"Where do the shadows go off to once the sun is gone and the moon rises to the sky? Have you ever wondered?" Ari heard the voice of a priest bellowing out the daily sermon as they passed through the town.

Freir put a hand out in front of him once he noticed Rein had stopped to listen. Ari disliked Rein. It was no secret, but his dislike of him grew since that night. He respected him for his steadfast way in believing every honeyed word that dripped from the priest's mouths about holiness and righteousness. However, he could not say that any longer. No, not anymore.

"They steal into the night like the demons that prey upon us. Hiding under beds, inside closets, behind shutters and doors, they watch and they wait," the priest continued as the gasps echoed through the small crowd of people.

"But fear not. Those who are the gods children will not be harmed. No, these demons cannot touch the holy and the pure. They go only after the sinners and the tainted. Give now to our mission, so that we can cast this evil out once and for all."

The sound of coins hitting against a metal can travelled to his ears. He looked up at the robed priest dressed in his dark, hooded robe with a worn rope tied around his waist. The hood covered most of his face, but it went without mention that he was a part of the Khaeo. A scar going across his neck only added to his suspicions. As the crowd of people disbursed, Freir grabbed onto Ari's arm and pushed him forward towards the priest.

"Must we do this now?" Ari hissed.

"He is our brother."

"A priest," Rein added causing Ari to glare.

"Eryk," Freir said as he bent down to one knee bringing Ari down with him. Ari watched as he bowed his head before the priests crossed his hands over his chest and then removed it as they spread to either side of him.

"Rise child of Oliya, child of Ylana." He looked to Frier and Rein, respectively, ignoring him altogether. Eryk's dark eyes looked into his for a moment before scoffing and motioning for them to rise.

"You had made it here. I thought the horde had gotten to you."

"They had, but we managed," Rein said.

"Why is it that the boy looks cleaner than the two of you?" the priest asked before laughing.

"Well, he had a special caretaker," Rein answered.

Ari was no boy. He was nine and ten, a grown man in the eyes of many. Every time he saw that priest he would condescend his worth and value. He had hated him since he was a child. That hate had not ceased. It only grew, but it became less apparent over time.

"Is that so? Well, I am not so surprised. Come, come inside. We have been expecting you for some time now."

Before Ari could turn to leave, Freir wrapped his arm around his neck and took him inside.

"Ari, do not do this now. Would you like to sleep outside?"

Ari cut his eyes away from him once they entered the common room of the church. Some priests were gathered at the east wing. He could hear them speaking of the great gods and their wisdom. Along the walkways, nothing but Sanclii could be found. They were the adorned protectors with the gods great blessings. Saints of Clius, the god of power.

The noise made his head ache and his ears ring. He liked the silence that night brought and the quietness of the inn the demon had kept him in. He had grown so used to it.

"The Chief Preist is gone, at the moment." Ari heard Eryk's voice through the ruckus.

Nothing but men in here. Women, unless a Sanclius or priestess, were forbidden from this building. They were meant to be chaste, to bear no children, to seek out no love but the love of the gods. They swore upon the holy stone. However, Ari was not one of them. He had not earned his title as a Sanclius, unlike Freir and Rein.

The priest gave them each a look as they stopped inside a corridor.

"We have only two rooms left available. Everyone is migrating towards the north for fear of the demons now overtaking much of the lower south," Eryk said.

"There is no problem with that. We can make do with just one room. Give the other room to some other," Freir answered.

Eryk bowed looking at Ari for a moment and then looked away.

"Food will be served early in the mornings and late evenings. If you are hungry before that time, do grab something from the kitchens. Freir, you should know where things are."

Rein opened the door and dropped a bag Ari had not noticed before onto the floor. Freir fell onto the bed letting out a small sigh and a smile.

"Good to have a roof over our heads again, eh?"

Ari could only give him a look a scorn causing Rein to shove his shoulder against his. Why should he have to act as if he does not know a thing? They had broken a sacred vow; a holy oath. Nolan was right in his words about them. They, truly, were rotten.

"Why do you look at me so full of hate, Ari? Had I not been kind to you? I had come back for you when I did not have to even."

Ari kicked away a small bowl on the ground before he sat down and faced the window. He missed the scents that lingered in the inn. To think he would ever think such thoughts was madness. A comforting madness, to say the least. Freir and Rein were liars and the one thing Auovin was not, was a liar or, at least, not a blatant one. There was something strange and peculiar about that demon as well... as if he knew something he did not and was dangling it over his head, toying with him. Somehow, Ari came to believe Freir and Rein knew what it was and he wanted to know what it was.

"Tell me of him," Ari announced.

"Of what?" Rein questioned, looking at Ari with accusing eyes.

"Of the blood demon."

"We are far far away from the thing now, Ari. No need to fear."

"Fear?" Ari laughed lowly. No, fear was not in his thoughts. More so curiosity than anything else.

"When he finds me... he will not be happy... The only thing I fear for is your lives."

"And not your own?" Freir asked. Rein continued to stare in silence.

Ari shook his head.

"He would have done so already... if he wanted to. You know, when you left me behind."

"You told me to leave you! Ari, what has gotten into you? What has that cursed thing said? They are lies, nothing but lies sprinkled with truths."

Ari's eyes lowered knowing Freir's words did hold some meaning. He pressed his hand to the bite marks speckling one side of his neck. It was strange. Even as far away as they were, Auovin still felt very near. Freir thought what he was feeling for the demon was kindred but it was not. Why would it ever be after all it had done to him? But there was something. Something there that made goosebumps cover his skin and made his heart grow unsteady.

"He has said nothing more than what I was already thinking before..." Ari mumbled. "I had been doing this since I was a boy. Younger than most, yet I am still not eligible to become what you are, why? There is nothing that I am lacking, although you are quite lacking in many ways."

"Not right now, Ari... Things are tense," Freir warned.

"Oh, is it? I am sure it is. I wonder in which ways do you relieve your tension."

"Ari," Rein said as Ari rose from the floor dusting off his pants.

He had never been one to be insolent towards his uppers, but he had enough. Before Freir could get in another word, Ari was out the door mumbling curses under his breath. Freir was the one who had told him swearing was as if you were swearing to the gods themselves and to never do it. Ari laughed. What a hypocrite of a man he was.

Ari stalked off towards the smell coming from one of the kitchens. His stomach was grumbling and he was tired of the nuts and berries he was forced to live off of. There were not many things that made Ari happy, but food was one of them. As soon as he turned the corner, he found himself in the main kitchen. Smoked pig and deer turned on spits. Bread laid out on the wooden tables along with pints of ale and mead. Ari turned his attention to the strawberries sitting atop of a bowl full of fruits. Since he was a child, he had always loved them.

He took a step closer causing the chef to turn around and throw a blade. It drew blood from his ear as it landed on a wooden post near his head.

"Boy, do not walk like that 'round here. Ye make yerself known, aye."

Ari could only blink for a few moments before nodding and walked closer to the red berries.

"Ye hungry, is that it?"

Ari looked at old man as he turned the spit with the pig on it. The smell of it made him salivate. One look at his face caused the chef to laugh and pull out a seat near the table.

"The berries, eh? Go on. Go have some."

Ari took a strawberry and took a small bite before putting the entire thing in his mouth. He grabbed for another and another causing the old man to laugh. He sat across from Ari and pushed a plate of food towards him.

"Ye not a Sanclius, are ye? Just a Santi."

Ari nodded as he started on his eighth strawberry. He took a look at the old man's face decorated with four claw marks going across his face. His left eye was like a clouded blue. He could not see his reflection in it, but the other one he could.

"Ya young, boy. Still a chance to make somethin' of yeself other than this."

He was a man from Vermur, the lands to the West. Ari could tell by his accent. The people there never approved of the Khaeo's ways, so he wondered how a person from a place like that wounded up here.

"This is all I have ever known," Ari said through the food stuffed in his mouth.

"There is still much to be known."

Ari looked up at the chef again.

"Chew yer food. Ye look like a squirrel."

Ari chewed and swallowed his food quickly, waiting for more of the old man's words to come but nothing came. Nothing but silence for some minutes. The old man stared at the wall, unblinking before he focused his attention back onto Ari.

"Give me ye hand."

Ari withdrew his hand for a moment and narrowed his eyes at the strange, old man.

"I will not harm a hair on ye pretty, little head," he mocked causing Ari to do as he asked.

The man grabbed a knife from the table and cut the palm of his hand.

"You lied," Ari hissed.

"We all lie."

The old man looked at him as his lips parted.

"Lemme see ye neck, boy."

Ari snatched his hand back causing the blood in his palm to pool and drip down onto the floor. The old man's eyes were wide and cautious as he rose from his chair and moved around the table. Just as Ari backed away towards the door, Freir grabbed him and pushed him behind himself.

"Ye let that boy in here knowing what he is!" the man yelled causing Ari's eyes to widen.

"Clement—"

"The boy is tainted! Marked! He is marked!"

Rein came like a shadow from behind the old man and slammed his head against the wooden table.

"Tainted?" Ari's voice shook.

"Do not worry over it. We will take care of it."

"It is the demon. It was him, was it not?"

"Burn the Etylin in that pot there. The steam will be more than enough to suppress his memory," Freir said to Rein.

He took Ari back into the room and locked the door behind them. Ari could not get a word in before Freir poured some ale on his hand and bandaged it with a torn piece of his shirt.

"Be angry with me. Be upset with me, but Ari do not stray far from my eyes. Not until we reach Nolan and the others. Do you hear me?"

Freir shook him.

"Do you hear me?"

Ari stayed silent.

"If you do not, Ari..." Frier backed away from him and unlocked the door before going back out. Ari heard him lock it from the outside causing him to purse his lips. He paced around the room for what seemed like hours until he finally tired himself out. Just as he was about to sit down, he heard a loud thump.

Ari's heart was beating fast then. He did not know why. Not until the candles in the room blew out shrouding him in darkness. There was no light, not even from the windows. Instead of moving, Ari stayed still, so still he thought he could hear the blood going through his veins.

His hair was brushed to one side as something warm and wet went up the back of his neck. He broke out into small shivers just as it reached the nape of it.

"The smell of your fear... is quite intoxicating," he murmured into his ear. "But the taste of your pain is even more so."