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

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

The sounds of the night draw his attention, but they can be easily dismissed. Fluttering wings, chirping bugs, and the hoot of an owl can be ignored. The Empire’s soldiers announce themselves with the sound of chains grating against each other and the snapping of metal armor as they march.

“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.”

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.

They haven’t gotten along since he betrayed her, but now she’s hurt as a result of them being out of sync.

He will fix that, even if all she wants is to fight. Fighting usually leads to something else anyway.

“Say it again,” she said. “Just so I’m sure.”

“I consent.”

Unrei didn’t feel any different for a heartbeat, for two, he began to wonder if she’d use her power at all when he felt it explode in his body. He let out a heedy moan at the feelings coursing through him.

In the beginning, there was the Stormy Mountain, the Great Tree, the Everflowing Waterfall, and the Eternal Flame.

Xander slips past the castle security with ease. They aren’t looking for anyone sneaking out, and hopefully they’ll be too tired to catch him sneaking back in later.

He dons his new outfit, and with it, his new persona.

“Oh, nasty.” Yim looks up from the base of the traveler’s shrine to see Wist in front of him. Wist grins, sharp white teeth against dull pale features, before they speak. “You’re still the orc?”

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.