Elaine awoke with a start, as if she had heard a loud noise in a quiet night. Her eyes snapped open to a sudden light. Her muscles tightened and her breath quickened. She didn’t know where she was.

  It came back to her slowly. The pain that clutched at her side recalled her escape, the battle and the monster. She sat up and looked around the room, but no one was inside. An empty bed rested beside her own.

  She was still wearing at least part of the grey garb from the day before. However, her tunic was gone, and only her breast wrap remained. She numbly felt around for the tunic, still not fully awake.

  She reached down and felt her side, her fingers running across the linen cloth wrap that hugged her stomach. Someone treated her wound then. She wasn’t dying. She had thought that might be a relief, but it wasn’t.

  The wound brought back the memory of Grace ebbing away from her body. She had lost; Elise had delivered the final blow of the fight. She couldn’t accept it, even if Elise had shattered her breastplate.

  She saw the shining gleam of her armor as she searched the room. Her breastplate rested on the floor, along with the other pieces of her armor. It brought her no comfort. It was broken, the side completely shattered.

  The chilling thought raced through her. Grace could no longer flow through the broken armor. It was completely useless now. The armor granted her great power, but the sigils inside were far too intricate. She couldn’t fix it. No one could fix it.

  Her hands curled into fists. She wanted dearly to blame someone, anyone for it. She wanted to curse Astor for Nathaniel’s corruption, or Elise’s jealousy. Had she not served the Order with all that she was?

  Anger tried to boil in Elaine’s stomach, but she cut it short. Her aching side reminded her. She had lost. All of her anger, all of her pain hadn’t helped her win. All that remained was an empty hole and a tired ache in her heart.

  Elaine tried to rise further, tried to get on her feet, but a wave of dizziness assaulted her mind. She couldn’t stand, not yet. Elaine held her head in her hands, trying her best to focus. Only the faint thuds of footsteps cleared it away.

  Bright sunlight wreathed Logan as he stepped inside. He looked nearly as tired as she felt. In his hands were two folded pieces of clothing, pants and a blue tunic. He stopped in his tracks as he saw her, surprise lighting his face. He started to approach, but he hesitated.

  “You’re finally awake,” he said.

  “It would seem so,” Elaine said. “How long was I asleep?”

  “Less than a day.” Logan walked over and sat on the bed that was next to her.

  “Back there, you said that there wasn’t time to explain things,” Elaine said. “Can you tell me about it now? What is Talan and what was that monster?”

  “I think I can,” Logan said.

  He smiled a warm smile as he spoke, as if he had been expecting it, as if he had wanted her to ask it. There was something going on that she didn’t know about yet. She listened carefully, taking it all in.

  “That monster is a savod,” Logan said. “It’s been tracking me since Talan and I formed our pact.”

  “Pact?” Elaine asked.

  “I promised to help Talan in exchange for her power,” Logan said. “That’s the reason I could at least fight that savod.”

  “And what is Talan then?” Elaine asked.

  “Talan is a sylvestrian. She told me that they were the first to fight the savod and seal them away,” Logan said. “But they are coming back to Nelim. The seal that holds them has cracked. Talan wants to seal them again.”

  “Do you believe her?” Elaine asked.

  “I believe that it’s the only way to stop being hunted,” Logan said. “I believe that none of the five kingdoms could stand against an army of savod.”

  He was right on that last part. The savod’s strength spoke for itself. It had tossed Elise like a doll. Even the mages had only been able to scratch it. Elaine shuddered at the thought of actually fighting it.

  “But I’ve realized something,” Logan continued. “I won’t be able to do this alone.”

  “You want to ask me to help,” Elaine said.

  “Both you and the two mages,” Logan said. “I’ve seen you fight, Elaine. You’re both strong and fierce.”

  “No,” Elaine said, gripping the edge of the bed tightly. “The Order is my only concern. I must stop that madness before all else.”

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  “How do you plan to do that?” Logan asked. “They’re already more patrols of knights on the streets, all looking for you.”

  “Should I let this madness go on then?” Elaine nearly yelled. “The plague has driven Nathaniel to madness. I must do something before he harms Nethas.”

  “I don’t know,” Logan said. “Why don’t you ask her?”

  Before Elaine could ask, green eyes peered out of Logan’s shadow. The imp rose up from the darkness. Elaine barely kept the shock from rising in her face. She was still not used to the creature’s form.

  “What is this plague?” Talan asked, her feral eyes probing Elaine.

  “You haven’t heard about the plague?” Elaine turned to Logan, doing her best not to focus on Talan. “It’s been a year now.”

  “I try not to come into the city.” Logan shrugged.

  “Darkness like the night sky covers their bodies.” Elaine sighed. “It drives all it touches into madness. We’ve been doing our best to fight it.”

  “I thought so,” Talan said. “This Nathaniel, he’s the head of your order right?”

  “Yes.” Elaine nodded.

  “The savod are reaching deep then, they won’t let you interfere in their plans,” Talan said. “That sickness is brought on by the touch of a savod. If you try to stop him now, you’ll die.”

  Elaine frowned. She couldn’t be sure that Talan wasn’t lying. If they really wanted her help, then Talan might say anything to convince her. However, the odd nature of the sickness was troublesome. The savod might truly have been the cause.

  “Why do you need my help then?” Elaine asked. “I’m not like you. I don’t have the power to harm that monster.”

  “I prefer not fighting them, but the savod aren’t the only dangers in the world,” Logan said. “We all have a shared purpose here. You want to stop the Order from hurting people. I want the savod to stop hunting me. The mages want to find out what the savod are doing by killing their brethren. The best way to solve this is for us all to work together.”

  “Let me think about it,” Elaine said, resting back in the bed.

  He left after that, leaving the clothing behind on the bed without another word. Talan disappeared in his shadow as he walked away, her green eyes following Elaine until she faded. Elaine was thankful for it; she wasn’t sure she could maintain control any longer.

  The anger came first, finally free in her solitude. She wasn’t angry with Elise or Nathaniel. She was angry with herself. She shouldn’t have let them take away her armor. She shouldn’t have submitted without a fight.

  Elaine slammed her fist against the bed. That was it. There was nothing she could do now. She had lost her chance to make things right. She no longer had her armor. She no longer had any power.

  Perhaps Elise was right and this was all Astor’s will. Maybe she was truly just a traitor. She had betrayed Nathaniel’s trust. She was unfit to serve. She had even killed one of her own. The blood was on her hands.

  Nausea flooded through her stomach at the thought. In the heat of battle, she had been able to squelch it, but now it rose back with a vengeance. She fought against it, but only managed to stop at a dry heave.

  She had killed before, during the siege that had earned her rank. The stink of the dead still burned in her nose. It was different this time. The woman was one of her sisters; she was a part of Elaine’s family.

  Elaine wanted to know her name and which unit she was with, but she had not recognized the woman. New recruits swelled their ranks now, from only fifty to a hundred strong. She hadn’t had time to meet them all.

  Now she would never get the chance to.

  Elaine rose from her bed on unsteady feet, shuffling her bare feet across the room toward her armor. She wanted to feel the cold steel in her hands. It might have been able to calm her heart. She stopped before she reached it, falling to her knees.

  She cried, letting the tears fall freely. She couldn’t maintain the mask of a captain anymore. She lowered her face to the floor, crossing her arms across her chest and letting the tears flow to the stone.

  She stayed still for quite a while. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed. The burning in her eyes and nose as well as the numbness in her legs told her that she had stayed there for far too long.

  She needed to move. Without thinking, Elaine rose to one knee, the feeling rising back to her legs as her tears stopped flowing from her eyes. It had been a long time since she had knelt in prayer.

  She hadn’t had the time of late. The responsibilities of her rank were far too many to allow it. She wasn’t even sure if she could say the prayer plainly anymore. Bowing her head, she made one up.

  “To the guidance of Astor,” Elaine whispered. “I give my heart and my soul. I give all my dreams and desires. I have always served your people and your will.”

  She paused, searching for the inspiration to continue. There was only silence in her heart. She could not think of what to say. The emptiness in her heart rose again, but it would not win. She wouldn’t let it.

  “I’m lost,” she said. “Nathaniel has fallen to madness. I am a traitor to your Order. I need my path. How do I stop this? How do I find my way? What should I do?”

  There it was. That was the problem in her heart. She could try to break through to Nathaniel, try to stop his madness directly. She could give up and go into hiding, renounce her responsibility. She could follow Logan and stop the savod.

  She knew that two of those weren’t really options for her.

  The savod might truly be responsible for the plague. The imp might have told the truth. If that was the case, then the best she could do was to help seal them again. It might mean the end to the plague.

  One thing was certain; the five kingdoms could not stand against an army of those creatures.

  “If you won’t help me find my way, I will find my own.” Elaine said, rising up from the floor. “I will stop these monsters. Hopefully they are really the cause of the plague.”

  She made up her mind. She rose from the floor on now steady feet. It was as if the fatigue of the previous day’s battle lay forgotten behind her. She didn’t even stumble as she walked back to the bed. So long as she had purpose, pain didn’t matter.

  She took the clothing from the bed, quickly changing into it. It was simple in design, like the blue dress that was no longer hers. Both fit loosely, but she was thankful for them. At least she wouldn’t need to remain dressed as a prisoner.

  She found her boots at the end of the bed, still intact after the long night. She pulled them on as well, finally standing again. There was something missing. Even as she stood, she could feel the absence.

  It was her armor, the familiar weight of it no longer held tight against her. It no longer empowered her movements. She wouldn’t let it stop her. She smiled bitterly as she started toward the door.

  She stepped toward the door, taking the first steps toward her new purpose. She would find Logan and tell him that she would help fight the savod. Then she would go and find a sword, any sword.

  She would cut a path ahead with her own hands.