They all had been running for a while and Cormac had been quite a distance ahead of them. Carl noticed that his friend's eyes widened in fear when he heard of the queen. How quickly Cormac's breaths came and how wild his run was. Cormac was running as fast as he could, seemingly scared to be caught. But even if Carl was Cormac's vassal, he could not leave Nery behind.

The girl was fit and fast in her own right, but the training that the both of the boys undergone under her father had polished their abilities somewhat. Nery on the other hand, already had trouble breathing at this speed.

"Cormac!" Carl yelled as much as he could, the strength tearing through his throat painfully. But Cormac did not move.

Carl yelled again and again, feeling the familiar itching and straining of his mutilated throat, but he was unable to get through to Cormac. Or maybe he was really too far to hear.

But Nery had to rest a bit; she looked about ready to drop on the ground. Her moves were sluggish, she was tripping every other step and her face beamed red.

Carl spotted Obscurno as it flew over them. The group had already changed direction three times at the crow's behest. It led them through a clear path, one where they could escape freely…and Cormac had listened to the bird.

An idea budded in Carl's mind and he had to manifest it somehow. He had to send Cormac a message. Tell him of Nery through their bond.

First, Carl focused on the bond. He could feel a flow of fear flooding it, fear of so many different things. He could see glimpses of trees. Hear Cormac's labored breathing. Feel the twigs slashing at his legs and arms.

He never paid it any attention up until now, but he could see and feel more from the bond than he expected. It felt as if he understood what Cormac was going through, even if it was only the surface level things.

Then he focused himself onto the bond. He did not know what exactly to do, so he poured his thoughts, emotions and what he saw into it. He focused on Nery, on the state she was in. he focused on the fact that even if they were still hunted, their pursuers must be far off now, too far. He focused on the nervousness he felt about his friends conditions, both Nery and Cormac. He focused on the distress Cormac was in and that they had to stop to think. He pleaded for him to stop.

Suddenly, he could feel Cormac stop through the bond and then he could feel his presence growing stronger, stronger. Until he appeared from behind the trees. Gesturing for Carl and Nery to stop.

All three of them just breathed in and out for a little while, trying to recuperate.

Cormac was the first one to talk after.

"How did you do that?" he asked Carl. The fear from before gave way to an honest surprise.

"You…didn’t hear…had to…improvise."

"What did you do?" asked Nery, her face still cherry red.

"He talked to me, the way Obscurno does." Cormac replied. "I did not even think that that could be done."

Cormac walked over to a stump and sat on it, looking into the sky.

"Are you ok?" Nery looked at Cormac worryingly. "You looked full of fright before we ran."

"I-I was. I don't know why, but when Obscurno showed her to me, the queen I mean, I felt overbearing pressure. A sinister pressure. It was so strong. I feel like my primal instincts took control."

"The queen? Why would she be here?"

"No idea. I've never met her. Carl, could you try that thing again?"

"I can…try…but I…"

But before Carl had the chance to try it again, a voice boomed throughout the deep forest. A regal voice, that of a ruler. It's sinister intentions clear even before any words were spoken.

"Fear not good people of our land. This is not a voice of either a god or a demon, this is the voice of your queen, carrying a dire message. For there was a betrayal most foul. Let it be known throughout the kingdom. Let the common folk learn the name of the traitorous family. Let them know that the lion had given up on his mane and that their servitude was but a farce." the voice started.

Cormac quickly fell into the state he was previously in. He felt his heart tighten, felt each beat resonate through his body, the dryness of his mouth, the sweat all over his body. Somehow he knew what was going on, he was sure.

"Leon La Bor, Melissa La Bor, Eamon La Bor were all found guilty of treason to the kingdom and its monarch. They have plotted to overthrow the rightful ruler of our kingdom and hence, they had been sentenced to death by hanging."

Aviana sat in her room, preparing for what might come. She just packed all the important things from her room, a change of clothes, dried fruit in a sack, a few ointments she had mixed beforehand. She was about to gather some rope to take with her, she was told such things are important in an adventure. When the voice resonated around her.

Her mother's voice to be exact.

Aviana's blood froze at the words. She dropped the rope to the ground as she instinctively put her hands over her mouth.

Her mother was about to kill the whole La Bor family. She was about to kill Aviana's aunt, her own sister, her husband and their child. She has stepped into even lower depths of character than before. Depths that Aviana still did not believe Trisna would ever cross.

She thought that her father's plea had some truth in it, though she knew her father to be mad in some sense, so she had been reserved. But now? Now she was sure that he was right. Her mother was gone, or at least the person she used to be.

Used to be? Was she actually ever different? Maybe she was just biding her time, waiting for the golden opportunity to seize everything. Because Aviana was sure, that anything lesser would not satisfy her mother.

But still, why would she ever execute the La Bor family? They were widely known to be one of the if not the most loyal family of the Mountain Basin. The whole kingdom knew of them and Leon La Bor himself trained the enforcers. They were a tool that Aviana thought Trisna would never let go. The queen seldom did anything out of spite or a personal emotion, she always tried to gain. An advantage, a station, a servant. It was all about power.

Additionally, Aviana was sure that they actually were loyal. Cormac was their son and they still produced the force tasked to kill him. La Bors would give the queen Cormac's body if they could.

But Aviana knew the opposite would not be the same.

Thanks to the time Aviana spent with Cormac, she got to know him. She did not realize that he was her cousin then - which made some things even more awkward in retrospective - but she did grow attached to him. He might have been very self-conscious, enough to perpetually sabotage himself, he might have made the wrong decision from time to time, he might have been too focused on one task, to forget another one, but he did have a good heart. He would not let his family die, even if it meant getting into mortal danger himself.

It was all just bait.

Aviana quickly forced the rope into the backpack and put it on. She would have wanted to go through her things a few more times, to make sure she was truly ready, but there was no time to spare. She had to warn Cormac.

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She opened the doors, ready to run. But she would not.

Behind the doors, adorned in light armor, waited Darius.

Gavin watched the far meadows and plains with a smile. It was truly fascinating to see such an open ground. He saw many fields throughout his life, but the kingdom was in too rocky a terrain, there were always hills and mountains. But the wilds were wide and clear. It was beautiful.

Gavin felt the new life that might await him there. He still thought about Cormac sometimes, but he decided to let go of his ambition. The man seemed pure, pure enough so that Gavin did not want to taint this image of him. He would be a beacon Gavin aspired to be. He would be his conscious. He would make decisions based on what Cormac might have done.

He was finally sure of his road forward. Finally clear on what to do next.

Gavin was about to become a better man.

When a familiar voice reached him and made a chill go down his spine.

The queen - his previous employer - had a message, that was supposedly for all in her kingdom. Though it was obviously meant for one specific man. One man that Gavin came to admire in his mind.

He let out an irritated sigh as his conscious manifested again.

"So what now Gavin? Your plans still hold, or are you going to help the real Cormac?"

"Just when I thought things would get better. Really, I have accepted you a few days back and you are already starting to annoy me."

"You know you need me Gavin. Just try to remember what it was like before."

"Yes, I know. It was just easier before, that is all I am saying." Gavin looked far into the wilds again, longing in his eyes.

"So where are we going? I won't pester you about it. Promise." The manifestation put a hand behind its back. "Are we going nature-travelling, or are you going to do the right thing?"

"I will do the right thing." Gavin said and he spit to the side. "Oh, how I hate to say that. But I really need to if I want things to change. And you would definitely pester me if I did not make this choice." Gavin said as he began walking back.

"Yep. I would not let you get a wink of sleep otherwise." It replied as it vanished.

Another day for Gavin, another complication.

Cormac's world froze. Only the last bit words were flowing around him, creating a whirlwind.

…sentenced to death by hanging.

It was all he could hear, all he could think about. He saw his father die before him, he saw his adoptive mother hang, his brother. He imagined the swaying bodies in the wind. The expression on their dead faces. And the number of people there only grew.

When he looked to the side, where Carl stood before. He could see him hang much the same, his long lanky body almost reaching the ground, but not quite. He saw Nery in much the same condition. Her beautiful yellow eyes forever losing their spark and their life. He saw Erwin next to her, his long brown hair that was always in pristine condition now disheveled, as it reached his knees. His eyes were dim too, losing their life. Then Gavin, Norman, though they both still looked at him, even in their death. They laughed a wicked laughter, one that scraped Cormac's bones. They laughed at his misfortune, at the twisted justice that reunited all his loved ones with them.

But there were two more bodies there.

Aviana was graceful in death as she was in life, her face beautiful even with the expression of death. Her hair shiny red and straight even when tangled by the rope.

But the last body haunted Cormac the most.

It still stood on the trapdoor, though it did have a rope around it's neck. It was formless…or maybe too full of form. It twisted and changed. The hair color, the face features, the length and shape of the body, arms and legs. And in every and each form, the person was twisted, wrong.

This amalgamation of all things human did not laugh, but no matter the face it always bore a smile far too wide to be human. It always watched Cormac intensely.

"Ah! CormAC. FinallY in the fLesh." the voice was twisted. Every word as if a different person produced it, though all were strained and in pain. "HOW I have lonGed to see you. To see thE one blesSed."

"What…are you?" Cormac asked, or at least he wanted to. He knew very well that not a sound came from his lips, but the creature before him seemed to understand all too well.

"Oh, but I aM yoU CormAC! Oh yeS! I am but a SIngle part of Your magnifiCent selF! AnD I love you CormAc! Oh How much I adore you!"

The creature's eyes seemed to grow in size, it seemed to pull Cormac in. He tried to resist, tried not to walk, but he still felt himself take a step forward.

"Yes!" It laughed. "Yes, my lORd. Come anD greet your huMble serVant! Give YOur servant a reWArd For his work My lord! PLEAse him! Shower him IN praise!"

He knew he should not. He felt the thing was malevolent, pure evil still taking form. Though he knew very well who in his life it represented.

"Why are you trying to look like my mother?" he asked, still silent.

"BecaUse thAt is what you yeaRN for mY lorD! And I aM hERe to sErve! I can be a gOod guide to yOu, a lovinG One. BelieVe me, there is noTHing else in this woRLd for Me, nothing else but YOU!"

Cormac was too close. The thing's appendages were reaching for him now, only a step separating them from touching. This was an end of sorts. Cormac knew. He would not survive this. His life came to an…

Suddenly, the platform under the thing fell, causing it to break it's formless neck. It's hands fell by the body, stuck in the sick transformation. The thing stopped moving completely, and a harsh laughter erupted and disappeared in just a second.

Cormac quickly took a few steps back and finally breathed in. It was freeing. He could finally think.

He looked at the release lever by the side, he wanted to see who managed to subdue the feral creature.

He was met by the beady eyes of a crow. As Obscurno stood on the lever. It watched him silently, but intensely.

Before Cormac could do anything, he felt his bond with the crow grow, as it sent him a few simple impressions. Impressions so clear that Cormac was sure he knew exactly what they meant.

"You are not alone."

He opened his eyes again, only to wake up on the ground of the forest.

Obscurno was on his chest, watching him.

"What happ-" Cormac said as he tried to stand up, but Nery prevented him from doing so.

"Wait! You just collapsed after we heard that voice! Just…just lie down for a bit ok?" her voice was full of relief and panic, her eyes were watery and a trail of tears was clear on her face. Nery was shaking.

"Alright, alright." Cormac said as he lied down. He breathed for a bit, until he felt more comfortable. "What happened?"

"You…you just…you started crying and shouting, about how everyone is dead." Nery was still sniffing between her words. "We tried to talk to you but you did not hear us. You said you wanted us to stop laughing, but we never did, then you turned to me and started talking about your mother. You-" Nery started crying again, having trouble to put the situation into words.

"You asked her…why she…tried to look…like your…mother…" Carl said. "Then you…fell…to the ground…lifeless. You…stopped…breathing."

"We thought that you might…that you'd…"

"Die." replied Cormac. He felt that way too after all.

Nery started breathing too fast. In and out. In and out. But before Cormac managed to scramble on his feet and help her, Carl already put his hands around her in an embrace. She slowly calmed down, though tears were still aplenty.

"You only started breathing after Obs landed on your chest. He was really fast too, I was afraid he had broken something." she finished her explanation.

"You saved me, huh?" Cormac said as he petted the bird. "Thank you Obs."

"Do you remember what the voice said?" Nery asked while Carl wiped the snot around her face.

"Yes…I do."

"What are we going to do?"

"Nery, are you sure that you want to go with us?"

"It's not like I have a choice anymore. Though I would go even if I did."

"Then we have to save them."