Jezebel ran with all she had with Safiya on her shoulders. upper arm bleeding, a hole in it it wasn’t easy to maintain. that pace even for a half demon as Hector now running on his knuckles and a fourteen foot tall beast trying to eat them I still can’t believe it his heavy breathing and the sound of branches breaking told her he's not slowing down and she will need to climb a tree how I’m running up hill and he's not slowing down! I can’t lose Safiya or Hector maybe he will chance back

there was a goblin hiding in the bushes when they came in to view

“there’s a goblin over there once Hector kills it we climb the biggest tree got it” Jezebel huffed

“got it” Safiya said, with that Jezebel ran straight towards the goblin his eyes grew wide he tried to run away but Jezebel was faster and Hector punched on it. dropping Safiya they ran towards the biggest oak tree they could find on short notice and began to climb Hector was feeding by the sound of bones crunching slow down Jezebel thought if you fall you die forcing herself to climb more steady then hastily once they were as high as they could go Hector saw them in the tree and stood up on his hind legs he’s huge fourteen feet tall!. with muscle to spare his head was just about ten feet away from them. Her heart was pounding from the run and fear he tried to reach up with paws outstretched, reaching if Jezebel dangled her legs he would be able to pull her out of the tree. Safiya was a branch above her

“I knew we shouldn't have trusted him, he had this whatever this is and could have killed us at any time!” still might Jezebel thought he was pacing around the tree. her shoulder was getting cold

“Do you have something for my arm?” Jezebel asked

“um yes here” she ripped off a part of her undershirt and leaned over to bind her wound to stop the bleeding. Hector was still circling them. I can't believe it Jezebel thought as Safiya wrapped the crude bandage around her upper arm and shoulder. Now I know why he didn’t want to fight in the battle. He was afraid he would turn and kill more than just the monsters and why he hated cities. how he knows lady Rea I had no idea

“done. it will have to do” Safiya said the tree shook Violently Hector was on his feet again and started shaking the tree pushing on it. the tree is going to fall!

“ready to glide” Jezebel asked

“now!” Safiya replied as the tree fell Jezebel and Safiya jumped off and glided to the nearest tree with arms stretched out and grabbing The limbs Safiya missed and had to climb before Hector could realize what had happened. Hector let loose a roar louder than it should be. They cling to the new tree in fear does he ever run out of energy? He sniffed the air then headed in another direction leaving them. they were to afraid to climb down all night as the sun rose giving little warmth to her blood

“is it safe to come down” Safiya said shivering while she was speaking

“how should I know” Jezebel said tired she wanted nothing more than to sleep

“we should build a fire” oh the my joints the stiffness Jezebel felt from the long hours of clinging to the tree there was a humanoid about forty feet away it looked haggard slowly walking towards them then he stopped and vomited she couldn't tell if it was a goblin or not.

“I’m going to get some food and check on our moas” Jezebel said as she began to climb down from the tree at the bottom and looked at the path back towards being chased. as the figure got closer. It was Hector! Safiya joined her side

“Let's go” they approached him cautiously. He was bent over on all fours still clothed somehow. He looked even more exhausted than them; he even had his cloak on

“We need to talk” Jezebel said firmly Hector looked up at them and nodded

“Why didn’t you tell us you could turn into a fourteen foot tall beast? you almost killed us” Safiya scolded

“because you wouldn't believe me” Safiya was about to speak but Jezebel rose her hand to silence her

“what's the real reason” Jezebel asked softly Hector stood up slowly as if it took a lot of effort

“I was afraid that you would leave me behind and I would have but once I heard about the goddess’s power so I figured once you or Safiya became a goddess you would cure me of my curse I admit I should have told you but I figured I could control it” Hector said voice filled with sorrow

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“how did you become cursed” Jezebel asked

“the gods are dead and any magic is very scarce let alone enough for your curse”

“I was a fool”

“that's not enough” Safiya said with scorn

“alright I’ll tell you but first I need something to eat where are our moas?” “fine there were we left them” Safiya said

“We need to untie them before they are killed and our supplies go with it” Hector said with urgency

“let’s go” Jezebel said at a brisk pace back towards where they left them

“how do you know where we're going?” Safiya asked following her

“we just have to follow Hector’s huge footprints” Jezebel replied and besides the trees were clearly had been disturbed by something large

“we should leave Hector behind” Safiya said

“no” Jezebel said firmly “are you crazy what if he turns on us again and eats us” Safiya argued

“I won’t abandon him he has still helped us and we wouldn't have made it this far without him” Jezebel pointed out

“Look at this place” Safiya said pointing to the broken branches and large footprints in the snow

“it’s not his fault he's like us”

“Like us? How?”

“because he has no home nobody wants to be around him except people like him and it’s not his fault what our parents did or in his case the beast did he’s like a halfbreed” Safiya was at a loss for words. Hector was falling behind so she walked back

“Let me help you” Jezebel said, taking an arm and helping him up. He looked at her almost at eye level with gratitude soon though she had to carry him with a grunt and swing him over her shoulders like a sack of potatoes. Safiya looked with disapproval. what I’m I to do?. they soon found where the minotaur attacked and the goblin camp or what was left of it where did they go? It lay empty. Backtracking towards their steads and finding them dead by the tree where they tied to their blood stained the bark, making red patches in the snow they gathered what they could, some spare clothes for Hector and Safiya but almost no food. Then Jezebel noticed Safiya’s moa was not among the dead and in fact in the distance a large bird could be seen grazing. Jezebel pointed and Safiya ran to it. approaching and rubbing its neck to soothe it. it still had her pack with a little food and a water skin. Some must have fallen off in the struggle to break free. Safiya led her back to Jezebel and Hector by the ripped bridle

“Now we have a chance,” Safiya said gladly so they walked, leaving the dead steeds behind Stopping behind a large oak tree that the beast tore down and took a nap till the afternoon. They walked with some hope they could still reach the mountain.

Days later of walking in the woods. like old times which felt like forever ago. Hector was leading the moa and still hasn't talked about how he got cursed. later for sure right now we have much bigger problems if it wasn’t for Hector we wouldn't be having those possums and our one meal a day

“so how does it triggered” Jezebel asked

“it’s mostly a defense when I’m attacked witch is why I barricaded myself in the hospital but it could also happen when I give in to the beast I don’t know how to explain it but I will say he gets stronger when I linger in a city for hours or a village for more than a day”

“and the guards the ones who chased us”

“I don’t know what happened to them next thing I knew I was walking towards you. fortunately I managed to get under control” Safiya listened in silence then they heard giggles near them to the left

“what could that be?” Safiya wondered

“fairies which means” Hector said following the giggling “be careful it could be a prank but there should be” Hector stopped and soon they found a small town the walls of trees surrounding huts were unnatural looking

“dryads” Hector said their huts were spaced out somewhat. There was no gate but an opening five feet wide. rows of bare fruit trees surrounded the wall of oaks. They walked towards the strange town. What are dryads? I guess I’m about to find out as they were about to enter the opening two wolves, gray fur four feet tall at the shoulders snarling at them Jezebel drew her long knife

“hey!” a new voice said a tall man came into view. white skin and blue hair wearing a wool tunic and leggings they were way to light for this weather “hello welcome sorry about the dire wolves there bark is worse than their bite” he said in a light tone he looked them up and down he seemed notice Jezebel’s height and Hector’s he was just a head taller than Safiya

“May we enter?” Hector said

“yes of course right this way” with that they followed the dryad into the town Hector still had his ax at his belt fidgeting it how does he still have that? Jezebel wondered.

the town was modest with no blacksmith to speak of beautiful men and women with modest wool cloth some had white skin and blue eyes some were orange with red hair others green skin and red hair and some with light green skin and dark green hair there were even a few humans all eyes were on the strange travelers but a few went about their day some even had fairies on their shoulders or flew around them. One foot tall women with butterfly wings and a few men were flying around the trees and huts, some had two on their but no three. In the whole town the dire wolves kept sniffing her legs which was annoying but she was far too tired and hungry to do anything to stop them.

“Please we are hungry, do you have any food” Jezebel pleaded the dryads singled out one of the men, a tall dryad with winter all over him whispered something in his ear and he hired away.

“you will be brought food and raw meat for the half demon I assume you want raw meat” he said

“Yes” Jezebel answered he did all this without stopping she passed four temples each one for the goddess of the four seasons they stopped at a two story hut the roof was made out of bark tiles and the walls were made out of mud and there was no door they entered and all collapsed on the the floor as the dryad sat down we’re safe and we will be fed. right? So why do I feel uneasy?

They soon brought them food possums and dried fruit on bark. He left the group to eat like pigs eating until they could eat no more. Jezebel and Safiya were getting worried when he didn’t come back. but they took his bed and fell asleep as Hector took the floor.