Alec sat curled up against the base of a tree, sinking deeper into the pit of his own mind. He kept replaying the entire day in head for what felt like the hundredth time. The moment his mother told him to run, to escape into the forest and not look back.
They had come across an abandoned logging cabin. Rusted tools hung from the walls, the wind causing them to clang together, the eery melody reminding Alec too much of Alver's forge on cold winter nights.
A small campfire crackled between them, the warmth of the flame comforting but cold. Zoe had started it half an hour ago, her hands shaking in the cold. She watched Alec in the orange glow, worried about how quiet he was being.
She knew what was tearing him apart. For all his bravado and playful boasts, Alec was kind, forgiving, sometimes naïve. That softness was what she admired, even now, after everything.
Zoe placed a hand on his shoulder, breaking him out of his own mind.
Alec only managed a small sound in response.
"We should get some rest. Long day tomorrow."
Her face flickered between firelight and forest shadow, just as tired and exhausted as he was.
Alec nodded numbly, lying down on the damp ground beside the fire. Closing his eyes, Alec tried to sleep, but sleep evaded him.
The sound of hounds in the distance awoke Alec and Zoe early the next day, the sound jarring enough to make the morning air feel like it split apart.
Snarls tore through the morning stillness. Alec jolted upright, dizzy from standing too fast. First light sliced through the trees as guttural voices echoed across the forest floor, demons shouting to one another in their almost alien dialect.
Panic surged. Zoe was already stamping out the fire, grabbing their things with ruthless efficiency. They locked eyes, nodded once, and bolted.
They sprinted into the underbrush, ducking branches, leaping roots, hearts pounding loud enough to drown out thought. But Alec's ribs screamed with every stride. He struggled to keep pace with Zoe.
"Crap! That was faster than I thought!" Alec shouted over the raging water.
"They've got dogs! What'd you expe—CLIFF!" Zoe yelled, but it was too late.
Zoe's foot slipped and she vanished over the edge. Alec didn't think he dove after her, arms out, catching her mid-fall. He wrapped himself around her, bracing for impact.
The river swallowed them both, their forms vanishing under its raging surface.
Cold water punched the breath from their chests. They tumbled, thrashing, fighting for air as the current dragged them toward the thunderous roar ahead.
"A waterfall, of course!" Alec spat, grabbing Zoe and pulling her close.
They went over screaming, swallowed whole by white spray and chaos.
When they finally clawed their way onto the riverbank below, soaked, bruised, and exhausted. For a while, they just lay there, shivering, gasping for breath. Alec wasn't sure how long they laid there, minutes? Hours, maybe?
Then Zoe started laughing wild, disbelieving. Alec joined her, pumping a weak fist into the air before dropping it with a groan.
"Never again!" Zoe panted.
"Never!" Alec wheezed.
He closed his eyes, just breathing, forgetting for a heartbeat how much everything hurt. A shadow fell across his face. Assuming it was Zoe, he muttered, "I'm not asleep—"
But it wasn't Zoe, it was someone else.
Standing above him was a tall young woman, skin the colour of bark with a faint morning glow. She wore simple hunting leathers, a bow at her hip. Her accent was thick and earthy when she spoke.
"Are you two all right?" The strange girl asked with her accent strange, her dark skin reflected the sunlight polished leather from Alver's forge, she couldn't be any older than Alec,
Alec and Zoe sat up, startled but too exhausted to flinch. After quick introductions, the woman gave her name: Zua, a hunter from the nearby village Masauwu Eldrach.
She offered to take them there once they were recovered enough to walk. Alec and Zoe shared a cautious look before accepting politely.
But when they arrived... the forest air felt cold, heavy. Zua's village was nothing but ash, charred beams, burned-out huts. Silence where life used to sing. Zua knelt at a small shrine on the edge of the ruins, whispering prayers to those she had lost.
Alec kept his distance until she nodded permission.
"Take what you need," she said softly. "They will have no need of it in the embrace of Masauwu."
Alec didn't know Masauwu, but he nodded and stepped into the chieftain's home. Inside, beneath a half-collapsed beam, he found a dagger, its blade black as coal yet gleaming as if lit from within. He was giving it a few clumsy practice swings when Zua entered. She smiled faintly at his fumbling.
"My father would have liked to see that," she murmured. "He always said this dagger belonged in a man's hands. A weapon of war, not hunting. Women do not fight in wars." Her voice cracked ever so slightly. "Come. We should go."
Alec hesitated. "What happened here? To your village?"
"Demon raid," she said simply. "They came before dawn. I was out hunting for our breakfast when they struck. When I returned after seeing the smoke. They were already gone."
Zoe, having come to fetch Alec, stepped forward gently. "If you don't have anywhere to go... you could come with us? We're heading to the capital for help"
Zua blinked, surprised, then nodded, thankful for the company. Their journey took weeks. Village after village reduced to smoke, bone, ruin. Each one twisted Alec's heart until it felt like it might snap. Every now and then they would come across Demon patrols, which they had to hide behind trees, rocks and smear themselves with mud to avoid the hunting dogs. That one was Zua's idea.
Then, in the light of the rising sun, the capital, Caparsha, came into view, the dawn's light reflecting off the outer walls, making them appear to glow and sparkle with ethereal light.
For the first time in weeks, Alec felt he could let his guard down.
But of course, Alec's luck hasn't been that good since his home was invaded by demons.
Bandits. At least a dozen of them stepped from the shadows of the forest and rocks around them. Their leader stepped forward with the swagger of someone who kills for fun. Scarred face and a toothy, rotten grin.
"Hand over the coin and the women, boy," he sneered. "Do that, and your death'll be quick."
They were boxed in, five ahead, four behind, three perched above with bows. Zoa's fingers drifted toward her bow. Alec shook his head; not yet.
He stepped forward. "Really? This is how you want the day to go? We killed demons and survived a hunting party with hellhounds. We've fought worse than you."
The leader laughed, a sound like gravel in a rusty bucket.
"Big talk for a drowned rat. Prove it."
Zoe leaned close. "We're not talking our way out of this. I'll take the archers."
Alec nodded. Not a great plan but it was all they had. It'll have to do.
"One..." the bandit chief growled.
Zua moved before he got to two. Her bow snapped like thunder, one arrow, one kill, an archer tumbling backward. Chaos ensued.
Zoe lunged, knife flashing. Alec drew the black dagger, and sparks erupted as his blade clashed against steel. The dagger hummed, almost vibrating with each strike.
Arrows, fists, shouting, steel flashing, a fight for survival.
Zua fought beside Alec, movements calm and precise. Zoe fought like wildfire, relentless and brutal.
For a moment, it felt like they might win, then the leader charged.
He was fast. Too fast, Alec barely blocked in time, the impact rattling his bones.
"Nice toothpick," the bandit growled. "I'll enjoy meat from my teeth."
"Come take it," Alec spat.
The leader swung again, hard. Alec stumbled, heel catching on a stone. The bandit's sword rising, then falling towards Alec's face.
Zua struck first. Her knife drove into the man's ribs. He roared and backhanded her so hard she hit the ground. That opening was all Alec needed.
He surged up, plunging the dagger through the man's throat. The bandit crumpled, gurgling as he choked on his own blood, clutching at the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
The remaining bandits fled and for a long, breathless moment, the forest was still.
Zoe limped over, blood smeared across her cheek.
"That... could've gone worse," she rasped.
Zua retrieved her bow, wincing. "They'll return. Bandits don't just that easily."
"Then we don't stay," Alec said, tugging the dagger free.
They scavenged for supplies among the bandits' courpses, arrows, coins, foodm anything that could help them survive. Then pushed for the city. Exhaustion dragged at their limbs, but hope tugged them forward.
Alec glanced at the dagger. "What is this thing?"
Zua sighed. "My father called it the Svnoyi. Made from a dragon's fang. I always thought it was a... how do I say... a—"
"Fairytale?" Alec offered.
"Yes! That! A fairy—Pah Lun—Dongeng! Fairytale."
She pouted, frustrated she hadn't found the word sooner. As the forest thinned, the great city walls loomed. Smoke pillars rose from hearths, not ruins. The sound of civilization washed over them. Hope. Real, solid, terrifying.
"Let's hope the city's kinder than the road," Alec said.
Zoe huffed a short laugh. "After all that? Nothing could be worse."
But high above, in a watchtower, a lone figure lowered a spyglass and smiled.
"Survivors," he murmured. "The king will want to know."
And as Alec, Zoe, and Zua stepped onto the long road to the capital gates, none of them realized. Their fight was only just beginning.