When Selene opened her eyes, Aiden had already been up and ready. He'd refilled their waterskins in a nearby stream, and even gathered some berries and roots for them to eat along the way. As she was rolling up her bedroll, she wondered if he had woken to them still holding hands.

Her face became hot, and she turned away from him to tie the roll to her pack and to avoid looking at him. How embarrassing it would be if that was the case. They set off not long after the sun had risen, hoping to make as much progress as possible that day.

The sun was covered every once in a while by clouds, giving them a reprieve from the heat, which grew every day. Not many were on the road. They didn't even see a single wagon or cart. Only once did they see a lone traveler and she didn't look like the type to sit and chat with.

Her hair was short, cut at the chin and she had an eye patch over one eye. She sat near her horse as it nibbled at the nearby bushes and picked at her nails with a knife. When she caught Selene staring, she frowned and narrowed her good eye.

Selene immediately looked away and pushed Aiden to move a tad faster.

A few hours into their walking, Aiden asked her a question.

"Do you think the dragons are still alive?"

She turned to look at him over her shoulder, "Why do you ask that?"

"I've been staring at your dagger for a while and wanted to know your opinion."

"Hmm," she said as she thought, "I think so."

"Why?"

She bent over for a moment to tie her hair into a bun and wipe the sweat off of her neck. Taking a swig from her waterskin, she answered, "I just don't think something that big, powerful, and smart could just go extinct. They're probably hidden away somewhere where no one can meddle in their affairs."

"Like Dragon's Perch?"

"No that's too obvious. I think they're somewhere farther, maybe even past the ocean."

Aiden snorted a laugh, "Right like there's anything out there in the ocean."

Selene just smiled to herself, "Do you think they're still alive, or no?"

"Do I hope they're alive? Yes. Will I only believe it once I see it with my own eyes? Also yes."

"Spoken like a true traveler."

"What about unicorns?" he asked.

And it went on and on. Him asking her questions about mythical beasts and civilizations. It was like he was a child who had just learned to speak, always asked "Why". And she answered every one of them honestly.

Just when she thought he had run out of creatures, he asked her, "What about Wendigos?"

She was about to answer when she smelled something strange. She held out her hand to stop Aiden for a moment as she tried to smell the air again. Her nose was no Elf's but that scent was unmistakable.

Blood. And lots of it.

"Something is wrong," she said, "maybe there's a reason we haven't seen a lot of travelers on the road today."

Aiden put a hand on the short sword Selene had given him, ready to pull it out if anything jumped at them. Selene did the same to hers. Together, they cautiously made their way forward.

It wasn't long before they reached a fork in the road. A sign staked into the ground said...

And before the sign, in the wide area that spanned the fork, were countless bodies. Both human and not. The first one's she noticed were the Radëgon soldiers they had seen the day before, their armor had been ripped clean through by something with giant claws. From the gashes in the metal flowed the blood, the soldiers themselves had already run out of it, but some of the travelers that littered the clearing still bled.

A few branches in the trees around them had been ripped off or barely hung onto the trunk's as if something large had climbed up there and jumped.

Selene crept forward, careful not to make much noise. She stepped over decapitated horses and gutless men as she searched the ground for any sign of what this creature might look like. Any clue that would tell her whether it was a demon or an Akiri.

Every once in a while, she spotted gouges in the dirt the size of dinner plates. Whatever it was it was large.

"Selene," whispered Aiden.

She turned to find him crouched next to a body. It was an orc woman, and by the looks of her clothes, she was a traveling merchant or the wife of one. Aiden reached down and picked up the woman's hand, grasping it firmly. As Selene got closer she saw the woman's chest move ever so slightly.

She was still alive.

As quickly as she could, Selene closed the distance between her and the two of them. As she kneeled down on the other side of Aiden, she saw the extent of the woman's injuries.

She had been ripped open from collar bone to waist by five large gashes. the middle three were so deep, Selene could make out the woman's ribcage. Blood pooled around her, much more blood than seemed possible for one body to carry. Selene had never seen an orc before, only heard of them. Perhaps the reason she had lived so long was because of her race. But it would not be for much longer.

"What was it that attacked you?" Aiden asked the orc.

The woman's breaths were wet and raspy as she struggled to suck in air. Her eyes were wide as the fear of death took over. Selene reached out and lifted the woman's head from the bloody ground and placed it in her lap, hoping to give her some comfort.

"I don't know," she said softly.

"Did you see what it looked like?" Selene asked.

As the clenched her teeth, the small tusks that jutted out from the orc's mouth poked at her upper lip. Her eyes were beginning to roll backward and flutter closed. Neither Selene nor Aiden could do anything as the woman slowly drifted off into the arms of Dahlia.

The woman choked out the word "bat" before the light left her eyes, and she finally died.

Selene gently set her down and stood. She bowed her head sent a silent prayer to the Angel of Death before looking up at Aiden.

"A bat? I'm guessing this was the work of a demon," she said.

He nodded, "And it couldn't have gone far if she was still alive."

They both drew their swords and scanned the trees. If it was a bat, it could fly. That would explain the broken branches and the strange gouges in the ground. Aiden walked forward, towards one of the fallen soldiers. Quickly, he picked up the long sword that sat next to his body and swapped it for the one he had.

"If this thing is a big as we think it is, I want to stay as far out of range as possible," he said.

She nodded in agreement, holding her own sword at the ready.

"We need to get away from these bodies and into a smaller space where it'll have a hard time detecting us," she said. Bats used echolocation; she hoped being surrounded by more trees would throw the demon off. If it didn't maybe the tree branches would provide some form of protection.

She and Aiden slowly made their way down the right fork of the road, alert while they waited for the trees to close in on them.

They hadn't even lost sight of the bodies before they heard a loud chirping noise from somewhere in the sky. Selene looked around, but couldn't see far thanks to the treetops.

"Here it comes," Aiden said by her side as they both took off their packs.

"Aren't bats supposed to be nocturnal?" she said, partly glad it decided to show itself during the day when she could see it.

Faster than its size should allow, the figure of the bat zipped over their heads, barely a blur. It chirped again, searching for them. Did it already know they were here? A flapping noise sounded from the clearing they had been in as the bat landed on top of the piles of bodies. The chirping continued as it swung its head. From here, Selene got a good look at the creature.

It indeed was a bat. It was the size of three horses and as tall as a covered wagon. It had four leathery wings, two large ones and two smaller ones attached to its legs. the larger wings looked as if they could pick up an entire horse and lift it into the sky with no problem at all. The thumb on its front wings had a claw that was the size of Selene's hand. But it was the talons on its feet that made her skin itch. Five toes sat on each foot and the claws that grew from them were larger than that of the Ursidae's teeth. They were almost the size of Selene's entire torso. They now sunk into the corpse of a horse as it swung its head back and for searching for any sign of life. Its face was exactly like that of a vampire bat, a sunken nose, two large beady eyes, and giant ears that twitched relentlessly. From its mouth protruded four fangs as long as Selene's forearm. One bite from those and it was over. She'd be chopped in half.

Selene held her sword in front of her, the blade resting on her wrist, and planted her feet in the ground.

They could try to run, they may even make it, but Selene didn't want to. There was nothing she craved more than the blood of Icarus' demons. Each death meant lives sparred.

Summoning up her magic, Selene coated her blade in a layer of freezing flame. The sword lit up in her grasp, glowing a subtle light. And slowly, her vision turned blue as her tattoo began to smoke.

"Selene," Aiden whispered beside her, warning her.

That word was enough for the demon. It snapped its head in their direction and shrieked, stretching is mouth open to reveal all of its razor-sharp teeth.

"Stay here," she ordered him.

Selene set her arms and legs ablaze with her Moonfire. She almost looked like a knight. She took one step forward, then another, studying the bat's body to make sure it wasn't about to take off into the sky.

Tensing the muscles in her legs, she launched herself forward towards the enormous beast. As she sprinted, she swept her hand across the clearing, flames fanning out around her aimed at the bat's wings. Before it could reach, the demon took off. One moment it was perched atop the horse carcass. The next, flesh and blood sprayed everywhere as its talons left a giant hole in the animal's side taking off. It was so fast, faster than anything she'd faced yet. Well, not everything.

Forming the whip in her hand, Selene threw it in the direction the monster had gone. The cord of fire wrapped around the creature's feet, going taunt less than a second later. But Selene was ready. Using the raw magic in her tattoo, Selene cemented herself to the ground and reinforced her arm to keep it from being ripped off her body.

Not expecting something so small to be able to stop it, the bat immediately panicked and flapped widely to attempt to escape. Its shrieks pierced the air, enough to make anyone nearby cover their ears.

Selene however, sheathed her long sword and grabbed the whip with her other hand. Pulling with everything she had, she fought against the bat as she tried to take it out of the sky. A scream escaped her throat as she sent more fire into the cord, lighting the demon's entire leg on fire.

The sound of its screams was horrific, music to her ears.

With one last pull, the demon's leg tore from its torso. Selene extinguished her whip and drew her sword again, sprinting toward the place where the bat would land as it plummeted from the sky. Drawing her raw magic back in, she ran as fast as she could, vaulting over bodies and destroyed carts.

Just as the bat landed with a loud boom, its wings still flapping as it struggled against the pain, she sliced through the membrane of its wings and through the bone that connected it.

Being right next to it as it screamed in pain almost burst her eardrums, but she didn't slow.

It made a last effort to swipe at her with its remaining limb but missed entirely. It bared its fangs at her as she stepped toward it, wreathed in blue flames. Lifting her sword over her head, she brought it down and sliced through the demon's neck like water.

The severed head rolled a few feet before stopping, its eyes still open and staring straight at Selene. She took a step toward it, looking into its large gassy eyes and wondered if the king was watching her now.

She crouched there for a moment before she noticed something in the reflection of its eyes. Something was coming at her from behind.

"SELENE!" Aiden's voice ripped through the silence in a warning.

She spun as fast as she could, but couldn't dodge the huge talons that had already wrapped around her body. Before she knew it, she was lifted from the ground and swept up towards the clouds, the breath knocked out of her.

Adoel's balls, there was a second bat, she cursed.

She had lost the grip on her sword when the second demon grabbed her, and the chances of killing the bat and surviving were growing slimmer and slimmer as they rose higher into the sky. She could see Aiden in the clearing staring up at her. There was nothing he could do to help now, just pray to the Angels.

Her hair was ripped from the bun she had put it in as the wind tore past them. she could barely hear anything over the sound of it in her ears. She unsheathed the dragon dagger at her hip and one of her hunting daggers, sending up a prayer of her own.

The bat chirped as it flew, no doubt sensing how far away from the ground they were. Did it intend to drop her, or just tear her apart as high up as possible? She wouldn't give it the chance.

Just before they reached the clouds, Selene plunged her hunting dagger into the side of the creature. The blade itself was ten inches long, but the bat didn't even seem to feel it.

Well, you'll sure as heel feel this, she thought as she cut through its legs with her dragon dagger. Thanks to her constant sharpening, she was able to get through one of its legs. Black blood poured from the wound, coating Selene's face and hair. She tried her best to wipe it from her eyes.

The talons that still held her spasmed as it screamed in pain. They dug into her torso, poking at her spine and stomach. It reached down and tried to snap at her with its fangs. Some of her hair was caught and it tore it from her scalp. Her eyes watered and she tightened her grip on the hunting dagger.

She had no idea if this plan would work. In fact, it probably wouldn't. There was no way she'd be able to climb onto this thing's back and direct it lower.

Think, Selene.

She looked at the ground beneath them and noticed a small lake not far off in the way they were headed. If she was lucky, maybe she could cut a hole in its wings and they could sink slowly until it was safe to fall.

It was near impossible, but it was better than nothing. Sheathing her dragon dagger, Selene shot tiny pellets of fire at the bat's wings, poking as many holes as possible.

The bat shuddered with each blow and tightened its grip on her, trying its best to skewer her. She had to let go of her hunting dagger in order to fight against the closing of its talons. All while avoiding the fangs that snapped at her head.

Ever so slowly, they began to lose altitude as one of its wings was deemed worthless.

Its talons were tight enough to puncture her skin and she could see her blood falling beneath them, mixing with the demon's. With a muffled scream, she pushed against its claws. As each was pulled from the wound in her back, the scream grew louder.

They were almost within falling distance. She knew she wouldn't make it if she waited for them to be close enough to the water for a regular human to survive, so she hoped that wrapping herself in a layer of her raw magic would be enough.

She had found that magic in its purest form could be applied anywhere on the body for any purpose: healing, enforcing, protecting. She just prayed there was enough stored within her tattoo to keep her alive.

Just as they entered a good distance to fall, the demon twisted, sacrificing its flying to reach closer to Selene's body. As they plummeted the last fifty feet, it sunk its fangs into her leg and pulled.

She screamed as it tried to rip her apart. She couldn't maneuver in its grasp, couldn't stop it as it surely delivered a finishing blow. With nothing left to lose, Selene set herself ablaze. The flames licked at her skin, burning her clothes, and singeing the fur on the demon's face. Immediately it let go of her as the fire engulfed it.

As it died in agony, its grip on her loosened enough for her to swing herself up and out from underneath it a second before they hit the water.

It felt like they had collided with stone. She could barely move from the shock. She couldn't see past the black blood that clouded the water, but she may have broken her arm. They were sinking, her and the bat corpse.

Swim, she thought, Fight.

She was trying. But the collision had rattled her skull, she didn't know which way was up or down everything was just black. She couldn't even see her own body.

She opened her mouth to gasp for air, but only water and blood rushed in. She was drowning, and there was no way Aiden could have made it all the way over here to save her.

She finally some form of ability back and was able to let go of the hunting dagger that was still embedded in the creature's side. Her sinking slowed but didn't stop.

Her lungs felt as if they were about to burst and she frantically searched all around for the sun, anything that would show her where the surface was.

She felt the panic set in as the last of the air left her. Three seconds. That all it took for panic to kill. She had three seconds to live.

A red flame appeared before her, burning even under the water. She looked at it for a moment, the panic dying. Was she hallucinating?

She swam as fast as she could toward the flame. Yet no matter how hard she paddled, it never grew any larger. It began to fade as her consciousness slipped away.

Not yet.

She swam and swam.

Not yet! she screamed.

Her head broke the surface of the lake and as she tried to suck in air, all of the black water came up. She coughed all of it back up until the blessed air was all the remained. Looking around, she saw the closest shore was to her left and used the last of her strength to swim for it. As soon as she crawled out of the water and onto the rocks, she collapsed on her back.

Thankfully, her arm wasn't broken. Her leg was a different story. She didn't need to look at it to know that the monster had ripped it to shreds. If she didn't stop the bleeding, it could kill her.

It could kill her.

A crazed laugh came from behind Selene's bloodied teeth.

She held her hand up to cover the sun the shined into her eyes and stuck her middle finger up at the sky.

"Fuck you, Icarus," she laughed.

Then everything faded to black.