Devon ducks and slashes, blocks a blow and swings his axe, decapitating the nearest zombie to him he sidesteps as a zombie rushes at him and gathering all his momentum swings downward "watch out !!!" jonas yells from behind him and he looks up in time to see a ghoul coming in for the kill, he dodges its outstretched arms and kicks it backwards with all his strength, he cuts a zombies arm and headbutts another, cussing as a zombie scratches him Health -6 Infected -1 Exp 50 He sighs and reaches for a Vail of antidote when a crypt lord throws its sword at him Health -10 Infection -1 "damn it" he hisses and chugs down the antidote Infection cured Health 5 Exp 15 He beheads a zombie, elbowing a zombie and diving at the crypt lord who rolls out of the way He slashes at the crypt lord, it jumps behind a zombie that isn't so lucky Strength 1 Exp 20 The crypt lord reaches for a sword lying on the floor, Garcia kicks it away and swings her dagger, stabbing the crypt lord in the skull again and again till it crumbles to the floor "i had that..." devon says without glancing at her "i know" "that's all of them, i think" jonas says sheathing his sword, devon sighs and starts to search the bodies for loot, he finds an amulet, a health potion and a shield "what did you find ?" garcia asks "well, was better than last time..." he answers uncertainly "sometimes i wonder what were risking our lives for ?" jonas sighs "levi..." "i...i mean... Isn't there something else we can do to get the remaining coins" "we've tried everything else" garcia says and sits on a log "we can't give up now, guys..." devon says looking from levi to garcia "we've come this far " he continues "yeah" "i guess" jonas and garcia mumble "come on, lets get back to the city" devon sighs (timeskip brought to you by levi's gay self (︶︹︺) jk, but seriously this series needs a gay mc ) Devon watches from the window as lekan walks away, waving to someone then continuing on his journey, he watches until lekan goes round a bend, disappearing from sight before he throws on a cloak and half runs, half sneaks outside... Once outside he lets the cold night breeze calm him down before he starts on his journey to the dungeon... Jonas was right, at this rate they wouldn't be able to pay their debts, so he secretly snuck out with deski to try and cover up their expenses, truth was their team was pulling him down, he was faster alone and he had fought with deski before so it only seemed right "hey " he said waving to deski who doesn't bother to reply "thanks for doing this " "yeah yeah, the sooner you get your friend the sooner you leave, come on " she says coldly "still carrying on with that facade I see " "what" "nothing..." "where to?" "Oh come on, not even a how are you today Devon? " Devon smirks and desmondesa grumbles "where to now?" "I don't know... The saar forest?" "I guess " Devon said and once more they lapsed into silence, it wasn't awkward or doubtful but comfortable, since the play they had been closer, Desmondesa held a hand out signaling for Devon to stop "do you hear that??" "hear what? " Devon said straining to hear what she was hearing "come on" she says and runs ahead full speed into the treeline "deski wait up!!" Devon yells as he tries to keep pace with her, over logs and branches he leaps Agility 1 But still he loses her, he looks around for a path, a clearing,a sign as to where she had gone and then hears her scream, it's a shrill sound and it tears his heart in two "desk!!!! " he yells and runs towards her voice "deski!!! " he cries desperately as he runs into a clearing,dead bodies are strewn everywhere, desmondesa is on the edge, an ice pike driven through her "Noooooo" just then an ice golem forms in front of him, it rushes towards him with a roar, and he charges waiting till the last second to slide between it's legs and avoid being pummeled, there's another, he screams and picks a sword from a dead body, slashes cutting it in half but the clearing is now crawling with golems, hundreds of them staring at him and desmondesa on the other side [I'm not going to lose her again, this time not even an army will stop me...] Devon thinks and settles into a fighting stance, they charge "..." Devon jumps from bed feeling woozy, maybe Jonas was right, they shouldn't have had that many drinks, Wait where was he, oh yeah; home, but how did he get home? He didn't remember "damnit" he cusses as he swings out of bed and runs a hand through his hair "Devon!!!" desmondesa calls from the room beside him "yeah" he answers "are you okay? " "YEAH... I think " he mumbles the last part "then go to sLEEP, it's the middle of the night, and some of us normal people would like to be well rested for the next day, okay!!! "desmondesa yelled "yeah... Wait what!" "go to sleep, both of you!!!" Lekan yells from downstairs and mutters "kids these days... " "I hear you Mr. L" the help mumbles and the house falls silent "how annoying" Devon sighs and stands to his feet, he throws on a pale blue tunic and breeches and sneaks out of his room trying to be as quiet as possible when there a little noise behind him "Aa..." he's about to yell when he hears desmodesa's voice "scaredy cat" she teases. "I'm not" Devon growls "yeaaaah riggghhht" she rolls her eyes. "I'm not " Devon pouts "so where are you headed?" "nowhere" Devon whispers "by this time of the night..." "is there a problem?" he hisses "..." "I'm sorry... " "no... I'm sorry I care... " deski says and turns away "I was heading out for a stroll, I need to clear my head" Devon says and yawns softly before adding "you can come if you want... " Desmodesa tries to hide the smile forming and fails miserably "so... " "so...? " "what's your plan to sneak out?" "why would I need a plan? " "daddy always has a hellhound patrolling the yard?" "since when?? " "since the war... " "oh" "yeah... He says it's for my protection but...never mind" desmondesa says sighing softly "you can always talk to me " "I think I can protect myself and I get that he feels bad about mom and Sarah but I should be allowed to live my life, I'm eighteen for crying out loud, I don't need his protection, I feel caged in here... With guards following me, I'm a luietenant, he should at least respect that" "he just wants you safe " Devon says calmly "I can take care of myself " desmondesa hisses and with a sigh tiptoes forward , Devon mimicks her movements "I thought you wanted to be well rested for tomorrow?"Devon says smirking "idiot" desmondesa blushes lightly "idiot you say... " "shhhh" dssmondesa presses her finger against his lips and points at the gate, there's a weirdly shaped heap in front "it's asleep, that's good " "you don't expect me to sneak past that thING!! " Devon whisper yells "of course not, we're going out back" "oh" (time skip)

Devon walks quickly with his hand in his pocket with desmondesa in tow, he yawns and stretches lazily before dropping in a heap on the forest floor, desmodesa smirks as she sits beside him, the forest is alive with owls hooting, frogs croaking, flies buzzing, you could even hear the occasional rustling, the moon was nowhere to be seen, desmodesa looked over at Devon and found he was staring at her

"..."

"are you Okay? "

"I can't figure you out" he says calmly

"what? "

"one minute, you don't want to see me,the next you're happy I'm there..."

"I... I... "

" I have something to tell you..." Devon says looking down

"huh "

"it's about your... It's about xàra..."

"what about her? " desmodesa asks sharply

"I'm sorry I left "

"I know "

"no, you don't... "

"what do you mean?"

"I knew..."

"what? "

"I knew she was a spy long before the war, I knew what she was doing,i knew she would be killed if I reported, she was family, so I kept quiet, I didn't say a word, I could... I could have stopped her but I didn't, the battle that killed your mom and Sarah, I could have prevented it... I just... I'm sorry "

"..."

"deski?" Devon looked up when he doesn't get a response, desmondesa is hunched over crying

"deski... "

"don't call me that!"

"I'm sorry..." he said moving forward to comfort her

"don't touch ME!!! " she screeches scrambling away from him

"i trusted you..."

"I'm sorry..."

"does my dad know?"

"yes... "

"he lied... He said you didn't know anything about her, he said you would never have followed her if you knew... He lied..."

"I'm sorry..."

Desmondesa hurriedly gets to her feet and legs pumping disappears from sight, Devon sighed and runs a hand through his hair

"gods..."

.

.

.

.

.

.

Desmondesa ran as fast as her legs could carry her, breaking through the treeline she makes a beeline for home

{ha, that rhymes }

Once inside she ignores the help and marches to her fathers study, she bangs on the double doors for good measure

"dad I know you're in there!!!" she yells before throwing open the doors, lekan looks up from the book he was reading and takes off his glasses

"hey pumpkin, how are you..." he pauses when he sees the look on her face

"what's wrong? " he asks

"You LIed to ME!!! "

"about what exactly?"

"about mom, about Sarah, about Devon, how could you?"

"..."

"I deserved to know the truth..."

"you do now... "

"you know I can't stand you right now " desmondesa says and storms out of the study

.

.

.just kidding

.

.

.

Devon walks across the forest floor, fireflies buzzing around him, owls hooting, animals howling, frogs croaking, flies buzzing annoyingly, and the occasional rustling, disturbed the calm night, the moon shone bright overhead

"are we seriously going to be this quiet" desmondesa quips beside him

"I want to show you something" Devon says calmly

"okay... "

Devon makes a u turn and then goes right

"not to be prude but do you even know where you're going, no offense "

"non taken "

"are you okay?"

"huh"

"you're not usually this quiet"

"I'm good, just had a nightmare though "

"what about? "

"y... You died "

"oh"

Just then Devon grabbed her arm preventing her from moving forward

"h... " she looks in front of her and realizes if she had kept going she would have walked off a cliff

"holy... I was almost a gonner "

"..."

Devon sits on the grass and gestures upwards, when she does look she is speechless, she can see all of the walled city from up there

"I used to come here when I needed to think"

"why'd you leave"

"I couldn't stay... "

"why?, it wasn't your fault, you didn't know xara was a spy... "

"I... "

"you didn't,right? "

"yeah"

"it wasn't your fault then, you couldn't have known she was informing Kinston, you couldn't have known there would be a war"

"..."

"stay... Don't leave again "

"I can't, there's still a lot for me out there"

"..."

Devon throws an arm over her shoulder and pulls her closer to him

"wherever I am, the walled city will always be my home... Wherever I am, my heart beats for you...i love you "

Desmondesa sniffles and nuzzles him

"I love you too "