I quietly unsheathed my dagger, but the soft shnk as I brought it out was enough to alert the Faded. She began to stagger over to the entrance, coming closer with every shuffle of her feet. At the last moment, she seemed to change her mind, turning back towards the boy. She locked her dead gaze with his and brought her hands up towards herself in a sweeping, arc-like motion. The boy’s eyes glazed over, and his mouth opened. His body began rising, his back arching in agony, and a blue mist poured from his mouth. The corrupted girl absorbed the strange substance, drawing it through every pore. She continued to take the fog, sweeping her hands in the bizarre motion, and the boy panted with the effort of expelling his very life force. I needed to stop this now... or he would die.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I grabbed the stable door and hurtled over it, landing in front of the monster. I took advantage of her surprise, running behind her, dagger at the ready. I buried it to its hilt in the space between her shoulder blades, and dragged it down swiftly, slicing the Faded One open. She turned, hissing, and slashed at me feebly with a short knife, drawn from the folds of her skirt. I threw the dagger, and it hit her in the forehead with a thunk. The sharp blade had buried itself between her eyes, driven in deep. She fell to her knees, then slowly keeled over, dead.

As I retrieved my blade, the adrenaline began to wear off, and I felt a sharp sting in my shoulder. I glanced at the wound, surprised to see that I was bleeding profusely. I glanced down at the blade the Faded had been carrying and saw that it was covered in blood. It seemed she had gotten a hit in after all. I shook my head and turned my attention to the boy beside me. He was staring, wide-eyed, at me, turquoise eyes glimmering with doubt and awe.

“Can you stand?” I questioned. He tore his gaze away and managed to huff out a few words.

“Yeah, I-I think so.” He drew in a shaky breath, and, using the wall as support, managed to haul himself up. At least, for a few seconds. He turned away, embarrassed from the fall.

I shook my head. “Well, obviously you can’t.” I lifted him up, princess-style, wincing at the strain on my shoulder. He was much lighter than I had been expecting, but he was heavy enough to put stress on my injury. He protested quietly, but fell limp when he realized he was completely exhausted.

“Let’s get you some help.”

He glanced at me awkwardly and stuttered out a question. “Why?”

“Why what?” I asked, surprised.

“Why… why would you save me? You don’t even know me,” He stammered in a small voice.

I smiled. “Maybe you were worth saving.”