The evening was silent, uneasy. It felt like every single soul in the castle and village knew what they had done, but that they waited for a sign to mount their attack. Through some remarkable stroke of luck they left the castle undisturbed, and that made it much more disturbing for some reason. Milo didn't like it one bit. There was no such thing as luck in this world. On top of it all, he was still angry with Vigilante for her recklessness. It had been so totally unnecessary. She could have been harmed.

He watched her confident strides as they stepped out onto the courtyard, and couldn't hold back his irritation. How could she be so sure that they wouldn't be noticed? Looking away he saw Sarah and another kind of anger suddenly knocked on the door. They didn't need the extra baggage. Maid, really? He couldn't believe Vigilante's audacity. Her lack of explanation also got on his nerves. Everything seemed to get on his nerves at the moment.

He had been like this since Vigilante had left him there, standing alone with his emotions in a jumble while she walked off... and it didn't help that he had the picture of her naked body burning in front of his eyes every time he closed them.

He forced himself to shut off his thoughts: they weren't helping him or them at the moment. They were vulnerable out here in the open quiet courtyard so there was no room for mistakes. The moon was covered by heavy clouds, giving them a dense darkness to hide within; but that was the only positive thing he could think of. He took a deep breath and cast his shroud to become one with the night, determined that they would get out of this alive.

As they turned a corner he saw two guards standing at the gate in the light of their torches. It made him smile. He wouldn't leave anything to chance this time. Sprinting ahead of the others he approached the guards silently. Had he been less angry he would have done things differently, but he was angry; and he needed an outlet. When he was close enough to hear their breaths, he let go of the dark and appeared before them. He smirked as the scent of fear hit his flared nostrils. He relished in it, soaking it in before he attacked. He reached took hold of their arms, intending to twist the two men to the ground, but he never got that far. Upon his touch the two men started to shake uncontrollably until they slumped to the ground, lifeless. What happened?

He stood there in shock, unable to move as the Destroyer came to collect the two newly delivered souls. For the first time ever he welcomed the dark sensation as it overwhelmed everything else. For this brief moment he would be on his own, unreachable by petty annoyances. As the vileness embraced him his heart started to beat fiercely within his chest, and suddenly he couldn't see. Everything was cold, sinister, then joyous...

Thank you

The whisper together with that strange feeling of twisted bliss sent a wave of nausea through his body, strong enough to make him retch. The foul-tasting acid burned in his throat, but that wasn't enough. The retching didn't stop, it continued until he felt a hand on his back, prodding carefully.

"What happened?"

The sound of Sarah's voice in his ears and her unwelcome touch made him so full of vicious anger again that he spun around grabbing her fragile little neck. He saw terror in her eyes, then they went blank.

He dropped her, and she fell to the ground; the sound muffled by her dress. He stared at his hand, then her neck and saw a black mark spreading around it, chocking her slowly. He stared at his hand again, wanting to rip it away. A terrible feeling of dread and repulsion soared within him and he panicked. He started to run, like he always did.

As he reached the gate he gathered his strength to leap over it, but as his feet left the ground he was tackled, crashing down on the cobbled stones. He tried to get up, but he couldn't move. Qumo had him pinned beneath his legs.

"You're not running again Milo."

The power in that voice held him hostage. He had never heard Qumo use that tone before.

"Calm down!"

He didn't want to calm down, he wanted to run...then everything went black.

-----

Vigilante bent down over the lifeless girl, thoroughly confused. Something was terribly wrong. She couldn't believe that Milo had killed the poor girl. What had she done? Hadn't he promised the girl just half an hour ago that he would keep her safe? She looked closer and saw a nasty black mark around the girl's neck. Carefully, she removed the thin scarf that partly hid the mark but as she neared to touch it someone snatched her arm away.

"Don't touch it!"

She looked up and saw Qumo's features twisted in worry and disgust.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"I knocked him unconscious, you'll have to help me carry him...we need to move, Now!"

She was left speechless. How had everything turned so wrong in such a short time?

"The horses... we won't be able to carry him out of here..."

She saw him debate the question in silence, then he nodded. "You're right. We'll have to chance it."

The worry in his voice was palpable and that helped her focus. They needed to get out of here, after that she would have time to think about all this fucked-up-ness.

"Go get the horses, I'll stay with him," the N'aian ordered, his voice steadier again, but it still held enough uncertainty to make her skin crawl at the thought of leaving them out here alone. Then she reminded herself of what she had seen. Qumo wasn't weak, he wasn't slow, and he certainly wasn't defenseless.

It had happened so fast that she didn't know exactly how it had transpired. She replayed the scene in her mind. It had started when she had seen Sarah lean down to touch Milo's back. She had wanted to strangle the girl then, but she would never in her wildest dreams have thought that Milo would actually do it. It had been strange though, it just seemed like he held her. He hadn't lifted her and she hadn't struggled. She had just been still. Then that look in Milo's eyes when the Sarah had fallen to the ground. So much rage, pain, confusion, then panic. He had fled, again, just like last time... Then she had heard the crash of a body hitting the ground. She hadn't even been aware that Qumo had moved, but there he was: straddling a struggling Milo.

No, Qumo certainly wasn't defenseless... She gave them one last look before she turned and ran towards the building which hopefully housed their horses. She winced when she realized that her dress gave off sounds when she moved, lace moving against lace, what a damn stupid thing to wear, but she didn't have time to slow down. Luckily she didn't see anyone, and hopefully no one saw or heard her either.

She entered the stable and some of the tension left her body as the soft noises of horses reached her ears. She found her mare and patted her gently before moving away to find their tack. The sound of a creaking door made her spin on her heals. A young boy, not older than ten looked up at her with eyes that looked a size too big in his tiny face. She smiled at the innocent astonishment.

"What's your name dear?" she asked him.

The boy looked up, gulping visibly. "Tom," he whispered.

"Tom, I need to find my saddle. Do you know where it is?" she probed, trying to keep her voice soft and steady, not wanting him to realize just how dangerous this situation was, both for him and her.

"Yes milady, it's in here," he continued timidly. He backed up against the door he'd just passed through. She had to force herself not to run for the door. When she reached it she looked down on the boy again, forcing a smile.

"You should go to bed Tom, you must be tired at this time of night."

He just looked at her, not saying a word. Finally he piped, "Yes milady, if you don't want help?"

The question wasn't a welcome one. She really needed his help, but she didn't want to put him in unnecessary danger. She couldn't use him like that, wouldn't use him like that.

"No Tom, I will be alright. I will let you help me tomorrow."

He smiled at that before walking off with a wave of his hand. When she could no longer see him she let out another relieved breath before quickly gathering their gear.

It felt like it took her forever to get the horses ready before returning out into the night. As she did, the sound of shod hooves on the cobbled stones sent another chill down her spine. They were so close to be out of here, but there were still so many things that could go wrong.

She led the horses towards the gate, praying that no one would notice them; she, who never prayed. Soon she could make out four strewn bodies and one standing. At least they hadn't been discovered...

"I'll ride with him in front of me, we don't have time to strap him to the saddle," Qumo said as she got back to their side.

"Alright, I'll take the other two horses."

"I'm not happy about this..."

She gazed at the N'aian, worried when hearing the tension in his voice. She had come to rely on him and his unwavering calm, so now when it was gone it only made it worse. She wasn't too happy about this either, but it was too late to change anything. They would have to tackle it from here...

"You mean the trail of bodies we're leaving behind?" she asked, not really expecting him to answer what she really wanted to know. She sweeped her eyes across Sarah's lifeless body, splayed on the ground as if no one had ever cared about her. Her eyes stopped at the black mark. No, she wouldn't ask about it.

"Yes...I don't like that," and then she filled in the rest of what he had meant to say but never did. What was happening with Milo?