Xian Xi

The squeeze is a tight one. I almost can't breathe.

I heave a deep breath when he releases me.

Behind him is Choi and Jakota. Jakota looks completely different - his hair is messed up and his impeccable robes are tattered and covered with dirt.

Kross, Rames, Huang, Valen… where are Kaven and Tera?

Grasping my unspoken question, Huang steps forward.

"They didn't make it. Tera said I should give this to you." He produces a hairpin.

The hairpin was Tera's family's heirloom.

Why would he want me to have it?

I receive the delicate object with both hands.

"Why would he…" My voice cracks mid-sentence.

"He just wanted you to have it." Valen says, leaning forward to rub my shoulder.

"What really happened?" I ask, my gaze running over all of them.

Five other people that I don't know remain behind.

One of them is a young boy of about sixteen or seventeen, two are men and the other two are women.

No one utters a word.

"I need to know… I just went back to get her," I point at where Dove is seated, " and when I returned, everyone was reduced to a heap of rotting bodies."

"There's no point dwelling on the ambush, Xian Xi. Talking about it won't bring back any of them."

I step back.

"Didn't you try to fight? Did you just run away, leaving the rest behind?" I ask, becoming indignant.

His mouth tightening, Jakota steps forward.

"Since you insist on forcing us to relive what we saw, we'll tell you. When we saw them coming from a mile away, we started screaming for the people to run. No one moved - and I don't blame them, Xian Xi. They had no weapons, and more importantly, no home to go to. We are now outcasts with no way to even cross the ocean. The hordes descended the hill and finished them off. Those you see here are the ones that chose to live." He says, his voice bitter.

I gulp.

"What about Tera and Kaven?" I ask.

"They chose to go back and convince the adamant people to run. They refused to give up… and when they wanted to, it was too late."

Choi pulls his instrument off his back.

"I can't even play a song for their spirits, because they've been corrupted. These wicked demons could not even let them die in peace - they had to turn them into hideous beasts."

"Forget about it. I'm just glad you're alive Xian Xi - we were beginning to worry about you."

It doesn't make any sense - what about that girl I had helped? Didn't she want to see the sun one more time?

"Who are those?" I ask, pointing at the two men at the back.

"The one on the right is Chen - his fire is what has been keeping us warm all night, and the other one is Venus. The women are Thalia and Danesa while the boy is Irus."

Jakota gestures at Dove.

"I'm surprised you're still alive."

I follow the direction of his gaze, almost grinning.

"It would surprise you to know that she's the reason I'm still alive. She even dug this water up for me." I point at the hole in the ground spitting water.

Kross leans down to scoop some of the water into his palms.

"But she just tried to kill us just now. How did you manage to tame the beast?" Jakota asks.

I shrug casually, not knowing the answer to that question myself.

"There's nothing to eat here - except we'll turn into cannibals and start eating human flesh." Valen says.

Spinning the heirloom between my fingers, I look up at Huang.

"Did you happen to know his last name? Maybe someday, I could return this to his family." I say.

Huang shrugs.

"We always knew him as Tera. He never mentioned it and no one asked."

I had always been grateful that everyone in the Diamond Rank minded their business - but right now, I wish we had been more honest with ourselves from the beginning.

Now I wonder, was Tera even his real name?

"The people we left behind at the Blink are doing a lot better than us. I'm thinking of going back." Valen says.

"To that prison?" Arcane asks.

"It may have been a prison, but at least I was warm, fed and didn't have to wonder how the hell I'd cross an ocean!"

Sensing a growing fight, I step in, urging everyone to calm down.

"Let him get it out, Xian Xi. It's not good for him to keep all the frustration he's feeling inside." Kross says, patting my shoulder.

Nodding, I quietly step back.

But, Valen says no more. He's probably vented everything out.

"But, he's right." Rames steps forward. "There's nothing here we can use to build a boat. Swimming isn't even an option."

I look back at Dove, wondering if I should tell them that she can fly.

"I can travel through space, but if I try to travel across far distances, I usually end up in foreign places." Venus calls from behind.

Everyone turns to him.

"What do you mean 'foreign places'?" Jakota asks.

"Places I've never seen before. Places outside the Continent - maybe even outside our world."

We all exchange bewildered glances.

What the hell does he mean by that?

Kross settles down on the ground.

"You can't even fall asleep in this fucking place." He mutters. "You never know when the beasts would get to you." He adds.

Funnily enough, I had slept like a baby under a demon's ministrations.

"Arya got lucky. She doesn't have to suffer along with the rest of us." Rames comments.

I pin him with a glare.

"At least she wouldn't be complaining as much as you seem to be doing." I retort.

"There's no need to attack each other. And Xian Xi, he's probably right. Death is currently better than our situation. We have to keep moving if we don't want to become skewered beef in the next hour." Jakota says, his voice firm and authoritative.

I leave them, walking down to where Dove sits, glaring intensely at me.

As I reach her, I hear her growl.

"What do you want now? For me to find food for you?" She asks, her tone mocking.

"I'm not useless… at least not to that extent."

Her eyes flicker at my response.

"You're finally learning. I never thought I'd be a good influence on anybody."

Good influence? Over my dead and rotten corpse - but I say nothing.

"How long before they die?" She asks, startling me with her question.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

She looks at the group, her gaze intense.

"Look at their skins - it's darkening."

I follow her gaze.

"It's dirt. So?"

"Dirt?" She laughs. "Not just dirt. The air out here is poison. It doesn't affect demons - and that now includes you. It'll kill them before hunger does."

That explains why the air felt so hard and stale to me before.

"How long do they have?"

She smirks.

"If I knew, I wouldn't be itching to wring their throats so badly. Maybe a few hours?"

Shit! They have to get out of here as soon as possible.

She scratches her claws on the stone noisily.

"They'll have to get very far from here before they'll be safe."

How would they do that when they can't even build a boat?

Leaning forward, I grasp her arm.

She looks up at me sharply.

"Can you fly them to the other side?" I plead.

"Since when did I become a boat?" She asks.

"Boat? I said 'fly'."

"What's the difference? I only made an exception for you. Now you want me to fly twelve people across an ocean? What am I? A flying stage coach?" She mocks.

I run a hand through my hair. Nothing is ever easy with her.

"Sit down." She orders.

I glance down at her, brows raised.

"Sit down." She repeats. "Your injured leg is trembling."

Oh. How the heck did she notice that before I did?

I settle down on the closest rock across from her.

"They need help - and you're the only one that can help them with that." I say, taking an alternative approach.

She, however, doesn't fall for it.

"Command me if you really want me to do it. Stop asking me - I'm your servant."

"Is that what you want?"

She doesn't respond, just stares into the empty distance.

"Very well, Dove. Carry them across the ocean. You can take six first, then come back for the remaining six." I command.

The words come out forced and empty.

She meets my gaze.

I search her face for any trace of emotion - anger, which is always there abundantly, fear, anything.

Her face is unreadable as always.

She stands up, heading to fulfil her orders.

Then, she stops as if suddenly remembering something.

"What about you?"

I shrug.

"I'll leave that up to you. It'll be your choice to come back for me or leave me here."

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