Alex pressed his hand to the cracked earth.
Magic rippled. A wall surged up from the dirt, circling them in stone silence.
Inside, Elli blinked, startled.
Alex turned, tossed her a set of folded clothes, eyes darting away when he caught a glimpse of what lay beneath the fabric lace, silk, the private armor of a girl raised royal.
He shoved a book into her hand without a word.
"Instructions. Wear the smaller ones inside. The bigger ones go on top. Simple."
And with that, he leapt over the stone barrier.
Outside, Darcy waited no longer a golden dragon but a white tiger, silent and massive, her breath misting like fog.
Then came steel. A whisper in the air.
A bandit lunged sword flashing.
Alex didn't blink. He caught the blade barehanded. His other fist sparked with lightning. A crack of thunder, and the man dropped, twitching.
He tied the rogue to a tree, like trash left for crows.
Minutes passed. Elli shouted from inside, "Alex! I'm done!"
The wall dropped.
Alex turned and stopped.
Her outfit was a clumsy mess. Jacket backwards, boots untied, scarf wrapped like a noose.
She glared. "Don't touch me, peasant! I'm royalty!"
Alex snorted. "Royalty? Out here, you bleed like the rest of us."
He fixed her hood, tied her laces.
Then she saw Darcy. And screamed.
"A BEAST! GET IT AWAY!"
She clung to Alex's jacket.
Darcy padded closer, growling but not in anger. In mockery.
Alex flicked her nose. "Behave. You're scaring royalty."
The tiger huffed and flopped down like a grumpy cat.
Elli stared in awe. "She's... yours?"
"Yup." Alex rubbed mud on Darcy's fur to dull the white glow. "She's mad at you. Says you tried to sell me."
Elli flinched. "It's that powerful?"
Alex looked at the sky. "Follow me. We scout first."
They moved through the edge of the valley. The market swelled with noise. Thieves slinked in shadows. Eyes followed them like wolves watching lost lambs.
Then
She was gone.
Alex turned, heart flipping. "Elli?"
He spun in circles. Her presence vanished.
Laughter rang out nearby.
Alex didn't hesitate. His sword was at a man's throat in a blink.
"I'm out of patience. Where. Is. She?"
The man pointed with trembling hands toward a shadowed alley.
[a few moments before elli was beeing taken]
Elli had been walking beside him her breath light, her steps careful. Then, in a heartbeat too fast for fate to notice…
Hands rough, filthy clamped over her mouth.
She was yanked backward into a side alley between broken houses. Stone walls, cracked windows, eyes watching and doing nothing. The kind of silence that only evil knows how to use.
She kicked. Struggled. Screamed behind the palm over her face.
No one saw.
No one helped.
"Alex..."
"Grandpa... I'm sorry... I'm sorry I didn't listen..."
They dragged her deeper, laughter like rusted blades in the dark.
A group of men. Scarred. Starved. Smiling like wolves circling blood.
One shoved her against a wall.
The stone was cold.
The air was thick with sweat and something fouler.
"Please... please help me... Alex..."
"I'm scared. I want to live..."
Her voice broke in her throat.
Tears streamed, but she dared not scream.
One of them raised his handreaching for her chest, sick with intent.
"Please stop this," she whispered, eyes shut tight.
"I can't die this. I can't"
And then
The scent of blood.
Warm. Metallic. Sharp as lightning in the lungs.
She opened her eyes.
One of the men the one closest to her froze. His smile faded. His pupils widened as a thin red line spread across his throat.
A second later
His head dropped.
It hit the ground with a wet thud.
His body crumpled like a puppet with its strings cut.
Standing behind him
Alex.
His eyes glowing with stormlight. His blade steaming. His silence louder than thunder.
And then came the slaughter.
Steel sang through the air a ghost made of fury.
One by one, the hands that dared touch her were sliced. Fingers flew. Arms dropped.
Blood sprayed the alley walls. Screams replaced laughter.
Elli stumbled forward, crying, shaking.
Her fists pounded Alex's chest.
"Idiot! Idiot Alex! Where were you!? I thought"
"I thought I was going to die!"
He caught her. Held her.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, breath shaking. "I'm sorry I was late."
"I'll never leave you again."
Behind them, Darcy arrived like a white storm fangs bared, fury unchained.
She crushed what was left, roaring into the heavens.
And the valley heard.
alex take the sword in his sabacars and put it in her hands saying , " do it !".
Elli's sword pierced the man's heart.
He gasped. Staggered. Dropped.
She stood there, blood on her hands, tears streaking down her face.
Alex was already beside her.
No words just his hand on her head, grounding her.
"It's over. You did good. I'm here now."
She sobbed, shaking. He wiped her tears with a bloody thumb.
"Sorry I was late… princess."
He bit his finger, let the blood drip, and drew a glowing trident on her hand as the golden aura fall on it
"This mark… when you're in pain, I'll feel it.
When you need me it'll lead you to me."
She nodded, barely breathing.
They walked out of the alley.
Blood on her dress. Blood on his cloak.
Darcy beside them, white fur stained red.
The crowd parted. Silent. Afraid.
Alex stood in the crowd, eyes scanning the chaos.
People were selling monster corpses like rotten meat. The smell of dried blood, sweat, and smoke clung to the air.
"So this is how they make money here..." he muttered.
He reached for Elli's hand.
It surprised her how warm it was. Why does his hand feel safer than my own thoughts...? she wondered.
"Where are we going?" she asked, unsure if she even wanted to know.
"To hunt one," he said calmly, like it was a morning chore.
Her heart dropped. "What?! We're... we're weak!"
He laughed, not cruelly, just certain. "Then it's the perfect time to get stronger."
He says it like it's simple. Like fear doesn't matter...
Is that what courage looks like?
They climbed onto Darcy's back white fur, muscles like coiled lightning and the tiger dashed into the forest. Elli held Alex tight. Not just for balance. For something more. Something trembling in her chest.
I used to imagine heroes in stories. Princes with silver swords and eyes like starlight... Now I'm here, holding onto someone real. And I don't know if that's comforting... or terrifying.
Alex suddenly sat up straight. "Beast ahead."
Darcy growled low.
"Darcy, protect Elli," he said. And leapt.
Elli gasped as he soared through the air, sword glowing with violet layer of aura , a war cry ripping from his chest. One clean slash and the big beast's with horn , head tumbled like a stone.
He... killed it so easily.
Alex examined the body, then burned the wound clean and stored it in his bag. "Looks fresh. Might fetch a decent price."
She was still frozen. He's not human, is he? Not really...
Then screaming.
Alex turned his head sharply.
"Hold on," he said, and Darcy sprinted.
Elli clutched him tight. "What if they're like the ones before?" she whispered. Her throat still burned from earlier, ghosts of hands still on her skin.
"If I hate this world for what it did to my mother," he said, "then I'll have nothing left. The universe isn't all bad and if we don't protect it, no one will be left to protect us."
She wanted to argue. But she didn't. That's not something you say unless you've lost more than blood.
Darcy surged forward, and she slipped, crashing into Alex's back.
"Sorry!" she blurted.
He caught her, steady with one arm, the other glowing. "It's okay."
They burst into a clearing villagers cornered by a monstrous spider, black and crawling with demonic energy. Its fangs dripped with venom.
Alex vanished. One blink and he was already between the beast and the villagers, sword locked against claws.
"Are you alright?" he asked the woman behind him.
Elli stared. He's faster than I can think.
"Darcy..." she whispered, "is he always this fast?"
Darcy growled softly. The answer was yes.
Alex danced between strikes, his blade flashing without aura, just pure skill. "Hit its leg joints!" he shouted.
The villagers obeyed, and when the spider screamed, Alex struck its head thunder exploding from his sword. It dropped, charred and smoking.
Elli watched him lower his sword, breathing steady.
He looks like someone who's done this too many times... like someone who doesn't sleep much anymore.
A villager stepped forward. "Who are you?"
"Just someone doing what they can," Alex said.
"You're not from here."
"No. We came through a portal. This morning."
They looked up at Darcy where Elli still sat, gripping her sleeves tightly, blood still caked under her fingernails.
They're all staring. They can smell it. The fear on me...
"You've had a rough day," said an older man. "Come with us. We're knights of the Giga Goddess Church. It's safer with us."
Alex nodded. "Thanks. We'll help however we can."
He called for Darcy.
As the tiger approached, they saw the dried blood on Elli's legs, the small cuts, the hollow look in her eyes. Someone whispered, "You've killed today."
"I didn't stay calm," Alex said. "When my people bleed, I become worse than any monster."
Elli looked up at him.
He says 'my people'... like I belong somewhere. Like I'm not just some lost girl anymore.
The old man laughed. "Then fight with us. You and your crew. You've earned your place."
Alex smiled. "Deal."