It seemed so normal. The early hours of morning were serene. A layer of fog filled the canyons to the east, as if our little camp sat on a cliff by the sea. The air was still, with no breeze to disturb the peaceful pools of mist. Only the sound of the birds broke the silence.

I sat motionless while the sun rose, my back pressed to a tree, my eyes lazily roaming the sky. The light danced across the hilltops, stirring the deep fog, leaping gracefully from treetop to treetop until I could barely see for the blinding horizon. It bathed my face in warmth and I closed my eyes, drinking in the bittersweet calm.

She would have loved this sunrise.

A few tears welled up in my eyes but I wiped them away quickly. Gingerly I felt out the torn edges of my soul. It was hard not to dwell on the gaping hole, and even harder without another bedroll beside me.

I wasn't sure I had fallen to sleep at all, but felt that I had laid awake until sunrise. No one asked me to take the watch of course, and although I resented my friends' unwillingness to trust me, I knew it was a wise choice. So when I sat up eventually, tired of lying awake, Koren was up to keep me company. We said nothing to each other, simply watched and waited for morning to come.

"It's beautiful."

I lowered my head and squinted at Andrin. I hadn't even realized he was awake. He also soaked in the light, his gray skin almost iridescent.

A nod was all I felt necessary. I didn't know what else to say. It wasn't supposed to feel normal, but nothing felt unusual, nothing about the peaceful morning mourned.

"I miss her too Sedris."

I studied his face. His eyes were closed against the sunrise, his brow furrowed.

"I miss her too," he repeated, "but all I can think about is you. I—Koren and I lost our sister. Now we're scared we're going to lose you too." He cocked his head to look at me, the sun lighting his eyes like fire.

"Andrin..."

"Sedris we don't know what it's like. You don't have to tell us. But you can't shut us out." His eyes locked with mine and I couldn't tear my gaze away. "I am your brother, and Koren is your brother. We always have been and we always will be."

The tears welled up again and I looked at the sky. "I'm terrified Andrin. I don't know what I've become."

"Nothing less than you've always been Sedris, nothing less." His voice grew stronger as he continued to speaking. "We're with you Sedris, even if she can't be."

For the first time since that night, the weight in my shoulders seemed to lessen. Through all my pain, I had forgotten that I wasn't alone. Andrin stood up resolutely. His mind was made up. Koren pulled himself up as well and hastily wiped his eyes as he turned to face us. He hadn't uttered a word during Andrin's speech, but I knew Andrin didn't speak for just himself. I looked up at the pair before me and a spark of life leapt into my shattered soul.

I summoned my strength and pushed myself to my feet, just as the two Animaré froze. I spun in a full circle, trying to call the frayed, tangled edges of the currents to my aid. A shallow cliff on one side, huge boulders and clumped trees on the other.

A piercing howl broke the silence, and from the trees burst a massive hound. I barely turned around before it was flying through the air in one swift, deadly pounce.

I didn't have time to think. The words of the cloaked man flashed across my mind and suddenly I did exactly as he had instructed, twisting around as the hound leapt.

It was dead before it hit the ground.

The dog's full weight landed hard on my left shoulder, the knife in my right hand buried deep in its thick fur. Pain laced from my left shoulder to wrist as they were crushed by the dog, and my other felt like it had caught fire. Magic hummed and pulsed in my hand. I doubted the knife wound was really the hound's mortal injury.

Worked better than expected, I thought grimly.

My breathing was shallow from the sudden rush of adrenaline, but even that wasn't enough to shove the animal off me. Andrin and Koren rushed to my side, Naem-shul drawn and ready for battle, but quickly let them dissipate in order to help me free myself.

"Sedris! Sedris is it dead? Are you bleeding?" Koren gripped my shoulder tightly, his voice urgent. "Talk to me!"

"It's dead," I panted, trying to gasp syllables between breaths. "Dodged... it, it missed, I... my knife, magic..."

My moment of peace had been completely shattered and the magic roared inside me, reveling in its kill. I forced it back down into my soul and managed to sit up, thoroughly winded from the effort, not to mention the sudden impact.

"Koren there's so much blood, if this is all his then he's dead, this had better not be his blood I'll kill him..." Andrin was frantically searching my arm and shoulder for wounds, as well my neck and skull.

I sat for one more moment to catch my breath then leaned back on my elbows. It was true, I was covered in blood. My right hand was dripping red and I could feel it slowly seeping through my shirt where the hound landed on me.

"Sedris!" Andrin was waving a hand in front of my face.

I blinked a few times and shook my head. "I'm fine, I'm here I'm okay, it didn't get me."

Koren's was checking the dog's body and I finally got a good look at it. The magic stirring impatiently within me was immediately replaced by nausea. One glance was all it took.

My knife had gone straight into its chest from underneath the rib cage and was now just a barely discernible hilt embedded in the bloody hide. Worse still, the dog's limbs were bent at odd angles, none of which looked comfortable.

It was all too much. My pumping heart, my ragged breathing, the slippery blood, the grotesque beast—I couldn't help it. I leaned over and vomited. It splattered on the rocks and I gagged. One more sharp stench to fill the once-fresh morning air.

Andrin was muttering to himself while searching his belongings, no doubt for some ointment or another. I grit my teeth and turned to Koren. "Is that what I think it is?"

He nodded grimly. "A Ska'al dog. A nasty one.

I collapsed on my back and coughed, still out of breath. "So they found us?"

"They found us."

* * *

I soon discovered that running was hard. While Andrin and Koren drew on the currents for constant supplies of energy, I drew huge gulps of air from my steadily deflating lungs. Additionally, the gash in my leg was a huge hindrance to speedy travel. Andrin's bandage had worked wonders on the wound, and I suspected that Solace magic had somehow boosted the healing, but the pain was still enough to give me a hard time. With my Solace handicap, Animaré were the clear winners in a foot race.

Unfortunately for us, the dogs could beat us both.

"You sure you don't... need my help?" I gasped, doubled over.

Andrin's didn't even blink as he danced away from a particularly vicious hound's lunge. "Sure Sedris, you can play with the puppies while we take care of these guys."

Koren snorted and almost tripped over backwards. He gracefully corrected his misstep and cut a dog cleanly in half. It let out a piercing whine that practically split my ears.

With only four hounds to kill, the Animaré were quickly victorious. I barely had time to catch my breath before they had finished off the last bloodthirsty creature.

"How many of these things can there be?" Koren casually nudged a mutilated corpse with his foot. "We must've killed twenty by now."

"Can't be many more," Andrin answered. "But soon enough it will be Ska'al instead, and those most certainly won't be easy kills."

I nodded in agreement, but, in a twisted way, I wanted to kill a Ska'al. As much as it disgusted me, the rush of power I felt upon slaying the hound was exhilarating. Instead of being helpless and weak, the magic made me powerful. I shook my head violently, unwilling to savor the feeling.

"Bug in your ear Sed?" Andrin winked. "As long as you're ready we should get moving." He placed a hand on the wall of rock that rose on our right. With trees hugging the edges, the huge cliff stretched as far as we could see—which wasn't very far. "We need to find a break in this wall if we're to end up in Corvelen."

"Ready as I'll ever be." I straightened up and took a deep breath. "You guys have it so easy."

Andrin grinned and took off at a light jog after Koren, who had already started moving. Willing my stiff legs to keep working, I started after Andrin before practically jumping out of my skin.

A hound tore around the rocky corner behind me, and let out a savage howl. It was bigger than the one I killed, and that had been a thing of horror. One look and I broke into a dead sprint, forgetting the fatigue in my limbs, yelling my lungs hoarse for Andrin. I could almost feel the dog's ragged breathing on the back of my neck and it's heavy steps shaking the ground. Another hurried glance over my shoulder gave me a quick distance check. The thing was gaining, fast, drool flying behind it, fur glinting dully in sun—

Glinting?

Andrin already had his Naem-shul drawn when I flew past him, not even offering a word of explanation—anyone a mile ahead could hear the beast behind me. Koren was likewise ready for battle and started after Andrin before we heard the sizzle of Naem-shul on metal.

The dog had armor.

Andrin rocketed into view, leaving a viciously howling dog behind him. "That's not all!"

He slowed enough only to drag me into a sprint beside him and keep moving. I tossed Koren a puzzled look as comprehension dawned on his face.

"Can't we... deal with one?" I panted. I swallowed my next words as finally I heard the howls. Far too many.

"Sedris keep up," Koren barked, yanking my arm to keep me from falling behind.

My limbs were starting freeze up as fear crept up on me. I had been in tough situations. We had been hideously outmatched before. But this was different. Somehow this time the fear was intoxicating. Never before had a I faced those odds powerlessly. I always knew I could trust my Naem-shul—I could trust my Animaré.

"Move!"

A rock snagged my toe and I went tumbling to the ground, my body preserving my momentum with a few roles. I just had time to see Koren decimate the foremost hound with his sword before I was scrambling to my feet running once more. No magic. No Naem-shul.

They catch me, I'm dead.

Still hugging the wall, I passed Andrin in a blur of terror before almost falling again on a pile of rocks blocking the way forward. Before I knew it I had flown clear over a boulder in one leap, only to turn straight around for one precious second.

"Rockslide! Koren, rockslide it's a path, here, go up here!" The words came tumbling out of my mouth before I could stop them, my voice hoarse from panic.

Andrin careened into view, blood spattered over his whole right arm. The color drained from my face and I didn't think twice before scrambling up the pile of boulders and rocks that filled the entrance to a crevice in the rock face. Turning back, a gruesome scene unfolded before me.

Trees and brush grew straight up to the edge of the wall, so the rocks that spilled out of my makeshift shelter crushed trees and plants on their way out. The Animaré leapt from boulder to fallen tree to the ground faster than the dogs could follow them, slicing at the thickly armored beasts as they went. The hounds weren't faster, but they outnumbered their opponents twelve to one, and knew how to use it to their advantage. Andrin's broadsword swung in huge arcs across the air as he danced around the pack, using any obstacle he could to block their advance and slice anything that came too close. Likewise, Koren's katana aimed for anything exposed it could find as he wove through and dodged the lunges of the bloodthirsty hunters.

My breathing came in ragged gasps and my hands shook violently. Fury swirled within my chest at the cruelty of the enemy, to breed creatures to kill. Magic tingled at my fingertips. One mistake and an Animaré could go down in an instant—the killers only need one mistake. And I could only watch.

I watched from safety as my friends fought for their lives. Again. Fear shattered the Solace magic's hunger for blood, shattered it like her shield had shattered. And now, again, all I could do was watch.

My ears were practically bleeding from the howls as the dogs dropped off one by one. Their numbers were thinning, falling to powerful magic wielded by the Animaré. The Naem-shul were seemingly unstoppable, never missing their target, no swing ever catching air. But still, it only took one miss.

I ignored the clawing magic within me. Once again I remembered the words of the cloaked man. Not again, don't listen to him again.

As it unfolded before me, I saw the feint a mile away. Koren cut straight through a hound's back leg as another charged to pounce, only to veer away—the katana swished an inch from its nose at the same time the third dog sunk its teeth into the Animaré's forearm.

I screamed a warning far too late. Andrin rushed to Koren's aid before the bite even landed, but the suddenly vicious onslaught of the remaining five hounds forced him away.

The second his guard was broken the katana dissipated from Koren's right hand. The beast tried to rip his elbow from the socket, but just as quickly as the katana melted, a dagger shone in the left hand and plunged straight through the dog's forehead. I wasn't concerned about that dog though—it was the last one that would have the killing blow.

I didn't have a choice. I had do it. Here we go again.

The rocks cut into my palms and knees as I dove back down the pile, racing faster than my beating heart to be in time. The knife slid into my palm the instant before I leapt.

The final hound had taken half a second to veer away and turn back again, and by the time Koren's dagger was through the other hound's skull, the final one pounced from the left side. Koren went flying onto the hard rocks with a cry, grappling with the dog whose teeth were now buried in his shoulder. It would've been his neck next, but I hit the dog as hard as I could and we went rolling off instead.

Blinding fury drove each stab deeper into the monster's flesh. I didn't feel it's writhing. I didn't hear it's howls. I didn't smell it's blood. I only smelled it's putrid breath in my face, only heard the rush in my ears, and only felt power in my soul.

The rolling stopped, and finally my knife did too. And suddenly my world spun.

Andrin was crouched in front of me. He was lopsided and blurry, his voice a faint echo. Blood trickled down my forehead and dropped off my nose as everything slid sideways. The magic receded and coiled in my soul. It relinquished control, but didn't go far.

"S-Sedris?" His voice still sounded faint, but I hear it's tremor.

"Sedris..." Koren's voice cracked but held steady as they swam into focus, once again both crouching over me. "You saved my life."

I twitched at his voice. It wasn't a relief to hear.

Deep breaths.

I gasped shakily and rolled onto my hands and knees. My hands were completely red—I lay in a pool of the creature's blood. My stomach lurched and I puked, adding bile to the river of red. As it spattered on the ground I choked, unable to suck air in through the vomit.

Shaking uncontrollably, I shoved myself into a kneeling position, then finally to my feet to face Andrin and Koren. I could barely find words. The magic roared in triumph in my chest, only to meet a fresh wall of nausea that almost sent me back to my knees. This time it wasn't for the smell of blood and sweat and bile, but the mutilated mass of hair at my feet. It barely resembled an animal after I was done with it. I knew the image would haunt my dreams.

Andrin reached out a steadying hand. "Breathe, Sedris breathe, it's all over."

I flinched at his touch, my face contorting in disgust. "Over? This is... comfort? That's what you have to say?" Tears slipped from my cheeks for the scathing words. I jerked away from him entirely and turned by back on them both.

Koren still clutched his shoulder. "You saved... I could have die—"

"I didn't let you die! I never would have!" The tears flowed freely now as I spun around to face him. "Your arm bleeds, but my soul does. My soul bled that night, and it bleeds now, for her." I hated every word that slid off my tongue, but I couldn't stop. "I would've died for you, but who died for her?"

The last words were torn from my mouth before I could stop them. I shoved the anger down, disgusted by it. Silence met my words.

You're dying more every day. The voice was right, but I had to ignore it.

I brushed past the Animaré and started climbing the rocks, bloody footprints following behind.

* * *

We finally left the cliffs behind. The sun poured light from the clear sky above as we waded through a waist high field of grass. The jagged cliffs gave way to rolling hills covered in thick grasses, with occasional outcroppings of rocks or clumps of short, wide trees. A rushing river cut through the landscape on our left, guiding us northward toward Aelridia.

While I was confident that the massacre of the dogs would ensure us no more harm by their hand (or claw), Andrin wasn't so sure. He argued that we trudge on through the scratchy grassland, if only to be sure we had lost our pursuers. Koren had said nothing.

Eventually Andrin was satisfied, and we were able to stop to rest.

"So how long until we reach a bit of civilization?"

Koren shrugged at Andrin's question.

"A day. Maybe two."

Andrin shook his head. I shrugged in response, then immediately winced. The Baldük was busy changing the bandage on my leg and pulled a little too tight on the fresh cloth. He muttered an apology as Koren wandered off into the grass.

"Where's he going now? I swear he's unbearably moody sometimes," Andrin said under his breath.

"Maybe he's getting a feel for the land," I pointed out. "You know, trying to figure out where we are."

Andrin rolled his eyes. "He knows almost exactly where we are, I'm sure his guess was almost spot on." He sighed as he put the finishing touches on my leg.

"Thanks." I stretched my leg out and inspected the limb. Andrin, too, stared at it for a moment, then stood abruptly and crossed to his pack.

"You just reminded me..." he reached into his bag, and a moment later my heart skipped a beat. I had forgotten about it too.

Lylisia's knife.

The dagger lay in Andrin's open palm, gleaming in the sunlight. With shaking hands I took it from him, running a finger gently along the flat blade. A single sapphire was inlaid in the silver handle. It was bittersweet, holding in my hands the only relic of my Animaré, my best friend.

"Thank you," I breathed. The moisture clung to the metal for a moment before it vanished.

"That's what you've got now Sedris. Without that old hunting knife of yours, this knife will save your life." He studied me seriously. "Think of it like she's still protecting you."

I sheathed the weapon carefully as Koren strode back into the little clearing. He swayed a little and missed a step, stumbling. Andrin caught him but he quickly pushed the Baldük off.

"Let's keep moving." He almost fooled us. But his voice had a tremor.

"Koren," I started. "You're white as a shee—"

"Koren show me your side."