The following day, Leoy’Shaah did something that surprised no one: She left.

She didn’t go in peace, though. When the suns began their ascension, marking the beginning of the day, the townsfolk noticed black pillar of smoke that had been camouflaged by dawn. The group of villagers (Including a squad of guards), upon arriving at the source, discovered the smoldering crisp that was Leoy’Shaah’s home.

“That woman is a demon,” Hissed the head priestess.

“Perhaps this was her exorcism, then,” Quon replied, gazing out the window at the column emanating from the east. I should have known that Zayno boy would have been a problem! All problems can be traced back to men!”

“As you say, chieftain…” The head priestess replied, “...Do you think she will come back?”

“Don’t make me laugh, priestess! If she doesn’t, she will become the next meal of those beasts! If she has any sense of danger, she will return within the next few days.”

“And if she doesn’t…?” The priestess asked.

Quon waved his hand, “There would be no point in trying to find her. I hear the hunters say that reptiles drag their prey in their den.”

"As you say, chieftain,” the priestess replied, but she felt a sense of unease.

The forest seemed to be much less frightening in the day, even if Leoy’Shaah knew that she was in more danger than at night.

Sure enough, she walked carefully around a group of lizard-birds that were scavenging the leftover wolves that had been slain the previous night. They screeched at her defensively as she distanced herself from them. These birds would gladly prefer fresh meat over some animal carcass.

She had, of course, brought a couple of pieces of meat and a loaf of bread with her before she left, as well as the coat that Zayno had made for her.

Upon thinking of Zayno, even for a moment, she fell to the ground and sobbed. But she quickly collected herself. She had cried herself to sleep the previous night. Perhaps she had not gotten all of her tears out.

Finally, she made it to the small pond at the base of the lake. There were many of those small half-feathered, half-reptilian creatures no larger than a chicken.

Upon seeing her, they quickly retreated into the forest area.

Leoy’Shaah thre her head forward into the shimmering pond. The fish there also swam away.

She rolled her whole body in. The pond was not very deep. If she had been standing the water would have not reached even her thighs.

Still, she attempted to end her miserable life in the shallowest of waters. It did not work. She swallowed a huge amount of water and sighed, rolling onto her back. It shouldn’t have been possible to cry more, yet she managed to squeeze every last salty drop from her eyes until they ran drier than the fabled desert.

Zayno was gone. He was gone forever.

She shot up and screamed, “Is this your doing god!? You neglect your children!? Curse you for all of my life!”

“Show us your face! Stop hiding behind old men! Stop hiding behind words that mean nothing! Stop hiding behind uncertainty! Come down and show me who you are! Show me the all-powerful being who decided to take away all the light of my life! My name is Zayno! I will burn down the village if–”

You want pain! You like watching me suffer?! How about I share that pain with the rest of your children!?

But Leoy’Shaah knew that she had no capability.

If only I had the strength of a man… What I could do with these hands…

But Zayno wouldn’t want this…

Either god wasn’t real, or he left his children to rot.

Eventually, with a lot of heavy breathing and maybe some more crying, she got up and assessed her situation. Leoy’Shaah needed to build a house if she was to survive out here alone. The suns were still rising, which meant she had plenty of time to try and build some sort of home.

She looked up the long, winding path back up to the mountain.

I will never go back there…

The first thing she did was look for materials. The area was luckily a popular area for hunting. So much so that the local animals, having even the most primitive intelligence, moved their habitation elsewhere, farther down the terrain, perhaps.

The good news, was that meant Leoy’Shaah was in not danger. She knew wolves stayed away from human structures, and reptiles were most active at day.

The bad news was that it also meant there was very little opportunity to hunt.

Sure, women in the past were the gatherers. But those times were long gone since the day that her ancestors called the mountain their home. She had no idea what fruits and nuts were edible. This was something that she realized when her stomach grumbled and she ate her food. It would not last forever. She would starve if she tried to hunt here.

But Leoy’Shaah began to realize that her biggest danger away from the safety of the mountain was not whatever creature might be lurking about, or her inevitable starvation. But rather the mysterious tribe that laid somewhere in the plains. Exactly how much of a danger they posed Leoy’Shaah, she knew not, but she knew that a human could be more brutal than any animal.

She started by doing what she saw every builder do: Gather leaves and shoots. She made no mistake in her expectations; she was building a home, not a house. Her visions of a strong, fortified hut quickly deteriorated. By the time the two suns reached the middle of the sky, she had nothing but a pathetic excuse for a shelter.

2 days passed.

The hunger ate at her.

She starved at it.

On the third day, she decided to hunt. A risky, but necessary choice. But what would she hunt? Some of the more feathered reptilian birds were drinking near the river. They cleverly kept away from the snap-jaws, which could end their fragile lives in one bite, and swallow them whole with it. Meanwhile, Leoy’Shaah crouched on the bush, awaiting the moment to strike. A gamble. Rewarding if they should come forth, punishing if they wander away. It was the bow that killed, not only the prey, the thrill of hunting itself.

I should have brought a bow.

But Leoy’Shaah didn’t know how to use a bow, so it would be useless.

She gripped the piece of stone.

Quick breaths. Keep it slow. Keep it fast… Control it. But make it slow when you want.

The birds suddenly froze, like a shared mind, and perked up.

Damn!

The biggest male, one with elegant stripes that had once been worn out of pride of the hunter of whom struck it with his own bare hands, stretched his wings. He turned toward the bush Leoy’Shaah was hiding in, preparing for a quick departure.

And Leoy’shaah would not wait for that moment. She launched herself from the leaves. The bird had no time to take flight before Leoy’Shaah crushed it under her weight. The other birds quickly left, something that would not have happened in an organized hunt.

She looped her hands around its neck and began to strangle it. Its bones crunched in Leoy’Shaah hands while it thrashed. Eventually, after what seemed like a long time, the bird stopped moving. Leoy’Shaah had bent its head at an unsurvivable angle, yet its body still yearned for freedom long after.

Leoy’Shaah rose from the corpse of the small animal. Its death had been surprisingly bloodless, since Leoy’Shaah had chosen not to use the rock at the last second, in order to leave both of her hands open to grab the bird. Leoy’Shaah brought the creature back to her makeshift home and set it on a flat stone. She then stared at it for a long time, trying to decide how she would go about meal preparation.

Cooking it over and open flame would have to do. And although the soil was moist, she was sure that if she looked hard enough, she would find some plants dry enough to sustain a flame.

She chose some of the dry grass in the far plains. As Leoy’Shaah carefully navigated downward, she scouted as well.

Unbon territory is south east… North is the way to go.

She had no idea why she kept this thought to herself. She was no longer surrounded by the judgement of others nor did she have to be silent for the sake of not disturbing anything.

“Unbon territory is south east! So I will go north!”

There was no response. Only the sound of the wind replied, whistling through her ears. Then again, she had not expected any.

The plains consisted of a gradual transition from blades of healthy grass, to an arid region, thus was the reason for her people’s wariness. The Unbon might’ve extended their hunting grounds to that of Mountain Village, but their home lay in the dusty plains…

With the reptilians.

She crouched in the tall grass. The Unbon could easily kill her should they spot her. She had heard the stories of how they had domesticated the stallions and rode them. Across the plains at sunset. Hunters told stories that they heard the war cries of the Unbon as they brought down lizard beasts hundreds of times their size.

She moved forward in the grass, her stomach rumbled. The further she went, the drier the grass. Finally, she had progressed to an area where the grass was so dry that they broke in half when she stepped on them. She gathered an armful of them and was about to head back when she heard a sound that sent chills down her spine.

“Uuuuuuuraaaaaaaaaah!!!”

She immediately threw her body down as she heard the thundering sound of hooves blow past her.

After a few moments of earth-trembling cries, she rose back up, lower than she had crouched before still. And after a much longer time, she dared to slink her way back to her camp. She clenched her teeth at every crunch of the leaves until they became soft enough for her to run back into the safety of the forest.

After a while, she found the courage to come back out, and begin rubbing sticks together to try and start a flame. Just a quick, small fire, She thought, If they see me, I’m dead!

Finally, the fire started, and Leoy’Shaah quickly lept to her feet and went to retrieve the meat, returning a few moments later.

She jabbed a particularly sharp stick through the meat and let it dangle over the fire, propped up by two other sticks.

At first, the only smell she detected was the smoke that filler her lungs, causing her to almost retreat from the fire entirely. But what came next was the familiar smell of meat, which kept her close. She threw more leaves to keep the fire going, and the meat progressively became darker.

Once Leoy’Shaah was satisfied with her cooking, she carefully removed the meat from the stake, plopping it onto a large leaf to wait for it to cool. After what seemed like an eternity with her stomach begging her to scarf down the steaming meal, she finally took her first bite when the steam cleared.

The texture had been achieved, no doubt. The toughness was mostly attributed to leaving the meat on the fire for a longer amount of time, even despite the fact that it was bird meat, which was known by hunters to be quite soft, even when cooked over the ideal times.

But there was no way Leoy’Shaah could have known this, for she had never bothered to learn anything about hunting or cooking, besides watching people who had the profession. She would never have thought just a few days ago that she would be stranded out in the wilderness.

Alone.

She took another bite, just as tough and flavorless as the first. Then she kept biting until there was nothing left.

The rest of Leoy’Shaah’s day was uneventful. She did a little more to improve her new home. Adding sticks and bamboo shoots increased the structural integrity of the house by reinforcing what she had already started. In the end, she saw the house to be complete. It had two sections: the first floor being storage, and the second being where she slept. She reinforced this part the best she could, making sure every piece of bamboo was interlocked with another to form almost a container.

After she had done all these things, she rewarded herself with sleep.

Then, something happened that she had not experienced for a long time: A nightmare.

As soon as Leoy’Shaah rose from her bed, she immediately knew she was no longer in the world she recognized, a feeling all too familiar to her. An entirely fabricated world, one designed to torture her.

But something was very different this time.

Leoy’Shaah almost felt like… She had control?

This experience was dismaying to Leoy’Shaah; the last time she had a nightmare or dream was in her teenage years. And one characteristic that had been omnipresent though everyone was her lack of control.

In those dreams, she did what she did in the moment. But when she looked back at it, she felt a sense of her own unwillingness. She never decided to move her body, it simply moved on its own to play out the rest of the dream.

But here… Here it was different. She could move, she was aware of what she was doing and that she was dreaming.

Now feeling less distressed, she took some time to observe her surroundings. She was in the same house she had gone to sleep in, except…

It was much much bigger.

The room was absolutely massive. All seemingly made from bamboo and twigs, but not in the shape of a hut, but a fortress. The ceiling was higher up and the floor felt more solid than before. And there was a full door instead of just a trapdoor.

Leoy’Shaah…

She froze. The voice was familiar to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. She knew the voice made her feel safe and loved. It was a voice she associated with all good and…

Zayno!?

Hearing her own voice almost shocked her more than hearing Zayno’s. In her past dreams, she had never been able to speak, let alone, control what she said.

After recovering, she approached the door. She grabbed the knob and began to twist.

But then she stopped.

If this is a nightmare…What happens when I open this door? What will I see?

The worst possibilities ran through her mind. The world ending, Zayno dying again, me killing people…? Do I want to open this door?

Her thoughts were not answered. Would she fall for yet another cruel, self-imposed psychological trap, or would she resist his sickeningly sweet tongue?

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Leoy’Shaah felt like a fly drawn to nectar, with the only difference being that she knew better than a fly, but she still chose to go ahead.

She took a deep breath. Whatever you went through when you were younger… You were a mere child. Now you are grown! What can be so horrifying? Enough with your cowardice!

Suddenly, the door opened… On its own. Leoy’Shaah jumped back in an unbridled rather unbridled fashion. She was more afraid of the door now more than anything.

Her back slammed into a wall… Except that wall didn’t used to be there. It appeared that the room had changed while she wasn’t looking at it. Yes, the terror of the dreamworld, truly remarkable.

She turned back to the door only to notice that it had changed as well, for it no longer existed. Both the door, and frame segment of the wall were completely gone, merging the two rooms into a singular room.

And in the center of that room, was a table.

And on the table, was a cake.

“Happy Birthday, Leoy’Shaah.”

She shrieked and leaped away from her previous spot. The voice came from behind her and was unmistakably…

The voice of her late friend.

She fell to the ground, painlessly, of course. As she had willed herself to not experience misery in her own head, though she was beginning to suspect that she was not in as much control as she had initially assumed.

No! That can’t be…

Her face was still to the ground, which she realized was no longer comprised of mere bamboo, but rather small individual particles that made up the complex texture of dirt. Sure enough, the next breath she took was filled with that of the earth. Her chest was prickled with hard sticks and rocks.

She took her next shuddering breath. One unfortunately plagued by fear and uncertainty, rather than the solid reality she held near and dear. That being the very ground she called home.

Don’t turn around, don’t turn around, don’t turn–

Leoy’Shaah whirled her head around, not sure what she was really expecting to see. Would it be a ghost? A demon? A reanimated corpse? Or would it simply be nothing?

But it was none of those things. It was just… Zayno.

It was just Zayno.

It was just him.

The sight of him in the vividly lucid moonlight nearly took her breath away. He was dressed in frankly impossibly beautiful clothing. How? She didn’t know. But somehow, her mind curated the perfect clothing for a man she felt tugged at her heart with every chance he had. Somehow, he was more elegant and regal than she could ever hope to catch him with her own eyes.

This impossible encounter tore her into two strips: Indulgence, and denial. Part of her wanted to run away, to quit. He wasn’t real, he couldn’t be. But yet there he was.

And she found her other half attracted to him.

Zayno didn’t move. He simply watched her. Not in a glare or stare… But just with awe and comfort. Like she was the one who had been taken from him, and not the other way around.

Luckily, there was something that both of her half agreed upon. A truce. A shake of her hands.

Crying.

Leoy’Shaah wept like the fiercest of storms. And rain that poured from her eyes soaked the dirt she knelt upon and the clothing that she wore. She found it quite easy to do. Her eyes were too dry sometimes, and she would merely irritate them further by trying to force something out that wasn’t there. But the tears that came this time were not only bountiful, but refreshing in their own way.

After she choked and sobbed, she eventually recovered and drew quick gasps to make up for her lost breath. She had not managed to drain her eyes… Yet strangely, she had satiated her yearn to cry.

She took a slow deep breath and turned around slowly. Again, part of her wanted to turn around and see nothing. Zayno would no longer be there, not even in her dreams, to torture her with his absence in her life. And the other part of her, wanted her one last look at the man she had almost proposed marriage to.

He was still there. Wearing the same elegant clothes as before.

Leoy’Shaah, being the foolish woman she was, still could not decide her feelings on Zayno.

“Y-you’re not real!” She cried, “w–what are you—?”

He put his fingers up to his lips, “Shhhhhhhhh…”

Leoy’Shaah shivered. “Speak! Speak to me with your voice again Zayno! I want to hear it! I want to hear from you again! I—”

Suddenly, he moved, no, teleported directly in front of her and laid a single kiss on her forehead.

His pale white skin was the only thing that shone in moons. He stepped back into the full light above.

“Happy birthday, Leoy’Shaah. I love you.”

“Z–Z–Zayn-no?”

Yes… Yes, Leoy’Shaah, It’s me. I told you I would visit on your birthday… And that I would—”

Leoy’Shaah’s mind finally snapped into place. His voice… His body… His touch… It was all enough to melt her worries away in an instant. She launched herself towards him, to prove to herself that he wasn't just… A figment of her imagination… Even if she knew well worth a damn that he passed less than a day ago, and she watched it… This was her closure. This was her final goodbye.

She was going to make the most of it.

Zayno looked mildly surprised at her sudden decision to pounce on him like a feline. But he made no effort to dodge. She landed on him with the ferocity he knew her for: That undeniable hidden craving to have what she wanted at any cost, a trait suppressed only by Zayno’s teachings of temperance and her own humility.

Leoy’Shaah mounted him almost immediately, much like she had in the forest. He didn’t fight back, but then again she hadn’t expected him to.

There was one difference that Leoy’Shaah knew would set her encounter with Zayno now and then apart: She knew what she would do to him.

First, she kissed him on the cheek, then she hugged him. She looped her arms around him and locked them together like a greedy tick. And she squeezed him tight.

I know you’re dead… But please, just let me have this.

And he did. He complied with her wishes. He let her straddle, squeeze, and bury her face into his body.

After a bit. She rose up from her.

“Please say something to me, Zayno! Tell me I'll be alright! Lull me to sleep. Lull me to a permanent sleep! Give me the well deserved rest, so I can be with you in the afterlife!”

At this, Zayno’s body tensed, which, in turn, sent chills back into Leoy’Shaah. But he relaxed soon after.

“I’m sorry my dear Alexandra… But you will not ever have the release of death, In fact, you will have quite the opposite.

Leoy’Shaah coughed. “What do you even mean by that—?”

Zayno looked at her with a fair expression.

“Am I… dead?” She asked, almost whispering. Did I die in my sleep? Is this the afterlife? Will I get to be with Zayno… Here? Is this heaven?!

Zayno then did something Leoy’Shaah almost missed, he began to slowly slide away from her. He could no doubt push her away or flip her on her back with one fail swoop, but instead, he opted for the less violent approach. Luckily, or so Leoy’Shaah thought, she managed to catch him doing so, and subjugate him once more.

“Answer me you… Zayno,” She hissed.

“It’s a surprise,” He answered simply, “You can think of it as a coming-of-age gift, more so than a parting gift.”

Now Leoy’Shaah was thoroughly confused. And this time, Zayno did exactly what she didn’t expect him to do:

He rolled her off of him.

Leoy’Shaah quickly found herself facing the sky once more. But landing on the hard sticks and stones didn’t inflict any pain on her, it was more so the idea that Zayno had gone ahead and shoved her off.

Maybe… Just maybe he’s fed up with me now…

Leoy’Shaah heaved a sigh, and it was because she looked up and saw stars. No black patch eating the stars. They were all there. All uncountable of them.

The crunch of leaves unmistakably gave away Zayno’s change in posture, let alone his strides away from the patch. Leoy’Shaah rose from her place in the dirt as well.

“W– Hey! Where are you going?!” She called out, “Come back!”

Zayno stopped at the edge of the woods. He leaned against a tree as he overlooked the plains. The calm green mixed with the darkness of the sky, completely overshadowed the rich, seasonally diverse blades that laid side by side across the span of said plains, until eventually cross-hatching into the dry, cracked terrain devoid of life, and then finally, the obscure, wonderous far lands that no one dares venture beyond.

Yet somehow, Leoy’Shaah had the imminent feeling that Zayno’s origins were even farther and greater than she could comprehend now. He stared off into the wildlife like he appreciated it very much, but was not satisfied.

“Come, Leoy’Shaah. Follow me to the top of the mountain.”

“No. I won’t.”

He paused, then leaned back against the tree.

“Those people…! They killed you, Zayno…”

Zayno cocked his head, “How so?”

“I–” Leoy’Shaah didn’t know how to respond. She had been conflicted about whether or not she was dreaming, hallucinating, dead, or…

That this was Zayno, in the flesh.

“Are you… Alive?” Leoy’Shaah asked, stuttering with every syllable.

A complex wave of emotions washed over Zayno, most of which she couldn’t decipher. She would have guessed that he was feeling some sort of confusion, pity, or maybe even some sort of happiness, though she easily mistaken happiness for amusement.

It was when Zayno finally spoke, did Leoy’Shaah finally begin to get a grip on the situation she was in.

“I am conscious… But, I now lack a physical body.”

“So you’re…”

You’re a ghost… Zayno’s a–a… Ghost. But! That’s impossible! There are no ghosts, Quon said so–

Quon.

A sudden rage entered and exited her in such a superfluous manner, that she would have been mistaken to assume she had no ill-will towards a man who put her best friend, her brother to death. But she had undoubtedly felt these feelings, for her physical body told a greater story than her mouth ever could. She felt her skin nearly boil for that second, and she would have taken her boiling skin and had used it to perhaps smooth out some of Quon’s wrinkles.

Zayno, being the very observant, especially to the unintentional exhibitions of behavior that came from Leoy’Shaah, man that he was, placed his hand on her shoulder.

Leoy’Shaah had been so blanked out by rage, even for half a moment, that she had completely ignored Zayno’s practical teleportation to her side. But his loyalty far overshadowed the means which he used to achieve it.

“So you’re not alive?” Leoy’Shaah asked, feeling tears well up again.

“Do you feel my hand on your shoulder, Alexandra?”

Alexandra. Alexandra was a name she used to use very often, especially when she was a lot younger. She used it because she had been embarrassed to use her last name: Leoy’Shaah. A name which was so odd, that it baffled many. And a part of those many thought it would be funny to remind her, or perhaps embarrass her over it. Leo was the name of the Beast-Warrior that fought the darkness in ancient tales. “Y” Mean’t “and” or “to join” or “united.”

“Shaah” meant “ruler” or “leader” or “savior.” So one could understand that this greatly upset Leoy’Shaah.

She had assumed the name Alexandra, especially since Wanu had chosen the name for her to stop the harassment from the other children. However, her last name had stuck to her like ox glue. She could not have ditched it like she had been ditched by her parents. Luckily, she had grown to like the name, almost glad that the people of the town spent every waking second conversing with her to remind her of it.

And it had been none other than Zayno that had shown Leoy’Shaah that her name was nothing to be ashamed of.

“If I ever had a name like you… Geez, I’d be flattered to have people calling me king!” It was that one phrase from Zayno that had persuaded her to quit running from a title that had meant mockery and humiliation for the longest time. To take such a grand title and wear it so unironically was what had filled her with the trust and love she still held for Zayno to this day.

Even if he was dead.

“Alexandra,” he repeated. In turn, once people had somehow become bored of mocking Leoy’Shaah, the name Alexandra had transformed into something of a more informal title. Something that Zayno would have yelled at her when she burnt bread, dropped a bucket, or tried to learn to swim without his help. Sort of a playful name that almost no one, not even Zayno himself, called her. She came to associate this name with attention-seeking. Whether the purpose was playful in nature, or serious.

It was serious, in this case.

“Leoy’Shaah, you can see me, and if you can see me, I am alive to you.”

“No you’re not!” Leoy’Shaah said, stepping away. She felt the ground shift beneath her feet, as if she had wronged the land itself. “I don’t know what you are… or what you did with Zayno–”

Suddenly, he disappeared.

Leoy’Shaah froze mid-sentence. There was no trace of Zayno anywhere, just her house, which she could barely see through the forest (It was now in its normal non-liminal form).

He was completely gone. Leoy’Shaah had seen people disappear before, but usually it was the chieftain who would display his power through a disappearing act. However, when Quon did it, he would vanish in a puff of smoke.

Zayno did not. When Zayno vanished, he did so with no warning or trace. And so Leoy’Shaah began to panic.

“Zayno…” She asked, “Where did you…”

Go to the mountain…

The voice echoed in her head.

“N-no! I won’t go back–!”

I am not referring to the mountain village, Alexandra… I speak of the Dethroned mountain. Once the tallest, now only seen as a reminder of lost power. Power I took from the proud… Find this mountain, and climb to the top. I will be waiting for you, for this mountain is in the direction of my home.

“Zayno..?”

There was no response from her friend. She was only met with a light breeze that carried her hair backwards.

Dethroned mountain… How would I even climb such a mountain? Unless…

That thing… That thing isn’t Zayno…

At this point, the realization was setting into Leoy’Shaah that perhaps she was not dreaming, and that perhaps this entity pretending to be Zayno was a spirit, ghost, or perhaps…

A demon…?

No, it simply couldn’t be. But there she was, and if her surroundings were as true as she saw, she had not been dreaming in the first place.

Nay… She thought, Spirits and ghosts cannot interact with us physically… and even then…

Her stomach twisted.

He would have to be a demon. She thought. It was the most logical explanation, at least, as far as magic went. Demons could appear as anyone, usually after death…

Which meant… Zayno had gone to hell.

Leoy’Shaah’s vision blurred. She felt as if her own soul were trying to leave her body.

It couldn’t be… H–he…

But it was. It was true. There was nothing else known to have the ability to appear as human like her.

Like Zayno…

Leoy’Shaah fell to the ground, feeling sick, then she threw up. What little she had eaten the past few days came out like a river of rot. After a few gasps of air, she tried to console herself, however, she found it very hard to; She had discovered that her childhood friend… Was an evil spirit, manipulating her, driving her away.

Isolating her.

Pieces fit together. Things that she didn’t understand before, but hindsight be clear as the sunrise, that she now things were not as they had appeared. She felt a new emotion: one that she never dreamed of experiencing, for only one person had ever gotten as close to her as Zayno.

Betrayal.

She threw up again, but this time, her body had nothing left to give. So the world had nothing left to take. It was on that forest floor that she curled up into a ball and fell asleep.

Now you have taken all but my life, so go on and take that as well.

There was no response from this god that she died her heart out to, but she knew for sure he was hearing her.

“I’ve had quite a life, really!” Leoy’Shaah insisted to her figment, “The time has come for me now, and I have seen everything.”

Oh Leoy’Shaah, you couldn’t be more wrong…

Zayno’s voice.

She swatted the soothingness and calmness of the voice. She could see through it now, she could see it now.

“You!” Leoy’Shaah yelled at the thing she book longer saw as Zayno. “Unhand his soul!” She said this with the smallest strand of hope that the demon would release Zayno, preferably, back to life so she could reunite with him, but if not, at least to whatever heaven or other afterlife that awaited him.

But also, she said this because it implied that Zayno was a hostage to this monster, and not the monster itself.

“I’ll exorcise you! Give him back!” She choked, “Show your face to me!”

I’m coming for you, Zayno! Though, again, she was not quite sure if she meant the soul the entity had taken, or the entity itself.

Suddenly, Zayno appeared. He had mixed facial expressions that Leoy’Shaah still had yet to simplify.

It was that of expectancy.

“What are you!?” She curled her fists, “Answer me, now!”

The Zayno-thing cocked its head, "You already know who I am… At least, for the most part. I am Zayno, I am your friend, your guardian… And your adopted brother.”

“DON’T LIE TO ME! I KNOW YOU AREN’T THE MAN I LOVED! I KNOW YOU AREN’T MY FRIEND! I KNOW THAT YOU ARE THE REASON I’M OUT HERE–”

Suddenly, Zayno disappeared again, but this time, he reappeared.

Right.

In.

Front.

Of.

Her.

Leoy’Shaah jumped back, shrieking.

“Stay back demon! Take not another step!”

Zayno remained frozen with his arms outstretched for a hug. His face was now one of pain and sadness. Leoy’Shaah knew how he felt. Deep down she wanted nothing more but to dive into his comforting arms. But she couldn’t. Not when she knew who– no, what he was.

Don't give me that look! You betrayed my trust first!

But that didn’t really matter, did it? It did to Leoy’Shaah, who so precariously ignored the fact that Zayno would have been a demon from the start, not one that had transformed from boy to beast somewhere along the line like she would like to have it.

Zayno sighed, “Meet me at the top of the mountain, and I will reveal my true intentions to you. If not, that is fine. I wish you a happy birthday, and a farewell.”

Then, Zayno disappeared, except this time, he did it more slowly so that Leoy’Shaah could see him fade out into the forest.

Alexandra stood for a long moment, unable to process Zayno’s words,

Meet him at the mountain? Hmmm…

Going back to the mountain would mean having to face the villagers one last time, and the thought scared her. What would they do? If she was so bent on unveiling Zayno, then the only thing that would take that from her yet again would have to be the villagers.

But they were right all along… Just not about me.

Maybe they would figure out it had been the demon… If he even is a demon.

Leoy’Shaah took a deep breath, then made up her mind. If Zayno was waiting for her at the top of the mountain, demon or not, She would meet him up there no matter what.

I want my closure.

And besides, she was hungry, cold, and exhausted from her stay outside. What comforts awaited her within the village certainly now outweighed the negatives.

But would they accept her back?

Leoy’Shaah stood outside the gate. Even though it was the beginning of fall, and the cold was coming in for the next month, she still sweat like she was under the summer soles.

She would have mistaken the gate to be unguarded if not for the shuffling that took place just on the other side; Soldiers making themselves comfortable behind the stone bricks.

Although Leoy’Shaah was perspiring, her teeth saw the season as it was and chattered louder than she would have liked. The guards seemed to have not noticed her approach, nor the chattering of her teeth, and so she would have had to assume they were wearing tight clothing designed for winter. How did she know this? She didn’t. But, during cold seasons, she would see soldiers and hunters put coats on for protection against the harsh elements.

Anyways, while the guards did nothing but stand still, and occasionally mumbled to each other, Alexandra was hatching a plan, one that would not only get her inside the village, but also disguise from the villagers as well, and by the time they became wise of her, she would…

Leoy’Shaah shuddered. What would she do? Return to the wilderness once more? As if it was better than her home tribe?

No. I will not think of the possibilities right now. I already have enough on my plate as is!

There was a distant crack somewhere from the other side of the gate.

The guards jumped. “The hell was that!?” Asked one of the guards, the younger one, from his voice.

“Nothin’, probably just some animal,” The older guard responded.

“What if it's Unbon?” The younger guard warned.

The elder guard grunted, “Why would they? It'd be a death trap. “We’d the advantage.”

“It could still be them,” The younger one insisted, “They worship a mad god that makes no sense of peace, not even in peaceful times.”

“I don’t know what graces er plagues yer’ ears boy, but I’ll have a look if you worry like a girl about it!”

Leoy'Shaah grabbed a small stone- Well, small by her standards, boys half her size could easily skip them, but large enough to separate its presence– And its significance from the ground it laid upon. Pebblits fine grained served only as a backdrop for what was about to commence; Leoy’Shaah took said rock, then primed her arm back like she saw stone-shooters do with planks they imagined as rabbits, and tore her hand through the air, releasing the stone as it went.

The stone swirled gracefully for some pathetic distance; Leoy’Shaah had seen these Stone-slingers and shooters launch rocks that were larger, and greater lengths at that. But there was no need for far faring projectiles in this sense, for it clipped the low-hanging branch that leaned over the path, before clearing the treetop entirely, then plummeting down to its final testing place.

Crack

“Sirs!” The younger guard exclaimed, they’ve inside unbeknownst to ye and I!”

“Bloody hell, eh!?” The elder cursed, followed by the sound of wood scraping gravel. A spear.

“The enemy!”

“Watch your back boy! The Unbon are dark skinned and wear paint of war darker yet! Keep a sharp eye out.”

“Ay, sir! I think I see!”

They must be a scout boy! It would be foolish to send more than two up to their deaths! We shall put the fear of go unto him, glory to Prophet Quon!”

Both guards left their position in a hurry. As if synchronised now, Alexandra threw herself towards the rocky wall. She had seen no way of making it easier to climb, without giving herself away. But, she knew she could scale such an obstacle.

Leoy’Shaah gripped the jutting stones with all of her might and heaved herself over. She then hugged the wall and sprinted towards the forked pathways. She dared not look back, yet she did not know why. Would it be worse for the guards to know her as she was, or mistake her for an Unbon savage?

All she knew was that a new day was beginning to dawn, and she was to confront the man she thought she once knew.

Whether that end might be bitter, sweet, or perhaps a bit of both, she knew it was in the hands of God himself.