There are unholy things in the forest, but she likes it that way.

He stares at the sky, cut open and bleeding, left to die among the rot and decay around him.

You were never nothing. Even when I hated you, I knew that.

There is a pressure in her side that grows sharper and stronger as she begins to wake until she jerks with a shuddering breath.

“General Evie,” General Redbeard calls from below. She spots him in the crowd easily. His grin is feral, its why she nicknamed him the mad dog. “I was wondering how many more would have to die before I finally got to you.”

“This is illegal!” she shouts as she bangs her fist on the door in front of her.

There is no answer.

Illegal or not, she’s without a place to sleep. She’s without a home, again. She’s a day late, a dollar short, and the doors are locked.

Her hands wrap around the golden bars of her cage. So much gold, so much time went into its construction, but the Little Lord was making a statement that went far beyond her. She looks down to where a chain holds her feet to the ground so that not even her wings could carry her away from him.

He said she would regret it. He said it wasn’t her who needed testing. Yet she had to make the sacrifice. She had to do anything in her power for her friends.

But they didn’t come for her. She’ll have to live with that.

“Who could pick a better person for me than the people who have already loved me my entire life?” I say.

“You,” she answers immediately, “You could find someone to love.”

“Love is scary.” I admit.