“Love will have its sacrifices. No sacrifice without blood.” — J. Sheridan Le Fanu.

Everyone was told to shut up, all Iris could hear was the sound of dried coughing, coming from the few others loaded on the back of a carriage with her. Iris reframed from breathing with her mouth so as not to choke on the hot air lingering in the black sack that was tightened around her head. She couldn’t see anything. For hours the group was hauled like cattle somewhere outside of the Citadel, every once in a while a small breeze would blow and brush against Iris’ pale skin. It was a nice respite from the sweltering heat of the sun beaming down on her.

Some time passed and the carriage was now stopping every hour to unload people. “LET ME GO!” Iris heard Edalia's familiar voice shout out. A brief struggle ensued but the carriage continued onward. Iris’ breathing quickened, she couldn’t lie to herself anymore, she was scared. What the hell was happening?

The carriage stopped several more times, with folks either being pulled off kicking and screaming or silently coming to accept their fate for whatever laid ahead. One by one, the wagon was emptied until only Iris remained as its single occupant, she knew she was the only one remaining when she no longer heard the whimpers and dried coughs of her fellow initiates. The final stop was hers.

The wagon came to a stop and a pair of arms grabbed her and flung her off the back of the wagon, with a violent thud she landed on the dusty ground below. An audible umph was all that came from her mouth as she slammed shoulder first into the dirt.

“Take off the sack,” commanded the voice of a raspy woman.

Iris grabbed the sack and angrily lifted it up so she could see who was responsible for throwing her around. It was the face of a familiar ash haired woman. Maya Kasamira. The giant woman who was with Folmic at the Inn, in Bleakmore. She had a smug smile on her face and was reaching for something on her belt. Assuming Maya was about to unsheath a weapon to finish her off, Iris quickly stood to her feet, ready to fight.

Maya pulled out a small pouch from her belt and curiously looked at Iris, raising a brow at her defensive stance. “You think I have come here to kill you?”

“Well you’ve put a sack on my head and taken me to the middle of the woods,” Iris replied.

Maya burst out into a hearty laughter. It was sort of familiar to Arneth’s own annoying laugh. At least to Iris it was. “As much as I want to kill another Ivorian, I am a changed woman. I’m a Warden, and if you pass this final test, maybe you’ll change too.” Maya tossed the small pouch she had in her hand towards Iris.

Iris caught the pouch and cupped it into her hands, staring at it. It was a pouch similar to the one she used back home to carry dust on her hunts. “Final test?” Iris questioned.

“This is your final test. The thing you must overcome before given the honor of wearing the Warden’s armor,” Maya explained. “You are six hours south of the Citadel, deep in the Blackwoods.” Maya grabbed a sword from her hip, and tossed it to the ground in front of Iris, then she pointed to the sky. The sky was nearing total darkness, only a bit of the sun peeked over the horizon. “You have less than an hour until nightfall. Reach the Citadel in one piece, you have until morning. Good luck.”

“Wait, I only have this amount of dust for a six hour trip?” Iris said, opening the small pouch she was given.

“Yes. If you want more, you’ll have to find your friends. They also have pouches and should have been dropped off nearby. Any more questions?”

“Can I have water?”

“No.” Maya plainly said. She was clearly fed up and walked back to the carriage, she lifted herself up to the driver seat and reached for the horse reins. Comfortably in the seat, Maya looked over her shoulder at Iris, “don’t follow the carriage. If you do, I have orders to kill you.”

Leaving with the ominous warning, Maya whipped the reins and the two large horses took off with the carriage in tow.

Iris was left alone, but her mission was straightforward. She had no time to waste, and began by picking up the sword Maya left on the ground for her. There was just one problem, would looking for her team be the better decision? It would help increase her chances of survival, but what if she couldn’t find them and instead wasted precious time searching for them.

“Think, Iris,” she hummed to herself. “They wouldn’t do anything but slow me down..” was her initial thought, “but having teammates always helps when watching your back,” she contested with herself.

Just as she was figuring out what her next move should be, a rustle came from the bushes behind her. Iris already on high alert quickly turned to face the rustling, pointing the tip of her sword at the direction of the bushes. “Relax, it’s me,” Arneth’s voice called out.

Arneth stepped out from behind the bushes, his muscled body was already covered in scrapes from moving through the thick foliage. He held up a single hand to show he was no threat. Iris lowered her sword and rolled her blue eyes, ‘it just had to him didn’t it,” she thought.

“Roll your eyes all you want, I’m not exactly excited to be stuck with you either,” Arneth grunted.

Iris ignored him, and took a look into her pouch to get a visual on how much dust she really had. It wasn’t a lot. Maybe an hour or so worth of dust. “You’re still going to ignore me?” Arneth frustratingly asked. Iris glared back at him “There’s nothing to talk about. We return to the Citadel,” she said, biting her tongue.

“Fine. You lead the way,” Arneth said, pointing to the north with his sword.

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The two accompanied one another with Iris taking lead through the untouched nature. No roads or signs to lead them, only the sun was an indicator of what direction they were going. Soon however, the sun would sink and call the moon to rise. Iris estimated it was another forty minutes or so, before nightfall. It was vital to cover as much distance as possible during the daylight, the two weaved through bushes and trees as quickly as possible, turning a light jog into a full on sprint.

Arneth truthfully was having a hard time keeping up with the agile huntress who had grown up most of her life in the woods. Running and hunting in the forest was something that came natural to her, while Arneth was really only used to the rugged terrain of the Ash Mountains. After about half an hour of nonstop running, Arneth stopped. Iris heard the sound of his footsteps cease and turned around, thinking maybe he needed to catch his breath. “Why are you stopping?!”

“It's going to be dark any second now, we should light a torch,” Arneth suggested, walking over to a tree and grabbing at a low hanging branch.

“We still have a bit of time, we need to cover as much land as possible to conserve our dust,” Iris replied.

Arneth ripped the branch off of the tree and wasted no time trying to spark it's wood. He ran the tip of the branch against the trunk of the tree and rubbed them against one another. If he was lucky, the friction would create embers, just enough embers for him to light the dust with. “I’m not going to take any chances, we need to find the others. Then we will have enough dust.”

“Fine, but you’re not touching my dust.” Iris said, folding her arms and waiting for the torch.

Arneth spent an entire minute rubbing the branch along the trunk of the tree, to no avail. Periodically, Arneth stopped the rubbing and felt the tip of the wood with his fingers, but felt no heat.

Iris raised a brow, “are you doing it properly?” She remarked, seeing as to how he couldn’t light a simple fire.

“Of course, I’m doing it right,” Arneth barked back. He pushed the tip of the branch harder against the trunk only to snap the fragile wood of the branch. “Fuck,” he hummed to himself. Arneth tossed one end of the broken branch and kept the other in his hand, rubbing it against the trunk again.

“The branch must be damp, try another one,” Iris told him.

Frustrated, Arneth tossed the split wood to the ground and reached for another low hanging branch. Iris in the meantime, kept her eyes open and scanned the trees. While Arneth desperately tried to get the second branch to catch fire, what little amount of light they had left from the setting sun was gone. Wind blew through the trees, shaking the leaves into a shivering chatter. A stench was carried through the wind, one that Arneth and Iris immediately recognized. The stench of death.

Arneth stopped what he was doing, practically freezing in place. He slowly looked over to Iris and noticed her eyes were glued to the treeline. “They’re coming…” she whispered.

“Without a fire we are surely dead..” Arneth whispered back, gently placing the branch onto the leafy ground below.

“We have a chance if we stay quiet,” Iris said.

“There’s no chance of getting away from them, they’ll ki-” Arneth was interrupted by Iris who grabbed him by the collar of his tunic and gritted her teeth. “Shut. Up. You’re being too loud,” she scolded in a soft voice. “I’ve gotten away from these things before, just do what I say. If we stay and fight we will lose.”

“Alright, I’ll follow your lead then,” Arneth said with a dried gulp.

Happy with his answer, she let his collar go and turned around, waving for him to follow. She got low to the ground and skulked to the trees. Arneth copied her exact movements and got low to the ground, following her. The two headed north, stopping at every subtle sound they heard. A crack of a branch or the crunch of leaves under the heavy sopping feet of creatures lurking in the woods. Anything was enough to spook Iris into a complete stop. Once she was sure there was nothing nearby, she continued to move.

The two dragged on for quite some time before Iris spotted something glowing in the distance, just beyond the foliage. A blue glowing light flickered just out of their reach. If they sprinted, they could make it there in less than a minute and be out of this unnecessary risk. Iris looked over her shoulder and stared at Arneth for a moment. He knew exactly what she wanted to do. She lifted a single finger, then a second, and finally a third.

Without a word, Iris leaped into a full sprint, running at the blue light. Arneth, who was much larger, took just a second longer to leap into full run. The crunching of sticks and leaves heavy under their swift feet, but something even swifter was running at Arneth’s flanks. He could hear them running just outside of his vision, the beating of his heart pounded loudly into his ears. He knew he wasn’t running fast enough.

Suddenly, from the treelines all around Arneth leaped a group of decrepit creatures, cutting him off from Iris who was already too far ahead. Arneth stopped in his tracks and stared in horror at the monsters hungrily staring at him. “IRIS!” he shouted, tightening his grip on the sword he never sheathed.

Iris didn’t turn around. She kept running and running, knowing turning back would be a death sentence. Again she found herself scared…

Arneth was left alone, no longer able to see Iris. He knew his death was imminent, but as the creatures approached he found a fountain of energy to push him forward. He raised his sword at the creatures and gritted his teeth, “by my fathers name I will slay a hundred of you before my dying breath.”

Without warning, a Black Blood from his flank rushed him. Using his training, Arneth held his thumb to the top of his hilt and curved his blade into a single and precise strike decapitating the creature. Its body dropped lifelessly to his feet. The rest of the creatures suddenly rushed him. Arneth got into position and readied himself. He waited for the perfect moment to strike, not too late, and not too soon.

Right as the Black Bloods were within striking range, Arneth kicked at the closest one to him, sending it flying back. With a quick swivel, this bought him enough time to fight the second closest. He swung his sword at hip level and cleaved a perfect cut into the belly of the second monster. Using the motion of his cut, he swung around for a second swing and did the exact same to a third one. However, Arneth didn’t take one thing into account. He was surrounded.

A pair of gnarled claws dug into his flesh from behind. Arneth used his right elbow to smash into the face of the Veiled One that snuck up from behind him. However, while he was distracted, the one he kicked, stumbled back up to its feet and ran at him. Arneth turned to face the creature charging him with widened eyes. “I’m a dead man.” he thought to himself.

The creature was surprisingly strong, able to easily knock Arneth down to the ground. It chomped its oozing jaws at Arneth, hoping to take a bite out of him. Arneth struggled to hold its face back, but held on for dear even knowing he was about to be eaten alive. “You fuckin’ ugly bastard,” he grunted through his teeth. His grip was slipping…

Suddenly a blade tore through the creature's skull, killing it instantly. Its body dropped dead right on top of Arneth, and its blood soaking him too.

“GET UP!” Screamed Iris.

“You came back..” he muttered out, rolling the corpse off himself.

Iris turned around quickly, hearing the footsteps of a Black Blood fast approaching her right flank. With a single swing she cut the creature’s arm off before it could even reach her. It dropped onto its knees gutturally screeching in pain before Iris plunged her sword into its neck, silencing it forever. “Let's go!” she yelled out.

Arneth was given a quick moment to get up and collect his sword, not even stopping to wipe the blood from his eyes. They had to get out of there, and fast.

Iris and Arneth ran together towards the blue light, cutting down swathes of Veiled Ones that got in their way. Together they made short work of the creatures, making sure to protect one anothers flanks using a half formation of the star they learned in training. It was less than a minute of sprinting before the two came flying out of the foliage and into a clearing where the blue light came from.

The light came from a makeshift torch held by an elderly man walking along a shambly dirt path that sat beside a small creek. He was spooked to see the two sprinting out of the woods at full speed, and behind them was a group of hungry Veiled Ones close on their tails.

Despite being spooked, the elderly man ran across the path as fast as his old bones could carry him, swinging his torch wildly in hopes of spooking the creatures chasing them. “GET AWAY, GET!”

Iris and Arneth both reached the light and turned to look over their shoulders, the creatures chasing them stopped a few feet away. Their white pupil less eyes glared from the darkness, until they did nothing more than slither back into the night, disappearing. Just as quick as they appeared, they had vanished.

They were safe for now, but their trip to the Citadel has only just begun.