The dense cloudy, night sky gave no avail to the stars shining above Sendrum's atmosphere blocking their silver shimmers from reaching the avex who lay awake staring at the dark, blank canvas above him. The group had been traveling up the mountain for three days and nights, and Denzyl had hardly slept a wink during that time. He was too caught up thinking about Devyn and worrying whether or not the human was alright. Devyn was alive; that much he knew. The mark would have alerted him if Devyn was on the brink or had passed on.

Denzyl had decided this was the night he would attempt his escape. They were nearly halfway to their destination, and Denzyl felt they were getting too close to the elders for his comfort. Denzyl had stayed awake the past two nights to time the guard's rotations and switches down to the second. Each segment lasted two hours until the guards would rotate, leaving only a few seconds of movement and light confusion as a window for an unseen escape.

The night was nearing its peak, and Denzyl had chosen the next rotation as his time to skedaddle. The avex closed his eyes as he heard the guard stationed closest to him look around before standing and walking the surrounding area shortly before moving on toward his next post. Eyes snapping open the moment the guard had left the vicinity, Denzyl sat up and quietly rose to his feet. Carefully stepping over the sleeping men surrounding him, Denzyl cleared his circle of guards and quickly made his way to the edge of the camp.

Footsteps nearing him alerted Denzyl to the arrival of the new guard who had come to relieve the past guard of his duties for the next two hours. The reason Denzyl had chosen this specific rotation came out of the woodwork when Denzyl slowly turned to see Etta staring at him with her arms crossed over her chest. The avex remained silent as he and the female demon locked eyes. Etta's vibrant green orbs looked Denzyl up and down before she let out a sigh, tilted her head to the side, and gestured with her chin toward the dense, jagged rocks behind Denzyl.

Denzyl released a silent breath of relief and bowed his head to the demon before turning and quietly making his way out of the camp and into the darkness of the mountain. Hands still cuffed, Denzyl began running through the darkness once he had entered a good distance between him and the traveling group. Denzyl hoped that with his speed he would be able to make it back to the village in just over a day and find the monir before hightailing out of Sendrum with his mother.

So far, his plan was going well. Denzyl had been running for a solid ten minutes, and there was still no sign of anyone following or searching for him. The camp was still completely silent. It was not until another few minutes had passed that Denzyl began to suspect something to be off. His suspicions were confirmed when quiet pants reached his sensitive ears. The avex slowed to a stop and held his breath to listen to the sounds of the mountain without the interference of his pants.

Closing his eyes and focusing on the night, Denzyl was able to make out pants and quick footsteps trailing just behind him. Denzyl's brows furrowed when he determined it to be just one person following him. Did Etta follow him? Had his escape been discovered?

Denzyl had just released his breath and had begun breathing again when chaos breaking out in the camp reached his ears. "Find him!" "He's escaped!" Shit! Denzyl cursed in his mind as he heard the commotion of the camp. Soldiers and guards were scrambling to their feet and hurrying to ensue the hunt.

The avex's eyes widened when the single set of footsteps quickly grew nearer. Damn, I've been standing still for too long. The moment Denzyl took a step to begin racing down the mountainside, a body collided with him, sending Denzyl tumbling down the mountain. The demon tucked his arms to his chest as he rolled over the rough surface of the mountain until his back landed against a large boulder, stopping his furious rotations.

Quickly staggering to his feet, Denzyl looked around for the thing that had collided with him. Barely making out a form rising to its feet, Denzyl prepared to fight his follower and continue his way. But, much to his confusion, Denzyl was greeted with, "Who the fuck are you?"

The avex squinted his eyes and stepped closer to the form until he was able to make out a young male staring at him with furrowed brows. The male clutched his side and released a groan before exclaiming, "Fuck, that hurt."

Denzyl turned his head back toward the camp and listened to the commotion to determine how far the guards had advanced on the chase. After determining them to be a good ways back still, Denzyl turned toward the boy and asked, "Who are you running from?"

The young male looked at Denzyl as if he was crazy before matter-of-factly answering, "That psycho of an emyr. Who else? God, that man should really be institutionalized." The boy squinted through the dark to look at the person he had collided with before asking, "Who are you?"

Denzyl looked the boy up and down to assess the situation before answering. The boy appeared to have sustained a few cuts and bruises from the tumble, but, otherwise, he was healthy. His ashen hair and dark eyes blended with the dark canvas of the mountain, his pale skin being the only way Denzyl could make out his form through the night. The boy seemed to be quite lost; he had clearly never been to Holeback Mountain before. Although unsure why the young male was following him, Denzyl did not detect any malice or ill will toward him. After assessing that the boy was no threat to him, Denzyl responded, "I'm the avex of this crazy clan."

"The avex?" The boy released a scoff at Denzyl's introduction. "You're the reason I'm in this fucking mess."

The boy's response stunned Denzyl. "What mess?"

The young male's face took on a 'yeah right' expression, and he said, "What do you mean 'what mess'? Fuck off; I don't want your mark." With that, the boy turned from Denzyl and prepared to continue his dash down the mountain before Denzyl stopped him. "Wait," the avex sounded, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You're the heir Klein picked for me to mark?"

"You mean the heir that crazy man stole from his home planet to be used like a puppet." The boy was quick to correct Denzyl. He clearly did not appreciate the role he was supposed to play in Klein's grand scheme of reclaiming his clan and family's honor.

Denzyl was silent for a moment while he processed the information the boy had given. "So, you don't want to be marked?"

The boy looked at Denzyl as if he was crazy once again. "Would you?"

Taking his response as a 'no', Denzyl replied, "Good, 'cause there was no way I was going to mark you."

"So, you don't want to do this, either?" The boy inquired while folding his arms across his chest.

Denzyl nodded in confirmation. "I have already given my mark to someone. Klein was going to have the elders forcefully remove it and have me plant it on you."

"Ew." The boy's nose scrunched in disgust. "Why in the world would I want a mark that is meant for someone else? That's just wrong."

"What's your name?" Denzyl inquired. He was satisfied with the boy's response and reckoned they could work out an escape plan together. The boy seemed witty enough to escape from under Klein's nose, so Denzyl thought he'd give the male a chance.

"I'm Jun from Helos."

"Denzyl from Sendrum."

"I didn't ask."

Denzyl lifted a brow at Jun's deadpan. He liked the kid's spunky attitude. "Doesn't matter. You now know my name should you need help."

"Why the fuck would I need your help?"

"Because the whole party is hunting us down...both of us." Denzyl pointed his thumb over his shoulder toward the direction of the commotion of the guards running through the sharp rock protrusions and jagged boulders.

Jun's eyes flitted to behind Denzyl, and he nodded his head. "Right. First, we run. We have to make it down the mountain."

Denzyl nodded shortly in agreement before leading the way down Holdback Mountain. They had no time to lose. The guards were gaining on them, and Denzyl had the love of his life to return to.