Alistar quickly pushes the fireball back to the sky as we hear families start to scatter. Lupa stands up and looks at me. “Zona Everlast. Keep the Lamb safe.” Lupa charges off into the forest going after whoever sent that fireball. I reach out for Lupa but she is gone before I can do anything. Anna clings to me as I look at Alistar and Aleem.

“Alistar. Go help Lupa. Aleem we need to make sure these families are safe.” Alistar flies after Lupa and Aleem heads after the families. Anna clings to me tighter looking up at me.

“They are coming.” A coldness starts to settle in the area as eyes appear from the forest. I take off in the opposite direction trying to evade the creatures. As I break into the forest, I feel something wrap around my legs causing me to fall. Anna tumbles a few feet away. I look down to see a rope tangled in my legs. The coldness moves toward us as I look at Anna.

“Run Anna!” Anna takes off running as the coldness follows her. I break off the rope standing up chasing after Anna. I quickly try to find Anna as I slowly realise I am alone. I hear a girl crying in the distance as I sprint toward. I see Anna hiding inside a tree trunk. I go over to her and offer my hand. “It’s okay Anna. I am here to protect you.” She shakes her head no and moves her finger to her mouth. I frown realizing that we have to be quiet. Before I can react, I feel something pick me up and throw me from the tree. I skid across the ground and hit a tree hard. I gasp for breath and look to see what threw me. A large brown troll rips at the tree. It appears to be a mountain troll from the bulky build and exposed skin. It roars at the tree as I stand up. The troll goes to destroy the tree and I focus on the troll as it goes up in flames. The troll dances around trying to put the flames out and then suddenly drops to the ground. The flames go out and I slowly limp to the tree trying to get to Anna. Anna climbs out of the tree coming to me. She hugs me still crying. I go to hug her but stop as I see dark creatures surround me by a few away. I slowly raise my hands up as flames appear in them. “Get away from her.”

One of them makes a move toward us and I surround us with flames. The creature backs away before going into the flames. It looks at me and I can almost see what the creature is. They are called Darklings. Small dark creature thought to be a cousin to the goblin. They live underground and blend in with the darkness. The Darklings start to close on my position testing the flames looking for any weakness in it. I breath in and breathe out calmly. I focus on the Darklings and they start to catch on fire. However, instead of scattering, they rush toward me attacking my legs and arms. They bite, scratch, and tear at anything they can get their hands on. I wrap myself around Anna trying to protect her. I feel one of the Darklings hit my back causing a warm sensation go throughout my body. I yell in frustration and I feel the pain go away as the Darklings stop attacking me. I look up and see the ashes of the Darklings around me. I look at Anna making sure she is okay. She looks scared but alright. I let out a sigh of relief as I hear someone approach. I raise my hands in their direction with flames ready. I see Aleem with his hands up.

“It’s me!” I lower my hands and I see Aleem look worried. “Zona. You’re..” I cut him off and letting Anna go to him.

“Take care of Anna. I have to go help Lupa and Alistar.” Anna frowns looking at me.

“I want to stay with you Zona..” I bend down slowly trying to fight off the pain I am experiencing.

“I need to help Lupa.. okay? I will be right back.” I smile as she sniffles slightly. She nods understanding.

“I think is a terrible idea Zona. You need..” Aleem continues to protest but I dash away from him. As I run toward the direction Lupa and Alistar took, I hear something large fighting them. I get to the scene and I stop in my tracks. Lupa is tearing into the back of a dragon. Not the typical dragon you would see in fairy tales. This dragon didn’t have wings and was blood red. It has a long neck that is constantly moving around. I see Alistar battling a man in gray robes. Assuming it another mage, I rush to Lupa’s aide.

Lupa gets thrown from the dragon’s back as I blast it in the face with flames. It roars at me and comes at me. As it gets close, I focus everything on its neck and let loose. A portion of the neck gets exposed as it roars in pain. I fall to my knees exhausted as I hear Lupa scream with rage. She dives straight into the exposed neck tearing it to shreds. The dragon falls over dead and Lupa keeps ripping apart the dragon. I look away and over to Alistar. I see him run towards me as the man in the robes stares at the fallen dragon. I try to stand up still feeling drained, “Anna’s okay.. What’s up with him?” Alistar looks like he has been in a hard fought battle.

“He’s a mage. A mind controlling mage.” I pause frowning and look at him.

“How strong?”

“Strong enough, but it seems like it only works on monsters.” My eyes go wide as I see Lupa stand up and her hair goes completely white. She turns toward us and rushes at me. I shove Alistar out of the way as she grabs me and runs me into the nearest tree. I gasp in pain and grab onto Lupa’s hand. “.. Lu.. Lupa.. Please stop..” She stares at me blankly as she throws me into another tree. Alistar gets in front of her as I land against the tree and a loud snap can be heard. I scream in pain as I hold my ribs. I look up in pain and see Alistar get thrown aside. Lupa slowly stalks toward me but stops a few feet away from me. The mage mind controlling her walks up beside her looking happy.

“I found a new pet. It looks marvelous.” I instantly get filled with anger.

“Don’t you fucking touch her!” He pauses and looks at me.

“Oh.. It seems this pet already has a master. We can.. take care of that.” He snaps his fingers as Lupa marches over to me. She wraps his hand around my throat and lifts me up. I try to break her grip but she is too strong. She slams me against a nearby tree as I start to choke.

“L..pa.. Please.. Stop..” The mage comes over laughing slightly.

“Oh you have no idea how much she is hating herself right now. She keeps screaming at me to let you go, but this is just too fun.” I start to gasp for air and my vision starts to fade in and out. I look into Lupa’s eyes and see tears fill them. I see the mage caress her face.

“She will be my new plaything.” Something deep inside me snaps as I burn a hole through his arm. He screams in pain and Lupa lets me go. I drop to the ground trying to catch my breath. The man’s screams gets stop. I barely look up as I see Lupa ripping out his heart as she violently cries. She, then, tears his head off with a swipe of her claws. Before I know it, Lupa hugs me close crying into my shirt. She keeps saying sorry over and over again. I barely register it as I feel a new level of exhaustion I have never felt before. Alistar heads over to us and says something I can’t understand. Lupa doesn’t move away from me. He looks panicked for some reason as we notice the army surrounding us.

Alistar tears Lupa away from me. I reach out for her as he uses his magic to send her away. I try to cry out for her as he reaches for my hand. He gets shot with an arrow and falls back into his spell sending him away into the air. I try to crawl over to where they flew from but I get pulled back as I get captured by the military. They chain me up and throw me into a mobile cage. I try to fight back and I get hit in the face until I black out. I wake up traveling in the same metal cage. The guards surrounding me are celebrating. I try to sit up with a pounding headache. I look up to see a large city in the distance. I frown realizing we are going to the biggest city in the Green Belt. The Brother’s Blessing is said where the Brothers planted the seeds of life. I frown more as we approach the city.

This city is the largest city in all of the Green Belt. It has walls surrounding it and is rumored to be one hundred feet thick. The city inside has three distinct distracts. One for common people, the military, and the church of the brothers. We approach the gate and the door slowly opens. I see common people standing on all sides as a cheer goes out through the city. The military is being praised for my capture. We slowly make our way to the military distract as people start to throw insult and rotten food at me. I frown as a rotten tomatoe hits me in the face. I stand up and lean against the cage. All these people treat me as trash. I am saving the world for what? Them? Do they even deserve it? I start glaring at everyone but pause when I see a strange site. I see a few men yelling at people. Saving that I am not a monster that I a hero. A savior. I look at them confused as we pass them. We get into the military district and I see what looks like a military commander standing on a stage. He starts to talk about the bravery that these men showed in capturing me and that they will be greatly rewarded. I see the demonic suited man appear next to the commander. He motions for me to be taken away. I start to curse at him and everyone that I see.

I get taken out my cage and thrown into a small cage underground. Everything around me is complete darkness. I lose track of the hours as I reply everything that happened last night in my head. After a long time, the cage is opened, and I look up at the guard.

“You are having a meeting with the captain.” I frown and try to burn his face off. I look down at my hands and see rather large stone around the cuffs. I glare at the guard.

“Take away my magic huh? Pretty scared of a little girl?” Two guards come in and drag me to my feet. They drag me down the hall and take me to a large room with a large windows covering both walls. I look around and see a desk with a man sitting at it. He is talking to someone in a white lab coat.

“We are still looking for a cure Captain.” The man sitting at the desk looks over at me.

“We will discuss this letter Doctor Roasland.” The doctor turns away from the man walking out of the room. The man had this weird white mask covering his face. I get dragged to a chair and get placed in it. I look around the room and glare at the man. The man looks down and is writing on some papers. He looks up at me with familiar blue eyes. “You can leave us.” I frown and try to lunge at the man. He doesn’t blink as the guards restrain me to the seat. They leave after doing this. “Zona Everlast. I finally have you where I want you.” I spit at him.

“Fuck you.” He doesn’t say anything as he stands up going over to a wall. I smirk glaring at him, “What? No suit this time?” He pause and looks back at me.

“I put on the suit for my purposes. Here, The Demonic Knight, is just Jake.” I start to laugh at him as he turns his back from me.

“Really? Jake? That’s a pathetic name.” He turns back to me and walks back over to the desk. I study him taking in all his features. He has dirty blonde hair and light blue eyes. He has a scar underneath his right cheek tracing down underneath his shirt. He is military uniform one. He looks at me once he sits down.

“We are here to talk about your crimes against the Green Belt. One is traveling with a fugitive. Two Multiple cases of murder.” I struggle against my chains.

“Like when you killed Titus?” I scream at him as he continues to list off my crimes. After he finishes, he looks at me.

“You will be put to death this afternoon by my blade.” I frown and struggle more against my chains.

“Take these chains off and see if you can take me Jake.” I say with venom in my voice. He stands up and calls for the guards to take me away. I struggle against my restraints as I pause seeing Aleem’s book on the desk. “Where is Aleem?” Jake pauses and looks at me.

“Aleem? You mean that monk that has been traveling with you? I have no idea.” He pauses for a second and picks up the book. As the guards start to come to pick me up, but he stops them. He tells them to leave and they do. I frown at him as he starts to flips through a few pages. “Tell me about this Lamb.” I glare at him.

“So you can kill another thing? Fuck no.” He pauses at a page and begins to read it.

“The Lion will never rest until they find their Lamb. A never ending nightmare the misdeeds the Lion has caused. For only the Lamb can bring peace to the raging Lion.” He looks up at me. “This Lamb sounds dangerous. I can not let it be threat to the military.” I feel intense anger build up inside me. One of the stones around my chains slightly starts to crack as he sits down. “You will tell me where this thing is so I can end it.”

“Fuck. You.” He stares at me for a second and simply nods.

“Fine. Torture it is then.” He calls the guards to take me away. I feel myself being brought farther into the jail. I thrash about trying to escape. They expose my back strapping me down to a rack. I swallow my panic trying to look at the torturer.

“Bring it. I can take whatever you got.” The first whack of the whip sends fire throughout my body. My first thought is to cry out, but I hold myself back. After a few more whacks, a nearby door opens up. I weakly turn to see Jake standing there. He walks in looking at the scene before him. Without warning, he takes the whip and begins to hit me. Whoever was whipping me was being soft compared to what Jake is doing to me. The first crack of the whip causes me to cry out.

“Are you ready yet?” I keep my mouth shut as he continues the whipping. I pass out from the shear amount of pain that I am in. When I wake up, someone leaves to go get Jake. I don’t know how long I am in the cell. I don’t recall how many times I am whipped. I just know something inside me broke.

I am awoken to being dragged out of my cell. I am brought back to Jake’s office. They set me in a chair facing him. “Hello, Zona Everlast. Are you ready to tell me more about this Lamb?” I don’t move. I don’t feel. I just stare at the ground. He comes over to me and makes me looks at him.

“I am going to kill you. If it’s the last thing I do in this world, I will kill you.” I say with coldness in my voice. He pauses for a second staring into my eyes. For a brief second, I see a reaction in his eyes. He reaches over and lifts up the necklace Lupa gave me. He rips it off looking at it.

“You will be put to death today Zona Everlast by my blade.” He sits back down and looking at the necklace. It takes me a moment to registar what he did. “It is sad though. You would never see Lupa ever again.” I frown and lunge at him. “I bet she has no idea what to do. It would be a shame if I went in finished her.”

“Don’t you dare touch her!” He stands up going to the back wall and he opens a wall with a button. It reveals his suit and sword hanging up. “She is far away from here now. You will never have her.” He pauses and looks at me. He takes the necklace holding it up. It shines from the light of the windows. He drops it on the ground, and he crunches it underneath his foot. I feel myself shrink a little. I feel tears start to fall from my eyes. He calls for the guards to come in.

“Send everyone out to search for the White Wolf. After I deal with this traitor, I will be with you in your search.” I look down at the broken necklace feeling a different sort of anger. It’s pure hatred. Something I’ve never experienced before. The room slowly grows warmer as one of my stone breaks off. I feel the room almost go up in flames from the heat. However, just before my other stone snaps. Jake hits me across the head with his sword. Blood starts to pour from the gash in my head. The last thing I remember before blacking out is flames engulfing me. I wake up in a metal cell outside. I try to reach up to cure my pounding headache. I look down to notice multiple dampening stones on my chains. I lean against the cell thinking of my travels with Lupa. I close my eyes trying to stop the tears from falling. I feel something touch my face. I open my eyes to see Lupa smiling at me.

“..Lupa..” She wipes a tear from my face. She rests her head against mine. “Lupa… I’m.. scared..” She pulls her head away staring at me. She stares at me with her light purple eyes and smiles. She pulls her necklace out from her bag and places it around me. I feel a familiar warmth spread through me as I smile looking up at her.

“It’s time.” I blink looking confused as I notice that I am alone. I look down noticing the necklace still around my neck. I know it's the same necklace as before due to the small crack inside the crystal. The guard enters the cell unchaining me from the floor. He forces me to stand and pushes me outside the cage. I stumble hearing a crowd down the street. I start to march down the street as people start to yell at me. They call me names like traitor and freak. However, a group of men chant savior. People nearby start to scream back and forth between each other. I get grabbed from the scene and enter the center of the city. Jake stands in his suit standing at the center. In the center of the open area, a great picture of a tree paints the ground. I am brought to the middle of the tree and forced on my knees. I take a deep breath looking up at Jake. He draws his sword as the crowd in the background fades out.

“Any last words Zona Everlast?” I close my eyes thinking of Lupa. In the distance, I am barely able to hear a howl. I feel my emotions run wide as I open my eyes looking into Jake’s. I smile as his eyes curious.

“I knew she would do something.” The ground starts to shake as the northern wall of the city collapses.