Tabitha Wysteria
Kage and Arden had been travelling without respite for days on end. The lush, humid breath of the rainforest had long faded behind them, giving way to the vast, shadow-strewn expanse of the Forest of Endless Trees. A place where time forgot to pass, and silence clung to the branches like mist. It had been two days since they crossed its threshold and Kage could feel the weight of unseen eyes lingering just beyond the trees.
He knew the Black Lotus assassins—Elric and Nymeria—were somewhere behind, weaving through the wilds like phantoms. Whether they pursued the same path or circled ahead mattered little. One way or another, they would find them.
‘You really must stop worrying so much,’ Arden said as he adjusted his shoes and shouldered his satchel. Kage, ever cautious, had insisted on barely pausing their journey, but Arden had dismissed his unease with the ease of someone who had lived too long and feared too little. ‘They’re hunting me, not you,’ he added with a casual shrug. ‘Though, I daresay, they’ll happily slit your throat out of principle.’
‘I’m not worried aboutthat,’ Kage said, setting off once more into the tangled green, not bothering to wait for the Fae.
Arden appeared beside him a moment later, his steps so light they barely stirred the underbrush. ‘Oh?’ he asked, his tone teasing. ‘Then what is it that gnaws at that solemn heart of yours?’
Kage sighed, weary of both the question and the one asking it. He gave no answer, choosing instead to focus on the forest around them—the ancient, whispering trees, the scent of moss and damp earth, and the soft sound of something moving in the distance that may or may not have been a threat.
‘It’s that way,’ Arden announced, gesturing with a flourish. The Fae’s grin was maddeningly self-satisfied, so much so thatKage muttered darkly under his breath and pressed on in silence.
‘Is being silent your coping mechanism?’ Arden quipped, falling into step beside him.
Kage halted abruptly and turned a pointed stare on him, the kind that could cut glass.
‘I meant no offence,’ Arden said breezily, raising both hands in mock surrender, the smile on his lips only deepening. ‘Each to their own, of course. Perhaps I’m just bad at reading people. When I first met Wren, I thought her imaginary friend was a figment of trauma. Turned out the friend was entirely real. So what do I know? Maybe you’ll turn out to be the most talkative wyverian in the realm.’
Kage’s frown deepened. Without offering so much as a grunt, he turned and continued through the trees.
‘Or perhaps not,’ Arden added, unperturbed, his boots crunching softly on the forest floor as he followed. A moment later, the crow descended in a sweep of shadow and landed on his shoulder. Arden grinned. ‘At least your bird seems to appreciate me.’
Kage cast a sidelong glance at the creature’s silhouette and arched a single brow. Spirox gave a disgruntled caw, the sound more exasperated than hostile.
‘He just enjoys disagreeing with me in every way he can,’ Kage said.
Arden reached up and brushed his fingers through the crow’s shadow-feathers with a strange tenderness. ‘Tell me, then. Do you know what weighs so heavily on your master’s mind?’
Another caw.
‘Ah. So you do know. Intriguing.’
Kage let out a breath. ‘I don’t want to have to kill them.’
Arden blinked, caught off guard. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Elric and Nymeria,’ Kage clarified, his voice low. ‘I don’t want it tocome to that. But it might.’
A pause. Then Arden began to laugh. A rich, irreverent sound. ‘That’s… rather sweet of you.’
‘I wasn’t trying to be sweet.’
‘I know. But you are slightly mad if you think you could kill them.’ Arden clicked his tongue in mock disapproval. ‘Wyverians always think they’re unmatched in a fight. But those two? They’d have your balls sliced off and served to you on a silver platter before you could so much as blink.’ He tilted his head, smirking. ‘Assuming you have any, of course. I’m still not entirely sure what’s down there.’
‘I have balls,’ Kage said flatly, his tone as stony as his expression.
Arden chuckled. ‘Well, that’s a relief, for both of us, I suppose. Can’t imagine living without them.’
‘I imagine it would be… inconvenient,’ Kage said, frowning into the trees.
Arden clapped a hand on his shoulder, beaming. ‘Who would’ve guessed that balls are the key to getting you to talk. Noted.’
Kage immediately shrugged off the touch with a sharp movement, which only made Arden laugh harder. Kage resisted the urge to tell the Fae to quiet down lest he alert every Black Lotus in a mile’s radius. Instead, he did what he always did and said nothing, pressing forward into the deepening wood.
They paused beneath the swaying canopy to eat what little they had. Arden had foraged a handful of ripe forest fruits, which he now nibbled at with casual indifference, while Kage sat in thoughtful silence, watching him. Yet something unfamiliar stirred in his chest—a small, flickering warmth—when his gaze dropped to the worn satchel Arden had pressed into his hands days ago. Inside were the other fruits, carefullygathered and left to soften, deliberately, so Kage would have something palatable to eat. Thoughtful in its quiet way.
