The sound of fast, urgent footsteps made ZaiWin¹Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos). stand up and turn around, just in time to see Snow’s anxious face as he ran towards him. He still held his ice bow in one hand, and he looked so pale that ZaiWin wouldn’t have found it strange if he were to simply collapse where he stood and faint. And yet he was still running to reach him, his wide, pale eyes fixed on him. And then it suddenly dawned on him.

“Wait! Stop!” he shouted and the boy immediately halted, no more than a few steps away from him, his breathing short and fast.

“You can’t come here. There’s blood everywhere,” ZaiWin stated, looking at his own hands and arms, now covered in a thick, dark substance. His entire clothes were drenched in it.

Snow frowned.

If the forest had smelled bad, that place smelled so disgustingly foul that he was doing his best not to throw-up.

Now that ZaiWin had stopped using his daitai² Literally dai (light) + tai (mark), or Holly Markings, considered Heavenly Blessings. They’re the source of power., he could clearly see him again. But he was still covered in darkness. It dripped from his face and hands like it had dripped from the feimao³Literally fei (raging / furious) + mao (beast / monster). Raving beasts that appear in unbalanced, ungoverned lands. They possess destructive markings that in turn corrupt the land even further. Hard to explain in just 2 lines -_-; Anyway. Bad, vicious things that need to be killed.'s distorted body. And yet he could also smell the scent of blood. Human blood. Which meant that he hadn’t been wrong, and that ZaiWin had been injured back then, when he’d seen him fall.

Snow really, really wanted to go to him and heal his wounds. So much so that just forcing himself to stand there and do nothing made his chest feel painfully constricted. But he also knew ZaiWin was right, and that making himself sick would only add to his troubles instead of helping.

“I’ll lead you outside, but you must keep your distance, do you understand?”

Snow understood. But he didn’t like it one bit. Besides, ZaiWin wasn’t the only one in need to be cleansed. If left like this, sooner or later, another of those creatures would appear in that forest again. He didn’t know why or how, but he could tell that that horrible thing had been born from the land itself.

Making up his mind, Snow closed his eyes and relaxed.

The forest was too big and, like VinWei had told him, if he used more than one array, he’d probably exhaust himself before reaching everywhere. And so he focused only on one. Healing and restoring would have to be left for another time. For now, if he could at least cleanse all that darkness it would be good enough.

ZaiWin’s eyes widened when he saw the golden circle of markings surround the boy’s feet.

“Snow? What are you doin …” He wasn’t even able to finish his question, before the small circle quickly widened, spreading across the ground, slipping under his feet, covering the entire land in that soft golden glow at its passage.

ZaiWin could immediately feel the darkness covering his body dissolving away, evaporating into thin air, releasing his skin from that sticky, disgusting sensation, and releasing his mind from the crushing weight it always brought with it. The air, though still stale and deadly silent, became much easier to breathe. But the most amazing thing was happening right beneath his feet as, like with the black substance that had covered him from head to toe, the darkness that had dyed the land was quickly disappearing as well, leaving the normal grayish-brown color of dirt in its place.

The thudding sound of something falling immediately captured his attention, and he saw Snow on the ground, on his hands and knees. The protective glow around him had disappeared, probably because he had decided to divert all his energy into cleansing the land. And although he was breathing with much more difficulty, he still clearly refused to stop.

The damn brat was going to exhaust himself to death!, ZaiWin concluded, quickly checking his own hands to be sure they were completely clean before he quickly made his way to him.

The sudden increase in pressure all around him almost threw him back, forcing ZaiWin to raise his arms to protect his face.

Squinting, he could now clearly see the current of wind circling fiercely around the boy like an impenetrable shield. Had he unwillingly activated his wind daitai?, ZaiWin wondered, trying to move against the strong current of air but unable to take a single step forward. And then a soft silver glow appeared from the boy’s back, and he could only stand there and stare in amazement and disbelief.

Snow lowered his head, his forehead pressed against the ground, his hands buried in the grayish, dry dirt. And the strings of silver light over his back slowly took shape, forming a beautiful, frail pair of wings.

It was as if someone had just driven a sharp needle straight into ZaiWin's heart, and he couldn’t help wince at the sudden stinging pain. And then he could clearly feel it, his own energy being swept away, being sucked out from his own body. He immediately raised all the defenses he could remember, successfully cutting himself off from that magnetic pull. He could more or less understand what was happening. The brat was running low on energy and had somehow managed to tap into ZaiWin’s energy through the link they shared. But that was something he just could not allow to happen! No matter what!

Snow’s entire body was now tense and trembling and then, just like before, his silver wings simply exploded into thousands of small bright sparks and everything was over. The wall of wind around him died away and Snow’s small body simply fell to one side with a thud.

The stupid brat!, ZaiWin cursed, rushing to his side. He most definitely was going to tie him up and leave him behind the next time!

He felt so hot now that a shiver ran down ZaiWin’s spine the moment he touched him. And his clothes were drenched in sweat, his silver hair plastered to his face, the dirt from the ground glued to his forehead.

“Snow? Hey!” ZaiWin touched his face, trying to wake him, and then looked around.

The golden glow of his array had also disappeared, and they were still in the middle of a dead forest. But, somehow, it just wasn’t the same anymore.

Now the stillness that surrounded them was actually peaceful. Sad, yes, but peaceful. The darkness and corruption had all been swept away. Had Snow cleansed the entire forest?, ZaiWin asked himself, looking at the boy again, gently pulling him up and holding him against his chest.

Snow was too hot, he knew. But, at the same time, that also brought him some relief. If he was hot that meant he was still alive. And the warm breath he felt against his chest left a smile on his lips.

Still, he should try and lower his body temperature, ZaiWin considered. And there was only one place he knew of, close enough that he’d be able to jump them there.

Placing a protective hand over the boy’s head, ZaiWin closed his eyes and took them away from that forest.

Silvareiel

So ... who saved the day in the end?? ?