Part of me wanted to stay. To ask the Progenitor how he knew that title. That awful title. That lie. I didn't. Couldn't.

For the first time in many years, I fled. I didn't flee to survive or regroup—no, I was fleeing from pure, abject terror. Not a terror of something common like death or fear. It was a primal terror. It had no rhyme or reason. But it clung to my heart, deep and unmoving.

I wanted to scream. To cry out in despair at the abyss the progenitor's presence was causing in my mind. And I very well would have if the lunar energy protecting me hadn't deflected some of that pressure. I ran from the Misty Veil Forest like a bat out of Hell. Tears sprang unbidden in my eyes as the shame and cowardice of what I was doing poured over me, hot as lava.

There was no chance for me to survive if the progenitor didn't let me go. I knew that. Running wasn't the wrong choice. It wasn't even cowardly in and of itself. But I wasn't running to survive. Terror drove me. I fled, tail between my legs like a common mutt. I tried to stop the tears, but they came anyway, tracing wet tracks down my cheeks before being swept away by the wind. The only other time I had fled like this, I'd been fourteen, and my mother, the Queen, was being murdered by my father.

This was worse. This terror had no real cause. It was simply a human child reacting to something akin to a god. My body responded instinctually, and my mind was simply along for the ride.

Even when I left the ancient trees of the forest long behind, I continued to run. I ran until I couldn't sense even the slightest hint of the progenitor's pressure. And then I ran more.

When I eventually collapsed, the sun had begun to rise. I was drenched, though I couldn't tell if it was from my sweat or if it had rained at some point. Maybe both. I dropped to my knees, hands splashing in a puddle as I heaved. My legs were shaking so badly I wasn't sure that I'd be able to stand anymore.

For a second, I wanted to just wrap myself into a ball and let it all go. Was all this really worth it?

Poor Lucid.

I let out a long, low growl and grit my teeth against the weakness in my mind. I would not let the terror win. I would not kneel to this new world. It would kneel to me. I reached over and grabbed a rock that fit nicely into the palm of my hand.

And I brought it down on my left pinky finger. Hard. I let out an involuntary gasp before forcing myself into silence. Accept the pain. Accept it.

I took a deep, steadying breath as that sharp burst of pain broke the blanket of terror that'd been cast on my mind. I ripped off a sliver of my torn sleeve and wrapped it around the broken pinky and the adjoining ring finger. The broken finger would only be a temporary inconvenience. Once I awakened my core, the natural self-healing of an awakened would kick in.

Then, with a whoosh, the lunar energy left me, and everything went instantly dark.

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The next thing I could remember hearing was a female voice, loud but surprisingly deep. Or maybe it was a high-pitched male voice? The person's voice was silhouetted by a woman screaming. Who was screaming like that?

"By the gods," the voice shouted over the shrieking woman. "It's a child. "

"A human child?" Another voice asked, this one definitely male. There was silence during which I assumed the first voice was nodding. For some reason I couldn't figure out how to open my eyes... why couldn't I open my eyes? The girl screamed again. "I didn't even realize a human could reach that pitch." The man laughed. "What you think she's doin' in the middle of the path?"

"Just give her a healing pill," the voice said. "Then load her into the back."

The back? The back of what?

Hands reached down and grabbed me. I could feel the fingers in my hair as others pinched my cheeks. Then something was shoved into my mouth followed by a stream of liquid. Water. It was warm and tasted of metal, but it was water. And by the goddess Ashwash, I was thirsty. I hadn't realized just how thirsty until now. I drank the water with a greed I didn't know I had.

Stolen novel; please report.

"Okay, that's enough," the voice said. "Any more and she'll just vomit out the pill."

Much too early, the water was taken away. I wanted to protest. My mouth still felt dry. Again, my body refused to listen.

The hands forcing the water into my mouth moved under my neck and knees. A girl screamed, and I felt myself being lifted into the air. After a moment, I hit something hard, and the darkness welcomed me back into its fold.

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I groaned, sore muscles welcoming me back to consciousness. I blinked a few times, rapidly, trying to clear the grogginess from my vision as I sat up. The first thing I realized was that the world kept moving. Not exactly spinning more like...

The second thing I realized was that the world was not spinning. I sat in some box surrounded by a handful of other battered people.

And then the third thing I realized was I was not surrounded by people. The others in the cart were a variety of species. I recognized only a few from my own world. One of them was a half-orc. I'd met a couple of them during the time I'd spent at war. The species tended to be warmongers. His hulking size and tusks jutting from his lower jaw made him look perpetually angry. Or maybe he was angry. I didn't know.

The other I recognized as something similar to a female fae spirit. She had the long, pointed ears of a fae but was much taller and slimmer than any fae I had ever seen or even heard of. So perhaps something else entirely? I wasn’t sure. The female’s slim figure, scant clothing, and pretty face didn't bode well for the situation I found myself in. Neither did the fact she was curled in a ball and seemed to be trying to bury herself into the corner of the wagon. Carriage? As I looked around I got a bad feeling. The six of us were surrounded by four walls that connected to the floor and ceiling without gaps. The center of the ceiling had a single hole maybe two feet in any direction giving those within air and light.

"Hello, child. I'm happy to see you're awake," said a creature I did not recognize. I assumed it was male by the sound of its voice, but I wasn't sure. With how dazed I felt, I didn't feel sure of anything. It... he was bipedal and humanoid looking, but with an unnaturally lithe build stretching for what I figured was a little over two meters tall. His skin was an iridescent blue that shimmered whenever he moved under the sunlight poking through the moving room's hole. He possessed large, luminous eyes of deep indigo that looked to have some sort of filter over them. When he reached over to remove the wet towel from my forehead, I noticed he also had elongated fingers with delicate, web-like membranes between each one. His voice came out with a gurgle like he was talking while submerged in water. "I thought you would surely return to the Water Goddess, ya know." I thought he might have looked happy, but considering I'd never encountered the species before there was an equal chance he was angry.

"Was it that bad?" I asked and winced when I tried to stand. The box we were in bounced, and I was sent slamming back to the floor.

"Oh yes," the creature answered, its blue head bobbing in a nod. "You were screaming the first night, and then you went silent. I heard they found you almost dead. You were lying face down in the mud, ya know? The horses nearly stomped you dead." It eyed me worriedly. "Why were you alone, child?"

The half-orc grunted. "You probably woulda been better off if you 'ad." He looked at me. "You're gonna be the first to die, you know that right?" I ignored the half-orc and the blue creature's latter question. I asked the blue creature what its name was.

"I'm Marisar, one of the honorable Selenian who serves the almighty Goddess of Water," Marisar said, his long fingers slapping against his chest. "Ya know."

"And you're gonna be the second to die, you blue shitstick," the half-orc grunted. "There ain't gonna be any water for you in the arenas. Better start praying."

"Arenas?" I asked, looking at the now smiling half-orc.

"Oh, you probably won't have to worry about that girlie," he said mockingly. "I doubt they'd let something like you inta them arenas. You'll probably be sold off to a pleasure palace. It's where all the homeless slave girls are sent to. You're worth more there than getting slaughtered by fighters like me." I just stared at him.

"I am the daughter of a Baron," I said. Although I wasn't a fan of using the Baron's influence, it was looking more and more like this was becoming a situation where that couldn't be helped.

The half-orc just barked a crude laugh. "Don't matter. He'll never find ya where we're going. Now you're just a worthless slave like the rest of us, princess."

I groaned and slumped back into the box. "What are the chances I'd get found by a slaver..."

"Decently high around this time of year," Marisar responded, his large eyes looking over me like he wanted to say something else. He sighed and brought his raised hand back to his side. "Only slavers travel between the cities right now. Too many monsters lurking for merchants and normal people to risk it, ya know?"

Okay, one problem at a time.

I could figure this out. And then I could figure out how to get back to the Silverwater Barony and take control of it. Then I'd turn my eyes on the Kingdom itself. Then world.

Still...

One problem at a time Lilith, I reminded myself. Start with the small issue. Figure out where you are, find out what can be used to your advantage, take it, and then burn the rest to the ground.