"Alright. Make sure that nobody sees you, or, at least, as little as possible. Oh, and don't forget to write once in a while." Malis grinned while padding away some non-existent dust from Raya's shoulders, the smile she displaid forced as she felt like crying instead. One of her best friends was leaving, for good, and it honestly broke her heart to see him go.

But she would never admit that out loud. How could she? She didn't want to hold him back, keep him here inside forever and see him crumble down more. He deserved to be free. After everything... he honestly did.

"I know, I know." Raya chuckled, pulling his friend closer to give her a hug. Knowing by the tremble of the corner of her mouth that she was holding herself in. "I'll miss you Mal." He mumbled sadly, his smile morphing into a tight lipped frown.

"Ye ye." She chuckled, patting his back, keeping it light. Her eyes avoiding the dark ones watching the two. "But not too much, wouldn't want you weeping like a baby on my doorstep again."

"Oh, shut it." Raya laughed, holding back. He sighed softly, his thoughts going over all the good memories he had with Malis. Goddess, he was going to miss her. "Take care, Malis."

"Travel safely guys." She smiled at the both of them, wrinkling her noise slightly as tears started to fill her eyes.

Lixian nodded in appreciation, leading the way out with Raya close behind. They both pulled up their hoods and disappeared into the dark of the night. The perfect time to escape and travel as far as possible without anyone seeing them.

Raya looked back over his shoulder one last time before he would never see it again. Just taking in the small alleyway. The way it was lit up by the moonlight and how it made it seem so bright, the old wooden door he had knocked on so many times before for Malis to come out, or that stupid bush close to it where had fallen into many times before after a good night out in the town's tavern. He was never going to see it again...

"Come on, we have a long way ahead of us." Lixian muttered, softly grasping his elbow to gain his attention.

"Right." Raya nodded, turning back. He fell into step next to the demon, thoughts running wild as they passed by one of the last houses on the outskirts of Willsond. A sudden warmth that engulfed his hand made him look down with a jolt, breath quickly coming back in again as he realised it was just Lixian's hand holding his. His cheeks warmed up at the sweet gesture before he carefully intertwined their fingers, eyes avoiding the ones he could feel were watching him from beside him.

The bright sun rays of light began to seep through the forest's leaves while the birds had already woken up and were singing their songs. You could guess how long they had been walking for with that information, they were exhausted. Traveling all night, almost all of it on foot.

"Are we close?" Lixian asked tiredly, his injured shoulder feeling stiff from holding the bag for so long.

"Hmm." Raya nodded, cheeks all flushed of how tired he was. "The map says we're almost there. Look, I can see the main road already."

"Thank goddess, I'll be sleeping all day today." The demon groaned, stretching his aching back.

"Same." Raya sighed out, eyes shooting up just in time to see a carriage coming their way. He pulled Lixian out off the way and sighed in annoyance. "I hate the bigger towns."

"I'm sure he just didn't see us." Lixian tried to reason.

"Since when do you defend humans?" Raya joked, eying the demon from the corner of his eyes with a smirk.

"I don't." Lixian grunted, eyes heavy with the way his body felt like falling down. "Just trying to stay positive." For you.

"You? Sure." Raya smiled, grabbing Lixian's hand to pull him closer. Not wanting to encounter another almost death from all the horses and carriages that were running here.

"Ah, there it is. Naxford."

"It looks... the same as Willsond, but bigger." Lixian stated, which made Raya chuckle.

"They are neighbour towns, after all. But let's find an inn to stay for the day, some food and some medicine for your wounds."

"Our wounds."

"Whatever."

The two walked along the early market and bought some cheap bread, medicine and ugly extra clothes since they didn't had other ones besides the ones they were wearing. It wasn't much, but for now it had to do. They found their way into an open and available inn and quickly bought a room for the day to stay in.

They were exhausted, and the moment their backs hit the bed, both their eyes closed and didn't open for another few hours. It was almost sundown when Lixian woke up again, his body aching all over while he stretched it a little.

He rolled his head to the side and smiled once seeing the peaceful face of Raya next to him. His dark eyes took in his human's parted lips and birds-nest of an hair before they fell onto the scar on his throat. It was barely visible, but it was there. His eyes hardened for a second, remembering who had caused that, before he closed them and tried to calm down again. No need to get angry at a dead man, he thought with a sigh.

He leaned up on his elbow to kiss the scar softly before carefully leaving the bed, not wanting to wake Raya up. He needed his sleep, especially now he experiences those bad dreams so often.

It was horrible to wake up to him crying in his sleep, gasping for air while he whimpered in fear. It felt awful, holding his trembling body while he relived those terrifying moments again and again. He had told Lixian that Torin started to appear in his nightmares as well. How he had murdered him with his bare hands and how his empty eyes haunted him. Scared him.

It wasn't fair. He was supposed to be dead, he shouldn't be able to hurt them anymore. But he did, he was still tormenting them even when he was dead.

Lixian pouted slightly before quickly leaving a kiss on Raya's forehead, wanting his human to live the happiest life he could imagine. He wasn't going to stop until he heard that ridiculous snort he would let out when he laughed too hard, that sound he thought was ridiculous in the beginning but now he wanted to hear every day.

Lixian chuckled at the memory, fingertips lazily playing with a few strands of Raya's hair. "I'll make you the happiest person again, I promise."