Miinhart Forest, Desmond, 10416 P.C.

It was beautiful, being above ground again. The smell in the air was sweet, whispering of the procrastination of winter as the leaves on the trees turned yellow and red. The ground was moist from a recent rainfall, the already discarded leaves soggy underfoot. Annabella took time to bask in the beauty of it all — a fleeting beauty, but still a sight to behold.

Stephanie had been silent most of the morning, and Annabella surmised that she was upset with her for the change in plans. It was understandable. It had been a rash decision, as Benjamin had called it, but she knew it needed to be done. They didn't understand her motivation, and that was perfectly fine with her. It was better if they never knew of the confusing jumble her emotions had become.

Her dance with Todd haunted her. For a moment in time, she had felt safe. Secure. Calm, before she had found her head again, before the fluttering feeling had arisen to mortify her. It had created such a.. a confusion inside of her. A silent terror. Only one other had ever made her feel like that.

She had yelled at him, too. Pushed him away, just as she had Todd. Better to do it right off the bat. They were not hers, and she could never be theirs.

Besides... they were safer away from her. She only got those she cared about killed.

Stephanie didn't ask her about any of it, which she was grateful for. They travelled in silence for hours on end, heading north along the treeline. Annabella decided that it was best to hike to the base of Englecon and head west from there to walk around the south side and right into the Rocky Forest. There, they would hike through the cliff-land to the Misty Lake. What they would find there, she had no idea. She had never travelled into the Rocky Forest — it was a treacherous place. Ragged cliffs, deep crevices, potential rock slides... it was no playground. She had never had any desire to scout it out. Now she had no choice.

For the future, she told herself firmly. For your future.

Tolcoln River was a long, winding river stretching all the way across Desmond. It was their next obstacle — getting across it. Stephanie was the one who spotted the logs laid across the water.

"Todd and I saw a slave train," she said. "Maybe they did this."

"Slaves from the mountain?"

"They were heading in this direction."

Annabella didn't bother to respond. She stepped up onto one of the logs and made her careful way across the water. The other side of the river was quiet, nearly forlorn. She waited for Stephanie to finish crossing before they continued on their way.

"Watch out for traps," Annabella warned Stephanie. "The slave drivers like to set them up around their mines to catch unsuspecting travellers to make into slaves."

"They can do that?" Stephanie asked, her voice hushed.

"They consider themselves justified. The mines are off the main road — few respectable citizens would travel off-grid. Besides," Annabella added with a practical air, "Motch doesn't care about his citizens anyway. More workers for his mines."

Stephanie was silent for several minutes as they walked. They were covering good ground; Annabella was glad Stephanie was like her — experienced, trained. With Todd, the journey would have gone much slower.

"Annabella," Stephanie started slowly. She seemed deep in thought. "What is an Oddity?"

Annabella frowned. "That's a term I haven't heard in years. Where'd you hear it?"

"The Sergeants in my unit. They were supposed to kill me for deserting, but they didn't. The one said I was an Oddity. It's been bugging me."

Annabella didn't look at Stephanie, afraid that her eyes would give away the surprise she felt. Stephanie, an Oddity? She hadn't expected that. "It means you're a person of interest. You are someone or you have something that makes you either important or a liability. Either way, being an Oddity just means Motch wants to kill you himself." Why was Stephanie an Oddity? Now that she was with Todd and Annabella, it kind of made sense, but she had been called that even before joining them.

"You're an Oddity," Stephanie guessed.

"I am."

"They never call you that."

"It's a term only used by the Elite," Annabella explained. "It's more of a code word than anything else. Just used to label those Motch has claimed for himself."

"So Todd would be an Oddity, too."

Annabella's stomach twisted at the thought. "I guess so. He doesn't carry the label mostly because Motch doesn't know about him, but once he does... yes." She asked the burning question: "Why would you be an Oddity?"

Stephanie was quiet for a moment before she responded with "I don't know."

Annabella didn't have time to process Stephanie's response; something moved in her peripheral vision. A dark streak barrelled at them, and with a yell Annabella threw herself at Stephanie, sending them both to the ground as the form flew over them. Annabella was up in a flash, her sword drawn. Stephanie jumped up as well, drawing her bow.

It was a Gartirih. Annabella recognized the long, sleek body, slightly bigger than but no different from a wildcat. Its head was larger, rounder, with yellow eyes, sharp teeth, and a long tail. The tail, flicking behind it in irritation, was one of its deadliest parts. Sharp barbs jutted out of the coarse, black fur, making it a lethal weapon.

"Out during the day, Lurker?" Annabella tensed, ready for a fight. "Don't start something you can't finish," she warned.

The creature bared its teeth, a feminine voice rumbling in its chest. "Too timid to fight me, Princess?"

Everyone knew her. It was unnerving, yet somewhat pleasurable. "I will end you like I've ended all the others. If you value your life, you will leave."

"I have no value," the Gartirih replied expressionlessly. "Only duty." With that, it attacked, springing forward and swinging its huge paw. Stephanie stepped out from behind Annabella and shot her arrow, lodging it in the creature's side. It didn't slow its attack, and Annabella jumped out of the way as it came at her, growling. Stephanie backed away, loading another arrow. The Gartirih whipped its tail at her, and she narrowly dodged it.

Annabella attacked with a yell, jabbing her sword at it and missing as it pranced out of the way. It barrelled for her again, and she swung her sword, slicing its maw. It tackled her, roaring in pain as yellowish blood gushed from the wound and sprayed Annabella in the face. She gasped, pinned, trying to reach for her sword. The Gartirih's claws dug into her shoulders, its horrible breath in her face as it opened its mouth wide to reveal all of its terrible teeth. She threw her arms up to protect her face. Its teeth sank into the skin of her arm.

Stephanie let out a battle cry, throwing herself at the beast and slamming one of her arrows through its ribcage by hand. The creature roared again, letting go of Annabella and rolling over, throwing Stephanie off and pouncing on her. Stephanie thrust one of her arrows up through its chest before it could attack. It must have pierced the heart, as the beast let out a dying howl before tumbling to the side, into the underbrush.

Stephanie was gasping, rolling over to her knees. "Annabella, are you alright?" she panted.

Annabella wasn't quite sure what she was feeling. She lay still, staring up at the canopy of yellow leaves above them. They looked fuzzy. Out of focus. She was cold and wet. Trembling, she accepted Stephanie's helping hand and sat up. She wiped the creature's blood off of her face with her sleeve. Gross, gross, she couldn't help but think in disgust.

"Annabella." Stephanie was right in front of her, holding her arms. Wait, when had they gotten to their feet? "Look at me. Talk to me."

"I dunno was happening," Annabella mumbled. Stephanie was fading in and out of focus, just like the leaves had been. There was a mild pain in her arm. She lifted it, looked at her blood-stained sleeve. It had managed to bite her despite her protective gambeson. "Oh... it... it bit me..."

"It what?" Stephanie burst out in horror. Her voice sounded like a thunderclap in Annabella's ears. Stephanie grabbed Annabella's arm, yanking up the sleeve. "Annabella, no, no," the girl was saying — Annabella couldn't comprehend why she was suddenly so panicked. "This is gartiriume poisoning! Can't you hear me?" She was back to grabbing Annabella's arms, shaking her even. Annabella stumbled. "Annabella, talk to me! We need help!"

"No... no, I'll be fine..." The world was beginning to fade in and out of view. Her senses were disoriented. The skin of her arm had a greyish tinge to it. Dark grey, nearly black.

"You are not fine!" Stephanie yelled.

A burst of anger exploded within Annabella out of nowhere; she lifted her arm and backhanded Stephanie so hard she sent the younger girl tumbling back into the underbrush. Sense returned to her like a ton of bricks. She hit the ground on her knees.

"I'm sorry!" she gasped out, seeing Stephanie's horrified expression through the haze that had taken hold of her vision. Gartiriume poisoning. The panic set in like poison itself. "Stephanie, get out of here," she ordered, rubbing her eyes.

'Gartiriume poisoning has a near-immediate effect on its victims, first disorienting and then consuming,' the textbook had said. 'Within minutes, the victim succumbs to animalistic instincts, becoming rabid and vicious. If not treated immediately, the mind will be consumed and lost.'

Consumed and lost...

"I'm not leaving you," Stephanie exclaimed, staggering to her feet.

"You have to!" Annabella could feel the poison in her veins, burning them, attacking her mind. She clenched her teeth against the pain, her fingers clawing the dirt beneath her. She looked up at Stephanie, her breathing ragged.

Kill her.

Annabella grabbed her head, tucking it between her knees as she let out a gutteral growl that should have belonged to a ravenous beast, not a sixteen-year-old Human girl. "No," she hissed between clenched teeth. Everything within her was on fire, in a panic, aching with tension and thirsting for blood. Immortal One, she pleaded.

"Annabella," Stephanie started, her voice full of terror.

"Go!" Annabella screamed at her. She unfolded out of her crouch, throwing herself at Stephanie with a vicious desire for blood. Stephanie sprang out of the way, nearly tripping over herself in her panic.

"I'll get help!" Stephanie's promise was left in the wind as she ran. Annabella nearly pursued her. Fighting for control, she tucked into a roll, grabbing her head again as she writhed on the ground. There was a beast within her, clawing at her insides, trying to rip her apart. She screamed, banging her head against the forest floor, trying to get the pain to stop. Any rational thought was lost as Annabella battled the poison. The screams ripped out of her; she clawed at the ground, gnashing her teeth, her skin turning a grey-black as she writhed.

She didn't even hear Stephanie's scream.

A form stood over her, shadowed in the sunlight. She struck out at it, her fingers like claws ready to attack. The form knelt, grabbed her wrist, and slammed it to the ground above her head. Before she could attack, something sharp was jammed into her neck. Her fading vision flickered and then blacked out. The last thing she heard was her frantic, ragged breathing before everything faded away.