There were no blue skies awaiting Aria when she appeared on the other side of the Gate. No beds of flowers, birds chirping happily, and Villagers singing along as they went about their day.

  The air reeked of charred flesh, the sky reddened and kissed by dark plumes of smoke. The stench of the air clung to her throat, and her boots stepped upon scorched earth.

  It was a scene of chaos— daemonifers splintering the wood of homes, gleefully burning all they could see and devouring every soul within reach. Screams peppered the air— ones of horror and despair. The cries of children made her heart swell in a way it hadn’t for many years.

  “Come with me!” Aria snapped at Pea-Nog. Her blood was boiling, her face hot.

  To her surprise, he obeyed her, but as she hurried him into the devastation before them, she could sense Karlock’s watchful gaze on their backs.

  Perhaps escape is not an option, but I will help these people as best as I can.

  She turned down what was once an alley between homes, now roaring with flames. Caught between the fires, a young child screamed.

  The Boy was on his bottom, moving backwards as his brown eyes widened in pure horror. Tears streamed down his face, and the bodies nearby looked to be that of a mother and a father.

  The Thrax’s large, six-armed frame cast a dark shadow over the boy as it advanced. Its bladed limbs swinging back and forth, an elongated tongue hanging from its mouth as it drooled in delight.

  Her blades danced in a blur, slashing off each limb in a spray of blood.

  A raw, screeching sound of pain erupted from its throat, and Aria ended the miserable sound by stabbing through the back and out the front of its neck.

  The Thrax dropped into a pool of its own blood as its cry drowned.

  Aria carefully approached the young boy, holding out a hand. She hadn’t seen a child since she was one herself, and it elicited an intense longing from home deep within her.

  “Come with me,” she whispered. “We must be quick.”

  The Boy’s fears subsided enough to take her hand, and she picked him up and turned to Pea-Nog. “You’ll say nothing of this or you’ll soon have no head.”

  Pea-Nog made a deep, grunting noise. There was nothing going on in his dumb head, and she was certain he was drooling.

  The Boy whimpered in her arms and she held him tight as she whispered once more, “Don’t worry. He’s just a big dummy. I won’t let anything harm you, by Amor’s—”

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  Light, she finished in her head, an odd sensation dancing within her. How long had it been since she had used such a phrase?

  The sounds of cheering hurried her steps, and she tugged once more on the chain to keep Pea-Nog moving. There was no quick way with him, but it allowed her to stick to the shadows, doing her best to hide the gory sights from the Boy as he buried his face into her shoulder.

  Gory it was. Dismembered bodies of men, women, and young ones. Some partially eaten, others picked to the bone. The entire village smelled of smoke and blood, and so it was.

  “Psst.”

  The sound caused her to ready her sword, eyes alert as she sought the source.

  “Young Lady.” It was an aged and weathered voice, and its owner revealed himself from the shadows of a charred home. He was an older man, with long gray hair and wrinkled skin. “I can help.”

  “What?” she whispered. Her eyes darted around, but there were no Daemonifers paying attention to them. They were busy feasting upon their kills.

  The screech of a large bird caused the Man to duck low, and Aria’s gaze peeled to the sky as she sought to kill the Skarathys on the hunt for more dinner.

  The bare and wrinkled-skinned bird swooped low once more, its large, yellow eyes predatory as it honed in on the Boy in her arms.

  It squawked, its eyes bulging as it was snatched midair by a giant, clawed hand. Pea-Nog giggled with delight as he began to squeeze, the bird’s eyes continuing to bulge as it tried and failed to wriggle out of the Gorathim’s iron grip.

  Aria grinned. “Eat up, Pea-Nog. You’ve earned it.”

  A dumb smile overtook Pea-Nog’s face as he began to tear the panicking bird in half.

  Aria turned back to the Man, who watched in awe.

  “You were saying?”

  “Useful fellow, that one.” He stepped closer, the fear or worry in his blue eyes vanishing. “Amor protected me, and now I have been asked to take the Boy to safety.”

  Her instinct to such a thought was to laugh, but she couldn’t deny the odds the Man had beaten by avoiding detection.

  Maybe this ‘Amor’ guy isn’t so bad.

  “Please, the Woods aren’t far. There is an outpost nearby. I will get the Boy out and alert them to search for more survivors.”

  Aria felt her heart sink. “There are no other survivors.” She wasn’t certain as to how she knew, but she did beyond a doubt.

  The Man’s face broke for a moment, his eyes glinting with unshed tears. “I see. May they live forever in the Light.”

  She handed over the Boy, feeling an immense compulsion to trust him. The Boy went willingly, his eyes heavy as he cuddled into the Man’s shoulder.

  “I knew his parents. I will see to it that he is raised well.”

  Aria nodded, but her danger senses were rising. Karlock was looking for her, and she could hear the hoofs of the Dark Lord’s horse beating around the scorched Village.

  “You must go!” she whispered harshly.

  The Old Man spared one last remark before he fled, “Thank you, Princess.”