Spies and Stalkers

“Does she know I’m here?!?” Arcide demanded in panic, “Where did you see her last?” He took hold of Matt’s shoulders with unusual strength, as if to keep him from running away.

“I. No, I met her outside the city,” Matt replied, looking into the man’s feverish eyes. “I don’t know how she missed you, to tell you the truth.” For fear of his own wellbeing, Matt pried the mans fingers apart, freeing himself from Arcide’s maniacal grip.

“You’re giving me chills.” He replied, eyes scanning the nearby shadows filled with apprehension and no little paranoia. His glare filled with such emotion that Matt imagined that he might just see through the trees themselves. “Are you certain?” He asked, his voice firm yet wavering.

“As certain as I could be. I spoke with her for more than a short time, and even became acquainted with her pet. Riffle I believe it was called.” At the sound of the creatures name, Arcide visibly trembled.

“As a matter of detail, though I could not be sure, I thought that I had seen her as we were walking to the gathering area. Only moments after that trouble in town.”

Arcide’s wary eyes doubled in pace as he scanned across the forest, gulping audibly he called out with sure voice, “You’re there, are you not? Sashella.”

“What are you-?” Matt made to ask but was shushed with a hand by Arcide, who continued to search blindly in the darkness. Quiet whispers of rustling leaves, cries and caws of countless creatures filled the calm nights air. With patience waning, Matt listened for what might stand apart from this cacophony of nature.

“Chyaaaa.” A whisper unlike that of the others, emanated from a nearby bush. “You found me.” The human voice clearly defined, and frightfully familiar.

“Oh, Seri above!” Arcide cried out, losing his footing and falling backwards a step. With feminine grace, the woman stepped apart from the shadows that had worn as naturally as any predator.

Arcides complexion turned noticeably pale, even in the darkness of night. His voice without confidence, he looked up to the woman that had so casually stalked him, with the most casual of ease. “How long… how long have you been?” He could not force the question out whole, as if to voice it would give it reality.

“Oh, I’d say that it’s been a good, 5 weeks since we last had the pleasure of conversation. You had asked for space, but I could not live without you’re voice, so I have been satisfying both.” She brushed the dirt from her dress, which from appearances was for too ornate to be used for such a task as crawling through the forest.

“You have enjoyed your freedom, no?” She asked Arcide with such a brilliant smile painting her face that it illuminated the dark air around them.

“I… I don’t know what to say.” Arcide replied, his terror beginning to fade, replaced by an aura of vigilance.

Strangely Sashella seemed almost immune to his terror and his caution both. Either she could not see it or did not mind.

“Well you could say, ‘oh how I’ve missed you my love. It has been for far too long, let me hold you in my arms’” her performance only complete as she turn and fell backwards towards Arcide, trusting that he catch her.

He did not, instead turning quickly on his foot and sidestepping the woman’s affections.

Before she hit the dirt at their feet, Riffle appeared in sudden rush catching Sashella, upon his back. The creatures abrupt appearance only a little less unsettling, than that of Sashella herself.

Having been saved from her fall, Sashella, tightly gripped her pet in a firm embrace. “Just can’t admit your love for me, can you?” She argued light heartedly, staring at Arcide as she scratched Riffle’s back.

There was no reply to her question, as Arcide stared instead at the forest opposite her. Unwilling to show her his face.

With a weary sigh, Shashella turned instead to Matt. “In any case, it’s lovely to see you and Lilith getting along so well. She’s not so good at making friends as she used to be, and is so serious now. Completely unlike how she was when I first met her.”

“You…” Matt’s voice broke and he felt panic run along his spine, “You saw that?”

“Oh, I certainly did. Lilith!” She cried out to the shadows, “You can come out now, my dearly beloved isn’t the kind to cause problems, I promise you.”

The knight that had supposedly already left, unexpectedly appeared from another set of shadows. “Of cause he wouldn’t, if anyone here is the cause of problems...” She glared silent accusations at the woman who’d revealed her.

“Oh Seri, this is too much.” Arcide exclaimed in shock, the Knight standing before him with such presence that he again stepped back tripping on a tree root. His fall landing him in Sashella’s waiting arms.

As he was still recovering from the shock Sashella wrapped her arms around him, holding him up. “No need to be rude, dear,” Sashella played with his hair while speaking, “Arcide, this is Lilith, an old friend of mine. Lilith, this is Arcide my fated partner.”

Matt watched on, shocked by the woman’s confidence as she introduced them, while clinging onto Arcide no less. He had the feeling that she would one day introduce them to a literal demon with the same casual charm.

“Now that everyone’s introduced…” she lifted Arcide back onto his feet and snatched both his hand and Lilith’s, “We should do something together!”

Lilith clearly unimpressed attempted worthlessly to shake her hand free, while Arcide had already given up control of the situation. For all his complaints about the girl, he was still holding her hand without complaint.

“I… but…” Arcide attempted to find words without any clear result.

“We’re not in a very good place… we shouldn’t even be meeting here.” Matt tried as he might to keep Sashella from ruining their positions in this camp, if they were to be found, Lilith would likely have to save them from the guards attempts at executions.

“Exactly!” She cried out passionately but with at least some modicum of restraint to her volume. “We need to relocate! I know a place we could go nearby.”

“We aren’t allowed to leave this area,” Matt replied to her, trying to keep firm his position with weakening argument.

“Don’t go worrying yourself on something so little. We should be fine since it’s not too far. No one’s around here anyway so it’ll be fine.” She smiled, “Trust me.”

Those words made Matt hesitate more than any other, but with Lilith following along complacently he couldn’t help but do the same.

“I need to make things clear to all of you fools, so come along nice and easy.” Lilith’s voice was filled with murder, making Matt re-evaluate his assumptions of her complacency.

“Don’t be so rude,” Sashella stepped up to the Knight with a powerful tone to her voice, “We’re all friends here.” Her audacious claim was strange to Matt’s ears, and for the first time he hesitated to accept another person’s supposed friendship.

Arcide said as much as Matt was thinking, “I can live without being friends to some of the people here.” He murmured beneath his breath.

“What was that?” Sashella asked, turning her head back to face him.

“Nothing.” He answered, looking away from her piercing smile.

Ahead of them Lilith was sullenly striding forwards trying as she might to avoid the conversation as it flowed around her. He could feel residual thoughts flowing from her mind, but he tried to push them aside.

Riffle was walking nearby attempting to get Lilith’s attention as it strode nearby, constantly glancing her direction. It’s affection for her evident in the way it persistently rubbed up against her.

It hadn’t taken much time before they were shepherded into another area. A small opening between the trees with a gathering of rocks at perfect height for sitting, it almost seemed as if the place at been prepared. Looking up Matt could even see Seri’s light through the canopy above.

“How did you find this place?” Lilith asked, as Sashella lay down upon one of the rocks.

“I wanted to find a nice romantic place to draw my darling out to.” She replied without hint of shame to her voice. Arcide groaned in reply obviously unimpressed by her affections.

Lilith didn’t look all that impressed herself, “Why are you messing around here, surely you know how dangerous these people could be?” Her voice was strict as she lectured Sashella.

“Risk is a part of love.” Arcide looked tempted to run away but Riffle was already herding him back.

“Enough of that nonsense, why?” Lilith asked her again, “I know you, remember?”

Sashella sighed as she looked down at the rock beneath her, “I guess you can see through it.” Her face was serious for the first time in Matt’s recollection. Surprisingly even Arcide was looking at her with a new light for that moment.

She smiled again, forcing back the reality that had been leaking through. “What does it matter, does it change anything at all, anyway?” She turned to Lilith, “What are you doing here, isn’t that a better topic? You’ve still got to convince me and Arcide to go along with your little plan, yes?”

“Plan?” Arcide asked, suddenly curious as he turned to Matt, instead of Lilith.

“I… ah…” Matt hesitated as he tried to design a believable explanation.

“It’s nothing to concern yourself with.” Lilith spoke at Arcide, walking up to him with heavy step, and glowing eyes. The stama on her skin racing faster and faster in the blue light of Seri.

As if to undermine her intimidation, Riffle leapt up to her, seeking her attention with high pitched whining, to which Sashella giggled.

Lilith was forced back a step, hands held out to the side uncertainly. She looked down to the creature, who stared up at her with loving eyes. “Down. Down.” She ordered it as it tried to lick at her hands.

“I don’t remember you being so big.” The creature crooned joyfully at her words before rubbing up against her again. Heartlessly she pushed the creature away.

“I remember when you used to show Riffle more love than I ever did. At least give him some pats.” Shashella said, walking over to the lonely creature. Her scratching and soothing, calming the creatures upset whines.

“What is this about a plan? I don’t want to be involved with anymore political nonsense, let alone the disasters that always happen around you.” Arcide stared towards Sashella with his accusations.

As if playing innocent, she waved her hands before her, “No, no, I have nothing to do with it this time. I just happened to over hear some details is all.”

Lilith glared at her, “How come, I never sensed you?”

Sashella continued her act of innocence as she was surrounded, “It’s nothing, remember we used to play hide and seek as children. Surely you remember that you’ve not once caught me, that’s just how it is.”

Lilith offered no further questions, yet her eyes continued to glare.

“As to your question,” She turned to address Arcide, “They’re searching for mages. With the walls down and the city in such terrible trouble, they want to see an end to the people who would make use of this disaster.”

“That’s part of the issue, but more than that, there are known to be some particularly evil mages in the area. Particularly some that used human’s as a housing for their explosive enchantments, such monsters cannot be allowed within the borders of any civilized nation.” She spoke with a burning passion, yet Matt could still remember her hesitance to kill the mages before.

“Yes, yes, we all understand that you’re an upright little Knight who wouldn’t do anything against her order. Though I can understand that these mages have been up to some extremely nasty business that must be stopped.” She turned to the two men who were struck speechless by the conversation thus far.

“So, you understand now. This is about finding evil people and showing them justice. Nothing to have any issues over; and don’t worry, although she seems strict she won’t hurt anyone unless they’ve done something really bad. She even lets me get away with a little bit of magic now and again.” She smiled gleefully as she pulled out her pendant showing off the illicit charm.

“Sashella!” Lilith yelled at her.

“Keep your voice down, or someone might find us.” Sashella replied cheerfully, clearly unconcerned even if someone did. “You don’t need to worry about it anyway, no one here will tell the other Knights that you’ve been naughty.”

Arcide sighed as he stared down at his feet wandering what he’d walked into, “We all have our little secrets, but it does make me wonder why you’re so determined to tell everyone yours.”

“Not everyone, just our friends. As they say, keeping secrets together is a great bonding experience. No better way to make friends that stay friends, than to know each other’s secrets.” She kept on speaking as if it was nothing at all.

“Much like that pet of yours, Keht? Did you name it.” Matt and Arcide both froze in response. “Keeping him hidden as you work and keeping him a secret is a great bonding experience you’ll find out.”

Lilith seemed curious, “A pet?” Matt and Arcide both stared at Sashella begging her to remain quiet.

“We’ll leave that topic for another day. It seems the boys are still far too shy to share that one with us.” She smiled at them both, “But I would love to meet him myself one day.”

They let out a sigh as she forced the conversation on in different directions.

“Back to topic, magic,” She mumbled thoughtfully, “How will you know if you find your guy?”

“I’ll investigate it in detail.” She replied shifting her armour and looking away.

“I see,” She smiled, “So you’re going to need Matt’s help then.”

“I need to use him, yes.” Her phrasing was noticeably different from Sashella’s.

“Arcide, did you notice anything magical about this place?” She suddenly turned to him, as if she wanted to be of actual help.

“Not really, they’ve had me moving clay mostly. Also had to do some construction work but nothing really interesting.” He paused as he thought, “Though the walls seem unnaturally strong.”

“Hardly sounds like magic.” Lilith mumbled, “No fireballs or… any other strange happenings?”

Sashella looked to Lilith for a moment, “You don’t actually know what you’re looking for, do you?” There was a smile on her face again as she stared up at Lilith.

“Something flashy. After their human bomb trick, I doubt they’ll be subtle about it.”

“Well obviously,” She turned to Matt, “You mentioned when talking to Lilith that you were making some of the clay?”

“Yeah, I was helping to test out new mixtures.”

“Did you notice anything strange about the process,” She asked of him, adding to Lilith’s earlier questioning.

Matt paused as he tried to pinpoint something, “Everything,” He ended up replying.

“Well, that’s helpful,” Lilith let out a loud sigh rubbing at her forehead.

“Keep an eye out for anything particularly strange and don’t be afraid to ask questions. You’re so innocent I doubt anyone will actually suspect anything from you.” She moved on to Arcide, “While you should just keep your head down. No need to anger these men like you did to Papa.”

They all sighed at her words.

“Though keep your lovely ears open for some stray words. The truth might just be slipping through the walls as we speak. Unlike Lilith, I have no particular reason to be chasing after mages, but I cannot say that letting evil walk free is too appealing of a concept to me.”

She began to pace back and forth, “Therefore we should all work together to discover the secrets kept hidden here and then decide between us what to do about them.” Her words were filled with some heartfelt passion.

Matt looked to Lilith, if any of them seemed likely to strike out on their own, she seemed the most likely culprit to him. Though, he had doubts that she would accept these conditions at all.

“So long as you don’t get yourself caught or drag me into any of your troubles I have no reason to refuse your assistance. I cannot let any of the mages here slip free, not if they’re responsible for anything so particularly bloody as has been seen in the city.” Her voice was firm, telling them that she’d already made conclusions to the fates of the mages in question.

“What kind of mages do you think to find here?” Sashella asked turning to Lilith.

“From the particular magics, I suspect warlocks more than blood mages.” She mentioned turning from them.

Matt, digging deeper into her thoughts found interpretations for her words.

A warlock, according to her, was a mage that used the magical abilities of demons and other creatures of their dimension to gain power. Blood mages were the kind to have some innate abilities, usually attributed to their bloodlines. A person born into the power so to speak, they were usually far more dangerous in a battle as they had direct control over their magics.

Warlocks on the other hand were specialists in quiet work, construction, sabotage and various other shadowy tasks that she herself was ignorant to. Yet even for this, they were considered far more dangerous due to their use of demons, which frequently claim control of the user in their attempts at magic.

It is a tremendous strain for a Sasahara Knight to maintain control over their demons, it is no easier for a warlock, and there are far less safeties involved to monitor them. If a warlock were to grow desperate it wasn’t unknown for them to push too far, too hard and be taken over by the demon. Which generally created a powerful monster in the process.

“Warlocks?,” Sashella mumbled thinking to herself. “Well I guess we’ll be finding something eventually.”

“Now boys keep an eye out for strange activities and try not to get too caught up with them. We don’t want Lilith here questioning what side you’re on, now do we?” She asked all too pleasantly.

“Of course,” Arcide showed Lilith the same level of respect as he pretended to show Sashella. “You’re work has protected my people countless times in the past. I will do what I can to assist you.” He bowed his head to her.

Lilith didn’t seem phased by the sudden use of formality, though as a former princess he supposed that she wouldn’t. Matt merely nodded to her, “That’s what I’m here for.”

Her eyes pierced him, glowing with life in the growing darkness. Overhead Seri’s light had risen in the sky cutting through the canopy far more clearly than before.

Lilith addressed him quite seriously, “I’m sure you have reasons well enough to find the men responsible on your own. You of all people witnessed their horrors after all.”

All eyes turned to Matt as he relived those moments. When heat washed over his body, blinding him with white light, burning his armour away.

Save Them.

He looked back into the eyes of those around him.

Lilith, who’d proven herself a reliable companion. Kind, even though she called him names, and had covered him during the battle in the city.

Arcide, as little as he wanted to admit, sharing a secret had made Matt more aware of him. He stood up for the people in town, even though he didn’t know them, and even though they were outnumbered.

Sashella, he couldn’t tell when she was being serious and when she was joking half the time. She was ridiculously dangerous, but he couldn’t help but feel affection for anyone that had genuine character. So completely unlike the mindless people of his own world.

These people that might be considered friends if given more time.

He nodded at Lilith’s words, his chest empty where he knew he should be feeling grief. “I want to know why,” were the words that eked from his mouth. “I want to know why they did it, not some speculation but from their own mouths.” He spoke with a passion he didn’t know was hiding in his chest.

There was a silence for a time following, “Well, you’ll find an answer in time as long as you stick with Lilith. How you respond to that answer is up to you.” Sashella’s voice was lowered as she spoke.

Lilith turned her back to them staring into the shadows above and around suddenly on guard, “Get down.” She whispered, looking to the sky as she drew the pistol from where she’d hidden it on her person.

Matt could feel the panic leaking from their tether, enough to have him lying on his belly in the mud before she’d finished her warning. His knife was nestled in the palm of his hand waiting for a target to bleed.

Sashella was next, pulling Riffle to the ground with her. Arcide followed after, with a moment’s consideration for the mud he was diving into.

Matt focused his mind, his senses seeking for the one thing that was off, the one detail that indicated danger. He watched Lilith, her motions firm and stiff as she carefully moved her arm, tracing an arc in the sky.

The motion was familiar to him, the flight path of a drone. Her motions perfectly following the path in the sky.

This continued for a few minutes before finally she replaced the weapon. “It’s gone.” She finally told them, easing up.

“What… was that about?” Arcide asked, staring up into the skies as if expecting the stars to suddenly attack.

“I must ask the same, I couldn’t see anything at all up there.” Sashella was staring up into the sky seeking a mirage that had since passed.

“It was a metal monster, on its own. Likely just scouting the area.” Lilith replied, looking to Matt who nodded his agreement. “You should all be very careful from here on out.”

Arcide and Sashella looked to each other, confused. Sashella was the first to ask, “So this metal monster was like the ones that destroyed the city?”

“It seems so.” Lilith replied, “Though thankfully it didn’t want to kill us today.”

Matt hesitated for a moment, chewing on his lip as he looked up to the sky. “It would have seen us… I can’t imagine that it would normally ignore you.” He directed his words at Lilith.

“What do you mean?” She asked, her mind pressing on his own.

“You remember this morning, a little before sunrise?”

“Your… people?” She asked, her pistol still clutched in hand.

“I… I think it might have just been the one that I met earlier. He’s probably keeping an eye on me, to make sure that I’m not…”

“A traitor?” He nodded.

Lilith’s voice became strict, “It is true that there hasn’t been any flying around since that day... as if they’ve retreated for now. If they’re interested in you, how likely do you think it is that they’ll attack?”

Matt gulped whipping the sweat from his brow, “I… don’t think it really matters how likely it is. If they attack all out, we can’t do anything to counter their attack, or to run away. Not in any way that means anything at least.”

“Stop acting like that!” She strode up right up to him.

“Stop acting like what?”

“Like it’s pointless! Like we can’t fight back!” Standing beneath him, she glared up at him with strength. “I know how powerful they are, but they aren’t unbeatable. So, stop moaning about how bad it is.”

“What are they talking about?” Arcide whispered.

“Shush, it’s getting interesting!”

“You are the one who told me that there’s a chance. They aren’t here in force yet, and you have no idea how strong we are!” Her words became more forceful as she continued. “You’re just mellowing in your own damn-”

“Sorry,” his whisper interrupted Lilith. As if realizing just how much she’d said, she backed off, turning away from him.

Matt breathed in deeply forcing a smile on his face, “You’re right, we can still win. We will win. We’ll close that gate and stop them, whatever it takes.”

“So long as you’re not backing out on me.” Lilith sighed shaking her head.

“As adorable as that all was… what exactly are you two going on about? I picked up bits and pieces, but then Matt started talking gibberish and I got lost.” Sashella talked to them with the utmost cheer in her voice.

“I’ll admit, you’ve got me interested too.” Arcide looked apologetically at Matt, “Though I think I know where you learnt to talk now. Not many people with that particular dialect.”

Lilith, stood stiffly at the edge of their camp refusing to speak. Even so, he felt no particular need to keep it secret any longer considering how much they already knew. If for no other reason than to distract from their argument he began explain in as few words as he could.

“My people’s invasion. We, I guess we were talking about how to stop it. How to make a stand against them.”

“Ahhh, that little issue.” Sashella said knowingly.

“So, you are…” Arcide mumbled.

“Well I don’t know much but if they break the walls down too often I can’t imagine people will be getting too much done in any short time. The knights fought them off once though, so I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

“It’s not that simple.” Lilith cut in, unable to ignore the conversation. “As I understand, that wasn’t a victory by any measure.”

“Weren’t they forced to retreat? I can’t imagine that they were able to-”

“Matt, explain it to them.” She ordered, stepping away.

He paused looking over at her for a moment, “I think what Lilith is referring to, is that they didn’t retreat because they were frightened off or outpowered. The drones weren’t really sent here to take the city or anything, it was more a show of force if anything.

“I suspected that it was because we’d destroyed enough that they retreated, not because they couldn’t win, but because it wasn’t worth losing them. Now that I think back… it’s also possible that they finished their objective, and it wasn’t a retreat at all…”

The mismatched pair hung off his every word.

“You mean…”

“A dozen of us.” Lilith cut in, “They were basically just throwing rocks, and a dozen of us died.”

For the first time Matt saw what Sashella looked like when wordless. “It’s that bad?”

“If they wanted to. They could vaporize every city in this world in moments. Or just march in and systematically cut down everyone in this world.” His words hit them like a slap. “It’s not all bad though, we have a chance to stop them. We just need to close the door, so to speak.”

“A door we can’t see, can barely find and have no idea how or even if, it can be closed.” Lilith swallowed, “But we will do it. When have the Sasahara knights failed.” She lifted up a front of bravado, but Matt knew the fear invading her heart, because it was the same as his in his own chest.

“Well, if there’s ever anything that I can do to help. I can’t even win a fist fight on my own, so this is… but still, if there’s any way I can help just tell me.” Arcide let out a long breath and sat back on one of the stones.

“Also, be careful around here from now on, that drone saw us, which means, my officer is likely to keep an eye on things here.” Matt said, looking over them all to make sure they understood.

“You don’t need to worry about that so much.” Sashella replied confidently. “Besides, it didn’t attack. So, your officer probably trusts you at least that much.”

“Still…”

“Trust me, it’s okay.” Sashella told him all too positively.

“By your own words, it wouldn’t matter anyway.” Lilith told him, walking back over to them.

“Well, let’s move away from the morbid. Where you come from, what’s it actually like?” Sashella asked, suddenly able to move past the world ending nature of their previous discussion.

“It’s… well the weapons are really powerful… insanely powerful…”

“I said away from the morbid.”

“Well it’s a part of what made my world what it was. It wasn’t just the weapons that were really powerful, it was the machines. They made everything… easier.

“The world’s population kept growing until the cities overwhelmed the forests. I don’t really know what happened next, but the world became sick. Air that was unbreathable, land that wouldn’t grow, people killing each other.

“This was all before the System.”

“The System?”

“It’s their leader. Or something similar.” Lilith cut in, looking over to him for affirmation.

“We don’t need to understand what the System is. We just obey, knowing that human kinds future takes priority over everything. After life was nearly annihilated, it was the most important thing.”

“I don’t want to imagine the kinds of demons that would be born in a place like that.” Arcide murmured, shuddering.

“There aren’t demons in my world.”

“No demons?” Sashella asked, “Are they killed early, funeral rituals or…”

“No, they just don’t exist. There are legends of something similar but it’s probably not the same creatures.”

“Ha,” Sashella let out a loud derisive laugh, “And people say demons are responsible for all evil. By the sound of it, your world is even worse than ours.”

“Evil. I’m not sure I can really call my world evil. It… doesn’t deserve it. It’s more… empty. Dead but still moving.” Matt stared down at his hands. “The food is just nutrition. Sleep is just maintenance. Living is just about serving the greater good of mankind.”

They remained silent for a moment.

“What about Seri?” Sashella asked, “Does her light…?”

“No.”

“Interesting.”

Arcide kicked around at the soil at his feet. “I don’t really mind who rules or what borders line a kingdom, but I’m not sure I like the sound of what will become of this world if they do come over here.”

Matt thoughtfully sat back looking up to the sky, “At the moment, we’re really just trying to find out more. To see if there is a way to fight back against them and close the door so they can’t return.

“The Knights are strong but… do you know of anything else that might be able to do something?” he asked.

Arcide shrugged his shoulders shaking his head, “The Knights are the strongest beings I know of.”

Sashella sat back thoughtfully, staring up at the sky, “There’s always blood magic, but it’s strange. The abilities vary as far as I’m aware, I’ve heard of some who are incredible warriors, but they are incredibly rare. If you want to close a door that even the Knights can’t find, then the only way I might think of is by finding someone with peculiar abilities. Even then…”

“I guess it was too much to hope for.” Matt sighed looking up to the sky.

“Warlocks work in the same dimension’s as demon’s and Knights, so they won’t be of particular help. Which is fortunate, since the Knights generally have good reason to hunt them.” She continued, “I don’t really know of much that could help unfortunately.”

Letting out a sigh, Matt looked up to the dark sky, “We should leave it at that today. I don’t want to think what might happen if we get caught out here.”

The others nodded in response clearly thoughtful about what they’d been speaking about. Lilith faded into the darkness, while Arcide strode towards camp, Sashella chasing after him.

Matt ensured that his own path back to camp strayed from Arcide enough to avoid the pair of them chatting quite amiably considering their tenuous relationship. Quite quickly, he found them consumed by the dense forest, bugs and critters of all kinds crying out loudly enough to drown out all other sound. Seri’s light quickly shadowed by the thickening canopy.

Matt breathed it all in, the animals and plants so varied that he could never hope to count them all. It was frightening, but thrilling. He found himself stumbling through the vines and bushes growing not quite so thickly as to slow him too considerably.

More and more minutes passed by, making him increasingly anxious as the scene around him seemed a little too familiar. With increased pace he forced his way through the forest, scanning all around for some sign of where the camp had been.

He paused, breath ragged as he scanned around for something familiar. The most important thing to do when lost, was to remain calm. He remembered how many people ran themselves ragged, or even sprinted off of blind cliffs while panicked.

Taking a deep breathe he refocused himself. As he calmed down, he noticed a familiar sound. An unpleasant sound.

The gurgling of water.

Wincing, Matt walked towards the sound, nerves on edge. Each step bringing him closer to the river that had ran alongside the camp.

Matt so focused upon the river, was startled as a creature swept down upon his shoulder. He almost swiped the lizard away before he recognised it’s strange form.

Matt, you seem lost. Keht, spoke into his mind, Do you need help?

Calming his breathe, Matt looked away from where glimpses of water shone brightly with Seri’s light. “I suppose I might have gotten myself a little turned around. Thanks for coming.”

I could sense something familiar in you, Keht spread out his wings licking at one. Fear happens to be my area of expertise.

“Fear.” Matt looked back towards where the river was masked by the dense forestry, “I guess I’m still not over it yet.” He smiled as he forced himself to walk towards where the river was still flowing.

What happened? Keht, irritated by the branches Matt was walking him into, took flight, hanging nearby.

Matt forced aside the branches and walked closer to the sound that was exciting his fear. “When I was younger, I nearly drowned. I… barely survived.”

He opened up the branches revealing the water flowing by, enough to tear at the scabs that were still forming on his heart. “I did something, and even now I’m not sure whether I was right or wrong. Either way, I lost almost everything that day.

“I’m afraid of the water here.” He knelt down over the flowing water staring at the flickering reflections of stars in the waters flow.

You’re reminded of death. Afraid to die.

“The opposite, I’m afraid because of how much I wanted to die back then. How much I still want to dive into this water, to find everything that I’ve lost.”

Such thoughts are not good. Keht settled back onto his shoulder. Even my creator knew enough to fear death. You might find yourself targeted by demons if you keep on like this.

“Targeted by demons?”

Not all demons are mindless, those with control like me although rare, can sense these emotions in you. Not clearly but much like a sweet scent, leading us in. It would be best for both of us if you recover quickly.

Matt smirked to himself, “If only it were so easy. I’ll manage, just keep your ears open for anything coming this way.”

If a demon attacks you, I’ll be flying the other direction. Keht took off leading him towards where the dull lights of a dying fire were still visible.

“I’ll keep an eye out for demons, if I see you running away.”