13 Years Ago

It was a dark night in Sambadon. The only light seen in the isolated village was created by the full moon casting an eerie glow in the calm, murky brown water. The decrepit huts lined up next to the shoreline were filled with huddled-up families trying to preserve the little warmth the straw huts provided.

Miserable as they were, their lives ruled by fear and hatred, the villagers of the island were oblivious to the danger lurking nearby. They couldn't have known. Nobody should have known. The little girl's cries of pain were muffled by a pair of gloved hands and carried off by the howling wind, never heard of again.

Time was always a confusing thing in Sambadon, but everyone in the little village was asleep. Well, they were supposed to be. One little boy had looked straight into the girl's crystal blue, pleading eyes that night. From that day forth, he had carried the burden of hearing her muted screams carry on and on into the night, of hearing her tortured cries finally die down to the mere sound of her final breath and the thud of her body collapsing lifelessly onto the cold ground. One little boy had known at almost 8 years old what it was like to have the same nightmares every sleepless night.

Karyen knew what pain was. He knew what grief was. His own father had died quietly on the island when he was 6, never spoken of again as if he had never existed - as if he had been erased from history itself. So when they came to take him away, he ran as fast as he could. He had a chance to escape. And he was going to take it.

The test. One mention of it would send fierce warriors to their knees, begging for the memories to stop. Nobody lived a day past their eighth birthday without taking the test. Some had tried escaping it. They always caught up to them eventually, the sheer impossibility of freedom reflected in the still, cold eyes of the little girl. 

Those who had taken it would rarely speak about it. Memories cut so deep into their hearts that they screamed all night, plagued by nightmares. It was made to test how brave you were, how much you could withstand, how easily you would break.

It was made to kill you.

Karyen's eighth birthday was tomorrow.

 

2: Chapter 1

Karyen

Present day

"No."

I had once been afraid to say the simple word, but that had changed quickly. Even as the giant man before me placed a threatening hand on his wickedly sharp sword, I stood my ground unflinchingly, narrowing my eyes in mock offence. "What, are you as cruel and cowardly as to strike a man half your size?"

The giant snorted loudly and looked down at me as if I was no more of a threat to him than his own thumb.

"You are hardly a man. I could easily crush you with a flick of my hand. Don't anger me, boy, or things will not end well for you."

"I'm afraid you are terribly mistaken, my friend," I retorted in amusement. I drew out my own sword from its sheath and pointed it toward him, my features slowly curving into a dry smile. "I think this is the part where you sincerely apologize and beg me to spare your life."

The giant roared in anger and charged toward me, face twisted with rage.

"Well, that's not exactly the type of apology I had in mind ... but I like the enthusiasm." I winked at him mockingly and swiftly stepped to the side, causing him to barrel into the wall behind me and smash his head against the cold brick stone.

"Careful, I don't think you can afford losing anymore brain cells. You don't have any to spare, I'm afraid." I laughed as the huge man howled in pain, clutching his head with his meaty hands.

"Give me my money, you cheat, or you'll be sorry you ever met me," he threatened menacingly, but it was hard to take him seriously when he was hunched over in agony. 

"Well, here's the thing. I already am sorry I ever met you, Thomas. With people like you in this world, I seriously need to have a deep and meaningful talk with your mother about reproducing with idiots because we really do not need those genetics passed on again," I taunted, which only served to further enrage him. Thomas howled again and slowly straightened, blood dripping from his nose. 

"You think you're so funny, Karen, but just wait and see how funny you are when you're dead."

I shook my head reproachingly at his pathetic attempt at a threat, and without a second glance, I flung my blade into the air. I watched as it smoothly glided through the room until it made contact with its target, successfully cutting the rope securing the two haystacks hanging above Thomas's head. While 80 pounds of hay rained down over Thomas, obscuring his vision, I quickly snuck up behind him and wound a rope around his feet and hands. Before he realized what had happened, Thomas was lying on the floor next to my muddy boots, immobilized by the tightly secured rope binding his body.

"It's Karyen, with a y, by the way. And yeah, I'm hilarious. So I suggest you swallow whatever bit of pride you have left, and tell me where she is."

Thomas jerked up to look at me, fear gleaming in his eyes as he finally seemed to realize who I was, or more likely, who I was after. He shook his head violently and started struggling against his bindings with renewed vigour. 

"He told me to deliver her straight to him. If I don't follow orders, he'll kill me, or worse," he wailed in despair. 

"What I'm about to do to you right now should scare you a lot more then what Alexei is going to do once he finds out you told me where the girl is. Do not make me angry, Thomas. You do not want to try my patience now."

I narrowed my eyes and started pacing the room as Thomas wriggled across the floor, inching his way to the door. She was here somewhere, in this room. I knew that much. But every second wasted with Thomas, who probably couldn't even count how many fingers he had on his own hand, was another second Alexei and his followers had to arrive and ruin all the effort I had put into rescuing this girl. My boots absolutely wrecked for nothing.

I stopped pacing and swept my eyes across the room, trying to find anything that could help me. Finally, after countless minutes of trying to block out Thomas's migraine-inducing grunts, I finally picked up a faint sound, barely audible, coming from … below me.

As the realization dawned on me, I almost slapped myself for not thinking of it sooner. I dropped to my knees and started to feel along the decomposed wood on the floor.

"What are you doing, trying to sniff her out like a dog? Get up, you look ridiculous. She's not even here." Thomas laughed nervously.

"Wow, a four syllable word. You must be really proud of yourself right now," I remarked, but all the humour in my voice drained as I finally found what I was looking for: a 2-inch height difference between two of the floorboards. Triumphantly, I dug my nails under the trapdoor concealed in the floor and heaved it open.

"No, he'll kill me. Please!" Thomas desperately thrashed, trying to stop me, but it was too late. As I flung the heavy door aside, I pondered the lack of security. The rescue seemed a bit too easy, despite the months and months it took to pinpoint her location. However, any thoughts still spinning through my head melted away when the broken sobs from the prison in the ground got louder, then abruptly stopped.

My eyes were greeted with the sight of a girl who looked no older than 18, huddled in a dirty corner with her body bent over itself, trying to appear as small as possible. My gaze dropped down to her arms, which were linked to a rusty chain secured to the wall. Trying to remain as detached as possible, I quickly lowered myself into the room and whipped out my sword, advancing toward her. Panic and terror registered on her face as she desperately tried to get away from me, tugging at her metal bindings. A flash of sympathy jolted through me as I wordlessly lifted my sword and brought its full force down on the chain, the harsh clink of the two clashing metals causing the girl to cringe and lower her head to her knees. She wrapped her frail arms around herself to hide her face, but the telltale shaking of her body was hard to miss. I repeated the process a few more times until the chain finally gave away.

I turned my attention back to the girl, who had not moved from her position on the ground. I noticed how skinny and dirty her pale body was, as if she had no recollection of the words sun, food, or water. When she finally lifted her head from her knees, I observed the dark purple circles under her eyes and the bruises that ran along her face and neck, no doubt also spread across her entire body.

I slowly moved toward her, trying to find the words to assure her that I meant no harm.

"Wh-what's happening?" she croaked, sounding out the syllables as if she hadn't used her vocal cords to speak in a long time. I winced at the hoarseness of her voice and crouched down so that we were eye to eye. I gently moved my hands towards the cuffs still encircling her wrists and tore them open using the flat edge of my sword, exposing the harsh red marks they had left behind. They clattered to the floor, and I kicked them as far away as possible.

"I'm here to...to-"

I couldn't bear to tell her the real reason behind her rescue, the words catching in my throat.

"To free you," I finally decided, extending a hand to help her up. Her shaking arm reached for mine hesitantly, but when she finally grasped my wrist, her hold was firm.

I was suddenly aware of the clock ticking down the hours - possibly even minutes - I had until reinforcements arrived to check on her. I looped an arm under her legs and the other around her back, lifting her with disturbing ease. She gasped in surprise and feebly fought back for a moment, but eventually let her body go limp.

"You're safe now, don't worry. I'm sorry, but we need to leave right now. Once we're in a more secure location I'll tell you everything you want to know," I tried reassuring her as I approached the opening of the prison and pushed her out onto the wooden floor. Not wanting to take my eyes off her for even a second, I vaulted myself out as quickly as possible without sparing the prison a second glance.

As I scanned my eyes over her, I noticed she was studying me analytically, probably deciding whether to trust me or not. Maybe she wasn't such a lost cause after all.

"What about him?" She nodded in Thomas's direction, who was still desperately trying to stop us. I was surprised at how much stronger her voice carried, the scared little girl from the prison slowly fading away.

"Don't worry about Thomas. Let's just get out of here before someone else decides to check on him."

"Okay, but who are you, and how did you know I was in there? How did you find me? Where are we going now? Why did you..."

I picked her up again, efficiently halting the flow of questions, and started walking towards the door until I heard Thomas whisper menacingly,

"They say they grow up too fast. They were right. Look at you. You're just a child playing dress up in your father's fancy clothes!" Thomas raised his voice to a shout, and I stiffened. I turned my walk into a sprint, determined to leave as soon as possible. As I burst through the door, I was instantly soaked by the pouring rain outside, the biting cold cutting through my bones.

"Let's go!" I yelled above the harsh splatter of raindrops and violent wind. I knew of a few local farmers who were familiar with my organization and would provide us with safe shelters, but at the moment, I couldn't see a foot in front of me, much less march onwards merrily with the girl. A huge gust of wind suddenly knocked me to my knees, dumping the girl on top of me. I tried standing up again, but the wind just pushed me back down to the dirt, beating my head against the rocky path. I hadn't slept for nearly three days, obsessed with searching for this girl that was somehow the key to everything, so when the edges of my vision started to blur and blacken, I knew I should have fought the oncoming darkness harder. A few months of hard work all down the drain just because of a bit of wind, some tiny raindrops and a few sleepless nights.

I was so close, I thought, and the last thing I remembered before blacking out was clinging to the girl's hand, somehow finding comfort in the fact that I had given everything I had to fulfill my father's wish.

And that someone so owed me a new pair of boots.

3: Chapter 2

Karyen

I heard her before I saw her. As I slowly regained consciousness, I heard the girl's voice suddenly shout with excitement and pick up something by the bed. I slowly peeled my eyes open, not looking forward to the oncoming dizziness I was already beginning to feel. At first, all I saw was a sort of dull yellow. Then, I realized that she had her arms around me, and her blonde hair was all over my face.

I slowly sat up and realized that I was sitting in a surprisingly comfortable, but shaggy, old bed.

"I'm sorry for attacking you like that, but I'm just so glad you're alive!" The girl exclaimed as she pulled away from the embrace.

"I'm Alandra Aert, by the way. Remember, the girl you rescued?" she said while holding out a jug filled with water.

I gratefully took the water from her hands and cast my eyes to the floor, not bothering to mention that I already knew her name. Just like I already knew every single detail about her.

"Thanks. And yeah, I remember everything that happened yesterday. Where are we?" I didn't realize how thirsty I was until I actually started drinking from the jug. Within five seconds, I had drained the last drops.

"I have no idea where we are." Alandra nervously brushed back a blonde strand of hair. "There was a sign next to the tavern, but the font was too small, and I was kind of in a hurry, because, you know, you were unconscious, but uh, what do you mean by you remember everything that happened yesterday?" she said all in one breath.

"You were unconscious for 3 days. I barely managed to pull you inside this um, kind of abandoned hut before the lightning started."

"3 days?" I shouted, but tried to calm down for her sake. None of this was Alandra's fault, and the poor girl looked ready to bolt out the door at any moment.

Alandra started fidgeting nervously, her fingers working furiously to detangle her matted hair. I watched as her dark blue eyes shifted from her hair, to her fingers, then to me.

"I have a lot of questions I need to ask you, as you must have guessed by now. Your name would be a good start...?"

"Karyen Stone," I said hesitantly after a few moments of thought. I wasn't sure if I could entirely trust her yet, but after finding out I was practically in a coma the last three days, I guess you could say I was a bit off my game. She also did probably save both our lives, which was ironic. Here I was, thinking I was her grand rescuer, here to save her from the clutches of evil, when all I really managed to do was open a door and then pass out mid-getaway. So much for her knight in shining armour.

"Karyen Stone," she repeated experimentally, testing out the sound of my name.

"That's me," I added unnecessarily, trying to cover up how uncomfortable I was.

She paused, deep in thought, and I thought that was the end of that, but she quickly redirected her piercing gaze toward me and started her rapid assault of questions.

"Okay, so how the hell did you find out where I was taken after I was kidnapped? Do you work for them? Were those guys going to kill me? Because I'm going to tell you exactly what I told the first guy - I don't know anything about my mother's work, okay? And if you don't work for them, who do you work for? Why me?"

Alandra looked frustrated, but on the inside, I could tell she was also scared. Her eyes were glistening with barely held-back tears that accentuated the dark shadows under her eyes. It made her look so vulnerable, and I immediately wanted to tell her things were going to get better. That, of course, was a lie. Things were only going to get much, much worse. Besides, I wasn't really a fan of empty promises.

"Hey look. I found you by following Alexei's men here. Trust me, if I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead, and I certainly don't work for them. I work for an organization called PWFBG, and their whole mission is to take down Alexei and anybody who works for him. Oh god, what time is it? I feel like my head is about to explode." I groaned as a sharp headache clawed at the back of my head.

Alandra looked worried, but I waved off her concerns, and she quickly started asking more questions. God, this girl didn't seem to have a mute button.

"What does PWFBG stand for?"

"It stands for, uh, Protecting World... From Bad Guys." I smirked as she glared at me, but my smile quickly faded into a grimace as another painful headache took over all of the thoughts in my mind.

"My mission is to keep you safe, and out of danger. I would die before Alexei's men got their hands on you again," I declared in between groans of pain. Something was wrong. Alandra's face started to fade in and out of focus.

"I don't want you to think like that. None of us are going to die. Who is this Alexei guy anyway? Why is he so important, and how do you know him? Is it through your little secret club you don't want to tell me about?"

I sighed in relief as my headache finally eased up and held back my smile.

Never in my life did I have to deal with so many questions all at once. Usually, either my enemy told me the information I wanted to know, or they wouldn't be able to talk about anything ever again.

"Alexei was an old rival of my father's," I answered.

"Was?"

"He died 15 years ago from a heart attack."

"Oh...I'm sorry. My-my mom, well she uh -"  She was struggling to find the words that would convey the devastating loss she had suffered, the words to make me understand how horrible it was. But the truth was, I already understood, more than she could ever imagine.

"She was kidnapped by the same men that took me. I don't even know if she's still alive at this point," Alandra managed to get out. I pretended not to notice how her voice got choked up, or how she wiped away a few tears from the corners of her eyes.

I watched her struggle to compose herself, growing more and more uncomfortable. This wasn't how my other missions usually went. I usually went out, got to kill some bad guys, got to threaten the ones I wasn't allowed to kill, then went back to find out the details of my next assignment. Talking about sensitive topics like missing or dead parents wasn't really my area of expertise.

Like it was perfectly in sync with my thoughts, my stupid headache came back, worse than ever.

Alandra laughed nervously as my vision turned blurry.

"Yeah… one tiny little thing you should know. I wasn't really sure who you were in the beginning, so I kind of, um… maybe poisoned your drink. Sorry about that."

I tried to jerk out of my bed in alarm, remembering the jug of water Alandra had given me when I first woke up, but quickly found that my arms and legs weren't listening to me. My eyes started to droop lower and lower, and I tried to say something, but my mouth felt like it was on fire. Where did she get the poison from? How had she managed to keep it on her all this time, and why did she have it in the first place? Couldn't she have found another use for it instead of, say, poisoning your would-be hero?

All these questions swirling in my mind suddenly made me sympathize with Alandra.

Great. Now I felt sorry for the girl who literally had just poisoned me.

"Don't worry, its temporary. Hopefully. Thanks for the information. Unfortunately, I won't stick around long enough to exchange mine. No offense, but I don't trust you, Karyen Stone. I hope you find everything you're looking for. Well, except for me." Her lips turned up in a sad smile. She tried to say something else, but her voice now sounded like she was speaking underwater.

Until now, I had neglected to ask the most important question of all: Who was Alandra Aert?

"No." I managed to say one last word before I closed my eyes for good and fell victim to the tattered mattress below me.

4: Chapter 3

Alandra

Three days ago

Four weeks.

That's how much time I spent curled in a little ball in my cold, dark prison, waiting for something to happen, anything to happen. My dirty legs bent uselessly underneath me, arms hugging my knees as if that would stop them from shaking. The men wouldn't tell me anything I wanted to know, not when I screamed at them to help me, not when I begged them. The only thing they told me was how many days had passed by, which was just as bad as not knowing anything at all - after all, it was just a reminder of how weak and helpless I was. Some nights were better than others. Some nights, I screamed and screamed until my throat was raw and cried until it was impossible to open my swollen, exhausted eyes. Those were the good nights.

The bad nights I hardly remembered, or rather didn't want to remember. Sometimes though, repressed memories broke through the surface of my cracked and battered protective shell, usually when I was sitting alone in a dark corner of what they liked to call my bedroom. I remembered the questions, the frustration when there were no answers to those questions. The black and blue marks scattered across my body constantly taunting me, their voices a chorus of never-ending pain. I was afraid that if I tried to relive those horrible nights, I'd break and shatter into a thousand pieces that I wouldn't be able to put back together again.

Four weeks.

When the door opened again, something was different. Light spilled into my room instead of the blackness I was usually greeted with, golden light so pure for a second I thought I had died in my sleep and this was the afterlife. Then a young boy jumped down, eyes sparkling with mischief and lips turned upwards in a smile full of secrets. He hoisted me out of my prison, and even as the rational side of my brain begged me to run, to slam my elbow into his face and take off, I was too tired to even blink both eyes at the same time.

So when my heroic saviour collapsed and blacked out right in the middle of trying to save me, I guess you could say I was a little disappointed. I envisioned myself being carried off into the sunset, finally at peace.

After a bit of complaining and a lot of self-pitying, I forced myself to shut down that train of thought. Even if I was weak, damaged, utterly exhausted, and broken beyond repair, I would not give up when I was this close to my freedom.

I was Alandra Aert. I was the daughter of Amilia Aert. I could do this.

I chanted my mantra to myself repeatedly as I uselessly tugged on the fallen boy's hand for the hundredth time. Even if my mind wasn't ready to give up, my body sure was.

I somehow managed to drag him a couple of steps through the pouring rain when I caught sight of two figures approaching in the distance. They seemed oblivious to our presence, laughing and talking despite the rain, so I stopped moving (not like I was moving much in the first place) and hunched over, trying to make myself disappear. The time I had spent in that awful prison had changed me forever. I was sure that from this moment on, I would never fully trust anyone ever again. I would always be scared of some unseen threat and would always be looking over my shoulder. However, it soon became evident that the only way I was going to leave this place alive was if I got help.

I stood up, cleaned off a little of the mud on my tattered dress, and shouted, "help!" as loud as I could over the pouring rain while waving my arm in the air. Large, fat raindrops crammed themselves down my throat, strangling me from the inside out, but I continued screaming and waving anyway, desperately trying anything I could to get their attention. Finally, after what seemed like years, the two figures seemed to stop and look in my direction. Even from a distance, I could see that they were two men, their large muscular bodies and tall statures giving them away. In a span of 10 seconds, they had covered the distance between us and were raking their eyes over my body, focusing on my bruises.

"My prayers have finally been answered! Thank goodness I stumbled upon such brave and strong men, I don't know what I would have done otherwise. You see, my husband is a cruel man, who I would do anything to get away from." I gestured to my bruises, willing tears to form in my eyes and spill down my cheeks, which wasn't hard given the circumstances.

"This was the night I was going to leave him, to finally be free to see the man I'm truly in love with. He was coming to rescue me, but my husband caught us trying to escape, and well..." I trailed off, pointing at the boy's unconscious form on the ground.

"I managed to lose him in the chaos of the storm, but he can't be far behind. If he catches us, I fear ... I fear his wrath. Do you know of some place my love and I can rest a few nights to recover and take refuge? I know this is asking quite a lot, but I would be so, so, so grateful." I batted my eyelashes, trying not to grimace as I did, and hoped it didn't look like I had something stuck in my eye.

Luckily, the two men practically fell over themselves to try and help me. One of them hoisted my "lover" on his broad shoulders like he weighed nothing, while the other man grabbed my hand and started leading me through the relentless rain. 

"You and your friend may stay in one of the huts next to the inn me and my brother own." He gestured proudly towards a structure so far away it was barely visible, then looked back at the man who must have been his brother.

"Anything you need, we will take care of! Don't worry, your husband will not harm you as long as you're with us."

Flattery. The oldest trick in the book.

Despite the shady-looking building in the distance and the fact that I had just met these men, I let out a sigh of relief. I had been making a lot of new acquaintances lately, it seemed.

Who knew? A little saving wasn't so bad after all.

 

5: Chapter 4

Alandra

2 days later

The sound of large mugs of beer slamming down against wood echoed throughout the small tavern. All around me, drunken men were laughing loudly and stumbling around, which annoyed me to no end.

The stupid boy was still passed out next to me, his body awkwardly slumped around one of the wooden tables. At this point, I was wondering if he would ever wake up and if I even cared about that in the first place. I mean, I hardly knew him. I wasn't his responsibility, and he certainly wasn't mine. However, every single time I came close to just taking off, leaving him to his own fate and not sparing a second thought about the stupid situation I had gotten myself into, the ever-present, pesky little voice some people call a conscience would speak up and kindly remind me to make the right choice.

Besides, I felt inexplicably drawn to him, the mysterious boy who had come to bring me the first sense of happiness and relief I had felt in weeks. I hadn't entirely minded being carried out in his arms like some sort of princess as he whisked me away from my prison, albeit the short getaway hadn't exactly been successful, and I was capable of taking care of myself. Well, sort of, considering the fact that I hadn't been able to do anything right since the moment I had got here, much less escape on my own. I took another glance at the boy sprawled across the table and decided I'd had enough excitement for one night. One of the two men who had led me here during the storm, whose name I learned was Gallin, once again slung the boy over his shoulder and kindly escorted us to our living quarters, which consisted of a terribly old, worn-down single bed and a wooden chair I was sure was built during the Stone Age.

"You sure you'll be fine on your own? I have a spare bed in my room, if you get scared being all by yourself." Gallin grinned suggestively, and although I knew he meant well, it took everything in me not to punch him in the face. Instead, I forced a plastic smile on my face and tried to mask my features into a look of gratitude and admiration.

"Oh, I am so grateful for your offer, as well as everything you've done for me, but as I'm sure you know, I have to stay by my ... lover's side in case he wakes up. Thank you for all your kind hospitality. I'm forever in your debt." Each word out of my mouth was sugar-sweet, as was the bright smile that came along with them.

"Well listen, if you run into any more trouble, here's something that might help for a couple hours. It won't do much, and it doesn't work immediately, but take it just in case."

Gallin winked at me as I curiously took the small vile from his hands and accepted the gift graciously. After a few more assurances I would be fine on my own, he finally left.

As soon as he was out the door, I collapsed onto the chair, half surprised it didn't buckle under my weight. Although it was early morning, I felt exhausted and couldn't be more relieved to finally get away from the loud clatter of the tavern.

"Why can't you just wake up?" I glared at the boy, considering slapping him in the face a few times to get him to come to his senses. The main reason I hadn't left as soon as I was free of my horrible prison was my thirst for the answers to all my questions. Answers I didn't think I would ever get until he arrived. I didn't understand so many things, and I partly blamed my mom for keeping me in the dark all this time. If she had just told me, maybe I could have protected us. If she had just told me, I would have known the danger we faced. Didn't she care about me? Didn't she ever stop to think that the men who persistently hunted her would eventually turn their attention towards me? But at the same time, somewhere deep inside of me, I knew she did care about me. She tried to protect me with every breath she took, and as a result, she got kidnapped by the same men who imprisoned me for a month. Not knowing for sure what had happened to my mom, I was in a constant state of denial. I refused to believe she was dead, or anything close to being dead. If I held onto that glimmer of hope, I could almost trick myself into believing I would save her before it was too late.

I struggled to fight back tears, knowing that crying wouldn't help. Yet the emotional dam I had built so long ago was close to flooding open, and I didn't know how much longer I could keep pushing it back.

Still deep in thought, I didn't immediately notice the boy's fingers twitching or the way his breathing was changing from the steady pace it had consistently been during the past three days. Finally, I glanced over and jumped up in surprise and excitement. Now that he was finally waking up, I had to make a decision on what I was going to do next. Option number one: Grill him for information and then leave right after on my own. Option number two: Get the information and stick with him afterwards in case I ran into more trouble. At the moment, I was leaning more towards option one due to my trust issues, but I couldn't figure out how to get away from him quickly without a struggle. I was vacillating between the two ideas when I remembered the vial I was tightly gripping in my right hand. I slowly brought it up to examine it, the container no bigger than my pinkie. Inside was a white powdery substance. At least it wasn't green or red or some other fatal-looking colour. Yet again, I was faced with a decision. Trust Gallin when he said the effects weren't immediate and wouldn't do much, or forget the entire thing and go back to option two.

"Not immediate. Not permanent. Not fatal," I quietly chanted to myself as I grabbed the jug of water I had brought back from the tavern and poured the mystery substance into it. Dammit, I should have asked Gallin what exactly it did, but now it was too late. I quickly stirred the mixture with my finger so that the last of the powder was dissolved and indistinguishable from the water, then placed it on the floor next to his bed.

"Sorry, Prince Charming," I muttered under my breath, "but I need my happy ending."

Then, I waited.

6: Chapter 5

Karyen

It was official: I hated Alandra Aert. I cursed her over and over again as I stumbled out of bed clumsily, barely managing to keep upright. A wave of dizziness hit me as I extended my legs for the first time in days, almost bringing me to my knees, but after a few more pathetic attempts, I finally managed to stand up and take a step forward. I glanced around the small hut looking for any trace of her, but the hollow, empty space, as well as the discarded jug of water lying carelessly on the floor, told me she had left as soon as the poison had started taking effect.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," I muttered to myself as the room finally stopped spinning around me, my vision sharpening. I wasn't exactly sure who I was blaming more, her or me. Her, for not trusting me. Me, for trusting her. Although I did admire her a tiny bit for conjuring up an escape plan out of virtually nothing. Damn, she was smarter than I had originally anticipated. How could I have missed it before? The sharp and quizzical look in her eyes on that innocent, scared face. The tilt of her head and the tightening of her fists on an otherwise seemingly harmless body.

Then again, she was the daughter of Dr. Amilia Aert. I should have expected nothing less.

I shook my head and started focusing the remainder of my energy on coming up with a plan. I needed to find her (again) and fast. I debated asking around about her, but that would only arouse suspicion and draw more attention to us, which was the last possible thing I wanted to be doing. I reached for the door, ready to do something, anything other than sit around and think about it, when the door flew backwards on its own, freezing my outstretched hand in its place.

Two men entered through the door, multiple scars running across the exposed skin on their faces and extremely tall, muscular bodies. Their eyes widened in shock upon seeing me, which was probably a mirror image of the expression I had on my face. My hand started inching towards the back of my waist, where I always kept my sword concealed under my clothing, but instead of feeling the cool bite of metal against my hand, I grabbed at empty air.

Once I recovered from my initial surprise, my eyes hardened with anger as the pieces of the puzzle slowly started assembling, forming the complete picture.

She took my sword.

On top of obliterating my dignity and my pride, Alandra Aert took my sword.

I tried to ignore the mess of emotions bubbling up inside of me and started scrambling for some kind of idea on what to do next. Fortunately, I didn't have to make a decision because suddenly, both of the strange men's postures relaxed and asked me something I never thought I would hear.

"Good to see you finally up, boy. Where's your lover?"

I took a step back warily and tried to wipe away the look of confusion struggling to break across my face, replacing it with an easygoing smile.

"Um, we had a bit of a disagreement and she got very angry. She ran off on her own, and I want to find her before she gets hurt, or worse. Do you know anything about where she could have gone?"

The taller man out of the two chuckled, as if something I'd said had been amusing.

"Lover's quarrel, eh? Well, lad, you're a lucky man to get your hands on such a beautiful and smart young woman. She's special."

"Yeah, she's special all right," I muttered unenthusiastically.

"May I ask, how did you meet my … lover?" The word tumbled awkwardly out of my mouth, sounding out of place in the tense air.

The two men looked at each other and shrugged in unison, almost as if they themselves weren't sure.

"We met her a few nights ago. Poor thing got caught in the storm. Had you next to her, lying on the ground like a rag doll. To be honest, we weren't sure you were still alive but … well here you are. Well, I'm Gallin, and this is Nolan. How do you feel?" Gallin asked rather sincerely, which was surprising considering I had known them for a grand total of two minutes.

"I've felt better, I guess." Especially when the girl I was trying to save didn't poison me and then run away, leaving me frantically trying to find her for the second time. As if finding her the first time wasn't hard enough.

"So…do you know where she was planning on going?" I tried to sound as disinterested as possible, but every second waiting for his reply felt like a knife plunging deeper and deeper into my chest.

"Well, she never mentioned she was leaving, but there's really only one path she could have taken, unless she changed her mind and went back to her husband," Nolan replied, stepping out the door and gesturing at me to follow.

Husband? I thought as I trailed outside after him into the harsh, cold wind the evening had brought in. What the hell did Alandra get herself into?

Unaware of my inner turmoil, Nolan pointed towards a small path paved onto the side of the mountains in the distance.

"You see those mountains over there? If she followed that path for a few hours or so, she would have eventually arrived at the village of Akan. Assuming she got that far."

The village of Akan was known for its unfriendly reputation towards visitors. Let's just say they didn't take kindly to strangers in their territory. If she truly had reached Akan by herself, she was as good as dead.

Noticing my despair, Gallin tried to reassure me by saying, "Hey, let's not worry about that now. It's getting dark. You should head back to the tavern with us. I promise, you'll have plenty of time to look for her tomorrow. Drinks on me." 

Despite the worry pooling in my stomach, I found myself nodding in agreement and proceeded to follow them to the tavern.

"So, do you live around here?" Nolan asked while filling up our glass mugs with a strangely coloured liquid.

I hesitated a moment before replying, my throat closing up against my will. "No. I, uh, live in the western section," I managed to choke out, taking a big gulp of the liquid and forcing myself to swallow.

Flashes of my past hit me in the gut, knocking the breath out of me. My mind was spinning, thoughts and emotions surfacing from the deeply buried corners of my mind.

Shaking off the strange sensation and returning to the present, I cocked my head, trying to remember what he had asked me.

"Sambadon. I live in Sambadon."

Shock, followed by pity and a range of other emotions flashed in his eyes. Everyone knew the rumours of what happened to people in the village of Sambadon.

"Oh, that must have been hard. Here in the north, I guess things are more laid back. Samara isn't too bad once you've lived here a while."

I turned away, feeling uncomfortable. I didn't want his pity.

"Yeah, well, you don't get to choose where you come from, right?" I said bitterly, my face darkening. I guess they must have picked up on the broody vibes I was giving out because they immediately changed the topic.

"So how did you first meet Sarah?"

I scrunched up my eyebrows and shot Gallin a confused look.

"Sarah? Who's that?"

I immediately regretted opening my big mouth when I saw the suspicious look the men exchanged.

"Sarah? Your lover? You know, the one who saved your ass and brought you here? Did you fall too hard on your head or something?"

Crap. Alandra must have introduced herself as Sarah to protect herself. I tried to act casual, laughing like my life depended on it. Which, in some ways, it did.

"Yeah, you idiots. I was joking. Haha."

They didn't seem convinced, looking at me in bewilderment. I really needed to work on my acting skills.

After a few moments, they shrugged it off and continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.

"So, where did you two love birds meet?"

I sighed, getting ready to make up some elaborate story, when the tavern door banged open, drawing the attention of every person in the room.

Standing at the door, all bloody and bruised, was Alandra.

7: Chapter 6

Alandra

After the first few minutes of hiking up the mountain, which was about as steep as Mount Everest, I was about ready to pass out. 10 minutes into it, I was huffing and puffing so hard someone might have mistaken me for the big bad wolf. So after a few hours, right when my legs were ready to collapse from exhaustion, I finally saw the first signs of life in what seemed like months. Twinkling lights sparkled before my eyes, illuminating the rows and rows of crumbling buildings and collapsed straw huts I saw in every direction I looked. I'd never seen anything more beautiful.

I practically rolled down the last bit of the trail leading to the village, breathing heavily. Finally, I finally came to a full stop and assessed my surroundings, my gaze fixating on nearby houses. It was almost dark, the last corner of the sun slowly sinking into the ground, casting a beautiful orange hue around the village. In front of each house stood a thick metal pole hammered roughly into the dry dirt. Attached to the poll's top was an intricate metal dome that housed a flickering, orange flame in preparation for night.

In contrast to the carefully placed twisting stone paths leading to the door of each hut and beautiful metal-encased flames, the structures themselves were dark, gloomy, and about as uninviting as possible. Part of me wanted to just waltz up to one of the depressing buildings and collapse onto the first comfortable bed I could find, but the other, rational side of me knew it wasn't going to be as easy as that. I had run through scenario after scenario during the hike up, but now that I was here, I was at a complete standstill.

After spending a ridiculous amount of time just standing there, soon enough, ignoring the rational side of me started seeming like a better and better idea. My body screamed in protest each second I stood upright, my bones slowly liquefying inside of me. Right after taking my first few steps up the mountain, I had felt a dizzying sense of giddiness, but now that the sun was falling dangerously lower and lower in the sky, I struggled to remember why I had thought this was a good idea in the first place. I knew that if night caught me, I would be as good as dead, so I finally - albeit begrudgingly - hobbled over to one of the huts nearby and knocked on the door, praying that some nice old lady would be there to greet me.

Instead, a huge man wearing some kind of leather jacket threw open the door, glaring at me. His crooked nose bent down into an ugly sneer as he raked his eyes over my tiny figure, his contrasting humongous body leaning forward in an offensive stance. Behind him stood an equally frightening woman wearing an eye patch on her left eye, the long scars crisscrossing her arms and legs completing her threatening look. She slung her arm around the man, narrowing her eyes like a predator assessing the best way to capture and kill its prey. I took a few steps back, then a few more for good measure. No nice old ladies for me.

"Um, hi. My names Sa-Sarah. My husband abuses me and, uh, I just need a safe place to stay for a couple of days. Do you mind?" I managed to stutter out, sounding like a complete fool. The only sign they had even heard me was the impatient tapping of the woman's foot against the stone path.

The man stared at me blankly before turning away and slamming the door in my face.

Well, that was rude. I turned away and wandered towards the next closest house.

I had gone through the same process a couple of times, always greeted with the same response, when a strange sound started echoing in the air a few feet from where I had just been.

The strange noise sounded a lot like…howling. My eyes widened, wild panic taking over all the thoughts in my brain. I started frantically stumbling back, fear turning the blood in my veins to ice. As I turned around to run, I tripped over something on the road and fell backwards, my head knocking against the rough ground. I looked up, disoriented, and saw four figures approaching rapidly, closing the distance between us. As I got to my feet, I squinted my eyes, but instead of seeing a pack of bloodthirsty wolves like I had expected, I saw a group of boys around my age, all wearing identical crazed, maniacal grins and dark, bloodshot eyes.

"What's this? A little girl, all out on her own? Where's your mommy, little girl?"

Good question. One I unfortunately didn't have the answer to.

"Look, I-I don't want any trouble. I just need a place to stay for a couple of days."

"A place to stay? I could help you with that." The first boy grinned, tracing a hand up my leg. I slapped it away harshly, the sound ringing in the still air.

A look of hurt flashed across the boy's face as he withdrew his arm. For a split second, I was proud of myself, right up until he suddenly shot out his arm again and grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking it down. I yelped as my face made close, intimate contact with the ground. A warm, metallic taste filled my mouth as the boy repeatedly shoved my head down, dragging it along the road. I could feel my raw skin scraping against the sharp rocks on the ground, revealing a fresh layer of blood that bloomed a bright shade of red against the dark dirt path. The rest of his gang jumped into action as well, kicking and punching whenever they had the chance.

"You should learn some manners, little girl. Your mommy ever teach you manners?" He asked, pausing his brutal assault to look me in the eye.

The cruel sneer permanently carved on his face told me I probably shouldn't have said what I did, but at that moment, I was too tired, too scared, and too damn sick of getting beat up. "You…deserved….it," I rasped, the words barely making it out of my bloody lips.

His eyes filled with pure, ugly hatred, but at that moment, I felt free. Even though it was insignificant, even though it was pointless and was probably going to get me killed, I enjoyed knowing that I still had the choice to fight back, and I still had the freedom to make my own decisions, no matter how stupid.

His hand reared back, ready to beat me senseless, I guessed, but I never got to find out what he would have done. Instead, he was violently ripped away from me, taking a huge chunk of my hair along with him. I managed to swivel my head around until I caught a glimpse of what was happening, eyes slowly blinking to take in the scene.

The man I had first asked for help held the boy by his throat, choking the life out of him. As he sputtered and fought for air, the rest of his gang scrambled to their feet and ran in the opposite direction, their sense of self-preservation apparently stronger than any loyalty they might have had to their leader.

"Go." The man's voice startled me, waking me from my half-conscious state. I struggled to stand, my legs uselessly lying on the ground next to me, not cooperating with my voiceless demands. The man growled impatiently and strode up to me, grabbing my arm and pulling me upwards roughly while still holding the boy firmly in place. I watched in horror as his face turned a dark shade of red, eyes bulging. The man noticed me staring and not-so-gently pushed me forward, almost making me lose my balance.

"Go! Or you'll be next."

So I did the only thing I could think of. I left.

I somehow found the strength to go up the miserable path on the mountain because as horrible as the hike was, staying at that place was a thousand times worse. So I trudged along, refusing to let the tears pooling at the edges of my vision drop down. I just walked and walked until I didn't have to walk anymore, until I saw the stupid tavern I had originally left not a very long time ago, its lights burning brightly like a beacon of hope. I clumsily stumbled the last few steps to the door, pushing it open with all the strength left in my body.

All eyes turned towards me as the door banged open, including a certain pair of green ones I was trying hard to avoid.

He must hate me. He must despise me for what I did to him, I thought, looking down at the ground shamefully.

So, I guess you could say I was more than a little surprised when he came running up to me, sweeping me up in a huge hug and shouting, "Oh my god, Sarah! I'm so sorry honey. I've missed you so much." Karyen's hand was moving against my back in soothing circles, the warmth of his hug seeping into my tired bones. He drew his lips up to my cheek and kissed me softly before moving them back down toward my ear. At first, I couldn't even tell he was speaking. His lips were barely moving, and I could tell our audience was far too enraptured with the sweet reunion to pay any close attention, but finally, I heard him harshly whisper into my ear, "If you pull something like that again, I'll gut you like a fish."

Too exhausted to reply, I simply hugged him tighter, feeling safe for what felt like the first time in ages in his protective embrace.

8: Chapter 7

Alandra

"Okay, walk me through this again. What's the plan, exactly?"

Karyen sighed in exasperation, running a hand through his messy, dark brown hair. I observed that a night sleeping on the wobbly chair in our little room didn't exactly put him in the highest of spirits.

"We're in Samara right now. That's here," he explained, pointing to the makeshift map of the entire island drawn on the table.

"We're north. We want to go here, to the south." He gestured towards the spot on the map marked as Onix.

I looked at him, hundreds of questions instantly forming in my mind.

"Don't worry, I'll tell you everything you want to know once we're there. For now, let's just focus on actually making it to Onix in one piece. To get there, we'll have to either cross through Akan or Sambadon." His voice dropped down to a murmur, eyes shifting to avoid my gaze.

"Samba-whatever. That one. Not Akan. I'm not going back there," I said decisively, the cut on my lip throbbing painfully as a reminder of what I had endured.

"Listen, Alandra, I know something must have happened to you there, but-"

"I don't understand why we can't just cut through the middle and avoid both shady villages at the same time!" I crossed my arms, glaring at him.

He gave me an equally hard glare, full of anger and frustration. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"Because we just can't. I'll do everything in my power to keep you safe, I swear it on my life. I'll protect you, as long as you actually stay with me this time." His accusatory tone was impossible to miss. Okay, I probably deserved that, but I still wasn't about to back down.

"Because we just can't? What are you, my mother?"

"Dammit, why can't you just listen to me for once! Because we can't. Because we'll get eaten alive by one of the things in the jungle rooted in the center. Because we'll get instantly lost, and eventually just be counting down the days until something kills us. Because once we enter, we'll never come back out. So if you value your life, which I'm sure you do, you won't argue with me when I tell you we have to go west."

My angry frown dropped from my face.

"Um, okay, then why can't we just go through Sambadon instead?" I asked a bit more gently.

He clenched his teeth and shot me another angry glare, as if I had suggested we go kill a bunch of innocent children. He started leaning closer and closer to me until he was a few mere centimetres away, so close I could have counted all the individual freckles he had on his face. I swallowed hard as my breaths turned shallow and my eyes fluttered closed. I could feel his warm breath hitting my cheek as he drew his lips next to my ear like he was about to share a huge secret nobody else was allowed to hear. I bit my lip in anticipation.

"Because we just can't."

With that, he stormed out the door, banging it shut as he left.

I opened my eyes and rolled them towards the ceiling, unimpressed with his childish behaviour and so-called 'plan.' I was about to try and catch up with him, feet extending forward, but my pride stopped me. No way was I going to chase after him.

Instead, I dragged an abandoned stool lying on the floor towards me and sat down, supporting my head with my hands. I tuned out all the distant chatter and conversations going on around me, trying to focus solely on the rhythmic swing of the tavern door.

No matter how hard I tried to avoid it, my mind kept redirecting back to a single train of thought—my mom.

How was she doing? When was the last time she had eaten a decent meal or slept in a comfortable bed? Every second I sat here, worrying only about myself, was just a reminder of my selfishness. I needed to make finding her a top priority. 

Before I could torture myself any further, the tavern door swung open once more, revealing a familiar figure. Karyen waltzed back in, his eyes scanning the crowd until they fixated on me. He took several deep breaths and approached me cautiously. His hands clenched and unclenched as he studied me, preparing to say something.

"Look, I'm…. I'm sorry I shouted at you. I know you must be really confused right now. So I promise to do my best and answer all of your questions if you promise to be patient. Sound fair?"

I blinked at him, determined to keep the neutral expression I had carefully moulded on my face to mask my curiosity and desperate desire for answers.

"Do you promise not to storm off this time too?"

"Pinky promise," Karyen said with a grin, extending his pinkie finger and twisting it around mine.

"Well, that is the single most serious and unbreakable promise someone can make, so you better be true to your word." The corners of my mouth turned upwards into a small smile, but it didn't last. Everything was happening too fast, and I had just begun to realize the severity of the situation I was in. The events of the past few weeks were so unbelievable, if I tried hard enough, I could have almost convinced myself this was all just a part of my imagination, just some twisted dream my mind had conjured up during a moment of helpless boredom. Although I didn't believe that for a second, it was a comforting lie to tell myself.

I hesitated a few moments, too caught up in my own world to pay attention to the concerned look slowly forming on Karyen's face.

"I didn't realize it at first, but everything's different around here, isn't it? What is this place?"

Karyen sighed, and when I finally glanced back up at him, he was staring at me intently, carefully analyzing my expression.

"This might take a while, so get comfortable."

I shot him a hard look and wriggled on my hard, damp bar stool, my discomfort painfully obvious.

Karyen grinned, but finally began the story.

"Well, nobody really knows how, or when, or why exactly, but some time ago, this island was uninhabited until one man happened to stumble across it. Back then it was completely deserted, and more importantly, virtually unheard of. This man and his organization, along with the money and support of some pretty powerful people, took advantage of the island and turned it into some sort of death camp, sending four of the worst criminals in the world here to live out the rest of their lives in isolation."

My eyes were trained on him, too enraptured with the story to pay attention to anything else.

"Long story short, instead of simply dying off and never being heard of again, the prisoners lived and built the four villages, two of which you're already familiar with. Sambadon, the village I affectionately call home, is where I grew up." His voice was laced with sarcasm, and the scornful look in his eyes told me that his childhood memories probably weren't all that warm and fuzzy.

I frowned, trying to take in the new information. Something wasn't adding up.

"I don't understand. Why go through all the trouble of trapping criminals on an island if he wanted them dead? Why not a simple bullet to the head?"

"Well…" he started hesitantly, the look in his eyes turning into something desperate and wild. "I never said he wanted them dead. It's not that simple. You see, simply killing them off would have produced no benefit for them, no way to profit."

I scrunched my eyebrows in confusion, but when I glanced up at Karyen's face, his features were drawn tight, as serious as ever.

He chewed his bottom lip nervously, as if simply thinking about it would get him in trouble.

"This is going to sound crazy, but… they saw potential in the island as the perfect place to create some of the deadliest, most ruthless people on Earth and use them to their advantage. The island is used as a part of some elaborate experiment designed to breed a race of perfect warriors to do their bidding. They named the island Altruita, after the word altruistic." Karyen snorted, although there wasn't much humour in his expression.

"Kind of ironic, isn't it? After a while, as survival instincts kicked in and the weak were rooted out, whoever's lucky enough to survive is condemned to struggle on this island until the day someone decides we're useful enough for the next twisted purpose they need us for."

My eyes widened in shock, not knowing whether to laugh out loud or burst into tears. This was my world now. I was almost too afraid to ask any more questions. Almost.

"So what do they need you for?"

Karyen stood up quickly, almost knocking over the chair he was sitting on.

"This is a waste of our time. I can talk and walk all at once, I'll have you know. I'm a man of many talents. Fortunately, this tavern is located near the border between Samara and Akan, so getting there shouldn't be too much of a problem.

He held out his hand, which I ignored, and gestured for me to get up. His story brought up too many unanswered questions, but I knew he was right; we had to leave. I abandoned my stool and stood up, wincing as a flare of pain shot through me.

Karyen was by my side in an instant, supporting me with his body while I attempted to hobble out the door. Just as it seemed we were finally about to leave, Karyen whipped around to face me, the sudden action almost making me lose my balance.

"I almost forgot. Where's my sword?"

I looked at him in confusion, my mind spinning. "What sword?"

He made a guttural sound that closely resembled a growl and took a step closer to me.

"Don't play dumb. My sword. I want it back now. Where is it?"

"Look, I don't know what sword you're talking about. Let's just go, before it gets too dark to see."

"Not without my sword," he insisted stubbornly.

I made a noise of frustration from the back of my throat. "I don't have your freaking sword. So unless you have another brilliant idea of where it could be, let's go."

Karyen narrowed his eyes suspiciously but seemed to finally believe me after a moment of thought. The anger in his eyes quickly turned to despair as his eyes darted around, panic slowly setting in.

After spiralling for an obscenely long time, his eyes suddenly lit up, hope shining through. "Gallin and Nolan! They must have taken it somehow. I knew they couldn't be trusted. Come on, we'll find them faster if we split up."

"But-"

"Look Alandra, going out there without some sort of weapon is suicide. Around this island, everyone has at least one weapon of defence. It's basic survival rules: kill, or be killed. So let's hurry up and find my sword before it's too late. I'll check the tavern, you can scout outside and look in the huts."

I took a step forward, preparing to argue, but my legs suddenly crumpled beneath me, sending me toppling to the ground.

"Or not." In one swift movement, he picked me up off the ground and threw me over his shoulder.

"Hey! Put me down, Shrek!"

"What's a 'Shrek'?" he said in confusion, obviously not getting the reference.

"Ugh, it doesn't matter, just let me go!" I punched his back, trying to get him to put me down, but it was like punching a rock.

"You're obviously not strong enough yet to walk by yourself. You'll just slow us down."

Despite the truth ringing behind his words, they still stung. I was never going to stop being a liability, an obstacle in someone's path.

"Fine."

9: Chapter 8

Karyen

"Just so you know, this is considered kidnapping in most countries! You could be arrested for this!"

Alandra was screeching at the top of her lungs, her reluctant position over my shoulder the main reason for all her complaining. After about 5 minutes, I could feel my mind protesting against the mental abuse, urging my body to drop her, run, and never look back.

"If you haven't already noticed, we're not in 'most countries.' So please stop screaming and flailing and doing whatever else you're doing, and make this easier for the both of us, okay?"

After our initial decision - well, my decision - to find my sword before our departure, I had spent the past hour trying to find out where exactly Nolan and Gallin lived. A number of frustrated groans later, I finally narrowed down my search to the third main part of the tavern. After stumbling around helplessly for a long time, I managed to find a passage leading underground in the direction we were headed.

"I'll stop screaming when you finally let me decide where my body does and does not go! Why do you have to be so…insufferable! Put me down!"

Without any warning, I secured my hands around her waist and flipped her down so that her back was almost parallel to the ground, my arms the only thing keeping her off the grimy floor beneath us.

"Is this what you wanted?"

Her surprised yelp, followed by a stream of angry curses, echoed loudly throughout the dimly lit tunnel. She wrapped her legs around my waist to stabilize herself and vaulted herself up onto my body, slapping away my arms in the process.

We stood there intertwined for a while, breathing heavily. Her, for exerting herself past the point of exhaustion. Me…well, for an entirely different reason, as I become painfully aware of the way her body was wrapped around mine. Her arms clung to the back of my neck and her long legs encircled my waist, holding on for dear life. We stared at each other as if under some kind of spell, her dark blue eyes piercing into mine, seemingly ready to discover all my secrets. If she had asked in that moment, looking at me the way she was, I would have told her anything she wanted to know.

Something changed in that moment as a sort of magnetic pull drew us together, bringing her closer, but as her head dipped down and my arms tightened around her waist, she cleared her throat, and the spell broke. She quickly untangled her legs, unwrapping them from around me and jumping onto the floor. Her boots splashed into the muddy water around our feet, dirtying our already soiled clothes. 

I shook off the weird moment and looked for something to say that would break the gaping silence between us. However, before I could get a word out, she laughed it off and tossed me a light punch to my arm.

"You … You'll pay for that," Alandra panted, her breathing eventually stabilizing to a somewhat normal rhythm. I looked up and tried to smother my laughter, but it was almost impossible. Her hair was sticking up in all directions, and there were smudges of dirt all over her face and clothes.

"Hush, I think we're almost there. Just a couple more steps." An angry mutter shot back at me, but I was already walking away, leaving her no choice but to follow.

I was surprised by her strength, especially considering the fact that she could barely walk a few hours ago, but I made sure it didn't show. Although I was trying to appear cool, calm and collected, I was utterly exhausted. I hadn't sat down in what seemed like ten years. My feet were sore and swollen, and my head hurt from the number of times I had bumped into a wall headfirst due to the dim lighting, but I didn't complain out loud. I learned that complaining did absolutely nothing except waste breath, and I certainly needed every shallow gasp I could gather at the moment.

"What makes you so sure they're going to be there?" Alandra questioned, trying to keep up with my steady march.

"That's exactly what I'm hoping to avoid. Best case scenario, they're not in the room but the sword is. As soon as we take it back, we'll immediately leave for Onix."

I could tell Alandra wanted to say something else, probably something about how stupid and unlikely the chances of that actually happening were, but she held her tongue. I decided to take advantage of this rare moment of silence and focus on the direction we were headed in. After miles of walking, we finally stopped, the tunnel before us splitting off into two different directions.

"If I'm right, - and when am I not - the tunnel on the right should lead to the main floor of all the houses in the tavern, which is where Galan and Nolan should be staying."

In all honesty, I had no idea if what I was saying was true, but I was willing to risk it.

She rolled her eyes but said nothing more and followed me into the tunnel. This tunnel was even darker than the last, and the damp roof seemed to be getting lower and lower as we walked, right up until the tips of my hair were brushing against the top of it. After a few more minutes of staggering down the seemingly neverending path, we reached a door that looked so broken down I was scared it was going to fall apart before my eyes.

"Moment of truth," I hummed nervously, pushing it open. Instead of the bright glow of lights illuminating a hallway filled with multiple rooms, as I expected, what greeted me on the other side of the door was a nearly pitch-black room. I grabbed Alandra's hand to make sure I wouldn't lose her again and strained my eyes to try and observe our surroundings. Inside the dark room was rows and rows of hollowed-out holes in a massive stone wall. Inside each hole were dozens of items, ranging from shiny jewelry to clothing items.

I almost cried out in relief. This was better than I could have ever hoped for.

"Quickly, start looking for my sword. This looks like some kind of storage, so it has to be here. I'll take the left, you can start from the right," I ordered while beginning to move my hand across the freezing cold stone, rustling each object as I searched.

"Karyen, uh, I can't really see anything except for blackness right now."

I sighed and paused my frantic search to turn toward her. "Okay, then keep watch near the door. Tell me if you hear any footsteps or anything." I took her hand again and guided her to the open door before quickly resuming my search, scouring through item after item. After about half an hour, the hopelessness of the situation started to dawn on me as I realized just how big the room was, and how little distance I had covered.

I sat down, defeated. The headache that was forming at the base of my temple was becoming harder to ignore. I gritted my teeth with anger at the thought of losing the single most important possession I had ever owned: my father's sword. I slammed the palms of my hands against the hard rock in frustration, ignoring the sharp stinging sensation that followed. I always knew that this half-baked plan was a shot in the dark, but now I had to face the realization that it was well and truly hopeless. 

I was mapping out all the ways I would make those two idiots suffer when I saw Alandra blindly stumbling in the dark, trying to find me. I quickly scrambled to my feet.

"Someone's coming!" she hissed. I immediately bolted into action and grabbed her arm, pulling her down under a few nearby boxes. My hand instinctively moved to cover her mouth, and I forced my breathing to thin out until it was inaudible.

The sounds Alandra had heard from the tunnels grew louder until they were coming from right outside the door of the storage room. I wasn't too surprised when I recognized Gallin and Nolan's deep, booming voices.

"Don't say a word," I softly whispered in Alandra's ear, curling her closer into my body and praying like hell that we would be mistaken for harmless boxes.

Alandra silently pushed my hand away, which was still covering her mouth. I could tell she wanted to retort back, but she wisely stayed silent, her fear of getting caught apparently outweighing her need to argue with me.

Nolan and Gallin finally entered the room carrying two lanterns, the flickering flames flooding the room with light. They seemed deep in conversation, oblivious to our presence.

"- but I don't think they'll last long. He'll no doubt leave once things become … complicated, and by the way they were constantly arguing, she'll probably stay behind."

"Are you positive he's the one, though? If we get this wrong, Alexei will skin us alive."

A chill ran down my body at the sound of Alexei's name, which seemed to turn the entire room ice cold. I could feel Alandra's body stiffen against mine, her opinion of Alexei about as golden as mine.

I risked raising my head until I caught a glimpse of the two men, who appeared to be looking for something amongst the giant wall of stolen goods.

Nolan suddenly raised his arm triumphantly and used his fat stubby fingers to pry open a loose rock that otherwise looked solidly attached to the wall. He tossed the rock carelessly onto the ground, more concerned with whatever was in his secret hiding spot to pay much attention to it.

I tracked the rock's hard descent to the ground, a mere meter away from us. Before I could conjure up a plan, the sound of Nolan's smug voice broke my intense fascination with the rock, my gaze snapping back up to him.

"See, it has to be him. Look at the initials T.S. on the sword. That's what Thomas said we would find."

I dug my nails into my hands, the pain being the only thing keeping me from lunging at the 6-foot brute currently gripping my sword.

I knew leaving Thomas alive was a mistake, as was telling him my real name, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted, no, needed Alexei to know that I was the one who did it, I was the one person that was able to outsmart him and remain one step ahead for once.

My pride had nearly cost me everything.

"Once he's out of the picture, we'll convince Sarah - sorry, Alandra - to stay with us until Alexei gets here. I'm sure she'll find a way to repay us for our hospitality." Nolan winked at Gallin, and they both laughed. Judging by Alandra's shudder of repulsion, she wasn't too pleased with that plan. I fought the insane urge to smile.

Nolan shoved the sword through one of the loops on his belt and threw his oversized shirt over top to conceal it. They started walking to the door, and as soon as their backs were fully turned, I leapt out of the comforting shelter provided by the box and grabbed the brick still lying on the ground.

I looked back at my abandoned spot and glanced over at Alandra. Her face had gone sheet white, her wide eyes scared and anxious. I put my finger to my lips, signalling not to make a sound, and started creeping up behind them with the heavy stone raised in the air. I hadn't exactly thought this through, but all I could think about was Nolan's grimy hands tainting my sword. I angled the stone in position with Nolan's head, but because fate seemed determined to make me the unluckiest person alive, Gallin chose that exact moment to turn around, his self-satisfied smile freezing upon seeing me with a 5-pound brick in my hand, ready to strike his brother down.

For a moment, I was paralyzed, unsure of what to do. Fortunately, I regained my senses and slammed the brick down on Gallin's head as hard as I could. He crumpled to the ground, but my delayed reaction cost me. Before I could raise my arm again, Nolan turned around and drew out my sword, eyes briefly flickering to his unconscious brother before returning to me. I stared into his eyes, the deep pits of dark brown filling with rage, and at that moment, I knew I was deeply and undeniably screwed.

Suddenly, Nolan's eyes flew wide open with shock, then rolled back into his head. His legs gave out as he crashed down on the floor, lying in a heap on top of his brother.

Behind him stood Alandra, Gallin's fallen lantern clutched in her hand. Her breaths came out heavy and uneven, and a strangled choke escaped her pale lips as she dropped the lantern in disgust. I stood there frozen, uncertain of what to do.

"I killed him. Oh god, I killed him!" she wailed, staring at Nolan's crumpled body in horror.

"Alandra, you didn't kill anyone, he's fine. Unfortunately." I whispered the last part under my breath, still vexed that I had lost my sword to these two bumbling idiots, but the last thing I wanted to do was freak her out even more.

"What you did do is save my life. That was really brave." I approached her warily, but all I saw when I looked at her was the scared girl from the prison I had first met, so vulnerable and panicked that I was afraid one wrong look could have shattered her.

I hesitantly placed my hand on her bare arm, her freezing cold skin jerking in reaction to my touch. Slowly, I moved closer and closer to her until I was able to wrap my arms around her thin body. Finally, the haze from her eyes seemed to clear as she hugged me tighter and buried her head in my shoulder. She waited until her breathing slowed down, then slowly withdrew from my embrace.

I wasn't sure asking her what the hell just happened was really the best idea, so after picking up Nolan's nearly extinguished lantern, I rustled through the items stored in the wall until I found two heavy coats. I put the first one on and spread the second one across Alandra.

"I'm really sorry, but we really have to leave right now. I'll pick up some food and water from the tavern before we go." I didn't dare mention the two figures still lying on the floor unconscious. It was a risk leaving them here like this since once they woke up, nothing was stopping them from telling Alexei exactly where to find us or even hunting us down themselves. But it was a chance I would have to take.

I took Alandra's hand in mine, and together we gracefully stepped over the bodies lying on the ground, instantly plunging back out into the maze of tunnels.

10: Chapter 9

Alandra

Bringing a hand to my eyes to cover the bright orange rays of the setting sun, I watched as Karyen carefully flicked a speck of dirt off his sword for what seemed like the hundredth time since we sat down to rest. He had been really obsessive about it since we left the tavern and Samara behind for good.

To be fair, we really did make good progress on the mountain during the first couple of hours. I kept my complaining to a bare minimum, and Karyen was an unrelenting leader, hiking the mountain as if it were his life's passion.  

I didn't want to say anything at first, but after nearly two straight hours of hiking up a steep ass mountain, my body was about ready to self-destruct.

When I suggested we take a small break, Karyen agreed immediately, although I could see the concern brewing in his eyes. Whether the concern was for me or not, I was still struck by a wave of resentment. Ever since we had started walking, he had been shooting me concerned looks over his shoulder as if checking to see if I was still in one piece. I knew I shouldn't have read into it as much as I did, but I hated him for looking at me like that. His look said that I was weak. His look screamed that I was fragile, that I needed protection. His look told me that he couldn't rely on me to rely on myself.

As Karyen finished inspecting his sword for other possible microscopic organisms threatening its perfect immaculacy, he finally managed to break his attention away from it long enough to meet my intense stare.

After a few seconds of cutting eye contact, I looked away, concerning myself with a couple of interesting blades of grass nearby instead.

I didn't even realize Karyen had moved until I looked up again and was greeted with a pair of bright green eyes inches from my own.

"We should keep moving. We need to get to Akan by nightfall, preferably before the sun completely sets."

I didn't exactly know why I felt so disappointed at his words, and I wasn't in a rush to analyze the feeling.

"Well that's not happening, buddy, so sit down and relax. I still have more questions to ask."

Karyen visibly swallowed and opened his mouth, ready to argue with me, but after a moment of thought, he seemed to accept defeat and finally deflated, plopping down onto the hard ground next to me.

"We at least need some kind of shelter, or we're going to freeze out here."

He had a good point, but I wasn't about to start listening to the voice of reason.

"We'll be fine," I said confidently, trying to hide how badly my teeth were chattering. Apparently, I didn't do a very good job because in the next second, Karyen took off his coat and wrapped it around me. I should have appreciated the kind gesture, but because I was me, and my brain had to overthink every little thing, I got mad instead.

"Here you go again with this protective bullshit! God, I can't go two seconds without you swooping in trying to save me, can I?"

Karyen's eyes widened, his mouth flying open in shock. His reaction told me his actions weren't intentionally meant to set me off, but I could feel my anger slowly spreading through my body like growing roots, ready to consume the part of my brain that formed logical thoughts.

"Don't pretend you don't know what I mean! My entire life I've seen people give me that look okay?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Karyen cut off my rant, now as angry as I was.

"I'm talking about the look I see you give me all the damn time! That look of concern and pity that reminds me again and again how worthless I am. You might as well just scream it out - I can't manage to do anything by myself! I couldn't get myself out of that prison. I couldn't defend myself in Akan. I couldn't even save my own mother." My voice lowered to a whisper as I unloaded all of the baggage that followed me around like a ghost, haunting my every waking moment on this island. I was rapidly losing a grip on all of my anger, and building in its place was deep painful sorrow.

"The only person I thought would understand was you." I was choking on my words now, all my emotions and fears crawling up my throat, impossible to shove back down. "I'm tired of being weak, Karyen. I can't keep depending on other people to solve my problems. Especially not you." I turned my head away, ashamed of all the hurtful, accusatory things I had spit out. He was just trying to help me. All he ever wanted to do was help, and I shoved his kindness right back in his face. I couldn't even look him in the eye. 

"Do you want to know what I think?" Karyen asked flatly, his voice not giving anything away. Before I could respond, he decided for himself, letting me know exactly what he thought whether I wanted to hear it or not. 

"You say you want to stop being regarded as weak. Well then prove it. Prove to me that you can handle anything and everything that's thrown at you. Show me that, as soon as you're left alone to fend for yourself, you won't ask for help and you'll deal with any problem you face by yourself. Of course you won't be able to. But that's not weakness, Alandra, that's called self-preservation. You assume that weakness is measured by one's ability to independently care for themselves. Based on that definition, it's fair to say that whoever needs help with anything in their life is automatically deemed a weakling, correct?"

I hesitated, but before I could say anything, he launched back into his tirade.

"Now, I am a man capable of taking care of myself. I have been alone most of my life, and when you have nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody, to depend on for support, you learn to adapt pretty quickly. I had to learn to depend on myself because I had no other option.

"All my life I've been training like hell so that when the time came, I would be able to fight off any threats I faced. Because I knew that I couldn't rely on anyone else to protect me. But here I am, practically sacrificing myself for you, dedicating months of my life to try and guarantee your safety, and you take it all for granted."

I turned my head up to finally face him, blood rushing to my cheeks.

"You don't know what it's like to be completely alone. So don't you dare talk to me about being weak for needing help. I've been calling out for help the past 15 years of my life, and I'm scared to death that no one will ever hear me. Needing someone isn't a sign of weakness. No, it's a sign that you're human."

Karyen was panting at this point, his breath coming out in short little gasps like he had just run a marathon. Absentmindedly, I noticed that the sun had completely disappeared under the sky, taking along the last remaining daylight with it. The only illumination was provided by the full moon emanating an ethereal, hazy glow. In some ways, I was glad for the darkness. I didn't want him to see the mix of emotions twisted on my face.

We sat on the ground wordlessly for a while, staring at the dark night sky. Thousands of bright, twinkling stars stared back at us, a hundred times clearer and brighter than I had ever seen them.

As I gazed up at the sky, Karyen snorted, breaking the thick silence.

"I hate the full moon. Something about it gives me the chills."

I stayed quiet, hypnotized by the glowing lights, until I heard Karyen draw in a deep breath and scoot closer to me, closing the distance between us.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, brushing a hand through his dishevelled hair.

"For what?"

"For taking out all my frustration on you. I know you've been through a lot the past month, probably more than I could imagine, and I'm sorry for snapping at you when you didn't deserve it."

"Don't you get it? I did deserve it, every last word. I acted ungrateful and self-centered, and you didn't deserve any of it considering all you've done for me. I still haven't properly thanked you yet, for saving my life. I know it's probably too late, but for what it's worth, thank you Karyen Stone."

I shivered from the cold, which was unfair to him, considering I still had both coats piled up on top of me. He looked at me quizzically, like I was a mystery he couldn't solve, but eventually shrugged.

"You're welcome, I guess. Thanks for saving mine."

I tried to offer him his coat back, but he silently shook his head and rolled over so that his back was facing me.

As soon as I heard his breathing even out and fall into a steady pattern, I let out the tears that had been building up inside me for a while, always feeling scared to death of what would happen next.

"I do know what it's like to be alone," I whispered softly, letting all the vulnerability and hurt I was feeling flood out of me and pour into my words.

"I was alone when I was in that prison for 4 weeks. I was alone when I had to endure the torture they put me through. I had no one. I was nothing."

Silence enveloped my words for a few minutes, and I closed my eyes, letting the dizzying new world around me fade into blackness. Then I felt a hand grab onto mine and lock around my fingers, holding tight, and I opened my eyes to find a certain pair of green ones staring back at me.

"You'll never have to feel alone again. I promise."

11: Chapter 10

Karyen

14 years ago

"Mommy I'm scared!" I wailed as the six men who had forcibly entered our home started tearing apart our house, apparently in search of something.

My mother pushed me into an empty room, slamming the door behind her, and bent down to look me in the eye.

"Don't be scared Karyen. You mustn't be scared. You have to be strong for me now, okay? I don't ever want to hear those words again."

"Yes mommy." My head lowered shamefully, angry that I had upset my mother again.

"And what did I say about calling me that? You're a man now, Karyen. 7 years old and you're still sitting around the house doing nothing all day. Must I do everything myself?"

I could feel heavy beads of sweat forming around my temple and slowly starting to drip down the sides of my face. Her hand shot out to grab my hair, her grip tightening around my short brown locks as she harshly pulled my head up.

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you, goddammit. Have some respect for your mother."

I cringed and forced myself to stare into her icy green eyes, so similar to my own. From the other room, I could hear the men tearing, cracking, and shattering every object we had ever owned, which wasn't much to begin with. My mother grumbled irritably, releasing her tight hold on my hair to shoot a hateful look at the closed door that separated us from them.

"This is all your father's fault. I should have known that even from the grave he would find a way to continue ruining our lives."

I didn’t dare question her, but she always had her way of seeing through my carefully placed mask of indifference.

"They're after some stupid diary of his. As if he ever had anything remotely interesting to say anyway."

I wanted to disagree, but I wisely kept my mouth shut and lowered my head again out of habit.

One of the men suddenly threw open the door, his heavy boots leaving imprints on the rotting wood floor.

"The entire house is clean. Fortunately, the search didn't take long, provided there wasn't much to look through, so I'll give you one more chance to tell me where it is." His deep, authoritative voice boomed throughout the small room, making me shrink into myself, wishing I could disappear.

I watched as my mother's face transformed into one of innocence and sugary sweetness.

"I'm sorry sir, but I unfortunately can't offer you much help in this matter. Trust me, if I knew where he had hidden the damn thing I would have told you right away instead of watching you destroy my lovely house." Her dazzlingly bright smile was filled with deadly promise.

"What about the boy?" The man nodded his head in my direction as if I couldn't speak for myself.

"Oh, he's just another bothersome child that Talan didn't want in the first place. He certainly wouldn't have cared enough to tell him."

The words stung painfully, bringing tears to my eyes that I desperately tried to blink away before anyone noticed.

"Well then, I guess we're finished here. If you think of anything, don't be afraid to reach out to me." The man pulled out a card from the front pocket of his coat and handed it to my mother. I barely caught a glimpse of the name scrawled on it before she discreetly crumpled it in her hand. The man took one last look around and finally began backing away, the loud thud of his boots slowly fading into the distance. I was trembling with fear but tried my best not to let it show, clumsily attempting to conceal it. Of course, my mother noticed anyway, her disapproving gaze washing over me like acid.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Irana Stone glared at me, fixing her hands on her hips.

"Start working."

 

The vivid memory jolted me awake, my eyes shooting open to greet the bright morning sun. I looked to my left and saw Alandra sprawled on top of the bumpy ground, the coats twisted around her body like a cocoon. Her eyes were screwed tightly shut, and her arms seemed to be wrapped around herself in a protective embrace. I looked away and tried to steady my shaking hands, blinking rapidly to clear the lingering images from my mind. 

I rose to my feet and eyed the pack of food and water I had managed to snag before we left Samara. I knew we needed to conserve our limited supplies, but my stomach made it impossible to think logically, rumbling loudly in protest. Ignoring the responsible side of me, I tore open the bag of dried fruits and meats I had brought and dug in, bringing the salty food to my hungry mouth. I didn't even notice Alandra wake up and crawl towards me until I saw the tips of her blonde hair brushing against my shoulders.

"Breakfast?" I offered, holding up the bag.

"Thanks, I'm starving." She dipped her hand inside and pulled away a few seconds later holding a handful of dried food, instantly shoving it into her mouth.

She made a sound of deep satisfaction from the back of her throat before reaching back into the bag and taking another handful.

I really should have stopped her, limited supplies and all, but I just couldn't bring myself to.

Eventually she slowed down, licking her fingertips and closing the bag, which felt significantly lighter than before.

"So, how old are you anyway?"

I frowned, the random question taking me by surprise.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"You know. Your age. The number of years you have been alive. Today's date subtracted by the date of your birth."

She suddenly paled, turning to face me fully.

"Karyen, what is today's date? How long have I been gone?" I could feel a migraine beginning to form, but I tried to concentrate on what she was asking me.

"Uh, I don't really know. Last I checked, it was mid-year. Maybe quarter?  

She groaned, her head falling against the ground.

"Oh, and I'm 21, I think. Or 20. Give or take a few years."

Her head managed to sink even lower into the ground.

"You really don't know, do you?" she said disbelievingly, finally lifting her head up.

I shrugged and pulled myself off the ground, taking her arm and yanking her up with me.

"What I do know is that we need to start moving. We can't risk darkness catching up with us again."

She grumbled a complaint, but soon enough, we gathered everything that we had and resumed our steady walking pace.

Alandra skipped to catch up to me, apparently not done with her grilling interrogation.

"21 is an awfully young age to get caught up with gangs," she chirped, taking long strides to match my own.

"First of all, it's not a gang, it's an organization," I emphasized, trying to maintain a peaceful and calm air.

"Second of all, it's not like I had a choice. On this island, it's kill or be killed, and I would really like to avoid the latter for as long as I can."

"Okay, so you're telling me you've killed someone?" She smiled jokingly, rolling her eyes. I remained quiet, continuing our hike up the steep slope.

"No… you can't be serious. You- you're not a murderer, right?" Her smile was quickly fading away, replaced by a horrified look that felt like a punch to the gut.

"Like I said," I murmured through clenched teeth, "it's either kill, or be killed."

She remained silent for a good hour after that, a personal record for her. Judging from her troubled expression, Alandra was no doubt contemplating this information thoroughly, as she did with everything. I wondered what her reaction would be if she found out I had become a killer at age 8.

Just when I was beginning to relax, she piped up again, apparently not done torturing me yet.

"How many?" she whispered solemnly, not taking her eyes off the ground.

I stopped walking and closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath of air to steady myself.

"Does it really matter? I don't really think you're in a place to judge me right now. I'm the one who's had to live on this miserable island all my life. And what a fantastic life it's been so far."

I continued trudging along, resuming my stride. I was curious to see if she would continue pushing the subject, but thankfully she dropped it. Of course, another topic of conversation immediately took its place.

"So did you ever have a normal life before all this? You know, going to school, getting homework, doing mundane activities like running errands. Come to think of it, I haven’t really seen any schools nearby or anything. Or children for that matter.” She frowned.

I rubbed my forehead, turning my head to observe her subtly. I could see all her unanswered questions burning in her eyes, her thirst for answers nearly as powerful as her thirst for revenge. I could understand both of those impulses. All my life, I'd been asking questions, desperate to know the solutions to all my problems. I learned to stop asking once I figured out that curiosity on this island would get me killed.

As for her need for revenge, I could tell she was disturbed by the idea, suppressing the feeling as best as she could. That was smart in a way; if revenge took a hold of someone, it would consume them until it took complete control over their mind and body, making them do things they would have never considered otherwise. It was a powerful emotion capable of turning even the kindest-hearted souls into cold, killing machines.

Although she never talked about her, I could tell Alandra missed her mom furiously and worried about her every second of each day.

"Karyen?" she asked hesitantly, making me realize I still hadn't answered her question.

"What? Oh yeah, schools, right. Well since we're in kind of a unique situation, it's not really a top priority around here. We basically get up until our eighth birthday to learn as much as we can from whoever we can. Each family is responsible for the education of their own children. Most don't even bother."

"Did yours?"

I smiled at the question, flipping through my early childhood memories.

"Yeah, well my dad started teaching me when I was 3. I'm not really sure I understood anything he was saying back then, but he always insisted it made a difference. He was a good teacher. After he died when I was 6, I thought that what I already knew was everything I would ever know, because my teacher was gone, and he was never coming back." I laughed bitterly, almost too scared to look at her in anticipation of the sympathy on her face. Unable to stop myself, I kept babbling.

"Turns out my 'gang' thought I would be more useful if I actually knew a thing or two about the world, because they taught me a lot of what I know. I figure they had all that information written down somewhere, like a great big book of knowledge."

"A great big book of knowledge? Wow, I can tell those lessons really got through to you," she teased, racing ahead of me on the dirt path.

I ran after her, determined not to let her out of my sight. When I finally caught up to her, she lifted her head and looked at me seriously, her wide blue eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't identify.

"He sounded like a really great dad, Karyen. I could tell he loved you."

My breath left my throat as my lungs seized, the pressure of her words cutting off my air supply. "Yeah," I managed to croak out, which probably wasn't the most eloquent response, but it was all I could manage at the moment. I regained control of my lungs after a few moments and breathed in as deeply as I could. Beside me, I heard Alandra's intake of breath as she prepared for another question, my mind already mentally preparing me for the worst.

"Back when you were talking about your education, you said everyone has until their eighth birthday to learn as much as they can. Why your eighth birthday, what happens after that?"

My body went rigid, anger coursing through my veins as an onslaught of memories hit me.

"After that, your fate is in the hands of the men who condemned us to this hellhole," I stated bitterly, whirling around to look her straight in the eyes.

“We were bred for one purpose, Alandra, and it’s the one thing we’re all good at, what we’ve all had practice doing our whole lives. They made sure of it, training us for our purpose."

“What? What’s your purpose?” Alandra prodded.

“Our purpose is to kill.”

12: Chapter 11

Alandra

"You!"

The simple accusation was all I managed to articulate as I stared at the snarling face of a man I desperately wished I had never met. Karyen's gaze flickered between us uncertainly as we all stood there awkwardly, staring at one another. I knew there was something familiar about the house when I first saw it, and it had been bothering me ever since Karyen had knocked on the front door, telling me that we would be staying here with one of his mysterious connections before moving on to Onix. But as my eyes took in the man's familiar crooked nose and humungous, scarred body, my brain seemed to stop functioning normally, and all I could manage to do was stare in abject horror.

He was the same man I had met during my first little vacation to Akan. Nothing had changed about him except for a fresh scar that ran from his cheekbone to the corner of his mouth. What he did in his spare time, I didn't know, but I was pretty sure it didn't involve adopting stray cats or feeding the homeless.

The man finally grunted what I thought sounded like a hello and gestured us inside. My feet stayed firmly rooted to the ground, my mouth still hanging open in shock. No way was I going to step foot inside this house.

Karyen, however, had other plans. He marched forwards, his broad shoulders shrinking down to squeeze into the tiny interior. He looked back at me impatiently and tried discreetly mouthing something I couldn't make out. It was probably along the lines of, "I will murder you if you do not get inside here right now." 

I took a cautious step forward, refusing to believe what was right in front of me. Why, out of every scary, intimidatingly huge, scarred dude on this island, did it have to be him?

My mind was still in denial, memories of my visit to Akan hitting me all at once. I suppose I should have thanked him for saving me, but all I could think about was his door slamming in my face. The same door that was now ironically wide open.

"Alandra. Inside. Now." Karyen finally broke the heavy silence, his hand tapping restlessly against the wall of the frail structure. I was surprised it didn't immediately collapse against the impact of his hand.

I rolled my eyes but hesitantly took a few steps towards the door, stopping to face the man who had once scorned me, intending to say something, anything, that would express exactly how I felt about this situation.

"I-"

"-am going inside," Karyen finished, dragging me in the rest of the way and shutting the door behind him.

"Go to the bathroom and get cleaned up. I need to talk with Jaren about our sleeping arrangements and how long we'll be staying, but for now, make yourself at home."

The words seemed more like a command than a friendly suggestion. I crossed my arms and glared at him, trying to communicate my distaste for his choice of friends, but I eventually whirled around and stalked inside the house in search of the bathroom.

It didn't take long to find it considering the entire structure had about three tiny rooms in total. I turned on the creaky faucet and splashed cold water on my face, trying not to cringe as the grimy water slid off my face and soaked through my equally grimy shirt. I took in the state of my dishevelled hair, the dirt covering my ripped, worn clothes, and the specks of blood still on my face. Wow, I looked ready to go to prom.

Despite my ragged appearance, I felt better than I had in weeks, the golden sun touching the edges of my hair as it peeked through the open window. Finally being able to wake up to the sun instead of the cold darkness that usually greeted me was an experience I would never take for granted again. As a reminder of my time spent locked away from the daylight, my skin was still a pale ghostly white, apart from the occasional purple bruise and the silver scars deeply etched into my skin.

I would never be the same again.

The thought took me by surprise, but staring at my reflection in the house of the strange man who had once slammed his door in my face made me realize the extent of all that had happened within the span of a month. The violence, blood and anguish that surrounded me like a dark shroud wherever I went made me almost…fit in with the rest of the population here. In some strange way, I felt like I belonged in this twisted world that had become my home.

"Alandra?" Karyen's voice boomed throughout the small house, the sound of his footsteps following closely after. I closed my eyes and turned away from the mirror, taking in a deep breath. I reminded myself that change was good. I couldn't be scared anymore. I could take whatever the future had to offer.

"I caught up with Jaren and informed him of the situation. We have until tomorrow to recover and…" his voice trailed off as he noticed my facial expression.

"Hey, are you okay?" His tone changed from authoritative to gentle and concerned, his hand coming up to brush my shoulder. I shivered under the cool touch of his fingers and slowly blinked my eyes open, bringing myself back to reality.

I held his gaze for a few moments, willing him to see who I had become. I was no longer the scared girl hiding in the corner of her prison. I couldn't be if I wanted to survive.

He looked back at me with wonder and fascination and stepped closer, his hand dropping to my waist.

"Who are you, Alandra Aert?" he murmured, moving his fingertip in a slow circle against my skin. I shivered again, entranced by the soft look in his eyes and the minute details of his face that I never had time to analyze before. Like the slight bend in his nose, or the light spray of freckles across his checks, or the mischievous curve of his lips-

"Karyen! We have a problem!" Jaren's rough voice rang out, shattering the moment and breaking the thick tension between us. Karyen cleared his throat and stepped back, letting his hand fall from my waist.

"We should probably go see what he wants." Karyen smiled, gesturing at me to follow. I nodded and tried to think of something else to say, but all I could come up with was, "I hate him, if you haven't already picked up on that by now."

He laughed and shook his head, walking towards the door. "Hate him or not, he's our ticket to a hot meal and a bed tonight. No more rough mountain terrain for us."

I smiled back and followed him out towards Jaren, who barely glanced at me as I walked in behind Karyen.

"Took you long enough. When I said problem, I meant big problem. Alexei's men are in the area. They're on the lookout for a young boy with dark brown hair and green eyes, and a young girl with blue eyes and light blond hair. They go by the names Karyen and Alandra. Sound familiar to you?"

Karyen scowled and instinctively gripped the sword he kept at his waist. I thought I heard him mutter, "I don't look that young," but I couldn't be sure.

"Call for backup. PWFBG can spare a couple extra men," Jaren said, picking up one of the many weapons laid out on a table nearby and running his fingers along its edge.

"Are they searching the houses? We don't have enough time to wait for reinforcements, and if we go out there now, we're as good as dead."

I paced up and down the room, trying to control my rising panic. The man that was responsible for my endless torment was here, searching for me. I vowed never to return to that prison again, no matter what it took. Even if I had to kill him with my bare hands.

Something deep inside me took pleasure at the thought of my torturer suffering by my hand. I quickly shook off the disturbing idea and focused on the problem, mentally mapping out all the possibilities. Once I had come to the most logical conclusion, I spoke up, voicing my opinion.

"I say we wait it out. Spread the word that we're long gone from the area and headed west, to Sambadon. That'll throw them off our scent and buy us time to get to Onix."

Karyen took a minute to think about it and started nodding.

"That's not a bad plan. That could actually work."

"Alexei's too smart for that. He'll never fall for it," Jaren snarled, easily disregarding my idea.

"Well, it's the best idea we have. We'll take shelter here until nightfall and then leave under the cover of the dark."

"It's suicide," Jaren retorted, but eventually grunted in resignation. "Good luck my friend. Hell, I would go with you if I could, but Osara would flay me alive."

Karyen chuckled and slapped his back as if they were old friends.

"Tell Osara that you're too pretty to be flayed. Thank you, Jaren, for your hospitality."

Jaren nodded and finally turned towards me, his friendly attitude turning sour.

"If you get him killed, I'll bury you along with him," he threatened.

Karyen looked over at me and winked, the seriousness of the situation being replaced by something lighthearted.

"She's too pretty to be buried."

13: Chapter 12

Karyen

Alandra and I stared at the tiny, one-foot single bed in a mix of apprehension and longing.

"You're sure this is all they have?"

"Well, unless you want to spent the night with Jaren and his wife, Osara, then yes, I'm afraid so."

She grimaced at the thought and hesitantly approached the bed, pushing on the mattress a couple of times.

"Are you sure this can hold my weight?"

"Yes, Alandra, I'm sure," I lied, eyeing the old spring set below hesitantly. The meek structure looked ready to collapse, but I wasn't about to tell her that.

Alandra reluctantly clambered up onto the bed and spread out, sighing deeply.

"This'll do. Good night, Karyen. Or good afternoon? I don't really know how this works."

"Good night," I murmured as she flipped to her side, her breathing already deepening and her eyes fluttering shut. We had both agreed that we were exhausted and needed a few hours of sleep before we set out into the darkness, but I was already having second thoughts. Who knew how much time we had before Alexei hunted us down, house by house? For all we knew, it could have been moments before we heard the dreadful knock of his men on the shabby wooden door, ready to take her away again.

I sighed and tried to cast away my doubts, praying that a few hours of sleep wouldn't make a difference. This plan could work, I knew it could work. Our lives depended on it.

Alandra suddenly flipped over and half opened one eye, interrupting me from my thoughts. 

"Um, do you not understand the meaning of good afternoon? I know you like staring at my unconscious body for hours but we seriously need to break that habit, it's becoming creepy."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I scowled, crossing my arms. I so did not have a habit of doing that. Well, I did, but it was my job. Kind of.

"You're still in my room," she said matter-of-factly, turning over to face me and reluctantly opening both eyes.

"I'm sorry, your room? Did you really think this was some type of hotel? You're going to have to move over, princess, and make room for two because I sure as hell am not sleeping on the floor."

Her eyes widened as she realized what I was saying.

"Wait, so, you're sleeping here? With me?" she squeaked. "Surely there's another room or something that you could use." She looked around the tiny room desperately.

"Not unless I'm planning on rooming with Jaren, and I severely doubt that he's the cuddling type," I remarked dryly.

Alandra swallowed and scooted to the far end of the bed, brushing back her tangled golden locks that had spilled over onto the pillow. I all but collapsed onto the bed that dipped under my added weight and tried to settle as comfortably as I could.

I glanced at her curled-up figure and rolled my eyes. She was acting like I had a contagious disease.

"You know, I'm not planning on murdering you in your sleep or anything," I muttered, eyeing the pillow and blanket she had wrapped around herself. Meanwhile, I was stuck in a tiny corner of the bed, my head resting on the musty mattress below us and my body shivering from the brutal cold of our surroundings.

She didn't respond, but her body did slightly open up, spreading out just enough so that our feet were barely touching and her back was mere inches from my chest. It was an improvement.

I inched my head forwards so that it touched a corner of the pillow and shifted closer to her so the blanket could cover us both. At this point, she didn't have much room to move, but Alandra thankfully didn't complain.

I spent the next few minutes listening to her breathing slow down until it deepened into a steady pattern, her tense body finally relaxing. Her legs moved automatically to intertwine with mine, and her back pushed against my chest until she was fully curled into my body.

A mix of emotions flew through me as we lay there with our bodies wrapped together. I suddenly became aware of everything about her, from her lemony smell to the light blond highlights in her hair. I felt an instinctive need to protect her, to shield her from all the terrible things that had happened in her life and make sure they would never happen again. My heart started speeding up and thumping so loud in my chest that I was sure Jaren could hear it from the other room. What was happening to me? I needed to regain control of my body.

I slowly disentangled myself from Alandra and swung my legs off the bed. Sleeping would do me no good. I needed to strategize and start thinking of ways I could get both of us safely to Onix. PWFBG would handle the rest.

A sharp knock sounded on the door, distracting me from my thoughts. I tensed and warily rose to my feet, shielding Alandra from view.

The door slowly creaked open, and my heart rate skyrocketed as I saw a heavy iron-clad boot step into the room. I lifted my gaze and immediately relaxed as I took in the 6-foot woman walking toward me. I grinned and clasped her wrist in greeting.

"Osara. It's been too long." 

She chuckled and shook her head, returning my smile.

"Not long enough. Good to see you, kid." She hit me playfully in the shoulder, something she had been doing since I was sixteen years old. I scoffed.

"Not a kid anymore Osara. Haven't been since I was eight."

Her expression turned somber, and she lowered her head. The pain in her eyes was telling, as was the flicker of anger burning in her clenched fists. The test had not been kind to her. It had swallowed her whole and spit her out all bloody and raw until she was barely recognizable from the seven-year-old girl with long braids and fiery red hair who used to skip around gleefully without a trouble in the world. The test had crushed her. In some ways, she had died the night they took her away.

"I know, Karyen. Just messing with you. Who's the girl?" She nodded towards Alandra, who was still soundly asleep. 

"That's top secret information, I'm afraid." I snickered at her scowl.

"Oh please, ever since you joined those snobs at PWFBG it's suddenly all 'can't tell you this, can't tell you that'. Since when did you used to have so many secrets?" She rolled her eyes and took a step closer to Alandra, narrowing her eyes when she looked at her again.

"No…it can't be." Osara's mouth curved down in a look of disgust.

"What is it? What's wrong?" I looked at her, alarmed. What kind of trouble had Alandra gotten herself into this time?

"The skinny little thing pranced up to our door a couple of days ago, sniveling for shelter. Almost got herself killed before Jaren had to intervene. The Pack had a hold of her."

I paled, my eyes going wide. Jaren had mentioned that Alandra had once come here looking for shelter, but I didn't know the extent of what had happened. I silently thanked Jaren for protecting her when I wasn't able to.

"If The Pack had her, it's lucky she got out alive at all. Send my thanks to Jaren."

Osara snorted and turned away from Alandra's sleeping form. "Luckily, there were only a couple of them this time. Imagine what would have happened if the rest of them had joined in," she bit out.

I shuddered. The Pack was notorious for vicious, violent killings of anyone and anything that crossed their path.

"I'd rather not, thanks."

I heard Alandra stir behind me, muttering something under her breath as she turned to her side so that she was facing me. On her face was a troubled expression, with deep frown lines etched into her pale forehead, her mouth turned down and her eyes tightly screwed shut.

"I'll leave you be for now. Heard you got big plans later on. And Karyen…" Osara hesitated, her voice unsure. "I don't usually get mixed up in PWFBG business, but Natalia's been asking about you. Wants to know where you are, and when you're planning on heading back to headquarters. She's also curious about the girl, and what she knows. Or more accurately, what information you've managed to get out of her."

I swallowed dryly as a sour taste filled my mouth at the reminder of my mission. "She'll have to wait to find out. By this point, I'm not risking any information leaking about our whereabouts, and if everything goes according to plan, she won't have to wait long to see me."

Osara nodded and clasped my arm again before walking out.

"Good luck, kid," she tossed over her shoulder before walking out the door, shutting it behind her.

I frowned, my mind swimming with worry. If I was being honest with myself, I didn't know how soon I would be able to make it back.

Or if I even could.

14: Chapter 13

Alandra

Being woken up sucked on a normal day. But as I felt the soft press of Karyen's fingertips tapping my shoulder, intent on continuing our insane journey through a murderous village while being chased by the very men who had kidnapped and tortured me not too long ago, being woken up sucked extra bad today.

I pretended not to hear him softly whisper my name and instead focused on keeping my breathing as even as possible. I did not want to leave this bed. I had just found this bed, and even though it was terribly small and old and rickety, it was safer than being out there, where people lived by the mantra, kill or be killed. No, I rather liked being in this bed.

Soon enough, the tapping progressed to full-blown shaking, making it harder and harder to feign unconsciousness. I willed my body to remain limp just to spite him until finally, I heard him sigh and shift off the bed.

Victory at last, I thought gleefully, but my celebration was short-lived; in one moment, I was sprawled comfortably over the worn mattress, and in the next, Karyen's calloused palms latched securely onto my ankles and tugged me off the bed in one swift motion. My eyes flew open in shock as I crumpled to the floor, landing hard on my ass. I cursed profusely as the sound of Karyen's unabashed laughter filled the room. 

"You - you little worm! How dare you attack me while I was unconscious and vulnerable," I scowled at him, but couldn't seem to hold onto my anger when I saw his wide grin. 

"Hey, I gave you the choice between the easy way or the hard way - you chose the hard way out," he fired back, still sporting that mischievous smirk of his.

Fighting a grin of my own, I picked myself up and got my first proper look at Karyen, who looked like he belonged on the Mission Impossible movie set; he was dressed from head to toe in black spandex, and his outlandish look was completed by a dazzling assortment of daggers, swords, and tactical gear all strapped to the black leather tool belt around his waist. Although I was all too aware of the reasons behind Karyen's lethal appearance, it was also impossible not to crack a joke at his expense. 

"Oh my, are you planning on robbing a bank in that getup?" I teased, pointedly looking him up and down while arching my eyebrows dramatically.

"Mock all you want but this getup will be used to keep you safe and alive," he retorted, reaching out to poke my shoulder.

"So do I get my own, or what?" 

We shared a conspiratorial smile, and soon enough, I was equipped with my own version of Mission Impossible gear, which consisted of night vision goggles, an emergency flare, what looked like pepper spray, and a small dagger. Less flashy than Karyen's gear, but at least I had the means to defend myself - I could barely contain my excitement. Karyen, on the other hand, didn't seem as enthused about my equipment upgrade as I was, narrowing his eyes as my fingers began inching closer to my tool belt.

"Don't use that," Karyen gestured to my dagger, "unless you absolutely need to, understood?" 

I grumbled in irritation and slid it out despite his protests, examining its glistening surface. It was about 8 inches long and made of lustrous bronze metal, with a wide base that quickly tapered to a fine, deadly point. I lightly ran my pointer finger along its sharpened edge, admiring its simple but delicate beauty.

"How hard can it be?" I thought out loud. "You just point the pointy part towards the person that is trying to kill you, and voilà - one skewered bad guy!" 

Karyen shook his head in exasperation but surprisingly didn't move to stop me or my lanky arm currently waving an instrument of death around the room. Instead, he opted for diplomacy, indulging me as he joked, "you know, I could make it a point to disarm you faster than you can say the word 'voilà', but I like your confidence." He winked at me playfully before beckoning me closer. I took a hesitant step forward, my weapon still tightly clenched in my fist, but my trepidation quickly diminished once I realized he didn't intend to confiscate my new gifts; as I stepped within reach, Karyen simply adjusted my grip on the dagger, his cool fingers repositioning mine until I was able to relax into a more comfortable hold. 

"Better?" he murmured in my ear as he moved to stand behind me.

I nodded wordlessly as his large hand slowly enveloped mine, showing me the proper downward angle to inflict the most damage. I pointedly ignored how his nearness seemed to affect my body, instead trying to focus all of my attention on the dagger's deadly arc. I definitely wasn't thinking about how all the moisture in my mouth seemed to dissipate with a stroke of his thumb, or how suddenly breathless I felt, or how his touch left behind warm tingles that spread up my arm and speared into my -

Before I could continue down that deranged train of thought, Jaren burst through the door, gasping for breath.

"Alexei's men are here, now! You have to run out the back, quick! Get out of here!" Jaren managed between gasps, causing my heart rate to skyrocket and Karyen to jump into action. In the blink of an eye, I watched Karyen's demeanour shift from relaxed to militant as he firmly closed my fist around the dagger with one hand, then grabbed my free hand with his other. This time, no warm fuzzies jumped out at me, only cold, unadulterated fear.

Karyen proceeded to lead the way through the cramped house until we reached the back door. Without missing a beat, he silently nudged it open, and hand-in-hand, we thrust out into the dark unknown, the cool night breeze a welcome sensation on my sweat-drenched back. The lanterns posted in front of each building provided just enough illumination to discern my immediate surroundings but not much else, which was just fine with me – I didn't want to see the faces of the monsters that chased me. Unfortunately, the poor visibility of our surroundings did little to calm my fear. Thick tension saturated the air, so palpable that it felt nearly impossible to move on my own. Luckily, the adrenaline flooding my veins was enough to propel my body forward after Karyen, step by step.

I could hear male voices distantly echoing throughout the house now, accompanied by the thud of heavy boots – were there two men? Three? I couldn't be sure, but I was certain I wanted to get the hell out of this place before I found out.

"Put your night vision goggles on," Karyen instructed from beside me, his wavering voice betraying his mounting anxiety. I unhooked my goggles with shaking fingers, and once I strapped them on, the world around us lit up in full, vibrant colour. Had we not been running for our lives, I would have taken the time to admire the view.

Moments later, I felt Karyen grab hold of my hand again. "Whatever you do, don't let go," he cautioned. I didn't dare respond, concentrating only on putting one foot in front of the next. I tried to drown out my distractingly loud thoughts by focusing on the erratic rhythm of my wildly beating heart, but I couldn't seem to stop my panic from bubbling to the surface, especially when I heard the voices get louder and louder, until –

"Hey! Over there!"

Karyen cursed under his breath and escalated our pace to a full-on sprint, weaving between houses to try and shake the men pursuing us. 

As we fled, a loud rumbling behind us caused me to risk glancing back, and what I saw made me wish I never had; three men on horseback – there were horses on this island? – were closing in on us rapidly, their thundering hoofbeats pounding out a rhythm of deadly malice. The three men atop the horses were clad in armour and equipped with long silver swords and resplendent black cloaks, save for the leader of the group, whose cloak was embellished with golden embroidery. As my gaze drifted down, a horrifying realization hit me; the creatures these men rode weren't horses - no, they were unlike any animal I had ever seen. Thick black spikes jutted out from their manes to the tops of their heads, and their eyes seemed to glow an unsettling bloodred. As they neared closer, I noticed the rows and rows of pointed teeth that protruded from their maws. I tried my best not to think about what those teeth would feel like if I got too close.

Karyen abruptly veered to the left and ducked down behind one of the houses, drawing my horrified gaze away from the beasts as he pulled me down with him.

"Alandra, listen to me carefully," he whispered, looking gravely into my eyes. "We have no hope of outrunning them. Our best shot of getting out of here alive is for you to hide while I distract them and give you an opening to run."

"Oh great, so the plan is that I cower in fear while you go and get yourself killed. Just great," I angrily sniped. "Did you see those monstrous things? Where am I even supposed to hide?" 

Karyen ignored my sarcastic dig and rose to his feet, hauling me with him. He led us a few feet further until we approached a locked wooden door built into the ground, which I assumed was some type of cellar. He quickly slashed the lock with his sword and heaved the door open. 

"I'll buy you as much time as I can, and when no one is looking, you need to get out and run as fast as you can. About 10 minutes straight from here, you'll hit a river - follow it straight down until you reach a village. Ask around for Natalia," he rushed to get out, all but pushing me down into the tiny dark cellar. 

"You know I have a bad history with small underground spaces!" I hissed at him, but the deafening sound of our rapidly approaching pursuers offered little room for compromise. I reluctantly lowered myself into the cellar and tried not to hyperventilate as Karyen shut the door above me. Moments later, I heard the sound of boots roughly hitting the dirt as the monsters and their beasts rounded the corner.

"You're too late," Karyen's voice boomed from above, sounding more confident than I knew he felt. "She's gone."

I couldn't resist peeking through the tiny gaps in the door, which was when I got my first good look at him. His golden blonde hair seemed to glisten even in the absence of light, and his cold, calculating smile sent chills down my spine. I instantly knew that he was the faceless man that haunted my nightmares - Alexei.

"Shame," Alexei remarked, chuckling softly to himself.

"What, that I outsmarted you yet again?" I heard Karyen quip arrogantly.

His face darkened, and he slowly drew out his sword, the harsh scrape of metal resonating in the unnaturally still air.  

"That you have to die."