The sword disappears from his hand and he gets blown back a few feet as Alistar appears into view. The demonic man falls to the ground as Aleem helps me up. Lupa is asleep in a nearby cart as Aleem helps me into it. Every time the demonic man gets up Alistar pushes him back to the ground. Aleem gets in the driver seat and Alistar gets in the back with us. Aleem urges the horse forward as we race away from the ruins of the military camp. We travel for a few hours as we try to regain our strengths.

We finally stop by a nearby river to rest up for the night. As quickly as possible, we set up camp. Lupa wakes up and tries to help us. We all sit down around a small fire I make. I look at Aleem as Lupa cuddles up against me. Alistar has already fallen asleep. “So… what now?” Aleem looks at me pulling out a book and scraps of paper.

“We need to find the Lion and the Lamb. Two that has always been separated but are always destined to be with each other.” I sigh feeling exhausted.

“I am guessing the Lion and the Lamb are anywhere?” Aleem nods but stops looking inside his book.

“I don’t think so. They are close together but far apart at the same time. Listen to this, The Lamb will give its life to the Lion and the Lion will finally rest. I have a feeling that if we find one, we will find the other one.” I sigh looking down as Aleem perks up slightly. “So.. what’s your plan after this?” I pause and look at him.

“What do you mean?” He rolls his eyes and starts to put his things away.

“After you save the world, what happens next? Where will you go? What will you do?” I pause only really thinking of surviving. I think for a second and run through a few thoughts.

“Maybe find a small place away from everything and everyone and build a farm. I don’t know honestly. All I’ve been doing is trying to survive the last couple of weeks. What about you Aleem?” He smiles looking up at the stars.

“I think I would like to open a bookstore. Have all the greatest collections from all over the world. Take time to actually care about creations instead of briefly writing them down in a large book.” I look at Lupa for a second and smile slightly brushing her hair out of her face.

“That sounds great Aleem.” Aleem slightly looks at me and sits up.

“So what’s going to happen with Lupa?” I pause confused slightly.

“She is going to stay with me?” He rolls his eyes.

“Think about it for a second.” I pause slowly start to think as I feel my cheeks warm up. The fire slightly burns brighter as I look away embarrassed. I notice the fire and I feel for the dampening stone. Lupa’s necklace is still there but the stone is gone. Great. Now I have to worry about keeping my emotions in check.

“I don’t know what you are talking about Aleem.” He laughs for a little bit and gets ready for bed.

“Goodnight Zona.” A few ideas rush through my head as the fire gets brighter. I try to push those thoughts out of my head and I feel Lupa start to cuddle me. I pause and the fire slowly goes back to normal as I lay down next to her. I hug her close trying to fall asleep. I smile briefly thinking of a bright future with Lupa.

I wake up early in the morning to Alistar and Aleem packing things up. I get up once Lupa wakes up. We pack everything up and we head out to search for the Lamb and the Lion. At first we have no idea where to start to look. Aleem is constantly looking over his books and the scraps of paper. Alistar drives the carriage making small talk with me and Lupa. Lupa seems to be getting better. Whenever we aren’t talking or doing something, she is sleeping. I think that she is slowly healing from her lost arm. We travel for a few days trying to find the two. One night we pull over the cart trying to create a new game plan.

I go off to train with Alistar for a few hours. My progress has been amazing. I am able to hold flame in a position and change how hot it can get. I always stop myself whenever I feel myself slowly going to the edge. We walk back to camp and Alistar calls it a night. I sit down next to Aleem who is enjoying some soup. I barely concentrate on the fire and it dims down. “Hey.. Aleem.. I have a question..” He looks at me as he finishes the rest of his soup.

“What’s that?” I think for a second trying to recreate the firebird that I saw just before going into the desert for the first time. I lose my concentration for a second hearing Lupa snore for the cart. I focus as flames paint the firebird in the sky. I look at it feeling myself getting tired. The bird is exactly like I remember. The blue wings complements the orange body. I didn’t realize at first but it has eyes that matches mine.

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“Do you have any idea what this is?” He looks at it for a second before I drop it. I take a few seconds matching my breath.

“Hmm.. It can be a lot of things actually. Where did you see it?” I look at him as he offers me a bowl of soup.

“I saw it when Titus helped me get over my fear..” Aleem stops staring into the fire for a second.

“Ah.. I see. That is your magic Zona.” I stop for a second trying to process what he just told me.

“My magic?”

“Yes. Remember when.. Titus.. told you about magic being a living thing? I guess he was right.”

“..What..” Aleem shrugs his shoulders looking back at me.

“I don’t know Zona. Magic is fickle. In the end, magic has a way of working itself out. I’ve seen millions of magical beings. To this day, I still can’t explain all the inner workings of magic.” I sigh finishing the soup he gave me.

“Thanks Aleem.” I get up heading over to Lupa. I get in next to her laying against her. I put my arms around her trying to get this warm sensation to leave me. “What am I?”

We spend the next few days trying to keep searching for the Two. It’s been difficult trying to gain any leads. One thing I’ve noticed that we have been trying to hide from monsters. Ever since the Northern Mountains were divided, there has been an increase of monsters in the Green Belt. One day while traveling down the path, Alistar stops the cart. I look at him.

“What’s wrong?” He looks back at me.

“I think there is some sort of market up the road. I’ve seen a few signs and I can see a few tents up the road. I figured we could stop and get supplies.” I look at Aleem and see that he looks exhausted. He has been up most nights trying to figure out how to find the Two faster.

“That’s a good idea. We can take a little break for an hour.” Aleem looks up at both of us and sighs.

“Fine.” He closes his books and puts everything away. We move the cart over and put it in the woods. Aleem decides to take a nap instead of coming with us. Lupa, Alistar, and me head to the market. I can already see a few stalls packed full of items. Before entering the market, I notice a few military guards walking around in it. I pull Alistar and Lupa into the woods making them disguised themselves. Once we become disguised we head into the market.

Alistar heads off to buy supplies for the road. I try to go with him but he is adamant on going on his own. I shrug it off and walk around with Lupa looking at everything. I dig around in my bag to find a big coin purse filled with gold. I smirk happily. “Looks like Aleem is buying us what we want.” I show the bag to Lupa. Lupa pauses for a second and looks out of it for a second. I frown and poke her, “Lupa?” She shakes her head and smiles like her usual self.

“Yea?” I show her the bag looking a little concerned.

“Aleem has us covered for whatever we want.” She smiles happy and grabs my arm leaning against it.

“That sounds awesome.” I pause getting a little red and I barely notice a nearby fire brighten. I quickly try to calm down as Lupa start to tug me toward a stall. We shop around for a few minutes looking at everything. I buy a couple items of clothing to use for repairs and other items. As we head to a jewelry tent, a man bumps into me. He glares at me as he slips his hand into his pocket.

“Watch where you are going.” Lupa lets go of my arm and grabs him by the shirt lifting him up a few inches off the ground. She glares at him.

“Don’t you dare touch her.” She speaks with such anger and sounds very protective. The man starts to freak out and drops the Aleem’s coin purse out of his pocket. I frown picking it up putting it back in my bag. Lupa drops him to the ground and the man quickly gets up and runs away. I look at Lupa and pause for a second. I get an idea in my head of why she overreacted.

“Lupa.. Can we talk?” She looks at me and frowns slowly.

“... Yes?” I lead her away from everyone and into the forest. Once away I look at her as she refuses to look at me.

“Lupa.. I am.. ” I stop as I see her start to cry as she hugs me close.

“I am unable to protect you... I’m so sorry Zona..” She barely whispers as she buries her head into my shirt. I hug her and start to rub her back.

“.. It’s fine.. really Lupa. You have been doing an amazing job. I don’t know what I would do without you.” She slowly stops crying and looks at me.

“...really?” I nod and slowly wipe her eyes. She pauses and lets go of me looking better. “.. Thank you..” I smile holding her hand.

“Let's get back to shopping.” As we turn around, we both see a small girl in rags staring at us. We pause for a few seconds staring at the girl when two men appear behind her. She tries to run but gets grabbed by one of the men.

“I found the little thief.” She tries to tug her hand out of his grip trying not to cry. I found going to the men.

“What do you think you are doing?” The little girl looks at me having a look of terror come over her. I hear Lupa growl from behind me as both men look at us.

“This little thing stole some food from me.” I look down at the girl as she quickly looks away completely terrified. I dig into my bag pulling out some coins.

“Here. I will buy whatever she stole.” I say with some sarcasm. The guy frowns taking the money. He lets the girl go and she takes off running through the market. She takes a few steps before falling collapsing underneath herself. I quickly go to her checking on her. She is dehydrated and hasn’t eaten anything for a few days. I frown looking at Lupa. “We need to get her some help.”