We leap out the window, and the sound of our landing masks the screams and voices.

Ellior peeks out from behind the house and points a finger at me to move forward.

"They're very close. We'll have to go back into the forest. We can get lost there," he whispers in my ear.

"How did they find us? We didn't use magic."

"Everything here is dead, Arkan. That's how they found us. Felt the living energy. Let's go."

Ellior takes my hand, and we run to the next house, then the next. But suddenly Ellior freezes and presses me against the house.

"They've got us surrounded. We won't reach the forest without a fight."

"Go," I whisper, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and pulling back. "I'll hold them off."

"Arkan..."

"Ellior, they know you. If they see you, they'll all come after you for sure. But they don't know me. I can fight them off and I'll use my power. I don't think it's that important here anymore."

"Found some! They've been here! They're close! Quick, catch the trail!"

"Go away, Ellior." I shove him in the shoulder. "Go away. I'll hold them off. We'll meet in the forest. I'll find you."

"Promise?"

"I promise," I nod.

Ellior bites his lip doubtfully, and the dark ones keep coming. What the hell is he thinking?

Just when I think I'm about to bark at him or strangle him myself, he suddenly wraps his palms around my face and kisses me.

"That's for luck," he smiles, winking at me and pulling away.

"You're such a jerk," I mutter, shaking my head. "Stop kissing me."

He just shrugs, supposedly doing whatever he wants to do.

But there's no time to think about that right now. I peer out from behind the house, watching the dark ones following our trail. There are fewer of them closer to the forest, and I can fight them off.

"When I say run, got it?" I cast a glance at Ellior. "Run as fast as if death is chasing you, Ellior."

"Okay."

I wait for those who were far away to approach and then Ellior can escape. A dirty piece of shirt lying under my feet catches my eye. I quickly grab it and wrap it around the lower part of my face. I don't care if it's dirty and smelly, this way they won't know whom to look for.

"One. Two. Three. Run," I command, creating two fireballs in my hands. Ellior runs, and I fly forward, throwing the balls straight at the dark ones. They're knocked back in different directions and Ellior sweeps past them.

"After him!" The dark ones yell, but I block their path, lifting beams into the air and throwing them at them. I knock a few of them off their feet and get out of the way. I throw fire ahead of me, making the house I'm running into catch fire behind me. I rush through the ruined house and, kicking out a window with my feet, I fall to the ground.

Immediately jumping to my feet, I hide behind another house, checking the situation. It's quiet. Too quiet.

"Found it! There's that little shit!" My blood runs cold in my veins. No, Ellior.

"Look at the pretty boy we've got here. The light one."

Ellior, damn him! Why did he come back? I saw him run off into the forest.

"It wasn't him. The other one's hair color was brown."

"Who cares? He was protecting that bastard. He's a deserter. A traitor. You saw that he attacked us with firepower. He's one of ours, but he's switched to their side. But that's okay. We'll bait him with this bastard. Come on, shout for us."

I'm filled with fear for Ellior. A heartbreaking scream echoes through the quiet village, and I jerk out of my place, but then I freeze and back away, hiding again.

"Please...please...help," I'm completely unfamiliar with that voice. It's not Ellior. Thank the Mother he wasn't caught. Then who is it?

"Look, your protector abandoned you, didn't he, kiddo? But that's all right. He'll come. Hold him."

"No! No, please! Don't! Help!"

I can't just stand here and listen to them torture some guy. A young boy, by the sound of his voice. I move to the other house, following the laughter and shouting.

"Please...no...no!" The guy's deafening scream clutches my stomach. I run faster, reaching the nearest house and peering out.

With horror, I cover my mouth with the palm of my hand. A blond-haired guy, wounded and naked, lying on the dirty ground, and they're raping him.

"Yeah, scream louder! Come on! Yell!" The rapist stabs a knife into the guy's side, causing him to scream in pain.

"Help...please...help..." he wheezes.

I glance ahead and see the path is clear. They're all busy with this boy. He's very young, almost a child. My heart aches. My soul wants to help. But I stand still, watching as blood drips from the boy's wounds and he is turned face down in the ground. They switch with another dark one. The dark one grabs the guy by the hair and slams his head into the ground with force. He howls, lifting his head and blood flows from his nose as well as his mouth.

"Yell! Damn it, yell! Let your lover hear what we're doing to you!" The guy gets stabbed with a sword right in the back, and he screams.

I can't. I have to go. Find Ellior. I have to.

I'm not letting myself cry right now. I hate myself for what I'm doing. I break into a sprint and run toward the woods, hearing the boy's scream and the laughter of the dark ones behind me. I hate myself more, leaving him to die in their hands. But... I can't. I can't stand up to a dozen darkies. It's not like I killed them all, just pushed them back a little so Ellior could escape. And Ellior needs me. I hope so. And my soul...it demands that I run after him. I can't explain it, but I feel something strange, like Ellior is calling me, pulling me to him.

I sniffle, stopping in the woods. My lungs burn from running. I try to force myself to feel life's energy. I tear the rag off my face and breathe in the cleaner air. I feel a faint energy at first, and then it intensifies. It becomes bright, like a flash. But it's not Ellior. I know it's not him. And the first smell is powerful.

I have to run again to the life energy I feel. Jumping over tree roots, I feel myself getting closer to the source of this energy.

"Hold him," my blood runs cold in my veins for the umpteenth time in a short time when I hear that voice. It's Seraphus' brother. The same one who killed Ellior in my visions. I hit the trunk of a tree, hiding behind it. That's whose energy that was. His.

I heard a mooing sound, and I peeked out from behind the trunk. I had to bite my lip painfully as I watched the two dark ones hold Ellior down.

"Now you're caught, aren't you? Now we have two, daddy and son. How lucky we are. I won't kill you, prince, I'll make you my slave, my fucking whore." the dark one thrusts his blade into Ellior's side with force and he twitches in pain, wriggling out. I can see that this isn't the first wound.

Rage rises inside of me and a thirst to destroy the assholes who touched him. My body shakes with rage. I step out from behind the tree and catch Ellior's gaze. He shakes his head, trying to convince me to hide, but he gets another stab in the side and arches.

"Let him go," I command. The three turn to me. Seraphus's brother is completely different. I thought he would look a little like him. But no. His facial features look more like an animal. And in his dark eyes, the pleasure of violence is splashed. He's nothing like Seraphus. "Release him immediately, or I'll punish you. I'll punish you the way the Mother punishes you for what you do. Take your hands off him."

"What a brave boy. Your new lover, Ellior? Thank you. Our warriors will have a feast today."

One of the warriors swings at me, but I deflect the blow with a protective wall and intercept his sword. With a desperate roar, I push off with my foot against the trunk and swing the sword in a leap, putting the sword in front of me. The weapon goes right through his eye hole, piercing his eyes and brain, and the dark one falls to the ground. The other one comes at me, throwing fire, but I swing my arm and send a stream of water, making the fire go out. He leaps at me, thrusting his sword forward, and I bounce to the side, rolling over on the ground. The blade enters the wood. Without wasting time, I leap up to him and touch his armor. It melts immediately, and I leave him screaming in pain.

Seraphus' brother straightens up and grins crookedly, creating a wall of fire around him.

"How feisty and strong you are. With this," he twirls the artifact blade in his hands and hides it behind his back, "and with your powers, we shall prevail. You're the dark one. Why would we fight against each other? You want him? I'll give him to you. I'll give you power you've never dreamed of."

I look calmly into his black eyes, and I don't see any regret for what he's done in the past. It's like I can see his whole rotten and pathetic soul. My eyes start to burn with pain, I blink, and everything calms down. Raising my hand, I play with my fingers and cool it, then touch the wall of fire. It hisses under my palm, but it's like I know what I have to do. I grab a gap in that wall and make my way inside. The dark one charges at me, but I dodge and snatch the blade from behind his back.

"Bastard. You'll die in agony," the dark one hisses. He throws his hands forward and shoots fire at me, but my wall withstands it and all that's left is smoke.

"Who the hell are you?" He whispers. We walk in circles. He hits me with his power again, but hits his own wall, shattering it. With a snarl, he swings his sword at me. I create a path of ice under his feet and he falls. Pouncing on him, saddling his hips. In my hand is the blade. We both glare at it. The dark one grabs the edge, and I pull back. It sends a wave of pain through my body, and I don't have time to defend myself. I'm thrown to the ground. Grunting, I rise on my elbows and see how he plans to wound himself with the blade and pump Ellior's power to himself.

"No!" I use a bright green beam to shatter the blade into small fragments, pushing the dark figure backward. He flies, breaking trees and branches, and then disappears ahead.

"Ellior." I crawl over to him and pick up his head. He's so pale. "Ellior, answer me. Ellior."

He opens his eyes and smiles weakly.

"You were incredible, Arkan," he whispers.

I shake my head at his compliment and move to his wounds. They're bleeding. Four wounds. He's going to die if he doesn't start regenerating now.

"Why aren't you regenerating?" Pressing my palms over the wounds, I ask him.

"It took away... the power. I can't."

"Shit... shit, there's too much blood. Too much," I mutter, feeling my hands start to slide over his skin.

A memory flashes through my mind of when I was dying, too. The blood didn't stop like Ellior's did. Seraphus kissed me, somehow making my body regenerate. I might as well try it.

"Ellior, how does energy transfer? How can I transfer my power to you?" I move to his face.

"Arkan...you don't have to."

"Ellior, damn it, how do I transfer my power to you? How? Tell me. We must leave. He'll come back for us and with a bigger army, Ellior. Come on, tell me."

"Kiss me," he wheezes and chokes back a cough. Blood trickles from the corner of his lips, and I wipe it away.

Then I was right, and so was Seraphus. That's how Seraphus transferred his powers to me. He kissed me. Breathed life into me. I never tried that with Lua, and it was my mistake. But now I know the way.

I press my lips to Ellior's, tasting the metallic tang of blood. Running my fingers through his hair, I lift his head, kissing him ineffectively. I don't know if I'm doing this right. But I search my body for an energy that will suit him. Light energy, but everything inside me seems to be dark. So dark and full of pain. I force myself to remember the time when Lua and I lay on the grass and dreamed and the crickets sang us their songs. The rustling of the grass lulled us to sleep, the breeze carrying our quiet laughter and dreams far away.

Suddenly I feel Ellior start to answer me. It's working. Our breaths mix, merge, change, and I realize only now that Ellior's taste is sweet and strawberry-like. If Seraphus felt like something I needed. Ellior tastes like a delicacy. That feeling, Ellior's cool breath, a wave of pleasure rushes through my body. I clutch his hair, slipping my tongue between his lips and even his blood feels like rich strawberry juice. I let out a low moan of wanting to taste more and more. And it's that moan that brings me back to reality. I instantly pull away from Ellior's lips, ashamed that I was turned on by that kiss.

A surge of shame washes over me, mingling with the remnants of pleasure. I feel a knot tighten in the pit of my stomach, a mixture of confusion and guilt. How could I have let myself be carried away like that? I never expected such a reaction, such a primal response to his kiss.

"Are you okay?" Holding his head steady, I gaze into his eyes.

"Thank you," he whispers. "I feel better."

"Good."

I lower his head to the ground and crawl over to his side. I touch the wound with my fingers and shake my head.

"I couldn't give you any more strength. I could only stop the blood," I whisper bitterly, pulling off my shirt. I tear a piece off and wrap it around Ellior's side, then another and another. That leaves me shirtless.

"You spent a lot of energy resisting him. He can affect the dark power within any creature, and he affected you, Arkan. And your body fought back, and that takes a lot of strength."

"What about your powers? Will they come back? He didn't completely dry you up, did he? Sorry, I destroyed the blade," I admit guiltily.

"They'll recover. He didn't take everything. Only most of it, but my powers will recover. And I'm fine with it. Better that than he would have taken it," Ellior croaks and sits up, holding his side. "Oh, shit...it hurts. Nice body, Arkan."

I roll my eyes, regretting using all of my shirt. Now I'm naked to my waist and uncomfortable.

"Can you walk?"

"Help me," Ellior reaches a hand toward me, and I place it on my shoulder. Slowly, I lift him up, causing him to cringe and stumble back, grabbing at me.

"We have to go. He'll be back," I whisper to Ellior.

"I know," he nods, wheezing. "Let's go toward the light camp. It's our last hope, Arkan."

"But we'll get into the course of events."

"We've already gotten into the course of events. Seraphus's brother saw me, even though I should be in the shelter right now. We've messed up, so we'd better be where we'll at least be protected," he whispers.

What have we done? Have we really messed up? Is our real world different now?

But we really have no choice. Ellior is too weak and wounded. He's exhausted. We have no food, little water left, and that's it. We'll freeze here and die. And we still haven't found the artifact that will bring us home.

Holding Ellior, we walk slowly towards the camp. He groans in pain, trying to be brave, and I feel so sorry for him. I can't imagine how hard it must be for him to move his legs at all right now, but he does. And for probably the first time ever, I look at him with fresh eyes. I see a lonely elf who lives with a huge burden of guilt and is hated by everyone, and it's his behavior that deflects everyone's attacks. He's been through terrible things too. He's made mistakes, but he hasn't abandoned me. I know that at night he held me and warmed me in his arms. He has his reasons for acting the way he did, because Seraphus fell in love with him. So there is a reason, and I realize that now. He's not just a spoiled prince, he's very strong inside and just as vulnerable. Spending all his time away from his lover, playing the role of the charmer and smiling at those who ruined his life, is difficult. Obeying rules that will never free him from guilt and despair is unbearably difficult. But he lives in this world, imprisoned by himself in a false shell so that no one will know what his heart aches for.

I throw a furtive glance at Ellior's face. He's resilient. Resisting his weakness, trying to be strong. And my heart feels like it's thawing. I can't hate him anymore, no matter how hard I try. And even the fact that he's Seraphus's true one fades into the background. Yes, jealousy will probably return to my heart, but to whom exactly?

It dawns on me that I like Ellior. I like that he stood up alone against everyone, even knowing that he was hated and treated ugly, like I did. And it's not like I'm the first or the last. But Ellior didn't give up, just as he's not giving up now, trying to save us both. But to be honest, I can't say exactly what I like about him, like I can say about Seraphus. It's just there in my heart. A warmth for Ellior. A place for him. But it's so silly. I don't want to fall in love with him too, then I'm definitely screwed.