Melione leaned over the balcony of her room, looking down at the city before her. The city of Neasall sat in the heart of the Eclipse Sanctum. Neasall was its biggest city and, in Melione's opinion, the most beautiful. It was early morning, she would be leaving with Grym soon on the way to the God Territories, but she woke up early to look out at her city.

She hated to leave. She never wanted to leave this city. If she had it her way, she'd never have to leave. Her parents were both in parts of the investigation unit. They encouraged her to follow in their footsteps and she loved every moment of it. For centuries, she worked alongside her parents until they were killed on an assignment. It wasn't another elf, but a creature. One of the worst that needed to be eradicated.

The gutseeker.

Her hands clenched as she remembered the day she heard her parent's screams. The gutseeker had been destroying small villages on the outskirts of Neasall. She was inside of the village that day taking care of several villagers who had survived when she heard her parents scream.

Melione had instantly ran in their direction and had fallen to her knees at the sight. Her parents were successful in killing the gutseeker, but not without a cost. She saw her parents torn to shreds by the head of the gutseeker. The only part of them that was intact was their heads. Officers had to pull her away from the scene. Since then, she worked hard to get to where she was now, but she would never forget that day or the sight of her parents shredded in front of her.

A knock sounded on her door. She straightened up and ordered them to come in. Grym walked in and stopped right inside the doorway. He was dressed in the Emerald Realm's usual traveling garbs. All he wore was a green shirt and pants with brown armor across his chest and thighs. The Emerald Realm's crest sat on the chest plate of his armor; a green leaf with gold veins traveling through it.

Melione rolled her eyes as she caught him looking her up and down. His eyes traveled slowly over her. She walked past him and gave herself one more look in the mirror. She wasn't as tall as Grym, but she was taller than most women her age. Her bluish-black hair fell to her waist, her sharp pointed ears sticking out from underneath. Her black eyes were angled slightly and her full mouth smirked.

She smoothed her black bodysuit as she grabbed the dark trenchcoat, pulling it on. She turned to Grym and crossed her arms. "Are you ready?"

Grym straightened as he nodded. "I am. Why do you always have to wear black?"

Melione rolled her eyes as she brushed past him. They were going to be traveling light so they wouldn't bring attention to themselves. She also didn't want to be on this trip any longer than she had to with him.

Grym easily fell into step beside her. "I know you're going to ignore me, but we need to get to know each other, Melione."

"Why?" She huffed.

"Because we'll be working together for a while and who knows what will happen out there." She could feel him watching her. "We need to be able to trust that one another can do their job."

Melione stopped and spun at him. "I know that you can do your job. That's why I asked for help." Her jaw clenched. "Do you not trust me to do my job?"

Grym held up his hands. "That's not what I meant."

Melione's eyes narrowed at him. "You need to start thinking before you speak." She didn't give him another chance to respond before she walked out of her house and down the porch stairs. Grym's horse was waiting for him at the foot of the steps. Its white coat was completely clean of any dirt. She walked right past the horse and stopped at her ride.

A mistbeast.

This creature had a body of a stag. Everything on it was black, there was no room for any other color. Black shadows flowed around it as it moved around, waiting for her.

Melione stop a foot in front of the mistbeast and held out her hand, palm facing up. A small bead of light come through her palm and hovered there. The mistbeast only ate light. That was their only source of food. They especially enjoyed the light that the people of the Eclipse Sanctum would make.

The mistbeast stepped forward, closing the distance in between them, and sniffed her hand. A long tongue slipped out from in between its lips and wrapped around the ball of light, bringing it into its mouth. Once it was satisfied that she was his owner, nuzzled its nose against the palm of her hand.

"Do you have to do that every time you meet him?" Grym asked behind her. He was already on his horse. He had pulled on his helmet, hiding his face except for his eyes. They still shined brightly through the eyeslit of the helmet.

Melione nodded as she walked around the mistbeast and climbed into the saddle. "They have short memories," she explained to him. She grabbed the reins and pointed him in the direction they needed to go. Grym moved his horse next to hers. "He knows who I am, but isn't sure if I own him or not." She held out her palm to Grym and showed him the small orb of light. "Each one of us has the ability to make our orbs. Each orb is different. They prove who you are." She quelched the light and stared straight ahead.

Grym hummed in response. "I never knew that."

Melione shrugged. "The Emerald Realm doesn't teach any of you about anyone else." She looked over at him. "They only give you your people's history."

"We're given other the history of the realms," Grym shot back. She had found out that anything she said that was negative to the Emerald Realm caused his sunny attitude to disappear quickly. He acted more like her when she insulted his realm.

Melione smirked as she moved the mistbeast faster. "Not in detail. Not like you should know."

Grym grunted. "I'm supposed to believe that the Eclipse Sanctum teaches you about every realm's history in great detail?"

Melione nodded. "We have to know."

"Why?"

Her smirk dropped as she rolled her eyes. "You know who rules over my realm right?" She asked him slowly.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a fucking idiot," he snapped at her. "I know that Vandall, the God of War, rules over your realm."

Melione nodded. "He's the one that makes sure that we know the history of everyone in the realm. In case we have to go to war, we know what to do."

Grym became silent. Melione was grateful that he stopped talking. They passed through the large arches of the city and followed the path into the dark forest. "Damn," Grym whistled. "I had forgotten how dark it is here."

Melione could see perfectly but knew that he would have trouble. She opened up her hand and outstretched it in front of them. Small orbs of light surrounded them, floating as they moved down the road. "Is that better?" She didn't like to use light in this forest, but she knew that she would have to. For Grym. She couldn't afford to lose him in the woods. He wouldn't know how to handle the monsters that resided in the Eclipse Sanctum.

Grym gave a tight nod. He kept his stare straight ahead. "Better. Thank you," he added that last part much lower than the other.

Both of them became silent again as they continued to ride. It wasn't long before Melione could feel the presence of something watching them. Grym had felt it as well. She could tell when he straightened up and started to look around. She ticked at him quickly, motioning him to keep looking straight ahead.

They didn't need to show whatever it was that was watching them that they knew it was. They needed to keep moving. Melione could hear movement on her left. She took a deep breath, trying to scent whatever it was that was following them, but came up with nothing. This caused her heart rate to pick up without her wanting it to. She needed to keep her heart rate steady, but couldn't control it.

There were only a couple of monsters in the dark forests of the Eclipse Sanctum that could mask their scent. They were some of the more dangerous creatures. They weren't silent, but they were well at hiding themselves. They blended in easily with the forest.

"Melione," Grym whispered. He moved his horse closer to her and leaned over. "We're surrounded."