Crickets chirped, with soft grass beneath her fingers. Her head throbbed as pain flared across her body. Slowly opening her eyes, she could see the moon and stars through the trees. But the entire sky and even the treetops were turning. Voices cut through the ringing in her ears.

“You only saved her because you wanted to be the knight in shining armor!”

“I saved her for all of us.”

“Oh, please! You only wanted her blood.”

“And? Why did you save her?!”

“I saved her because-”

Luna’s breath hitched. The world blurred, water gathering in her eyes before she could blink them away. Her chest tightened, a stuttering gasp clawing up her throat. A sharp choking sob tore out of her and cut the argument short. Lyzal and Saros watched as Luna’s shaking body tried to sit up. With great effort, Luna sat up, trying to catch her breath as her whole body shook even more, and her head lightly circled around. Lyzal and Saros approached Luna quietly.

“How are you feeling?” Saros quietly asked.

“I just survived a fall that probably should have killed me. My entire body aches. The world is spinning. And two maiaaks are bantering about how each had a selfish reason to save me. How do you think I feel?!” Luna snapped.

Saros pressed his lips together, not sure how to respond. He leaned back on his heels feeling the tension in the air. Lyzal adjusted the weight on her leg to the other, folding her arms. Luna examined her body, seeing all the various tears in her clothes and blood that seeped through, along with the smaller cuts being scabbed over. Clumsy, she searched the bag on her waist for the salve. Miraculously, it survived the fall. With shaky hands, she applied a little to her wounds. She didn’t think she would use it at all, let alone this soon.

“How long was I out for? What-what happened to the v’lur?”

“A few hours.” Saros replied to the first question.

“He left us. Went back towards the town. Probably to finish it.” Lyzal replied to the second.

Luna paled at the thought of the v’lur going back. Breathing harder, and her shaking getting worse. Saros strongly nudged Lyzal.

“What?” Lyzal spoke sharply to Saros.

“He could have flown past. You know, gone back home?” Saros tried to comfort Luna while jabbing Lyzal to agree. But she only rolled her eyes.

Luna knew it was an empty comfort, and that Lyzal was probably right. But even if she wanted to help, she wasn’t sure if she could. Which brought the next question.

“Where are we?”

“The forest below. A lot denser than the one we’ve been traveling in. With no proper direction. In short, we’re lost.” Lyzal didn’t seem to mind being bluntly truthful. “If you remove the bond from my wings, I can look and at the very least I’ll point you in the right direction.”

Luna put her head between her hands. The world was slowing down, but her head still throbbed. “I can’t.” Luna mumbled.

Lyzal raised an eyebrow. “Look, I know this mission of yours is very important, but our only way out is if I get a good view. So unless you-”

“It’s not that I don’t want to! I can’t. I can undo the bond, but not the enchantment on your wings. The Elyssar is the one to put them on. I can’t overpower the Elyssar.”

When the silence became suffocating, Luna looked up to see genuine shock on Lyzal’s face, with a mix of fury.

“You could just climb a tree.” Saros pointed out the obvious.

“You climb a tree!” Lyzal snapped, aiming her fury at Saros. “I have wings for a reason! I belong in the sky, not…” Lyzal’s voice cracked, “not stuck on the dirt like some grounded animal.”

Luna could swear she could see Lyzal was shaking. But she couldn’t tell if it was from being scared or furious. Then she realized.

“Those markings on the v’lur,” Luna started.

“What about them?” Lyzal rolled her eyes at the change of subject.

“They were the markings of Meraki. They were… etched into his body.” Luna covered her mouth with her hand in realization. “Why would they do that?”

“A form of torture, what else? Are you sure you have all your wits?”

Luna tightened her grip on her mouth as she felt her stomach turn. “Torture?! I-I don’t understand why. What would be the point?”

“Do you know anything about your own faith? Its true nature?”

“Its true nature? It’s ridding the Earth of all maiaaks.”

“Is it really that simple though? V’lurs are playful by nature. Curious. Mischievous. We don’t attack without reason.”

“No… they caught it. They-Elysian doesn’t torture!”

“Then what do you call those markings?” Lyzal jabbed a glare at the memory of the glowing etches. “Decorations? You think he asked to have curses engraved on his body?” She spits on the ground. “Anyone would strike back if they were chained and cut for existing.”

“They wouldn’t–”

Luna’s breath hitched. Her stomach lurched, a warning she didn’t catch in time. She rolled over onto her side and retched into the grass, the forest spinning wildly around her.

Lyzal’s anger softened for a heartbeat. Saros stood silently, eyeing the two. Luna spit out the rest, and sat back proper, wiping her mouth. Her gaze fixed on a small patch of dirt in the grass.

Am I a fool? But in what sense? Who am I failing?

After a moment of silence, Luna stood up and whispered her spell. Lyzal and Saros suddenly felt a weight lift.

“What are you doing?” Saros asked.

“You’re free. Both of you.”

Lyzal scuffed. How free was she if she couldn’t use her wings properly?

“Why’d you save me?” Luna asked, looking up at Lyzal. Lyzal stared angrily and confused. “I heard Saros’s reason, but not yours. Why save me when you could have been free?”

Lyzal didn’t respond at first. “Something about you intrigues me.”

Luna let out a dry laugh. They all remained silent as Luna got stuck in her own head. The silence was heavy, but Luna tried to not pay much mind to it. She needed to understand the world and her own religion better. She also needed to get stronger so that she could hold her own. That v’lur would have shredded her if it weren’t for the Disenthrall who sacrificed themselves, Saros, and Lyzal. Taking a deep breath as she stood up and walking to Lyzal, Luna stared into her eyes. “Help me get stronger.”

Lyzal’s eyes widened.“Haaa?!” and then she began to actually laugh. After she calmed down, she noticed Luna hadn’t moved and still had the same determined expression. “Oh, you’re serious.”

Luna nodded, determination in her eyes.

Lyzal tilted her head, examining Luna. Slowly, a small grin formed‌. “I knew I liked you for a reason.” Then she paused, giving Luna another look over. “Fine, we’ll start tomorrow.”

Luna’s shoulders relaxed as she smiled softly , nodding her head again in agreement. Making her way to a corner of the small area that they were in, she laid back down.

It didn’t take long for Luna to fall back to sleep. Lyzal perched herself up in a tree, while Saros sat leaning against the same tree. Neither went to sleep. In fact, they were both on high alert. Neither of them spoke of it, but they both felt it. Something dangerous lurked in the forest. The issue is that neither of them could tell where. Whatever it was, it was patiently watching. As the night progressed, the weight of the darkness grew heavier. Almost suffocating. 

Morning light felt like it took longer than usual to shine. The darkness didn’t fade away like it normally does when night turns into day. No, it was almost as if the darkness evaporated away.

The sun was high enough to light up the area; it suddenly felt like they were no longer holding their breath. Saros stood up, rubbing his face, and stretching. Lyzal jumped down. Wasting no time, she walked up to Luna and lightly kicked her.

“Get up. We need to get going.”

Luna grumbled as she rubbed her side that Lyzal had kicked. Sitting up, Luna did small stretches. Rolling her ‌eyes, Lyzal grabbed Luna by her upper arm, pulling her up on her feet. 

“What is with you?! I know we aren’t exactly friends, but, bless Meraki, you’re being so rough.”

“I don’t want to be here longer than necessary.” Lyzal spoke as she walked back to the tree she had been in during the night.

“We don’t even know where we’re going!” she painfully reminded. “The map had us going to Candlecross next, but I’m guessing that is out of the question now.” Luna trailed off.

With a deep sigh, Lyzal jumped into the tree and climbed.

“What is she doing?”

“Hopefully, finding a way out of here.” Saros responded.

After a quiet moment, Lyzal jumped down with an annoyed expression.

“Which way do we go?” Luna nervously asked.

“Don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? Didn’t you just look?”

“I saw no path that could be taken, and we can’t climb from where we fell.”

“Are you sure?” Saros took a step closer.

“If you want to try, it’s that way.” Lyzal pointed in what Luna could only assume was the direction they fell from. After a moment of pause, “I did see a very small clearing off some ways. But it could take us the day, maybe two, to get there.” Lyzal then pointed in a different direction.

“May not be promising, but better to start somewhere.” Saros spoke up, grabbing the larger bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

“You’re coming?” Luna side-eyed Saros.

“I’m not a climber, so I’m not about to try something that sounds futile. Also, who knows how long it’ll be before I see another human.” Saros grinned at Luna.

Luna felt a shiver go down her spine as she turned to Lyzal. “You too?”

“You’re asking? I thought you wanted my help to get stronger.”

“I-!” Luna paused, paling as she realized that she had asked a maiaak to help her get stronger. But in this current situation, “I do.” Luna paused, debating whether she should continue to explain herself. “I just thought since you were free now, you would go your own way?”

Lyzal rolled her eyes. “I would have left in the middle of the night if that had been the case. Also, the clearing is the best starting point with no direction, and besides, I’m not completely free. With you getting stronger, you should be able to undo the enchantment on my wings. Right?” Lyzal’s glare dug into Luna’s soul.

“I haven’t heard of such a thing, but by reason, it’s possible. But wouldn’t it take years of training for me to get strong enough?”

Lyzal walked past in the direction she pointed in. “Guess we’ll see.”