The forest was silent but the air was humming, filled with an indecisive sting that prodded and probed at the back of her skull. She thought she would be freed of headaches forever, but the phantom in her head said otherwise. It was one that denied her physiological nature, an initial minor annoyance aggravated by the badgering of an unceasing small nudge. She wondered if she should just challenge the fiend and get it over with.

It was not as if Rana did not understand the fiend’s hesitance. She herself was unsure of how to deal with the moon-kind, and she believed she was also being treated the same. If she were to guess, the reasons were not so dissimilar. She used to be a human and was an agent of the Church, someone taught from birth that the leaders of monsters were hatred personified and looked to devour humanity. If she had not had her doubts or was a paladin fighting in the frontlines, she would not have extended the offer for an alliance.

The moon-kind was of the same mind. The zombie in front of the fiend was their sworn enemy, someone they waged an eternal war against, and part of an organization that hunted their kind. Rana was initially unsure of whether the alliance would last, but it seemed like the fiend’s sense of duty won out. The moon-kind chose to let her live, but begrudgingly so. The wavering hostility the System was detecting spoke to that truth.

Still, Rana wondered if it was a ploy to annoy her to death. Her mind was the source of her strength, and the fiend’s indecisiveness was maddening. She wondered if the plan was to have her lose her mind. She debated whether or not to confront the fiend, but decided that there was no point. They both knew they did not enjoy their current arrangement, and what new perspective could they have possibly learned from the other? There was no reason to ask if the other was not willing to answer.

When Rana initially offered her reason for the temporary alliance, it was her sister’s name that allowed for the opportunity. For some reason, just the utterance of Mara’s name dissuaded the fiend from a reckless engagement. The two then discussed the terms of their alliance. It was a simple arrangement. They would stop whatever the Church was plotting and then be on their separate ways. However, both of them fully knew they were only exploiting the other for their own goals. If one deemed the other useless, then there was no doubt the alliance would break. The only question now, was how Rana could ensure that she held all the cards.

She also wanted to inquiry more about her sister, but the moon-kind was resolute in their silence. She decided against pushing the issue as it was not urgent. There would be opportunities, but not when they were still antagonistic towards each other.

Rana threw aside the carcass of a critter to the side and wiped the blood off her mouth. It used to be an unquestioned truth, but she now wondered why animals lived in the ashen woods despite the presence of monsters. It was not that monsters did not attack animals, but the smaller and weaker creatures managed to survive despite that.

“Will you not give it a burial?” a voice rang behind her. She turned and saw Alpheia land onto the floor and gestured the critter with her head. “It lays cold in the air and bare under the sanguine moon’s gaze. It should be covered.”

Rana paused for a moment before realizing what the moon-kind was asking. It was strange. Was the fiend trying to pander to her humanity, or was it some sort of cultural aspect of their society? She never heard of fiends having rituals for the deceased. News of the war did not include them burying the dead of ally or foe. Then again, the Church never knew much of their culture nor was it something she prioritized to know when she was alive. The only thing that mattered was how to kill them.

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“The critter was food, nothing more. There is no point in burying every critter I drain the blood from. Why ask? I did not remember you wanting to bury the druid and warrior.”

“The critter was innocent, the humans were not,” the fiend said after a long pause. She then walked towards the carcass and found some leaves to cover it. “And neither were fiends.”

The last part was a quiet admission of guilt, one Rana heard many times from those who were remorseful after accepting their crime, before she sentenced them to the void. She wondered what it all meant for the fiend, but she quickly dissuaded the thought. There were far more important matters at hand. “There is nothing to it. The strong live and the weak perish.”

“The strong live and the weak perish,” Alpheia echoed, a hint of sorrow behind her bell-like voice. The moon-kind then returned to her silence as she followed Rana.

The two continued their journey and were undisturbed by further interruption or monsters. The aura the fiend had was no doubt the reason. With dungeon monsters being the exception with their aggro mechanism, monsters in the ashen woods did not bother with fiends. Fiends were the strongest of their kind, after all. They reached their destination, the burned down settlement, soon afterward.

Rana stood before the ruin and inspected the scene. When she first visited the village with her party, they were in a rush and hurried out before she was able to do any investigation. No doubt due to the meddling of the druid. The red mist that threatened to suffocate her senses were still present, but it was not as thick as before. Whatever life that was lost was now long dead, and the lifeless had no value to an undead.

The destruction was thorough and deliberate. There was purpose in every action that lead to the carnage before her. The assailant ensured that no one escaped, that there were no survivors, and that whoever stumbled upon the scene would not know what was here. It was not a fiend’s work. Only humans were so meticulous in their killings.

“Follow,” the moon-kind said softly as she walked past Rana in haste as if to hide whatever expression she buried beneath her mask. Rana made no comment about her temporary ally’s sudden change in demeanor and followed as she was instructed.

The two passed piles of charcoal and rubble and eventually found themselves in front of one identical to the dozens they walked by. There was a surge of mana and red sparks lit up on the moon-kind. There was no hostility but rather filled with intentions Rana was unable to decipher. The only thing she knew was that it was not directed at her.

With a swipe of her arm, Alpheia launched several explosive plumes and blew away a clearing. She then approached it and began digging, eventually revealing a trapdoor.

“Wait here,” the fiend said and crawled into the trapdoor. Soon, they reappeared with a small pouch in their hand. “Let us depart. I’ll carry you to my hideout.”

Rana tilted her head in a frown. The fiend also crossed their arm, clearly not excited about the prospect as well. However, the fiend’s hideout was quite far away, and the two did not have time to dally.

With a sigh, she agreed with the fiend’s proposition.

Rana walked around Alpheia’s open arm and clung to their back. The moon-kind was sturdily built, but was leaner than she expected that it almost felt frail.

“I prefer to carry you. If you cling on my back it will be more difficult for me to fly.”

“I rather not make it easier for you to drop me off.”

“I rather you not wring my neck.”

“You can always explode me with your feathers if that happens.”

“Fair enough.”

Without another word, Alpheia flapped her wings and the two began to rise towards the sky. Rana, unlike her sister, never daydreamed of flying. There was nothing worthwhile to be indulged in fantasy. Life strove with one step at a time. There were no shortcuts nor detours. However, it seemed like circumstances gave her an opportunity to experience the sky no man has ever experienced.

It was a pity that she would have to worry whether her travel companion preferred death over aiding a zombified human the entire way. If so, it seemed like she unwillingly signed a death pact with a fiend.