I dashed through the dark forest, towards the path. Too many things were going through my mind. I couldn’t decide if that person was a local hunter, some creep that had no business here, or someone from Cain’s community. None of these possibilities were very likely given the circumstances. A tiny voice in the back of my head was telling me that this was some sort of set-up. That Cain had somehow planned this all along, and if not him then those hired assassins from the bridge.

I reached the path, and quickly glanced left and right, hoping to see the familiar short figure. I held my breath, hoping to at least hear something. All I heard was the shuffling of leaves some distance behind me. That person was no doubt following me, and I hoped the pitch-black night would at least slow them down a little.

I made a split-second decision. A white blade materialised in my hand.

 

I dashed in the direction I was initially going in. As much as I wanted to not make this my problem, I had to make sure Cain was okay first, because if he somehow got kidnapped again, this close to home, it would make everything I did so far pointless.

As I ran down the path, I heard voices up ahead. But I could not see any light source. I slowed down to a walking pace, hoping to make out any words. But even in the silence of the forest, that conversation was whispered so quietly that it did not carry far enough. Just as I thought that I’d seen two figures a good two hundred meters ahead of me on the path, I felt a tingly sensation in my eye.

I followed the ethereal red ribbon away from the path, and into the forest. I was seriously considering giving up on all this crap and going back home. I was not feeling up for a fight, especially if I had to fight alone, or worse yet, if this had indeed been some kind of trap and I’d have to fight against Cain. The ribbon vanished, and I was stuck, not physically but morally, thinking as to what I should do next.

“Laura!” A familiar voice called out.

I turned in the direction of the voice and saw none other than Cain run up towards me.

“What’s going on?” I asked him, unconsciously raising my sword up in a guard.

“We need to get out. Things went wrong, I didn’t think they’d be this far out. Which way is back?”

I looked at him in confusion. He clearly knew more than me as to what was going on. So, I chose not to reply, waiting for him to explain himself.

“We need to go.” He repeated with an unsteady voice. “You’ll get in trouble if we don’t.”

“You mean those people in the woods?” I asked.

“You saw them?!” He exclaimed. “I didn’t think they’d seen you…”

I started walking in the direction that led back to the bus station. That was the reasonable thing to do; just go, and not look back. But I stopped after taking a few steps.

“Do you know them?” I asked. Then, not wanting there to be any confusion, I added, “Are those people from your town?”

Cain slowly nodded.

Well, that settled the issue. They were shady, but that was no longer my business.

“Then I’ll be on my way.” I said.

I took a few more steps before glancing back and noticing that Cain was following me. I took a deep breath and turned around to face him.

“Goodbye.”

“Goodbye indeed.” A female voice whispered into my ear, as I felt a sudden pain in my abdomen.

 

Just like when I was under that bridge, as if in slow motion, my hand move on its own, above my head, before violently jerking towards whoever it was that was standing before me.

Judging by the cry that person made, my blade had hit the target.

 

Oh right. With my free hand, I reached out behing my back, and pulled out the lance (as it had turned out to be) that was used to stab me. The wound began quickly closing back up.

 

“Someone get her!” The woman behind me yelled.

“No!” Cain interjected, as he jumped in front of me, extending his arms sideways as if getting ready to stop any incoming attacks.

“Who even are you people?” I spoke, trying to once again distract myself from the numb pain in my abdomen.

“That is grand, coming from the likes of you.” Another voice, an older-sounding one, spoke.

Suddenly, a ball of light appeared high up in the air illuminating the patch of forest around me. The ball of light split into five smaller ones, effectually creating a stage of sorts, for what was about to unfold. From the shadows of the surrounding forest, three figures emerged. One was that hunter whom I had seen earlier, one was small and wore an elaborate headdress that emulated the skull of a moose. The third carried a longsword, and a gun strapped in a holster over their chest. For what was supposed to be a naturalistic community, they sure carried a lot of firearms.

“Is this because of my father?” I asked because the words of that old person did sound very personal.

“No, this is because you have taken a child of the Withermore.” The old person with the hair-dress replied.

Before I had had the time to protest, and explain the situation, the woman with the lance attacked me. I jumped backwards, dodging the attack. Just as I did so, I saw the hunter point their rifle at me. Then, the woman suddenly fell to the ground, screaming, as she scratched at her face.

“Stop!” Cain ordered, turning towards the elder with the headdress.

“You stop!” The swordsman pointed their blade at me, in an accusatory fashion.

“I did nothing to begin with!” I tried to defend myself.

“You have a lot of nerve, walking into our land like that. You think that because you are close to their settlements, their governments will protect you, but you are wrong.” The elder spoke.

 

“Can we please just talk for-”

“It didn’t work.” The elder cut me short, before nodding towards the swordsman and hunter.

My sad attempts at diplomacy had proven to be in vain. The swordman launched at me, and I barely had the time to step out of the way. My blade was burning in my hand, telling me to counter-attack. But my mind kept going back to that scene under the bridge. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. All I had wanted was to bring Cain home. No, even before that –

I dodged another attack, as I circled around the lancer who was still under the effect of whatever skill Cain had used (at least I presumed that was what had happened). I was hoping to put some distance between me and the swordsman.

“I told you before-” Cain spoke to the elder again. But his words were cut short by the deafening ring of a gunshot.

 

 

I groaned in pain, letting my guard down for a split second. The swordsman closed the space between us, ignoring his comrade on the ground. I barely had the time to push aside his blade with mine.

“Whatever it is you think did I didn’t do!” I exclaimed.

“Oh, so it wasn’t you who took this child from our village three years ago?” The swordsman asked, closing the distance between us once again.

“No! I came to bring him back.”

“hmm.” The swordsman smirked. “Strange. He told us the same story.”

He took another swing, and I moved to take cover behind a tree, both from him, and the hunter.

“How is that strange, it’s the truth!” I argued.

“We may believe you if you release him from whatever spell you have him under.” The elder spoke.

“There is no spell, I’m a courier!” I cried out in a desperate voice.

I could not understand why or how these people had gotten that idea into their heads, or what I could do to convince them otherwise. Actually, at this point, my best plan was to just get out of here and let them handle this amongst themselves.

The swordsman swung his blade at me once more, but it changed directions midway in the air, and I was unable to block it.

 

 

I felt tears of pain gathering at the corner of my eyes, and when I reached to the spot on my shoulder where the sword had hit, I felt my own blood run out of the empty wound.

“She’s telling the truth. I have been too. Please stop!” Cain cried out.

His tone was so desperate, I had never heard him talk in such a way before. I briefly considered the idea that I shouldn’t leave him with these crazy people, but then the swordsman attacked me once more, and I was quickly snapped back to reality.

“And what will you do then, child? Will you attack one of your own again.” The elder spoke, gesturing towards the lancer who was still scratching at her face, mumbling something unintelligible.

Cain looked like he didn’t know what to do.

The hunter looked like he was about to fire.

And the elder had a wicked smile painted amongst the wrinkles of their face as if they were having a jolly ol’ time, witnessing all of this.

“Fuck it.” I muttered and dashed back towards the path.

I heard I gunshot, but the shot itself didn’t land. A tingling sensation in my eye told me to turn back, but I couldn’t. I stopped in my tracks, trying to spot the danger my skill was making me avoid. In that split second where I stood still, another gunshot echoed through the forest. At that exact same time, Cain yelled ‘no!’ but I didn’t turn around to see what was going on.

 

 

Perhaps I should have, in retrospect, as I felt a sharp pain in my leg. I could no longer bear my own weight, and I collapsed onto the frozen ground.

I heard footsteps behind me, and grabbed my sword harder. There was a way out, an easy one at that; a way that would take me straight home.

“Just undo the spell already.” The hunter spoke for the first time, as they approached behind me.

Their carabine was aimed at my head.

“There is no spell.” I said, in as loud and steady of a voice as my condition would allow.

I wasn’t dying, but I was hurting a lot.

“Let me go!”

Hearing Cain’s voice, I turned around, to see the swordsman carrying under his arm. They were heading in my direction, along with the elder.

“Did you really just leave that woman there?” I asked.

I felt the tip of the gun pressed to my head. I didn’t want to look. My heart was beating faster than it ever did, but the sword in my hand filled me with a strange reassurance. It was almost as if it was telling me that if this was the path I had chosen, that I should at least take my own life, and get away that way.

“There is no fucking spell.” I spoke again.

“That we shall see.” The elder spoke, as thy kneeled before me.

I raised my blade close to my chest, not quite in a guard.

Suddenly the eyes of the elder filled with eerie green light, as they started right at me.

“No!” Cain cried out once again.

I looked up at him. He was wriggling around, but not making any active effort to escape from the swordsman's hold. I wondered why he was putting up all that show. But it didn’t really matter.

With a shaking hand, I gently touched my chest with the tip of my sword. All it would take was one stab. I could close my eyes. I probably should –

“Huh.” The elder suddenly spoke, as the energy vanished from around their eyes. “There truly was no spell.”

“As I have been telling you!” Cain argued.

I gave the elder an annoyed look. There were no words to describe how I felt.

“Well, now that that’s dealt with, could you get Berenice? Let’s head back home.” The elder spoke, as they got up.

“What about her?” The swordsman asked.

“She didn’t do anything!” Cain argued once again.

“We don’t need witnesses.” The elder spoke.

“But ulama, we do not kill outsiders simply for being such.” The hunter spoke.

The elder looked up at them, their face becoming grim.

“No you can’t kill her!” Cain finally punched the swordsman, freeing himself.

He tried crossing the short distance between us, but was quickly stopped by the elder.

“Child, you more than anyone must know how dangerous outsiders are.” The elder spoke.

I felt my head spinning. Perhaps I was losing too much blood. Perhaps I simply had enough of their pointless chit-chat. I had done what I had come to do, and it was time to go home.

“These outsiders were the ones to take you from us.” The elder spoke. “And now you are taking their side? And what next? You have seen what these monsters are capable of, you must have. And if it’s for the Single Balance, then isn’t one sacrifice all you need to make?”

Those words did not seem to be addressed at Cain, but rather at the hunter. When I looked up and our eyes locked, I understood that he was about to shoot.

“Go to hell.” I turned towards the elder.

Then, I pushed my sword through my own chest.

The blade felt warm, in a comfortable sort of way. Time seemed to have stopped, but no one around me was moving. I wondered what happened to my body when I –