Six Months Later

Zen was making slow progress, but it was something. He couldn't just leap onto the council of high ranking soldiers immediately. Those people had been with Malum with years and had proved their loyalty to him again and again. Zen needed to work his way up. He was a foot soldier now. He was sent on missions to either get something, escort something, or even kill people. He was able to avoid having to kill too many people because he was an archer before he was a swordsman. He had his crossbow, which made his heart ache every time he held it and thought of the old friend that had made it. Whenever his heart ached for home, he would run his thumb over Gabriel's signature. He stayed in the back and got anyone who was getting too close to hitting one of his teammates.

As for teammates, he didn't get to get attached or have to make false friendships. He never stayed in one group and was always being moved from one to another. He could hear people whispering about him, the fabled Prince of Death outcasted from his family, turned to Malum for revenge. The rumors, false but true, burned in his chest but he never gave himself time to think about it. He wondered often if SS and Angel knew just yet. If Medicus had broken his promise and told them the truth. He knew he wouldn't though. He wondered if they saw traces of him in the wrecks of villages his groups left behind. He hoped so. He didn't want to see the shock and horror on their face when it'd be revealed but it twisted to hate.

He wasn't sure if Angel would be able to hate him. But SS...

"Zen!"

Zen glanced up from the book he wasn't reading. To his unpleasant surprise, he saw Malum striding towards him. He shut the book, not even bothering to mark his page as he stood up.

"Yes, sir?" He asked, the title burning like cyanide on his tongue. Everyone in the common room was staring at them.

"Follow me, I need you somewhere," Malum said, putting his hand on his upper back as he led him away from the small table Zen had been able to get in the corner. He bit the inside of his cheek in aggravation but actively made sure that he didn't show any emotion on his face. He really hated it when Malum touched him. He could feel the shadows in his core, leaking through his soul and out onto his skin. He hated how it felt like it spread to him like he was trying to corrupt him.

"Is it another mission? I just got back." Zen asked once they were in the hallway, feeling too awkward with the silence between them and the hand still on his back. Malum chuckled.

"Oh, well, it's hard to explain. Just wait until we get there, and you'll understand." Zen hated it when he talked to him like he was a fucking kid. But he just nodded and looked forward and tried not to think about how uncomfortably warm his hand. He could through it feel his clothes. They walked down the hallway for a few more moments, going deeper and deeper into the large house they used as their base. Finally, Malum pushed a door open and let Zen in before he followed. He shut the door behind him and Zen stiffened at how it banged shut behind them, but Malum paid no attention to it. "Take a seat, Zen." As he walked to the closest seat, Zen took in his surroundings. It was some meeting room with a rectangle table that Malum stood at the end of and every chair was filled except for one at the very end. Beside him was some female Chineclaw with dark brown fur, who stared at him with a critical and untrusting stare. He ignored it, as he didn't give a single damn of what she thought of him. He sat down and crossed his arms, leaning back as he tried to look relaxed.

"There! Everyone we need is in this room." Zen's eyes swept over the rest of the people sitting at the table as Malum spoke. He realized that every person here was Malum's high ranking soldiers. There were four in total, including the Chineclaw beside him.

There was Vada, their head doctor who would be good on the battlefield; if she wasn't a Quark who had lost her lover some time ago. Quarks were a branch off of humans who were essentially emotionless until they found their soulmate. Afterward, they would get emotions. But those who lost their lovers would get deadly sick and often die. Vada's hair was white and it contrasted with her dark skin but went well with her sharp and tired gray eyes. She got sick easily, but she was a damn good doctor and she ran the makeshift infirmary here well. Then there was Juno, the brown furred, female Chineclaw beside him that was still staring at him with her dark green eyes. The Chineclaws were like bears that walked on two legs. They were often covered in fur and they had sharp fangs. They were mainly based in Archangel and had a sister species in Prime that went by a different name. Juno led their soldiers whenever they went into huge battles and had her private team of head minions that went on dangerous missions. She was a damn good fighter. He hoped he didn't piss her off too much.

There was Aurelia, who was a pure Feral Ender through and through. Feral Enders was a sister species to the Enders that were much more dragon-like. They had horns out constantly, sharp fangs and claws that rivaled the Enders, and even more powerful instincts. From looks, with her scales and sharp yellow eyes with narrow pupils like a cat's, to her attitude, she was a dangerous soldier. She was angry with the plight of her people, as they were enslaved by a smaller realm. Nobody seemed to care or they were too scared to try and help them. So, she fought for Malum because he promised to help her people as soon as he came into power. Her dark brown hair was cut short in favor for battle and she had countless scars from her scuffles. Her horns curled out from under her hair, and the sharp edges gleamed in the light. Then there was Nicator. He gave Zen the creeps.

He was a dark elf, and that itself wouldn't be a problem- if he wasn't the living personification of the tales parents told their kids to keep them from going into the forest at night. He had long black hair he often kept up to keep it out of his way, violet eyes that gleamed even in the dark, and pale skin from his years in a dark forest before he joined Malum. There were a lot of stories about him, about his lewd comments to anyone he found attractive, how he liked to flash his venomous fangs every chance he got, and how he always went too damn far in missions and in battles. Zen honestly couldn't understand why Malum kept him around, but then he'd remember that he was evil and he didn't give a shit as long as Nicator did his job.

He glanced at Malum. These were his most trusted soldiers. His leaders. Why the hell did he need him? Christ, he hadn't been found out, had he?

"Now, let's bring Zen up to date," Malum said, turning to a chalkboard that was blank.

"Malum," Juno growled, catching her leader's attention and getting raised eyebrows in response. "I don't trust this boy. He's been with us for six months and has done little to show his loyalty to our cause."

"That's hard for me to do when you put me on low brow missions," Zen said lowly. She glared at him.

"You haven't done anything to earn anything but, boy!" She snarled.

"Boy?" He sneered. "I'm older than you and your ancestors combined, girl." Her eyes flared and she stood, but Zen only glared at her.

"Alright, that's enough," Malum said, his voice easygoing as always but with a sharper tone. Juno glared down at Zen before she glared at Malum.

"How do we know he isn't a traitor? Some spy from Medicus?!" Malum rolled his eyes.

"Do you really think he'd send his precious boy to spy on me?" He asked.

"You're really trusting him on that guess?!" She snapped. Malum scoffed.

"Of course not, but if you really need the long explanation I'll give it to you. It's simple, really. Zen here has gone on all missions we've given him without complaint, has hopped from group to group because we've told him to, and does his job during those missions. No more, no less. He does what he's told and he's met the expectations I've set for him. He hasn't even left except to go on missions." Zen didn't like that he knew that. "If he was a spy, wouldn't he be poking around to get the information he needed? Wouldn't he be leaving every night to tell them what he's found out? I trust him enough to bring him into this."

"Why don't you tell me what you want my help with?" Zen asked, his tone dry. Inside, he was pleased that him keeping his head down had done something. Malum chuckled before he flipped the chalkboard around, revealing the other side. It was a diagram of the Death Courts. He was expecting Malum's next words, but it still made his heart drop.

"We're going to attack the Courts."

Zen ripped the paper from his notebook and threw it into the wastebasket in frustration. He kept getting shit wrong. He had completed all of the jobs Malum had to give him since that dreadful meeting except for this one. He had given him the Courts weak points, he had told them when they switched guards, he gave him a five-page report like he was some student about how a normal day in the Courts was! This wouldn't be so hard if he wasn't so goddamn homesick, either! If he didn't feel his heart wrenching with every word he wrote, oh yes, he wrote five pages, because Malum didn't HAVE COMPUTERS HERE, because he couldn't lie! If he lied about something he should've known, then any little trust Malum claimed he had in him would disappear in the blink of an eye! He had to give up valuable secrets! This was the perfect gateway into Malum's trust!

He buried his head into his hands and dug his fingers into his black hair. How the hell was he going to survive this? If SS and the others didn't know, they would find out now. He had no doubt in his mind that Malum would have him there at the attack. The bastard had attacked the Courts before, countless times, but they always failed because he knew nothing past a few rooms. But now he had Zen, who grew up there, who knew the Courts' that never changed so as long as it was under Medicus's rule. He gritted his teeth so hard it hurt and then gritted them more. He looked at the notebook before him and if it wouldn't have attracted so much attention he would have thrown it into the door and screamed every curse word he knew in Latin, Chinese, and English. God. Medicus had been right. He couldn't do this.

But he had to. So he did. With every pen stroke, he felt the nails in his heart driving further and further as he sealed his fate as a traitor for the greater good.

His heart pounded as he approached Malum in the entrance hall. Every eye fell on him as Malum stopped mid-conversation with Juno to turn towards him, and the Chineclaw narrowed her eyes as she saw him approaching. There were very few people who could turn his attention from the woman who had been with him since her late teens.

"Well?" Malum asked, those amber eyes glittering as he stared at Zen. Zen felt his heart hammering in his chest as he stared back. He held the notebook out to him.

"Everything is in there." Pain struck his chest. "The guard schedules." He could hear the door of fate shutting beside him. "Every secret stairwell, every room mapped out." His still heart ached. "In your hands, Malum, you have a map that mortals dream of seeing." He could see SS's and Angel's faces as they realized his betrayal. "And it's all yours." The door of fate shut with a click, with the word TRAITOR branded into the wood.

Malum smirked widely, bearing his teeth like a lion about to pounce. Zen could only scream in his aching mind as his enemy spoke.

"Well, Zen, I must thank you. This wouldn't be possible without you."

Zen didn't respond. As if he didn't already know that. He only turned and walked away, not sparing a glance to Juno or the people watching. When he was alone in his tiny room, with the bland walls and the uncomfortable twin bed, it was only then that he could let the tears roll. He fell to his knees and then crumbled to the wooden floor, curling up as he hugged himself. Tears dripped down off his cheeks and onto the cold floor.

"F-Forgive me, mother." He whispered.