The wooden box felt light in my hands as my fingers graced the strips of metal along the top. My thumbs plucked at the keys, flicking one or two at a time, trying to remember how the song went. It felt like something I'd heard before, that I'd been humming my entire life, even though everyone at the fort told me I'd made it up. All the same, as the lower, almost haunting tune reached my ear, I knew I was getting close to figuring it out.

"How are you liking the kalimba?"

Luina's voice caught my attention, causing me to jump up off the window I'd been sitting in. She leaned her thin body against the door frame as she smiled at me, honey brown hair braided behind her back.

"It's a lot of fun, thank you!" Brushing off my yellow tunic, I ran up to her, wrapping my arms around her. "You didn't have to get it for me." If anything, the fact made me appreciate it even more.

"Of course I did. You worked hard to get your apprenticeship, and passed the test like it was nothing. I thought it was a good reason to celebrate. Besides..." She reached to ruffle my hair, much higher than normal with the amount of growing I'd had in the past Wither. "All you ever do is read and write. Once things like that become work, not leisure, you're going to want other things to do. Now, are you ready to go, or were you playing that the entire time?"

"No, I'm ready." I sat the box down on my desk as if to prove my point.

"All right then. We're also going to be stopping at the wickery along the way in case the next Crack happens during the day. I don't want to run out."

I nodded as I followed her down the stairs and out of the fort. While I couldn't argue with her other errands, the sheer excitement of picking up the white attire of my new profession was beginning to consume my thoughts. No doubt I looked like an ashcaleve with the wide grin on my face and lightness in my step, but I couldn't help it as I called out to Luke to come with. I was going to spread knowledge and information in a time when almost no one could have that. It felt noble.

"Are we leaving now?" Luke asked. At Luina's nod, he grabbed his sword off the wall, before closing the door behind him. Most couldn't travel the distance between the town and the fort out of fear of the Beasts, but with the potency of his magik, there was less reason to worry as we made our way out.

As the village grew in the distance, blocky, stone houses coming into view, I saw Luke wincing a bit, his gaze focused entirely on the bridge in front of him, sitting overtop of the playful scarlet river. No, not the bridge, I realised after a moment. The water.

"I hate this part." A rare grumble left his throat as our footsteps began to echo against the stone.

"Why?" There was no chance of anyone falling into the thick depths, with the higher walls and few guards standing as close as they could to its edges, keeping watch.

"Stained magik," Luke answered tersely, the tips of his ears tilted down in annoyance. "It crawls into your skin and eats away at you. It's the worst." With a shake of his head, he hurriedly crossed the rest of the bridge, forcing Luina and I to pick up our pace before we finally entered the town. The area seemed fine to me though, beautiful even, and I wished we could have stayed longer, if only to stand at the bridge's edge, watching the ripples flow by...

As the village sprang up around me, I was instantly making my way over to the right, glancing down the hundreds of propped up stalls, trying their best to offer shade against the steady heat. One of them had the order for my robes Luina had sent by letter the tally before. They were sitting there, as ready for me as I was for them.

"Hold on!" Luina reached out, grabbing my white collar, forcing me to double-back on the cobblestone. "We're going to the wickery first. Less chance for you to dirty your clothes. Plus, you know they raise the candle prices the closer the sky is to closing."

I pouted a bit, but I followed along. She had already spent so much on my robes, and with the continued limp in the Warden's leg, chips were hard enough to come by as it was. A small shiver sunk into my bare arms as I stepped into the cool dark building of the wickery, one of the only shops deemed important enough to have its own venue. While I knew that Luina visited often to purchase candles, I'd never been in one, instantly being hit with various scents, sharp, sweet, all set out in a flickering dark room.

"Nudjur ih haret!"  A cheerful unmal greeted from behind the counter, a small, professional smile on their face. "Anything that interests you today?" 

"Just the usual or the upcoming Crack, I suppose, and maybe a few for the Wither," Luina admitted. "You can never tell when it's going to strike, hot or cold."

"That you can't," they agreed before sliding themselves across the counter. "That being said, can I interest you in my latest endeavours, Stained candles? If it happens during the morn, you can never have too much protection from the Beasts." They reached over to the wall behind them, to a shelf coated in bright pink candles, looking a bit more lax in shape than the rest.

"Stained candles? What do you mean?" Luina raised an eyebrow at them. All the same, she accepted the one they were handing off, looking at the soft wax.

"Well, you know how even domesticated, those Beasts always refused to eat meat, and there so much fat content on it constantly getting wasted, right? So I started collecting the tallow and making wax from it, and if the reviews I've gotten from the armies means anything, it does a dekr of a job keeping those things away!"

"That's amazing!" Luke announced next to me. "Can I see one?" The unmal handed him another, proud at the interest in their work, and another potential sale. "Xoris, come see this!" I walked over to him, before getting the candle shoved into my arms. "It keeps Beasts away. Isn't that useful?"

I went to answer, but I couldn't. Something about the candle felt cold and lifeless in my hands. Like something died, and I was holding its corpse. It was just a candle, but my heart leapt to my throat, the skin on my arms crawling as if covered in insects. It felt wrong. So very, very wrong. I thrust it back at him, none too kindly. "Very useful, for sure," I agreed, thankful the dark was hiding my face. Otherwise Luke might have seen the sweat dripping down it, and asked if everything was all right. Of course, it is, isn't it? I thought as I watched Luina pull out her Aevida to make her purchase. There's nothing wrong with keeping the Beasts at bay. We need every bit of protection we can get. It was just a candle, so why did every part of me want to run?

It was a relief, closing that door behind me, away from the pink candles and into blazing heat outside once again. Soon, I'd pick up my robes, and then we could go back to the fort. The thought relieved me, but I couldn't figure out why. Maybe I've just been out too much today, I figured. I didn't deal with many new people a day, if at all, and the market was always crowded. That was it.

"Hey." I felt a hand on my shoulder, nearly jumping out of my skin at the contact. "Oh sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Luke apologised, before handing me a parcel wrapped in brown paper. "It's just... I know with your apprenticeship and mine, we're not going to be seeing each other much soon, and... I wanted to get you something. Here." He placed it in my hands, and I could feel the threatening sensation returning. I slowly unwrapped it to see the candle back in my hands, looking like the red flesh of a Beast with every passing drip that I stared at it in horror. "If I'm not here to protect you, then maybe it can." He stopped, noticing the look on my face. He winced a bit, before pulling me forward. "I'm sorry. Don't cry. I'm going to miss you too."

That was why I was upset. I was leaving. Possibly for good. That was why I was shaking in the middle of the street with a pile of wax in my hands as he gave me a hug. Nothing more.

𓂀

A rasping cough tugged Xoris out of the darkness, the pain immediately picking up where it left off, like a rabid Beast clawing at the back of his neck and the inside of his skull. It took him a few drips to realise it wasn't his own.

A slowly opening eye on his forearm cast everything at a tilted angle: The fully open sky, not a single edge in sight, the tree Kraim was leaning against, breathing heavily. Kraim. The thought sent anger burning through his veins, distracting Xoris from the agony for a moment. The amount of spite surprised him for a moment. I don't think I've ever... hated someone like this before. Rage had always seemed like such a useless emotion, as it never fixed anything, but as he watched the wheezing advisor cough in front of him once again, he couldn't help it. It was a bitter taste in his mouth, wanting him to atone for everything he'd done. If only he'd stop wincing and just look at me! The coarse ropes biting into his wrists and ankles would mean nothing if he could just catch one glance.

"Ugh, what is all this?" Kraim rubbed at his eyes, looking at the same disgusting strings Xoris had had only the day before. As much as he didn't feel like talking, the familiar need to answer questions rattled around in his mind. After all, he supposed he was really the only person who knew anything about it.

"It's pink eye," Xoris explained, remembering what Will had called it. The anger returned quickly, much more potent than before as he thought about what Kraim had done. How'd he'd referred to the man as nothing more than a peasant. "I gave it to you. Now you're cursed, like me." Even now, his own chest felt tight, his voice sounding shallow and raspy. At least he knew Kraim would suffer with him.

"You don't-" He was cut off to choke. "You don't get any pink eyes. I studied every colour there was."

"Well, then I must have discovered a new one." It made sense to him. After all, if Xeth could create a grey, why couldn't he find his own?

"You can't stop me. It doesn't matter how many eyes you collect. You know I've won. The second I can get off this ground, I will be taking every one you have before returning to Korim."

The image came to mind before he could stop it, making him shrink back in terror. The hair on his neck bristled. He never wanted to go through that again. "W-why? You already got what you needed. Just let me go! I swear, I'll never return to the castle. I won't interfere with your work again. Please!" The words came out fast, panicked. He didn't want to ask Kraim for anything ever again, but the throbbing emptiness on his neck urged him to. He couldn't take it again. Anything was better than that.

"No, I'm far from what I need. I supposed it was rather foolish of me to think only one would solve my problems. After all, it took glass upon glass of Vilve blood to get me where I am now." As if to prove his point, he stared at his hand as he split a thin black line through the air in front of him, opening up a small, negative space. It would look so much like the black sky with is strange, Cracked shape if it wasn't for the thousands of pinpricks of strange white light it always seemed to have. He didn't have much time to stare at it though before the man snapped it shut, turning on his side. Xoris just wished he would face his direction more. Anything to make eye contact. 

"So! I'll be taking as many as I need. As soon as..." He took in another heavy breath before unbuttoning his robes, revealing much more lightweight, simpler clothes beneath, coated in sweat. He wiped a hand through his black and purple hair, matted to his dripping hair as he coughed again. "As soon as this stops. Your new eye only prolonged the inevitable."

The inevitable, huh? That was what it felt like to him. Even if he got out of the ropes holding him, Kraim would just dodge every attack. If he ran, he could eventually find him. And where would I go? He and Will had been following alongside the mountains, over which he knew he'd find the Stained, and other Beasts, but what sense of protection could he really hope for from a violent, senseless race? 

Without warning, the Vampire girl came to mind, with her coaxing voice and long white hair. "Come and find me again sometime when you're ready, 'Thing of Eyes and Teeth'. I'll be waiting." Was he ready? What did that even mean, and was it even worth Kraim after him? He tugged at the ropes on his hands. They refused to budge, reinforced by some type of pirckling magik tembling along his bare skin, but if he angled himself right, he'd be able to touch the ones on his ankles. He crinkled his nose at the thought of what they would most likely taste like, but as Kraim put his head on the ground, wincing as he took in shaking breaths, he knew it would be his only chance to run. So, do I want to?

The girl crossed his thoughts yet again, with her confidence even as he'd held his sword to her, threatening. She knew what she was doing, and had her own reasons. She knew of a Higher Beast, and had a purpose. He envied it. A sense of determination filled his chest. Yes. I want to know why. Then he could choose not to follow on his own accord. He could return to the fort, or at least visit from time to time. 

A dull ache filled him, separate from the pain as he imagined them all. Merkos... Asim... even Naeh. He focused an emerald eye on his neck at Kraim while the purple on his cheeks took another look at the ropes. It was worth it. They were worth it.

The fibres were sharp and coarse, scraping against the hard, yet fleshy top of the mouth on his hand, and the taste was worse than he could have imagined. Vomit shifted uneasily in his stomach as the bitter flavour soared and his tongue was poked. All the same, as he clenched the muscles in his hand, his bindings snapped, allowing him freedom.

It was agony to pull himself off the ground. His hands were still bound as his head spun as much as the fuzzy world around him, and he almost toppled over, saved by his boot in the dirt. As a hiss escaped his mouth, he steadied himself, tossing one last glance at the mountains, tall despite their distance away, and started to run.

"Get back here Stained!" Kraim was calling, but nothing could have convinced Xoris to turn back. I never want to see him again.

A crackling noise reached his ears, but it was located in the new hole of black in his vision, just out of reach. Instantly, he blinked, choosing a green one just left to the one he'd lost, but by then he knew it was too late. Kraim had a hand out, a line of darkness branching out in his direction.

No! He thought as the attack struck the ground next to him. He almost sighed in relief of it missing, when the world began to shift unnaturally under his feet, every step he took pulling him further and further back, no matter how much he pushed forward. The air around him felt thicker the more he fought against the warped force around him. The negative space closed in tighter, tearing at him hungrily. It prickled at his skin, raising the hair on his arms and neck, warning of a much worse, painful experience if he pulled away from its hold. But... I can't go back. Even now, he could see Kraim reaching out to pull him closer, closer to that awful, bloody hand. His whole body shook at the sight, the back of his neck heating up at the memory. A whimper trembled from his lips. No! Not again! With a tug, he yanked himself out of the magik's grasp.

Then it snapped, causing him to fall forward without hands to catch himself. Dirt scraped into his face, the eyes on his cheeks wincing in the irritation, but he had no time to register that before something seized his left leg. It sneaked under his armour, biting into his flesh with a jolt that shook his whole body. Everything was burning, twitching, the flesh on his leg feeling like it was being seared into. Xoris screamed, twisting to look at Kraim. He looked ready to pass out, head facing the ground, all stretched out as if it took all his strength to maintain the hold of the Vilve's magik. Already, the pain was lessening, even as he could feel the warm stickiness of fresh blood underneath his trousers. Xoris yanked his leg back, fighting against it one more time.

A harsh shout sounded behind him, and Xoris didn't have to turn to watch Kraim's head drop to the ground. He knew he'd find him again, even as he continued to run further and further away, the mountains growing larger with every passing step, but... I still want to try. If the Beast and Stained lived in some semblance of a country over the mountains, then he was too close to getting answers. For everything.

His lungs burned, his calf aching as it continued to drip crimson blood like a trail behind him, but he couldn't focus on that now. As he steadied himself, drawing a breath in through one mouth, and out another, he continued to stare ahead. The ropes on his wrists were aggravating at this point, and, placing the rope in his Human mouth, he wrenched his head away, snapping them before taking a tight grip on his sword.

I'm going to find that Vampire, and when I do, I'll finally be ready.