The sun had hardly peaked above the horizon, but the long shadows of bounty hunters were already visible behind me. I had been running for a long time. Blood seeped out from cracks in my numb feet and my throat burned with each breath like I was swallowing needles. 

I couldn’t risk being seen, so I ducked behind a large bush growing between two trees. Thorns pricked my arms and cheeks as I rolled as far into the bush as I could.

I was in the woods on the outskirts of Varrium, a city ruled by demons. And, while they weren’t nearly as bloodthirsty as the city of Barr, a Barr citizen such as myself was not going to be welcomed while sneaking around their backyard. I had to find shelter.

The men behind me we city-less men. I had never seen them in person before, but they were infamous. These bounty hunters were paid by rich families to collect kids wandering in the woods so that they could later be sold to other families. And while I wasn’t a kid, I was still young enough to catch their attention.

Three bounty hunters were trailing me. They didn’t have any special abilities—and thank God, they weren’t demons—but they were not exactly gentle or willing to listen, which was part of the reason I couldn’t be caught. I was looking for someone, and I couldn’t be caught until I found her or died trying.

I rolled deeper into the body of the bush and let the leaves snap around me; dirt and small rocks rubbed into my clothes, as the three large framed men rushed by. I held my breath as one pair of feet passed inches from where my legs were concealed.

I counted to thirty to calm my nerves before coming out from beneath the thicket. Just run, I reminded myself. And that’s what I did. I sprinted in the opposite direction, creating as much distance between us as I could. I wasn’t quite sure where I was, but I wasn’t in any position to think about it.

All the tress—as in any woods—were indistinguishable. Thick mossy trunks shot up into crisp blue skies and red and orange leaves lined the forest floor. My feet disturbed the quiet, and it throbbed in my ears like a siren. I stared at my feet as if I could convince them to be quieter, not noticing the danger in front of me. I climbed up the mossy bark of an enormous fallen tree and used a conveniently placed branch to catapult myself over the log. Unfortunately, I jumped right into the arms of a soldier. Blue dress suit, gold trim, long sword. A Varrium soldier. Shit.

My luck had run out. What was a Varrium soldier doing in the woods at dawn?

A tall woman with pinned up blond hair and green eyes wrapped her hands around me as I fell into her arms. Luckily, she wasn’t looking for me, because she seemed just as surprised to see me as I was to see her.

She spun me around, slamming my back up against the fallen tree. “Have you seen a young boy?” she almost yelled. “Have you?”


“No,” I uttered.

Her green eyes darted up and down my body and then back to our surroundings. “What are you doing in these woods?”

My stomach started to turn and my heart beat faster. “P-passing through,” I managed to spit out.

She swore, her grip tightening. And the moment it did, I grabbed her elbows and spun out of her grip, forcing her body to turn in the opposite direction. I wasted no time in sprinting. I heard another list of expletives fall from her lips, but she didn’t chase me. And when I turned to look behind me, she was gone.

It wouldn’t be too hard to rationalize that someone like me was up to no good in a neighboring city’s territory. She was more dangerous than the bounty hunters, and gold trim meant that she wasn’t just any soldier, but a royal guard. She could have freakin killed me.

My heart was racing and my feet were starting to ache as the adrenaline from the initial chase wore off. I needed to rest even if only for a few minutes, so I scaled the branches of a tree that was low to the ground until I could sit carefully in a little socket created by the branch and trunk. I pulled me feet up, crossing one leg over the other and leaned my head back against the tree. I closed my eyes for a moment to listen to the melody of the forest.

But the melody didn’t last. The cracking of sticks under heavy boots and the hushed voices of two men were carried up to ruin my solace in the branches. A third voice pricked at my ears. A child’s voice.

I glanced down to see a young boy between two of the three men who had been chasing me. He was a small boy with light brown hair that was cut straight across from the top of on ear to the other. He couldn't be more than eight years old. A perfect target. Was he the child the soldier was looking for?

My stomach churned at the thought of those men selling that child. But interfering could get me sold or even killed by that soldier. I couldn't risk that when I had come so far. 

The little boy's words reached my ears as they passed underneath me. 

"I don't wanna go this way," he said. "I wanna go to Varrium."

The taller of the two men cooed to the boy. "It's okay. We're just going to play a little more first. Then we'll go back to Varrium."

"But I wanna go--"

I bit my lip to suppress the vomit that was closing in on my throat. Shit. I didn't have time for this, but his voice rang in my head. Okay, there was no time to think. Act now, regret later. 

The tree suddenly felt higher than it originally looked, but it was too late. I jumped as far out as I could, rolling when my feet and knees hit the ground. I grunted, but there was no time to ache. The men weren't too far. I stumbled to my feet, but not long before two beefy arms wrapped around my waist, pulling my feet off the ground.

One hand quickly wrapped around my throat, pressing down so I couldn't yell. “Don’t move,” he ordered.

It was too late. I bit my tongue to hold myself back and froze. Shit. The third guard. "I've got her," the man yelled.

The two men in front of us turned around, smiling. "And so quickly too," one commented. 

He walked towards his companions, unaffected by my weight. In front of him were the two men I had originally seen on the road here. One was tall and muscular with hair cropped tight to his head. His skin was heavily tanned probably from working outdoors, and his arms were covered in tattoos. The second man was a whole head shorter than the first, and his black hair and dark skin were matched by an equally dark expression on his lips.  

It was the second man who spoke first. “We aren’t going to hurt you as long as you’re willing to cooperate,” he said. “But we aren't weak for women either, so I suggest ya stop runnin', y'understand?”

The first man stepped forward and grabbed my chin roughly in a calloused hand. “Do you understand? We've been chasing you here all night.”

I opened my mouth, but words didn’t come out. My heart just raced. They weren't exactly scary, being so human and all, but my lack of a plan was going to get me sold off.

The hunter huffed once before slapping me with an open palm. I winced and recoiled at the taste of blood in my mouth. It was too familiar of a taste to me. I wanted to sink back into the chest of the man holding me. But the large man had already slapped me again, causing my ears to ring.

“Nothing to say?” he sneered. 

I breathed in deeply and braced myself for whatever he was about to do, but I wasn’t going to say anything.

He brought his arm back again, but the second man grabbed it tightly. “You’re too quick to resort to violence, Gared.”

This man then cupped my cheek gingerly in a large, cool hand. It was soothing against the stinging sensation. “Listen, Gared doesn’t have any qualms about hitting girls, so we need you to be still. We can't exactly sell damaged goods.” 

The two men, as if realizing they had forgotten something at the same time, spun around to check on the boy who was taking taking steps backwards away from us.  

The man holding me finally set my feet on the ground and turned me to face him, gripping my wrists. He eyed me suspiciously. “You haven’t made a single sound. Yet, look how hard you’re shaking.”

He was right. My hands were trembling. Just the thought of bounty hunters sent chills down my spine.

But the man suddenly cocked his head to the side and stared at me. “You know, you actually look familiar.”

Shit. A guessing game of who I looked like would only end badly. This was my last chance. The moment he glanced away, I jumped, bringing my feet up to kick his chest as hard as I could and push out. I flipped myself backwards, using his chest like a springboard to twist all the way around and break his grip.

He stumbled back with wide eyes, shocked by the turn of events no doubt. But I wasn’t about to fight him. I sprinted as fast as I could. I couldn’t compare to his physical strength.

"Gared!" the man shouted as I ran between them, grabbing the hand of the little boy as I did. 

"Run," I said, but he was much too slow. And the hunters who had stood and stared in shock for only a moment were surely running by now. 

I quickly swung the boy up across my torso, running as fast as I could to the river that separated the woods from Varrium. I stopped at the cliff, entertaining the idea to jump only for a second. The drop was too far, the currents were relentless, and I didn't know if this kid could swim--I couldn't even swim.

But there were thick roots growing out from the side of the cliff. I laid down at the edge, lowering the now crying boy into the roots. "Hold on to these with your life, okay?"

He just cried, but rough hands dragged me back before I could get an answer. It was the nameless man who had held on to me before, and luckily he was the smallest. This wasn't my first fight, and I knew the key was to attack first. 

So, I rolled to the right to put a tiny bit of distance between me and the boy and sat up, counting on the man to attack from the front. It wasn't even a moment before he got ready and grabbed my shoulders. It was almost too easy to roll back, bringing him up top of my knees and kicking back. The smallest attacker slipped over my head and the bank, smacking the water with a loud crack.

I huffed for a moment, jolting back up and scrambling to my feet at the sound of voices, but these weren't the two men who were chasing us. I physically winced at the sight of Varrium soldiers. 

Two male soldiers and the female soldier I saw earlier were holding long swords that reflected the rising sun along their edges and were pointed at me. 

"Do not move," the woman commanded. 

I didn't move.  

"Where is the boy?"

I slowly pointed to my left. "He is in the roots off the cliff."

The woman's face twisted with disgust. Yeah, I didn't exactly want to suspend a child from a cliff either, but here we are. 

"Take care of her," she ordered, the two men immediately advancing on me while she ran to the boy. 

I don't remember what they said to me at the time. I was too tired to hear them or try to run. I didn't want to die if I tried and failed. Unlike the city-less men, these were trained soldiers. And I was weak in comparison. 

The last thing I remember was being gripped by one of the soldiers. Then, I passed out.