Chapter 4

                                    

                                          
He kept giving me side-glances. I returned them, because if I didn't then it would just be plain creepy on his part. 
                          
I watched him as he prepared the thawing meat and placed it on a stone tablet above the fire. It wasn't long until I heard sizzling. 
                          
"I assume you don't eat raw meat?"
                          
I looked at Sombra incredulously. "No, of course not."
                          
"Apologies, it has been a while since I've had to think of anyone else's health. I have become accustomed to eating raw meat over the years." He licked his canines as he spoke, and a shiver of dread ran through me, watching the gleaming tips. 
                          
He put his armoured hoof out and pushed the cooked meat off the stone, and onto the ground before me. 
                          
"Eat," He said.
                          
I looked it over. The meat itself wasn't recognisable. I had no idea what animal this had come from, or if it was safe for me to eat. Seeing my hesitation, he heaved a sigh. I was surprised that he didn't come over and force it down my throat. 
                          
"It's from the wolves that live in these parts. It is not going to kill you, so eat it."
                          
Tentatively, I bit a small amount off and began chewing slowly. He was right, it tasted pretty much the same as any other meat I had tried, and my spiking hunger died down. 
                          
As soon as my hunger stopped completely, the bond took hold of my focus again. It wasn't straining. I felt at peace. And that could mean only one thing. 
                          
I snuck a glance at Sombra, who seemed to be trying to find something else to incessantly stare at. Apart from the obvious con of him being an evil tyrant from 1000 years ago that enslaved an entire empire, he actually seemed pretty decent. At least to me- It might just be the bond talking. 
                          


                          
Did he even feel it? I had no way of truly knowing, but I believed he did considering how courteous he's been to me, besides trapping me in a cave deep inside the frozen wastes, a place no pony who has explored has ever returned from. I turned my head to see a blizzard taking shape outside, the freezing wind thrashing against the cave entrance. Sombra must have laid a shield over it to stop the wind from reaching the inside.

                          
Turning my head again, I froze as I saw him watching me, eyes slowly turning to slits.
                          
"Why did you come here?" He mumbled, his eyes set on me.
                          
"I- I was just looking for something."
                          
"Do you think me a fool? I know that you know about this, about this frustrating bond business."
                          
"What of it..."
                          
"You have emerged in my soul something I had hoped would never come about, and now that 'thing' is slowly taking control of my senses. If I cannot think, I cannot plan. If I cannot see, I cannot act accordingly. And if I cannot hear, I cannot know the whispers shared in the darkness of every hallway, the information vital to my cause, the knowledge of every other ponies plan, no matter how small. You, small mare, have single-hoofedly ruined my chance to regain my kingdom."  He stood up, his mouth curling into a snarl. "And the worst part is I cannot bring myself to punish you for it!" His cry rattled the walls of the cave, only to be silenced by the wind howling outside. I shrunk backwards. 
                          
This was more what I was expecting-