The scent of burning wood filled Zellas nose as she opened an eye. Dim fire light shown through her thick lashes. Her head pounded with such a vigorous ache that she winced and breathed out a groan. When she attempted to sit up, something pulled at her wrists. Her eyes travelled up her arms before landing on them. They’d been clasped to the wooden post of the bed using some sort of metal cuff. Where was she? Zella could hear faint music from the ballroom orchestra still playing.

She didn't recognize the room she was in, with its lavender bedding and curtains to match. She scanned the room but it was empty aside from a burning hearth… perhaps a guest chamber then.

Zella closed her eyes and suddenly the fog that dazed her mind began lifting like a cloud of smoke. She was in the powder room and then... Jasper and Monique... Althea!

Zella attempted to stand from the bed, too quickly, causing a shooting pain to jolt up her arms, through her spine and to her skull. She needed to get out of these restraints... she needed to make sure Althea was okay.

Zella pulled on the cuffs, seeing if there was any way she could wiggle her hands free, or break the metal links. All she did was rub her skin raw. Her heart pounded rapidly in her chest as she thought of the words Jasper and Monique had spoken right before they'd captured her. She yanked again. With every fierce tug, the skin at her wrists cried out, yet the pain was a distant echo in the tumult of emotions raging within her.

The mere thought of what they might inflict upon Althea, should they lay hands on her, ignited an inferno within Zella. In that searing moment, the value of her own hands paled in comparison to the safety of the one soul who saw beyond what many had. Where most peered upon Zella and found a weak, fragile child, Althea had chosen to see her as a beacon of strength and resilience. She'd sooner cut her own hands off than allow any harm to come to her friend.

The imminent prospect of an untimely conclusion to her friend's narrative plunged Zella into a shrieking abyss of despair. Within this turmoil, she found herself ensnared, entangled in a maelstrom of emotional discord that obscured her once sharp senses. The world around her, once vivid and distinct, was now shrouded in a haze, veiled by the tempestuous onslaught of an all-encompassing fury that rendered her vision into an indistinct blur.

The wooden heeled shoes she'd worn to the ball were still glued to her feet. Zella didn't think as she curled herself into a ball and began kicking the post. She used every ounce of strength inside of her body to kick, and kick and kick. Her arms rattled against the wooden post as her legs pounded into it. Each slam of her powerful kicks sent a bone breaking sort of pain through her wrists. But she didn’t stop, she hardly even registered the pain as she focused on making sure Althea was okay.

Her thoughts roamed from her friend who she loved so dearly, to the blonde haired fussock who, when she next saw her, she would surely take her anger out on. As she thought of all the ways she could inflict pain and exact her vengeance upon Monique and Jasper, her kicks began getting harder and more robust until... snap.

Zellas eyes widened as she looked at the now splintered wooden post. Scrambling to stand now, Zella used her hands to push the post, snapping the carved wood in half, spinning it so the wood fully separated. Once it did, Zella sprinted across the room towards the door, grabbing the cool metal handle in her fingers. It wouldn't turn. She gripped it every way she could, trying to open the large wooden door, but it was no use. She closed an eye and squinted into the knob's keyhole. It was somehow locked from the outside. Of course it was.

She breathed out a laboured, shaky breath as she turned away from the door, sliding down it as the emotions she had pushed away, choosing instead to focus on the rage within herself, came bubbling back to the surface. Pulling her knees to her chest, she let herself express those emotions. Zella rarely cried. Her parents had always told her that crying was for those without enough courage to hold up their own mental barriers. But as she let the defeat take over, Zella let two tears slide down her face, taking with it the cosmetics her friend had applied earlier that evening. She realised that would likely be one of the last times she would ever see her friend again. Images of Althea's glowing smile, of her ambient green eyes and those beautiful, brown curls, flashed through her mind. Two tears. That was all she would give herself.

Zella was about to hoist her weight from the cold, hard, wooden floor when a pitter-patter from right outside of the door caught her attention. Her eyes widened as she got to her feet in a quick motion. She stared at the door, unsure if she should yell out for help, or hide. What if it was Monique? Or Jasper? What if they were coming back to make sure that she was still asleep. Perhaps she should go back to the bed and... no she'd already destroyed the post that wouldn't work. She could hide and gain the element of—

Suddenly a white fluffy paw slid beneath the door. It was that of a feline. Zellas eyes widened and she fell to her knees.

"Archie?" She couldn't contain her joy as she spoke the name of Althea's cat. How had he... she didn't even allow herself to entertain the many, many questions that roamed her mind.

The cat pulled its paw from beneath the door and meowed. It was him! Zella heard what sounded like a jingle from outside of the door, and then the plop of metal hitting wood. She furrowed her eyebrows and was about to put her head to the cold wood so she could see beneath the sliver of space between the door and the dusty floor, when the cat flung a set of keys under the gap. Zellas eyes widened. Keys! She fumbled for them, still shackled by the metal cuffs around her wrists that had a small keyhole. There was only one key small enough connected to the set in her hands, that could unlock the shackles from her wrists.

"Please, please, please," she begged aloud, putting the key to the small lock. It slid in, and contorting her hand slightly, she twisted the key. Click. The shackles popped off of her wrists and she breathed out a sigh with so much relief that she felt as though she might collapse. If this key unlocked the cuffs around her wrists, there was a very good chance one of the others unlocked the door.

…

The room was quiet, the only sounds being the rhythm of distant orchestra music, the crackling fireplace, and the light thrumming against the window panes of Arsalans bedchamber. He had been tossing and turning for what felt like hours now as he tried to still his mind into sleep. With a sigh, he finally stood, walking over to the warm hearth. He only wore thin black undershorts as he stood, bare skinned before the open flame. He took one of the oak logs he'd carried to his bedchamber earlier that day and placed it atop the half burned one, sending embers up into the chimney.

Arsalan turned, looking towards the window now. He squinted as he noticed the flecks soaring past the glass. Eyes widening, he walked to the window. Snow had already covered most of the ground now. From his window he could see that beautiful Bur Oak tree that he and Althea had trained beneath for months, now completely whitened out on one side. The same side where its trunk was usually covered in thick green moss. The wind must have been blowing fiercely out there.

He didn't know why, but Arsalan leapt to the bed, pulling on his thickest trousers and knit tunic. He had the urge to go out there and stand in the blizzard of icy snow. It had been years now since he’d witnessed a blizzard, or a decent snowfall in general. His inner child begged him to go enjoy it while everyone else either slept or still drunkenly danced down below.

Arsalan pulled on the fur lined boots he'd purchased a month ago when he had known the cold weather was amongst them, and made his way from his room. There was a cool breeze blowing through the corridor, it gave him a slight chill. Arsalan walked towards the stairwell, but when he reached the landing, a light scent met his nose... he recognized the smell. Zellas perfume. He'd spent enough time around the young girl to recognize it. He heard hurried footsteps on the flight of stairs above him.

"Zella?" he called out and they stopped suddenly.

"Arsalan is that you?" Her voice came out in a pant. He wondered what she was running from... he began striding up the stairs to make sure she was okay. If any man had tried to lay a hand on her he would… simmering anger began rising up inside of him… they would be sorry. In the months of research the three of them had done, he'd come to view the young Candidus girl as somewhat of a sister to him, and he would protect her if she needed it.

"Yes, is everything okay?" he asked and as he rounded the stairs she came fully into view. Her black and white, split hair no longer laid in sweeps of elegant waves, but instead was a tangled mess, and as his eyes scanned her, he noticed the girl's wrists were bloodied and raw. At her feet stood... Was that Althea's pet cat?

"Come quick! Althea's in trouble!" Zella said with so much strain and panic she could barely get the words out. Arsalans eyes widened. His mind chanted the words over and over. He ran, moving past the girl in a swift shuffle of footsteps. He was taking two, three, four stairs at a time. He didn't allow his mind access to any other thoughts besides the words Zella had just spoken. He didn't care why she was in trouble, or with who, he just ran. He knew that if it was bad enough for such an horrified expression to be written across Zella’s face, it was bad enough to garner no questions from him.

When Arsalan made it to the corridor her bedchamber was on, the tang of fresh blood tickled his senses before he could even see into the corridor. He pushed open the heavy wooden door and froze. His entire body went still as he slowly gazed into the corridor. What he beheld made his blood run cold as ice. Zella flew into the door behind him and he could hear the gasp that she sucked into her red lips.

"Oh..." is all she could say from where she stood behind him. A shaky, frightened word.

Althea stood over Jasper's body, one of the metal candle sconces from the corridor's wall in her hand. Blood dripped from the pointed swirl at the bottom, and a puddle of crimson pooled at Jaspers head as he laid in a motionless heap on the ground. Those hazel eyes were still open, wide with the horror of whatever he’d witnessed just before drawing his final breath.

Althea looked up to find the two of them standing there. Her cheeks were stained with the streaks of her tears, and even from here he could see her hands trembling. Arsalan closed off his mind to the questions that were desperately yearning for his attention. Instead he strode to her.

"I..." her voice was so small, so fragile as she let out a sob, "I didn't mean for... I wasn't trying to…" She couldn’t finish the sentence.

Arsalan took the sconce from her, placing it on the ground. He was about to reach for her when she flung her body towards Jasper. A sob rang through the otherwise quiet corridor. He silently prayed that no one from this level had retired for the night just yet.

"Oh Jasper," she sobbed out, engulfing his lifeless corpse in her arms. Zella still stood near the stairs, but he could hear her laboured breathing, as if she were only seconds from vomiting.

Arsalan closed his eyes, trying to think of what he should do. He needed to get her out of here, quickly. He didn't need to know what had happened to know that if he didn't get her out of this institution as soon as possible, the board would kill her. It was how they dealt with members who harmed their own. He knew this... and he knew that Jasper was clearly someone of value here at the London institution. If he didn't get her out of here now, he may not be able to save her from their wrath.

He bent down on a knee, trying to get onto her level.

"Althea..." he whispered to her, trying to keep his voice as soft and as even as he could for her sake, "we need to go now, okay?"

"He was trying to hurt me," she sobbed out, "I didn't know what else to do!"

Her words stung. Arsalan closed his eyes, and suddenly there was a gentle hand on his shoulder. He looked up to find Zella standing over him.

"Althea, it's me Zella..." her voice was as light as dawn as she spoke, "I heard him and Monique talking... Jasper was coming here to get you and take you to the board of elders..." she paused and her voice cracked as she whispered, "they were going to murder you tonight Althea."

Her green eyes shot up at this. She looked frantically between him and the Candidus girl.

"So please trust me when I tell you, this was not a choice you made, this was something that had to be done... okay?" Zella gave Althea a face that suggested such an understanding of her pain that it made Arsalan wonder whether the Candidus girl had made sacrifices such as these in the past.

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Zella reached out a hand, offering it to Althea who swallowed apprehensively, but took it. Arsalan stood up quickly and began walking towards the stairs. Althea's once beautiful frost blue gown was now ripped and frayed at the ends and spotted with Jasper's blood. If anyone were to see her... he wished he had a cloak to wrap around her.

Zella seemed to notice her rough appearance as well as her eyebrows knitted together while scanning Althea.

"I'm going to help you, okay? You won't feel any different, but I am going to cloak you with my ability so that we can get out of here without raising any suspicion." Althea's eyes met hers, nervousness flashed there but she nodded.

Zella closed her eyes and focused so hard that a large vein protruded from her forehead. And then Althea completely disappeared from his sight. Wow... it was as if she were never even there. Even the feline who had stood at Althea's feet looked utterly mystified. Arsalan just turned and kept moving down the stairs until they reached the main floor of the institution.

He held up a finger, indicating for them to wait as he peered into the main lobby. There were a few drunkards in a corner, stumbling and singing an old English tune. But other than that, he didn't see anyone else. He gestured for Zella and Althea to follow him into the large lobby. The grandfather clock would be chiming midnight in less than fifteen minutes.

"We need to hurry," Zella whispered, her tone a bit frantic, and Arsalan nodded. He was trying his best to be quick without drawing unwanted attention towards them.

They were walking towards the exit to the training yard when he heard the familiar tune of the elevator, signalling that someone had just stopped on this floor. Before he could motion for them to move quicker, the door opened to reveal the blonde haired girl he'd often seen with Althea... Monique he believed was her name. Two gentlemen who he didn't recognize and an older woman with dark hair and a white infirmary jacket accompanied her. Zellas face twisted with such intense anger it made even him feel slightly fearful.

"Oh perfect! You've brought Althea right where she's needed," Monique spoke in a French accent. How was she able to see her? She must have been a hound. That was the word they used in Skyworth for those who sensed magic.

"You're not taking her anywhere," Zella growled. Arsalan took a step between the Candidus girl and her invisible counterpart and the group of cadre members as they piled from the elevator.

"Arsalan Hashemi... I didn't expect to see you here. Now that is quite the surprise," Monique chirped, a smirk spreading across her red lips. She studied him and then let out a fake laugh.

"Oh I see, she manipulated you just like she did Jasper... what a pity, I did think you were stronger than that," she diddled, scanning his body with those penetrating blue eyes. He clenched his hands into fists, growing angrier with each vile word she spoke.

"Gentlemen," she said, snapping a finger. The two men rushed from behind her towards him. They were each built fairly well, but neither of them were anywhere near the capacity of Arsalan. They came at either side of him, reaching for his arms... did they really think he was just going to let them grab him?

He had to think about his next move carefully... as it would define his entire life after this. He thought back to all that Althea had shown him, all that he had read in those ancient texts, he thought of his parents who died for a cause that wasn't worth protecting, he thought of her, of the small woman, who despite his best attempts at ignoring, he cared for. He didn’t know why she felt so important to him, he didn't understand why he cared about her as deeply as he did, but Arsalan decided in that moment, that he wanted to find out why, and he couldn’t do that if she were to die here tonight.

He could easily just slow time right now and remove them from this situation, they had to know that... but Arsalan didn't want to just flee... he wanted to send a message.

Without another thought, he grabbed the arm of the man to his right, spinning his body as he pushed his arm up behind his back so far that he screamed out in pain. He used his other hand to hold the man still. "Take another step and I snap his neck," Arsalan growled. The man in his arms flailed and let out a sob, begging his friend not to move. The second man looked into his face, but he didn't stop. As soon as his foot moved to take another step, Arsalan clenched the man's head between his large palms and twisted. There was an all too familiar crunch of bone as Arsalan killed the man in his arms. He released him, letting his body crumple to the floor. Everything happened so quickly then. The second man pulled his dagger from the sheath at his belt, but even armed he was no match for the trained warrior. Arsalan had fought monsters that teleported to this world from other realms… these men were nothing by comparison.

He kicked the man's legs from beneath him and slit his throat with the man's own dagger upon taking hold of it himself. He heard a scream behind him and he could see Althea now but the scream wasn't hers, it was coming from Zella as she was watching Althea being dragged away. The older woman held her as she kicked and screamed while Monique, Althea and another man were nearly two yards away now. He'd been so absorbed in the two men he hadn't even noticed her being taken. He cursed under his breath, sprinting towards them. The man who held one of her wrists as she fought turned to him. Arsalan closed his eyes and let his mind take over. When he opened them, everything around him was frozen. He grabbed Althea and released her from the hold she was under, silently wondering why she'd not been able to use her own ability... though he suspected the possible use of poisons.

He threw a frozen Althea over his shoulder and turned around, picking up Zella, doing the same with her. He heard a small noise and looked down, finding Althea's cat beside him. Archibald... he was... moving freely. But how? It was impossible, unless the cat possessed the same ability which was unheard of. The feline looked up at him with those big, glowing saucers.

"You are not just a cat are you?" Arsalan asked as he shook his head... all questions he didn't have time to dwell on in the current moment.

The feline trotted ahead of him as he carried the two ladies out the institution's doors. The air was freezing, and the snowflakes that had been flying through the air were now completely still around him.

Arsalan stilled his rambling thoughts, trying to bring his mind to an absolute calm as he thought of a place that he once called home... the only place he ever truly considered a home. He clasped his hands together, pulling them apart to reveal a mass of red and blue fractals. Then Arsalan shot out his hands in front of him and a dark orb of swirling black stood before him. His head ached as he set Althea on the ground next to him. He needed to think of his next move carefully. This portal would be traceable… if they all went through it, the cadre would be able to send people after them to the exact spot where it let out. But if only one went in and the cadre’s focus was pinned on someone else…

"Help her find my brother okay?" He looked down to the calico cat whose eyes glowed back at him. "His name is Niran." The cat seemed to almost nod to him as he stretched his front paws out in front of him. Archie gave Arsalan one last look, before jumping into the dark portal and disappearing.

Arsalan held Zella in his arms. He knew he needed to close the portal as quickly as possible, for each passing second that it remained open, he was risking that hound Monique sensing its magic when he unfroze time.

"We will meet again shortly my friend," he said before throwing the Candidus girl into the onyx depths. In a quick suctioned movement, the portal swirled closed, taking Zella and the cat with it.

Arsalan held his head as reality came rushing back to him. The harsh flecks of snow and frigid howling of wind beat into him now.

Althea sat up and looked around her in a daze. How had she gotten outside? Only a moment ago she had been in the arms of Dr. Rawlings... where had... she suddenly scanned the area around them for Zella but she was nowhere in sight.

"Come, we need to go now." Arsalan bit out the last word with such intensity that Althea quickly gathered her composure and made it to her feet. He grabbed her hand and she followed behind him as he ran through the training yard. She had killed him... she had killed Jasper. Images of his body, lying there on the wood floor flashed in her mind as she ran. With each blink she could see him lunge towards her, hear his words as he had told her he never loved her, the expression he wore as he called her a mission. She'd reached for that sconce, ripping it from its place on the wall… she remembered that… but what came after, she had no recollection of. With a blink, tears began burning Althea's cold cheeks as she ran behind Arsalan. Was the world around her spinning? Or was it her head searching through the ebbing waves of her thoughts and emotions, careening through her mind with vicious force? She wasn't sure. But Althea slowed her sprint as she was certain she was about to faint. Arsalan turned back, pulling her with him still.

"Listen to me okay," he called back to her, combatting the wind with his deep voice, "Zella is safe and we will be meeting with her shortly, I sent her through a portal to where we are going... but I couldn’t risk us all going through, so me and you," he slowed, but only slightly, "we are going to be travelling a little bit differently."

Althea furrowed her eyebrows, not fully understanding what he meant by this. She didn't ask any questions though, she just followed him. She knew without a doubt that she could trust him. When she'd looked up earlier to see him standing there, beholding what she'd done, there was no sign of fear, or disappointment, or terror in his eyes. No, he had looked at her with such an intense compassion and sympathy that it made her want to cry more. She didn't deserve to be understood for what she'd done, she didn't deserve it, and yet when he'd looked at her in that way she'd felt her heart begin beating in her chest again for the first time since she'd lost consciousness. It was as if the world around her had begun moving again.

She heard the door to the institution open behind them and Monique and the three others rushed out. She and Arsalan were nearly halfway across the field now, and Althea could barely even see through the thick snow that fell in heaps now from the sky above. Arsalan paused his running and turned to face her.

"I'm going to do something, and I need you to remain calm, okay?" Arsalan asked, reaching warm hands to her face as his icy blue eyes bored into hers. She just nodded. Right now, he was her best, and likely her only, chance of survival. Whatever he was going to do to save them, she would accept it.

"Okay..."

He let out a sigh and began taking step after step away from her. Althea glanced back, watching Monique and the three others behind her. They were running quickly towards the two of them now, and she could make out the shape of weapons at two of the figures' sides. She swallowed and turned back to face Arsalan.

His eyes were closed and his arms were extended outwards at his sides as his head tilted to the sky. She turned back again, they were only about ten yards away now and Althea was beginning to wonder how they would possibly flee. Her body shook from the freezing cold around her, but went completely still as she looked back towards Arsalan. She blinked, and then blinked twice more, not believing her own eyes. Arsalan was... glowing.

He was radiating a silver, shimmering light from around his body. She couldn't bring herself to look away as he began raising his hands up towards the sky. The light was shining brighter and brighter until it was so vigorous and so intense that Althea had to close her eyes and cover them to keep them from frying up in their sockets.

After a few seconds all the brightness drained from the air around her and when she looked forward again Arsalan was gone. It was as if he’d just... vanished.

Althea did a complete turn, looking around the vast field around her but he was nowhere in sight... Monique and the people who accompanied her, including Dr. Rawlings, were mere feet from her now.

Althea turned to begin running away when—

A thunderous boom rippled through the sky, its reverberation shattering through the otherwise silent night air. The ground convulsed beneath Althea's feet, betraying her balance and sending her sprawling onto the crisp, snow covered ground. Though the icy chill seared her exposed knees, the biting sensation faded into insignificance amidst the uproar above. The sound, an unparalleled symphony of chaos and might, tore through the night like a wrathful crescendo.

With a breathless gasp, Althea turned her gaze skyward, her very being lured by an otherworldly presence that loomed overhead with an aching to be beheld. And behold it she did as her entire body trembled and shook with either terror or awe, she did not know. There, hovering high above the field, was something she never believed could exist in a world of non-fiction, a colossal eastern dragon. Her awe gave way to fascination as she observed every intricate detail. Its silver scales reflected the moon's glow, a regal crown of grand, ivory-hued horns sat atop its head, and along its sinuous form, a swath of plush white fur cascaded down its length to culminate in a billowing snowy tuft at the tail's end. And the dragon's eyes… Those radiant orbs glowing with the silver of incandescent frost, bore into Althea's soul with an allconsuming familiarity.

No... it couldn’t be. It couldn't possibly be... Althea's mouth gaped as she looked at the familiar creature.

"Arsalan?" her voice cracked as his name exited her lips, so numbed by the cold they'd turned blue.

Those colossal, piercing eyes bore into hers, an electric connection sparking between them as the gargantuan creature descended before her. It was him... it had to be... the silver scales, the dragon tattoo he wore on his back... puzzle pieces clicked into place in her mind with a resounding clarity, a realisation that defied rationality.

But how? How could he, a mere man, transform into this entity of awe-inspiring magnitude? The sheer inconceivability of his metamorphosis eluded comprehension, defying the very laws of nature. Her mind, grappling with the surreal spectacle unfolding before her, struggled to reconcile the impossible. It was sheer madness, a kaleidoscope of the bizarre and the bewildering, a reality she couldn't fathom nor accept.

The dragon breathed out a warm breath that caressed her body. It smelled of him... his scent which she had memorised. That smell of musk and spice, that scent that had made her feel things that she knew were wrong each time she caught a passing whiff.

The great beast's eyes moved to the side now, looking at the four individuals who appeared to be just as stunned as she was. Monique however was marching towards them, still determined to take her to the board it appeared. Suddenly the dragon... or rather Arsalan, lifted a clawed fist embracing her as he lifted her to his back. His scaled hand was warm as it squeezed her gently, setting her atop him. She didn't have time to think as she grabbed onto the warmth of the massive horns at the top of his head and he ascended into the dark, snow drifting skies.

Althea watched as the four individuals on the ground grew smaller and smaller the higher Arsalan went. She couldn’t contain the smile that spread over her frozen lips. This was complete and utter insanity… and yet something within her, some small ember of light had ignited and was now a roaring, ebbing flame. She had no idea where they were going, or what the break of dawn would bring their way… but in this moment, as she soared high above the dark, sleeping world… Althea had found peace.