Her Choice ( 1 )

After several minutes of wandering around, the archer suspiciously eyed the uneven ground beneath his feet, muttering under his breath, "Is it just me, or is the visibility getting worse?"

Looking up, the archer picked out the rough shape of a rock straight ahead of him before stepping backward slowly, silently calculating the distance. His speculations were correct.

'Barely more than one meter now,' the youth gritted his teeth as he recalled the warden's words from earlier. Then his tensed brows loosened as a soft sigh escaped his lips. 'But do I even have a choice…?'

Just then, the archer felt a light tap on his shoulder, to which he assumed a hasty, defensive stance. From the sudden movements, he couldn't help but let out a low hiss as the piercing pain shot up the side of his waist underneath the cloak.

"You're too open," a low voice brought the youth to his senses. The archer could only lift his face to glower at his taller comrade's passive one.

At this, the swordsman merely pointed with a finger in a certain direction. "I believe I've found our target's trail..." the man added quietly.

As the archer looked in the direction his comrade pointed towards, he noticed a faint red smeared on the man's fingertips.

'Blood,' the youth surmised easily as he struggled to tighten the cloth around his injured waist. Controlling his wince, the archer whispered, "Do you know where the target went?"

The swordsman nodded before leading the way.

...

All Nyx could hear was the frantic thumps of her heart as her quivering gaze fixed onto her kneeling legs.

"I'm sure I've never interacted much with the slave master before, so why am I reacting like this?"

Her thoughts were thrown into a turmoil as she wracked her brain for answers, answers that she felt was nearly in her grasp.

A dulcet step then caught her attention, drawing her eyes to what lay before her: the tip of a slipper. Barely restraining herself from flinching, Nyx didn't realize how white her clenched hands were.

"We meet again, little birdie," a clear, mellow voice addressed her.

Her chocolate eyes took in a figure of the pajamaed man with untamed, ebony hair.

"Don't be frightened," the man crouching in front of her continued, "I can get you out of here." His honey gold irises narrowed seductively, dripping with mirth. "If you will promise to come with me."

Yet instead of rejoicing, a chill ran through Nyx's spine, making her sit upright subconsciously as she cautiously studied his features.

Besides the sharp jawline, his fair complexion hinted at a sheltered lifestyle, but an air of assertiveness around him made her think otherwise.

A fox, a 'conniving' one at that.

'Conniving?'

A repulsion so acrid filled Nyx at the moment she thought of the term that she repeated once more out of surprise. It was as if someone else was describing him for her, word for word.

'Get a grip!' she reined herself in, suppressing the creepy feeling. 'If I accept his offer, I might be able to escape.'

"Your answer?" the man chuckled warmly as he spoke.

Nyx then eyed him strangely, "Why would you want to take me back? You could have done so before I became a slave here."

However, the man's welcoming smile showed no signs of impatience; whether genuine or masked, she couldn't quite tell.

"Arjun, you know this girl?" Sofia's voice echoed from a distance, and when Nyx took a glimpse, she subtly flinched at the woman's icy glare.

However Arjun merely chuckled knowingly as he turned to glance at Sofia. "We became acquainted on the journey here," he replied.

"Oh," Sofia murmured, her expression becoming indifferent. "You better be focusing, or else..."

Arjun shrugged off the warning, remarking, "Don't worry about it. The veil should stitch itself back together without my supervision." Sofia shot him a disapproving look before shifting her attention to the incoming fight at hand.

...

The occasional dots of crimson blood proved to be a glaring sight on the grey, stony ground, yet they too began to darken like its lifeless surroundings.

The archer's sea-blue eyes gazed in vigilance, darting around the area in fear of another ambush. But he felt his lids growing heavy.

'I can't... fail now...' the youth clenched his teeth before decisively tightening the cloth around his waist. It worked; the jolt of pain woke him up as he suppressed his escaping gasp.

Then he blinked in confusion as a cooling sensation covered his pale forehead. Unlike the coolness of the palm however, the swordsman's glare directed at him was fiery unlike the temperature.

He definitely appeared furious— and pained?

"Stop here. I'll go ahead to confront the target alone," the swordsman finally uttered. The youth wanted to protest but then received a light flick on the forehead. "Don't be an idiot; if you can't even notice the terrain, you shouldn't move anymore."

As if electrified, the archer gawked once discovering multiple, shadowy outlines of boulders around them.

'How far have I been distracted?!'

Hands then encircled his legs, picking the youth before he could even think to struggle.

"Put me down! I can still help!" he muttered through clenched teeth, but the swordsman treaded several long steps forward to a nearby boulder and placed him down beside it carefully.

The whole treatment was rather strange, simply making the throbbing headache even worse with the flood of questions that went through his mind.

'Argh, who gives a shit!' the youth gave up thinking and tried to stand up again. However, with iron clamp-like hands on his shoulders, his efforts were in vain.

Another flick! With scrunched brows, the youth covered his hands over the faint, reddening mark on the once again targeted area— his forehead.

"You shall stay here," the man voiced authoritatively, intimidating even the youth for a moment. Then without another word, the swordsman took off silently into the fog.

'Who gave you the right!' the archer nearly exclaimed aloud before massaging the area in a huff. With pursed lips, he mused, albeit with a trace of bitterness at the end.

'Only 'he' can punish me like that.'

...

Unexpectedly, his answer was straightforward.

"I made a deal with someone, so I was delayed. But after several days, the most pressing issue has mostly resolved itself," Arjun explained gently, despite a bit vaguely.

There was only one final question in mind now.

"What do you want me for?" Nyx questioned, her chocolate eyes flickering with wariness.

Arjun appeared to have expected such a query, responding immediately with, "A guard— a talented one."

The girl lowered her gaze, evidently chewing on the new information. Arjun, on the other hand, continued to smile charmingly.

"My apologies, I cannot accept your offer," Nyx cautiously worded it this way to prevent angering the man as she peeked at his countenance. The slight stiffening of Arjun's smile didn't escape her vision, yet to her surprise, he then began to laugh lightheartedly.

"I guess it was too sudden for you," he wore a wide grin, "Then, I suppose I can only convince you this way." His head gestured toward the misty arena, drawing Nyx's attention to what was happening within.

Though it was a bit hard to see due to the cloudiness, the nearest portion of the veil revealed the figure of Kalani atop of a boulder. The boy seemed intent with something in his palms, but occasionally, he would stop his busying hands to press down on his wounded shoulder. Although she couldn't see his expression, a pang of guilt ran through her.

"Do you regret bringing him into this?" the man's pleasant voice rang in her ear, enticing her mind with such thoughts till a burning sensation snapped her out of it.

Wincing, she looked down at her clammy fists, which at closer inspection, had dug into her palms before she closed her chocolate eyes, "Regret cannot change the past, no matter how much I wish for it."

"But then do you want to regret saving 'them'? When you have the chance?"

Nyx's drooping lids quivered open. "What do you mean by that?" His eyes squinted with amusement.

"To lose is to die; do you really think we would send our men to do this?" Arjun responded gently, albeit mockingly. "But if you're still suspicious, you are welcome to wait and see. Just don't expect me to be patient with you."

For the first time, the girl was lost.

When Emma had been in danger, an overwhelming urge to save them propelled Nyx to stand in between, even to the point of willingly sacrificing herself. Yet now, the unnatural feeling was oddly stifled.

And it was because of him.

After a pause, Nyx stared at him straight in the eyes, "What are your terms...?"

"If you wish to save everyone, follow me back home."

...