Evia looked down at the corpse of the forsaken man. His eyes were wide and he lay sprawled across the floor at an awkward angle. Blood pooled out of the knife wound in his chest. Evia frowned, stabbing someone was always messy, certainly, she would have done it differently. Malvic had approached her, hovering over her tiny human form. Grabbing her shoulders he had pushed her down. With one hand gripping both her hands above her head and reaching with the other for the strap of her dress. The darkness had tugged at her mind, eagerly awaiting his death.

However, before she could move the door swung open and Alexa burst inside. Her eyes flew across the room landing on Malvic, Alexa's eyes went wide. She screamed and then launched herself at Malvic. After a brief scuffle, Alexa's hunting knife had made the fatal hit. There was a moment of silence, and then her eyes hardened she crossed the room with quick determined steps and grabbed Evia's hand.

She then turned and began to pull Evia out of the room and down the stairs. She let go of her arm when they reached the kitchen. Evia expected her to go and wake up her uncle, instead, Alexa turned toward the kitchen and began to rummage through the cupboards. She grabbed whatever she could and threw it in a bag. She slipped on her boots and waved over Evia, mouthing 'Follow me'.

Alexa led Evia out of the house and slowly made their way to the gate. A guard was patrolling the wall, he seemed bored. Evia, couldn't tell what Alexa was planning, but she decided to make it easier and simply picked up a stone from the road and threw it to the other side of the wall. A normal person couldn't have been able to throw that far and be sure that it would land and make a sound loud enough to distract the guard. But, Evia was not normal. The guard heard the noise stiffened and rushed over to the source of the sound.

The two reached the gate and Alexa began to climb. She was strong and the wall had plenty of studded edges to grab onto. Evia quickly followed. They crouched down and made their way to a locked door. Or at least it had been locked. As they grow closer Alexa could see the lock had been opened. It had been opened, and Evia thought she knew by whom. As they passed through, Evia brushed a few specks of pixie dust into a dark corner.

----------

What had she done!? The vision of Malvics bloody body swam in Alex's mind, as she and Evia made their way through the forest. They followed a rough road, unsure exactly where they would end up. She'd killed him. Malvic had been cruel to her ever since their childhood and her parent's untimely death. He would trip her, pull on her hair and tease her relentlessly. As they grew older he began to use her as a way to vent his anger. It was one of the reasons she chose to spend all day hunting.

When she'd seen him with Evia, she hated him more than ever. She wanted him dead and now she didn't know what she felt. Even leaving had been instinctive. But, what else could they have done? She would be have been put on trial for murder and Evia would have been left completely alone. She hoped that the path they took, would lead them to the City of Lyon.

Alexa glanced over at Evia, who walked calmly. Not at all shaken by the whole ordeal. Why? Why had she done so much for a person who was little more than a stranger? She'd only met Evia a couple of weeks ago but because of Evia, she had had to work harder to hunt down enough food for them all. She'd lost sleep teaching the girl to read and write. She had stabbed her cousin and fled her home, all to protect an ignorant, arrogant, freak who was stupid enough to get lost in the Erivey Woods. A series of emotions grew conflicted inside Alexa and she looked away. It wasn't Evia's fault, everything she'd done had been her own choice. Evia was strange, but Alexa liked her. She was the closest thing to a friend Alexa had ever had.

Evia looked up at the sky, wrinkling her nose in confusion. Alexa followed her gaze up and looked for the cause. But, there was nothing.

Evia stopped walking and pointed up at the sky, “Where are the stars?“

Alexa paused. “ Stars? What are those?“

Evia looked at her like she was crazy. Then realization donned on her face, and her eyes filled with grief. She looked back up at the empty sky and said,

“Stars were unchanging and perfect. Many said that they were actually the suns of a thousand different planets. But they were so far away, they were little more than specks to our people...“

Evia trailed off, lost in thought. Alexa dwelled on the possibility of these stars. She came to the conclusion that if magic existed than anything was possible. Even a thousand suns, seen only in the night.

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Evia looked up at the starless sky and felt deep remorse seep into her heart. She remembered the night sky had been beautiful and inviting. How the moon had cradled her in its cool embrace.

Remorse turned into anger and the darkness awakened. It clawed at her thoughts and filled her with an irrational desire to hurt those who had done this to her beautiful night. Raising her hand she pointed her index finger toward the direction of the village, she called for a great Drakel to attack the settlement. More than half of those pathetic humans would be dead by sunrise.

“Umm...what are you doing?“

Evia blanched and stuttered, “ I hate that place, I just wanted it to feel just how much.“