I awaken with the taste of blood in my mouth and the smell of burning flesh fills my nostrils. Fire crackles in the distance. For one horrible moment, I believe I'm back on the battlefield.

My eyes open with difficulty, my lids feeling heavy and pained from being asleep for so long.

I take in my surrounding and realize that I'm still in the clearing that Arden had deemed we camp in. However, the tents have been packed up and taken. The campfire had been reduced to nothing but smoldered ashes and charred grass. Even where Lady Adrianne's tent had been is now empty.

The sound of snapping twigs sound from behind me. With what little strength I can muster, I turn to see a shadow at the edge of the trees.

"About time you woke up. If you didn't move so much in your sleep, I'd think you joined Jackson in the afterlife."

My eyes narrow at the familiar voice.

"Who..." I croak, my throat burning from the word.

The shadow takes a few steps closer, and in the moonlight, I can make out his features.

His raven hair is pulled back behind him and his hazel eyes shine in the moonlight. His skin is decorated with scars from battle, but the one thing that stands out is the marking that peeks out from the underside of his arm.

"Reese," I murmur, realization dawning on me.

He chuckles before sitting next to me on the ground. He helps raise me to a sitting position and presses his canteen to my lips. I drink hungrily, ignoring his words as he chides me as he did before. When I've drank my fill, I let out a content sigh and allow my body to lean against his.

Reeses hand snakes to my chin and gingerly turns my head from side to side. He clicks his tongue.

"Those heartless bitches," he says with a sigh.

Confused, I go to ask him what he means. Before I can speak the words, a throbbing pain makes itself known on the side of my face. My hand rises and gently feels around my cheek. I wince when I feel a long gash that reaches from the corner of my eye towards my jaw.

Reese grabs my wrist. "I'm so sorry, Abigale. I stopped them as soon as I saw them making the cut. I'm sorry I couldn't get here in time."

"I need to see," I whisper.

Reese rubs on the side of his canteen until the metal shines. He hands it to me, his eyes showing nothing but pity.

Taking in my reflection, I can see my face is bruised and beaten. The jagged gash on my cheek is deeper than I thought, with dried blood caked around it. My once blue eyes are now a dark brown. Dark bags rest underneath them. My hair that had once flowed down my back in a golden river is now a dark auburn.

"Why?" I ask, my voice shaking. "Why do I look like this? Who did this to me?"

Reese pushes my hair away from my face, being sure to avoid my wound. "When someone is ripped from the light and cast into dark, there are bound to be changes," he tells me. "When the Oracle decided your fate...when she decided you were undeserving of you power, she took your light."

"But...I don't understand!" I scream at him, tears beginning to stream down my face.

He moves in front of me, his eyes now filled with concern. His arms wrap around my body and hold me there. My tears bleed into his shirt.

He begins to rub my back as I sob. He doesn't try to talk to me, but instead hums a calming melody. His deep voice rumbles in his chest. It makes me think back to the days I would spend in the woods near my childhood home. Back to the edge of the stream, where the sound of locusts would calm my worried mind.

Reese's tune begins to calm me. The sounds of the world come back into focus. The whistling of the wind, the chirping of crickets. Further off, the crackle of flames that I heard before is still present, becoming quieter the more the fire dies out.

"Jackson..." I begin, my voice raw from crying. "They already burned his remains, didn't they?"

Without waiting on Reese's answer, I stumble in an attempt to stand. His arms wrap around my waist and he holds me until I can find my footing. Pain blossoms on the side of my face as the breeze antagonizes my wound. In the distance, on the edge of a small pond, is a wooden pyre. Flames still lick the final pieces of uncharred timber. An ash pile sits neatly on the bank. A golden dagger is plunged into the wet earth behind them.

Reese squeezes my shoulder. "They stayed long enough to watch him burn. Arden decided...he decided that Jackson was unfit to have a proper send off. He told the Saviors that it was better to leave his ashes here, along with his weapon, to mark him as a fallen soldier."

I reach out to touch the dagger, but Reese puts out a hand to stop me. I look at him to see the sorrow in his eyes that must surely be mirrored in my own.

"Reese," I whisper. "He's going to blow away."

He wraps his hand around my wrist and lets out a sigh. "The fallen are often lost, but they are always remembered."

His words uncover a memory. One of my childhood, before I had given up everything to become a Savior. A saying that is recited in the temples of Bastien.

I focus on the smoldering embers as the words begin to flow from my lips, completing the phrase. "And like a treasure, they will be found again."

Reese smiles at me, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he does so. "I see you remember the teachings of the temples."

The crushing sorrow from earlier returns. It clouds my mind and snuffs out the remaining warmth from my and Reese's exchange. As the sun dips further down into the horizon, the clearing becomes chilly and dark shadows begin to twist through the grass.

Reese glances over at me, noticing the abrupt change in my mood. He raises his hand and reaches towards my face. Before he touches me, he hesitates and drops his hand.

"We should get going," he states, his tone level.

I stare at him. "We?"

He jerks his head towards a dirt path cutting through the forest across from the stream. "That way is towards Kyne. That's where you live, isn't it? I have to deliver you home. Adrianne's orders."

My jaw clenches at the sound of her name. The last few hours spent with Reese begin to feel cold and worthless.

"Don't bother," I tell him before turning towards the forest path.

I begin to walk off, sloshing through the chilling water. Once I get across, my pace quickens.

The sound of him splashing through the stream behind me causes me to break into a run. My feet beat against the earth. Greens and browns fill my vision as the trees swallow me.

"You can only run for so long!" Reese calls from behind me.

I clench my jaw. The burning in my lungs confirms his statement. My stride becomes shorter as I come to a stop next to a huge oak tree. Placing my hand on its trunk, I steady myself and take a deep breath.

Reese chuckles behind me. "Told you."

"Damn you," I huff. "I just need some time to rest and get my strength back."

I straighten myself and turn around to face him. A smile is plastered on his face, but concern floods his eyes. A knot forms in my stomach as he stares at me. 

"You're going to need more than just some time." His eyes fill with sorrow. "You're the first Savior to be stripped fully of their light."