A single heartbeat surged through Arvel like a bolt of lightning. His eyes snapped open. His face was half buried against dirt and half-decomposed leaves. His lungs burned, and he could taste copper in his mouth. He opened his mouth to scream from the pain, but only coughed out more blood on the ground.

Death was not the end for Arvel. It was barely even a disruption. But he would do anything to not go through it again.

Arvel groaned as he pushed himself up off of the ground, shaking. The blood on his skin had begun drying already, and he could feel the sticky mess on his back cracking and chipping away as his skin flexed. His fingers curled and clawed at the leaves and dirt, digging through them before he found the leather-wrapped handle of his hatchet, and he lifted it up out of the decay.

Rain and Melodia walked through the forest to the east, away from the others, and toward rockier terrain as the tree cover thinned.

“You believe in him, don’t you?” Melodia asked, “That he could be a knight?”

“Of course,” Rain said softly, smiling, “He’s kind, and strong, and... well... He may not like to let it show, but I know that Arvel cares about people. He saved me when he didn’t have to. He brought Fidget into his home when he didn’t have to. He opened his doors and shared his food with Ser Lunette, without a moment’s hesitation. He talks about only wanting peace and quiet, but any time that he’s ever seen a need, it was as if he felt compelled to answer it.”

“That sounds like it would be something very easy to use, wouldn’t it?” Melodia asked.

Rain stopped in her tracks.

“What?” Rain asked, uncertain she heard Melodia correctly.

Melodia paused and turned to look back at Rain, smiling.

“You want him to be your knight,” said Melodia, “So all you have to do is be someone in need and he’ll race to your side. He can’t help it. If you did it carefully, he might not even notice it was happening until he was already clad in pristine armor and answering to ‘Sir Arvel’.”

Melodia laughed softly, but Rain couldn’t even muster a smile.

“I wouldn’t do that to him,” said Rain, “I wouldn’t betray his trust like that.”

“Didn’t you, already?” Melodia asked, “Bringing all of these humans here to his doorstep, encouraging them to start a new village practically in his yard. You’ve already put your wants before his.”

Rain clutched her hands over her heart, her blood running cold, as she said, “That was never my intent!”

“Wasn’t it?” Melodia asked, walking closer to Rain. She stood right in front of her, her face just inches away, as she said, “Betraying his trust and then backing away is not the act of charity you seem to think it is. I believe Arvel would call it a ‘moral balancing act’.”

Rain’s shoulders shook as her eyes began to mist.

“I don’t know what to do,” Rain whispered.

Melodia lifted her hands to touch Rain’s shoulders, squeezing them gently, and said, “You could keep going. You could lead him into what you want. Show him that he really wants that too, in the end. It isn’t a kindness to stop manipulating him after you’ve started, something that could easily be forgiven and forgotten. All it displays is a lack of conviction.”

For the briefest of moments, all of Melodia’s words made sense. Rain knew that she could make Arvel happy. She knew it. He’d be such an amazing knight, and all of Nathulan would flourish under his protection as the next Immortal Knight. But his words echoed in the back of her mind.

“I’d rather farm turnips.”

“That was my pa,” Arvel said, “I’m just a farmer.”

“I ain’t no immortal knight.”

Rain lifted her hands and shoved Melodia away from her, violently.

“Stop it!” Rain shouted, “I don’t know why you’re saying these awful things, but... But I would never do that to him! I made a mistake. I made a terrible, awful mistake, and I played on Arvel’s kindness, but I did it to try to help my people... and I’m prepared to spend the rest of my life trying to repay him for that. But I would never, ever think it was okay to do it again.”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Melodia stumbled back, her head down, hair fallen over her face. She stood there a moment, before she lunged forward, lifting her hands to wrap around Rain’s throat. Rain gasped sharply before the pressure on her windpipe clenched down, and in her struggle to get away, she fell on her back, thudding heavily on the mixture of pebbles and dirt, and Melodia quickly mounted her.

“Do you think sin is something you can just wash off in the river?” Melodia asked, “Do you think that you can be forgiven if you’re sweet enough? If you play innocent, maybe he’ll believe you that you never meant it? If you surrender your body, he might still love you after what you did?”

Rain began to panic, pushing and clawing at Melodia over top of her, but Melodia only squeezed tighter. She tried to scream, but no sound escaped.

“It’s never going to ‘be okay’,” Melodia whispered, “It can’t be. I won’t let you.”

Suddenly, Melodia slumped forward, letting go of Rain’s throat and planting her hands on the ground on either side of her head. Rain gasped for air, shoving Melodia off of her as she scrambled back across the ground, until she ran into something, or rather, into someone.

When Rain looked up, she saw Arvel standing over her, his body still smeared with dried blood. She had backed up against his legs, but he barely even budged. Arvel wiped his chin with the back of his forearm, rubbing away a mixture of blood and sweat, and kept his eyes on Melodia as he asked “Rain, are you okay?”

Rain tried to answer, but only coughed, before managing a small nod. She felt even more dizzy as the adrenaline began to fade.

Arvel slowly knelt down behind Rain, and he wrapped his arms around her, hugging her against his chest. He clung to her tightly, but only for a moment, before he let Rain go and slowly stood back up.

Melodia curled up on the ground on her elbows and knees, before she reached back, and grabbed the hilt of the hatched embedded in the back of her shoulder. She wailed in pain as she yanked the hatchet out and threw it on the ground, a splash of purple blood arcing across the dirt and stones as the tool clattered in front of Arvel’s feet. From the rip in the back of her dress, her shoulder began to bulge and deform.

“Wh-What’s...” Rain whispered hoarsely, trembling.

Arvel walked in front of Rain, and reached down to pick the hatchet up off of the ground, saying, “I want you to stay back.”

Melodia’s back bulged and twisted as she writhed on the ground. Her hair began to change color starting at the scalp, as if someone were pouring white paint on her crown that dripped down to the tips, while her skin began to darken, turning sickly before blooming into a shade of lavender. Suddenly, the back of her dress burst open in tatters, as two raven-black feathered wings stretched out above her, flicking away droplets of rich purple blood.

“...de... demon...” Rain coughed, gently touching her bruised throat.

A shout in the distance rang out, “Lady Deleraine!”

When Rain looked up, she saw Lunette run past her, drawing her sword before her feet skidded to a stop beside Arvel. The two of them stood at Rain’s defense, their strong backs toward her, and turning their weapons toward Melodia.

“Thought I told you t’get the loggers out of here,” Arvel said, shaking the purple blood off his hatchet that was beginning to sizzle and etch the metal.

“They’re on their way down the mountain with all haste,” Lunette said, staring down the black winged creature before her, “But I could not leave you and my lady alone.”

“Well,” said Arvel, “Not much to be done about that now.”

Melodia let out a shriek as she lifted up, her back arching, wings stretching out behind her. She raised off of the ground, the shreds of her green dress falling away, dispersing and vanishing like morning mist. In her true form, her body was clad in a bodice of black feathers, wrapping around her hips and ribs, cradling her breasts and cupping between her thighs, only scantily covering her svelte body. Once she was alight, her contorted features calmed, her purple eyes opening to gaze down at Rain cowering on the ground, and Arvel and Lunette standing ready to fight before her.

“You got up faster than I expected,” Melodia said, “You’re stronger than you used to be.”

“Yeah,” said Arvel, “I’m strong enough now to do what I should’ve done six years ago.”

“You know this woman?” Lunette asked, “This demon?”

Arvel only nodded, and responded with a terse “Yeah.”

Melodia extended her arms at her sides, hands outstretched, her fingers curling and nails lengthening into sharp claws that glinted in the smattering of vanishing daylight. The sun was sinking in the west, and the light through the trees had lit their clearing in warm, fire-like shades.

“I am stronger too,” Melodia said, “Stronger than you ever could’ve imagined. And I will only grow stronger when I consume every human who’s dared to stake claim to the wasteland.”

“You can’t let her grab hold of you,” Arvel said, “She isn’t playing around anymore, like she was with Rain. If she gets ahold of you, it’s all over.”

“Then she shan’t,” Lunette replied firmly.

“You go left, I go right?” Arvel asked.

Lunette answered, “Aye.”

Without a word to cue them, both Arvel and Lunette darted forward, kicking up dirt and pebbles in their wake as they ran toward Melodia. Arvel ran in a wide ark to the left, and Lunette to the right, before the two of them suddenly swerved to cross their paths. Lunette kept her weight low as she sliced at Melodia’s legs, floating several feet off the ground.

Melodia moved with grace, lifting her legs out of the way of Lunette’s slice as she spun effortlessly in the air. But as she turned, she caught a glint from the corner of her eye, and lifted her claw to catch Arvel’s hatchet as he leapt through the air, swinging the thick blade down at her face.

“Does it not pain you?” Melodia asked, “I just killed you a little while ago. How are you so certain you won’t be giving me your life again?”

She gripped the hatchet head and slung it to the side, tossing Arvel and his weapon aside like a toy. Arvel twisted in the air to land on his feet, but his momentum overcame him and soon he was skidding across the ground, leaving a trench in the thin covering of pebbles.

“I have to be certain,” Arvel muttered, as he pushed himself back up to his feet, “Because I’ve already given you way too much.”