Leona wearily blinked her eyes. She was staring up at a purple sky. She tried to get up just as a ferocious jolt of pain shot through her whole body.

“Don’t try to get up. You’ll open the wound,” Tavus said softly beside her. His hair was brown once again. The glamour has been dropped.

Leona looked up at him, then down on her body. Whoever had tended to her ripped open a portion of her suit to reveal her stomach: it was wrapped in a bandage that was now soaked in blood. She was lying on her cloak, Tavus and Nareana sat on her either side.

Nareana placed a tiny hand on her forehead, blue eyes flooded with tears.

“What possessed you to do that?” Tavus said sharply, and then his expression softened, “I was beside myself with worry when I saw you and the two princes hurtling from the sky. It was a good thing Jarael caught you in time. But I doubt that he’s in a good mood…”

“Where is he, anyway?” Leona said, looking around.

“He’s sent a message to Olfragh telling him that we won’t be in Dushahn anytime soon,” Tavus said desolately, “Then he healed your wound. After that he won’t speak to any of us and he has been waiting in the beach for the whole time. He hasn’t even bothered healing his own wounds,” Tavus replied.

Leona forced herself to sit up, feeling sick at all that happened.

“Don’t tell me I’ve been asleep for another three days,” she said to Tavus, he shook his head.

“Only a few hours,” he replied, “You had a really nasty wound. Jarael was furious and was muttering something to himself in Elvish. But he healed you anyway. I think all that’s left is something like a very long red welt. You can take that bandage off now, if you want to.”

Leona fumbled at the bloody bandage on her torso and tore it off. True enough a red scar almost a foot long stretched along her stomach. She tried to stand up, staggered a little, and limped a few steps before collapsing on the sand, wincing.

Sand? She thought. Where are we?

“Tavus, where are we?” she asked, looking around at her surroundings properly. They were on a sandy beach. A fire was burning where Tavus has pitched camp. Leona couldn’t see a sign of land on the horizon. Behind her stretched a vast forest.

“Are we on the beach in the south of Fasenpahr?” she asked Tavus apprehensively.

Tavus shook his head. “No, Jarael felt that if we went further inland, we’ll be captured. He decided to go as far from the mainland as possible. We saw this island and decided to land here. Besides, Jarael is exhausted and he was hurt. We landed in the sea a few feet away from the shore because he couldn’t take the pain anymore.”

“Why was he hurt? Who did it?” Leona asked again, gripping her hip to check if the Rubida Nurthia was still there. It wasn’t.

“When we flew too low, Jarael didn’t know there were T’lakr archers below us, on the beach. They fired their arrows all at once and about four or five hit him in the underbelly. He was also hit when Aljarus started shooting those crazy blasts of light,” Tavus replied, Leona cursed and buried her face in her hands.

“This is all my fault,” she said bitterly, trying her best not to cry. She looked at Tavus, “Do you have my sword?”

Tavus gave her the blade in its scabbard. She took it and limped away.

“Leona, where are you going?” Tavus called, standing up.

Leona brushed her still wet hair from her face, the sun’s light was fading, and the day was quickly turning to night.

Her insides squirmed as she thought of Jarael’s reaction when he sees her.

She felt remorse gnawing at her as she found him sitting cross-legged on top of a lichen-covered boulder.

“Jarael,” she called, taking a few steps towards him. His face was expressionless, staring out to sea. His shirt was soaked in blood.

She tried to call his attention again.

“I’m really sorry for what happened,” she said quietly, gripping the hilt of her sword tightly, “I know I acted with recklessness.” She took another step towards him, Jarael did not stir.

“But I killed Demvross and Aljarus, didn’t I?” Leona said, forcing herself to smile. Jarael looked at her; and the intensity of his gaze bore into her own eyes and as if it drilled through her skull.

Jarael stood and spread out his white wings, took off and landed right in front of Leona, venom-seeped in his voice as he spoke.

“In case you can’t remember,” he said harshly, “Demvross and Aljarus have Giraj blood running in their cursed veins. They won’t be killed by your sword, because they can only be killed bytheir own sword! And they’re not even tired enough to prevent them from recuperating quickly. They’re immortal just like me! I thought I’d told you about that?”

He snatched Leona’s sword from its sheath and plunged the blade into his torso. Leona screamed as blood seeped from where the blade jutted from his body.

“Jarael, please…” Leona sobbed, trying to take the sword from Jarael. He yanked the sword out of his torso and the wound closed almost instantly.

“Don’t you know what you just did?” he shouted at her, “By now we should’ve arrived at Dushahn, by now Olfragh would have been with us, by now we should be on our way to Neizagaard, unscathed!

“When I saw you got hurt, I was out of my mind with worry. What if Aljarus dealt a fatal blow upon you? What happens now to Ramorgra? And you didn’t even get close enough to rescue your grandparents because of your foolishness! Stop acting as if you know everything. The princes are hundreds of years old. Centuries of years of experience, while you, you’ve only had a month’s worth of training! I labored all those years just to find you. I couldn’t bear it if I lost you now that I’ve found you!” Jarael breathed hard at the rage and anguish he was feeling.

“Well you agreed to let me on Demvross’ back! If you knew these things all along, you could’ve at least told me so that didn’t have to put myself in the fire for all of you! I thought I could be of help!” Leona screamed, tears freely running down her cheeks.

“Well, I’m just –,” Jarael started, Leona cut him off with a wave of her hand.

“Shut up! I don’t want to hear anything you have to say! At least I know now that you never trusted me all along! All you care about is saving Ramorgra, I do too, but I wouldn’t and couldn’t do it if you won’t help me! You told me that you’re keeping things from me just to keep me alive, well I think that you’ll end up with me having killed if you don’t explain things to me!” with that, Leona turned on her heel and ran away.

Jarael looked at her as she ran farther away.

“I’m just saying this because I wouldn’t know what to do if you had died,” he called out. Leona didn’t look back for even a fleeting glance.

“Leona, this is because I care for you!” Jarael said as Leona vanished behind the trees. He dropped on his knees and grabbed Leona’s sword. He gripped the blade tight until it cut into the flesh of his palm, hoping against hope that it will alleviate the pain he felt in his heart.

Leona ran back to where Tavus and Nareana were waiting, wiping her tears away and thinking of a way to get out of the island as soon as possible.

When she returned, Tavus met her with a look that she understood at once.

“I found him,” she said icily, “I think he’d like to have some time alone,” she sat beside Tavus, placed her chin on her hands, and then stared at the fire blazing in front of them.

“Do you mind if you share it with us?” Tavus said quietly. Leona nodded and quickly recalled their conversation. Tavus nodded somberly afterwards.

“It would we better if we leave him alone for a bit,” he said, “maybe he just has a lot on his mind at this time. We’re better off finding a way out of here.”

Leona nodded as Nareana came to her and sat on her lap.

“Everything will be all right, Shaeryva,” she said, taking Leona’s face in her tiny hands.

Leona smiled painfully as she remembered Anthea’s gesture.

Nareana woke Leona up early the next morning. Leona stirred at once.

“Tavus left to hunt for food,” she piped up. Leona sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Has Jarael returned?” she asked drowsily. Nareana slowly shook her head, Leona’s heart sank.

“Let’s go look around!” Nareana said, tugging Leona’s arm.

Leona stood up, draped her cloak around her, and took Nareana’s outstretched hand. She worried a bit as Rubida Nurthia’s scabbard was empty, and then remembered that Jarael took her sword. She snorted as she strapped his dagger to her leg.

They ventured into the forest. It stretched out as far as the eye can see, with no discernible paths to follow. Streaks of morning sunlight passed through the boughs high above.

Leona waited patiently as Nareana stopped to pick berries and flowers. They found a small clearing near a lake and stopped there to rest.

For Leona, she wished everything was that peaceful again. She lay on the soft green grass and stared out through the lush branches above her.

So many things have happened in such a short period of time. She thought. It’s almost impossible to believe any of the events that have occurred. I wish everything’s back to normal… I wish I could see grandma and grandpa again…

She was distracted from her thoughts as Nareana gave her a crown of flowers that she made. Leona smiled at Nareana’s innocence and naïveté. Suddenly, they heard a loud splash in the river and somebody shouting.

“What was that?” Leona said, standing up. Nareana ran towards the lake.

“Nareana!” Leona called out, struggling to keep up with her, “Wait for me!”

She followed Nareana to where the child stopped in her tracks at the bank of the lake.

The lake’s almost mirror-like smoothness was disrupted by a person thrashing helplessly not too far from them.

“He’s going to drown!” Nareana squeaked. Leona looked closely at the person in the lake, mind racing frantically.

Casting her doubts behind, she shook of her cloak, flung her hair back and jumped into the lake.

The freezing water burned her skin as she plunged to its dark blue depths. Sunlight pierced through the water’s surface allowing her to see water weeds billowing in the current, casting the lake’s floor in an inky blackness. Leona feared of its almost unfathomable depths.

She kicked back her feet and swam to where the person thrashed about, creating curtains of bubbles that enveloped his form. To what Leona could see, it must’ve been a little boy.

Leona reached the child and grasped him tightly, and then she quickly surfaced for air.

The breath of air in her lungs was a considerable relief, she dog-paddled back to the bank where she hoisted the boy to safety.

Leona got herself out of the water and gasped for air. Nareana ran towards her and hugged her. Leona looked at the child and said, “How are you feeling? What are you doing here all alone?”

Leona then gasped as she saw that the child had leaf-green skin, his ears were pointed, he was clad in brown garments that looked like it was made from leaves, and when he looked up at her, his eyes were huge pools of black that stared back at her.

Without warning, the child nervously stood up and ran away.

Nareana tugged at her elbow eagerly, Leona’s cloak in hand, “Shaeryva, let’s follow him!”

They ran after the child as they weaved in and out of the trees. The fey child was extremely fast, when he turned around a huge boulder Leona was almost out of breath.

When she turned the boulder herself, she gasped as she saw the child clutching the hem of the armor of one of more than a dozen men with differently-colored skin, silver armor with elaborate golden filigree, huge kite shields with a golden pentacle emblazoned on it, and sharp swords glistening in their hands.

Fey soldiers.

To Leona’s further horror, she saw Tavus in the hands of two of the soldiers. His lip was cut and their weapons were held by another guard.

“Two more humans. How many more of you must we capture until this day is done?” their captain said, clearly because of the purple-plumed helmet he was wearing, long black hair fell from underneath his helm.

Suddenly, a couple of worn out-looking guards burst from the outgrowth to their left. Their armor dented in some places

“Captain Erfla, sir. We suspect this one to be a Giraj.”

They had Jarael with them. And from the cuts on his face, he could’ve been involved in a struggle.

Erfla raised a pristine eyebrow. Then he turned to Leona coolly.

“Come with us quietly and nobody need not be harmed,” Erfla said sternly. Leona gazed at him in shock, fear, and confusion as two soldiers came forward and took her too. They separated Nareana from her, bound her hands behind her back, and, with a rough nudge from the guard behind her, they were forced to march through the woods.