My body told me to run straight to the swamp and then continue moving until I reached the border of Nucrestria. Instead, I decided I would need supplies for the journey. After all, who knows when the next time I will be in a city will be. Thankfully my family's bakery seemed packed from the outside as I approached. I took the opportunity to sneak through the back entrance. The sounds of customers and my family hard at work rang through the bakery. I quietly went upstairs and grabbed everything I thought I would need. A bag. Some clothes. A hunting knife.

Sky approached me when I was about to leave, waking up from his resting spot. He leaned into me and gave me a quick nudge. Like he was asking to come with.

"Sky, umm, now is not the greatest time for this," I whispered.

He did not look like he cared. I also knew that if I were to leave without him, he would throw a fit since that is what he did when anyone left him alone at home, and I did not want him raising the alarm.

"Guess you are coming with, huh?" I asked him.

Sky and I had gone deep into the green willow swamp. The ground sank beneath my feet as I waded through the tall grasses. Although it was known for its willow trees, the trees themselves have spread far apart from one another. But each willow itself was more prominent than most shops in Hillcrest. The grandness of the willows always sent shivers down my back.

I began feeling my awakened powers circulating through me. The power fluctuated with each step I took into the soft clay ground. A cord struck inside me as I pulled my foot out of a bottomless mud pocket. Clay. The soil. It could all be used with my affinity!

Excitement raced through me as the realization dawned on me. Half of a necromantic affinity was the element of the earth! What if I could hide that part of me if I could only get far enough away? Well, I would need to practice at some point, and there wasn't a better place to find affinity-infused clay than this swamp!

"Sky, what did you find?"

Sky was pawing at a large willow tree in a low part of the swamp. Fluorescent moss coated the base. It pulsed out from the tree like it had a heartbeat.

"Did you find some usable clay under that tree?" I asked Sky.

Sky let out an excited bark, almost in agreement. Sky had a great sense of smell, even for a dog. When we found the first clump, I had him smell some of it to track more. Blue swamp clay contained natural water affinity. It was often helpful in pottery applications, especially with vases. The vase would give the flowers inside extra nutrients through the water. At least, that was what I read in a book. Testing this trait would be a good experiment to see if my demonic affinity would reverse this effect.

Sky let out another bark, letting me know his payment was due. So, I bent down and scratched Sky behind his large, floppy ears. I then reached for my knife. With my knife in one hand, I set down the bag that had been snug on my back with my other. I began excavating the blue clay, careful not to contaminate it with the other soils surrounding the tree.

After gathering more than enough clay for what I would need it for, I stood up with a big stretch. I gave Sky a chuckle and another quick pet as I realized he also dropped into a stretch, almost as if he was mirroring me.

"Alright. Let's head onto the hillside and see if we can set up a kiln to fire this clay."

Sky and I made our way back up the hillside to try and find a dry patch of ground. We stayed away from the main paths in and out of Hillcrest, out of site from any passerby. However, any city guard on watch would see the smoke from our fire. All I could do was hope they had no reason to be looking for me yet.

Then I saw the two people coming down from Hillcrest. The two people were circulating the city, seemingly looking for something. At first, I didn't recognize them. Then it hit me. Those two!

With his stocky frame, he was hard to miss even at this distance. And the lankier boy at his side also stood out to me. Clive and Neil. Why were they out of Hillcrest?

"There he is!" Clive cried while he pointed at me.

The two of them started running for me. Something was bouncing on their backs, but I did not have time to examine it further. I started running away from them in the other direction, desperate to find some cover to hide. Sky, beside me, seemed not to know what to do at first. Then he started running after me, yipping along as if this was a game.

Knowing I could not have Sky give away my location if I wanted to lose them, I desperately reached for a stick and threw it.

"Fetch," I shouted.

Sky took a quick right turn and sped off for the stick. But in stopping, Clive and Neil had closed the gap on me. Then from behind his back, Clive drew a bow and aimed.

I reached for my knife, but it was too late. Clive's first arrow launched toward me. I dropped in a panic, only for the arrow to have flown off to my left. Taking this chance, I raced towards Clive with my knife drawn.

With an arrow reloaded into his bow, he aimed again. This time he did not miss. But, since he was only aiming at me, he hit the center of my body. Blood dripped out from the arrow lodged into my stomach. Too much adrenaline was flowing for me to quit my charge.

I managed to tackle Clive scraping my knife down his forearm.

"Help me! Neil!" Clive cried out.

"Stop the both of you!" Neil pleaded.

Clive and I began to wrestle over the knife. The knife got loose from my grasp and slid away as we did. At that moment, Neil dove for the knife and quickly got back to his feet.

"Good, now stab him!" Clive shouted.

"Damnit," I cried.

The pain from the arrow wound was becoming too much to bear. I could feel myself beginning to lose consciousness.

"No, you went too far this time Clive," Neil said.

"Fine, I will finish this myself!" Clive responded.

With no knife between us, Clive had the upper hand. He managed to work his way on top of me, pinning me with his weight. With one hand on my throat, Clive reached for the arrow in my stomach and twisted. After twisting it, he yanked the arrow out of me.

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I screamed in pain. Blood was gushing out of me now. All I could do was attempt to slow the bleeding. But Clive, in his malice, was not letting go of me.

Clive reached over and grabbed an arrow that had spilled out as the two of us had been wrestling. As he did, I could hear footsteps racing toward him. From out of the brush, Sky came charging forward at Clive. Sky managed to bite deep into Clive's forearm, forcing him to drop the arrow.

"Ouch! Stupid dog, bite me!" Clive shouted as he started to crawl away from Sky.

Sky had let go of Clive and was now standing between us, growling. Seeing that his only weapons were cut off from him by Sky and Neil. Clive said, "Let's go, Neil. He will bleed out soon anyways."

"No!"

"What do you mean no?"

"No, I will stay and make sure Devin doesn't die," Neil said.

"Why would you do that?" Clive asked.

"Because if we kill her for being herself, then we are no better than monsters!"

"What are you talking about! That is a boy and, further to that, a monster!"

"Shut it!" Neil responded.

Clive lingered a moment looking at Neil and then back down at the growling Sky. Clive spat into the earth cradling his mangled arm, and staggered away.

"Can I help?" Neil asked.

Sky was still growling, but now it was directed toward Neil. He had no intention of letting anyone else near me.

"Sky, stop! Let him near," I said.

It hurt to speak. Each word sent more blood spewing out of me. Neil approached me and began working to stop the bleeding that he could. He ripped apart my bloodied shirt and used it as a bandage.

"There, that should stop the bleeding for now," Neil said.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked.

"Because it's the right thing to do."

"It would have been the right thing all those other times!"

"I know. I am sorry."

"Sorry doesn't fix a punctured artery," I said.

Neil looked at the blood-stained ground beneath us. He looked like he was about to cry and leave me here.

"Thank you," I spurted out. "You saved my life today. Sorry may not fix it, but time does."

I tried to smile as I said the last part. I could feel it was a bit of a cringe since the pain from my gut was still tearing me apart.

"We should try and get you to see a doctor," Neil said.

"No, I don't want to go back to Hillcrest."

"Okay, so what should we do then?"

"I don't know."

Sky started whimpering and nuzzling me. Then he started barking at me. He started quietly then his barks grew in cadence and volume.

"Sky, stop that!" I cried.

But Sky would not stop barking at me and the world.

Then I saw the shapes of more people coming toward us. There were four of them in total. They were in what looked to be a mad trot down the hillside. As they approached, I could see the almost sour look on Alfonso's face. I also noticed the fact that my brother Rupert was trailing behind Alfonso. The four of them made their way toward us.

"Thomas, lovely day for a stroll, isn't it?" I called out mockingly to the town guard in their midst. Thomas had always been one of the older kids worth admiration. "I thought I would go out and see if I couldn't awaken an army of the undead in that swamp. Didn't you always say that hundreds of people had their ultimate resting place under those willow trees?"

"And?" Thomas replied, "What did your experiment find?"

"I am not sure my guardian demon said the results would show themselves by midnight."

"Enough, Devin," Cinthia said. She was dawned in a full combat suit,

She was the first to make it to me. She assessed my wounds and quickly poured a red liquid from a vial onto them. As the liquid hit my injury, burning pain ran through me. I could feel the damage forcing itself closed.

"Oww, Cinthia, you could have warned me first," I said.

"No, time is of the essence with a wound like that. Alfonso and Thomas help her up and escort her to the manor."

"Wait, can't we talk about this first?" I asked. I was trying to smile the day's situation away.

"Devin!" Alfonso had finally spoken up. "Enough. You know why we are here."

I hated when Alfonso acted like this. He could be such a stick in the mud for rules. Alfonso never got this mad on my behalf, even when I told him of Clive bullying me.

"I know," I replied, losing my bravado from before.

Alfonso always had that effect on me. I could never find the courage to stand up for myself around him.

"Now Alfonso, try to be a bit more chivalrous. The girl took an arrow straight through," Cinthia interjected.

"What happened here?" Thomas asked Neil.

"Umm, it was Clive's idea," Neil claimed.

"We will be having a conversation about this boy. But, Alfonso and Thomas, you should be getting Devin out of here. Rupert, take Sky back home with you," Cinthia said.

I looked over at Rupert with a sad smile. Then I turned to Sky, "Okay, boy, go back home with Rubert. Okay? It will be a while until we see each other again, but do everything Rupert says. Also, take your biggest poops in Clive's yard daily, okay?"

Sky gave me a quick tilt of the head as if he was uncertain of what I had said.

"Rupert, please, a little help here," I told my brother.

With a little more encouragement, Sky followed Rupert back home. I followed my makeshift captors to Hillcrest's most esteemed prison, the Hillcrest Manor. Along the way, I could feel the stares of the townspeople.

"Is that the demon?" a man asked.

"Looks like someone tried to do the world a favor," another remarked.

"Thomas, you should hand it over! That way, our Lord and Lady won't sully their hands with it!" screamed an elderly hag.

I stuck my tongue limply out at them as we passed by. With all their yells and jeering, no one stopped us. Not with the young lord accompanying me.

The number of onlookers dwindled as we approached the estate. But, even here, I couldn't help but think all eyes were on me. It didn't strike me yesterday, but Hillcrest Manor had increased its staff. We passed two new gardeners attending the rose bushes on the way in. We also walked by three maids I had never seen cleaning out the chapel after yesterday's ceremony. Our group headed away from the chapel and towards the manor on the other side of the estate.

It occurred to me while following my captors that we moved not towards the guest wing of the manor. Instead, we were heading downwards into the cellar below the estate.

"Where are you leading me, Alfy?" I said.

The main estate was lavish, sparing no expense. Alfonso had called it gaudy, even by his family's taste. The cellar was another story entirely. Put plainly, the basement of my family's home was less deteriorated than this cellar. The annual maintenance looked to be postponed for the last 50 years.

"We are guiding you down to your room. The room where you will stay until the inquisitors arrive," Alfonso replied. "It may not be the dryest or cleanest space, but it won't kill you. Well, I don't think it will. Just don't eat any of the molds."

"Alfonso, you know I am not a threat. Why is this kind of treatment necessary? Can't I just stay upstairs in your room? I won't try anything. You know I won't!" I pleaded with him with a few additional bats of the eyes to sweeten the deal.

We had the occasional sleepover, but since I didn't sleep well without Sky, they became more sparse. Besides, the whole coming out thing also put an end to it.

"Because Devin, not everyone holds the same level of trust in you. Don't worry. It won't be as bad as you think. I had Sarah move a mattress down. I also had Bertram select a few books from my family's library that you could use. Also, Thomas, here will be your attendant and guard."

As Alfonso stopped, we found a room that could lock from the outside. It indeed had a bed equipped with a warm blanket and two pillows. The bed had been placed on the ground, snug against an outer wall. The room also had the promised stack of books on the edge of a small wooden desk. It wasn't a prison cell, but its stone walls and the iron-grated window did not make for the most inviting room.

"Do you think I could get a couple of extra blankets? I don't know how I will sleep without the extra warmth of Sky," I asked Thomas. I paused, fully taking in my new situation. Then continued, "By the way, thank you in advance. I am glad you are my guard and not another."

It was true if it couldn't be Alfonso to guard me, then Thomas was the next best option. Thomas had been a genuinely nice person. Even now, he was still treating me like myself.

"Don't think about it again, Devin. After all, if I do a good job here, I could have free bread for life," Thomas replied, grinning at me.

"I don't know if my family holds me in such regard," I replied.

The awkwardness filled the room as Thomas understood what I was trying to convey.

"What will you use all that clay for?" Thomas asked, setting down my filled backpack near the door.

"Thought I would take up the hobby of pottery in case they let me out of this place. It seemed like a simple enough life," I replied.

Shaking his head, Thomas climbed back up the stairs where we had come down. As I stood alone with Alfonso, I could not help but reflect. Had what my brother and Clive had been beating into my mind been true? Was Alfonso my friend? Alfonso gestured me into the room and locked me inside as if to pound the last nail in that coffin. I was nothing more than his prisoner.