Madella's feet screamed; her sandals had fallen off a while back. She began slowing down, and at this, Ralph picked her up into his arms and carried her.
They heard the clucking of a new group of knights on pegasuses, but almost immediately after ensued the sound of exploding bodies and the splattering of blood.
None of them dared to look back. The insuperable dread within them was already enough to keep them in a constant state of breathlessness.
More and more knights joined the pursuit.
More and more were brutally devoured by the darkness; not a single drop of blood was left of them.
Eventually, everything relaxed until all that could be heard was Madella, Ralph, and Gab's thumping footsteps.
"We have to go Lady Fano's," Madella said, pushing determination through her veil of tears.
"Why Lady Fano's?"
Madella didn't answer, but they followed her regardless toward the large house near the center of the city where a small girl, blonde with innocent blue eyes, sat against the heater, separate from a group of twenty children playing hide-and-seek.
She was reading a book and didn't notice the tall woman in an oversized dress that had approached her.
"Jurie, why don't you join the others?" Lady Fano asked.
Jurie motioned her book up in reply and returned to the line she was on.
"Okay," Lady Fano sighed and sat down next to Jurie, enjoying the slightly sizzling warmth of the heater on her back, "What's that one about?"
"It's a love story." She didn't stop reading, bringing a frown on Lady Fano's face.
"I can see that," Lady Fano referred to the cover of the book which detailed a tall, handsome man with black hair holding a beautiful woman with even darker hair in the middle of roses and hearts.
"It's about a boy who fell in love with his best friend," She began, lightening Lady Fano's mood, "She's afraid to love him back, but he doesn't give up for ten years and they get married." She smiled to herself.
"You want something like that, don't you?"
Jurie nodded coyly.
"Hahaha, I'm sure you'll find your Prince Charming soon." She patted the dreaming girl's head.
The door on the left burst open and Madella entered the room, bringing a wind from the outside that flicked her hair into her face as she looked for Jurie.
They stared at each other.
"Jurie?" Madella had tears in her eyes as she saw the book in Jurie's hands; it was her and Maro's favorite story. Ralph and Gab entered as Madella walked over to Jurie and caressed her cheek affectionately.
"Are you my mother?" Jurie asked expectantly.
Madella shook her head with a pained smile on her face, "But I can be." She answered.
Ralph and Gab held back their waterworks as Madella picked Jurie up, ignoring Lady Fano's protests, and ran – almost in slow-motion – out the door and down the streets toward the gates.
In front of them, a group of men, armed with sticks and knives, blocked their path. They had grinning expressions, picturing the hefty reward for capturing Madella and getting her back to the Crotiules.
The open gates were ahead, just a few minutes away. And to make sure that Madella, no matter what, got through them, Ralph and Gab stepped forward to fight the group of men.
"Ralph! Gab! Let's go another way!" Madella suggested, but they had already resolved their minds and walked forward.
"This is the only street to that gate. Unless you're planning to fly over them, I see no other way through." Ralph said.
"Madella. We have to pay him back." Gab added.
"Not like this! He wouldn't want you to die!"
"The same goes for you." They both took a deep breath, "For the man who stands for the weak! For our fallen brother! Our best friend!" They charged forward, activating Strength Magic and trying to use Dyaahn breathing to their best ability.
"Go! Madella!" Ralph and Gab created an opening down the middle of the street.
With tears streaming down her face, Madella tightened her hold on Jurie and sprinted out of the gates and out of the city, continuing down the cobbled path, past carriages and travelers, toward the country's border and away from her comfortable life as a noble.
She stopped running after thirty minutes, partly due to the pain of running on hard cobble barefoot, and mainly because no one was chasing her anymore. Sobbing, she looked back at the city, now nearly about to vanish over the horizon, then at Jurie, who looked back into her eyes. Her deep blue eyes and blonde hair were the only things remaining of Cherie that Madella had and in them she found comfort.
Calming her breathing down, she kissed Jurie on the forehead, "Everything's going to be alright," She said, placing Jurie down on her feet and holding her hand, "My arms are getting tired so can you walk for a little while?"
Jurie nodded, taking hurried little steps to keep up. "Mother?" She called, making a lump form in Madella's throat, "I'm hungry."
"I'm sorry," Madella held back the urge to cry; she mustn't show weakness, she thought, "I'll get you something to eat in the next town."
Jurie's stomach rumbled.
"How about I tell you a story to keep you distracted?" Madella suggested and Jurie nodded, "When I was six or seven, we moved to that city. My parents left me with my aunt, Cherie, at the station. They completely forgot about us. Do you know what they did when they finally realized?"
"They came to get you?"
"I wish. They called my aunt and told her to get there by herself. So, my aunt took me, wrapped me in a cloth onto her chest, and walked through the streets piled with the thick snow of winter. However, at some point, a man, clearly very drunk, attacked my aunt, who tried her best to protect me. I was half-asleep and it was so cold I couldn't hold my eyes open, so my memory of it is hazy, but my aunt always said that someone came to save us. The Devil. Have you heard of it?"
Jurie shook her head.
"People say it's the most horrible thing that could exist. The nightmare of nightmares – no, the nightmare of nightmares of nightmares," She chuckled, "I always thought she was hallucinating or something, but now… who knows…" She remembered that ball of sheer darkness, finding it strange that she didn't fear it, "Why was it so enchanting? That deep, deep crimson." She zoned out, being bought back by Jurie tugging at her arm when she saw a town in the distance.
They entered the town, receiving multiple stares from men – Madella was wearing her home gown, a loose white gown that was now rugged with dirt. She ignored them all and made her way to a stall selling vibrant fruits.
The owner was a rough-looking, slightly overweight man who had lost nearly all of his hair. But despite his looks, he was nice.
"Hello, lady. What would ye like? Apples, pears, oranges, I've got the whole lot as ye can see." He smiled.
"I'd like an apple for her," Madella said, taking the reddest apple from its tray.
"That'll be one silver and twenty copper,"
"I don't have money." Madella pleaded with her eyes.
The owner of the stall sighed, "Sorry, lady. I can't afford to be charitable nowadays."
"What if I give you this?" She showed him the star necklace that Maro had given her.
"That'll get ye about ten silver's worth."
"Take it…" She took it off reluctantly and handed it to him, "Please take good care of it if you can." She began tearing up, making him sigh from guilt.
"Nah," He pushed her hand back to her, "Ye keep it. Ye can have it for free." He grinned.
"…Thank you. Thank you so much." She took the apple.
"Be careful out there, lady." He wished her and she left, giving the apple to Jurie.
"Mother, let's share." Jurie took a bite and held the apple up for Madella to take a bite. Smiling gratefully, Madella took a small bite. They shared the apple like this throughout their journey back on the road and toward the border.
"Where are we going?" Jurie asked.
"A country where it's cheap to live. It's backward, but I'm sure we can manage. It's called Lusitra."
They walked and walked; Madella carried Jurie as much as she could. The soles of her feet were white with flaky skin under a layer of dirt and mud. The path was no longer cobbled, meaning that she would no longer have to step on hard, bumpy ground.
As the day left and night approached, they found another town, this time smaller, where they slept in an alleyway, holding each other to keep warm. It was the beginning of winter but luckily it hadn't begun to snow yet.
Jurie caught a cold overnight, but they pushed on and continued to the border where they met a few knights playing cards on a tree stump.
One of them noticed and approached her. "You got a pass?"
Madella shook her head. "Please… Just let me go."
"The girl looks sick. Let us help you." He stroked her shoulder, the expression on his face flooded with lust.
Uncomfortable, Madella pulled away and tried to walk away but he grabbed her back. "We'll take you to town and get the girl treated. Just let us fuck you for a bit."
"No!" Madella slapped him with a force that surprised him.
"Fine. No reward for you, then." He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to his friends. Jurie watched, tearing up as they bent the struggling Madella over on the tree stump and ripped her clothes off.
"Nice ass." The knight who approached her tried to run his hand on her behind, but…
Black.
Madella woke up in her ripped dress, Jurie in her arms. She felt disoriented as if she fainted. Suddenly remembering, she stood, holding Jurie tightly, and scanned her surroundings. Not a trace of the knights remained.
Pushing away all thoughts before she went insane, she picked up one of the knights' swords, very heavy, and ran through the shattered wood gate and into the Pericland.
(Countries are split apart like small islands in a huge sea. This land-sea is called the Pericland, one big mana zone where humans can't hope to settle down and build a country. Every nation is built in Safe Zones, areas in the world where Unbound Mana isn't abundant, therefore not allowing dangerous Mana Zones to come about)
Constantly on guard, she walked, fast when she could and slowly when it began to hurt. At all times she held Jurie close with one arm and held the sword up, just in case she thought she caught hints of a monster.
They saw a mana zone in the distance ahead. It was forest of massive leafless twisting trees whose trunks had lost all color and became like ash. The sun, as it set to their right, seemed to set the sky ablaze at the horizon.
"Jurie, did you know that the sun is just like all the other stars in the night sky?" Madella spoke to calm herself down as they walked toward the mana zone ahead,
"No…" Jurie's voice trembled as things shifted around them. On the grass, they saw a shadow move out of their peripheral vision which they tried to ignore.
"It looks bigger because it's closer to us. But it's still so far away. Light is the fastest possible thing in this world and yet it takes about 10 minutes to reach us from the sun. It's amazing, really: how absolutely massive just this Realm is. The sun doesn't go around the world; we go around it. And there are other worlds like ours, going round and round other stars, some far far bigger than our sun. I wonder… I can't help but wonder if there are others on those distant worlds." Madella said, smiling and turning to look up at the sky.
Her upwards peripheral changed and she saw something behind her. Quickly acting, she grabbed Jurrie and jumped away to face a large monster. It was a dark grey lion-like monster who had deep blue eyes with thick black fur around them like eyeliner. Black scutes like that of a crocodile stood on its sides, swaying in a hypnotic order as it walked toward them.
Madella screamed and took Jurie into her arms, running as fast as she could barefoot. The lion monster watched her with a sort of confusion, furling its eyebrows.
"Get back!" She turned and swung the sword, trying to be threatening. The monster followed her as she turned back around and continued running. For about five minutes she managed to keep her legs moving, but they couldn't handle such strain after all the walking and her empty stomach.
Her calves went numb first and her legs gave out. The lion seemed still perplexed by the fact that she was terrified. When it reached her, she held Jurie close, sobbing. But Jurie seemed to be perfectly fine. Either she'd run out of emotion or she didn't feel threatened by the lion.
In fact, she reached out to it with her palm, which confused and shocked Madella but pleased the black lion. It even smiled slightly - or at least that's what its expression resembled. Closing its eyes, it pushed its head gently into Jurie's hand, letting her stroke its soft, fuzzy, dark grey fur.
Madella calmed down, now noticing the majesty of this creature. It didn't act like a monster, she thought. It lay down, motioning them to get on its back, and before they got on, Madella looked around once more.
She wasn't religious; no deity held her faith. But for some reason, she was beginning to believe in a higher force. Someone was watching over her.
"You know what, Jurie?" She climbed onto the lion's back after helping Jurie up and it began to walk forward in the direction of Lusitra,
"Maybe angels are real."