Cadivus walked in a forest with Thermia in his arms. Where, how far, or which direction? He couldn’t say. He just knew they had to leave. He couldn’t see the path before him, only the vision of Chronic—and any chance they had of restoring their old life—being torn to shreds.

“You fucking dumb bitch!” He fell to his knees and yelled as loudly as he could until his throat hurt. “Why?! Why?! Why?!” he coughed, the screams having torn his throat.

Thermia stirred in his arms. He laid her down on the ground and rubbed his neck.

“What the frick…” she muttered. “What’s going on? What happened?”

He didn’t know how to answer.

She threw her head to the ground and collected her thoughts, groaning through her headache. “Cadivus, talk to me…Say something. Tell me—”

“We can’t go back to Dreyhal.” He couldn’t look her in the eyes.

“What? No…The plan… It was working. What happened? I remember he dove into a ditch and…Where’s Ekio? Where’s Ekio?! Is she…No, don’t tell me” Tears formed in her eyes.

“She’s alive and well,” Cadivus said. Thoughts raced through his head of what to tell her next. He didn’t want to hurt her image of Ekio. “We had Chronic caught, and…things got out of hand.”

“Oh, Cadivus…don’t tell me you lost control of your powers again.”

His eyes darted up.

“Yes, he tricked me again. Only this time, he was a victim of his own wickedness.”

Saving Ekio from indignation, and Thermia would forgive him…It was the perfect plan.

“What is wrong with you, Cadivus?” She held her hands over her eyes to cover her tears. “You killed Chronic and scared away my only real friend I’ve had in years!” Still on the ground, she kicked and screamed, flopping from side to side. “Dammit!” Her anger seemed to leave her for a moment. She just covered her eyes and softly cried into her hands.

Cadivus sat next to her, debating on whether or not to offer his hand.

“How am I gonna convince Smokey I’m innocent?”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine. It’s me they blame after all, isn’t it?”

“Don’t even!” She turned to face him. “You’re not leaving me there by myself! I’ll never be allowed to leave the castle again!”

“This isn’t a debate. I don’t know what else to do here. I don’t even know where I am.”

She stared at him with all the intensity she could muster.

“What do you want me to do?!” he yelled.

She kept staring. “I…can’t….fix….this!”

“You can try, can't you?” He wanted to turn the dirt around him into quicksand and suck them both deep into the earth. Instead, he kept yelling, loudly.

“Fine! I’ll go back to Dreyhal, escort you through the gates, bend my neck on a stump, and wait to be beheaded!”

“Was that so hard?” She got up, and stumbled for a moment, underestimating her head wound. She caught herself on a tree. “Why are bodies always flying all over the place?!”

Cadivus stood, took her arm, and placed it over his shoulder.

“Which way is home?”

She stared at the stars in the night sky.

“Oh, fuck me. I really should have paid attention when they taught me this shit…” she walked toward a constellation she recognized, but after a few steps, she vomited on the ground. “Okay…Maybe a small rest would be okay.”

He laid her down against a tree and sat beside her.

“Are we okay?” he asked.

“I don’t know what we are. I just know we need to get back home. He needs us there. Chronic or not, we need to be home.”

She stared at the sky, remembering her first few nights in Dreyhal. How her Smokey would take her to the roof and point out the brightest stars in the sky, even offering stories about them.

She remembered the story about the dimmest of the major stars, Titeenius.

A mother had three sons, their father abandoned them for a life of war. She focused all her attention on the two older boys, letting the youngest fall behind on his training and studies. One of the older brothers went off to become a respected general, and the other became a revered scholar at a most prestigious school. The younger brother stayed behind, tending the gardens, and trapping small wildlife.

When the mother got sick on her deathbed, she asked the youngest child if he hated her for what she had done. He smiled and said no, for he had the privilege of caring for the mother of two of the greatest men in all the land. He served her food and cupped her hands. She grasped him tight, and tears fell down her cheeks. My sweet son, she said, it is not the blade or the book that nurtures the soul. As I drift into the afterlife, my greatest pride I take with me is you.

He went on to care for others who found themselves alone at the end of their lives. On his own deathbed, nobody was there to hold his hand. Lumia, the goddess of the night sky, took pity upon him. She reached out and pulled him toward her, promising him a place in the night sky forever. All he asked was that he not be too bright as he didn’t want to distract travelers.

Thermia teared up, thinking about the story. Other people seemed to know who they were meant to be, but she had no idea. She would have been married to a lord in the royal city if yelen’s disease hadn’t destroyed her womb. It was only by chance that another lord who had no care for having children existed. She longed to be with the man who allowed her freedom to blossom. “I miss him so much, Cadivus…” She cried, and he hugged her as long as she needed.

“Why are we so obsessed with being near this dick weasel…”

They both laughed.

“When my family gave me away to him, he was kind,” she said. “He told me he would take care of me forever, whether I chose to be with him or not. We talked a lot on that first trip, we told each other everything. In fact I think we talked for at least twenty hours straight before falling asleep the first time. He was just…a real person.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever talked to him for more than a few minutes…”

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“He is stern and cold at times, but…you feel safe when he’s around, don’t you?”

“Yes. Maybe that’s it.”

She took a deep breath. “Cadivus?”

“Yeah?”

“I should tell you, in case something goes wrong.” His ears perked up. “Me and Smokey well…We love each other as best friends. Not as a husband and wife does.”

“What? I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“I’m saying…We don’t perform our marital duties…”

“Yeah, I’ve never seen you cook or clean anything. So what?” She slapped his shoulder, and he flinched.

“We don’t fuck each other! You numbskull!” She folded her arms.

Cadivus sat back, grimacing. “Does his dick not work? Does he even have a dick?”

“Of course he has a dick!”

“How would you know!”

They both became flustered, and turned away from one another.

“Why keep this a secret?” Cadivus asked. “Why be so…performative about your entanglements.”

She brushed her hair back. “We couldn’t have people thinking otherwise. He was scared to tell you because, you know, you're a drunken loudmouth.”

He nodded.

“Well, fuck me that’s weird. So, you have a connection beyond your loins. What is it that binds you?”

She looked him in the eyes.

“We both lost someone close to us.”

“Oh. I see.”

They laid down to sleep. He looked to his side, hoping to see Ekio. But she was still gone. His heart felt empty. He wondered if he missed her like Thermia missed his brother. Could he ever love someone so relentlessly as she did? He grabbed onto a nearby root and pretended it was Ekio’s calloused hand. He closed his eyes and fell to slumber.

When Thermia awoke in the morning, the world was still there.

Her head still aching, she moaned for water, and kicked Cadivus until he woke up to fetch it from a nearby stream. His hand was cramped from gripping the root all evening. He watched her gulp down the water he retrieved, only pausing for heavy breaths.

“Home?” she held out her hand, and he lifted her up.

“Home,” he agreed.

They set off on their voyage—through an unfamiliar but seemingly peaceful space in the country. The forest was calm, the sun peeked through the needles and leaves. Distant calls from the wildlife serenaded them as they walked. Chronic had picked a great place to retire.

Cadivus kept picturing the vision of Chronic being torn to shreds by Ekio, like watching sand blowing into the wind.

“Hey,” Thermia said. “Distract me while I walk.”

“All right. I’ve always been a good distraction. Let’s see…what if I didn’t stay with you in Dreyhal?”

Her mouth dropped.

“What? What else would you do? Are you going after Ekio? Are you going to make things right with her?”

“I…I don’t know. I think…there are things that have been hidden from me. Somewhere out there, the answer lie in wait.”“Hey. I can’t say I won’t miss you. But, if this is something you have to do. I will support you fully. You have so much potential, you could do anything you set your mind to. I’m sure of it.”

“All right. So, whether my dream is to be the best prostitute in the capitol or the most revered poet, you’d support it all the same?”

She giggled a little.

“Yeah…I mean I would have questions, but you know, it’s your life.”

“Let me ask you this then, what will you do if you're not allowed back into Dreyhal?”

“Well I would—”

His ears picked up the noise of footsteps. He put his fingers to her lips and whispered.

“Be quiet. Someone else is here.”

Frightened, they glanced around. Leaves rumbled all around them.

“Run!”

Thermia took off, and the men left the shadows and pursued her. Cadivus went to give chase, but a hand caught his shoulder. He turned around and punched the person in the face, sending them flying into a bush.

He counted the men chasing her. Four. He quickly caught up to one, slammed him into a tree from behind. Cadivus removed the man’s sword and stuck it through his back. He then grabbed the man’s face and whispered in his ear. “How many men are there?”

“Fuck you!”

He twisted the blade and pulled it through his body “Five!” he screamed. He ran the blade over the man’s neck and left. Three left.

**********

Thermia ran without remembering the pain in her body. Loud footsteps thundered behind her, so she gave it everything she had.

Her and Cadivus had come so far. Only to fail over and over again.

Someone jerked her hand and pulled her to the ground with such force. All the wind left her.

Nearby, Cadivus closed in on the next chaser. “Wait up!” he yelled.

The man turned around, and made a surprised face at him. Cadivus threw his sword and caught the man through the leg. The man tumbled onto the ground and landed on his back, screaming. Cadivus unwrapped his chain and wound up a heavy swing onto his chest. He grabbed at his ribs, taking short breaths.

“I actually still need this. Hold on.” Cadivus grabbed the sword’s hilt and pulled it out. As he did, blood gushed out of the wound, mudding up the dirt around him. The man tried to use his hands to stop the bleeding, but he slammed the hilt into his nose, knocking him out cold.

“Two?”

**********

Thermia tried to catch her breath as someone dragged her foot through the woods. Rocks and roots dug into her as she passed over them. “Stop! If you’re gonna kidnap me, at least pick me up!”

“Eh,” the man said. “You look heavy.” He laughed and continued dragging her.

She reached out, trying to grab anything from the ground, and found a fist-sized rock in her hand. She contorted her body and slammed the rock into the hand holding onto her, making him release her and cry out in pain. Her hand threw the rock at his head but missed, so she opted to run in the opposite direction instead. Yet she found herself standing in front of a hundred-foot drop.

Her kidnapper held up his good hand in a fist, clenching his teeth. “I’m gonna bash that pretty little face of yours in!”

“I think you're forgetting about something,” she said.

“And what’s that?”

She pointed behind him.

Cadivus ran in and kicked him in the balls.

The kick sent him airborne over the edge. The man reached out and grabbed a root on his way down, but the root gave way and he continued to plummet to his death. With the root pulled out, the dirt crumbled away.

The ground under Thermia moved.

“Cadivus?”

The cliffside gave out, and she fell. He jumped toward her and caught her hand. His chest lay on the edge. They both screamed for a moment before realizing he had made the catch.

“That’s my boy! Pull me up, please!”

“Working on it! Weird angle!” He started to lift her, but pain stabbed through his back. Air fell out of him, and what remained of his strength left him.

“It’s your lung…” a voice whispered behind him. “It’s been pierced. You’re not gonna be able to talk. You’re not gonna get the chance to say goodbye. Same as I.”

Hanging off the edge, she only saw part of Cadivus’s torso hung over it.

“Cadivus? Pull me up.” She stared into his empty eyes. “Cad…What…what are you doing? Pull me up! Please!”

His grip lessened.

“Another innocent dies in your hands…Archangel,” the voice in his ear spat.

Cadivus tried to breathe in short breaths. His face turned purple.

“Cadivus… I didn’t mean anything I said! I’m sorry! Please don’t let me fall! Please!” Her pleading turned into angry tears. “Cadivus! Why are you doing this? Don’t!”

He slowly shook his head, and tried to mouth the words “I’m sorry.”

“Farewell…” The voice whispered.

He lost his grip, and she fell.

Her eyes were wide, and her face was full of despair. Although his senses were blurry, he knew the moment her screaming stopped. When her movement stopped.

“Oh, this wasn’t part of the plan by the way,” The voice said. “Just an improvisation. I have nothing against the woman.” The man removed his sword from Cadivus’s lung, grabbed his leg and flipped him through the air.

Cadivus’s back slammed into the ground. He could only watch and listen as his body failed him.

“You know, I’m pretty disappointed. I was hoping to have a duel of the ages. I thought you were someone worth fighting. Now, you just look like any other nobody.” The man stabbed his sword into the ground, and punched Cadivus’s battered body.

Pain. He could still feel the pain.

“This…this is how you ended it.” The man grabbed his throat, lifted him into the air, and walked him toward the edge of the cliff.

“You seem to be confused. A lot of people are but not me. My name is Darion. You see, seven years ago, you killed my father. For years, I’ve held a hatred in my heart that I couldn’t begin to understand. A killer instinct I couldn’t quench. A sadness I couldn’t mend. But now…” He punched his chest until his fist was slippery with blood. “Our past—our misdeeds—will always come back to haunt us! My blade is the will of justice! My actions are benevolent prose! My pain dies with you, fallen angel. You won’t—”

Cadivus placed a finger to his lips, and slowly shook his head.

Darion knocked his hand away, growled, and threw him over the cliff. His eyes watched until his body hit the ground. Trembling, he stared at him until he felt satisfied—then turned around and left.