I hear her wake up and step outside her tent. She was gripping her knife once more, pointing it at me.
I waved at her, hoping to calm her down.
And surprisingly, it did. She lowered her knife but didn't drop it.
She sat across from me by the fire and spoke, her voice still a bit shaky.
"Thanks... for not eating me," she said, still a bit shaken from the experience.
I nodded, not wanting to speak and scare her again.
She stared at me for a second, studying me and trying to figure me out. Finally, she spoke once more.
"You're not like any Hellborn I've seen before. Where did you come from?" she asked curiously.
Hellborn... huh. So that explains a lot. To answer her question, I pointed in the general direction from where I walked.
Her eyes widened.
"There!" she said, immediately standing and even dropping her knife.
"That place is basically a death trap! No one ever goes in unless you're a demon noble!" she said with distress in her voice.
After saying this, she began to calm down, seeing me just staring at her calmly.
She then, surprisingly, sat down beside me.
"Look, I'm sorry for getting scared earlier, but I've been through a lot here and back home, and I can't really be all that trusting of demons," she said softly, with a hint of sadness.
I know that look all too well... someone close to her... died.
Even though I may not feel emotions, I know that losing someone you care for is... difficult.
I moved closer to her and awkwardly hugged her.
She got scared at first, but slowly she began to cry, and then she began to uncontrollably sob. She grabbed me tightly like I was some teddy bear.
A few minutes passed, and she finally stopped crying and placed me down.
I looked at my shoulder, which was now covered in snot.
She noticed and grabbed a towel from her pocket, wiping it clean.
After doing that, she sat back down with me, finally asking the question I wanted to hear.
"So... why exactly are you here?" she said.
I wanted to speak but remembered what happened last time. I motioned to my mouth, and she seemed to understand.
She then raised her hand and said, "I promise not to pass out this time."
Though I was still skeptical, I began to open my mouth once more, and again a loud crack was heard that revealed needle-like teeth.
"That's still creepy," she said, a drop of sweat forming on her forehead.
"Sorry," I said in a deep, gravelly voice.
"Yup, still creepy," she said.
"Well... the reason I came to your camp is because I need help getting out of this forest," I said.
She looked at me for a second and considered it... then spoke once more.
"I'll help you," she said, looking a bit determined.
"Really!" I said, feeling excited for the very first time since I became like this.
She covered her ears in response.
"Dude, not so loud. Your voice is like a hammer to the skull," she said quickly.
I closed my mouth, feeling the armor-like mask reattaching once more.
"Listen, I'll help you get out of this forest, but you're gonna help me as well, okay?" she said, sounding hopeful.
I nodded, and she smiled.
She got up from the log and started walking toward her tent, picking up some things before coming out with a small bag.
"Come on, I'll explain on the way out," she said, gesturing for me to follow.
I got up and followed her out of the clearing of the campsite.
---
A few hours passed, and we were finally outside of the forest.
I took a deep breath. The air seemed... hot?
It was weird, but a welcome change from the scent of blood in the forest.
While we walked, the girl told me her name was Maylin.
She and her family lived on a farm kilometers away from the forest.
There they lived mostly farming crops and livestock. They didn't have much, but they made just enough to live and even help out their neighbors.
But things quickly changed when a storm passed through and damaged large parts of the farm.
They tried everything to repair the damage, even receiving help from the neighbors.
Unfortunately, no matter how much they tried, the damage was far too much.
As a last-ditch effort to fix the farm, they took out a loan to have enough materials to fix everything.
For a time they were able to get back up, start working the farm again, and begin paying off their debt.
Slowly but surely they were able to pay down the debt, but then her father took a nasty blow to the head from one of the farm animals and died.
They tried their best to keep things going, but with fewer hands they couldn't pay off their debt completely.
As time passed, their debt kept growing until one day the demons they borrowed from sent people to forcefully collect their money.
Unable to fight back, they were forced to give up their belongings and the last of their money.
But the collectors kept coming back again and again, making it impossible to save enough to pay the debt.
Until one day they decided to kidnap Maylin.
Thankfully she managed to escape and get back home. Her mother helped her pack some things and gave her a knife to defend herself.
With a tight hug, she left home to protect them. If the collectors knew she was there, they would have killed her family.
She headed to the forest since no right-minded person would enter it.
From there she lived for a few weeks until she found me.
"We're here," she said, bringing me out of my thoughts.
We stood on a small hill overlooking her farm. There we saw a bunch of imps forcing her family to work, whipping and hitting them.
I looked toward Maylin and saw that she was starting to tear up.
I grabbed her hand, and she looked at me and smiled. She wiped the tears and sat down with me.
"I have a really big ask. I hope you'll hear me out," she said, teary-eyed.
I nodded.
She took a deep breath and spoke.
"I want you to save my family... and I want you to kill those bastards!" she said, gripping my hand tightly.
I looked over at her family and nodded.
Her eyes lit up, and she hugged me.
"Thank you, thank you!" she said with joy.
She let go of me. I stood over the edge of the hill, stared for a second... and jumped.