Sasha cut the binds on Sera and undid her gag. Sera got up holding Sasha but fell back to her knees. Sasha grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her.

‘Come on, this no time to rest, we have to get out of here! ‘

Sera could not respond, she was still blank with fear.

‘Sera we have to leave! ‘

Seeing no response, Sasha slapped her across the face. A sharp sound cut across as the girl reeled back.

Sasha bit her lips, Not that hard!

But it snapped Sera out of her trance. Rubbing her red cheek she got up on shaky legs.

Sasha saw Silat slash a heretic’s face in half.

‘We have to leave now. Whoever wins, they’ll kill us either way ‘

‘But where?’ How? Sera looked around in despair. The door leading out of the cavern was shut from inside and the road to the staircase was blocked by the battle.

Sasha’s eyes raced across the chamber. She could not even see any weapons nearby, not event the rapier her father made for her.

No point looking for any weapons anyways, she thought as she saw the fight. The cultists were too many and fought like animals.

She looked at Sera to find her shaking in tears. Sasha held her tight.

What do we do?

A sound suddenly broke through the commotion.

A voice?

Turning behind she saw a face behind a thick wall of roots. Two small hands parted them and waved them to come. A dog barked alongside him.

‘Sera come, there might be a way out! ‘, Sasha dragged her towards the roots. She parted them to find a small boy and a puppy beside him.

What’s on his head?, Sasha thought as he saw him. His hair was the color of silver, with a soft cowlick running down his face.

‘Sasha this must be a way out! ‘, Sera exclaimed and rushed in through the roots before Sasha could say anything.

She looked back at the battle. Silat was now alone, surrounded by seven cultists.

I have no choice, she followed Sera in.

They were now in the tunnels.

It was pitch black save for the dim light of a makeshift torch on the boy’s hand. He and his puppy led the way.

Who is he and what is a child doing here?

Sasha thought as they came upon junction that saw two different tunnels lead out. The boy waved his torch across both of them and picked up a tree branch from the one on the right.

They continued onwards through it.

Did they try to kill him too? Did he escape from their clutches?

‘Ahh..’, Sera led out a sharp scream that brought the party to a standstill.

‘What happened? ‘, Sasha knelt to tend to her friend. She was grasping her knee.

‘I fell…’, Sera cried, the boy brought his torch up to her and gasped. Her right knee was missing most of its skin, it revealed a patch of red flesh beneath.

Sasha gritted her teeth and pulled Sera up.

‘We have no time to lose sweetie. Silat and his men might be dead and the butchers could be right behind us ‘

Sera let out a few tears before limping along. Sasha lent her a shoulder.

The journey resumed.

The air became thicker as they went deeper in. There was nothing but the sound of their footsteps to keep them company. A moist smell came off the walls.

I wonder if its one of those caves where the Arata nest…Sasha grasped her mouth upon the thought. If it was indeed one of their nests then Sasha would rather go back to the heretics than continue.

The monsters were said to nest in deep caverns such as this during the day and hunt during the night. Often bodies would be found beside river streams, their bodies drained off every last drop of blood.

Sera grunted and then moaned, ‘ can’t we rest for a while, it really hurts ‘

The boy took no notice of this and kept walking. Sasha patted her head,

‘No Sera we have to keep going. We have to gain distance from the heretics ‘

The air now started to lighten as the ground got coarser. Sera rubbed her head against Sasha, ‘ I’m so useless, I don’t know what I’d do without you ‘

Sasha kissed her on the forehead, ‘ don’t worry, I’ll always be there for you ‘

The death like silence ceased as they came out of a tunnel. Faint sounds of the forest could now be heard. The ground grew more treacherous now and even Sasha slipped a few times. The boy however was sure footed as a cat and his puppy lead him without fail.

Is he one of them? How does he know these tunnels so well?, it was a disturbing thought but Sasha had no choice but to suppress it.

They came upon a somewhat steep incline and the boy and his dog climbed first. Sasha pulled Sera up before the boy helped her on to the ground above. Sasha climbed last.

Light! She gasped as she saw an exit to the forest. The ground outside was draped in gentle silver light.

The boy and the dog rushed to the exit and took cover beside the wall. He looked at them and signaled them to stay put.

‘What’s wrong? ‘, Sera whispered.

‘I think he’s making sure that no one’s outside ‘

The boy peeked outside while his canine friend sniffed. Sasha and Sera remained frozen that way for several minutes. Sasha gulped as sweat ran down her face, her legs grew light. Sera grasped her mouth while gripping Sasha tight.

The boy at last let out a sigh and signaled them outside. Sasha and Sera soon followed.

A gust of cool air crashed against their faces the moment they arrived outside. It soothed the sweat on their brows and the loosened shackles on their hearts.

They were back in the forest. Wolves howled in the distance and crickets buzzed as autumn leaves danced among the gentle breeze with silver light flickering off of them.

It all came out without warning. Both Sasha and Sera burst out into tears before dropping on the ground. They hugged each other while the boy and his dog jumped in triumph.

‘I…I can’t believe this is real. Did we really make it out?’, Sera struggled to speak through her tears.

‘Yes we did, yes we did ‘, Sasha hugged her ever more tightly, ‘ the spirits saved us. They smiled on us! ‘

Sasha felt as if her blood was flowing again.

The ritual, the murders, the apparition, the battle…was it all real? Sasha glanced around her surroundings again.

Then she felt a pair of eyes upon them. The boy was observing them in silence, his eyes wide with questions.

Sasha knelt before the boy and kissed his arms. He blushed but the puppy barked and pulled his leg.

‘Words cannot express our gratitude ‘, she looked up and met his eyes. They were large, round and of an indigo color. For a moment she felt as if she was gazing into the evening sky.

The boy looked at them wide eyed for a while and then smiled.

‘Danke fur ihre netten worte ‘, he laughed shyly, ‘um ehrlich zu sein, hatte ich nicht gedacht, dass wir es schaffen wurden ‘

Sasha and Sera looked at each other in utter confusion and then looked at him, ‘what? ‘

‘oh, ich habe es vergassen ‘, he scratched his head

‘Why does he sound like he has a bee in his nose? ‘, asked Sera.

‘Who knows maybe he’s from another country ‘

A bit of cloud had been blocking the moon’s full light. Its departure made the boy more clear. He skin was fair with a reddish tinge, unlike the pale and pasty Aedirnians. His face was shaped like a strawberry.

Sera’s eyes widened, she took a step back and gulped ‘now I get it’

‘Get what?’ Sasha became intrigued.

‘His hair is like gold, he has bluish eyes and skin white as snow with a reddish hue. He’s not an Aedirnian and he’s certainly not an Ariya. Furthermore he speaks in this strange nasal language. My mistress has spoken of them a hundred times. He’s an Elyrian ‘

Upon hearing the word the boy stood to attention and looked at Sera with large eyes.

‘Are you sure? ‘

‘No doubt about it’

Sera wrapped her arms around herself. Sasha looked at the boy and the he looked back.

So this is an Elyrian, she thought.

Every subject living in Aedirn had heard of the great enemy to the south, however few had ever seen one. The stories she heard from the elders had created a fearsome image in her mind. The image of a fearless warrior who pillaged and slaughtered his foes without mercy.

Well I never thought the first Elyrian I saw would be a scrawny boy but I guess he beats meeting the fierce raiders any day.

‘What are we going to do with him? ‘, asked Sera, looked at the boy in apprehension.

‘Well we can’t just leave him here ‘, Sasha retorted, ‘he saved our lives’

‘He’s probably lost, got separated from his parents. Maybe they’re looking for him’

The boy kept looking at the two back and forth.

‘Not this far away from Elyria. And we can’t just leave him in the forest in the middle of the night ‘

‘Yes but…’ Sera spoke softly, ‘our people hate his kind. It might be dangerous for him in the village and us…’

‘I’ll hide him in my home for now, we’ll go looking for his kin next day ‘

‘Sasha this could be bad for us, if someone finds out they might call us traitors. Plus he’s probably capable of surviving in the forest, he doesn’t need our help.. ‘

‘I am not going to abandon him! ‘, Sasha was adamant.

Sera sighed, ‘ Fine, you be careful ‘

‘Good, now that that’s settled’ Sasha looked at the boy and pointed a finger at herself and said loudly, ‘SASHA ‘

Sera hesitantly did the same and said, ‘SERA ‘

The boy smiled and said in Aedirnian, ‘ My name is Marcus Alexander Corvinus ‘