WITH THE CRYSTAL in hand, I managed to navigate through the sewer system. It had no doubt been the most disgusting, horrific experience of my entire life, but I'd made it out of Opulentia alive.

In the tunnels, I'd walked for what felt like days, using the gemstone as my source of light as I navigated through cement tubes that twisted and spun through the earth in all directions.

Wading through ankle deep water, I trudged through the muck and grime with a grimace, occasionally glancing back in case I caught anything following me. There was never a person in pursuit, but I couldn't shake the paranoia. After what had happened at the party, I couldn't assume differently.

My stomach was in a knot the entire walk through the sewers, my thoughts as chaotic and as winding as the tunnels I moved through.

What would happen when no one could find me? Were Georgio, Bella, and Parisa safe? What would Felix and the demons do now? What would Xavier do?

I'd be his missing fiancée. Would they all come searching for me? I gritted my teeth; what was I going to do? Who would I go to? Where was I even planning on going now? My only plan had been to get out of the fortress to escape the demons and pixies, but where and who would I escape to?

Nowhere was safe outside of Opulentia's walls. I knew that Parisa would protect me until the end but I couldn't turn around and go back to her with the demons waiting for me.

Could I make it to Lamia? His kingdom wasn't too far away, but on foot I didn't know if I'd manage to get there. They'd find me before I'd walk the entire way, or something else would.

The water was rising the further I walked until finally I could see light ahead. I waded through the rushing water until I broke out of the tube and into a gurgling stream.

When I drug myself into the shore, I laid down in the sand, stretching out my wings as I panted for breath. The air at last was sweet and fresh, the breeze through the tree branches refreshing as I rolled onto my back.

The blue sky gazed down at me as I looked up at it, a few birds soaring from one branch to another over head. I'd been inside the sewers for the remaining hours of the night after the ball, and today was a new day.

I raised myself up on my elbows, looking down at my body. My dress was soaked and stained, my bare feet equally as filthy and caked in mud; I looked like an utter wreck.

What was I going to do now? Where was I going to go? A better question: where was I now?

I managed to stand to my feet, feeling the grass under my toes as I walked along the river bank. There had to be some settlement or town by the water, and I was determined to find it.

Eventually as the sun was beginning to set I found a town, a quaint one not too far off from the river. Despite my better judgment, I stole a dress and cloak off a lonely clothesline to hide my wings since I knew that these people would recognize me if I didn't conceal them. I left my dress on the line as a trade, pulling the hood up over my head and tucking in my feathers.

Parisa's winged daughter with blonde hair and blue eyes was known throughout the planet, but they'd never seen my face in the flesh. My wings would get me taken back to Opulentia in a heartbeat or I'd be held hostage in a ploy to make a fortune. Either way I couldn't go back home to the fortress, Nocen and Diaboli's black eyes still dancing inside my head.

In the marketplace I sold my jewelry for coins, the dwarf vendor handing me over an impressive sum that I knew could get me to where I wanted to go. I'd made up my mind; the only safe place where I could stay hidden until the pixies and demons had left the fortress was with Karmen the sea mare.

Legend held that her ancient cave was protected from all forms of evil, that no one without pure intentions could enter her dwelling. Felix and the others couldn't reach me there, and she was the wisest guide to help me decide what to do next. No matter what it took, I'd get there.

"Here's your horse." A stable elf said with indifference, shoving the reins into my hand and swiping my coins from the other. He shoved them deep into his worn pockets, adjusting the cap on his head as he leaned against the barn door. "Karmen's is down south along the garden route and once you hit the sea, you'll find it. You should be there by nightfall."

I looked at the horse, my eyebrows furrowing. Glancing back at the man, I shook my head. "This is not what I purchased."

"She's the best we got in the market right now. Real endearing, isn't she?"

The old mule with lopsided ears was the last thing I would call endearing, her coat covered in mud and rain rot as she swished her little tail to wack off the flies. With her ears pointed back and a mean-spirited sparkle in her eye, the mare looked anything but a relaxing ride to the coastline.

I felt my nose wrinkle, the mule flaring its nostrils back at me as it stomped a front foot into the dirt. The elf threw a saddle on her back, her ears plastering to the back of her head as she tried to give him a good kick when he tightened the girth around her stomach.

He only ignored her, walking around to the other side to buckle the girth again as she tried to bite him with her large, yellow teeth. I couldn't hold back my grimace as the creature looked at me with a stare made of steel; this wasn't going to be a fun ride.

Adjusting the saddle for the last time, the elf looked to me. "Want me to help you hop on?"

I gritted my teeth before letting out a deep breath of air. The situation was ideal, but the one at home was even worse; I needed to keep moving, and going slow was better than not going anywhere at all.

"Hold her while I swing up." I said as the elf led the mare to the mounting block. I stepped up the first two steps as he stopped the horse right beside me. I adjusted the bag on my shoulder, the canvas tote containing water and food I'd purchased during my time in the market, as well as the bow and arrows on my other side. Setting my left foot in the stirrup, I gently swung my leg over the mare's back before settling into the tack.

She lifted her head, obviously displeased with carrying my weight, and I pushed her forward with the nudge of my heels into her sides.

"Be careful, lady." The elf said, pointing up to the sky. "Suns going down. The woods aren't safe at night; that's when the peace ends."

"Peace?" I asked, gripping the reins tighter between my fingers as the mare began to dig a hole in the earth with her front hoof.

"The beasts in the woods hunt everything at night, everything and anything." He warned, yanking the barn doors shut with a heavy grunt. "I pray you're a fast rider."

I didn't answer, turning the mare towards the woods. I gazed down the hill, a dirt path leading into the thickets of woods that seemed to stretch on until the end of the world itself. Birds chirped in the distance, sunlight shining through the tree leaves; I could get through the woods and to Karmen.

"May Fate be with you." The elf said before he retreated back down the gravel road towards the front of the barn.

I nudged the mare forward towards the hill, and unwillingly she walked forward, her ears seeming to be permanently glued to the back of her head as her tail flicked back and forth with irritation.

Down we went into the trees, the dirt road widening to fit a carriage at the least as the canopy of leaves overhead thickened. The air cooled immensely the deeper we went into the woods, sunlight flickering through less and less as large bushes and thorn thickets sprung up on both sides of the pathway.

Squirrels hopped from tree branch to tree branch, their bushy tails flapping back and forth as they scurried into hiding places out of my sight. I spotted a rabbit in the bushes due to its fluffy, white tail, and it fled from the sound of the mare's grooves against the dirt as we came nearer.

The wind blew, ruffling the leaves and blowing the thin mare's mane across the opposite side of her neck. Wisps of my hair blew across my face and I brushed them behind my ear with the back of my hand, taking a steadying breath. A sign leaning far to the right held a few tacked up boards, one reading in worn, washed out paint Karmen's name. If I continued on the trail, I'd reach her abode.

I stared ahead at the endless stretch of forest, feeling my stomach spin. Never in my life had I set out to accomplish anything like this alone. Growing up in Opulentia, I had Parisa, teachers, and tutors of all kinds to help me solve any problems and answer my questions. Now I was utterly alone with a choice to make: would I keep going or would I turn around?

Grimacing, I shook my head. I couldn't go back the way I'd come, especially not with the demons waiting for me at home. I had to keep moving forward, but something about walking into the unknown nearly crippled me. Could I do this? Did I actually have what it would take? 

My life had always been familiar, nothing like the woods I was walking into. I wasn't so sure any longer, my belief in myself fading just like the sunlight the deeper I rode into the forest.

I turned around in the saddle to glance behind me. All I could see were trees, endless stretches of foliage and hoof prints in the dirt that slowly faded away. The sight made a lump rise in my throat, and I turned my head back forward, dropping my head to stare at my fingers clenched around the reins. Take a deep breath. You're fine.

The mare lurched to a stop in front of me, her head snapping up as she gazed down the path in front of us. My heart stopped in my chest, my fingers digging into the leather as I gazed out from the shade of my cloak. I lifted a hand, brushing the hood on my head back to gaze along the tree line.

A branch snapped and a few bushes shuddered as someone stepped out from the trees on the left side of the road. I narrowed my eyes, leaning forward to grab the bow across my chest.

"Don't shoot me." The man said, raising both of his hands. The mare snorted, taking a step back. I drew an arrow, stringing it with ease as I readied myself.

"Who are you, and why are you hiding in the bushes?" I snapped, my heart hammering in my chest. I'd never shot a person before, the thought making me feel sick.

The blonde-haired man kept his hands where I could see them, his head low so that I couldn't see his face. He was tall and looked decently strong but also skinny; the man took a step closer and I saw that he had a soft limp that he was trying to hide.

"Answer me!" I snapped, pulling back the strong tighter.

The blonde paused, licking his lips as he took a breath. "You need to trust me, and I know this is difficult to understand. I'm trying to help you, I promise. It isn't safe if you keep going further because..." He lifted his head, and I nearly fell off my horse, his face identical to the demon I was trying to avoid. "Listen, my name is Finn Shay and please get off your horse."