He dressed up quickly, not bothering to fully button up his shirt and grimacing at how the blood seeped through it like a sponge, and found a knee-length white tunic that must’ve belonged to the child tucked away in the deepest corner of the satchel.

Xidriel pulled it out and went over to the child, carefully checking if he was unfortunately offered up the same way as he was before waking up.

The child has a pretty face for a boy, and his shoulder length black hair made him look like a girl at first glance. Thankfully, apart from the few blood that must’ve splashed on his face and body when the cultists around them combusted, the boy doesn’t have any injuries and seemed to be even in a deep sleep.

Xidriel kind of envied him, being able to sleep through their situation before he carefully placed the tunic he found on him, hoping the boy would wake up by being jostled around.

Surprisingly, the boy didn’t even react to him. It was like he was nothing but a living doll…

He shook his head at the stupid thought, as he knew they shouldn’t linger any longer in that place lest a new set of cultists find them alive and put them back on those stone beds to retry the ritual.

“Time to go.” Xidriel grunted as he carefully picked up the boy into his arms, tucking the boy’s head securely against the crook of his neck.

Gingerly walking towards the wooden doors, he pushed it open with his shoulder and a gust of cold rain slapped Xidriel’s face. He clicked his tongue, slightly irritated but decided to push on.

He won’t risk taking one of those cultist’s robes to cover themselves up and get mistaken to be members of that crazy group.

Gritting his teeth and bracing himself for the cold, he briskly walked out of the chapel and he inwardly shuddered at the cold, wet earth under his bare feet. He briefly looked up at the sky, and judged that dawn must’ve arrived a few hours ago by the slightly lighter coloring of the rainclouds.

The path in front of him was slightly uphill and unpaved, making him huff for air as he fought against the softened ground to maintain his balance while carrying a sleeping child. Fortunately, the original Xidriel wasn’t a total wimp and only the injuries he had sustained during the ritual being the biggest reason why he’s having a hard time right now.

How long does a skin regenerate anyway? His shirt has totally stuck to him now that they were drenched in the rain and he feared that it might get assimilated in the regeneration; he’s absolutely not looking forward to cutting his flesh open to get bits of cloth and thread out of it.

He tried his best to keep his mouth shut as well when he stepped on loose stones scattered about underneath his feet, as he had promised himself that he would cut down on swearing.

No one wants a foul mouthed man after all but that doesn’t erase the pain he’s experiencing.

Once he reached the top where the ground is flat and giving him a good view of how thick the forest is around him, his ears perked up on hearing heavy hooves coming towards his direction.

While he’s not sure how he’s able to pick those sounds up in this rain or distance, and that he couldn’t see the riders nor know their affiliation, Xidriel instinctively knew that nothing good would happen to him and the kid if they get discovered by them, seeing that their location is pretty far and removed from any city or town.

If anyone knew this path existed then that means they were, in some way, connected to those crazy bastards.

Adjusting his hold on the sleeping child in his arms, he darted towards the trees and bushes to his right, making sure to make as much distance as he could before those riders arrived at the chapel and find traces of his footprints leaving the place.

He ran blindly deeper into the trees, huffing for air and almost tripped over a tree root. He even ignored the growing pains under his feet as he stepped on sharp stones, twigs and thorny underbrush.

He changed direction midway as the rain poured harder and took the path to his left, hoping that it would somehow lead to a town or a village where they could seek refuge.

His heart jumped up to his throat when he heard a loud snap somewhere to his right and he quickly moved towards a large, hollowed out tree to hide into, tucking himself in and making sure his breathing wasn't too loud while also making sure that the child in his arms is nestled comfortably against him.

Xidriel waited as he strained his ears for any sounds coming their way.

Minutes passed in tense silence, and when he thought they were finally safe, he saw a deeper shadow casted on the ground before him, making him scoot deeper into the hollowed tree.

He clutched the child closer to him when a hooded figure stood in front of the entrance, looking down at them ominously. When they started to bend down to take a closer look at them, Xidriel forced his lips open.

“Stop…please, let us go…”

The figure froze upon hearing his trembling voice and slowly raised their hands to push back their hood to reveal a handsome yet haggard face of a man with red hair and vermillion irises.

Xidriel saw him frown as he opened his mouth and heard a smooth baritone voice coming from him but the words coming out of him sounded foreign. It sounded gibberish even.

He curled up more defensively away from the red haired man. “I don’t understand you. Please, let us go. Don’t bring us back there. At least spare the child…”

The other person continued to try and talk to him in a soothing manner, his hands carefully reaching out towards Xidriel, who had closed his eyes in fear and turned his face away from him.

Xidriel then felt the man’s cold fingertips gently pressed against his temples, making him flinch in surprise, and something calming flowed into his mind. It was enough to make him visibly relax his tense shoulders while also making him feel something clicking into place within the core of his soul.

“Can you understand me now…?”

Xidriel carefully opened his eyes and saw that the red haired man had knelt in front of him while holding his head, his haggard face full of worry.

“What…what did you do…?” Xidriel quietly asked, and the man in front of him only gave him a faint but relieved smile.

“We’ll discuss that later.” He replied reassuringly as he pulled away from him. “Come, this area is not safe.”

He helped Xidriel move out of the hollowed tree, holding him up securely.

As for Xidriel, with all the tension that had been keeping him on his feet and keeping him alert now gone, knew he’s going to faint soon since he had long exhausted his strength so he masterfully twisted his body sideways before he crashed against the other person’s torso, his grip on the sleeping child loosening up.

Caught off guard, the red haired man moved quickly in order to catch both of them, staring at Xidriel’s face with great astonishment.