Arya

Fang.

She must have realized that I left the King's keep by now.

Surprisingly, I don't hear her voice in my head. Is she so busy with the King that she shut me off?

My pace drags as I reach the maize farm.

After collecting a few cobs, I return to the famished group.

Just maize wouldn't do for them. Not even me. We'll need meat.

A quick hunt is still possible before dusk falls over us.

The first woman with gold hair that somehow became black with dirt and dust rushes forward to relieve me of my burden.

"Thank you." I mutter sheepishly.

"I"m Danesa, my lady." She sketches a small courtesy.

I avert my gaze, colouring instantly.

It must be because of my attire, I realize. I could never be a lady - even if I were to be nobleborn. Sitting still, being pretty and chattinf senselessly was never my thing.

However, the Demon court was different. I had been privileged to attend once, as Fang's Attending.

"Where are you from?" She asks, pulling me out of my reverie.

I give her a small smile.

Was she unaware of the exchange I just had with Chen and Venus?

"Many places."

She laughs, as if it's a funny joke. I decide to humour her with a smile.

She shares the cobs with the others.

When I look up, Venus is staring at me - not quite as hostile as before, but not nice either.

Chen seems to have overcome his initial shock of seeing me alive.

A wave of wind hits, sending the grass dancing.

"We should gather things for a fire. This night would be a cold one." Chen says.

"I've had my fair share of freezing nights." The boy mutters, shivering slightly to emphasize his point.

"I'm Thalia." The second woman says.

I nod at her.

"Won't you tell us your name?" She asks.

"Arya."

"Hmm. That's a beautiful name."

I scoff.

"Not many people would share the same opinion."

She tilts her head, her robes caught in the wind behind her. "What does it mean?"

I shrug, refusing to remind myself to the life I had before now.

She places a hand on my shoulder. "It's all in the past. It can't hurt you."

My hands itch to shove her hand off, instead I look at her with understanding eyes.

"It means Noble and spiritual - things I'm not. My mother was a dreamer... bottom line is people laughed at the poor orphan bearing a name meant for a princess."

Her eyes soften with... pity.

I hate pity. I throw her hand off none too nicely. She doesn't seem angered by my rude gesture.

Venus comes forward and grabs me by the arm.

"Since you're so talented at killing, you should hunt us dinner."

His words pierce sharper than a sword. Biting back my retort, I avert my eyes. My jaw hardens.

How many times would I explain that I didn't kill Han and Arigana? No one seems to believe a word I say - and what's worse, Fang made it in such a way that there were no witnesses.

"I'm not talented at killing." I can't help admitting.

But even the words feel like a lie as they roll off my tongue. And he can senses it - telling by the smug smile on his rough face.

My eyes start burning bright with anger. I force myself to blink - I can't lose control at a time like this.

"Shall we?" He holds out his arm.

Despite the tension, I smile. The lady-treatment is expected due to my state of dress.

I take his arm, allowing myself to be a princess for once.

A princess of what, though?

"Princess of the Damned, maybe?" Fang's silky voice cuts through my thoughts.

I still.

Venus notices my discomfort immediately.

He follows the direction of my gaze.

"What happened? Did you see something in the woods?" He asks, his voice hinting of fear.

Realizing that I had raised a false alarm, I say, "Nothing. I just remembered... Look!" I point into the sky.

It's the same dragon with familiar eyes that had brought them, except it looks different - like it's going to fall.

The wings are torn badly. What had attacked such a mighty creature? I wonder.

Venus turns to me. "Hold on tight." He says and we vanishes into the air.

It feels like I'm being pushed through a windy and voidy vacuum before my feet land on solid ground.

The urge to throw up leaves me red-faced. Venus appears unfazed - he's used to it afterall.

I look around. My head is spinning, my vision is blurry.

He places a hand at my back.

"You should sit down and wait the symptoms out. It'd go away with time." He mutters.

Venus guides me to a tree and leans me against the bark of the tree.

"Stay here and wait for the others while I find where they landed."

Suddenly remembering how dangerous this forest is, I call out to him.

He looks over his shoulder.

"I'm the only one with a sword. I'd advice you to wait for me."

He raises an eyebrow.

"I don't need a sword. After all my years of training, there's nothing to be afraid of." He raises his arms in a defiant shrug to emphasize his point.

Part of me wishes that a Direwolf or something more dangerous would arrive and wipe the smug look off his face.

Despite his bravado, he returns to my side, sliding to a sitting position beside me.

"All my training in the Peace Corps never prepared me for my time in the Blink. The Blink showed me that there was so much I had been afraid of unconsciously. Sometimes I feared I may never be sane again."

I absorb his words quietly.

"Me too. I fear that I've never been sane for most of my life."

He turns to me, crossing his booted legs under him on the damp forest floor.

The smell of leaves and wet soil fill the air. Sunlight manages to penetrate through the dense canopy of trees. Shrubs cluster where the light touches the ground.

Birds sing sweetly in the branches up ahead.

"What's the worse thing the Blink made you realize you feared?" He asks.

It's my turn to glance at him. He toys with the soil in front of him, drawing several indistinct lines with a broken twig.

"Myself."

His shoulders tense. He doesn't have to look at me - I can guess what he's thinking.

"So it's true then? You did kill them?" The doubt in his tone is unmistakeable - like he's waiting for me to convince his otherwise.

"No one believes the words of a Demon Necromancer."

"I do now. And for what it's worth, I believe you."

I sit upright. "What made you change your mind?"

He casts me a lazy sideward glance.

"You didn't try to defend yourself. You let the truth defend you."

I blink at his words. I've never heard that before. Tears start burning at the back of my eyes.

I shake my head - I can't allow myself to break down.

"My worst fear was returning home." He says, his voice carrying through the trees.

"Why? Isn't that not your dream?"

He laughs out loud, a dry and bitter sound.

"To what? A land dominated with Demon soldiers that swing their swords like it's child's play? To a place where the Peace Corps are now a legend people don't dare to say aloud for fear of being beheaded? A home where powered individuals no longer have a place?"

"But you said it 'was', what's your fear now?"

"Staying a night in the Demon Realm and never getting to see the sun in all its glory again.

I can definitely relate.

"It's so beautiful." I stare at the rays that caress the bright green leaves.

"What was your silliest fear?" He asks.

I shrug. "I didn't have one."

"Mine was rain."

"Oh." I mutter sheepishly.

He climbs to his feet, dusting himself off loudly.

"Has it worn off?"

I nod. The spinning sensation has grossly reduced but the contents of my stomach still threatens to emerge.

He lifts me up effortlessly with one hand. I notice the way the veins in his arm bulge out through his torn sleeve.

Footsteps crash into dry leaves behind us. I rest my hand on the hilt of my sword instinctively.

I had improvised a makeshift scabbard - at least until I can buy a new one.

Chen and the others peel through the dense branches and crawling stems.

"Didn't it occur to any of you to wait for the rest of us?" He asks, his voice echoing.

Venus and I glance at each other.

A small smile tugs at the corner of my lips - I have been included in the group, no matter how little.

"Did you see where they fell?" The boy asks, his voice much deeper than the voices of most boys his age.

"Up ahead." Venus says with surety, as if he has the slightest clue.

I decide not to call him out, preferring to let him lead with his false knowledge.

"Lead the way, then." Chen chides.

Venus turns to me and winks.

I shake my head at his antics.

We slither through the thick mass of trees until we reach a body sprawled on the ground.

Freshly broken branches and leaves are scattered around him.

I look up at where he must have fallen from - it was a long fall.

His legs are bloody with deeps cuts and scrapes. His trouser has been reduced to strips of thread from the kneed downwards.

My eyes move to his face. I recognize him immediately.

Arcane.

What the hell happened to them?

I rush to his side.

"Arcane!" A voice calls further into the forest.

"Help me move him. Let's get him to the others." I instruct.

The metallic smell of blood wafts to my nostrils.

A moan of pain hisses through his parted lips. His eyes open slightly, focusing me with their green depths. They widen in shock at first, but become blank once again as pain blurs his vision.

Chen nudges me aside.

"Let the men do it."

I watch he and Venus lift Arcane with gritted teeth.

I lead the way, following the sound of voices like a roadmap.

Lo amd behold, the other party comes into view.

It's all of them - the Diamond Rankers.

And Xian Xi is with them.

The tears I had managed to push back threaten to spill.

Claw's voice echoes in my head.

"If you kill Fang within a fortnight, Xian Xi dies."

I step back, my lips quivering.

He leaves the side of the person on the floor and walks up to me. His steps are hesitant, as if he fears I might fade into dust if he waits long enough.

All of them are wearing the same disbelieving expression.

"Arya?" His voice is a little more than a whisper.

I nod, not trusting myself to speak.

He covers the remaining distance and pulls me into a warm embrace.

"I missed my friend." He whispers into my hair.

"Me too."

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