"You can have her back." He said. "Please don't interfere with us any longer." Arin was not backing down, and didn't even reply to his statement.

"Come on boss!" Regi exclaimed. "I could take him!" He charged at full speed, swiping every which way at Arin. He moved out of the way of every single strike almost perfectly. It was graceful. Arin's rage grew stronger, I could feel it. Regi attacked once more, and I saw Arin catch his blade in his hands. He crushed the sword, completely shattering it. My eyes widened.

"That's enough!" The boss shouted, getting between the two. "Forgive him, he does not know." Arin scoffed, not replying.

"We will leave the forest, we won't come back. Just spare us." The boss was on his knees. I began inching my way closer to Arin, wondering what would happen next. I clamped his cape around me.

"Boss?" Regi looked confused. "Just who is this guy?" The boss looked afraid and backed down from Arin.

"You can have our caravan." The boss pleaded with Arin pathetically. This caused a commotion among the other soldiers. Arin raised his blade.

He couldn't ... I thought. As much as I hated these bandits, these scoundrels ... None of them were fighting back, none of them were going to even pose a threat.

"I guess there is no other option..." The boss drew his blade. "I will fight an honorable death against a demon." He backed up, taking his position as the other bandits readied themselves as well.

I have to stop this. It - The boss jumped up and got on top of the Caravan, shouting an incantation as multiple large boulders rose from the ground and crushed Arin. I was worried for a moment until the boulders melted into lava, catching part of the forest on fire. Arin moved, and I couldn't even see him move. By the time I saw him again he had already sliced through the bosses shoulder down through his collar bone. He'd completely destroyed the bandits upper body and he fell down limb in one foul swoop. Blood splattered over the caravan as all the other bandits began to scurry away.

"Demon!" They shouted. "Run!" All of them attempted to scurry away, passing me and heading in all directions. Arin moved quickly to one of the bandits, startling him and having him fall over. He raised his blade above his head.

I had to stop this! I thought about the unnecessary bloodshed and it sickened me. I never considered myself a nice person but Arin doesn't need to kill them he already won.

"STOP!" I screamed, getting between Arin and the bandit. "You don't need to kill them! You've won! I order you to stand down!" The bandit behind me was Regi. He scurried away quickly running off into the forest shouting 'demon'. Arin's rage turned to surprise, as he followed my order. Tears ran down my face.

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"You shouldn't need to kill an unarmed and fleeting enemy." I cried. "You already saved me, let's just leave." I wiped my face clean and Arin and I began to walk out of the forest. I felt pathetic. All my life I had been the tough girl picking fights and winning them, but here I was worthless. I didn't even deserve to fight.

We walked silently for a moment, it started to rain, but my boots negated the mud so I wasn't bothered.

"Why did you stop me?" Arin asked. His confusion filled my head.

"You had won! You didn't need to chase down and kill people who were running away from you!" I exclaimed, still crying. "You don't have to kill them just because I was weak."

"You were stupid," Arin scolded. I gritted my teeth. "You were stupid to try and think you didn't need my help. That boy did not have to die." My eyes widened.

"Excuse me?!" I hopped in front of him and he stopped. "That boy didn't die because of-"

"Yes he did." Arin interrupted me. "That boy died because of your arrogance."

"He died because of my weakness!" I shouted, punching Arin's stomach with my hand. My cheeks were stained with my make up. "If I was stronger I could have beaten them all and saved him!" I got to my knees and wept, everything hit me all at once. "I killed him! It was me! Go ahead and yell at me all you want! I went against all your rules, doing whatever I wanted, and not even thinking about what could have happened to me!" I ranted on and on crying and screaming.

"I'm not going to yell at you." Arin spoke softer than usual, awkwardly wrapping his metallic body around me. "It's going to be okay, you're safe now. I have you." He attempted to comfort me, but I pushed away from him.

"I don't want you to protect me! I don't want you to keep me safe!" I stammered choking back more tears. "I want to get stronger than you, I want to be on the same level as you!" I got to my knees.

"I stopped you from killing them because I wanted to kill them!" I shouted. "I wanted to slaughter every last one of them for even thinking about me! Their threats?! They treated me like I was some sort of sex slave! I HATED that!" Anger boiled underneath my blood as I stared at Arin. "I wanted to kill them! But If I killed anybody I would never come back from that! I would never return from that dark place and-!" I began to sob, I punched the ground hard.

"I don't want to become evil! I don't want you to be shouted at and called a demon! I want us to be good! We're supposed to be good!" I cried out.

"Anna-" Arin said.

"No!" I cut him off. "Don't try to lecture me!" My hands covered my eyes.

"You're kind." He knelt down next to me. "Your soul is kind." I could feel his smile behind his mask. "I don't want you to become like me. You don't know the guilt I carry."

"Wha-?" I managed to say through tears, confused on his message.

"Your emotions are powerful." He said, gesturing around us.

That's when it hit me. A circle of frost had expelled outward all around us. Small icicles that went up to my knees were spread out around us. I smiled through the tears. I had just used magic without anything but my emotions. I hugged Arin, his metallic, uncomfortable shell rubbed against my rough body. He was so uncomfortable physically, but emotionally I felt safe.

"Let's get you home." He said. "You need to get cleaned up." I obliged, getting to my feet and wiping my face. I was dirty, cold, and heartbroken. My will was not broken, despite shaking and keeping my hands close to me. I will not be broken.