Running... Another set of running.

Isaiah ran like he had never before this night alone, and it seemed that the marathon hadn't ended yet,

'I must've lost like 100 pounds today.' He thought to himself as he looked around desperately.

Nicole and Isaiah had sprinted as quickly as they could, gone were the notion of heading east as they zigzagged their way around the trees in an effort to lose their pursuers. Nevertheless, the hair-raising shrills of the dogs constantly filled their thoughts with dread.

'My foot is dying!' Isaiah gritted his teeth as he endured the pain in his feet, it had swelled considerably after not being able to rest. Though he was able to gain some energy from the adrenaline rush he once more experienced, it was taking its toll on his body which was now demanding to sleep.

He was unable to think straight as all he could think of was the painful sensation on his foot and his rapidly sapping energy. It would be a miracle if he could still wake up tomorrow. Yet still, Isaiah ran as quickly as he could, trying to catch up to Nicole who was gaining distance over him. Whilst fighting against the urge to suddenly collapse, Isaiah's foot slipped onto uneven soil and he fell towards something wet.

Curious, Nicole looked back and here he found Isaiah falling towards a shallow swamp, frogs and all kinds of insects flying away from the commotion he made. She ran back to help him get up but then both noticed the tree in the middle of the swamp. The tree was tall and big, and underneath, its roots had sprouted out of the ground making a small space underneath the tree. It was dark enough that whoever was inside wouldn't be seen immediately.

"Should we?" He asked,

"Yeah... The smell here is strong... It should mask ours."

Isaiah then stepped into muddy waters. Though it felt horrible, stepping on the slimy-darkish ground on a burning foot, the prospect of being ripped to shreds by dogs spurred him on. Nicole followed behind, holding his shoulder for balance and support as the two navigated through the shallow swamp. Isaiah was tense as they crossed, he could feel something wriggling through his toes but was afraid to figure out what it was, however, after a few more seconds they were able to ford the swamp and land on a bed of dry ground.

Looking down, it was a miracle that both their legs were free from leeches and the like, though it was dirty. They quickly entered the space underneath, with its horrible smell and fly-infested location, and waited. Dogs soon passed through their eyes, followed by their masters carrying torches. They completely missed them and soon enough they were all gone, they didn't even bother checking the swamp, only moving away. Silence once more filled the place broken only by the sounds of frogs croaking.

"Thank God." Isaiah gasped as he collapsed to the ground. The place looked like it belonged to somebody but was now abandoned, however, the flies and the uneven terrain were very uncomfortable.

Nicole fell to her butt and leaned against the wall, catching her breath.

Silence then befell the place as Nicole tried to rest her head momentarily, though they wished to leave their bodies weren't that willing.

"Herr Peter." She turned around but to her surprise found Isaiah asleep, "Ohh."

She continued to stare at his face, unable to pull herself out of this strange trance. The face of her savior was rather plain and normal, it was different to the charming golden-haired prince charming with blue eyes in the many books she had read. But she would never mistake the fact that this man had gone ahead and helped her out even when he had no reason to do so.

'What a kind man.' She thought to herself.

The world had been unkind to her from the day she was born. She considered her life cursed due to the many misfortunes that she found herself in.

The Bismarcks are well known to always produce sons amongst their seed, rarely was there a daughter born, and thus when Nicole was born, she had already garnered the attention of many men who were wishing for a guaranteed son or an alliance with one of the most influential families in all of the Germanic Region, or perhaps to undermine the Bismarcks themselves with an assasination or two. This made her the target of many desperate and unsavory personalities and the many attempts for her had become more than one could count that she voluntarily imprisoned herself at her father's mansion, hoping to avoid any more trouble. And thus for ten years, not once did she step foot outside out of fear for her own safety.

But those ten years she spent inside made her yearn more and more to be able to see the world and its wonders. Through her private tutors and her friends who came to visit, she had heard of glowing reports about the places they had been and of the things they had seen. All this, Nicole wanted to see for herself, hence why when she heard that her brother was to be sent on an errand she had insisted to join him. She had hoped that perhaps the world had forgotten of her, that maybe everyone was much nicer, and that the past was just the past. But as she was soon to find out, misfortune reared its ugly head. The very reason why her father allowed her to leave in the first place, became the very reason as to why she found herself regretting ever stepping foot outside the mansion.

Eric the Titan had turned his sword against her knights and though they tried to resist, against an adventurer boasting the highest rank they stood not one chance. She understood all too well the difference between her and him, hence why she offered not one bit of resistance as she was being carried away and presented to Lord Caleb. His powerful glare robbed her of all her will.

But just as she had lost all hope suddenly, the tiny candle in her heart flared up as she saw a small band of slaves bust their way through, meeting their party. Was it perhaps by chance or not she knew, however amongst those rabble stood one man who fought against the giant and won. As she watched his eyes and strange magic she felt that maybe, just maybe,

'The world had grown kinder.'

With a flick of his hand, the soldiers were defeated and Titan himself fell to the ground. The tiny candle of hope within her heart burned ever so brightly that she instinctively leaped towards the man, hoping to catch his attention. Throughout her life, it was because of her instincts that she survived this far. Her instincts alerted her of an attack, or perhaps a poisoned dish, or even on her normal day-to-day life it was because of her uncanny ability to notice certain things that she made it out this far, and thus she trusted her own self.

'And now I am free...'

And as Isaiah fought against the guards, prevailed against Titan, and even defeated the assassin Nightstalker, she finally realized just how true her instincts proved itself once again. She realized that maybe, he could fulfill the one wish she had in her deepest of hearts.

The wish to see the world. To feel its beauty and wonders not through the overtly exaggerated words of a poet, but by her own two eyes. He had the strength to face her fears, and the kindness to help her without hesitation. As long as she follows behind him, she will be able to step out of the mansion and see the world. Hence why, as she stared at his calm face she couldn't help herself but slowly make her way closer to him. Though he stank of sweat from the swamp mixed with the cleaning agents from the mansion, he felt very secure near him. She wiped his face and found herself smiling without thought, then as if on a whim she kissed his forehead.

She quickly moved away and stared at his eyes with burning cheeks. But finding him deep asleep, she felt her embarrassment slowly flow away.

"Mmmm." She felt annoyed for some reason and wiped his forehead clean.

Then she slept at his side, her mind having completely forgotten their surroundings. Missing the pair of red goat-like eyes watching them from afar.

***

Isaiah was awoken by the heat irritating his foot. Just as he had predicted, he was unable to move much of his body. Yesterday's activities had now bared its full force on him as he painfully moved his hips around,

"God that hurts... Ohh."

Had it been pain he could've just endured it, but that tingling feeling made it more difficult to resist. He completely gave up and lay back down, with a heavy sigh he tasted his lips then turned and saw another woman sleeping beside him, he panicked momentarily before remembering what happened last night,

"Right... I didn't kidnap a girl, I just... Yeah..." He calmly looked at her sleeping face only to see her foot very sore, "That looks painful, but nothing I can do yet, she should be able to heal herself later... What now?"

He looked around and heard his stomach growl. All the running and fighting he went through last night was more exercise than he ever did in his whole life, and having eaten nothing but a single sip of that weird white gruel and some cockroach a while ago, his body was severely lacking in nutrients.

He turned to Nicole, hoping for her to wake up and get something to eat, being unable to move himself, but as he kept staring she kept snoring. Unable to wait any longer he embraced the tingling pain as he got up.

Together with his magic, he was able to leave the swamp.

...