“I can’t just leave without telling everyone what’s happening.” I muttered, looking to the sky as the red tint slowly faded.

I could feel the power inside of me slowly fading. It still gnawed at the back of my mind, whispering for me to continue the slaughter. The thoughts that came were beyond frightening. I didn’t want to think about what I’d just done, but it pushed me to do more.

Holding Malcolm close, I flew out of the hole and in the direction of Lord Claude’s estate. Holding him like this seemed to calm the urges that skittered around inside my head.

After some time in the air, we arrived to find Lord Claude standing in front of the doorway, holding Malcolm’s mother behind him. He looked just as frightened as anyone else.

I could feel my power fading more quickly now. Looking down, I could see the scales that covered my body sinking into my skin.

Dropping heavily onto the ground, I stumbled forward.

“I’m sorry.” I said, breathing heavily. “But we have to leave.”

Recognizing us, Lord Claude lowered his guard and came forward. “What do you mean? Leave where? What happened?”

“Something is coming, and Malcolm and I can’t stay here.” I explained.

“Then we’ll come with you.” Malcolm’s mother stepped forward.

“No. Whatever is coming is coming just for us. I can’t put anyone else in danger.” Stepping forward, I set Malcolm down on the step just as his mother came around Lord Claude.

Stepping past them, I hurried into the house to my bedroom where I put on clean clothes as the scales continued to disappear and sucked everything I could into my storage ring. Going to Malcolm’s room, I took as much as I could and returned outside.

Cradling his head in her lap, Malcolm’s mother gently combed her fingers through his hair.

Without looking away from him, she said. “Promise me… promise me that you’ll come back.” I could see tears streaking down her face. “Do that, and we won’t try to come with you.”

It was a hard promise to make. Our conversation with Aaron showed me just how naive I had been. The future is so uncertain, so I couldn’t completely trust any promise I would make. Feeling my gut twist into a tight knot, I decided to do whatever was necessary to keep them safe as well. “I promise.” I replied, hoping that I wouldn’t have to break that promise in the future.

Stepping toward them, I bent down to take Malcolm and froze as she pulled me into a tight embrace. “Take care of him.” She whispered. “And don’t lose hope.”

Holding back bitter tears, I nodded and scooped Malcolm up off the ground and breathed in deep.

Without another word, I flew up into the sky and in the direction opposite of where the feeling was coming from.

Looking back, I could see a large moving shape cutting a line through to Dreah. Even from a distance I recognized the royal ensign’s flag.

Seeing the oncoming danger, I could feel the source of the evil even stronger now. It wanted to eat me. To devour me.

The sun set long before I touched back on the ground. I would have liked to go further, but I was physically incapable of it. The scales had all disappeared from my body and the power had disappeared completely.

Something replaced that power, though. A swelling filled my chest. It was so much that it felt like my chest would burst at any moment.

Now on the ground, I remembered something that Malcolm had told me long ago. This same thing had happened to him when we escaped the capital. Taking both of his hands in mine, I willed the pressure inside of me to flow through my hands and felt it rush out of me and into him.

His body drank in the energy like a man dying of thirst. I could feel his Primeval Self swelling and growing, drinking in this power.

After a couple of minutes, the flow of power stopped and I relaxed. Looking across from me, I stared at Malcolm. He sat with his back against a tree, sleeping restlessly.

I had no idea where we were now, since I was traveling through the dark, but what mattered is that we were far enough from Dreah that we should be safe. I needed to get him help as soon as possible.

“What do we do now, Emora?” I asked.

…

There was no answer. Just dead silence.

After asking again a few more times, I realized that I was alone, and that I would have to rely on myself to get us to safety.

Thinking back to when I was in the air, I remembered seeing a few lights in the distance. It could have been a town, or a camp, but as long as there were people it didn’t matter.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Heaving Malcolm back into my arms, I felt my stamina wane. It was close to morning, so I’d been awake for far longer than usual.

After some struggle, I managed to get him on my back, which made the journey much easier.

I wandered in the general direction that I remembered seeing the light from and eventually happened on a road.

Tired, thirsty and weak, I followed the road in one direction.

Rounding a bend in the road, I spotted tall, timber walls framing a large, open gate.

Finding a second wind, I hurried over to the gate, nearly stumbling over my own feet on the way.

“Halt!” A voice shouted from behind the gate. “State your business!”

I barely made it to steps more before my legs finally gave out. My vision blurred as I tumbled forward, feeling the entirety of Malcolm’s weight crash on me.

The next few minutes were a dizzy haze as I slipped in and out of consciousness. We were dragged somewhere, and I could feel them take Malcolm somewhere else. In my weakened state, I could do nothing to stop them.

When I awoke next, I was in a small, unfurnished room. I was tucked into a small, lumpy bed with a heavy blanket pinning me down. Trying to sit up, I felt my head spin and nearly vomited.

My body felt incredibly hot, and I barely had the strength to lift my head.

After trying to heal myself with my Primeval Self, I found that it was gone. Was it related to how Emora wasn’t speaking to us?

The door to the room opened suddenly and a woman pushed a small cart in. Looking up from the cart, she was startled and hurried over to my side. She had short, light brown hair and shining blue eyes.

“You’re awake!” She exclaimed, leaning down and placing a hand to my forehead. “The fever hasn’t gotten any better.”

“What’s going on? Where am I?” I asked, finding it hard to speak.

The woman turned to the cart, wrapped something in a rag and laid it on my forehead. “The guards found you outside yesterday morning. You collapsed, so they brought you here to me.” She explained. “You caught quite the fever.”

“Malcolm… where is he?” I asked, relishing the cool feeling.

“Was that his name?” She asked. “He was in worse shape, so my dad’s looking after him. If you didn’t bring him here when you did, he might not have made it. He’s lost quite a bit of blood.”

“Wh-”

“No more questions.” She interrupted me. “You need to save your strength.”

“Bu-”

“I said no more questions!”

She took a spoon and shoved it into my mouth. I would have resisted, but I was so hungry that even the spoon tasted good.

Helping me sit up, she gently feed me spoonfuls of porridge. After finishing the porridge, she helped me get back under the covers.

“Thank you.” I mumbled, feeling the comfort of a full stomach lulling me to sleep.

“I’m glad to help.” She said, replacing the cool rag before leaving the room.

Another full day passed before I woke up again. This time, I woke without a fever and with enough strength to push off the covers.

Climbing out of the bed, I cringed as my feet touched the floor. Upon inspection, I found that they were quite bruised.

Pushing through the pain, I slowly walked over to the door and opened it. Behind it was a hall with several doors, no doubt leading to rooms identical to the one I was just in.

Standing there, I felt a slight tug in the direction of one of the rooms and limped over to it. Opening the door, I saw Malcolm lying underneath a thick blanket, not unlike my own.

Hobbling to his side, I reached under the covers and held his hand. I could feel his Primeval Self slowly revolving through his body. The knife wounds in his back had all been sewn shut, and the bleeding had stopped. He was weak. But he was still alive.

Pulling his hand out from the covers, I held it close to my chest and started to cry.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” someone spoke behind me. Turning, I saw that it was the woman who had been taking care of me, “but could I see you in the hall?”

Putting his hand back under the covers, I stifled a sob and turned to follow the woman.

In the hall, a short ways away, stood two soldiers in full Kiechan armor.

“Miss, these are the two that brought you here.” She explained, gesturing to the two. “They have a few questions.”

“Could we find somewhere to sit? I don’t know if I can stand much longer.” I asked.

The two soldiers nodded and turned, leaving the hall. Following them, I found myself in a large open space with several seating arrangements.

Sitting on a sofa facing them with the woman beside me, I blinked and waited for the two to say something.

After a short moment, one of them removed their helmet, revealing a rugged face. “Please allow me to apologize for our harsh words that night.” He asked, bowing his head slightly.

“Harsh words?” I asked.

“It was dark, so we could not see that you two were children.” The other soldier spoke without removing her helmet.

“It’s… no problem.” I replied.

“Thank you.” The man who’d removed his helmet said. “Now, onto why we’re here.”

“We need to know what happened.” The female soldier spoke. “For that boy to be so gravely wounded so close to the army camps is unsettling.”

Army camps? I paused and looked down at my feet. I had to come up with something believable, otherwise something could happen to Malcolm.

“I know that the memory must trouble you, but we have a duty to protect the people within these walls.” The male soldier spoke.

“It’s okay to be scared.” The woman spoke gently. “You are braver than most. To be able to carry him all the way here by yourself. It’s quite romantic.”

Romantic? Oh, the matching rings and bracelets!

“My parents passed away recently.” I started. “Malcolm and I have been close friends since we were children, and our parents thought that it would be a good idea to promise and engagement. We traded rings just before leaving to pay respect to my parents. On our way, we were attacked by robbers and bandits. They… killed his parents and were going to take me, but he threw himself in the way to save me. We somehow managed to escape, but he was really hurt.”

“I think we get it now, thank you.” One of the soldiers stopped me. “Thank you for bringing this to us. We’ll bring them to justice and avenge his parents.”

“Thank you.” I said, feeling the words hard to find.

I turned to the woman just before she pulled me into a tight hug. “Oh, how I wish to have such a relationship! You two are very lucky to have each other!” She started bawling.

After she let me go, I saw tear stains on her clothes and realized that I was crying as well.

Possibly because of the truth in my story. The image of Malcolm throwing himself in front of Amara’s attack remained fresh in my mind.

“Please excuse us.” One of the soldiers said, leaving quickly and quietly.

After they’d left, the woman stopped crying and frowned.

“Um…” I mumbled.

“What is it?” She asked, tilting her head.

“We have nowhere left to go. Where do we go now?” I asked, desperate for guidance.

“My dad and I’ll look after you two!” She proudly exclaimed. “At least for the time being. Everyone in this town has to contribute some way, even the kids.”

“Could I get your name?” I asked, looking up at her.

“Vanessa.” She said, smiling broadly.

“I’m Hazel.” I introduced myself.

Vanessa pulled me in for another tight hug.

Feeling her embrace crush me, I felt bad knowing that Malcolm and I would eventually abandon this place for our goal. That time would have to wait until he woke up, though.

But that time wouldn’t come for a long time.