Voyage Of The Villainess

tef*Badump! Badump! Badump!* Malaya's heart was now beating at an abnormal rate and speed. At the same time, her vision was blurring as she held her right neck.

'Ugh! Why is this happening to me now?' She thought as she tried to snap herself from the pain by resting a few more minutes but nothing happened. Malaya tried to rummage in her bag and get one healing potion for her to drink. But nothing changed in her situation as well. She leaned her body on the tree trunk to support herself.

'Ah! Sh*t.'  She tried drinking the other potions as well but the heavy feeling and her difficulty in breathing were not subsiding either.

'Crap, what in the world did she do to me? That unknown woman who suddenly appeared out of nowhere.' Seeing that all the kinds of potions she have had no effect, Malaya gritted her teeth and decided to continue her walk across the forest. She was staggering as she kept treading on her way. With her blurred vision, which was like in clear and blurred motion, she could still make out what she could see in her surroundings. And it was all bushes and trees. 

'How can I let my guard down like that?' She continued to walk but her body was becoming heavier. 'I must find a safe place first.' she thought as she was trying to find strength within. But whatever she pricked me...' Her gasps were getting heavier as well. 

Malaya finally stopped walking as she held onto another tree trunk of the tree that was beside her. However, she dropped to her knees when her legs suddenly lost all their strength. "Argh. D*mn. So much for teaching a lesson for all of this to happen."

Then Malaya raised her head when she suddenly heard shuffling noises from the bushes. Her hand slithered down from the trunk and she completely fell down on the muddy ground. Her face fell flat on the ground. Malaya raised her head and saw the hem of a familiar dress.

"Fascinating, for you to reach this far just to escape from me." She heard the familiar voice of the woman who pricked her in the neck."You truly made me feel like you are not just an ordinary person but less than that." Her voice sounded amused.

"So outsiders have items where they can store magic to use for teleportation. I thought you were really something. But you are just a magicless person who relies on these items. What worth did Oliver see to a person like you?" 

"Heh," although Malaya felt difficult, she still grin. 'This magicless again.'

"So you're the main ogress of this conspiracy." She said as she moved her head up. 

"Ogress," The unknown woman spoke. She didn't take to her heart whatever Malaya just called her. "Ah, I have not introduced myself."

"You're the daughter of the chief of the tribe and I don't give a d*mn." Malaya's head dropped to the ground.

"To think you are still able to speak this much despite being poisoned. Is this the last howl of a dying vixen?"

Malaya felt someone snatch her bag from her. But she was too weak right now to even lift her hand. All she could do was howl like this chief daughter's words. She didn't refute anything back as her hearing in her surrounding started to become lesser. However, in the end, she resided in her situation and chose to close her eyes. 'This is hopeless.' Her thoughts as her eyes grew heavier.

'Why all of the sudden where I need strength I suddenly lose it? I just need to stupidly think that she will not kill me.'

*Boom!*

She could hear the faint sound of explosions but she was too unwell to care for anything that's happening right now to her surroundings. She was too focused on what she felt in her body.

"You are the other outsider!" Malaya heard that the unknown woman suddenly burst out a scream. "What are you going to do?!" And that was the last thing she heard as well before she finally lost consciousness.

---⚓⚓⚓---

*Drip! Drip! Drip*

When Malaya regained back her consciousness the first thing she heard was the sound of the water dripping that seemed to echo to whatever place she was in. She slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the brown and dark ceiling of a cave. She tried to move her hands and her body to sit up but it felt very weak.

Malaya just turned her head to the left since that was the only part of her body she could move. But her eyes widened and quickly reversed her head to the right side. 'Am I still in a dream?' Malaya took one long inhaling of air then slowly exhaled it out. She did the same process three more times. When she could finally feel that her nerves were finally calming down, she slowly turned her head back to the left once again.

On her left side, there was Kayden. He was sitting with crossed legs while his head was leaning on the wall of the cave. His eyes were closed and he was releasing a steady breath. They were just an inch apart from each other. And certainly, if Malaya made any huge move, Kayden would become aware of it as well.

'Did he save me once again?' Malaya felt some strange tingling sensation inside her and she could feel her face becoming hotter. 'Why is it?' She gently and carefully raised her left hand towards Kayden. She paused when her hand was just an inch away from his face. "Why is it that whenever I am in trouble or in some crazy situations and even in my weakest state, you always appear out of nowhere." She said in whispers then she retracted her hands and she slowly moved her body to not wake up Kayden.

Although she was still feeling weak, Malaya was able to force herself to stand up.

"Where are you doing?" 

Malaya was startled when she heard Kayden's usual cold voice. But that was not what made her surprised. The next thing that happened was she was slammed in something hard. But the strange thing was, it didn't hurt. 

"Don't go anywhere and rest more," Kayden said as he locked Malaya firmly in his embrace. "I will not let you go until you promise me not to go anywhere until you recover. Is that clear to you?"

Malaya was still in shock so she didn't say anything or answer his question." Did you hear me?" Kayden said with a cold voice.

This was the first time in Malaya's life that she felt incredibly embarrassed and flustered at the same time. " Yes, I-I will rest." She became more embarrassed when she stuttered in her words. 

That was when Kayden let go of her. Then Malaya went immediately to lie on the place she was lying earlier. Now that she realized, she was lying in a white futon, that was why she felt incredibly comfortable despite being in a cave. There was even a  long white blanket along with it. She immediately covered herself and her face. She could feel that her face was very hot right now. And her heart was beating really hard 

'D*mn, d*mn. Calm yourself Malaya. He didn't mean anything with that gesture. Don't overthink things. That was normal, okay? Maybe he just wants me to really rest. Yeah, that is the reason why he did those things.' She kept repeating in her thoughts to calm her heart that felt like taking a race to some marathon.

"About the time when I have a fever..." 

Malaya stiffened when Kayden suddenly spoke with hesitation. 

"Thank you, for taking care of me."

"You thank me?!" Malaya forgot all the loud beating of her heart and turned towards Kayden.

Seeing her surprised expression, Kayden's brows furrowed. "You told me that I should speak my words clearly, and I said it clearly just now." He faced towards his left side avoiding Malaya's shocked eyes. 

Malaya blinked a few blinks, amidst the dancing light from the single campfire they had on the cave, she could completely see Kayden's reddening ears. 

"Pfft." Malaya stopped herself from laughing. 'I should not laugh. It would be too rude for him. Malaya please act normal.' Malaya covered herself in a blanket as she couldn't hold herself from not laughing. She covered her mouth and her body trembled.

Kayden turned towards Malaya and from what he could see and hear, Malaya was completely laughing at him. "What is so funny? Are you laughing at me?" He tried to remove the blanket that was covering Malaya but Malaya held it firmer as she was still laughing.

This infuriated Kayden even more. He leaned closer to Malaya and with one strong pull he was able to remove the blanket. However...

Light aquamarine eyes and red ruby eyes glinted at each other.. And this time, it was four inches nearly close to each other.