Surprisingly, the yappy little girl, Tii, was stealthy when she needed to be. She led me through the backstreets of the town, keeping mostly parallel to the main road. We quickly left behind the voice of her mother and the sounds of the festival faded in and out as we passed by more ‘lively’ sections.

Soon I saw a building I recognized; we were moving towards the inn from earlier.

She led me around the back of the inn, where there was a tall fence blocking off a backyard. She dropped into a squat with her back pressed against the old, wooden fence. She beckoned me over. I crouched down beside her but apparently not close enough. She reached up and grabbed my outer robe where it crossed in front of my chest and pulled me closer, cupping her other, still sticky, hand around my ear. She whispered with her lips touching my ear, “she’s locked in a shed. Big sis Raan might be in the inn though, so you gotta be real quiet.”

I pulled away from her, my face twitching, and nodded. I took a few steps away from the fence, then, with a running start, I ran a few steps up the fence, grabbed the top, and flipped over into the yard. Like Tii said there were no guards, just shriveled crops in a dry garden and a small tool shed that was barely big enough for a person.

There was a padlock on the shed’s door that looked solid but the walls of the old, wooden shed itself looked flimsy, someone with Teja-Death Bringer’s strength should be able to easily break through. A sinking feeling settled in my guts and I rapped my knuckles against the door, “Death-Bringer? You there?”

No response came.

I knocked and spoke a little louder the second time but still Death-Bringer didn’t respond. I backed up a few steps and launched myself at the door. It buckled against my weight instantly.

Snap!

The sound came first. Then the pain...

Something but through my calf, crunched through my shin. The pain was like when Ves’hil’n was a child and he fell out of a tree and snapped his leg clean in half, the bone poking through the skin, only it was so much worse.

I wrangled my breathing under control and looked down at the animal trap ensnaring my leg, “fuck.” I breathed out.

“... Bloody...?” Death-Bringer’s weak voice asked. My heart sank. Back against the back wall of the shed was a small cage and curled up inside it on the floor was Death-Bringer. Her face was flushed and her eyes were glassy. With no... ‘help’ it seemed as if the drug was still in her system. She shivered as if cold even while her hair was wet with sweat. “You need to get out of here Bloody... Where’s Gale?”

“He’s safe.” I answered, crouching down to try and pry the trap apart. I didn’t have the strength and when it budged, even just an inch, my blood poured out.

“You can’t let the demon take Night Lover’s body... It’ll become too strong...” Death-Bringer murmured, “you gotta go before they catch you...”

“It might be too late.” I said, through gritted teeth.

“Yes it is.” A woman’s voice behind me said. I twisted my upper body around as best as I could and saw it was the hostess from the inn... with little Tii clinging to her skirts

Tii looked down at my leg and her face went sickly pale, “I’m sorry mister. Big Sis Raan said Big Brother Tenin would go back to normal if I led you here...”