Coughing violently as his vision faded in slowly, Nidian awoke washed ashore on the bank of a river. His body ached from head to toe, numbness and loss of feeling in various parts of his legs and arms. His senses so far overwhelmed that everything his senses picked up was nothing but confusing. He raised his dirt covered face out of the mud and looked around, it was sunset. He had been unconscious for some time and had traveled pretty far down the canal, so far he had ended up going through a drainage trench into a stream. The sky was a dark blood red, the bright gold of the sunset choked and tainted by the smoke still billowing in the far distance. He wanted to believe it was a dream, but his wounded body and panicked mind reminded him otherwise.

  He continued wheezing as his mangled lungs still struggled for air, the sun quickly falling behind the horizon. The shadows of trees quickly faded into obscurity within the growing cloak of night. His eyes began to slightly gleam in the moonlight as he slowly, and painfully attempted to stand. His severely injured limbs interspersed with shrapnel wounds; cuts, bruises, and burns subduing him with ease. He winced and grit his teeth aggressively and tried to stifle the tears pounding behind his eyes.

  He looked up slightly as his vision shifted left and right, his depth perception had been reduced to a messy stew of blurred images. He swallowed hard and looked behind him, it was almost bright as day with the raging fires in the distance. The entire city of Hoharo had been turned into a coal pit. He saw the silhouettes of the winged beasts flying in and out of the clouds of smoke, if it weren't for the overwhelming sound of oxygen being swallowed up by the flames he swore he could hear the frantic screaming.

  It was at this moment the distant blaze rising to the heavens overcame him and he started screaming toward it in agony. Shaking his head back and forth in denial.

  "NO! no, no, no, no!" He wailed as he sobbed aggressively, his steady rising and falling cry on a loop as he grabbed his hair and pulled harshly at it.

  "This can't be real, this can't be happening!" He sniffled and shook with panic.

  He turned and looked around at the darkening area, the endless maze of trees and absence of sentient life.

  "Somebody! Anybody! Please help!" He continued shouting helplessly.

  As he strained his throat his other muscles followed along, tensing up and twisting in knots. He began feeling a very sharp pain in his gut. His lamenting reduced to a sad pule as his hands pulled away from the burning area covered in blood. Something along his escape had gashed him deeply and he was losing blood fast. His breathing sped up as he began to grasp at it trying to put pressure, only managing to worsen the bleeding. In the distance his ears detected the faint clanking of metal plates shifting in rhythm.

  "Who's there?" He called out with a stunted whimper as he gazed up with frightened eyes, struggling to force them to cooperate. A human silhouette closing in as his vision tunneled. He reached a hand up to grasp for a hand as the figure stood in front of him, his last sight of it staring down at him as he collapsed. The blood loss and trauma had taken him under. His consciousness faded and he fell into a dreamless state.

  When he came to, his surroundings had changed, they were deep within a cavern. The loud crackling of a fire one of the first sounds as its warm waves washed over him. He shifted his body and head against the cold rock behind him and looked across to see an abnormally tall woman sitting by the fire, staring deeply into its flames. Her ears were pointed like his, the same sun-kissed skin. Her body dawned with pristine shadow steel plating around her shoulders and legs whilst her chest remained unarmored, a simple gray leather tunic cut short at the end of her ribs. Her thick black hair neatly pulled to one side whilst a braid hung down the other. He had been staring too long as she noticed and looked up at him with piercing purple eyes, the embers reflection dancing around within them. There was an echo to the spitting fire, a cool draft in the space. His soaked clothes had dried considerably. How long had he been out?

  "Good to see you awake, didn't think you were gonna make it." She commented bluntly.

  Nidian barely moved, glancing suspiciously at her. She seemed vaguely familiar... The dim firelight shrouding most of her features. To his dismay it was Daemora's most wanted; The Huntress of Hearts. News spread when he was just a kid about a woman who had murdered a family from one of the sacred cities, and consumed their hearts for who knows what sick reason. She had a poster on every corner of every building, a reward worth more than every bounty ever put out in their town's history.

  "I know that look, I get it too often. Don't worry. I'm not going to 'eat your heart' or whatever narrative they're pushing these days. Would be very counter productive considering the amount of work I put in patching you up." She remarked with air quotes.

  Nidian opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, he had to pause as he quickly realized most of his excruciating pains had vanished or were minimized. He glanced down at his arms and legs to see a handful of bandages and makeshift aid dotting his body. Had she done this while he was out? His eyes flitted up to her, not with gratitude but a deep and cautious curiosity. She may have saved him, but her crimes kept him erring on the side of borderline panic. She appeared unscathed. Not a single burn or cut on her glistening skin.

  "Why did you help me?" He asked firmly.

  "Not even a thank you? I see how it is." She responded as she sat up more straight.

  Nidian's mouth cinched, he didn't want to piss her off, "Thank you. Sorry. Not every day the Heart Huntress saves your life, its something to process."

  The woman leaned rearward, taking an irritated breath as her lips pursed, "I have a name you know."

  Nidian dipped his head, "sorry- I"

  "It's Ae." She interjected.

  "Ae?" Nidian raised a brow. "Ae what?"

  She tilted her head and glared, "It's just Ae, is that a problem?"

  Nidian quickly shook his head side to side, "Of course not. Just wasn't expecting it to be so..short?"

  She switched the spotlight, "You have a name? Or should I call you river boy?"

  "Nidian.." He hesitated.

  "Pleasure to meet you Nidian. And to answer your previous question, I just came across you bleeding to death, wasn't going to not help you." She answered nonchalantly.

  "You know your herbs pretty well, I can barely feel anything around the wounds." He complimented, indirectly thanking her for her help.

  "I have a few tricks I've picked up over the years." She gave a curt smile.

  Nidian took a deep breath and looked up towards the mouth of the cavern they were in. The thought of those things out and about was stirring a storm in his chest. He started to breathe unevenly and tears slowly made their way down his cheek. The faint glow of the blizzard of cinders in the cloud cover.

  "I'm sorry about your home, never fun losing everything you've ever known." Her eyes accommodated the emphasis added to her words.

  Nidian wiped the tears away, "I've lost everything...everyone I know is gone."

  "Yeah, world turned upside down in less than an hour." Ae trailed off before standing up, her true size now displayed, she must have been a little over eight feet, a whole foot above Nidian's own height. She held a very fit appearance, toned muscle everywhere.. She picked up some twigs and tossed them on the fire and sat back down.

  "Tell me a bit about yourself Nidian, might as well get acquainted." She inquired.

  Nidian didn't feel like making small talk but he could tell she wasn't giving him the choice.

  "Not much to tell, I am...well was, a stable boy. Worked a property caring for Korlar and just kind of kept to myself. Nothing too crazy happens living alone." Even if she was a Maverick he didn't feel like admitting his involvement with illegal studies.

  "No parents?" She tilted her head.

  "Adopted. I was found on the shoreline of Dathager. Though they passed when I was about nine, they both got really ill and their age didn't help."

  "Pretty stout kid if you took the reigns at nine years old." She praised. "They'd be proud."

  Nidian exhaled a bit at her comment with a shake of the head, "No, a family friend took me in...Saudafi, he was a man we had a long standing business relationship with, He...He's gone now though.."

  He trailed off and stared at the floor, the choking up was clear, a harsh gulp fighting the tears. A nerve had been hit, it was obvious why. She scooted across the slate floor of the cave next to him, looking down at the soot covered face of his.

  "I'm sorry for your loss." She quietly said in an attempt to be comforting, though the lack of any emotion in her tone made that hard to perceive.

  "Thanks..." Nidian moved away a bit, her sudden proximity catching him off guard.

  Nidian rapidly shifted perking up in panic and checking his pockets noticing the tear in his tunic.

  "Easy kiddo" Ae chuckled holding out the journal to him, the cover warm and damp. "I figured I'd dry it for you, don't worry I didn't read your diary." She blandly jested.

  Nidian swiped it and tucked it into his pouch on his belt. "Thanks.." He whispered.

  "Protective. Sorry I touched it." Ae rolled away and onto her feet, looking up at the cave's mouth.

  "There's a town south from here, Nomad's Haven. I have a friend there who'll take us in for the night. She picked up a dark leather sheath holding an ornate sword, leaning it against a stalagmite. Settling down on the ground, crossing her legs and arms as she leaned against the cold rock to gaze at the ceiling.

  Nidian settled into the rocky nook he was in, nestled between a few large protrusions from the cave floor. He watched the fire dance and crackle, and beyond the flames the woman so calmly stared at the giant spires hanging above her.

  "I don't think it's smart for me to walk into a maverick town...I'd rather head to Krygar or another Kordahn city."

  Ae looked over at him while her hands rested on her chest, "Yeah and I don't think the Kordahn would hesitate to kill us both when I walk through their gates. Don't worry about the Mavs kid, you're with me. No one is gonna lay a finger on you."

  Nidian rubbed his arm looking to the side. He still wasn't sure if he wanted to push her in an argument. "Comfortable with all those sharp death rocks hanging precariously above you?"

  She smiled and settled her head into the stone floor, gazing back up at them. "Absolutely."

  There was no words, she said it beyond sarcastically, but with such confidence. And of all the other places she could lay and she remained there... "What a psychopath", he thought to himself.

  "Try to get some sleep kid, I'll wake you up when it's time to head out." Ae suggested.

  She looked over hearing him rustle about, seeing him facing away from her, back to the fire. A small smile crept onto her lips. On the dark side he laid there eyes wide. All the events that had transpired had his brain running a million miles a minute. And he was stuck in a cave with her with no one else that knew where he was. He tried to tell himself he was ok but he wasn't. The only solace was the fact she had been nothing but kind to him. The reminder that she was wanted for murder and cannibalism faded as he pushed to hold onto the one comfort he had. Still.. he couldn't let his guard down and sleep. He just needed to pretend. He managed to stick to his plan for a minute before the fatigue hit him like a club. Before he could realize it he passed out.

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