CW: Blood.

---

The morning was warm, and Naomi was warmer. I didn't want to get up, and since she was already awake and smiling, I figured neither did she. I could barely believe the last night had actually happened, but waking up to my two companions-in-arms soothed me more than anything else ever could.

"Good morning." I whispered. "Is Fate still sleeping?"

"Yeah." She whispered back to me in a relaxed, soft voice. "I didn't want to wake either of you up."

I moved in closer, kissing her shoulder, then her neck and finally reaching her lips. Being held by her, brushing my hand up and down her body, feeling her muscles, and making out after a long night's sleep just felt right. I had never doubted it would, of course, but it was nice to finally know firsthand.

"Thank you for last night, Nay."

"Thank you. I'm happy we got to talk."

"I'm happy we got to kiss."

"That too..."

Fate yawned and sat up beside Naomi.

"Morning, girls." She looked at us with a sleepy smile. She stared at each of us for a few seconds before sighing deeply. "Gods, you're both so pretty..."

"Says you." I replied, leaning on Naomi with both my arms. "Kinda wish we could stay like this a while longer..."

"We'll have all the time in the world when we save the kingdom, don't worry." Naomi got up and stretched, giving me the perfect view from just underneath her. She looked back at me and rolled her eyes, unable to not smile. "Come on, we don't have all day."

We gathered our things and got back on the road, a process we were getting intimately familiar with. I was more confident than ever that we would succeed in our mission, and I felt as though nothing could stop us. No matter what happened, I would protect my companions to my dying breath and knew they'd do the same for me.

The scenery was beautiful. Trees of red, purple, and blue leaves surrounded us. The bushes and grass on the narrow path ahead of us were full of blossoming white and light-pink tulips. The air smelled faintly sweet, and all that was missing was a beautiful blue sky. Unfortunately, you can't win all your battles, and the dark clouds above us promised a storm at any moment.

Suddenly, everything starts to change. The colorful leaves became grayer and more sparse as we kept moving, and the ground below us turned into rocky, rough terrain. The mood in the caravan completely changed as everyone became more attentive to our surroundings. I was sitting next to Fate as she commandeered, and Naomi was ready for a fight in the back, sitting with the cargo.

"I guess this is the place." I said to the others, trying to keep my voice low.

"It's the entrance at the very least." Naomi replied in kind. "Stay sharp."

As if on cue, a lone figure stood on the road ahead of us. It was nothing but a silhouette, as if a shadow had somehow become three-dimensional. I could make out no features on its face, and it was hard to even focus my eyes on it. I drew my sword and shield and readied myself. We stopped moving, and the dead forest stood silent all around.

"Fate." I said without turning my sight away from the mysterious shadow. "What is-"

"I have no idea." She replied, reaching for her potions.

"This has to be another ambush, but that thing..."

Naomi walked in front of the caravan and stared at the creature, holding her sword in a defensive position. She steadied her stance and her ears twitched, moving her attention elsewhere.

"We're surrounded." She whispered to us, tightening her grip on her blade. "We'll have to take a stand here."

I felt a shiver down my spine, and unfortunately it was the bad kind. I felt a familiar presence lurking nearby, and knew I had to warn Naomi. I had no idea how we would fight her, but all I could do was stand beside the royal knight and serve as her right hand and shield. Hopefully a sturdy one, which wouldn't break in the wearer's hands as they needed it most.

"It's her. I feel it." I said as Fate joined us on the ground, potions at the ready.

"Oh my..." That familiar demonic voice echoed from all parts of the woods. "Seems I've made a lasting impression!"

"Show yourself!" Naomi shouted. "If you want to fight, then let's fight."

"Ever so eager, my lovely kitten." The whole ground seemed to vibrate with her laughter. "Seems like some things remain the same, even with your little condition. But if you insist..."

The shadow blocking the way opened its arms and expanded into a shapeless form, allowing several demonic figures to crawl their way out of it. I heard something from behind the caravan and looked back to find yet another portal, with even more beasts flooding out. Fate had also noticed it. She ran towards it with a glistening orange potion in hand. In one smooth motion she throws the bottle at the demons and jumps back inside the caravan for cover.

The moment the glass broke, a huge fireball engulfed our attackers. Their inhuman screams seemed to fill my skull and echo from every corner of my mind. I tried to power through the shrieks and ran to assist Naomi in her fight. Several of them were beginning to surround her, so I leapt to her side and we stood back to back. One after another the demons charged, and any remaining option to flee was lost.

Three canine-human hybrid monstrosities attack me at once from different sides, making it impossible to completely defend myself. In a split second I had to make a decision - which of the demonic hounds would I allow to attack me. They had no eyes, neck or snout, only a vague approximation of a head with an opening full of sharp teeth. One was jumping at me from the side, and would leave its chest wide open. Another went for my calves, running from the complete opposite direction; the final one was running toward me head on, ready to sink its teeth into my neck.

Without time to think I simply reacted. With my sword I attacked the jumping demon, managing to stab the entire length of my blade through its torso. I tried to keep myself in place, pushing back against the weight of its body slamming onto my shoulder. I lifted my shield to block the second incoming attack that would land on my neck. It hit me with its full force, and I just barely kept my balance. The final hound bit into my leg, thankfully right on my armor. Unfortunately it was still strong enough to hurt like hell. I shook the damned thing off and turned my attention back to the remaining two, which had already gotten one more friend to replenish their ranks.

"One down." I said, looking around at the slowly amassing army. "That many to go."

"There's too many of them, we won't last long!" Naomi shouted in desperation.

I took a deep breath and tried to focus on my tracking ability; I had to figure out how many we were up against. Interestingly enough, although I did feel many demonic presences nearby it was nowhere near as bad as it seemed. Some of them had to be illusions.

"Some of them aren't real!" I shouted back, hoping Fate had also heard me. "She's fucking with our heads!"

That same irritating, smug laughter found its way to us once again.

"I think it's about time I joined the fray, don't you think?" She said with delight in her voice, jumping out from the portal and dashing at Naomi.

I jumped in front of her, just barely able to block her swing. Before I fell back, Naomi caught me, got me back on my feet and returned to formation. The demoness smiled and took a step back, seemingly inviting the knight to a one-on-one battle. I looked at her in worry but nodded in agreement, so she simply nodded back and walked to her foe, sword and armor dripping with blood. Some of the demons left me alone, following and surrounding Naomi as she disappeared in a crowd.

Around me were a few corpses and just as many living enemies to contend with. I tried to focus on other senses besides sight to discern real ones from illusions, but it was too muddled . The pain in my leg was very real, so I surmised the one that had caused it also was. I might once again have had to make a gamble, if not for Fate making a dramatic re-entrance into the fight with a bottle of blue liquid, smashing it into a demon's head. Before the others could charge her, I pulled her back and gave her my shield.

"What did you just throw at it?" I asked, hoping it was something powerful.

"Paint. To mark which ones are real." She answered, slightly disappointing the side of me that wished for more explosions.

They just kept appearing from the portal, though I did not sense an increase in their presence. We had to be thinning them out, I thought, there had to be a winning play. It just could not end in the middle of nowhere on a dirt road. I took a deep breath and got into an offensive position, trying to get at least a cut or two on each hound to confirm their existence or lack thereof. I traded hits with the beasts, paying for my reckless attack with bites on both my arms and one at my side. Each and every slice of flesh I relieved my foes of just made me more scared - it appeared as though all of them were real.

I managed to stab one through the mouth as it jumped, throwing its body down before it could strike me. One had somehow managed to get behind me, and would have had the jump on me if not for a well timed kick from Fate, knocking it down to the floor just long enough for me to recompose myself and get back to the fight. I tried to heal my wounds but there was simply no time, the attacks were more frequent than my fight in the basement, and I was beginning to falter.

Once again the worst case scenario happened, and the creatures attacked me all at once. My arms were getting heavy and I was losing blood, so I tried my best to dodge out of the way of one of the oncoming strikes, leaving me free to block the remaining two with my sword and shield. As I was about to defend myself, however, they seemed to back off. I didn't understand why at first, though the sudden appearance of an extra demonic presence was information enough. I turned around to find a shambling, faceless demon quickly making its way towards us. Fate threw whatever she had at it to no avail, and when it got close enough for me to stab I found its skin too thick to make even a dent. It produced two huge arms from what I assumed was its back, and grabbed the both of us by our necks. Try as I might, I could not escape from its grasp.

"Not this shit again!" Naomi shouted from behind me with a deep frustration in her voice. "What the fuck is your problem? What do you want from us?"

"You, darling." She responded, satisfied. "You three just don't learn your lesson... It's sad, really. Maybe if you remembered our previous fights you wouldn't fall for such old tricks..."

"If it's me you want, let them go."

My vision was getting blurry, and I was struggling to hear what was being said. I could barely breathe, and my weapons had fallen to the ground. I looked to my side and saw Fate stop moving, having passed out. The demon carelessly threw her to the ground and began binding her arms and legs with yet another arm that it created out of nowhere.

"This time you're not getting away from me. My... employer was very interested in the three of you. I only care about one, though. I'm getting you back, Naomi, one way or another. Now, since I know you won't do things the easy way-"

"Lead the way." She threw her sword to the ground, and I started to lose consciousness. "I'm not worried." She spoke with confidence.

The final words I heard before everything went dark were:

"Now that's the knight I remember."

---

When I finally came to, I was on the ground. A few gentle raindrops hit my face, and I felt the overwhelming smell of the ocean with as much intensity as the pain in my neck, legs, and most other places. My ears were ringing, and someone grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me up.

"Get up. We're walking." The demoness' voice was much less enthusiastic this time around. "Into the tower. Let's get through this as fast as possible, I don't like her all that much either."

We were deep into the dead woods, next to a cliff overseeing the ocean. A large stone tower was in front of us, mostly in ruins and fallen into the water. The second floor had survived, along with a portion of the roof that was being held together by flimsy support beams. Fate and Naomi were in front of me, walking with their hands tied behind their backs just like me.

"Don't worry, Carv. I have an idea." Naomi said without looking back.

"I don't doubt it." Our captor said after scoffing. "You never surrendered without a plan. Good luck this time, though. Seriously."

She pushed me forwards, and we made our way into the dilapidated structure. Before we could go past the small entrance, she ordered us to stop, closed the door behind us and casually strolled up to Naomi.

"This is going to be a problem, you know? How are you getting it back?" She asked her with a smile.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Naomi bitterly spat back.

"Come, now. I'm more than happy you're getting that silly mark back, that way I won't lose my favorite toy again. I just felt I had to let you know... She's not going to like it."

"What, the previous queen?" I asked, too angry to think of a bad joke.

"Previous? She's got opinions on that choice of words. But yes, you guessed right. Finally it's all over. I will say, though... I am interested to know how you got that mark too..." She approached me and ran her long nails on my neck. "It feels... Linked. As if your soul was connected to our mutual lady knight friend."

"Let's just get this over with." Fate spoke for the first time, refusing to even look in her direction.

"If you insist. Keep walking."

We walked through another broken down door after it was torn from its hinges by our guide. Inside there were several demons, much more humanoid than the others, standing in a circle around a pentagram. In front of a stone table was a hooded woman, only her red lips visible. The wall behind her was completely destroyed, leaving a perfect view of the water.

"Talk about cliché." I said, finally managing to think of something annoying to say at the moment. My heart was pounding in my chest.

"Stay sharp." Naomi said. Her hand faintly glowing with a golden light as she did, much like mine do when using healing magic. She was moving her wrists, slowly undoing the shoddy knot on the rope holding her.

"Finally." The hooded woman's voice boomed from the other side of the room, as if amplified somehow. "It has been a long time."

"In case you aren't aware..." She spoke slower than usual, doubtlessly trying to stall for as long as possible. "I don't remember shit. And apparently that's your fault."

"Ah, of course." Her chuckles pierced my brain like knives. It hurt to hear her laugh. "You are one annoying bitch, you know that? Getting rid of you, even temporarily, was a pain." She took a step toward us and her smile disappeared. "You managed to kill my physical form that day. It took me twenty damned years to get around that. But you know what? I should thank you. You made me immortal."

"Explain." Naomi had loosened her restraints slightly, and I was working on doing the same.

"I don't think so. I'm done talking. I see that stubborn little mark of yours is trying to make a comeback. Let's see how well it fares."

She raised her hands in Naomi's direction and both women fell to the ground in pain. The witch's movements seemed to nearly perfectly copy her victim's, who was grasping her head on her knees. They both screamed, and though the noise hurt me to my soul, I was beginning to get used to yells of agony.

I hastened my efforts to free my hands, but all it did was hurt my wrists further. The shouts intensified, and I felt a strange energy fill the room. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, everything stopped, and a heaviness was lifted from the air. Naomi fell on her side, breathing heavily.

"If I had gotten to you sooner..." The previous queen got back up and looked down at Naomi. "Fine. I see another of your friends have a mark as well. I suppose the royal alchemist shall have to serve as the vessel."

"What?!" Fate seemed terrified.

"Kill the other two." She nonchalantly waved to the demons in the room.

"Wait, you can't do that!" The demoness shouted from behind us, taking a few more steps. I was finally free of my bindings, my eyes locked with Naomi's and we looked around the room. The guards had swords. We would have to wait for the perfect moment. "That wasn't what we-!"

"That was if she served as a vessel. As it stands, she's a loose end. All of them are."

"Bullshit!"

"I don't think I have to remind you who has control of your demons now, do I?"

Before the demons got to their duties, we sprung into action. Naomi and I managed to grab one sword each, and without thinking sank them into their previous owners. The others were quick to swarm us, but we kept fighting. We defended each other as best we could, but Fate got taken to the other side of the room. She was screaming but I couldn't hear any of her words over the chaos.

I watched as the demoness dashed into the crowd, helping us fight off a few of the enraged guards.

"Carver! Holy magic, quick!" Naomi ordered. I obliged.

I placed my hand on her back and used my healing magic. The light danced around her body, but instead of flowing into her wounds it made its way to her blade. She spun the sword around in the air, and a blast of holy light shot out from it, sending our attackers flying back, the closest ones having their faces and torsos scorched.

"How did you learn to do that?" I asked in disbelief.

"New perk, I'll tell you about it later, we have to-"

The hooded woman interrupted her with a stab to the stomach. I had not seen her approach, and the shock nearly froze me. I tried to raise my sword, tried sending more healing to Naomi, but before I could do anything I felt a blade go through my back. One of the demons, his face burned off from our spell, had gotten back up. My companion was pushed off the sword, falling back into the ocean. I tried to run after her but only managed a single step before collapsing. I crawled to the ruined wall, going in and out of consciousness. Part of me just wanted to catch another glimpse of Naomi, to ensure she was still fine. The other part was trying to come up with jokes about being knocked out twice in the same day.

I felt myself be washed away by the waves, somehow ending up on a beach. I healed myself as much as I could, although it wasn't much at all. I was already exhausted, and using any magic only made it worse. I looked around, my vision blurred and obscured by blood and the heavy rain, and managed to catch sight of Naomi. She was lying on her stomach, the sand beneath her dyed crimson.

I crawled until I was close, and grabbed her hand. I tried to say something but only blood came out of my throat. I placed my hand on her wounds, trying to give whatever I had left to her. I pushed myself more and more, trying not to fall into despair. I couldn't stop for a second out of fear I would succumb to my emotions. It had to work.

I kept trying to heal her, every attempt taking more of my life out of me. I could no longer hear the ocean and couldn't make sense of anything I was seeing. With one final effort, I hugged her tight, lying my head on her chest. After how hard we had fought, the battles we had won and lost, I did not want to accept it could end in such misery.

"Please." I managed to whisper out, pain filling my lungs.

I felt her heart beat once, and let out one last breath of relief. I fell to my back next to her and felt a warmth on my neck. My mark was burning once again, hurting just as much as my wounds. It didn't matter to me anymore. I was just happy I managed to protect her. I closed my eyes and let myself rest despite the pain.

For some reason, I could smell roses.