I felt that my heart was literally coming out of my body and every breath pained my chest.

"Just keep on eating. Don't even worry about me," I whispered as the kimbrucks growled. Obviously, they didn't understand what I was saying, but I thought that maybe if I whispered my wishes to them they would actually come true. My whispers were ineffective. As I paced backwards little by little I heard them growl. I tried to walk away with a faster pace and they imitated my speed. Holy shit. I was going to die. I ran as fast as I could. I heard the foot prints behind me as tears streamed down my cheeks. My heart boomed like thunder. If the creatures didn't kill me, my heart would. I shouted.

"Help, help!" The animals roared as high as I called for help. I tripped over a red stone and turned around. The beast was coming at me from the air. I covered my face in fear waiting for death, but it didn't happen. I heard a loud thump. The kimbruck lay beside me dead with his jaw and eyes wide open. I screamed and scampered upwards to see the prince and Rox fighting the kimbrucks. The prince was using a boomerang spin around the air and hit them. Rox was using his hands to push them aside before the boomerang impacted the creatures. Once the boomerang hit them they automatically fell to the ground. More of them came to fight.

"Prince Brok!" I shouted panicked and the prince looked at me and was instantly shoved on the dirt with the huge foot of one of the kimbrucks. The creature was now on top of him. The kimbruck kicked him with his flat feet, but failed as the prince skillfully dodged his every kick. The kimbruck tried to eat his head off, but the prince moved with haste and took cover.

As the creature would not let go of the prince I grabbed a rock nearby and launched it at the creature's head. Its hair waved in the air and his face tilted. His huge mouth growled at me. The kimbruck ignored the prince and was now crawling towards me with a huge roar.

"No!" I heard the prince shout behind it. He scampered on all fours, crawled to it in a hurry and punched it on the leg. The kimbruck tilted to attack him, but a boomerang came out of nowhere and slashed the creature' head.

"Are you okay?" The prince asked me, but I was still in shock. I couldn't move, much less talk. I breathed heavily and trembled all over.

"Anabella!"

"I'm okay," I replied still shaky. Out of the blue, the prince pushed me to the ground with force. I fell sideways and hit my arm. It hurt me bad enough to feel it's sharpness.

"Ouch," I wailed rubbing it. What the hell was wrong with him? Did he save me to kill me, I thought, but then I realized that he had actually saved my life. The prince was already fighting another kimbruck, but he was doing this with his bare hands. I screamed as I saw the prince grabbing the blazer sharpened teeth of the creature. For sure if he didn't have a weapon he would be killed. I looked back at Rox who fought three kimbrucks at the same time. As they tried to attack me or the prince, Rox would punch them with his rough hands or attack them with his boomerang weapon, but where was the other one? I scanned the forest and saw it on the floor. I ran to grab it, but the prince was already wailing and screaming in pain. The kimbruck was going to eat him up I thought and panicked. I grabbed the weapon, but I cut my hand.

"Ouch," I complained and dropped it. Red, blood oozed out. How was I going to help if I didn't even know how to use that damn thing I thought.

The prince screamed again. I turned to look at him. He was still fighting the same creature. I wanted to call Rox, but he was already too busy disposing the other kimbrucks. Prince Brok pushed and pulled the upper and bottom teeth. I wasn't sure at first what he was aiming at, but then I realized that he was trying to rip the mouth apart. Could he really be that strong? I didn't know. I wanted to grab a stick, a stone or anything to try to help him. The kimbruck made force and I could see the veins on Brok's arms and biceps. He was truly making a lot of strength against the creature. The creature fought to try to close and devour his arms, while Brok forced the jaw to remain open. I grabbed a stone, ran towards them and hauled it at the creature. The creature was momentarily distracted and angry. Brok opened his jaws and did something I didn't expect. He bit the kimbruck in the side of his face and purple blood streamed down. The kimbruck lost control. Suddenly, the prince forced its jaw open. A bone cracked. I covered my eyes in utter terror as the kimbruck fell limp on the ground. Then I covered my mouth in disbelief as I saw the prince with his mouth smeared in the purple blood of the kimbruck. He roared furiously at the rest of the kimbrucks that surrounded him. His golden eyes were now bloodshot with such hate I could hardly look at them myself without feeling some pulsing fear inside of me. Three kimbrucks must have felt that same evil because they quickly ran away. A dozen kimbrucks surrounding the grounds around us were now dead. Brok looked at me with a heavy breathing. The savage look on his face had fainted as quickly as it had appeared in front of the other kimbrucks. His fury had dazed off, but I noticed that his arms and hands were covered in blue liquid. I assumed it was blood. His blood.

"You're hurt," I said. Brok touched his bloody arm. He growled in complaint and jerked his arm away from me.

"Are you hurt?" Brok asked me. My shock had still been so overwhelming that if I had been hurt I wouldn't have even felt it. So, I looked at my arms and legs. My feet and shoes were muddy red, I couldn't see much of my dress, but I assumed that it was ruined. However, I I was intact.

"I'm okay," I replied. Brok nodded.

"That's all that matters. Rox, get rid of them now," Brok ordered. Then he took off his shirt and cleaned his bloody mouth. Surprisingly he had an amazing pack of abs and a broad chest that I didn't expect. If it wasn't for his blue skin and strange eyes he could almost pass for human. Almost.

"Yes Master," Rox answered. After the prince washed his mouth, he kept his shirt in his hand. I couldn't help, but hesitate.

"Thank you... for... saving my life," I said. Brok nodded. He seemed very serious about the whole thing.

"You're welcome. Now let's go home," Brok replied. I kept quiet and simply nodded. In that moment, we both apologized without ever saying the words out loud. There was just a silent agreement between us that only we understood.

As we returned to the house I still shook and needed to cross my arms to try to stop the shaking. Brok walked next to me, shirtless I realized, but I ignored his huge chest. I felt more concerned with his arms and biceps. His blue blood oozed down and rolled to his hands onto the red mud and yellow grass. I wondered if he even felt the pain. He seemed to ignore it completely or maybe he actually didn't feel pain at all. I was uncertain. He walked next to me so quietly that I could hardly hear him breathe.

"Are you sure that you're okay?" I asked again. I didn't know why the hell I was so worried about him, but I was.

"I can walk home, if that is your concern," he said gruffly.

"No, I mean your arms," I said.

"They are attached," he answered.

"Why do you have to be so mean all of the time? I'm just asking you a question, can't you answer it with a simple yes or no?"

"Maybe I don't like answering ridiculous questions," Brok answered.

"Brok, please. I'm trying to be nice to you. Do you even know how to identify courtesy when you see it? Apparently not," I said.

"I don't need your pity," he spat out.

"Brok... it's not pity. I did feel sorry for you a little bit, but now I just don't because you are such a jerk," I said.

"Good," Brok snarled and then he glared at me and puffed angrily. Gosh, I was so tired of arguing. Why wouldn't he tire of it himself? It wasn't enough to fight off a bunch of huge and hungry kimbrucks. He had to continue to argue with me too. I realized I was just going to have to compromise if I wanted to have some peace with him. I backed off.

"Look Brok, I'm sorry," I said.

"For what?"

"For running away," I replied. The prince shook his head.

"No. You have nothing to apologize for. I was the one who told you to leave the house," he said and then he half laughed. What? Seriously I was beginning to wonder if he was bipolar or something.

"Now I don't have to apologize? That's good to know," I commented as he looked up at the purple sky. He shook his head.

"I really thought that if you left the hurt would finally be over," he said. I frowned confused.

"The hurt? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Look at that," he said pointing up to the sky. I looked up and watched a golden giant bird fly by very close to us. We both tilted and turned to look at the giant bird. The bird was heading towards the kimbrucks.

"Rox, let it eat," I heard the prince say.

"Yes, Master," Rox replied. I looked at him put away something, but what I didn't know.

"That's a humka. It eats dead flesh. I'm guessing it has a whole family of humkas to feed I'm sure," Brok said. I shook my head knowing that this was just a distraction.

"Brok what did you mean when you said that if I left the hurt would be over?" I asked a while later after we were walking back to the castle again. Brok didn't look at me. Instead he placed his bloody shirt over one of his broad shoulders.

"Every time I see you I feel pain," he finally answered after a long pause, but not once did his golden eyes gaze at me. They seemed to be avoiding me even though I was in plain sight. His eyes were focused on the castle.

"You do?" I asked surprised. I didn't expect that at all.

"Yes," he answered.

"Why?" I wondered as we walked on. I didn't even know that my presence pained him and I wondered if there was some sort of biological factor that I was unaware of. After all I was a human and Prince Brok was... well, something else. Brok was silent for a moment.

"Truly, I do not know. I thought that if you left the pain would leave me, but when you ran away it became unbearable," the prince answered.

"What are you talking about?" I asked. We arrived at the huge doors of the castle and they opened as soon as we were in front of them.

"Oh Prince Brok! What on Sha's name has happened to you? Your highness?" Krimla asked appalled.

"I am fine Krimla, leave me," the prince barked at her. Krimla bowed, looked at me sharply and then she left the area. If looks could kill, she would have killed me right there and then apparently. That's how sharp her stare was at me. Anyway, I walked with Brok up the stairs and into a corridor. He arrived at a door and opened it by punching the hologram buttons of the wall. It slid sideways and we entered. The prince touched more buttons and hurled the bloody shirt at the wall. I didn't know how else to explain it, but the wall swallowed the shirt.

"Sit," he ordered me with a low growl. I saw a chair nearby and sat down. He walked to the end of the room in a corner. Then he punched more hologram buttons and pressed his arm on the wall. Soon he began to shout.

"Oh, my God, what's wrong?" I panicked getting up from the chair.

"Stay there," he barked. I sat back down in a hurry and waited as he wailed with pain. He roared terribly, but not once did he leave the wall nor did I move. Then he stopped. He heaved heavily. I waited as his golden eyes were focused on the floor. He was looking for a distraction I was sure. I couldn't really do anything at the moment. I didn't know what to say. I just stared back at him as he composed himself very slowly. For a moment, I had forgotten about his cruelty and I was strangely looking at his huge chest, back and shoulders. His abs were hardly pressed and for a moment I found myself admiring his physique. What the hell was wrong with me? I thought and decided to look elsewhere, but then he took off his ponytail and his long hair just ruffled. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but he looked absolutely amazing. Certainly, he had the body of a royal. As he found composure he didn't seem so menacing or terrible now. I didn't fool myself though. After seeing him rip that kimbruk's jaws apart I knew that he was strong and menacing, but somehow I felt that he wasn't a real threat to me or at least I hoped not.

Why would he risk himself for me like that though? I caused him pain when I was with him. If I was such a burden to him, then why save me from being devoured? He did say that when I left the pain became unbearable, but what did he mean by that? If I stayed I hurt him, but if I left I made matters worse for him. I didn't understand why he saved me, but after seeing his deep wounds and cries I was thankful that he did. He was so alien to me and I really tried to understand him, but maybe my humanity wouldn't allow that to happen. Maybe my perception of reality or something was just too limited. I honestly didn't know. He was certainly a mystery to me.

"I'm sorry if this offends you, but I'm healing myself. You can leave at any time if this disgusts you," the prince said.

"I'm not going anywhere," I answered. The prince looked at me with his golden eyes in awe. I was just as shocked. I couldn't believe I had just said that. Did I really mean it anyway? What the hell was wrong with me? Here I was, a prisoner of the terrible Prince Brok from Sha and I was actually consenting with my kidnapper. Was I going insane? I didn't know. Maybe it was this mystery about him that didn't allow me to think straight.

I recalled the reason why I was thrown out of the kitchen in the first place and I had to admit that he had been right on both accounts. I wouldn't have been happy with leaving my dad here and humans really were a dangerous species, but why had I been so angry about that when I knew that it was true. Because an outsider had said it, not a human, but an alien being I admitted to myself.

Still with all of his strength I doubted that any human could actually fight him off. Not only was he a lot stronger, but he also had a technology that was beyond our own. So yes, humans were dangerous, but I didn't think he was that helpless either.

He turned around and proceeded to do the same thing with the other arm. He wailed in anguish. I couldn't really do anything, but wait and see him, his abs, his big shoulders and back. Shit. He was suffering and here I was looking at God knows what. I was beginning to think that I was really losing my mind. I gazed at the floor, but as he wailed I couldn't help myself. I had to look at him again. Then the wailing stopped and he breathed heavily fighting the shock of the pain I supposed.

"The process has concluded," he said. I looked at his blue, chest, abs, strong arms and biceps. The blue blood had smeared the part of the wall where he had placed his arms and he still had some on himself.

"You still have... some blood... there," I said pointing at it. I didn't know why, but I just had to touch it. I had to touch him. I jerked quickly. I didn't understand why I wanted to touch him. Was it curiosity? Yes, of course. He was an alien being. I was obviously curious about him and how he felt. He seemed to be extraordinarily warm. He half laughed showing a bit of his fangs. His fangs immediately pulled me back into reality.

"Oh, yes. I must get washed," he said.

"Maybe I could help," I muttered out loud. What in the heck did I just say?

"You want to help me get washed?" He asked.

"No... I mean... not washed like... just your arms," I stuttered like an idiot.

"Oh," he said frowning for the first time.

"I need some cloth and water with soap," I said.

"Sure, I will get them quickly, just stay here," he said. He left the room.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I whispered out loud. He came in quickly with what seemed to be a bowl of silver and a cloth of gold.

"Nothing that I know of," he replied.

"What?" I asked confused.

"You asked what the hell was wrong with me," he said. He had overheard me. I was so embarrassed by it.

"Oh, no... I didn't mean... wait a minute how could you possibly hear me?" I asked.

"The Sha have more acute hearing than humans," he said.

"Oh," I replied and then I continued on brushing off the embarrassing situation. Luckily, he hadn't realized that I had been talking to myself nor did he get offended by the question which was a miracle.

"You can sit down over there," I said pointing towards the bed. The prince walked towards his bed and I sat next to him. Then I grabbed the cloth that he held in his hand and dipped it in the purple water. I squeezed it as much as I could and then I pressed it on his arm. The blue blood was washing off him.

"Thank you," he said. I smiled.

"Na, don't worry about it," I said.

"I don't," he answered. I looked at him and for the first time he smiled at me.