"Winter's kiss returned them from the grave."

Frost coated the bloodied wound on the soldier's leg, as Dai placed his hand on it, his eyes closed as he focused his magic, forcing it to repair the leg of the Lekki man, who sat watching in a mixture of awe and horror. When the frost finally faded away from the man's leg, his expression finally settled on awe. 

He was certain that he was never going to be able to walk again, and the healers were going to have to remove the entire leg to remove the infection. Yet with the help of magic, this cloaked creature that soldiers had been whispering was a Mutare, the pain was all but gone.

"Can you stand?" Dai asked, and the soldier got to his feet, testing out putting weight on his freshly healed leg. Then slowly he began to walk around, and a proud smile crept upon Dai's lips. "Be careful," he warned. "Your leg isn't as strong as it used to be, but that will change if you keep using it," he said.

"Okay," the soldier said, a wide smile on his face. "I give my thanks to you," he said, bowing. It was a common enough action in Amaryllis, but it made Dai feel uneasy. Mutare only bowed to First and Second Ranks. "Now, I must ask, is it true that you are a Mutare?" he asked, curiosity burning in his gaze.

"These divides are what have caused the war in the first place," Dai muttered. "Mutare or Lekki, what does it matter? I have just doomed you to fight once more, and for that, I must apologize," he said, giving a slight dip of his head.

"Oh..." the Lekki soldier said, frown carved into his face. "Well I thank you once more," he said, before dashing off to rejoin his comrades. The soldier was a young Lekki boy, one who was still wet behind the ears and did not need to be out on the battlefield. He only looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old, the same age that Dai, himself looked.

"Your magic is really useful," Honey stated, a slight smile on her lips. "You could probably pull someone back from the brink of death," she said. "Maybe you could even pull someone back into this world, and bring them back to life," she said, a glittering excitement in her chocolate eyes.

"That's just as impossible as it is forbidden," Dai stated. "Now who else do I need to heal?" he asked. Honey had been in charge of seeing who needed to be healed first and who could spare to wait just a bit longer.

"That's it," she stated. "There are others, but they refuse to be healed by you," she added, slowly. "Either because you're a Mutare or you're using magic," she said.

"If they wish to die, then that is not my fault," he stated. "Come, now," he said and led Honey to the other side of the clearing where Lukas had ordered any soldiers still left on their feet to drag any injured Mutare. There were only seven of them, which was far less than the Lekki soldiers, as Lekki soldiers tended to finish their opponents off far more quickly than the Mutare did. 

Dai approached the first Mutare in the line of injured creatures, and she was a woman, somewhere in her late twenties, with wings. One wing that had been shredded, while the other had been completely chopped off.

When she saw Dai, her eyes narrowed. "Don't touch me, traitor," she spat, her dark eyes burning with anger, fear and most obviously: pain. 

However, unlike when Dai had backed off if the Lekki soldiers had told him to not touch them, he ignored the Mutare's words and placed a hand upon her back. Frost covered her wings and slowly the bones, then flesh, then feathers regrew. As Dai removed his hand, she gave her wings slight flap before turning to Dai, with wide eyes. 

"Just who are you?" she asked, her eyes narrowed as she inspected the Mutare before her.

"Dai," he said, with a slight dip of his head. "I was a Tenth Rank, but now I serve the Fire God as a familiar," he said, as the Mutare gave him another disbelieving look.

"Remove your hood, familiar," she said, and Dai, much to Honey's surprise, did. He had already refused to take off his hood when Lekki soldiers asked him to, yet when this Mutare ordered him to do it, he simply did. Without any sarcastic comments, either. She narrowed her eyes when she saw his face. "We have met before," she said. "Where?"

Dai was smirking now. "Your guess is as good as mine," he said, before moving to the next Mutare in the line, this one unconscious. He put his hands on the body, ignoring the questioning look he was getting from the other Mutare.

As frost began to spread across the second Mutare's body, it became clear that this one was in far worse condition than the first, just barely clinging to life. "How do you know her?" Honey asked, looking at the Mutare who was now testing out her regrown wings.

"Who?" Dai asked although he knew exactly who she was speaking of.

"The female soldier," Honey said.

"What about her?"

"How do you know the female soldier?" Honey asked, her frustration building up. "I know you do know her," she stated. "Your smirk said you knew her."

"I've only met her once," Dai said. "And I'm surprised she recognized me now, as we only saw each other for a heartbeat," he said, with a shrug. "It must have been about eight years ago, now," he said, frowning slightly, as he tried to pull the memory from the depths of his mind. "I know most of the older soldiers, though," he said.

"How can you even remember that?" Honey asked. "You could only have been about eight or nine, back then," she said, watching as Dai carefully pulled his hands from the Mutare below him, who was slowly beginning to regain consciousness. "Or were you?" she asked.

 Dai remained silent as he moved to the next Mutare soldier, who silently let Dai rested his hands on the Mutare's arm, which had been ripped off. 

"In my village, there were stories about a golden-eyed Mutare who had been alive for nearly five centuries," Honey said slowly. "Is that story true?" she asked, and Dai finally sighed.

"I am no ordinary Mutare," he said. "But that story is not true," he said, and Honey felt her face drop in disappointment. 

She had hoped she had finally figured something out about her Mutare traveling companion.

"I am far older than a mere five centuries," he said, shocking Honey. "You are not allowed to tell Lukas this, but I am over a thousand of your Lekki years old," he said, removing his hands from the injured arm of the Mutare, before moving down the line to a young Mutare boy, who couldn't have been more than fifteen years old, whose legs had all but been destroyed, and a prominent glare in his eyes.

"I don't need the help of a familiar," the young Mutare growled. "It's a disgrace to even have to speak with one," he spat.

"It would be an even bigger disgrace to lose your head to one," Dai hissed in response, his patience clearly gone and the Mutare boy kept his mouth shut after that, as Dai rested his hands upon his destroyed legs. "Why are you even fighting with the army?" Dai asked the child, keeping his focus on the young Mutare's legs.

"The same reason everyone else fights," the boy snapped. "For power. I'm an Eighth Rank, now," he stated, beaming with pride. "But soon I'll become a Seventh Rank then, one day, I'll become a Third Rank," he declared. "Or at least that was my plan. After this, I think they're going to kick me out of the army."

"You aim to be a Third Rank?" Dai asked, and Honey noticed the slight smile on his face, as she realized that Dai was doing what he loved. Healing and speaking with the Mutare soldiers. That only drew the question: what did he do before he decided he was going to be a Tenth Rank? "You, know there are only two of them," he said.

"Three," the young Mutare corrected. "The third general isn't as well known, but he is supposedly the strongest of the three," he said, grinning ear to ear as the pain in his legs disappeared. "I wouldn't expect a familiar to know about him."

"Didn't he die six years ago?" Dai asked. "I heard he was assassinated by the other two generals," he said, with a slight smirk.

"Of course he wasn't!" the young Mutare snapped. "And once I make my way up to the top I'm going to meet him, and then defeat him, becoming the most powerful Mutare in all of the Wild Woods," he said. "I'll kill any Lekki or god that dares to cross blades with me," he snarled, his eyes burning. "And one day, the Dark Master will recognize my talent and-"

"You almost died today," Dai said, cutting the younger Mutare off. "If it wasn't for me, you would have lost the use of your legs. War is no game. It's kill or be killed," he hissed. "I want to remind you that every life you steal has a family, friends, and loved ones. You can only become a great soldier, if you can still kill, knowing this. 

"Those who kill just for power or the thrill of taking another life, are just playing right into the Lekki hands. Show your opponent's mercy. Show them that you are not the beast they make you out to be," Dai hissed. "Believe me when I tell you nothing will ever change until you do."

With that Dai moved on to the next injured Mutare and then the next until he had healed all seven of them. As soon as the last one of them were healed they slipped back into the shadows, running off to wherever they came from. 

And not one of them was anywhere near as grateful as the Lekki soldiers had been, yet Dai was still smiling as he watched them go, and Honey realized that even though none of them had thanked him for what he had done there was something about how helping heal his own kind meant far more than it did when he was healing Lekki. Yet as he turned back to Honey his smile had all but melted off.

"Lekki girl Honey, I must tell you something," he said, solemnly, and Honey felt her stomach churn with nervousness. "I think my hands have something on them," he said, as his face broke into a smirk and before Honey could realize what he meant the Mutare before her pressed his frozen hands against her cheeks, yet she didn't feel the usual burning cold that came whenever she touched Dai. 

Instead, his hands were coated with the dark and sticky blood of the Mutare he had just healed. When Dai pulled his hand away from the Lekki's girl's face, he was still smirking.

"What did you just put on my face?" Honey screeched, her eyes wide with shock, a shock which quickly faded away into rage.

Dai was grinning now, in a way Honey had never seen him grin before. It wasn't a scowl or a smirk that were all to commonly plastered upon the seemingly young Mutare's lips, but a real grin. It was almost enough to make Honey forget that he had just stuck the blood of the injured Mutare soldiers on her face, which was disgusting. 

Touching the open wounds to heal the soldiers hadn't seemed to bother Dai at all. And having the blood of his own kind stuck to his hands didn't seem to bother him either. However, it did a little more than bother Honey.

"You have until the count of five to start running," the Lekki girl with honey-colored said, trying to calm the waves of her anger lapping at her mind.

"What?" Dai asked, tilting his head, with slight curiosity.

"One...two...," Honey began.

"Did you just threaten me, Lekki girl Honey?" he asked, yet stayed perfectly still. He showed no sign of planning to run before Honey reached the count of five.

"Three...four...," she continued.

"I knew I liked you."

"Five."

The entire Wild Woods was silent as if drawing in a breath of anticipation before Honey looked up, her eyes so dark they almost looked black. She unleashed her own battle cry, her face painted in sticky black war paint, before charging a slightly surprised Dai. 

Only he wasn't surprised for long, but grinning once more, he ran around the clearing, letting Honey chase after him. He kept looking over his shoulder, making sure he was a perfect distance ahead of Honey, who was glaring and chasing after the Mutare her feet powered by her anger. Yet, Dai was still far faster than Honey and was only taunting the Lekki girl.

"Are you two done?" Lukas called across the clearing. "We need to get moving if you're done playing," he snapped. Dai, in a sudden burst of speed, dashed across the clearing and was in the back of the wagon before Honey could even blink. It was his way of telling her that he had won.

Yet Honey still ran across the clearing and shot him a well-deserved glare from her spot on the wagon as she felt them roll away, deeper into the Wild Woods and one step closer to the Rose whatever-it-was.

A U T H O R ' S   N O T E

I'm so sick of them.

Thanks for reading and please vote/comment

Until next time~