Chapter 5: Woken Power

A way out and something hidden has finally shown itself

Chapter 5: Woken Power

 

            “…you speak big…” Yhisin started to speak and took another step forward, his long fox tails moving with each stride. “…but can you match your ego with how you fight?”

“Why don’t you try me and see?” He threatened and raised his fists before his face, quickly looking back to Fey. “You need to run, right now…go hide somewhere and don’t let them catch you.”

“B-but what about you?” She asked in a pleading voice, watching as the fox placed on an innocent smile.

 He didn’t even look like he could kill someone.

“I’ll be fine…I found you once, didn’t I?” He smiled down at her. “I’ll find you again.”

Basil would be left alone with two Imperials and…whoever those twins were…but Fey still didn’t like the sight of them. Sure…she could run…for the rest of her life…but she narrowed her eyes and stepped up to be beside Basil who seemed confused.

“Fey…what in the hec-“

“I’m fighting too! I’d rather die than to be caught and used!” She yelled back at their attackers. Yhisin’s head slightly tilted at this new development but sighed and looked back to his comrade.

“I’ll take on the kitten…see to her if you can. I really want this to be our victory…not to these…weirdos,” he gestured to the twins before giving them his attention. “The both of you will not interfere. Got it?”

Yuon and Luon both shrugged and took a step back together. “We will only interfere if our goal is compromised.”

“You hear that, kit?” Yhisin looked back to Basil who glared harder. “That means it’s just you and me. I should had killed you when we first met…but…maybe you can give me some sort of enjoyment this time?” Basil growled and glanced to Fey who was glaring at her own competition. “…Fey…don’t be reckless…”

“I won’t…” she whispered. Basil had no idea Fey could even fight but…he doubted she’d throw her life into the heat of battle if she couldn’t. She must have something up her sleeve.

“Ready when you are,” the fox brought out his pipe to lazily hold it, looking more like he was about to go on a stroll than fight. Annoyed, Basil pushed off the ground with his strong legs to charge at the fox, taking swing after swing on him but Yhisin sidestepped each one.

“Come now,” he said in a calm voice and easily backflipped to connect the heel of his foot to Basil’s chin, sending the feline skidding back toward the rubble. “That isn’t all that you got…if so…we’ll just take the girl now…” Wiping off the blood from his chin, Basil quickly got to his feet and parted his lips to breathe out a spark of fire before continuing their own little sparring match.

Fey checked up on Basil for only a split second, praying in her mind that he would stay safe for now until they figured out some way to get away from them. It would be terrible to finally be reunited before getting captured…or killed. Shaking her head slightly, Fey mimicked Basil with her own small fists raised before her to rush at Rial. She wasn’t as fast as her friend but she was more upset than he was.

“Damn you!” She yelled at the Imperial and tried to swing at him but Rial lowered his sword to block her blow with his arm. She struggled, gritting her tiny fangs but Rial had yet to have his muscles tremble.

 “How dare you do this to me!” She raised her foot to try and connect with his stomach but she gasped with her skillfully grabbed it to push her away from his person.

Fey panted slightly and she had only done one attack. She had trained…only slightly in the past for self-defense…but…not like the brothers she knew. Unsure how to combat Rial, Fey brought her hands up again in defense this time but paled when the dragon slowly raised his sword into the air. Shadows raced up the length of his bulky arms to engulf the weapon and with a roar that shook the ground under each fighter, he brought down his sword to send a massive shadow dragon toward her.

Basil pushed away from Yhisin just in time to see the attack hurdling toward his old friend.

“FEY!” He tried to reach for her but the fox swept him up with his tails to toss him back toward the destroyed house.

Her lip trembled to see the dragon’s jaws opening, ready to swallow her whole and all she could do was whimper and guard herself…but…she felt no pain…nothing.

Scared that perhaps it was too quick of a death, Fey lowered her arms to see the shadow dragon had gone…and she was still standing…unharmed. Wanting to calm her beating heart, she covered her chest to look over to Rial to see what had happened. Didn’t he…attack her? She saw it…but he remained in an attack stance with his sword held high.

Basil exited the rubble, his hair was in shambles and his tail was a mess but he checked over on Fey worriedly to see her still…all right. What…had happened…?

Yhisin looked over to Rial to see as well.

“…was that attack supposed to do something?”

Rial didn’t reply but he did kick off the ground to rush forward toward Fey who yelped and ducked a sweep of his sword that had slowed down at the last second.

“Damn you guys!” Basil needed to make this fox back off so that he could help Fey. Surely, she couldn’t take on that dragon by herself. Making another attempt at Yhisin, Basil managed to land a punch to the fox’s torso while he was concentrated on Rial’s…odd behavior. The pipe dropped out of his hand as he staggered back, flames burning at his clothing but he snuffed them out before glaring at the feline.

“You want to play rough?! We’ll play!” Yhisin smirked and swept his hand through the air slowly. In his palm formed a long polearm that was made purely of water particles. Droplets fell onto the street below but it curved at the end to look deadly. “You’ve pressed my last nerve…I will have your blood as atonement…” he growled out and was upon Basil in a flash, swinging his weapon down but thankfully, Basil managed to dodge…if only barely. A few strands of his hair were cut off as he swung his leg up to try and land a kick. Yhisin just huffed and blocked the blow with his watery weapon but to Basil, it felt like steel.

“Water, huh?” Basil smirked and leaped back to put some distance between them as Yhisin held the weapon at his side with a smirk of enjoyment of his own.

“Yes…and fire cannot combat against water…”

“If the fire rages enough…even water can’t drown it…” Basil exhaled softly as flames passed his lips and he rushed once more at Yhisin but before he made a blow, he swiftly burst into flames like some sort of bomb. Sparks of fire flew off his body to leech onto the fox who moved back quickly, trying to extinguish them all but it did put him on the defensive. Wanting to keep this up, Basil appeared once more before him and landed a hard punch to Yhisin’s face, sending him back a bit into another building.

Not too far from their battle, Fey continued to dodge Rial’s attacks and he didn’t seem to be letting up which was wearing her out. She ducked…dodged…heck she even accidentally tripped on her gown to move away from one of his attacks but he nearly cut her during that.

‘I can’t keep up!’ She told herself tiredly and leaned back when he swept his sword once more at her but she lost her balance and fell onto her rear. Thinking this was it for her, Fey looked up at Rial to see him standing over her with the tip of his sword pointed at her throat. She panted heavily, ears folding back in fear but he slowly removed his sword from her skin…which confused her. Her tiny fingers were shaking when he took a small step back.

“…stand,” he ordered. Not knowing what his plan was, Fey stood on wobbly legs but guarded herself weakly and tiredly the best that she could.

“Y-you want me to have my guard down?! I don’t think so…I’d…r-rather die…” she panted out but Rial didn’t seem affected by her words. Instead, he had an arm around her waist within a blur and kept his large scaled hand over her mouth.

“I am not here to capture you,” he whispered so only she could hear just as she was about to struggle and Yhisin emerged from the rubble. “I have little time…so keep struggling.”

Not truly knowing what was going on and unsure if she could trust him, Fey whimpered and tried to bite the palm of his hand, drawing blood…but he didn’t even flinch. Yhisin glanced over at them with a huff.

“Struggling with her?” He asked but turned his attention back to Basil who was still roaring with fire.

Fey took a quick glance over to them before looking back up at her captor.

“…near the entrance to the city…there is a Rashein waiting for you to leave.”

Rashein? She knew them to be almost like an elk but they had long tufts of fur on them to make them look silken…and they were used to carry passengers quickly to destinations. Fey worriedly looked up at Rial, her eyes quivering at not understanding.

“…I will keep hunting you…the twins will come after you and even Yhisin…do not stop riding until you are safe. Now…hit me hard and run,” he instructed. Fey’s eyebrows drew together in question as if asking him silently due to his hand to her mouth why he was still helping her.

“…you have questions…many I know…but none of them I can answer ever. Leave this city and do not look back. Now, attack me,” he instructed. Still a bit fearful if perhaps he was playing tricks on her, Fey tore her mouth from his hand easily and sent a weak blow to his chest. To her surprise, Rial acted as if it was something major for he stumbled back and fell to his good knee. Panting worriedly, she glanced over at Basil who was still going at it with Yhisin.

“Basil!” She yelled to gain his attention. The feline stopped fighting with his flames dying down and even Yhisin was surprised to see the mender had escaped Rial’s hold.

“Did she hit you that hard?!”

Not wanting to pass up this opportunity, Basil took one last good punch at the distracted fox before darting over to Fey to grab her hand and hauling her along behind him. Unknown to even her, Fey timidly looked back to see Rial standing as if the attack didn’t even phase him and watched her leave with his long black hair falling from its confines to blow handsomely in the wind. A few dark clouds rolled in overhead to block out the sun and a rumble of thunder could be heard coming closer.

Yhisin glared at their vanishing forms and sulked over to Rial with his weapon vanishing.

“…do we follow them?”

“Yes, we will ready suitable beasts from the king’s stable to give them chase.”

“Eh…such a bummer…I nearly had the cat…and you had the girl right in your claws…what happened?” The fox asked, sweeping back his sweat soaked hair but as both turned around to assess the damage, Rial’s eyes widened behind his mask to see the twins forming black ink pits beneath their feet.

“…you both have failed…”

“The girl we will capture…”

“And you two will be executed…” They both smirked and vanished without a second thought.

Both Imperials exchanged looks, forgetting all about their tag-along trouble before it was too late. They had to hurry to catch up with them or else it was more than just Yhisin’s son that would be in trouble.

 

“Where…?” Basil tried to draw in a breath as he kept running down the streets of the feral district, roughly pushing past others who snapped back at him with Fey’s hand still held tightly in his grasp. Both of them were exhausted and struggling to keep their breathing steady but Basil was not going to lose Fey again.

Cautiously, Fey glanced back behind them to see if either Imperial was following…but they weren’t.

“B-Basil…I can’t…” she weakly said and his ears swiveled to hear her voice. He pulled them onto a side street to come to a slow halt as both bent over to gather some much-needed air. Basil swept back his messy locks, heaving a heavy exhale as he glanced down at Fey worriedly.

“…you alright? That feral didn’t hurt you, did he?” He asked and waited for his friend to regain her composure. Fey placed a hand to her slowing heart, feeling a tiny bit better to be out of those battles. “…no…he didn’t.”

“…but he did that attack…I thought…surely…”

Fey softly shook her head. “…I…didn’t feel anything. I don’t know who he is…he’s an Imperial…but…he did this,” she said and pointed to the bandage on her head.

“…an Imperial helped you?”

“Yeah…and just now…he told me there was a way for us to leave…for good. There is a Rashein near the entrance.”

“How do you know it’s not a trap?”

“I don’t…but if he really wanted to capture me…don’t you think he would?” She asked, looking up to Basil for any sort of information to prove her wrong but he sighed and rubbed at his sore arm muscles.

“…I don’t know what’s really going on…but…we can’t stay here…if they are hunting you so badly.”

“Apparently the king wants to use my powers for his own good…I’m guessing to heal his armies…” Basil growled lowly in his throat at the idea and looked out toward the streets.

“…well…sticking around here will do no good. The only thing we can do is see if this…Imperial…spoke truthfully…even if not, we’re leaving.”

“Where to?” She asked and hid a silent gasp when Basil boldly took her hand again in his to lead her out into the streets, mingling with the crowd to head toward where ferals could come and go as they please…whether to quicken their death or find peace until they do.

“Anywhere but here…there has to be a town out there…where there’s peace…for you. Mender or not, you’re still a breathing being who has feelings. No one can use you now.” Fey smiled at his words, feeling for once in her life ever since she arrived at this dreadful city…safe. Her fingers curled a bit around his as they kept walking in silence until Basil lowered his eyes with a frown.

“…you…haven’t seen…Saei have you?” He whispered and it was easy to tell in his voice that he was emotionally hurt.

At the mentioning of the beloved brother, Fey also frowned. “…no…not since that day in the storm.” She heard Basil sigh. “…I never got to ask for forgiveness for breaking his leg. I…I was angry…at him…for always being better than me in everything. I mean…I was…the king’s son…I had to prove myself. I mean…not anymore with nothing left…but…when Saei came…he wasn’t even my brother…but…he felt like it. We were tied at the hip…” He smiled fondly as Fey stepped up beside him to keep up with his strides.

“Remember when you both taught me how to swim?” She giggled with her tail swaying happily at finally getting to relive her memories.

“Oh, my goodness, do I? You were so afraid,” he chuckled as the events played out like they were yesterday.

 

“No more training for today, yahoo!” A younger Basil yelled and leapt off the edge of the pond to dive into the clear water, coming up to the surface to spit out the excess. His red locks stuck to his face as he cheerfully backstroked to the other side. Saei was resting against the side, sitting on a sunken rock with his eyes closed and just relaxing after a hard day of sword training but as luck would have it…a huge splash hit him right in the face. The young dragon wiped the water off to glare at his brother who was already swimming away in fear.

“You are so DEAD!” Saei yelled as he easily outswam his kin to push him under the water before letting him come up to breathe. He didn’t want to drown the poor thing.

Sitting on the very edge with only her feet in the water sat Fey. She watched their antics from afar, wanting to join and have fun but frowned as she moved her legs to create only small ripples.

“Hey Fey! Come join us!” Basil smiled while swimming over to her, using his soaked tail like a paddle. When he came closer she pulled her feet from the water nervously.

“…I…can’t…”

“…what? You allergic?” He teased and did a quick flip under the surface before coming back up to her. “It’s fun! It’s our only day off.” Fey looked away, embarrassed.

“…I can’t swim, okay?” She told him but Basil looked dumbfounded.

“…can’t swim? I’m not asking you to fly, you know? You have legs and arms so of course, you can swim. I can give you a push,” he grinned and hauled himself out of the water with droplets racing down his body as he started to push Fey more toward the edge.

“N-n-n-no! I really can’t!” She fought back against his playfulness but it was no use. Her rear end ran out of land as she tumbled in with a shriek.

“There you go!” He stood proudly at the edge, hands on his waist and looked down at the water. “…any second now she’ll swim…any time now…” His smile slowly turned down but he saw a dark shadow swimming toward him. It was obviously Saei due to his long dragon tail that pushed him faster through the water as he grasped a hold of Fey to bring her up to the surface.

The young feline harshly coughed out water while Saei glared at his brother.

“She could had drowned…”

“I thought she’d start kicking,” he shrugged in regret but climbed back into the waters to join them. Fey wiped off her mouth and didn’t notice her situation until she felt a small wave clash into her body. Her muscles stiffened but two strong arms were wound around her.

“I have you,” Saei told her as he went back to the safety of his rock, placing her down on it instead of himself so that she could at least sit in the water with them.

“T-thanks, Saei,” she wrapped her arms around herself, still in a bit of shock but Basil swam back over with a soft frown.

“Sorry…didn’t mean to scare you…but hey! Swimming is easy…you just attack the water.”

“Attack the water? That’s the best way you can explain it?” Saei asked, moving to float on his back.

“Well…yeah! Watch!” Basil turned a bit and started to use his claws to impale the water and kicked his feet hard to propel him forward. “The water is your enemy. You smack it around.” Fey tried not to giggle at him but smiled at both for at least making her more comfortable.

“Would you like to try?” Saei came back over to be standing next to her rock.

“W-well…”

“If you do, you can swim with us, go under water. The possibilities are endless.” Fey looked back down at the water that mirrored her reflection and gulped nervously.

“I can try.”

“Good!” Basil came closer to be wading a short distance away from her with his arms out. “Attack the water until you reach me,” he instructed. “Like I showed you.”

Cautiously, Fey slowly slid off her rock and did her best to hit the water with her tiny claws but looked more like a kitten who was struggling. A clawed hand came under her to support her stomach and she looked up to see Saei swimming beside her.

“Attack the water harder,” he played along.

“Oh no…the water…it’s…” Basil faked gurgling noises and started to sink on purpose. “It’s…too much! Fey! Save me from this evil!”

Fey couldn’t help but laugh while Saei smiled to see his brother playing around until they both reached him and Fey grabbed a hold of Basil.

“I saved you!”

“You sure did,” he smiled and pushed back more of his hair. “And look…” he pointed at how she was standing in the water with them without Saei’s help.

“…so…I swam?”

“You did,” Saei grinned and patted her ears before submerging to pull Basil under with him.

“Don’t you even think about it!” Fey warned worriedly and tried to return to her rock…despite her height in the water. The surface came up to her shoulders and made it a bit slow to walk back but she gasped when she felt a hand on her thigh that pulled her under as well.

She held her breath just as she went under and opened her eyes to glare at seeing Saei had been the one to tease her, the water making his silver eyes glow a bit.

 

“That was a lot of fun,” Fey whispered and her ears twitched when she heard more thunder. Looking up, the clouds were growing even darker. It would certainly be a downpour any second now.

“Yeah…would be nice if the three of us were back together…we’d be the best ragtag group ever,” Basil boasted and noticed the approaching storm as well. He hurried their strides.

“Ragtag? Really?”

“Well you just so happen to know the top thief in the entire feral district.”

“…that’s not something to be proud of.”

“…who knows? Maybe I’ve stolen from you before and I didn’t notice.”

Fey huffed with a roll of her eyes. “I wouldn’t doubt it.” Basil softly laughed and inwardly…it felt nice to have Fey back with him. He may have lost Saei…but he promised to care for Fey…so he would. He’d give the skin off his back if he had to. Smiling wide, he tightened his hold on her hand to keep heading through the streets toward their only lead on how to make a safe trip out of this place.

Gentle white eyes peered down at their joined hands in deep thought…and felt a small pain in her chest at almost forgetting a special memory that not even Basil knew. It was…secret…and it was the only thing that really kept her hopeful these years she had grown up. In her heart…she felt…Saei was alive…somewhere.

 

It was the day she had to leave.

Even though the king was a gracious host, her father’s job of being a mender was done. The king no longer required his services and could return to ruling his peaceful kingdom…while their duties lay elsewhere, mostly back at home. Their small village was a day’s journey away…so it would be hard to come back and visit anytime soon which made Fey sad to leave.

She enjoyed the castle. Probably not how big it was…or how crowded…but she enjoyed exploring.

They had their own forest with a pond.

Their own garden…

A large library that held every book imaginable…

She’d have to leave it all behind to head back into the snow fields.

In the guest room the king allowed her to use, Fey was finishing up packing her belongings.

Some of the clothing she’d have to leave behind. The carriage wouldn’t be able to hold everything she had been given on this small trip. The servants had given her nice clothing during her stay but she felt too much like…royalty with them on so she usually stuck with her normal wear.

After shutting one last case, Fey sighed heavily and went over to her window to look outside. She could see her father talking with the king himself with a few guards near of course and the horses seemed restless, waiting on her.

She would miss everything…

The brothers mostly…

Back home she did have kids her age but being all menders got really boring after a while and nothing amazing happened. It was just a normal life but here, she felt it was unreal.

Even with Basil technically being a prince, he told her to never call him that. Every time she would slip and call him out on his royalty, he’d just flick one of her ears to chastise her.

He wanted to just be Basil…a loving, carefree and goofy boy.

He felt like a brother…a big one to look out for his little sis.

Saei was different. He didn’t feel like a sibling…

He was just a close friend. Sadly…she hadn’t seen him since Basil accidentally hurt him back at the armory. Would she be leaving without saying goodbye?

Sighing one last time, Fey picked up Quin for she didn’t want to leave the gift behind and put it in with her belongings before a soft knock came to her door.

Curious, she looked up from her packing. “You can come in.” Maybe it was a servant telling her that her father was ready but to her surprise, the door opened only slightly as Saei quickly slipped in to close it behind him. His knee was wrapped up and he used a cane like crutch to help keep him balanced.

Fey’s ears perked worriedly when he looked over at her.

“…I heard you were leaving…so I hurried as fast as I could…” he stated and winced when he took a step forward, clearly not used to the cane.

“Y-yeah…I know we’ve done this before…but…father says it might be some time before we come back. I don’t know when that will be,” she frowned and sat down on her bed with a heavy sigh. The older brother was careful in his steps before coming over to sit on the bed beside her.

“…he didn’t tell you when?”

“No. He just said that we’re not needed anymore…and traveling takes a lot out of the horses. Plus there’s a harsh winter storm coming soon so we can’t be traveling in it.”

Silence fell over the both of them, neither knowing what to say to the other.

“...you will be back…we made a promise to go to the sea together…”

“We did…” she smiled and curled her tail behind her. “How’s…you knee?” She asked, peeking up at him but noticed he was looking up at the ceiling in deep thought.

“…Basil was upset…I can’t blame him. I do not belong here…”

“Don’t say that…”

“I was found in the garden as a baby…crying from the cold…I never knew my parents…or where I came from…” he frowned and let his head lower a bit. “This is the only home I know…Basil is my only sibling…and the king…though not being my father…treats me like his own son.”

Fey smiled softly and wanted to perk up his mood so she laid a gentle hand over his injured knee, making the scales on his cheeks darken a bit but he stiffened when he felt a warmth emitting from her palm and into his sore veins.

“As long as you’re around the people who love you…that’s home,” she replied softly and raised her hand off his knee with a frown. “I can’t do more than that…father would be angry. He told me not to use my powers for now. You should be able to walk a bit more without the pain.”

To test out her theory, Saei pushed off the bed without his crutch. Though a bit wobbly, he managed to take a step without wincing or gritting his teeth in pain. The soreness was there…but it was bearable now.

“See? I think I can get the hang of this…with a bit of practice,” she smiled at her work only to see Saei turning back to her and returning to sit beside her…but…stayed quiet. Thinking he was still in pain, Fey tilted her head with a frown. “…did I…not heal it? Did I make it worse…?” She questioned and reached out to try to mend it once more but Saei captured her hand in his to hold it between his claws. She felt a small flush came over her neck and nearly jumped when she felt his dragon tail brush against hers.

A little nervous as to what had come over Saei, Fey dared to look up at the slightly taller boy to only see his glistening silver eyes looking back down at her.

“…are…y-you okay?” She wanted to break the silence between them but he had yet to usher a single word. Instead, his face drew closer and the hairs on her tail stood on end at thinking that perhaps he was…going to…

But he didn’t.

Her heart hammered against her chest when all he did was rest his cheek against hers. She could feel the hard scales against her skin and let out a silent shaky breath that this was all he did.

“…promise…that you will come back…” his voice came out in a whisper. Nervously, Fey nodded and decided to just…enjoy this small moment before her father knew she was running late.

“You probably won’t miss having a girl around,” she tried to lighten up the atmosphere but stiffened again when his dragon tail now wrapped around her own tail.

“I will…I enjoyed each second that you were here.” Her small white ears folded back against her head shyly and nearly jumped when another knock came to her door to interrupt them.

“Miss Fey? Your father is ready to depart. He will meet you downstairs,” said the servant from the other side of the door and the sound of their footsteps getting softer was a good thing. Fey felt her heart beating faster at the thought of them entering to see her practically in the arms of Saei but she made to pull away slightly with a frown.

“…I guess…this is goodbye,” she whispered and moved to get up but was caught off guard, a small gasp escaping her lips when claws took a hold of her chin to have something warm…pressing against her cheek. Her face flared red like a tomato when her brain finally came to terms with what happened.

Saei had given her a kiss…not on the lips but…it was still considered one!

Just as quickly as she felt it, it was over and Saei released her.

“Never tell me goodbye…we will see each other later…alright?”

 

Rethinking of that day…when she had to leave and head back home made her frown even more. It wasn’t until a few months later when they could revisit but during the mean time…Fey couldn’t get Saei out of her mind.

Even now…her heart pounded and she touched her chest to try and calm herself.

“Hello? You still alive?” A clawed hand waved before her face and she snapped out of her trance to see Basil was looking down at her worriedly and they had stopped walking.

“H-huh?”

“…I’ve been talking to you for the past minute now…and when I told you a story about how I had to become a woman to find you…you didn’t laugh…are you feeling alright?” He brought the back of his hand up to feel her forehead but that didn't help the situation any. The Basil she remembered…was this sweet little boy who was always the trouble maker…but now…standing before her…

‘…I never really took notice since we just reunited…’ she whispered to herself with a faint blush.

Basil had grown…a lot.

He was now a handsome young man and not afraid to have his chest hanging out…which was defined. She wasn’t surprised either with how he fought using mostly his fists and legs…just like how he was trained to.

“…hmm…you’re a bit flushed…probably from the fight though. We’ll get out of here, set up camp and I’ll go find us food. Sound good?” He smiled and drew back his hand but all she could do was nod slightly.

“Good! Now we’re near the entrance so…we need to find that Rashein he spoke of…” Basil released the hold on her hand just as a single raindrop fell from the sky to land on her ear. She looked up to see a few more falling and quickly hurried after Basil to search but she screamed out when something grabbed a hold of her leg to make her fall face first onto the street.

Basil whirled around worriedly but his face paled when he saw two black ink pits near Fey and one had a hand reaching out to drag her in.

“Oh, hell no you don’t!” He rushed over with his fists bursting into flames to bring it down onto the hand. Fey managed to get her leg out and backed away to gather herself back onto her feet. Basil stood before her protectively as the twins he saw earlier rose from the pits to glare at him.

“…so troublesome…”

“…so bothersome…”

“You need to die,” they both said together as Basil assumed a fighting stance, bouncing on his heels.

“Yeah?! Well I still got a load of stamina so how about you kiss my fists?!” He kicked off the ground toward one of the twins but they smirked and only held up their hands, palms facing him. Just before he could land a hit, they sent him flying back to land harshly on his back. The air was knocked out of him for a second as he picked himself up.

“Basil!” Fey rushed over to lay a hand on his back worriedly and he felt the heat radiating into his body.

“D-d-damn them…thanks though…” he told her and rose to his feet, her mending helping his sore back only for a bit.

“You can mend all day…”

“But he will not land a blow…”

“Tired he will get…”

“And that is when we slit his throat…” Basil just growled at them and raised his fists again. Behind him, Fey stared at the twins and felt a bit of fear rising in her body. They weren’t ferals…but different. The power they held was frightening…even Basil couldn’t get near them without being blasted away.

Her heart rate picked up even more and she felt a warmth spreading throughout her abdomen and into her chest.

“B-Basil…” she managed to whisper as her white eyes started to glow and her hands trembled.

“What’s wrong?” He quickly asked and glanced back at her but his face paled at what he saw. The timid Fey he knew…that only had healing powers…was now glowing a brilliant white with energy flowing from her eyes and leaking from her claws. “…F-Fey…?” He questioned worriedly since he had never seen anything like this before and took a step back, more frightened of her now than the twins.

“The power of a true mender…”

“How glorious…”

“Still too weak…” Yuon and Luon rushed forward with their shadows following behind and Basil turned, ready to engage them but the gentle glow coming from Fey pushed him back. He looked up at her, confused but saw within her eyes that she was brave and confident.

“You are OURS mender!” They shouted and were just about to engulf her with the sickening darkness that flowed out from them but a bright light shot out from Fey to engulf everything in the small area. Buildings were swallowed…streets were nothing but wisps of the white light…Basil couldn’t even see the twins anymore as he too was trapped within this energy. He expected it to be harmful…but when he looked around at all the brightness…it felt…warm…welcoming.

“…Fey…?” He called out in concern and took a step forward to see the feline hovering a bit before him with her bright gown flowing around her. “Fey?”

The light retracted…

Buildings came back into view…

The dusty streets were visible…

A few ferals came outside wondering what had happened but saw at the last second Fey’s feet touching the ground…and she was staggering.

“…hey…” Basil frowned in worry to see her eyes closed and she moaned tiredly before falling forward but Basil quickly caught her to see the state she was in. Her lips were parted and her skin was a lot dimmer than it usually was. “…Fey…”

No answer came…

Looking over to see if the twins were still wanting a fight…he was shocked…to see that there was no sign of them at all…or their shadows…

It was as if…they didn’t exist…or were blown out like a candle…

His worried eyes looked back down at Fey to gently touch her cheek. “..hey…you can open your eyes now…I think you did them in…” He said but Fey didn’t even budge.

“…Fey…can you hear me…?” He frowned and carefully shook her but her head lulled to the side to land on his chest.

She didn’t look good at all…and Basil had no idea on how to bring her around.

Biting his lower lip, he stood to carry Fey in his arms and close to his chest. “We need to get you out of here…” he told her and ignored the odd looks given to him by others but they quickly scurried back inside to escape the rain which was now falling a bit harder. Basil squinted his eyes in annoyance and did his best to keep Fey dry as he rounded the corner of a shop where the entrance to the city finally was. It was a large opening, allowing free entrance or free departure…and beyond that…were green hills.

“…we’re there…” he whispered and scanned around to see if there was any sign if the Imperial was lying or not. Basil quickly checked behind one of the stalls and around few of the corners but was about to give up hope when he found nothing and just high tail it out of there without a means of transportation. He frowned and took a small detour to head back to the entrance when he spotted something out of the ordinary.

Tied to a small post near an ordinary stable…was a lonely Rashein. Its coat was long and neat, looking like moss as it nibbled on some grain. Large horns with many antlers jutted out from its head. On its back was a saddle and a satchel was tied to the side. Curiously, Basil went closer to it to see a small parchment sticking out from the satchel. Using his tail like a hand since his were full, Basil nudged it open slightly to see if this beast belonged to someone else or…if he was telling the truth…but the parchment…was a map. Basil quickly scanned it over until he saw up in the corner was written a name.

‘Imperial Rial…who are you…and what do you want…?’