Miinhart Forest, Desmond, 10416 P.C.

An hour. They had rested for much too long. Annabella would've been pacing back and forth in agitation if her leg hadn't hurt so much. "Todd, I swear," she started, unable to keep the snippy impatience from her voice.

"I'm coming!" he called from several hundred yards away. He had gone down to the creek to fill up the bottle of water one last time while Stephanie made sure that the horse's saddle and halter were secure. Bethany was sitting in a pile of leaves, wrapped in her cloak and watching the teens with her huge grey eyes. Annabella hated to admit that she was having struggles holding the child's gaze. Did Bethany know that her mother was dead because Annabella had messed up? The ache in Annabella's heart felt like a permanent scar had been branded in it. If only she hadn't been so stupid...

"How's the leg?" She hadn't realized Stephanie had watched her limp across the clearing to where Todd had disappeared. Annabella stopped short, gritting her teeth as her thigh throbbed in agonizing pain.

"It's fine." She turned around, pretending the flare of pain in her leg from the movement didn't exist.

"If we're going to work together, I'm going to need you to be honest with me," Stephanie replied in a practical tone, one that made Annabella want to strangle her. "I told you my story."

She had. Stephanie had told Annabella and Todd everything, from being raised as a Trainee to seeing her best friend get killed in the Arena Purge. Annabella was surprised how quickly the girl had opened up. She didn't trust Annabella yet — Annabella could see it in the way Stephanie eyed her — but she was at least honest about her situation and desire to help overthrow Motch. The latter was easy enough to believe. The desire for revenge came hand in hand with grief. However, the odds of betrayal came just as easily with a girl raised by the ruthless. Annabella wasn't about to let her guard down, especially since Stephanie had the clear upper hand in any fight that might break out between them. She was the one with the armour. She was also uninjured.

On the other hand, Annabella couldn't say she minded having another trained mind with them. Stephanie was professionally trained and had shown how capable she was in combat. Annabella could at least trust her to hold her own in a fight. Todd? Well, Todd was...

... still getting water.

Annabella shifted uncomfortably, realizing she had let the pause between Stephanie's words and her response grow too long. "And you know mine." Everyone knew her story.

Except for Todd. He didn't know all of it. Not yet, anyway. She knew it'd come out eventually, but she didn't like talking about it. She'd avoid it for as long as she could. It was hardly at all important to their mission anyway.

"What happened to your leg?" Stephanie ordered, coming to a standstill beside the horse and folding her arms.

"It's fine, Stephanie," Annabella snapped. She hated feeling weak. She had a clear disadvantage, and she loathed the feeling. Her only way of asserting dominance was with her actions, so she gave the younger girl a look she hoped made her meaning clear: back off.

Stephanie did. She stepped back and gave Annabella a narrowed look before calling beyond her: "Todd, it does not take that long to fill up a water bottle."

To Annabella's relief, she heard him tromping back through the underbrush. "Sorry, I dropped the lid and couldn't find it for a bit there." He emerged from the trees with the promised water bottle in his hand and a leaf in his hair. He stopped short, sensing the tension. "What? Is something wrong?"

"No, everything's fine," Annabella said, taking the bottle from his hand. "C'mon, Bethany. Let's go."

"How's your leg?" Todd asked, innocent as ever.

She tried not to growl. "I'm fine. Seriously, both of you need to stop mothering me."

She ignored the exchange of looks Todd and Stephanie traded as she marched to the horse, doing her very best to act normal and unhindered. Bethany followed, the cloak dragging behind her in the undergrowth. Annabella lifted the child onto the horse. She hesitated, and then climbed up onto the saddle behind her. Trying to sound nonchalant, she said, "I'd better ride with her to make sure she doesn't fall."

Stephanie bounced her head from side to side as she gathered Harley's reins. "Or, you know, because you can't walk."

"Shut up!"

"No, you! Give it up, Annabella. We aren't stupid. You'd better hope there's a doctor you can see in Asural because you, are, hurt, and don't argue with that, please!" Stephanie took a long breath after her loud spiel, refusing to look at Annabella.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Annabella had to bite her tongue to avoid lashing back. She didn't want to admit that they were right, but the truth sat in the burning pain in her leg. She was hurt. She didn't know what the wound looked like anymore, but with the way the pain was spreading she knew it wasn't good. It might have gotten infected. For the first time, she let herself think about the long-term consequences of her wound. What if it got so bad that she lost her leg? A jolt of panic seared through her. That couldn't happen. The Immortal One wouldn't let that happen to her, would He? She gripped the saddle's horn with white-knuckled fingers.

"Okay." The word was nearly a whisper, drifting past her lips before she had realized it was on her tongue. It sounded pitiful. She wanted to snatch it back.

"Okay," Stephanie replied loudly, letting out a sigh and tugging on the horse's reins. "Let's get going."

They travelled for hours. The sun was high in the sky, and then it was sinking, getting darker. They were following the road at a distance, staying hidden in the trees, but it was slow going. With every jostle and bump, Annabella's leg throbbed. She did her best to hide the pain, but she couldn't ignore it anymore. Even Bethany seemed aware of her silent struggle as she gently rested her little hands on Annabella's wrists. The child's soft touch helped her push through the pain.

"Are we walking through the night?" Stephanie asked. She sounded exhausted, her steps sluggish as she held tight to Harley's halter. Annabella could imagine that travelling in the armour wasn't the greatest experience.

Annabella's leg throbbed. So did her head. "Are you guys up for that?"

"Not really," came Todd's breathless reply. She had to hand it to him: he hadn't complained at all in the long hours they had been walking. In fact, he had barely talked. He seemed easily lost in his thoughts, caught off guard whenever he was spoken to. Those mind-wandering tenancies wouldn't benefit him any in this situation. One always needed to be on guard.

"But what about Lurkers?" Stephanie asked, pulling the horse to a halt. There was concern in her tone, and Annabella understood why. During the day, Scouts patrolled. During the night, Lurkers did. They were silent, powerful creatures. Annabella had encountered more than her fair share of them, but more often than not she had been able to hide before they spotted her. Today, she knew they wouldn't stand a chance should they run into one. Todd and Bethany were defenceless and she was wounded.

Trying to keep her voice neutral, Annabella asked, "Have you ever fought a Lurker before, Stephanie?"

"No."

Yeah, they were in deep trouble. Armour and weaponry skills might protect Stephanie, but the rest of them? Not as much. "Lurkers aren't a single type of creature," Annabella thought best to explain. "They could be a dragon, they could be a Gartirih or a Velniasol or a Jaulik, anything. All incredibly dangerous, all with their own strengths and weaknesses."

"Gart... eye ray?" Todd asked.

"Gart-ear-ray," Stephanie enunciated. "They're like wildcats. People in the city call them night terrors. I heard rumours that the Veiled Lady lets them roam the Dregs sometimes to feed. They have a poisonous bite. We don't want to encounter one."

Annabella ground her teeth at Stephanie's words. It didn't sound like Zusia had changed much in the time she had been away. She remembered the Dregs all too well.

Todd seemed to have a one-track mind. "And Vel...?"

She blinked away bad memories, returning to the topic at hand. "Velniasols. Demonic beings that are really, really fast and really, really deadly. They've got tentacles that grow from their backs. I've never fought one. I've seen them, though." Nearly seven years ago. They had been searching for her. She still remembered it all so vividly. Nightmares had plagued her for weeks after that encounter. She shuddered.

"Ah. Great." Todd sounded less than enthusiastic. The darkness was getting fuller, but she could make out the cut along his cheek he had gotten from an arrow during their near escape. It had clotted, but the blood had smeared down his cheek and stained it. That with his bloodstained clothes and shadowed face made him looked a little less innocent and pathetic. Only a little.

"I say we bunk down," Stephanie said. "Better chance of flying under the radar that way."

Annabella knew she was right, but her leg was a sore, sore reminder that they had little time to waste. But then, what would she rather risk? Her life or her leg? She didn't even know the answer to that one. How could she survive without her leg?

"Yeah... yeah, let's set up camp here." As Annabella said it, she saw movement in the corner of her eye. She turned, her heart stuttering, her breath catching as her mind slowed, focused on the movement, on two simple words: Too late.

She must have said something — a curse, maybe — but she didn't remember. She did remember wrapping her arms around Bethany and then falling, sliding off of Harley and landing hard on her back with a grunt. She remembered Todd's exclamation of surprise, the crack of the log as it hurdled over Harley and smashed into a tree nearby. Stephanie let out a yell, whipping out her bow and returning fire at the creature in the trees several yards away. Annabella writhed on the ground, pushing a sobbing Bethany off of her as she struggled to breathe. The breath had been completely knocked out of her. Harley spooked, rearing up and letting out a sound only a wounded creature could make as something big and heavy smashed into her side. Annabella seized as a rock the size of her head crashed down in the undergrowth by her feet, nearly crushing her foot. Harley stumbled, nearly crushing Bethany underfoot as she staggered. Todd barely managed to yank Bethany out of the way as the horse collapsed.

Stephanie yelled Annabella's name, but she couldn't see what the younger girl was yelling about. Todd and Bethany were gone. She didn't know where. Annabella fought to roll over, fought to breathe. Finally, she sucked in a breath and pain exploded through her with it, in her chest, in her back, in her leg. She coughed, struggling to get to her feet, to grab her sword and fight whatever was attacking them. She didn't get to the weapon. A huge, clawed hand found her throat, and she was lifted off her feet and slammed into a tree. She couldn't breathe. Grabbing the trunk of an arm that held her, she struggled. She couldn't see. She couldn't think. She couldn't breathe.

"Annabella LaKline," came the monstrous voice. "Fate greets you."