The Ever Forest stretched out before Nerluce.

It was dark and endless. It seemed to go on forever in either direction, an ocean made of wood. The trees reached impossibly high as though they were trying to claw out the heavens. The shadows pooled in places they shouldn't have, coiled together and lying in wait. The sweet smell of rotting leaves and damp bark filled his nose, inviting him in. The small droplets of rain shaken free from the branches by a stray gust of wind pressed cold kisses into his skin.

It felt as though the Ever Forest was welcoming him back. Welcoming him home. Nerluce tightened his grip around Eden's reigns.

The massive white war stallion pawed at the ground. He knew this place, as well as Nerluce, did. He knew the dangers it held. What Eden did not know was the dangers that the rest of the world now held. Nerluce had nowhere else to go. Itoroh had turned its back on him. Tilica had hated him from the start. The only direction they could flee was east. The only place he could go was into the Ever Forest.

Nerluce patted reached over and stroked Eden's neck, offering the stallion the comfort he wished he had gotten whenever he felt afraid. "It'll be alright," Nerluce said. "I'm going to protect us both." How he longed for someone to say those words to him. "You chose to come with me and I'm going to protect you." He smiled and withdrew his arm. "Let's go. Slow and steady. We'll let the spirits guide us."

Eden snorted but with Nerluce's gentle encouragement, he started into the Ever Forest. Nerluce was quiet as they were swallowed by the trees. He stayed quiet as he stole a glance behind him and realized he couldn't see the outside world anymore. They were completely consumed by the Ever Forest, at it and its denizens' mercy.

It was very, very quiet inside of the Ever Forest.

Nerluce started to hum, if only to make himself feel better, but he thought that Eden seemed a bit more steady too, though that could be his imagination. He wanted to help Eden as Eden had helped him. He had vowed to protect the horse because that was all he could offer right now, but one day he would repay Eden in full.

When Nerluce was preparing to leave Hebikoti Palace, he had entered the stables. He intended to take one of the horses and sell them to a farmer once Nerluce was close enough to the Ever Forest. But, as he started to saddle up his chosen mount, Eden had nearly knocked his stall door down. What a jealous thing he was.

So Nerluce had taken Eden instead. The damn horse had belonged to him since he rode him into Ethera, anyway. Coam had given Eden to Nerluce and whether that gift was meant to mock or protect him, Nerluce still wasn't certain. What he did know was that a gift could not be revoked. Eden was his horse and he wasn't leaving his horse behind or selling him to any nearby farmer. They had chosen one another and ridden together all this way.

Nerluce had nothing but Eden, a couple of fans, and the clothes on his back. He was nothing but this handful of things. But he'd made the first decision for himself in his entire life and was completely and totally free even if he had no money to his name and the wrath of the world nipping at his heels.

Gods it felt great.

In the long run, Nerluce doubted this ecstasy would last. For now, he'd been growing his and Eden's food using his Magick but eventually, he would need money. He couldn't grow clothes or medicine. He didn't know how he would get money, considering the world was now his enemy. Nerluce doubted that anyone would risk Ethera's wrath by hiring him.

Nerluce sighed and leaned into Eden's mane. Part of him wanted to scream. To fall onto the forest floor and flail about like a spoiled toddler. He might've done just that if Eden wasn't with him. Screaming and crying in frustration would only scare the already uneasy stallion.

However, while he was leaning into Eden, something moved in his periphery. He resisted the urge to snap his head and instead turned it more slowly, as to not startle whatever it was. From the undergrowth, a spirit peered ought at him. Nerluce blinked. The spirit blinked back. Eden snorted, his ears lying flat. The spirit quickly disappeared back into the undergrowth, frightened of Eden.

Nerluce laughed and gave Eden a couple of pats. He had wondered why he hadn't seen any spirits. Spirits were products of raw Magick and there was no place that had more raw Magick than the Ever Forest. It was a place that existed almost completely separate from the rest of the human tampered world. There ought to have been more spirits here than anywhere else. But... they were hiding from Eden.

"It's alright," Nerluce said. "They'll get used to you soon enough. Maybe you can become spirit-kissed too."

Eden snorted as though he didn't believe Nerluce.

But now that Nerluce knew the spirits were there, he saw caught glimpses of them everywhere. He felt their presence, warm and protective. And he noticed that the spirits weren't the only things reacting to his presence. Plants moved on their own, never obviously, but drawing nearer nonetheless. Nerluce knew they weren't threatening, though Eden seemed to disagree. The plants were just... eager.

They could sense his Magick. They wanted to meet him. It felt almost akin to how Nerluce had felt upon meeting the Empress. They were excited and awestruck and willing to do as he commanded them.

Which meant both spirits and plants would be willing to help him.

Nerluce pulled Eden's reins, drawing the horse to a stop. He pawed at the ground, frustrated but Nerluce calmed him down with a couple of soft strokes and whispered words. He felt awful. Eden was clearly scared and it was only going to get worse from here. But... Nerluce was no idiot. He knew... he had always known... that life and war were not games that could be played alone. He needed friends. Allies. And there was only one person he could think of who might be willing to help.

"I need to find the Wolf Woman, Rieka Accalia," Nerluce said to the forest and though he could not see the spirits or the moving plants, he trusted they were there. He prayed they were there and figments of his imagination. "Would you please help me find her?"

"With such good manners, how could they resist?"

This time, Nerluce couldn't help but snap his head.

She had not aged a day since Nerluce had last seen her. Someone could easily mistake her and Nerluce for being the same age. Nerluce wondered how old she really was. Forty? Fifty? Two hundred? There was no way to tell.

Coming closer, she moved with easy confidence. Her muscles rippled with passive power. Nerluce could not look away from her. Even when he realized there were two wolves with her - flanking her either side - he knew better than to turn his gaze from the real danger. And she was that danger. All curves and cunning. All human and all wolf.

"Wolf Woman," Nerluce said.

"Darkest Shadow," Rieka returned.

They looked at one another. Eden's tail flicked. The wolves bared their fangs. The spirits around them tittered. The eyes of the Ever Forest fixed on them.

"So everyone says." Nerluce finally broke the silence. He wasn't here to fight Rieka. He had not come running all this way to make an enemy out of the one person who might offer him asylum. He was not so arrogant or so stupid as to do something like that.

It seemed Rieka wasn't so stupid as to make an enemy out of him either.

If they fought right now... Nerluce wasn't certain which one of them would win. He didn't think either of them would. Most likely, they'd destroy one another and Ethera's problems would have all been solved. Rieka probably knew that too. She waved her hand and her wolves stopped snarling. But they'd never been the real threat anyway.

"You've grown up since I last saw you," Rieka said. "Grown into yourself and your..." She glanced him over, "power."

"Have you know?" Nerluce asked. "All this time?

"I guessed," Rieka said. "When you know what to look for, it was easy. I may not have the talents of Ethera's High Priestess, but I can See a couple of things, too." Her dark eyes sparkled. "But never you. No one has ever been able to See you. Your actions are shrouded in darkness. The gods cannot write your fate. Your every action belongs to you and you alone. That is why they fear you. That is why they call you Darkest Shadow."

"And here I thought it was just a silly name. Something to match the Chosen Light's silly fame?"

Rieka blinked and then laughed. "I find Darkest Shadow to be not so lame. Rather, it puts the Wolf Woman to great shame."

Unable to help himself, Nerluce applauded and giggled. "You matched both the syllable and rhyme! That's quite impressive." He cocked his head. "I did not know that wolves were fond of wordplay."

"They aren't but I enjoy it in the rare instances I am able to use it," Rieka said. "You did not make it easy on me. Why would you use eleven syllables? Ten is so much more pleasing to the ear. Though, you see eight syllables in many children's rhymes."

"Then next time, I'll use nine."

"Ah, you are an awful creature, I see why society has abandoned you," Rieka said.

Nerluce hummed, thoughtfully. "I feel as though that more has to do with the type of Magick I use. And how I used it to sever the High Priestess's head."

Rieka's eyes widened just a fraction. "I heard rumors but... I did not know if they were true."

"They are," Nerluce said. "They are all..." He inhaled, "true." Nerluce shut his eyes. "I have cut my hair and abandoned my family name." He looked up at Rieka. "But I still kept the one that I gave you, Rieka Accalia."

"I remember, Nerluce," Rieka said. "Why have you come here?"

"Why does anyone come to the Ever Forest?" Nerluce asked.

She thinned her lips and turned her head. "You're hiding from something," Rieka said. "I suppose a better question would be what are you hiding from? And why did you call me to you? You don't seem to want to settle a score."

"I figured we might be hiding from the same things," Nerluce said. "Ethera. The world. Anyone who wants us dead." He exhaled. "I tried... I tried so hard for them. I thought... I thought that if I just worked hard enough that eventually... I would get the peaceful life I craved." He scoffed and turned to look at the spirits and the plants. "I did everything right. I did everything I was told to do no matter how awful it was or how much I hated it. But... I still ended up here. With you."

Rieka sighed. She looked... sad. "I know. I tried too. Back when I was young and stupid." She spat the word with venom and hatred. Nerluce wondered if he would grow to hate his younger self too. He wondered if he already did. "But, Nerluce, people like us... we will never be their heroes. No matter how hard we try, they will always end up finding a way to hate us."

"I'm going to burn it all down," Nerluce said.

"What?"

"This world," Nerluce said, looking at Rieka with a newfound intensity. A newfound purpose. A new decision that he had made for himself. "A thousand years ago, Eceka of Suri united the four warring tribes in order to drive us into extinction."

"He built a peace on top of bones," Rieka said. "He created a system supported by suffering."

"I tried to succeed inside of Eceka's system. I tried hiding who I was and I tried using who I was to help." Nerluce laughed and shook his head. What a mistake. "I'm going to burn this world down and all its awful systems with it. And then... I am going to live a comfortable and lazy life where no one will bother me because no one will give a shit about who I am or what kind of Magick I happen to use."

"You're insane if you think that will work," Rieka said but she was smiling. Gods, she was smiling in a way that Nerluce had never seen her smile before. In a way that Nerluce had never seen anyone smile before.

The idea thrilled her.

"Let's paint the whole world in shadow, Rieka," Nerluce said. "Let's make decisions that affect everyone. Let's make Seers and gods go blind."

"Ethera will try and stop us," Rieka said.

"Let them try," Nerluce said. He'd already killed the High Priestess, the strongest of them.

"Eceka's reincarnation walks the earth," Rieka said. "You know that he won't let you get rid of the systems he worked so hard to put in place. He will want to keep things as they are for another thousand years."

"Let him try," Nerluce said again. "We'll make friends. Allies from all across Ecekasuri. There are others like us out there and there are plenty more who must see how wrong this world is." Nerluce grinned. He was still lazy and only doing this to ensure a peaceful future for himself but... he'd be lying if he said he wasn't also thrilled by this idea. "They will come if they know we will protect them. Care for them." And Nerluce would as he would protect and care for Eden. "I know it."

"I don't trust humans. They don't have the same sense of honor and loyalty that wolves do," Rieka said. "However, I believe in you. And I believe that others might too." She smiled but it seemed a lot like she was baring her fangs. "So I will join your pack, Dark Shadow. Know a wolf's loyalty is undying."

"Know mine is eternal," Nerluce said.

Rieka chuckled. "We shall see." She lifted her hands. "Until then, I will send my wolves to every kingdom and corner of this continent. They will spread your howl."

"Well then we have a lot to do and not much time to do it," Nerluce said.

Rieka considered this for a moment before - unexpectedly - she bowed her head to him. It was not the kind of bow a human would give to a king or emperor, but the kind of submission that a dog gave to its master. Rieka was a merciless killer but she'd allowed herself to be collared, for now at least. Her loyalty was something steep and something Nerluce did not know if he'd yet fully earned.

When Rieka raised her head, there was something wicked in her eyes. "Yes," she said. "Let us begin. Follow me."

Nerluce hesitated. For just a moment, he hesitated. He knew that once he went with Rieka, there would be no going back, no denying who or what he was. The title still felt strange and foreign, like new clothes that were just a bit too big. But, Nerluce would grow into the title. He didn't need to be Darkest Shadow just yet. For a while more, he could just be Nerluce. And one day, he'd be just Nerluce again. He'd change the world to make that possible.

Nerluce followed Rieka and both of their shadows were swallowed up by the shadows of the Ever Forest. By the shadows of their home.