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The Compromises of War

"Wake up, whore."

I pried open my eyes, alarmed at such a vulgar wake up call. My body roused much quicker than normal, startled by the sudden weight which had suppressed my body into the springs of the mattress. Ede had sat upon my stomach, her legs anchored either side of me. My arms were pinned down my sides, unable to move. Her face was pinched inward with a deep fury, her eyes piercing through me in an intense glare. Blood had swollen to her cheeks, painting her dark skin an obscure shade of rogue, similar to that when the sun dropped into the land at night.

"Ede?" I objected with a tumbling yawn, but she was quick to silence me.

"Shut your mouth!" She didn’t take kindly to me addressing her on a first name basis. After all, she had wanted nothing more to do with me. I had only secured a bed for the meantime because of Arrain's honeyed words. And even so, it seemed he had bitten off more than he could chew. Ede was feisty; any one could read the attitude from her face with great ease. I opened my mouth once more to protest, but she retaliated with her hand; the packing sound of her palm colliding against my cheek echoed around the room. It clapped, like snapping twigs. My lips formed an oval, pushing out air from the shock.

"Ow!" My face throbbed where she had slapped, my pores stinging with fresh pain. Before I could even speak again, she leaned across me at an uncomfortable proximity; her eyes were so close to mine I could see the small white specs that decorated her iris like stars dancing in the moonlight.

"What have you done with Arrain?" She spat, but I shook my head in confusion. Sighing with intolerance, she dug her hands into the stitched pockets of her dress apron, before sliding out a blade. My eyes widened as I examined the knife; it was a large kitchen blade, used for carving meat clean from the bone. But I could tell with how she was wielding it toward me that she was using this for a different purpose. "The truth, now!"

"I haven't-"

"I'll give you one last chance." She warned, lowering the blade toward my neck. Air shot out from her nostrils in an angry huff. Maintaining leverage over my body, she proceeded to flick the blade more securely in my line of sight, guaranteeing I could see her wave it in and out of the candlelight. As she had most certainly predicted, my eyes were drawn to the knife, unable to focus on anything other the way the metal perked up in the dim light, reflecting the distant details of the room. I gulped, trying to slow my breathing to prevent my skin pulsating into the sharp tip of her weapon. "Tell me where Arrain is, or I'll rip those pretty little eyes from your skull."

"I swear to the deities, I have not seen him since he put me to bed." I reasoned, my eyes darting around her unconvinced face.

"Put you to bed? More like when you had him in bed, you disgusting whore!" The blonde-dreaded girl's patience was wearing dangerously thin, as her eyes strained into mine, glaring through me as though I was transparent. My lips were still parted, emitting small gasps of air in between all the madness. She still doubted my validity, and I knew I needed to defend myself against her fluctuating rage. I had witnessed first-hand how temperamental she had been with Arrain, and how she seemed unable to control her emotions when triggered.

"I haven't left this room...." I contended, although my throat felt so clogged from fear that it hurt to breathe.

"Arrain would never up and leave, especially without reporting it to me." She snarled, although I could feel her withdrawing the blade slightly. I eased a little, swallowing the pool of saliva that had gathered in my throat. "We made a pact, never to leave each other. And no amount of eye-lash batting would persuade him otherwise!"

"I haven't-"

"What of Trystan? Have you been trying your luck with him, too?" She snarled. "You won't get far with him! He doesn't even like girls!"

"No, of course not! I haven't seen anyone since morning."

"So, you are asking me to believe that the two of them just walked out of here, for no reason at all?" She spoke, rhetorically. "That they decided to up and leave without saying a word of farewell?"

"Honestly, I have not a clue...unless...." My mind trailed off in thought, as I tried to recall the details of my last conversation with Arrain. It was difficult to remember the subject of our discussions, for all my brain seemed to recall was the beautiful darkness of his eyes, and the way I felt each crease of his soft lips as they pushed against my forehead.

"Unless what?" Ede barked, edging the blade closer toward me again. "Spit it out!"

"Before bed, Arrain spoke of traveling to Barctenshire to seek the oracle. He said we needed to leave just after nightfall. Perhaps Trystan took him there-"

"The oracle?" She spat in disbelief. Her eyes widened, concerned at such news.

"Well, he said the descendant of the oracle. Her son."

"Everyone knows that the gift of the seers can only be passed down to females. The deities themselves said-" I cut her off, with Arrain's words.

"He seemed to think that her son would bear part of the gift." I explained, much to her dislike. "He believes he sees fragments of the future, but not in full. And that it is the only path towards seeking a way to defeat Molton."

"If that is the case, he is a larger fool than I had taken him for." She grunted, exhaling a large puff of air through her teeth. She leaned back, liberating the majority of my upper body. My muscles were tingling from lack of blood circulation, pranging with pins and needles. "I have told him time and time again it's a dead lead. The oracle's boy will know nothing of use. From what I have heard, he was born mad. Tainted by his mother's fractured gift. I have told him all this....and still, he ignores me."

"He said that-"

"I don't care what he said!" She snapped, bitterly. A storm of rage filled her cheeks as she pushed herself off my body, and began pacing the room. "Arrain thinks many things, but that does not mean they are right. You should not have gotten involved in our mess in the first place. He was a fool to divulge such information. He risked all of our lives!"

"I don't mean you any harm." I said, kicking off the duvet. I swiped my cloak from the bed-knob and laced it around my shoulders. The room was briskly cold and I began to notice the soft clouds of breath that hung visible, for a time, in the air with every spoken word.

"It doesn't matter what you mean to do, it's what you have already done! You've made Arrain sick in the head with your siren influence. He spoke of you all morning, as though you have been sent from the deities themselves. But he's wrong. I don't understand what he sees in you, or why he thinks you'll stand a chance against Molton. Have you ever killed a man?"

A silence hung in the air as I tried to access if she was being sarcastic, or waiting for a genuine answer.

"No," I responded meekly. She rolled her eyes, a pathetic smile perking from her lips. A smug one-noted laugh rumbled like a thick thunder from her lungs, as she stood still, eying me up and down as she did the first time we were introduced.

"Have you ever snuck up on your enemies? Or ran so fast your toes blister and blood?"

"No." I shook my head remorsefully.

"Have you any experience at all in combat?"

"No, I-"

"Then you are as useful to us as a potato." She remarked, not gifting me a chance to voice my defense. Her eyes withdrew from me, and I watched as she concealed the blade within her pockets. "This isn't a game. You don't get second chances in war. Especially a war so one-sided."

"Arrain told me about Molton. About his family. About yours."

"He had no business parting such information with you." She seemed to erupt into a rage once more, so vivid I regretted opening my mouth to speak. "What happened to my Mother, to Arrain's family....to Trystan's....it's the sole reason we are fighting. We fight so their souls can rest at peace. We fight, so that no one else ever has to suffer at her hands."

"It's very honorable." I complimented, although she failed to see the praise I was giving. "When Mother died, I could do nothing but grieve. In your shoes, I do not think I could be as brave."

"Which is exactly why you should not even try to help us. There is nothing brave about wanting to take revenge on a person whom stole everything you've ever loved. There is nothing courageous about crawling on your belly through the seven realms, trying to clutch onto a few more days of life. It's shameful....but it's the only thing we all have left. Without it, we'd have nothing."

"I understand-"

"No, you don't. You could not possibly understand how it feels to know that that ones whom should be here aren't. And whilst our lives are thrown into chaos, she sleeps soundly in those towers, upon a throne that was never destined to be hers. If you understood, you would run from us. Run as fast as your feet could take you."

"But running away will not solve anything." I countered, softly. "You said so yourself, that this is a one-sided war and that the tides are always against you. And yet, you turn away all those that offer their hands. I understand what is at stake. I have made my choice. And I want to help. I owe it to Arrain."

"You owe him nothing. In fact, if you wish to do him a favor, you will forget all about us and leave."

"What have I done for you to distrust me so much?" I asked, bluntly. "I have given no reason for you to doubt me. Surely, I should be given a chance to prove myself?"

"One chance is a chance too many. You have no idea how it is for people on the run. There are seldom friendly faces awaiting to greet us, and the ones that do are in on Molton's schemes. It's not worth taking a risk. Arrain and I, we made a pact to each other, the day my Mother was killed, to never take a risk on our lives. We are to play it safe, to plan ahead. Failing to plan is planning to fail, as they say."

"Although the world has not been kind to you, you mustn't turn your back on those willing to help." I tried, one last time to reason with her. But her mind was like a stone. Hard and stubborn. Unwilling to break. "As I said, I understand what is at stake. And I am willing to take that risk, for myself."

"So, you have thought this through, have you?" Ede asked, cocking her brow. She perched herself upon the desk besides the candle, her movement causing the dim light to flicker. "You are willing to die for a cause that does not extend to you? You are willing to lose everything you have ever known and loved?"

"Yes...." I said, quietly. "I have nothing to lose in life, but my own."

"See, your eyes give you away." A soft frown curled from her lips. "You can say as confidently as you wish that you are prepared to die, but I can see underneath those eyes a soul scared to leave."

"Isn't everyone?" I continued to dress, latching the buckles of my sandals. During the hiking I had endured, my feet had suffered numerous blisters and sores, and were not thankful to be confined against the leather straps. Wincing a little, I began scraping rain-dark hair from my face, sculpting it in a large hold upon my scalp before releasing. I had Mother's hair, and whenever the damp took to my curls, it weighed them down into soft waves. “Nobody wants to die.”

"Don't they?" She shrugged, turning from me briefly. "Sometimes, it's hard to swallow the fact that death is probably much easier than existing in this world. Sometimes, I struggle to find the strength to carry on. And then I see Arrain and...."

"As much as you wish not to believe it, I do know how that feels." I admitted. "I've spent days with my head lost in a dark place. I've thought about death, more than any healthy person should. In some ways, it comforts me, knowing if I were to go and leave this earth, I would be with Mother again. But then, I know she would debate and tell me to live my life here, whilst I can."

"It's love like that which tears your soul apart." Ede acknowledged such toying emotions.

"I suppose I am not brave enough to do it..." I mused to myself, my eyes wandering off with my thoughts. "Taking my own life, I mean."

"Suicide isn't brave. Living is the bravest task we face as mortal beings. Death is the only part of life we can expect." Her firm expression broke down to a more hollowed honesty. "Living is far harder than anything else. Finding the courage to carry on, after every loss, every fall, every break. Most other creatures would go mad. But not us. We were born to fight. We live to survive. It's when we lose that motivation that we are helpless. Arrain taught me that...after my Mother-"

"I'm sorry for your loss. Truly I am." I consoled, as the harshness of her eyes softened, although still retained her passion.

"Don't be," She stated calmly, "It is not as though I shan't see her again. We all belong to nature and when we die, our bodies decay to nurture the soil. In time, that soil sprouts into grass for all creatures to feed upon. Men hunt those beasts to feed their families, and once those men die, the cycle begins again. We all live and die as one. Nothing is less important than another."

"The cycle?" I remembered from Arrain's previous discussion.

"Yes," She seemed a little impressed. The cycle was not common practice, in terms of belief. I had been raised on preachings of the underworld. The underworld was a realm below the earth's core, that no mortal eyes could ever see. It was home to those whom had passed; only in death, was one to ever travel to such a place. During funerals, it was custom for the family and companions of the deceased, to place two gold pieces over the eyes; this fare was to pay the ferryman, whom rowed the soul to their new home. Without the fare, the soul was believed to be stranded upon our earth, and doomed to exist in the shade.

"How is it a townie such as yourself knows of the cycle?" Ede asked, catching me off guard. Her eyes squinted down upon my face, and as I opened my mouth to speak, she had already beaten me to it. "Don't tell me. Arrain told you?" I nodded, meekly. She rolled her eyes, sighing loudly to herself, like a harrowing gust of wind. "Was there anything he left to the imagination?"

"I-"

"Don't answer that." She urged, with self-regret. "I wish not to know what else he said. I can only ask not to be burdened and scarred with his sweet talking mouth. His romance skills have about as much use as you do in a fight. I'll just presume he already told you everything of importance and that you laid on the sympathetic thick."

"It wasn't like that." I attempted to explain, but as she had declared, she wished not to hear any more of him. She raised her hand, silencing me with a disapproving nod.

"Please, I know that boy like the back of my hand. He probably enjoyed the change of ears. Bet he had a right old rant about us all."

"He said not a bad word against you, if that comforts you." I added, trying to ease the tension. "He said you were a sister, although not through blood. And Trystan, a friend, a brother in the same sense."

"I don't need you to tell me what I already know!" She snapped, her tongue snapping sharp and vicious. "Arrain and I have more of a bond between our little fingers than you shall ever have in ensnaring him!"

"Ensnaring him? I didn't-" I began to speak, but Ede cupped my mouth with her hand, pushing back in the words that wanted to come out. "Ede?" I said, muffled between her fingers. Her eyes darted around the empty room, scanning, searching, seeking. I remained still, waiting for her instruction as she brushed her ear against the wall, shielding it with her hand.

"Quiet." She hissed, "I need to listen." The lack of first-hand conversation caused a haunting silence to descend, but it had not dropped to a total silence; even a short distance away from the wall, I could hear gruff voices - although not in focus enough to distinguish the subject of their discussion.

"Have they returned? Arrain and Trystan?"

"Shush!" She rasped, pressing her ear closer to the wall. After a long pause, she moved away with a grave look upon her face. "We need to hide, now!"

"Hide?!" I exclaimed in alarm.

"It's trackers. Houndsmen, hired by Molton to locate us." She explained, sizing up the room for a place to hide. The bed sat too close to the floor for us to squeeze under, which left us with one option; the wardrobe. "There's no time to explain. Move!" She rushed towards the wardrobe, flagging her fingers for me to follow. I did, in great haste. The wardrobe itself stood tall in the furthest corner of the room, against a wall where you would expect to find a window. The wood had been carved with floral decoration, housed around the borders of the doors, and held a rich, burgundy shade that had suffered from age.

I swung open the large, wooden doors, drawing a squeal from the hinges. Ede shot me a disapproving look as I tucked myself in, swaying my head amongst the various garments inside. It became even more apparent that the previous owners of this establishment had left in a hurry, barely packing anything with them. There were masses of animal fur sewed into large coats, fine dresses made of silk in all colours of the spectrum and even bobbled cotton waistcoats. There were pin-striped shirts, holding very detailed needlework along the seams, which resembled the ensemble that Trystan had sported. It seemed a shame that such fancy garments had gone many years unworn, but it also begged the question as to why such items were left behind in the first place.

“Move over!” Ede moved in last, pinching her fingers over the candle's flame as she passed. She wafted her hand above the flame, watching the room fade to darkness, with only a trickle of dancing smoke left in the air. I stumbled back as far as my legs were able to strain, swooping through the layers of fabrics that hung down. I rested my head against a fur coat, trying to ignore the musky smell of the wardrobe. The blonde shuffled in besides me, dragging the doors of the wardrobe back before the trackers entered the room. Ede shielded my mouth with her hand, muffling my breathing from their ears. It seemed she had learned to control her inhalation and exhalation to a near silence, although I assumed that was from years of practice.

“In here!” Our ears flicked up in unison as the door knob began to shake, creaking from the force on the other side of the door. Ede bowed her head in position to strain her eyes through the crack of the door. A sudden flash of light ignited through the gaps of the wooden panels of the wardrobe. She raised her hand, gesturing for me not to move or say a word. I closed my eyes, although it made little difference in the darkness. Two sets of feet marched in, causing the woodwork to cry under such weight. I could hear the tread of boots stomping upon the floor, hard and heavy, uncaring.

"They've been here." The voice snarled out again. His voice was so loud, it carried through the cracks of the doors, into the depths of my ear drums. It was as though he was standing right by me, as close as what Ede was.

"It's still smoking." The second replied, referring to the candle. He winced as his fingers touched the boiling wax. I inclined closer toward the gap between the doors, stealing a glance at the trackers that had entered the chamber. Their chests were armoured with thick, metallic plates that reflected the dancing flames from their lanterns. Large crests were printed in the center, depicting a large bird mid-flight, hauling a large key within its beak. Two of them stood tall and muscular, baring the same markings as Trenton had. Large black and white strips of paint smeared down their cheeks, from the top of their eyelids, curving round to their jaws. The colours reminded me of magpie wings, in the way the white speculated paint flew into the raven dark sweeps.

“Over here!” The larger man out of the two began strumming his hand over the sheets upon the mattress, patting it down to measure the heat patterns. The sheets were still scrunched up from the position I had slept in, and the duvet had been drawn back forcefully, wrinkling down the bottom of the mattress. "It's been slept in." He announced to his partner, in a blindingly obvious fashion.

"I can see that!" Came the reply, just as thick and stupid. He wasted no time in lifting up the wooden frame, grunting with annoyance at our absence.

"I reckon they are long gone!" He groaned, flexing his glazed muscles as he tore through the wooden fixtures. He clonked down his lantern upon the desk, allowing a ring of light to stretch to all pores of the room. "You think that fancy fellow has pulled a fast one?"

"Not if he knows whats good for him."

"Shut up, both of you." This was a different voice. It was coarse and hollow, loud yet lasting. I saw his shadow pause in the doorway, crouched lower than the other two. "Their scent is still fresh in this room."

"You're sure?" His certainty was questioned, something which his sighing throat did not appreciate.

"Yes, you idiot! When have I ever been wrong?" He barked back, his words trembling through the wood. "They are in here. Right now! I can smell it." Intrigued, I peered through the wooden cracks until I could see him. He was rather not like a man at all, but like a dog. I could see him crawling into the room on all fours like an animal.

"They must be hiding." He added, his eyes tearing the place apart. The two trackers began ripping the fixtures apart, mindlessly destroying the room in a bid to find us. But the third, this dog-like creature, stood still and observed for a moment. His eyes scurried across the floor, dragging to where my sandals had rested. His nose bent low, sniffing. "There is someone else here." He announced, suddenly.

"Someone else?" The trackers asked, peering up from their paths of destruction. The bed frame lay in fractured wooden planks, the drawer's of the desk thrown to the ground. All sorts of things lay scattered amongst the floor. Papers and quills, old books that held yellow pages from age. It seemed everything that had ever entered this house had remained here. Exactly where they had been kept. "Is Arrain still here? If he is, Molton will-"

"No. This is someone new." Came the third voice's reply. It was strange, for I had never seen a man like him. His nose rested at the floor, sniffing and inhaling our invisible trail. His chest was decorated with the same, metallic plating as the others, but his arms and legs remained undressed. Instead, they were covered with thick masses of dark hair, matted together like fur. All at once, he rose to two feet. I could see from how his back was arched that he greatly preferred his four-posted stature. He shook his head, although it did little to shift his disheveled hair from his temple. But it did allow me to understand the reasoning behind his title of ‘hounds-man’. Large, drooped ears hung down from his skull, flopping down past his cheek. His nose was drawn-out and elongated like a snout, and between the bridge, sat a set of large, ivory eyes, rounded and polished like marbles. As he stretched up to his feet, I could see his nostrils flexing and contracting with each inhale.

“What do we do?” I reached out to Ede, but she shook her head firmly. A lump of anxiety materialized in my throat, causing the roof of my mouth to dry up in a drought. I could see their silhouettes pacing back and forth, eclipsing the dim light from their lanterns. The two muscled brutes were running out of fixtures and furniture to abolish, and the hounds-man was closing in on the wardrobe. He fell back on all fours, lowering his nose toward the ground.

“Nothing.” Ede hissed lowly, sucking in her breath. "There's nothing we can do."

I could no longer see through the gap between the doors, but my ears were keen enough to pick up the footsteps that came shuffling up toward the wardrobe. I gulped, knowing our time was short. He must have been but paces away. Ede wasn’t doing a very convincing job in remaining calm either. I could see her chest puffing in and out, her eyes widening with panic. If not for our scent, my frantic breathing would surely give away our location. I burrowed my hands into my cloak for comfort, sealing my eyes tightly together. My fingers ran across the smooth ridge of the glass vial. It was then I remembered about the Siren's Kiss.

“What is that?” Removing it hastily, I saw Ede’s face turn to me and the enigmatic blue radiance it emitted. It was a long shot and I had no shame in admitting it was a rash and unprovoked plan. I knew little about how to use such a forbidden and dangerous concoction. All I knew of it, was that it brought forward the things a person did not wish to see. I did not have an understanding of how long such a magic lasted for, or how to inflict it upon others. I was relying entirely on my gut instincts, which was more of an effort that Ede was contributing. It was odd, for she put on such a brave face. I waited and waited for her to take charge of the situation, but she didn't. She remained frozen, locked in a silent fear.

"It's our only way our of here...." I offered her a fragment of hope. As predicted, the door began to shriek from its hinges, and the hound-headed mercenary began prying open the door. Ede fought against him, latching her nails around the frame, tugging it back with all her might.

"Over here!" He called for reinforcements. Between the three of them, we never stood a chance; neither did the door battling to keep upon it's hinges. Ede equipped herself with her small blade, extending it out in a dominating stance, but the garish light from their lanterns glared my vision, and in our moment of blindness, the two mercenaries had latched their fists upon Ede's shoulder, dragging her from the closet like a rag doll. The knife flew across the floor, the metal edge twinkling as it dragged across the floor, out of arms reach.

"Get off me!" She spat, and I could see her wriggling her shoulders vigorously, trying to break loose from their grip. Her legs sprung out, her boots darting around, trying to bend themselves far enough to attack. I saw her pale eyes flickering with rage and frustration as she used all her strength in trying to liberate herself.

"And what in all the seven realms do we have here?" The hound-headed tracker exclaimed, his mouth drooling with thick saliva. His beady eyes widened with focus, and I could feel the brisk air of the room being brushed out with the warmth of his breath. I scuffled as far back into the wardrobe as I could manage, tossing the various garments from their hangers towards him. Silks of red and cobalt shimmered in the dull light, rippling like soft waves of moonlight upon the ocean. The hounds-man tore through each layer of fabric with his pointed nails, but it gifted me with just enough time to scramble out of the wardrobe, avoiding the snatching hands of the others.

"That's the siren whore Trenton told us about!"

"Is that so?" The dog-headed man pinched his eyes down upon me, admiring me with ill intent. Ede remained persistent, throwing heavy kicks into the air. But the merciless mercenaries held her firm, too firm for her to move. "Arrain got himself a harlot, did he?"

"Leave her alone!" I threatened the trackers, the vial of Siren's Kiss dangling from my fingers. My voice was nervous, trembling like my hands from the fear. "Leave her, or I'll drop this!"

"Glowing powder?" The three men burst into a round of laughter. "Oh, lass. I'm quaking in my boots!" It became clear that these were not the type of men that were willing to comprise. As Ede had said before, there were never comprises in war. It was either you, or your enemy. There was no room for negotiations of peace. There was nothing that I could offer that would ever compare to the rewards Molton had promised them. As ruler, she would have coinage and power. And power was far greater than anything I could muster.

"Let her go!" I said, more forcefully. But the mercanaries cared little for what I had to say. Ede knew this too, and shot me a nod towards the vial.

"Drop it." She mouthed.

"I'll let her go alright...." The brute mocked, his fists lunging towards the wood nymph's face. "....straight off the edge of a cliff."

"Now, Thorn!" She yelled, desperately. I did as told, and threw the vial to their feet, shielding my mouth with my cloak sleeve. I wished not to become victim to it's magic. I dared not face that which my mind did not wish to see. The glass shattered, splinting tiny silver shards across the floor. The trepidation dust swirled up in an angry mushroom storm, painting the blackness of the room with its marvelous shade. It was thick in the air, and I could feel my chest wheezing, trying not to inhale it. I stood confidently for a moment, waiting for the Siren's Kiss to work as intended. I waited and waited for the mercenaries to decay into fits of madness. But they didn't.

"Run!" Ede screamed out to me, but her warnings were voiced too late. In the midst of my disappointment and anxiety, the hound-headed brute seized had his opportunity and pounced upon me, flattening me down head-first upon the cold floor. I squealed out, as his nails dug into my back, slicing open my flesh into fresh wounds. My skin began to sting from the icy air greeting the blood, and it forced me to cry out in agony. But the hounds-man showed little mercy, and teared through the thick, velvet lining of my cloak, shredding the pale brown fabric of my dress underneath. I screamed out, crawling on my knees and elbows away from him. I could feel the pricks of broken glass prickle into the skin of my bare legs, embedding themselves into the pale hide of my arms.

"You're not going anywhere, whore." He snarled, latching onto my ankles before dragging me back toward him. My body scrambled for freedom, but he was much too strong. My ears rang with the high-pitched grunts from Ede's mouth, as the two mercenaries continued to keep her pinned down. Although I could not see her, I could detect their struggle in keeping her detained; the heels of her boots scratched into the hard floor, followed by the sound of clunky footsteps, wrestling against hers. The hounds-man hauled me onto my back, ensuring my face was aligned to his as he toppled over me.

"Don't-" I fought, but it was useless. He sprawled my arms out either side of my head, splatting my hands down against the jagged splinters of glass. I winced, scrunching up my face as I felt his snarling breath fan down my neck. Tears scrolled down from my eyes, as I felt his nails scratching up my thighs, uncomfortably close.

"Leave her alone!" I heard Ede scream out, but we both knew it would take more than words to reason with him. Men like this saw sirens as whores; nothing more than an object for them to lust and use without consent.

"Shut her up, boys!" He barked his orders, his eyes not peeling from mine. I heard their fists curl up with tight-knitted fingers, before hurdling themselves into Ede's stomach. Her throat spewed out a song of pain, grunting and spluttering.

"Please...." My words could hardly come out at all. They were no more than coarse whispers; quiet cries that the hounds-man ignored with ease. His nails clawed further up my dress, embracing the flesh of my inner thigh. I wanted to evaporate in that moment. I wanted to fade away, and never know the cruelness lurking in this world. I closed my eyes, feeling bile rising into my throat from my stomach. I continued arching my back, trying to wriggle myself free, but his strength could not be matched. I was growing frustrated with myself, and stretched out my hands as far as he would allow, trying to latch onto the bed legs so I could pull myself from under him.

"Do no touch her!" Ede was frantic, as frantic as my thoughts. She cared little what the brutes chaining her down did and took each hit with a certain pride. It was something so courageous, something of which I had never seen before. "She has nothing to do with us! It's me you want!"

"Shut her up!" The hounds-man raged. The heat of his angry breath gusted into my face, through my hair like a winter gale. The mercenaries launched a violent kick to Ede's stomach, winding her instantly. I could hear her spluttering, gasping for air just as strongly as revenge. I continued scrambling my hands around floor, pining for the bed legs to use as an anchor. I could see with the top of my vision, the bed frame sitting broken. Standing up-right, it was just a stretch away from me. But with the bolbous hounds-man pinning me down, it seemed more like an island floating upon the shores, the tides toying it back and forth in a cruel game of cat and mouse. I leaned as far as I could manage, my fingers spread like dying leaves, trying to touch a glimpse of the sun for that one, last time.

In the inner void of my mind - the blank space where all thoughts go traveling and echoing up to the ceilings - I prayed to the deities. And for the first time in my lifetime, it seemed that they had listened to an extent. They had offered a life-line it seemed, in the form of a rounded ridge of glass. I seized it in my hand. The sharp edges cut through my skin and I could feel warm blood trickling into my palms, like a bittersweet reminder that the lines between life and death were far thinner than a mortal mind could grasp.

"Look at me!" The hounds-man demanded, with his own sick and demented intentions. With one hand, he squeezed his plump fingers around my cheeks, dragging my face forcefully so our eyes met. He leaned close to me. So close that I wanted to scream. The warmth of his chest hair pressed roughly against my skin, swaying like tall grass in a breeze with every puff of his heart.

"Don't worry. Arrain can have you back....once we're done with you." He snarled into my ears, his breath blustering warm and vile. His eyes were glazed over in a raging lust, and it disgusted me to know he was finding pleasure in my distress. He removed one hand from my arm quickly, sliding up the shreds of my dress skirt. I shuddered with the sense of violation, as his fingers traveled up my inner thigh. I felt so unclean; the type of filthy that no amount of hot water could scrub clean.

"Please...." I begged, but he did not listen. He did not care. He cared only about abusing me. Raping me. Using me. I lifted my fist above his head, slowly and quietly, clenching the shard of glass.

"I will kill you, you bastard!" The wood nymph shrieked, as the hounds-man laced his hands further up my dress. I positioned the piece of glass in between my thumb and fingers, and closed my eyes.

There were no compromises in war. I told myself this, as my eyelashes clasped firmly together. It was either me or my enemy. It was either me or him.

"Oh, I've had enough of her. Kill her, boys." The hounds-man spoke his final order. His final words, that pushed me off the edge. I bared no regrets. No guilt. No remorse, as I punched my fist back and forth, the glass weilded between my fingers like a jagged blade. I punched and punched my fists into his head and face, until the glass shattered in my hand, leaving a sharp chuck fastened to the husked surface of his cheek. Deep, red fluid poured from the gash, lining the slice with a vein-purple tint.

"You filthy whore! What have you done?" He roared, his words violently echoing and bouncing off the walls. His eye had been evidently damaged, forcing his eyelid to remain closed from instant swelling. I could see his eyelashes flickering against the injury, trying to shield the once milky exterior which had reddened from trauma. His immediate reaction to nurture his facial wound allowed his concentration on imprisoning me to slip.

"It's what you deserve!" I said sharply, as he rolled his weight from on top of me. Dark, clouded shades of rogue painted his skin in patches, before pushing out clots of blooded pools from their punctures. His neck pulled the tide of the red river, as gravity's currant urged the fluid to cascade down his chin.

"You'll pay for this!" Blood continued gushing out from his cheek as he desperately attempted to remove the shard, seeping and racing down his face in an harrowing red dribble. In all his rage and pain, he began taking it out upon me, his claws extending towards like like naked winter branches. "I'm going to skin you alive!"

"Don't touch me!" I screamed, so forcefully that my throat began burning. I felt unstable, for my knees had weakened and numbed from his weight. I stepped back from him, as he staggered to two feet. Clutching at the tears of fabric holding my modesty in place, I crouched low, collecting a heap of the blue powder that had carpeted the floor. It was an action out of instinct, rather than thought.

"I'll do more than bloody touch you! Arrain won't even recognize you when I'm through!" He threatened, and I felt his fingers curl around my ankle. I lashed off his grip with a forceful kick, knocking him onto his back. I heard his spine collide against the boards, causing the wood to squeal under his weight with a shuddering thud. His nostrils began to flare with intense anger, and his working eye narrowed down in a piercing stare. He stumbled up on all fours, trying to maintain his balance, but his steps were uneasy. He geared up his legs, preparing to charge towards me. I was taking no chances, and threw the dust I had collected into his face. I knew that even if the Siren's Kiss did not work as intended, it would still be enough to hinder his working eye, and allow me a chance to escape.

As he battled with the grains intruding his eyes, I turned from him, just in time to avoid a harrowing swing of the mercenaries. Ede was still pinned in their fists, still fighting and kicking for liberation.

"Just you wait 'til I get free!" She warned the two brutes, as they took further swings, dragging her around as they went. I ducked, narrowly missing their aim and jolted back upon the mattress. The hounds-man saw me through his blurred vision, and made a run for me. But this destructive companions had done all the work for me, for his feet fell upon the broken furniture, landing him in a cloud of blue powder and glass.

"What...what in all the seven realms is this?" He screeched like a dying bird, with eyes diluted and widened like moons. The room fell quiet, all attention cast upon his fraying arms, waving frantically in the air. His head span around in all directions, as though he was blinded from reality. "You witch! What have you done?"

It seemed the Siren's Kiss was finally taking effect. A little late than never.

"What's she done?" The mercenaries called, their eyes glazed with fear as the hounds-man crawled into a corner, his arms now lashing out in attack. I stood smugly for a moment, enjoying watching him suffering as the trepidation dust cast visions of his worst fears in front of him. Whatever it was that he saw, it must have been horrific. I had never seen a person so petrified in all my life. His face paled, the fur that lined his skin stood on end.

"You're a witch! A demon!" He bellowed. "What have you done to me?"

It was a sight that burned itself into my memory. It was something I would normally wish not even upon my enemies. But knowing the mindless, repulsive intentions he had thought for me, I thought it not so bad. Only fitting. Only fair. I watched as he began shielding his face with his arms, tears gushing from both eyes.

"Don't hurt me! Get away!" He screamed, so loud it rattled my bones. "Molton....I beg of you!" At the mention of her name, the other two brutes paled. Their heads span around the room, as though searching for her. "Molton....please...." The hounds-man scrambled to his feet; at first on all fours, before jumping up to two. But in his haste to run away from his visions, he stumbled back, his feet tripping over one another until he lost his balance altogether. He fell backwards, smashing his skull against the wall before falling into a mangled heap upon the floor.

The room fell silent, as the last of the hounds-man's breath exited his lungs.

"Let her go, or I'll-" I scooped up more of the Siren's Kiss from the floorboards, aiming my cupped hands towards the two trackers. Instantly, they flinched away, terrified of a repeat performance.

"Molton will kill you for this!" He said, distracted. Both sets of eyes did not leave my palms, and they edged back, further and further from me. I jolted forward teasingly, causing of the brutes to release Ede from his hands, as he shielded his face. And Ede did not waste such an opportunity.

"Finally!" She shouted, crying out in victory. The two mercenaries quickly released their mistake, but the wood nymph had already broken from their grasp. She showed little mercy, jabbing one in his face with a full fist. I heard it crack, breaking upon impact. He cowled over, clutching his blooded nose. But she didn't stop there. Her boot shot toward his chest plate, but the thick armor he was dressed in took most of the impact. It wobbled, pranging with a metallic twinge.

"Thorn, watch out!" She guided, as the other mercenary made his way towards me. I swiped a large wooden plank that had been dismantled from the mattress, shattering it into splinters against his legs. He toppled to the floor, collapsing over the hounds-man.

"Get off of me!" I heard the other brute cry out, and caught Ede taking a run and jump, leaning her legs around his body like a wild animal. She clamped down upon him with all her strength; he took heavy swipes, and rolled his shoulders in an attempt to remove her, but she latched her fingers in his thin hair. Tugging forcefully, she brought agonized screams from his throat, accompanied by streams of warm tears. "Get this bitch off me!" He begged, as his colleague scrambled to his assistance. However, he did not count on the layers of silk lining the floor nearest the wardrobe, and found his boot's grip were too thin to keep him upright. He fell to his knees, his head plopping down in front of him, with only his hands anchoring him. The wooden boards cracked upon his weight, juddering his entire body forward. Supervising his movement whilst Ede was preoccupied, I noticed him trying to pull his knees from the broken flooring; sharp splinters of wood had pierced through the gap between his armor, slitting the tender skin of his thighs and joints. He howled out, forcing his legs through the cracked boards. My eyes scurried across the floor, searching for something of use. I noticed the dim sheen of Ede's blade tucked under the mass of swollen wood and off-white bedsheets from the mattress.

"Leave him!" Ede instructed garishly, knocking down her attacker. His deathly wails were quickly muted as she secured a firm grip around his neck, drawing a congenial snap as she twisted his head beyond its limit. The curious sound of his neck breaking was unlike anything I had ever heard; it was sickening deafening and seemed to dull all my other senses. It mimicked that of an egg shell being splattered upon a kitchen floor, but on a much larger and far more brutal scale. The mercenary fell limp to the floor, as I watched with an oval-locked jaw. I had never been exposed to such harsh crimes, and although the blonde-dreaded girl could easily overlook it from experience, I stood for a moment in pure silence.

His body lay over the unconscious hounds-man, his hands sprawled open, his mouth parted with the last of his breath. His eyes were left half-open, although the colour within them drastically drained out from dark hues to gray. A silent but brief part of me did mourn for Molton's puppeteer, but it quickly dissolved when I thought of all the souls this man had probably slain. I turned away from him, knowing I would never truly forget the dull look upon his lifeless face.

"Now, your turn!" Ede smirked devilishly, as she strode toward the final tracker. She swiped her hands clean together, brushing off the access powder that had accumulated in her palms. The heels of her boots chalked against the wooden boards, growing louder and faster in pace. I dragged the blade across the sheets with my foot, before snatching it up from the floor. "I'll take that!" Ede grinned, easing her grip into the leather ridges around the bindings.

"No!" The mercenary cried out, his fingers gathering the blue powder from the floor. He did not hesitate, and threw it towards us. The cloud of dust smogged us both momentary; I broomed it away from my hand, using the other to shield my mouth. Ede was less caring, still charging towards the mercenary. But she was stopped in her tracks, as was I.

"Mother?" I called out, for I saw her standing in front of me.

"Thorn, my darling." It was her voice. It remained eerie and cadaverous, but it was hers.

"Is it really you, Mother?" She was a beautiful as I had remembered her, with a fiery mane of hair falling to her shoulders and her pansy purple eyes glimmering towards me. I stood in shock, unable to move, frozen in my stares. Ede turned to me, saying something, but my ears were too dazed to listen. I stepped towards Mother, my arms spread out, ready to embrace her so welcomingly. But as I approached, she dropped to the floor. I darted to her, desperate to see her. But what I saw was not something I wished to have seen.

"Mother....no!" She was a corpse. Battered and bruised, with skin grey like storm clouds. Her radiant complexion had decayed, with holes and burrows torn in her flesh. Blood was smeared down her face, seeping through the light fabric of her dress. All the life within her appeared to have been sucked out, vacuumed from her lips, which sat pale and blue. Her limbs were managed, as though her body was a broken puzzle. I leaned down, to cover her body with the bed sheets, but as my fingers wept to touch her, she had gone.

It had all been a hallucination. It was what the Siren's Kiss had compelled my eyes to see. I knew it was not real. But it had stained the memory of her.

"Thorn?" Ede's voice penetrated my trance, hauling me back to realty. I was no longer certain what was real and what wasn't. And as my mind scrambled to recall all the blissful moments Mother and I had shared together, I saw nothing but her corpse. The look of her absent eyes, so accusing yet lifeless....it haunted my soul.

"That's it!" The wood nymph spat out, drawing a close to the mercenary. During my hallucinations, he had tried to make a run for it, but Ede had him cornered. He had no where to go, but to face her wrath.

"Stay back!" He screeched, his hands scraping what little of the trepidation dust he could gather.

"Don't be so pathetic!" Ede retaliated, crushing his hand under her boot. "Who wants to die a coward?"

"No! Please! I beg of you! I have a family! Spare me!"

"I had a family....until Molton murdered them!" Ede spat, circling him like a wildcat tormenting its next meal. "Arrain's parents were killed when he was barely a boy. He can't even remember what they looked like. You men showed no mercy on their souls, so why should I?"

"Please, please. I am begging you, let me live. I'll do anything please!"

"Tell us what you've done with Arrain and I'll consider." Ede replied sharply, leaning her blade to his eyes.

"Molton has him." He said promptly, clearing his throat. Ede's brow creased, and a disapproving look carved into her face. She stood directly in front of the mercenary, wielding the blade close toward the scuff of hair upon his chin. He gulped down the lump of anxiety that had collected in the back of his mouth, his eyes twitching back and forth nervously, although never quite leaving sight of the blade. "The teleporter was told to deliver him this evening. Molton sent us here in case he chickened out-"

"What?" We both echoed in unison.

"It's true, I swear it!" He continued, much to our disliking ears. "The hounds-man tracked his scent, the teleporter's too. They've already gone."

All the light hairs upon my arms stood on end, as the chilling realization that Trystan had been working undercover came to light. I shook my head in disbelief. He seemed like such a gentle and patriotic companion to Arrain, and had even gestured me with his good nature despite me being a stranger. I could not fathom what motive he possessed to mislead Arrain. I looked to Ede, hoping she would cast aside his bogus claims, but it had unsettled her. I could read the tension upon her face, and her pale eyes seemed less confident.

"And why would Trystan do such a thing?" She gruffed, anger and bitter. The knife traveled back up the mercenary's face, moment's away from injury.

"He made a deal with Molton. Arrain's life in exchange for his brothers!"

"His brother is dead. You're lying." Ede snapped back forcefully, edging the blade more and more uncomfortably close to his skin. The tip of the knife pierced his skin lightly, causing a small train of blood to roll carelessly down his neck, leaking upon the dull metallic plating of his armor. I turned away, not wanting to witness another brutal murder.

"Molton's had the boy locked up for many moons. That fancy fellow said he could bring her want she really wanted if she'd spare the kid. Viro's, his name. Young lad, no older than eight full years. Molton's not really one for negotiating but that teleporter is a cunning boy. Smart bastard got you all fooled too!"

"I've heard enough." She demanded, far too drained to keep her act of intimidation up. A silence descended swiftly, awarding us only time to absorb this odious information. She turned away from his face, although kept a short distance between his throat and her blade.

"You do not believe him, do you?" I asked, hopeful. But the grave creases carved within her brow told me all I needed. Hot air spewed from her mouth, causing the cool air to cloud up from the change of temperature.

"I.....I never trusted that bastard.....I knew something was wrong the moment Molton's men started finding us sooner than expected. I told Arrain I suspected we were being watched, that our locations were being sent, but he didn't want to hear it. That's the problem with Arrain, he cares too much....from the moment Trystan started spewing his sob story, Arrain vowed to fight by his side. He doesn't stop to question people's true intentions. Like Trystan's. Like yours...."

"I'm not a-"

"It's no longer about you." Ede tensed. "I should have forced Arrain to listen to me. I should have interrogated that bastard teleporter the moment that I thought-"

"You weren't to know." I tried to remain positive, but my mind was flowing with an array of emotion. I could not pause my wandering mind in envisioning how Arrain had been so easily deceived. He regarded Trystan as family, and I wished not to imagine how painful it must be to uncover such betrayal. He had devised such a heartless plan in seducing Arrain as a friend, raising up his trust just so he could demolish it.

"It's beside the point!" Ede took it out upon herself. "It's my duty to take care of Arrain, to protect him. And I've massively failed."

"Think of it this way,..." The brute spoke with honeyed words. But it fell flat upon both our ears. "...with Molton preoccupied with Arrain, she will forget about your lives. In his sacrifice, you have been given a ticket to freedom. She doesn't have to know that you got away. I'll go back, tell her I killed you both myself."

"Molton forgets nothing." Ede said, gravely. "Hence why she has led you bastards on a wild goose chase for the past twenty years. She'll expect to see proof. Evidence of our deaths. And when she doesn't, we'll all be next for the chopping block. You included."

"But think about it-" He attempted again, but the wood nymph's patience had been drawn to the point of exhaustion.

"It changes nothing!" Ede's stern face could not conceal her fury at the violation of trust. "Oh, everything is such a mess."

"There must be something we can do to get Arrain back?" I spoke out, hopeful. But Ede squashed all faith I had, with just one sole look. Her head lowered, her eyes dancing around the room, eager not to let herself cry.

"We can't go marching up to Molton's tower demanding him back! We'd need an army to penetrate those walls. We're not ready for a battle on this scale. And neither is Arrain! He's all alone in those towers, for deities sake! No one will help him!"

"Then we must." I urged, feeling the pit of my stomach drop to the ground. The thought of Arrain being imprisoned within Molton's towers made my head spin in a dizzying rush. Already a broken soul, I could not begin to imagine what effect this would have on him.

"And why is it you care so much for him? You do not even know him!" Ede had every right to be suspicious. I blamed her not for her insecurities; after the alarming news of Trystan's betrayal, and rather admired her far more for giving me the time of day.

"I know enough to see that he is a good man. A man that has seen far too much suffering already. He does not deserve-"

"His suffering is his blessing." Her remark confused me. She had expected such a reaction from me, and went on to explain. "It may sound out of place, coming from his sister's lips, but it's true. Without Molton, he'd have no reason to live. He wakes to seek vengeance. He breathes to see Molton take her last. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Yes, I think."

"But he is not prepared for this yet. He fears her more than you know. He dares not sleep most nights, for he has dreams of her. Nightmares." Her words trailed off with her thoughts. She fell quiet, distracted. Her eyes were haunted by something unspoken. Something I knew better than to ask about.

"There must be something we can do."

"I am open to suggestions." She sighed, ready to give up. In truth, I knew little of what to tell her. I had no experience in such situations.

"How about you let me go?" The brute reminded us all of his unfortunate presence. "I'll return to Molton, tell her that your both dead and then we can all return to living as normal."

"Normal? What's normal about living on the run from you bastards? Of fearing that our night's sleep may be our last?" Ede's fury was heating up. I did not envy the position he was in. But then it seemed inspiration took a hold of her senses quite suddenly. She leaned close to the brute, her eyes narrowed. "What is your name?" She asked him, although not out of compassion.

"Billen Melcalf, of Nilichon." He answered quickly, shaking his sweat-matted hair from his forehead. "Useless giving names out. Molton don't bother learning them."

"It's not for that bitch's ears." Came the reply. "It's so when I kill you, I can find all the people you love and slay them too. That's what you trackers do, right? Wipe out entire bloodlines at the wave of Molton's hand? You're no further use to me anyway...."

"No! Please, I told you what you wanted! Please, I'll do anything!"

"Tell you what then, you miserable coward...." She proposed to him, strumming her blade up his chin, slicing the fine hairs of his neck clean from their roots. "I will spare you only on one condition - you help us retrieve Arrain."

"What? That's impossible. The boy is as good as dead!" He contended, his voice quaking with urgency.

"Would you rather die?" She cocked her brow, thrusting the blade against his flesh.

"No! No! But there is nothing we can do! He's probably already in her courtroom!"

"Well, we'd better get a move on then." She signaled for him to stand with the blade. He did as commanded, not having another option, whilst she instructed me to bind his hands in front of his chest with the knotted thread from my dress.

"You lasses have lost your minds." He grunted, bearing his crooked teeth. I pulled the fabric as tightly as I could manage, ensuring he could not wriggle out of the restrictions.

"Shut up!" Ede bickered, untying his breast plate armor. She wavered her finger towards the wardrobe. "Thorn, dress yourself. We need to move." I did as instructed; my fingers laced over the first thing they could find - a cotton dress, stained off-white from age. I hauled it over my head, feeling Ede's warm hands cup my shoulder suddenly. "Here," Was all she said, as she presented me with the brute's armor. "Put this on. You're going to need it."

"What about you?" I asked, sheepishly.

"I'll be fine. I'll strip the dead one and use his armor." She said it all so calmly, so naturally, so normally. To me, it was anything but. I stood for a moment, still trying to inhale everything and take it all in. The fact that Arrain was gone, and that Trystan had betrayed him. The fact that Molton was seeking us both for dead. The more and more I fell into such thoughts, the more and more I knew I was never to return to my life of normality. It was no longer on the cards. There was no longer than option for peace.

Only war.

"Let me help you." Ede remarked, releasing I was taking a while in dressing the armor to myself. In truth, I had zoned out completely. My eyes were unable to move from the spot of the floor where I had seen Mother's corpse. I knew it was not her corpse in truth; I knew it was a figment of some horrific imagination, caused by the Siren's Kiss. But it played in my mind, just as real as though it was real. I span around, feeling Ede's hands heisting the armor over my head. "Lift your arms up." She instructed, firmly.

"Sorry." I muttered, as the breastplate fell into place upon my shoulders. It was heavy, heavier than I had anticipated. I felt my feet wobble and try to regain their balance. The wood nymph offered her hands, helping me stand as normal. "Ede, when that tracker threw the powder at us....what did it show you?"

"Why?" She seemed a little threatened by my questioning.

"I was just curious."

"What was that stuff anyway?" She huffed, fastening the armor correctly to me. I stood patiently, waiting for her to finish. "I'm guessing it wasn't legal."

"It's trepidation dust. A breed called Siren's Kiss." Her eyes widened at such news. It became clear from her frowning face that she was familiar with it's name. "It makes you see the things you-"

"I know perfectly well what it does." She snapped, standing back to admire the fit of the breastplate. "It's a little big for you, but it'll work just the same." She added, changing the subject.

"So what did it show you?" I asked again, unwilling to back down.

"I saw nothing, for I fear nothing."

"Everyone is scared of something." I knew she was being stubborn. She was far too proud to admit whatever it was she feared. A quite remained in the air, as the tension between our two throats rose louder and louder. I knew she wouldn't tell me what it was that she saw. But I held no shame in bearing my emotional scars. "I saw my Mother."

"Your Mother?" She seemed surprised.

"I never saw her body after the news of her death was passed to me." I confessed. "The burial arrangements had already been made. I was just to attend to her funeral. And even that, I could not face. And I have always regretted it. I never had the chance to say goodbye. I wasn't strong enough to do it."

"Now that, I understand." Ede said, softer than her usual tone.

"The Siren's Kiss showed me Mother's body. Decayed. Dead." Tears were brought to my eyes, as my mind forced me to relive that moment. I saw her skin once more, bloated and pale like the sands of the shore. Her violet eyes, half open, empty.

"I never had the chance to say goodbye to my Mother either." She spoke, uncomfortable but trying nonetheless. "And I know that seeing Molton fall from that throne will not bring back the ones she has murdered. It won't change or reverse the pain that she's forced upon our hearts. But it will sure as hell feel better seeing her head on a spike, knowing it will never happen again.....now finish dressing. We need to move."

"Ede, what did you see?" I asked her, for one final time. She shook her head, quiet yet surprised at my persistence. "Was it Molton?"

"No. It was worse." Came her response. She paused, considering whether or not to voice it. "I saw Arrain....dead."

"I-" She didn't allow me to get a word in edgeways.

"Not a word. We need to move, before that becomes a reality. Prepare yourself for Barctenshire."

"Barctenshire?" Billen mumbled in such alarm. "But everyone in the seven realms knows Molton resides in Nilichon!"

"It's not Molton we are targeting first." She returned her eyes to him. "I'm not that much of a fool. If you expected us to return you to her towers, than you thought wrong. No, we are going to Barctenshire....for we have an oracle to visit."

"The oracle?" Billen said his final words, as Ede gagged his mouth with rags. "You've lost your minds! The oracle is dead!"

"Her son is still alive and well. And if that's what Arrain had planned, than that's where we will go. I trust that boy with my life. And he's led us this far...."

"I trust him too." I smiled, getting myself used to the weight of the armor.

"Good. Because now, you may die for him."

Description
The Compromises of War

"Wake up, whore."

I pried open my eyes, alarmed at such a vulgar wake up call. My body roused much quicker than normal, startled by the sudden weight which had suppressed my body into the springs of the mattress. Ede had sat upon my stomach, her legs anchored either side of me. My arms were pinned down my sides, unable to move. Her face was pinched inward with a deep fury, her eyes piercing through me in an intense glare. Blood had swollen to her cheeks, painting her dark skin an obscure shade of rogue, similar to that when the sun dropped into the land at night.

"Ede?" I objected with a tumbling yawn, but she was quick to silence me.

"Shut your mouth!" She didn’t take kindly to me addressing her on a first name basis. After all, she had wanted nothing more to do with me. I had only secured a bed for the meantime because of Arrain's honeyed words. And even so, it seemed he had bitten off more than he could chew. Ede was feisty; any one could read the attitude from her face with great ease. I opened my mouth once more to protest, but she retaliated with her hand; the packing sound of her palm colliding against my cheek echoed around the room. It clapped, like snapping twigs. My lips formed an oval, pushing out air from the shock.

"Ow!" My face throbbed where she had slapped, my pores stinging with fresh pain. Before I could even speak again, she leaned across me at an uncomfortable proximity; her eyes were so close to mine I could see the small white specs that decorated her iris like stars dancing in the moonlight.

"What have you done with Arrain?" She spat, but I shook my head in confusion. Sighing with intolerance, she dug her hands into the stitched pockets of her dress apron, before sliding out a blade. My eyes widened as I examined the knife; it was a large kitchen blade, used for carving meat clean from the bone. But I could tell with how she was wielding it toward me that she was using this for a different purpose. "The truth, now!"

"I haven't-"

"I'll give you one last chance." She warned, lowering the blade toward my neck. Air shot out from her nostrils in an angry huff. Maintaining leverage over my body, she proceeded to flick the blade more securely in my line of sight, guaranteeing I could see her wave it in and out of the candlelight. As she had most certainly predicted, my eyes were drawn to the knife, unable to focus on anything other the way the metal perked up in the dim light, reflecting the distant details of the room. I gulped, trying to slow my breathing to prevent my skin pulsating into the sharp tip of her weapon. "Tell me where Arrain is, or I'll rip those pretty little eyes from your skull."

"I swear to the deities, I have not seen him since he put me to bed." I reasoned, my eyes darting around her unconvinced face.

"Put you to bed? More like when you had him in bed, you disgusting whore!" The blonde-dreaded girl's patience was wearing dangerously thin, as her eyes strained into mine, glaring through me as though I was transparent. My lips were still parted, emitting small gasps of air in between all the madness. She still doubted my validity, and I knew I needed to defend myself against her fluctuating rage. I had witnessed first-hand how temperamental she had been with Arrain, and how she seemed unable to control her emotions when triggered.

"I haven't left this room...." I contended, although my throat felt so clogged from fear that it hurt to breathe.

"Arrain would never up and leave, especially without reporting it to me." She snarled, although I could feel her withdrawing the blade slightly. I eased a little, swallowing the pool of saliva that had gathered in my throat. "We made a pact, never to leave each other. And no amount of eye-lash batting would persuade him otherwise!"

"I haven't-"

"What of Trystan? Have you been trying your luck with him, too?" She snarled. "You won't get far with him! He doesn't even like girls!"

"No, of course not! I haven't seen anyone since morning."

"So, you are asking me to believe that the two of them just walked out of here, for no reason at all?" She spoke, rhetorically. "That they decided to up and leave without saying a word of farewell?"

"Honestly, I have not a clue...unless...." My mind trailed off in thought, as I tried to recall the details of my last conversation with Arrain. It was difficult to remember the subject of our discussions, for all my brain seemed to recall was the beautiful darkness of his eyes, and the way I felt each crease of his soft lips as they pushed against my forehead.

"Unless what?" Ede barked, edging the blade closer toward me again. "Spit it out!"

"Before bed, Arrain spoke of traveling to Barctenshire to seek the oracle. He said we needed to leave just after nightfall. Perhaps Trystan took him there-"

"The oracle?" She spat in disbelief. Her eyes widened, concerned at such news.

"Well, he said the descendant of the oracle. Her son."

"Everyone knows that the gift of the seers can only be passed down to females. The deities themselves said-" I cut her off, with Arrain's words.

"He seemed to think that her son would bear part of the gift." I explained, much to her dislike. "He believes he sees fragments of the future, but not in full. And that it is the only path towards seeking a way to defeat Molton."

"If that is the case, he is a larger fool than I had taken him for." She grunted, exhaling a large puff of air through her teeth. She leaned back, liberating the majority of my upper body. My muscles were tingling from lack of blood circulation, pranging with pins and needles. "I have told him time and time again it's a dead lead. The oracle's boy will know nothing of use. From what I have heard, he was born mad. Tainted by his mother's fractured gift. I have told him all this....and still, he ignores me."

"He said that-"

"I don't care what he said!" She snapped, bitterly. A storm of rage filled her cheeks as she pushed herself off my body, and began pacing the room. "Arrain thinks many things, but that does not mean they are right. You should not have gotten involved in our mess in the first place. He was a fool to divulge such information. He risked all of our lives!"

"I don't mean you any harm." I said, kicking off the duvet. I swiped my cloak from the bed-knob and laced it around my shoulders. The room was briskly cold and I began to notice the soft clouds of breath that hung visible, for a time, in the air with every spoken word.

"It doesn't matter what you mean to do, it's what you have already done! You've made Arrain sick in the head with your siren influence. He spoke of you all morning, as though you have been sent from the deities themselves. But he's wrong. I don't understand what he sees in you, or why he thinks you'll stand a chance against Molton. Have you ever killed a man?"

A silence hung in the air as I tried to access if she was being sarcastic, or waiting for a genuine answer.

"No," I responded meekly. She rolled her eyes, a pathetic smile perking from her lips. A smug one-noted laugh rumbled like a thick thunder from her lungs, as she stood still, eying me up and down as she did the first time we were introduced.

"Have you ever snuck up on your enemies? Or ran so fast your toes blister and blood?"

"No." I shook my head remorsefully.

"Have you any experience at all in combat?"

"No, I-"

"Then you are as useful to us as a potato." She remarked, not gifting me a chance to voice my defense. Her eyes withdrew from me, and I watched as she concealed the blade within her pockets. "This isn't a game. You don't get second chances in war. Especially a war so one-sided."

"Arrain told me about Molton. About his family. About yours."

"He had no business parting such information with you." She seemed to erupt into a rage once more, so vivid I regretted opening my mouth to speak. "What happened to my Mother, to Arrain's family....to Trystan's....it's the sole reason we are fighting. We fight so their souls can rest at peace. We fight, so that no one else ever has to suffer at her hands."

"It's very honorable." I complimented, although she failed to see the praise I was giving. "When Mother died, I could do nothing but grieve. In your shoes, I do not think I could be as brave."

"Which is exactly why you should not even try to help us. There is nothing brave about wanting to take revenge on a person whom stole everything you've ever loved. There is nothing courageous about crawling on your belly through the seven realms, trying to clutch onto a few more days of life. It's shameful....but it's the only thing we all have left. Without it, we'd have nothing."

"I understand-"

"No, you don't. You could not possibly understand how it feels to know that that ones whom should be here aren't. And whilst our lives are thrown into chaos, she sleeps soundly in those towers, upon a throne that was never destined to be hers. If you understood, you would run from us. Run as fast as your feet could take you."

"But running away will not solve anything." I countered, softly. "You said so yourself, that this is a one-sided war and that the tides are always against you. And yet, you turn away all those that offer their hands. I understand what is at stake. I have made my choice. And I want to help. I owe it to Arrain."

"You owe him nothing. In fact, if you wish to do him a favor, you will forget all about us and leave."

"What have I done for you to distrust me so much?" I asked, bluntly. "I have given no reason for you to doubt me. Surely, I should be given a chance to prove myself?"

"One chance is a chance too many. You have no idea how it is for people on the run. There are seldom friendly faces awaiting to greet us, and the ones that do are in on Molton's schemes. It's not worth taking a risk. Arrain and I, we made a pact to each other, the day my Mother was killed, to never take a risk on our lives. We are to play it safe, to plan ahead. Failing to plan is planning to fail, as they say."

"Although the world has not been kind to you, you mustn't turn your back on those willing to help." I tried, one last time to reason with her. But her mind was like a stone. Hard and stubborn. Unwilling to break. "As I said, I understand what is at stake. And I am willing to take that risk, for myself."

"So, you have thought this through, have you?" Ede asked, cocking her brow. She perched herself upon the desk besides the candle, her movement causing the dim light to flicker. "You are willing to die for a cause that does not extend to you? You are willing to lose everything you have ever known and loved?"

"Yes...." I said, quietly. "I have nothing to lose in life, but my own."

"See, your eyes give you away." A soft frown curled from her lips. "You can say as confidently as you wish that you are prepared to die, but I can see underneath those eyes a soul scared to leave."

"Isn't everyone?" I continued to dress, latching the buckles of my sandals. During the hiking I had endured, my feet had suffered numerous blisters and sores, and were not thankful to be confined against the leather straps. Wincing a little, I began scraping rain-dark hair from my face, sculpting it in a large hold upon my scalp before releasing. I had Mother's hair, and whenever the damp took to my curls, it weighed them down into soft waves. “Nobody wants to die.”

"Don't they?" She shrugged, turning from me briefly. "Sometimes, it's hard to swallow the fact that death is probably much easier than existing in this world. Sometimes, I struggle to find the strength to carry on. And then I see Arrain and...."

"As much as you wish not to believe it, I do know how that feels." I admitted. "I've spent days with my head lost in a dark place. I've thought about death, more than any healthy person should. In some ways, it comforts me, knowing if I were to go and leave this earth, I would be with Mother again. But then, I know she would debate and tell me to live my life here, whilst I can."

"It's love like that which tears your soul apart." Ede acknowledged such toying emotions.

"I suppose I am not brave enough to do it..." I mused to myself, my eyes wandering off with my thoughts. "Taking my own life, I mean."

"Suicide isn't brave. Living is the bravest task we face as mortal beings. Death is the only part of life we can expect." Her firm expression broke down to a more hollowed honesty. "Living is far harder than anything else. Finding the courage to carry on, after every loss, every fall, every break. Most other creatures would go mad. But not us. We were born to fight. We live to survive. It's when we lose that motivation that we are helpless. Arrain taught me that...after my Mother-"

"I'm sorry for your loss. Truly I am." I consoled, as the harshness of her eyes softened, although still retained her passion.

"Don't be," She stated calmly, "It is not as though I shan't see her again. We all belong to nature and when we die, our bodies decay to nurture the soil. In time, that soil sprouts into grass for all creatures to feed upon. Men hunt those beasts to feed their families, and once those men die, the cycle begins again. We all live and die as one. Nothing is less important than another."

"The cycle?" I remembered from Arrain's previous discussion.

"Yes," She seemed a little impressed. The cycle was not common practice, in terms of belief. I had been raised on preachings of the underworld. The underworld was a realm below the earth's core, that no mortal eyes could ever see. It was home to those whom had passed; only in death, was one to ever travel to such a place. During funerals, it was custom for the family and companions of the deceased, to place two gold pieces over the eyes; this fare was to pay the ferryman, whom rowed the soul to their new home. Without the fare, the soul was believed to be stranded upon our earth, and doomed to exist in the shade.

"How is it a townie such as yourself knows of the cycle?" Ede asked, catching me off guard. Her eyes squinted down upon my face, and as I opened my mouth to speak, she had already beaten me to it. "Don't tell me. Arrain told you?" I nodded, meekly. She rolled her eyes, sighing loudly to herself, like a harrowing gust of wind. "Was there anything he left to the imagination?"

"I-"

"Don't answer that." She urged, with self-regret. "I wish not to know what else he said. I can only ask not to be burdened and scarred with his sweet talking mouth. His romance skills have about as much use as you do in a fight. I'll just presume he already told you everything of importance and that you laid on the sympathetic thick."

"It wasn't like that." I attempted to explain, but as she had declared, she wished not to hear any more of him. She raised her hand, silencing me with a disapproving nod.

"Please, I know that boy like the back of my hand. He probably enjoyed the change of ears. Bet he had a right old rant about us all."

"He said not a bad word against you, if that comforts you." I added, trying to ease the tension. "He said you were a sister, although not through blood. And Trystan, a friend, a brother in the same sense."

"I don't need you to tell me what I already know!" She snapped, her tongue snapping sharp and vicious. "Arrain and I have more of a bond between our little fingers than you shall ever have in ensnaring him!"

"Ensnaring him? I didn't-" I began to speak, but Ede cupped my mouth with her hand, pushing back in the words that wanted to come out. "Ede?" I said, muffled between her fingers. Her eyes darted around the empty room, scanning, searching, seeking. I remained still, waiting for her instruction as she brushed her ear against the wall, shielding it with her hand.

"Quiet." She hissed, "I need to listen." The lack of first-hand conversation caused a haunting silence to descend, but it had not dropped to a total silence; even a short distance away from the wall, I could hear gruff voices - although not in focus enough to distinguish the subject of their discussion.

"Have they returned? Arrain and Trystan?"

"Shush!" She rasped, pressing her ear closer to the wall. After a long pause, she moved away with a grave look upon her face. "We need to hide, now!"

"Hide?!" I exclaimed in alarm.

"It's trackers. Houndsmen, hired by Molton to locate us." She explained, sizing up the room for a place to hide. The bed sat too close to the floor for us to squeeze under, which left us with one option; the wardrobe. "There's no time to explain. Move!" She rushed towards the wardrobe, flagging her fingers for me to follow. I did, in great haste. The wardrobe itself stood tall in the furthest corner of the room, against a wall where you would expect to find a window. The wood had been carved with floral decoration, housed around the borders of the doors, and held a rich, burgundy shade that had suffered from age.

I swung open the large, wooden doors, drawing a squeal from the hinges. Ede shot me a disapproving look as I tucked myself in, swaying my head amongst the various garments inside. It became even more apparent that the previous owners of this establishment had left in a hurry, barely packing anything with them. There were masses of animal fur sewed into large coats, fine dresses made of silk in all colours of the spectrum and even bobbled cotton waistcoats. There were pin-striped shirts, holding very detailed needlework along the seams, which resembled the ensemble that Trystan had sported. It seemed a shame that such fancy garments had gone many years unworn, but it also begged the question as to why such items were left behind in the first place.

“Move over!” Ede moved in last, pinching her fingers over the candle's flame as she passed. She wafted her hand above the flame, watching the room fade to darkness, with only a trickle of dancing smoke left in the air. I stumbled back as far as my legs were able to strain, swooping through the layers of fabrics that hung down. I rested my head against a fur coat, trying to ignore the musky smell of the wardrobe. The blonde shuffled in besides me, dragging the doors of the wardrobe back before the trackers entered the room. Ede shielded my mouth with her hand, muffling my breathing from their ears. It seemed she had learned to control her inhalation and exhalation to a near silence, although I assumed that was from years of practice.

“In here!” Our ears flicked up in unison as the door knob began to shake, creaking from the force on the other side of the door. Ede bowed her head in position to strain her eyes through the crack of the door. A sudden flash of light ignited through the gaps of the wooden panels of the wardrobe. She raised her hand, gesturing for me not to move or say a word. I closed my eyes, although it made little difference in the darkness. Two sets of feet marched in, causing the woodwork to cry under such weight. I could hear the tread of boots stomping upon the floor, hard and heavy, uncaring.

"They've been here." The voice snarled out again. His voice was so loud, it carried through the cracks of the doors, into the depths of my ear drums. It was as though he was standing right by me, as close as what Ede was.

"It's still smoking." The second replied, referring to the candle. He winced as his fingers touched the boiling wax. I inclined closer toward the gap between the doors, stealing a glance at the trackers that had entered the chamber. Their chests were armoured with thick, metallic plates that reflected the dancing flames from their lanterns. Large crests were printed in the center, depicting a large bird mid-flight, hauling a large key within its beak. Two of them stood tall and muscular, baring the same markings as Trenton had. Large black and white strips of paint smeared down their cheeks, from the top of their eyelids, curving round to their jaws. The colours reminded me of magpie wings, in the way the white speculated paint flew into the raven dark sweeps.

“Over here!” The larger man out of the two began strumming his hand over the sheets upon the mattress, patting it down to measure the heat patterns. The sheets were still scrunched up from the position I had slept in, and the duvet had been drawn back forcefully, wrinkling down the bottom of the mattress. "It's been slept in." He announced to his partner, in a blindingly obvious fashion.

"I can see that!" Came the reply, just as thick and stupid. He wasted no time in lifting up the wooden frame, grunting with annoyance at our absence.

"I reckon they are long gone!" He groaned, flexing his glazed muscles as he tore through the wooden fixtures. He clonked down his lantern upon the desk, allowing a ring of light to stretch to all pores of the room. "You think that fancy fellow has pulled a fast one?"

"Not if he knows whats good for him."

"Shut up, both of you." This was a different voice. It was coarse and hollow, loud yet lasting. I saw his shadow pause in the doorway, crouched lower than the other two. "Their scent is still fresh in this room."

"You're sure?" His certainty was questioned, something which his sighing throat did not appreciate.

"Yes, you idiot! When have I ever been wrong?" He barked back, his words trembling through the wood. "They are in here. Right now! I can smell it." Intrigued, I peered through the wooden cracks until I could see him. He was rather not like a man at all, but like a dog. I could see him crawling into the room on all fours like an animal.

"They must be hiding." He added, his eyes tearing the place apart. The two trackers began ripping the fixtures apart, mindlessly destroying the room in a bid to find us. But the third, this dog-like creature, stood still and observed for a moment. His eyes scurried across the floor, dragging to where my sandals had rested. His nose bent low, sniffing. "There is someone else here." He announced, suddenly.

"Someone else?" The trackers asked, peering up from their paths of destruction. The bed frame lay in fractured wooden planks, the drawer's of the desk thrown to the ground. All sorts of things lay scattered amongst the floor. Papers and quills, old books that held yellow pages from age. It seemed everything that had ever entered this house had remained here. Exactly where they had been kept. "Is Arrain still here? If he is, Molton will-"

"No. This is someone new." Came the third voice's reply. It was strange, for I had never seen a man like him. His nose rested at the floor, sniffing and inhaling our invisible trail. His chest was decorated with the same, metallic plating as the others, but his arms and legs remained undressed. Instead, they were covered with thick masses of dark hair, matted together like fur. All at once, he rose to two feet. I could see from how his back was arched that he greatly preferred his four-posted stature. He shook his head, although it did little to shift his disheveled hair from his temple. But it did allow me to understand the reasoning behind his title of ‘hounds-man’. Large, drooped ears hung down from his skull, flopping down past his cheek. His nose was drawn-out and elongated like a snout, and between the bridge, sat a set of large, ivory eyes, rounded and polished like marbles. As he stretched up to his feet, I could see his nostrils flexing and contracting with each inhale.

“What do we do?” I reached out to Ede, but she shook her head firmly. A lump of anxiety materialized in my throat, causing the roof of my mouth to dry up in a drought. I could see their silhouettes pacing back and forth, eclipsing the dim light from their lanterns. The two muscled brutes were running out of fixtures and furniture to abolish, and the hounds-man was closing in on the wardrobe. He fell back on all fours, lowering his nose toward the ground.

“Nothing.” Ede hissed lowly, sucking in her breath. "There's nothing we can do."

I could no longer see through the gap between the doors, but my ears were keen enough to pick up the footsteps that came shuffling up toward the wardrobe. I gulped, knowing our time was short. He must have been but paces away. Ede wasn’t doing a very convincing job in remaining calm either. I could see her chest puffing in and out, her eyes widening with panic. If not for our scent, my frantic breathing would surely give away our location. I burrowed my hands into my cloak for comfort, sealing my eyes tightly together. My fingers ran across the smooth ridge of the glass vial. It was then I remembered about the Siren's Kiss.

“What is that?” Removing it hastily, I saw Ede’s face turn to me and the enigmatic blue radiance it emitted. It was a long shot and I had no shame in admitting it was a rash and unprovoked plan. I knew little about how to use such a forbidden and dangerous concoction. All I knew of it, was that it brought forward the things a person did not wish to see. I did not have an understanding of how long such a magic lasted for, or how to inflict it upon others. I was relying entirely on my gut instincts, which was more of an effort that Ede was contributing. It was odd, for she put on such a brave face. I waited and waited for her to take charge of the situation, but she didn't. She remained frozen, locked in a silent fear.

"It's our only way our of here...." I offered her a fragment of hope. As predicted, the door began to shriek from its hinges, and the hound-headed mercenary began prying open the door. Ede fought against him, latching her nails around the frame, tugging it back with all her might.

"Over here!" He called for reinforcements. Between the three of them, we never stood a chance; neither did the door battling to keep upon it's hinges. Ede equipped herself with her small blade, extending it out in a dominating stance, but the garish light from their lanterns glared my vision, and in our moment of blindness, the two mercenaries had latched their fists upon Ede's shoulder, dragging her from the closet like a rag doll. The knife flew across the floor, the metal edge twinkling as it dragged across the floor, out of arms reach.

"Get off me!" She spat, and I could see her wriggling her shoulders vigorously, trying to break loose from their grip. Her legs sprung out, her boots darting around, trying to bend themselves far enough to attack. I saw her pale eyes flickering with rage and frustration as she used all her strength in trying to liberate herself.

"And what in all the seven realms do we have here?" The hound-headed tracker exclaimed, his mouth drooling with thick saliva. His beady eyes widened with focus, and I could feel the brisk air of the room being brushed out with the warmth of his breath. I scuffled as far back into the wardrobe as I could manage, tossing the various garments from their hangers towards him. Silks of red and cobalt shimmered in the dull light, rippling like soft waves of moonlight upon the ocean. The hounds-man tore through each layer of fabric with his pointed nails, but it gifted me with just enough time to scramble out of the wardrobe, avoiding the snatching hands of the others.

"That's the siren whore Trenton told us about!"

"Is that so?" The dog-headed man pinched his eyes down upon me, admiring me with ill intent. Ede remained persistent, throwing heavy kicks into the air. But the merciless mercenaries held her firm, too firm for her to move. "Arrain got himself a harlot, did he?"

"Leave her alone!" I threatened the trackers, the vial of Siren's Kiss dangling from my fingers. My voice was nervous, trembling like my hands from the fear. "Leave her, or I'll drop this!"

"Glowing powder?" The three men burst into a round of laughter. "Oh, lass. I'm quaking in my boots!" It became clear that these were not the type of men that were willing to comprise. As Ede had said before, there were never comprises in war. It was either you, or your enemy. There was no room for negotiations of peace. There was nothing that I could offer that would ever compare to the rewards Molton had promised them. As ruler, she would have coinage and power. And power was far greater than anything I could muster.

"Let her go!" I said, more forcefully. But the mercanaries cared little for what I had to say. Ede knew this too, and shot me a nod towards the vial.

"Drop it." She mouthed.

"I'll let her go alright...." The brute mocked, his fists lunging towards the wood nymph's face. "....straight off the edge of a cliff."

"Now, Thorn!" She yelled, desperately. I did as told, and threw the vial to their feet, shielding my mouth with my cloak sleeve. I wished not to become victim to it's magic. I dared not face that which my mind did not wish to see. The glass shattered, splinting tiny silver shards across the floor. The trepidation dust swirled up in an angry mushroom storm, painting the blackness of the room with its marvelous shade. It was thick in the air, and I could feel my chest wheezing, trying not to inhale it. I stood confidently for a moment, waiting for the Siren's Kiss to work as intended. I waited and waited for the mercenaries to decay into fits of madness. But they didn't.

"Run!" Ede screamed out to me, but her warnings were voiced too late. In the midst of my disappointment and anxiety, the hound-headed brute seized had his opportunity and pounced upon me, flattening me down head-first upon the cold floor. I squealed out, as his nails dug into my back, slicing open my flesh into fresh wounds. My skin began to sting from the icy air greeting the blood, and it forced me to cry out in agony. But the hounds-man showed little mercy, and teared through the thick, velvet lining of my cloak, shredding the pale brown fabric of my dress underneath. I screamed out, crawling on my knees and elbows away from him. I could feel the pricks of broken glass prickle into the skin of my bare legs, embedding themselves into the pale hide of my arms.

"You're not going anywhere, whore." He snarled, latching onto my ankles before dragging me back toward him. My body scrambled for freedom, but he was much too strong. My ears rang with the high-pitched grunts from Ede's mouth, as the two mercenaries continued to keep her pinned down. Although I could not see her, I could detect their struggle in keeping her detained; the heels of her boots scratched into the hard floor, followed by the sound of clunky footsteps, wrestling against hers. The hounds-man hauled me onto my back, ensuring my face was aligned to his as he toppled over me.

"Don't-" I fought, but it was useless. He sprawled my arms out either side of my head, splatting my hands down against the jagged splinters of glass. I winced, scrunching up my face as I felt his snarling breath fan down my neck. Tears scrolled down from my eyes, as I felt his nails scratching up my thighs, uncomfortably close.

"Leave her alone!" I heard Ede scream out, but we both knew it would take more than words to reason with him. Men like this saw sirens as whores; nothing more than an object for them to lust and use without consent.

"Shut her up, boys!" He barked his orders, his eyes not peeling from mine. I heard their fists curl up with tight-knitted fingers, before hurdling themselves into Ede's stomach. Her throat spewed out a song of pain, grunting and spluttering.

"Please...." My words could hardly come out at all. They were no more than coarse whispers; quiet cries that the hounds-man ignored with ease. His nails clawed further up my dress, embracing the flesh of my inner thigh. I wanted to evaporate in that moment. I wanted to fade away, and never know the cruelness lurking in this world. I closed my eyes, feeling bile rising into my throat from my stomach. I continued arching my back, trying to wriggle myself free, but his strength could not be matched. I was growing frustrated with myself, and stretched out my hands as far as he would allow, trying to latch onto the bed legs so I could pull myself from under him.

"Do no touch her!" Ede was frantic, as frantic as my thoughts. She cared little what the brutes chaining her down did and took each hit with a certain pride. It was something so courageous, something of which I had never seen before. "She has nothing to do with us! It's me you want!"

"Shut her up!" The hounds-man raged. The heat of his angry breath gusted into my face, through my hair like a winter gale. The mercenaries launched a violent kick to Ede's stomach, winding her instantly. I could hear her spluttering, gasping for air just as strongly as revenge. I continued scrambling my hands around floor, pining for the bed legs to use as an anchor. I could see with the top of my vision, the bed frame sitting broken. Standing up-right, it was just a stretch away from me. But with the bolbous hounds-man pinning me down, it seemed more like an island floating upon the shores, the tides toying it back and forth in a cruel game of cat and mouse. I leaned as far as I could manage, my fingers spread like dying leaves, trying to touch a glimpse of the sun for that one, last time.

In the inner void of my mind - the blank space where all thoughts go traveling and echoing up to the ceilings - I prayed to the deities. And for the first time in my lifetime, it seemed that they had listened to an extent. They had offered a life-line it seemed, in the form of a rounded ridge of glass. I seized it in my hand. The sharp edges cut through my skin and I could feel warm blood trickling into my palms, like a bittersweet reminder that the lines between life and death were far thinner than a mortal mind could grasp.

"Look at me!" The hounds-man demanded, with his own sick and demented intentions. With one hand, he squeezed his plump fingers around my cheeks, dragging my face forcefully so our eyes met. He leaned close to me. So close that I wanted to scream. The warmth of his chest hair pressed roughly against my skin, swaying like tall grass in a breeze with every puff of his heart.

"Don't worry. Arrain can have you back....once we're done with you." He snarled into my ears, his breath blustering warm and vile. His eyes were glazed over in a raging lust, and it disgusted me to know he was finding pleasure in my distress. He removed one hand from my arm quickly, sliding up the shreds of my dress skirt. I shuddered with the sense of violation, as his fingers traveled up my inner thigh. I felt so unclean; the type of filthy that no amount of hot water could scrub clean.

"Please...." I begged, but he did not listen. He did not care. He cared only about abusing me. Raping me. Using me. I lifted my fist above his head, slowly and quietly, clenching the shard of glass.

"I will kill you, you bastard!" The wood nymph shrieked, as the hounds-man laced his hands further up my dress. I positioned the piece of glass in between my thumb and fingers, and closed my eyes.

There were no compromises in war. I told myself this, as my eyelashes clasped firmly together. It was either me or my enemy. It was either me or him.

"Oh, I've had enough of her. Kill her, boys." The hounds-man spoke his final order. His final words, that pushed me off the edge. I bared no regrets. No guilt. No remorse, as I punched my fist back and forth, the glass weilded between my fingers like a jagged blade. I punched and punched my fists into his head and face, until the glass shattered in my hand, leaving a sharp chuck fastened to the husked surface of his cheek. Deep, red fluid poured from the gash, lining the slice with a vein-purple tint.

"You filthy whore! What have you done?" He roared, his words violently echoing and bouncing off the walls. His eye had been evidently damaged, forcing his eyelid to remain closed from instant swelling. I could see his eyelashes flickering against the injury, trying to shield the once milky exterior which had reddened from trauma. His immediate reaction to nurture his facial wound allowed his concentration on imprisoning me to slip.

"It's what you deserve!" I said sharply, as he rolled his weight from on top of me. Dark, clouded shades of rogue painted his skin in patches, before pushing out clots of blooded pools from their punctures. His neck pulled the tide of the red river, as gravity's currant urged the fluid to cascade down his chin.

"You'll pay for this!" Blood continued gushing out from his cheek as he desperately attempted to remove the shard, seeping and racing down his face in an harrowing red dribble. In all his rage and pain, he began taking it out upon me, his claws extending towards like like naked winter branches. "I'm going to skin you alive!"

"Don't touch me!" I screamed, so forcefully that my throat began burning. I felt unstable, for my knees had weakened and numbed from his weight. I stepped back from him, as he staggered to two feet. Clutching at the tears of fabric holding my modesty in place, I crouched low, collecting a heap of the blue powder that had carpeted the floor. It was an action out of instinct, rather than thought.

"I'll do more than bloody touch you! Arrain won't even recognize you when I'm through!" He threatened, and I felt his fingers curl around my ankle. I lashed off his grip with a forceful kick, knocking him onto his back. I heard his spine collide against the boards, causing the wood to squeal under his weight with a shuddering thud. His nostrils began to flare with intense anger, and his working eye narrowed down in a piercing stare. He stumbled up on all fours, trying to maintain his balance, but his steps were uneasy. He geared up his legs, preparing to charge towards me. I was taking no chances, and threw the dust I had collected into his face. I knew that even if the Siren's Kiss did not work as intended, it would still be enough to hinder his working eye, and allow me a chance to escape.

As he battled with the grains intruding his eyes, I turned from him, just in time to avoid a harrowing swing of the mercenaries. Ede was still pinned in their fists, still fighting and kicking for liberation.

"Just you wait 'til I get free!" She warned the two brutes, as they took further swings, dragging her around as they went. I ducked, narrowly missing their aim and jolted back upon the mattress. The hounds-man saw me through his blurred vision, and made a run for me. But this destructive companions had done all the work for me, for his feet fell upon the broken furniture, landing him in a cloud of blue powder and glass.

"What...what in all the seven realms is this?" He screeched like a dying bird, with eyes diluted and widened like moons. The room fell quiet, all attention cast upon his fraying arms, waving frantically in the air. His head span around in all directions, as though he was blinded from reality. "You witch! What have you done?"

It seemed the Siren's Kiss was finally taking effect. A little late than never.

"What's she done?" The mercenaries called, their eyes glazed with fear as the hounds-man crawled into a corner, his arms now lashing out in attack. I stood smugly for a moment, enjoying watching him suffering as the trepidation dust cast visions of his worst fears in front of him. Whatever it was that he saw, it must have been horrific. I had never seen a person so petrified in all my life. His face paled, the fur that lined his skin stood on end.

"You're a witch! A demon!" He bellowed. "What have you done to me?"

It was a sight that burned itself into my memory. It was something I would normally wish not even upon my enemies. But knowing the mindless, repulsive intentions he had thought for me, I thought it not so bad. Only fitting. Only fair. I watched as he began shielding his face with his arms, tears gushing from both eyes.

"Don't hurt me! Get away!" He screamed, so loud it rattled my bones. "Molton....I beg of you!" At the mention of her name, the other two brutes paled. Their heads span around the room, as though searching for her. "Molton....please...." The hounds-man scrambled to his feet; at first on all fours, before jumping up to two. But in his haste to run away from his visions, he stumbled back, his feet tripping over one another until he lost his balance altogether. He fell backwards, smashing his skull against the wall before falling into a mangled heap upon the floor.

The room fell silent, as the last of the hounds-man's breath exited his lungs.

"Let her go, or I'll-" I scooped up more of the Siren's Kiss from the floorboards, aiming my cupped hands towards the two trackers. Instantly, they flinched away, terrified of a repeat performance.

"Molton will kill you for this!" He said, distracted. Both sets of eyes did not leave my palms, and they edged back, further and further from me. I jolted forward teasingly, causing of the brutes to release Ede from his hands, as he shielded his face. And Ede did not waste such an opportunity.

"Finally!" She shouted, crying out in victory. The two mercenaries quickly released their mistake, but the wood nymph had already broken from their grasp. She showed little mercy, jabbing one in his face with a full fist. I heard it crack, breaking upon impact. He cowled over, clutching his blooded nose. But she didn't stop there. Her boot shot toward his chest plate, but the thick armor he was dressed in took most of the impact. It wobbled, pranging with a metallic twinge.

"Thorn, watch out!" She guided, as the other mercenary made his way towards me. I swiped a large wooden plank that had been dismantled from the mattress, shattering it into splinters against his legs. He toppled to the floor, collapsing over the hounds-man.

"Get off of me!" I heard the other brute cry out, and caught Ede taking a run and jump, leaning her legs around his body like a wild animal. She clamped down upon him with all her strength; he took heavy swipes, and rolled his shoulders in an attempt to remove her, but she latched her fingers in his thin hair. Tugging forcefully, she brought agonized screams from his throat, accompanied by streams of warm tears. "Get this bitch off me!" He begged, as his colleague scrambled to his assistance. However, he did not count on the layers of silk lining the floor nearest the wardrobe, and found his boot's grip were too thin to keep him upright. He fell to his knees, his head plopping down in front of him, with only his hands anchoring him. The wooden boards cracked upon his weight, juddering his entire body forward. Supervising his movement whilst Ede was preoccupied, I noticed him trying to pull his knees from the broken flooring; sharp splinters of wood had pierced through the gap between his armor, slitting the tender skin of his thighs and joints. He howled out, forcing his legs through the cracked boards. My eyes scurried across the floor, searching for something of use. I noticed the dim sheen of Ede's blade tucked under the mass of swollen wood and off-white bedsheets from the mattress.

"Leave him!" Ede instructed garishly, knocking down her attacker. His deathly wails were quickly muted as she secured a firm grip around his neck, drawing a congenial snap as she twisted his head beyond its limit. The curious sound of his neck breaking was unlike anything I had ever heard; it was sickening deafening and seemed to dull all my other senses. It mimicked that of an egg shell being splattered upon a kitchen floor, but on a much larger and far more brutal scale. The mercenary fell limp to the floor, as I watched with an oval-locked jaw. I had never been exposed to such harsh crimes, and although the blonde-dreaded girl could easily overlook it from experience, I stood for a moment in pure silence.

His body lay over the unconscious hounds-man, his hands sprawled open, his mouth parted with the last of his breath. His eyes were left half-open, although the colour within them drastically drained out from dark hues to gray. A silent but brief part of me did mourn for Molton's puppeteer, but it quickly dissolved when I thought of all the souls this man had probably slain. I turned away from him, knowing I would never truly forget the dull look upon his lifeless face.

"Now, your turn!" Ede smirked devilishly, as she strode toward the final tracker. She swiped her hands clean together, brushing off the access powder that had accumulated in her palms. The heels of her boots chalked against the wooden boards, growing louder and faster in pace. I dragged the blade across the sheets with my foot, before snatching it up from the floor. "I'll take that!" Ede grinned, easing her grip into the leather ridges around the bindings.

"No!" The mercenary cried out, his fingers gathering the blue powder from the floor. He did not hesitate, and threw it towards us. The cloud of dust smogged us both momentary; I broomed it away from my hand, using the other to shield my mouth. Ede was less caring, still charging towards the mercenary. But she was stopped in her tracks, as was I.

"Mother?" I called out, for I saw her standing in front of me.

"Thorn, my darling." It was her voice. It remained eerie and cadaverous, but it was hers.

"Is it really you, Mother?" She was a beautiful as I had remembered her, with a fiery mane of hair falling to her shoulders and her pansy purple eyes glimmering towards me. I stood in shock, unable to move, frozen in my stares. Ede turned to me, saying something, but my ears were too dazed to listen. I stepped towards Mother, my arms spread out, ready to embrace her so welcomingly. But as I approached, she dropped to the floor. I darted to her, desperate to see her. But what I saw was not something I wished to have seen.

"Mother....no!" She was a corpse. Battered and bruised, with skin grey like storm clouds. Her radiant complexion had decayed, with holes and burrows torn in her flesh. Blood was smeared down her face, seeping through the light fabric of her dress. All the life within her appeared to have been sucked out, vacuumed from her lips, which sat pale and blue. Her limbs were managed, as though her body was a broken puzzle. I leaned down, to cover her body with the bed sheets, but as my fingers wept to touch her, she had gone.

It had all been a hallucination. It was what the Siren's Kiss had compelled my eyes to see. I knew it was not real. But it had stained the memory of her.

"Thorn?" Ede's voice penetrated my trance, hauling me back to realty. I was no longer certain what was real and what wasn't. And as my mind scrambled to recall all the blissful moments Mother and I had shared together, I saw nothing but her corpse. The look of her absent eyes, so accusing yet lifeless....it haunted my soul.

"That's it!" The wood nymph spat out, drawing a close to the mercenary. During my hallucinations, he had tried to make a run for it, but Ede had him cornered. He had no where to go, but to face her wrath.

"Stay back!" He screeched, his hands scraping what little of the trepidation dust he could gather.

"Don't be so pathetic!" Ede retaliated, crushing his hand under her boot. "Who wants to die a coward?"

"No! Please! I beg of you! I have a family! Spare me!"

"I had a family....until Molton murdered them!" Ede spat, circling him like a wildcat tormenting its next meal. "Arrain's parents were killed when he was barely a boy. He can't even remember what they looked like. You men showed no mercy on their souls, so why should I?"

"Please, please. I am begging you, let me live. I'll do anything please!"

"Tell us what you've done with Arrain and I'll consider." Ede replied sharply, leaning her blade to his eyes.

"Molton has him." He said promptly, clearing his throat. Ede's brow creased, and a disapproving look carved into her face. She stood directly in front of the mercenary, wielding the blade close toward the scuff of hair upon his chin. He gulped down the lump of anxiety that had collected in the back of his mouth, his eyes twitching back and forth nervously, although never quite leaving sight of the blade. "The teleporter was told to deliver him this evening. Molton sent us here in case he chickened out-"

"What?" We both echoed in unison.

"It's true, I swear it!" He continued, much to our disliking ears. "The hounds-man tracked his scent, the teleporter's too. They've already gone."

All the light hairs upon my arms stood on end, as the chilling realization that Trystan had been working undercover came to light. I shook my head in disbelief. He seemed like such a gentle and patriotic companion to Arrain, and had even gestured me with his good nature despite me being a stranger. I could not fathom what motive he possessed to mislead Arrain. I looked to Ede, hoping she would cast aside his bogus claims, but it had unsettled her. I could read the tension upon her face, and her pale eyes seemed less confident.

"And why would Trystan do such a thing?" She gruffed, anger and bitter. The knife traveled back up the mercenary's face, moment's away from injury.

"He made a deal with Molton. Arrain's life in exchange for his brothers!"

"His brother is dead. You're lying." Ede snapped back forcefully, edging the blade more and more uncomfortably close to his skin. The tip of the knife pierced his skin lightly, causing a small train of blood to roll carelessly down his neck, leaking upon the dull metallic plating of his armor. I turned away, not wanting to witness another brutal murder.

"Molton's had the boy locked up for many moons. That fancy fellow said he could bring her want she really wanted if she'd spare the kid. Viro's, his name. Young lad, no older than eight full years. Molton's not really one for negotiating but that teleporter is a cunning boy. Smart bastard got you all fooled too!"

"I've heard enough." She demanded, far too drained to keep her act of intimidation up. A silence descended swiftly, awarding us only time to absorb this odious information. She turned away from his face, although kept a short distance between his throat and her blade.

"You do not believe him, do you?" I asked, hopeful. But the grave creases carved within her brow told me all I needed. Hot air spewed from her mouth, causing the cool air to cloud up from the change of temperature.

"I.....I never trusted that bastard.....I knew something was wrong the moment Molton's men started finding us sooner than expected. I told Arrain I suspected we were being watched, that our locations were being sent, but he didn't want to hear it. That's the problem with Arrain, he cares too much....from the moment Trystan started spewing his sob story, Arrain vowed to fight by his side. He doesn't stop to question people's true intentions. Like Trystan's. Like yours...."

"I'm not a-"

"It's no longer about you." Ede tensed. "I should have forced Arrain to listen to me. I should have interrogated that bastard teleporter the moment that I thought-"

"You weren't to know." I tried to remain positive, but my mind was flowing with an array of emotion. I could not pause my wandering mind in envisioning how Arrain had been so easily deceived. He regarded Trystan as family, and I wished not to imagine how painful it must be to uncover such betrayal. He had devised such a heartless plan in seducing Arrain as a friend, raising up his trust just so he could demolish it.

"It's beside the point!" Ede took it out upon herself. "It's my duty to take care of Arrain, to protect him. And I've massively failed."

"Think of it this way,..." The brute spoke with honeyed words. But it fell flat upon both our ears. "...with Molton preoccupied with Arrain, she will forget about your lives. In his sacrifice, you have been given a ticket to freedom. She doesn't have to know that you got away. I'll go back, tell her I killed you both myself."

"Molton forgets nothing." Ede said, gravely. "Hence why she has led you bastards on a wild goose chase for the past twenty years. She'll expect to see proof. Evidence of our deaths. And when she doesn't, we'll all be next for the chopping block. You included."

"But think about it-" He attempted again, but the wood nymph's patience had been drawn to the point of exhaustion.

"It changes nothing!" Ede's stern face could not conceal her fury at the violation of trust. "Oh, everything is such a mess."

"There must be something we can do to get Arrain back?" I spoke out, hopeful. But Ede squashed all faith I had, with just one sole look. Her head lowered, her eyes dancing around the room, eager not to let herself cry.

"We can't go marching up to Molton's tower demanding him back! We'd need an army to penetrate those walls. We're not ready for a battle on this scale. And neither is Arrain! He's all alone in those towers, for deities sake! No one will help him!"

"Then we must." I urged, feeling the pit of my stomach drop to the ground. The thought of Arrain being imprisoned within Molton's towers made my head spin in a dizzying rush. Already a broken soul, I could not begin to imagine what effect this would have on him.

"And why is it you care so much for him? You do not even know him!" Ede had every right to be suspicious. I blamed her not for her insecurities; after the alarming news of Trystan's betrayal, and rather admired her far more for giving me the time of day.

"I know enough to see that he is a good man. A man that has seen far too much suffering already. He does not deserve-"

"His suffering is his blessing." Her remark confused me. She had expected such a reaction from me, and went on to explain. "It may sound out of place, coming from his sister's lips, but it's true. Without Molton, he'd have no reason to live. He wakes to seek vengeance. He breathes to see Molton take her last. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Yes, I think."

"But he is not prepared for this yet. He fears her more than you know. He dares not sleep most nights, for he has dreams of her. Nightmares." Her words trailed off with her thoughts. She fell quiet, distracted. Her eyes were haunted by something unspoken. Something I knew better than to ask about.

"There must be something we can do."

"I am open to suggestions." She sighed, ready to give up. In truth, I knew little of what to tell her. I had no experience in such situations.

"How about you let me go?" The brute reminded us all of his unfortunate presence. "I'll return to Molton, tell her that your both dead and then we can all return to living as normal."

"Normal? What's normal about living on the run from you bastards? Of fearing that our night's sleep may be our last?" Ede's fury was heating up. I did not envy the position he was in. But then it seemed inspiration took a hold of her senses quite suddenly. She leaned close to the brute, her eyes narrowed. "What is your name?" She asked him, although not out of compassion.

"Billen Melcalf, of Nilichon." He answered quickly, shaking his sweat-matted hair from his forehead. "Useless giving names out. Molton don't bother learning them."

"It's not for that bitch's ears." Came the reply. "It's so when I kill you, I can find all the people you love and slay them too. That's what you trackers do, right? Wipe out entire bloodlines at the wave of Molton's hand? You're no further use to me anyway...."

"No! Please, I told you what you wanted! Please, I'll do anything!"

"Tell you what then, you miserable coward...." She proposed to him, strumming her blade up his chin, slicing the fine hairs of his neck clean from their roots. "I will spare you only on one condition - you help us retrieve Arrain."

"What? That's impossible. The boy is as good as dead!" He contended, his voice quaking with urgency.

"Would you rather die?" She cocked her brow, thrusting the blade against his flesh.

"No! No! But there is nothing we can do! He's probably already in her courtroom!"

"Well, we'd better get a move on then." She signaled for him to stand with the blade. He did as commanded, not having another option, whilst she instructed me to bind his hands in front of his chest with the knotted thread from my dress.

"You lasses have lost your minds." He grunted, bearing his crooked teeth. I pulled the fabric as tightly as I could manage, ensuring he could not wriggle out of the restrictions.

"Shut up!" Ede bickered, untying his breast plate armor. She wavered her finger towards the wardrobe. "Thorn, dress yourself. We need to move." I did as instructed; my fingers laced over the first thing they could find - a cotton dress, stained off-white from age. I hauled it over my head, feeling Ede's warm hands cup my shoulder suddenly. "Here," Was all she said, as she presented me with the brute's armor. "Put this on. You're going to need it."

"What about you?" I asked, sheepishly.

"I'll be fine. I'll strip the dead one and use his armor." She said it all so calmly, so naturally, so normally. To me, it was anything but. I stood for a moment, still trying to inhale everything and take it all in. The fact that Arrain was gone, and that Trystan had betrayed him. The fact that Molton was seeking us both for dead. The more and more I fell into such thoughts, the more and more I knew I was never to return to my life of normality. It was no longer on the cards. There was no longer than option for peace.

Only war.

"Let me help you." Ede remarked, releasing I was taking a while in dressing the armor to myself. In truth, I had zoned out completely. My eyes were unable to move from the spot of the floor where I had seen Mother's corpse. I knew it was not her corpse in truth; I knew it was a figment of some horrific imagination, caused by the Siren's Kiss. But it played in my mind, just as real as though it was real. I span around, feeling Ede's hands heisting the armor over my head. "Lift your arms up." She instructed, firmly.

"Sorry." I muttered, as the breastplate fell into place upon my shoulders. It was heavy, heavier than I had anticipated. I felt my feet wobble and try to regain their balance. The wood nymph offered her hands, helping me stand as normal. "Ede, when that tracker threw the powder at us....what did it show you?"

"Why?" She seemed a little threatened by my questioning.

"I was just curious."

"What was that stuff anyway?" She huffed, fastening the armor correctly to me. I stood patiently, waiting for her to finish. "I'm guessing it wasn't legal."

"It's trepidation dust. A breed called Siren's Kiss." Her eyes widened at such news. It became clear from her frowning face that she was familiar with it's name. "It makes you see the things you-"

"I know perfectly well what it does." She snapped, standing back to admire the fit of the breastplate. "It's a little big for you, but it'll work just the same." She added, changing the subject.

"So what did it show you?" I asked again, unwilling to back down.

"I saw nothing, for I fear nothing."

"Everyone is scared of something." I knew she was being stubborn. She was far too proud to admit whatever it was she feared. A quite remained in the air, as the tension between our two throats rose louder and louder. I knew she wouldn't tell me what it was that she saw. But I held no shame in bearing my emotional scars. "I saw my Mother."

"Your Mother?" She seemed surprised.

"I never saw her body after the news of her death was passed to me." I confessed. "The burial arrangements had already been made. I was just to attend to her funeral. And even that, I could not face. And I have always regretted it. I never had the chance to say goodbye. I wasn't strong enough to do it."

"Now that, I understand." Ede said, softer than her usual tone.

"The Siren's Kiss showed me Mother's body. Decayed. Dead." Tears were brought to my eyes, as my mind forced me to relive that moment. I saw her skin once more, bloated and pale like the sands of the shore. Her violet eyes, half open, empty.

"I never had the chance to say goodbye to my Mother either." She spoke, uncomfortable but trying nonetheless. "And I know that seeing Molton fall from that throne will not bring back the ones she has murdered. It won't change or reverse the pain that she's forced upon our hearts. But it will sure as hell feel better seeing her head on a spike, knowing it will never happen again.....now finish dressing. We need to move."

"Ede, what did you see?" I asked her, for one final time. She shook her head, quiet yet surprised at my persistence. "Was it Molton?"

"No. It was worse." Came her response. She paused, considering whether or not to voice it. "I saw Arrain....dead."

"I-" She didn't allow me to get a word in edgeways.

"Not a word. We need to move, before that becomes a reality. Prepare yourself for Barctenshire."

"Barctenshire?" Billen mumbled in such alarm. "But everyone in the seven realms knows Molton resides in Nilichon!"

"It's not Molton we are targeting first." She returned her eyes to him. "I'm not that much of a fool. If you expected us to return you to her towers, than you thought wrong. No, we are going to Barctenshire....for we have an oracle to visit."

"The oracle?" Billen said his final words, as Ede gagged his mouth with rags. "You've lost your minds! The oracle is dead!"

"Her son is still alive and well. And if that's what Arrain had planned, than that's where we will go. I trust that boy with my life. And he's led us this far...."

"I trust him too." I smiled, getting myself used to the weight of the armor.

"Good. Because now, you may die for him."