Yue’li lifts up her tail as high as it goes, then brings it down hard onto the frozen lake surface. With a crisp snap, the ice breaks apart. Freezing water splashes onto her back. Yue'li gasps and tries to jump away, but her feet slip on the wet ice. Arms flailing, she's caught by Zoldan who is standing behind her.

“Useful tool,” the man says approvingly. “Fancy myself having one.” He steadies her but does not let go. His hands linger too long on her shoulders, making Yue’li want to squirm. She politely ducks out under him, pretending it's because she wants to wipe the water that's dripping down her back.

“It’s actually more of a nuisance than a help.”

Yue'li remembers the stares she used to get in the market square, the hushed whispers from people passing by her bakery, and the pointed looks. These used to be the bane of her happiness. But now she will gladly give up everything to be back in Kesrock.

“Yeah sure, whatever,” says Zoldan. “Let’s hurry this up. I don’t want to be out here longer than needed.” He gets down low and starts chipping away at the cracks Yue'li has made. She stands beside him, watching as he pries his knife into the ice, sawing at it until there's a hole big enough for a fist to go through.

“Damn storm ruined the whole thing.” Muttering to himself, Zoldan reaches into his pocket and takes out a reel of thread. He ties one end to a tiny metal hook, then winds the rest to a long stick. He snaps the thread between his teeth then sets the stick across the top of the hole. He then points to Yue’li’s feet.

“Pass me the rock.”

Yue’li picks up the stone behind her. It’s a good-sized rock, weighty between her hands. If she drops it on him, it will definitely be enough to injure him. If she clobbers him with it, she may even kill him.

She comes to stand over Zoldan. Even though it's so cold, her palms begin to sweat.

Kill him.

Do it.

End it.

“Give me the rock.” Zoldan’s voice commands images into Yue’li’s head.

Pain. Isolation. Starvation.

Yue’li hands over the rock, her body obeying even if logic does not.

After setting the stone down against the stick, Zoldan gives it a kick to make sure it’s set. “That should do it. Let’s get back now.”

“Back?” Yue’li looks at him in disbelief. “But we haven’t got anything to eat.”

Zoldan's head whirls towards her. His eyes eclipse with rage and he sneers with all his teeth. “Come here,” he says and grabs her collar, hooking his fingers inside the links of the chains. He yanks her towards the edge of the frozen lake. Yue’li struggles to catch her balance, her bare feet slipping uselessly under her. When they’re back on dry tundra land, Zoldan thrusts Yue’li forward so hard she gags. “Tell me what you see,” he commands.

Yue’li manages to find her feet finally. Gasping, she draws in the thin mountain air, her lungs aching with the cold.

“What do you see?”

“N-nothing,” she replies. “Nothing but flat land.”

Zoldan gives her a rough shake, making her chains jingle. “That’s right. Not a damn thing.” He pulls her back into him and crushes her body against his. Yue’li cries out and tries to push him away.

Too late, she knows her mistake.

Pain blooms across her face. She stumbles, falls to the ground with her hand cupping her burning cheek.

“Still can’t bear touching me, huh?” Zoldan lets out a savage growl as he yanks Yue'li back up. “I gave you food and shelter, and whatever you could possibly need out here. And yet you are still ungrateful?”

“N-no,” Yue’li whimpers. “It’s not that. It’s… my wings.”

“Hurt, do they?” Zoldan throws his head back and laughs. “Serves as a good reminder, don’t it?”

Fire spreads through Yue’li’s body, so hot it numbs the pain on her cheek. She keeps her eyes to the ground, letting the defiant tears drop unhindered.

A fluttering sound breaks the tension. Yue’li glances up to see that a crow has landed on a tree branch nearby. It’s a small creature, not nearly enough for even one person to snack on, but Zoldan lets go of her anyway and pulls out his knife. Slowly, he takes a step towards the crow, turning his curved knife around in his hand. He makes it three more steps before the crow senses him. With a flap of its dark wings, it takes to the sky, vanishing into the blue.

Grunting, Zoldan returns to Yue’li. “Look,” he says. “I’m sorry. This isn’t easy for me too, you know?” He shoves the knife back into his belt and picks up her chain. “I never should’ve listened to that Blood Devil. The Dragonspines have always been impassable. I don’t know why I ever let her convince me otherwise.” He gives her chain a small yank, his face splitting into a grin when she inches towards him. “I should’ve just taken you into Preulle instead.”

Yue’li clenches her teeth to fight the shudder creeping up her spine. She doesn’t want to think what life may be like if she was taken west instead of north. Out here, she at least has an opportunity to kill him. But in the City of Slaves, she'll be better off dead.

“We’ll need to take it easy for the next few days,” Zoldan says, oblivious to the thoughts going through Yue’li’s mind. “We’re going to have to rely solely on our fishing lines until I can fix up the broken snares.” He spits onto the frozen lake. "Damn Nranhana with that storm. Come on. We're going." He tugs Yue’li’s chain again, this time harder.

Wait for tonight, Yue’li tells herself, feeling tears well in her eyes again as her body follows Zoldan back to their camp. Tonight, when he’s sleeping, you smother him.

She almost believes it.

The storm that blew through the Dragonspines lasted a total of five days. During all this time, Yue’li was trapped in the same enclosed space with Zoldan while sheets of water fell across the mouth of their cave. They still had food left from the Blood Devil's supply, but by the third day, all the bread started to grow mold. After the fourth day ended, Zoldan was becoming desperate. He paced the claustrophobic floor space of their cavern like a trapped animal, pausing only to beat or curse at Yue’li.

“This is your fault!” he screamed once, while his fists rained down on her. “If you never left our group neither of us would end up like this!”

Yue’li didn't have much clue what he was talking about, but she responded in the only way she knew worked, by covering her face and biding.

They climb back up the snowy pass to their cavern, Zoldan talking the whole way. He’s walking in front of Yue’li, so his voice carries back to her in snippets.

“I’m thinking of going further up the mountain… Army might be gone now… ”

Yue’li stares at the chain wrapped around his fist. It’s a short chain, so every few steps she feels it tugging at her neck, reminding her of her confinement. She turns her gaze to the back of Zoldan head, picturing what it looks like split open.

“After the Wall is cleared we’ll get going…”

The air is chilly, blowing through the holes in Yue’li’s torn clothes. Her bruises hurt. Her back throbs with every step, awakening flashbacks to the horrible thing he did to her.

Don’t cry. Don’t encourage him.

“… should get into Jinyu by spring…”

They ascend the last stretch of the pass and reach the entrance of their mountain cave. It is less of a cave than a squabble dug out of the side of the icy hillock, barely large enough to house two people. When they first arrived, Zoldan told Yue'li he chose this place specifically because it’s near impossible to spot from a distance.

Which is why it’s such a surprise to see someone standing outside, waiting for them.

At first, Yue’li thinks it’s just a mirage. She’s been seeing things for the last few days, and she’s already chalked it up to her mind being bent to the point of breaking. But this time it’s different. Because in front of her, Zoldan has stopped walking too.

He sees the figure as well.

“Who is that?” he shouts. “Name yourself!”

The hooded stranger turns towards the noise. Twin purple eyes shine brightly underneath her dark cowl.

“Aralyn,” the stranger says in a singsong voice. “Windborne.”

The back of Yue’li’s neck tingles.

“Windborne.” Zoldan chokes out the name. “Can’t be.” He pulls out his sword. The steel gleams under bright sunlight. “Show me your face!” With his other hand, he grips Yue’li’s chain tighter, forcing her to inch closer to him. "Unmask yourself now!"

Wind ruffles the edges of the stranger's heavy cloak. A delicate hand emerges from within, pulling back the hood to reveal sharp ears and shoulder-length hair. Once exposed to the light, her hair seems to catch on fire, so red and vibrant it is.

Zoldan staggers back, stepping painfully on Yue’li's toes. “An elf!”

“Half-elf,” Aralyn corrects him. “My father was a nobleman in the King's court, and my mother is… wait, why am I telling you this?” She laughs, a faint fluttery sound. “I guess sometimes I need to say it out loud lest I’d forget it myself.”

Her smile is one of dangerous intent. Two fangs glisten from under her full upper lip.

“An elf Blood Devil!” Zoldan’s laugh is frantic compared to Aralyn’s. He sheathes his sword and approaches her, pulling Yue’li along. "Kari must’ve sent you."

Aralyn watches him curiously. "She did."

"So tell me, when can we expect the Wall to be cleared?"

“How do you suppose I should know that?” Aralyn asks in return. “I can’t tell the future.”

The delight slips off of Zoldan’s face. “What are you doing here then?”

Aralyn cocks her head to one side. “You assume my interests are in the wrong subject.” She closes the distance between them with two quick strides. “Kari sent me, but not for you.”

Yue’li watches as those burning purple eyes turn to her. A flash of fear surges from her belly, telling her to run.

Zoldan grabs Yue’li’s arm and hauls her behind him. “Don’t play games, Devil! Aren't you here to help me cross the border?”

"Quite the opposite, actually."

Zoldan snarls. “Enough with your riddles, Devil!” His sword comes out again and he lays the steel flat on Aralyn’s right shoulder, against her neck. “Unless you want to see your tongue by your feet, you better start making sense real quick.”

Aralyn’s eyes darken but her smile grows wider, showing more of her fangs. “What a deeply unpleasant person you are,” she says with an almost joyous expression. With a swipe of her hand, she brushes Zoldan’s sword away. “All the better. There’s this new ability I’ve been wanting to test out. It suits someone like you perfectly.” She directs that same hand at Zoldan, slender fingers outstretched towards his chest.

“Madadonaha.”

Her words echo across the mountain, commanding the entire realm to listen.

Zoldan drops his sword. He lurches back, clutching his chest. Yue’li cannot see his face but she can see him shivering. Then, with a sudden howl of pain Zoldan’s body begins folding in on itself, becoming smaller.

No, not smaller. Older.

The man drops to his knees, gasping for breath. Terror lodges in Yue'li's throat, choking her screams as she watches her captor’s skin sag off his rapidly thinning body.

Standing in front of them, Aralyn continues to smile.

Zoldan is clutching his head now. His fingers have become sticks, Yue'li's chain falling through them. He writhes, all in silence. His hair turns shock white. His lips pull back into lines. Finally, he opens his mouth and lets out a long, raspy moan.

Yue’li’s legs go weak. She sits down. She can’t stop staring. Her eyes are glued to Zoldan, even as his eyes shrivel inside their sockets. Then with one last violent spasm, Zoldan’s body contracts, forcing his limbs into painful, unnatural positions. Yue'li's ears fill with the horrible, watery sound of bones snapping, and just when she can watch no more and wants to yell for it to stop, it’s over. Zoldan gives out one last wheeze and raises his broken arms to the sky, and then he begins to disappear. First his white hair, then his spotted skin, the man’s shriveled body breaks away into the wind. Soon, hundreds upon thousands of tiny black dust floats off into the sky, carried on the quiet breeze until nothing remains in the snow but his clothes and swords.

He never bled a single drop.

“So that’s what it looks like,” says Aralyn, wrinkling her nose. “Gross.”

Yue’li stares at the spot Zoldan occupied. Only a moment ago, he was still there, this man who starved and beat and terrorized her into submission. He kept her in a cart blindfolded and gagged, letting her stew in her own filth while he took her thousands of miles away from her home. He forced her to obey him, and when she didn’t, punished her with the worst pain she’s ever felt.

Yue’li starts to cry.

And now he is gone. Just like that. A single word spoken by an outsider, and Zoldan the Thief will never again take anything from her.

It was too easy. It shouldn’t have been that easy.

“Hey now, don't cry.”

Yue’li feels soft arms wrap around her shoulders.

“It’s over,” Aralyn whispers, bringing Yue’li into her embrace. Her body is cool, warmer only compared to the snow. “He’s gone. He can’t hurt you anymore.”

Yue’li squeezes her words through ragged breaths. “I should’ve been the one to kill him. It should’ve been me.”

“No,” Aralyn answers sternly. “You don’t want that. Some lines, after you cross them, will never be there again. You can't go back even if you wanted to.”

“I don’t care.” Yue’li presses her lips together but her sobs still break out. “He should have suffered! He deserved worse than death!”

“You don’t mean that.”

“I do,” Yue’li insists. “He took everything from me. My home, my life… my wings.” Saying those words somehow makes everything worse. Yue’li collapses into Aralyn’s chest, her phantom pain mixing with real pain until there’s nothing left to feel but black grief. But all this time, Aralyn does not let go of her. She continues whispering comforting words into Yue’li’s ear, promising to take her someplace warm, somewhere with ale and food and no snow.

But those are just words. And words will not heal wounds.

“I want you… to change me.”

Aralyn stiffens. Yue’li feels her chest rise and fall. Inside, there is no sound.

“How do you know about that?”

“I know what Blood Devils are.”

“Then you should know we don’t like competition.”

Raising her face to Aralyn’s, Yue’li tries to smile through her tears. “I promise to never steal your food. Or Kari’s.”

Aralyn shakes her head. She pulls away. Yue'li expects to see the half-elf annoyed or angry, but she isn't either. She's amused.

“Kari told me you’d ask this of me. I didn’t actually believe her.”

“Well, she's very wise.”

“Can you tell me why, though?”

Yue’li shivers. She looks down at her hands, raw from the cold and bruised from defending herself. She doesn’t want Aralyn to know the real reason. Stupidly, she doesn’t want to seem like a monster, even though she’s asking to be turned into one. But most of all, she doesn’t want to give away how much she’s afraid of what’s to come.

“I want those who wronged me to pay,” she says finally, then before courage can fail her, before reason has a chance to catch up, she closes her eyes and pulls down her shirt.

It’s cold. She feels gooseflesh pimple her exposed skin. She hears Aralyn sigh.

“Very well, then. Far be it for me to deny one’s desire for power, not when I had the same reasons myself.”

There is a small shuffling sound, then the cold is replaced by cooler arms sliding around Yue’li one more time. The gentleness of Aralyn's touch is surprising. One hand is on Yue'li's waist and the other against her cheek, and Yue'li lets the fantasy of being held by a lover play out in her imagination.

“You’re not at all as I expected,” Yue'li whispers, her breath quivering in her throat. Hair tickles the base of her neck, smelling of strawberries.

“You know who I am?”

“Elle… Elevena talked about you often.”

There is a pause, followed by a breathy laugh.

“Ah,” Aralyn says, “so that’s the real reason.” Her lips are curved as they touch Yue’li’s skin, and then at long last, comes the warmth of her bite.

End of Part III