The days they had spent together alone in the hut had been beautiful and peaceful ones, where Sylus showered her with love and did all he could to show her how much he loved her; he was respectful to her, and she could only imagine how the rest of their lives would be together.
Maya took Dak's hand and looked him in the eyes " I'm truly sorry, but I already gave my heart to someone else!" she replied in a sweet tone of voice, making Dak frown and Sylus heave a loud sigh of relief.
Rom stood up from his seat." You know, it's funny how not long ago you were touching another woman, and now here you are asking for my sister's hand in marriage!" he pointed out how shamelessly switched from woman to woman with too much thought.
Dak stood up" I was asleep!" he barked, annoyed that he shared that little fact with everyone in the room, while Sylus glared at Dak and moved from his spot, pulling Maya behind him.
" If Maya decides to give her heart to someone else, at least it should be an honourable man, not someone that goes from woman to woman!" Sylus scolded him for his shameless behaviour, while shielding Maya with his arm.
Maya peaked from behind Sylus, and her eyes fell on Dahlia, who was silent and had a sour expression on her face while she stared at Dak's back.
Maya cleared her throat and let the three men bark at each other; since she had spoken her mind, she had nothing more to say. Maya stepped from behind Sylus and went to the tied woman on the chair and saw what had happened to her and how she had ended up being tied up and dragged into the middle of the forest.
Maya sat down next to Dahlia and gave her a sweet smile " I'm Maya, Rom's sister!" she introduced herself, turning Dahlia's attention from the others to her.
" Dahlia! I remember you!" she sullenly replied while looking down at her tied hands, and Maya nodded in agreement; now that she had a chance to look at her, she finally remembered her.
" What happened?" she curiously questioned, following her line of sight.
" The witch got to me before they did, and she is using me!" Dahlia vaguely explained while lifting her head and looking at the others, who were now silent and scowled at each other.
" She did the same to me, Sylus and Rom! She is after the Queen!" Maya shed some light while taking her eyes off Dahlia's face and looked at Dak.
" You like him?" she curiously asked while looking in the same direction as she did.
Dahlia hummed and swallowed the lump in her throat, looking at Dak with a pleading look.
Maya nodded " You should tell him!" she advised while standing up, making her way to the three men, grabbing Sylus's arm and pulling him to the side.
Having had enough of arguing over vain matters, Rom sighed " We should get going!" he calmly suggested while he made his way to where Maya was to tell her that they would be leaving.
Rom hugged his sister and shook Sylus's hand " We will be back in a few days! Stay out of sight; the King's calvary might be in the forest, and you don't want to cross paths with them." he informed them while looking at Sylus who stopped breathing knowing well what they were capable of.
" What are they doing here? Sylus was the one to ask with his eyebrows on his hairline.
" I'm certain that the witch is controlling them, and it would be for the best if you stayed out of their way!" he advised while patting Sylus on the shoulder; Sylus nodded in agreement and pulled Maya closer to him.
Dak picked up Dahlia and followed Rom into the forest while nodding at the two with a sour look.
Maya and Sylus watched them until they disappeared into the forest and sighed heavily at the thought that the witch was still chasing the Queen, and now her puppets were roaming in the woods.
Sylus wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple " I'm happy that you chose me!" he muttered against her temple, slowly pulling away to look at her.
Maya gave him a sweet smile and leaned her head against his chest, heaving a heavy sigh " No, you're just being silly!" she admonished while looking up at him.
Sylus hummed and kissed her forehead " I can't help it when it comes to you!" he murmured against her forehead, pulling her along to sit at the table.
**********
The three walked through the forest in silence while Rom kept a watchful eye around the forest and, once in a while, glanced at Dak's sombre expression.
He already knew that he was cooking up something in that big head of his, and he could only guess it had something to do with Maya, and he was hoping he wouldn't do anything stupid and reckless just to get her.
" Whatever you're thinking of doing, she will hate you for it!" Rom warned, breaking the stifling silence between them and making Dak glare at him.
" You don't understand; she is such a beautiful woman I find it hard not to !" he mumbled in an exasperated tone while looking ahead of him, looking rather glum.
Rom clicked his tongue " I do understand since I had the same thoughts when I met Edýia, but I decided that I would rather win her heart first!" he preached while Dak glared at him and looked displeased with Rom's pompous attitude.
" Be quiet, will you!" he barked at Rom, making Rom chuckle and shake his head in disbelief.
Dahlia kept silent and watched Dak pine for another woman that had already refused his proposal, and how he still tried to find a way to get her.
She could only feel that her chances to have Dak slipped away through her fingers, finding it futile to fight for a man that didn't even notice she existed.
Dahlia silently sighed and brushed her thoughts of Dak away, knowing that there was no point in even trying.
Silence settled in once again as they walked through the forest, keeping an eye on the shining dot that seemed closer the deeper they moved into the heart of the forest.
The sun climbed up in the sky and then climbed down, and as predicted, the day turned into night, and they had to set camp, unaware of what was happening in the hut they had left behind and the two people in it.
Silence reigned, and the heavy atmosphere was broken by a pain-stricken cry that reverberated through the forest to the three people, making them give each other questioning looks.
Rom looked around, trying to figure out which part of the forest the cry came and the first thought that came into his mind was his sister and Sylus. Without wasting another moment, he picked up his sword and ran back towards the hut, leaving Dak and Dahlia blankly blinking at his disappearing figure.
Dak finally snapped out of his daze and jumped from his spot, leaving Dahlia in the middle of the forest, alone and defenceless.
Rom ran as fast as he could, with only one thought in his mind, hoping that the cry he heard wasn't his sister's.
After running through the forest for most of the night, soon the hut came into view; Rom ran up the hill as fast he could, despite the fact he could bearly breathe, and every muscle in his body ached and felt like he was about to fall apart.
He crashed through the door, only to find his sister lying on the ground covered in blood; that was a sign that the Vaikas had made it into the forest, and the first thing they did was take his sister's life and his only friend.
Rom slumped on the ground at the sight of his sister lying on the floor lifeless and felt that his life wasn't worth living; the only reason he had fought to stay on the right path was for her sake.
It didn't take Dak long before he barged in through the open door and looked at Maya and Sylus's bloodied bodies lying on the floor.
Although the sight in front of him did leave him speechless, he knew that tending the wounds to prevent further blood loss was one of the most important things one should do.
Maya whimpered and coughed blood, making them react and finally move from where they were.
Rom touched his sister's face covered in blood, while Dak pushed him aside before Rom could muster enough strength to vociferate; he ripped the clothes off so he could see the wounds and wrapped bandages the best he could and picked her up, disappearing into the forest, leaving Rom in the same spot as he found him, broken.
Rom crawled to Sylus to check on him, hoping that he would still be alive or at least hanging to his life, and if he were, he would try and save⁹ him.
" Sylus!" Rom called in a pained voice, checking to see if he was still breathing.
"Sylus!" he called a little louder, still hopeful that he would be alive even though every instinct told him that he fought to protect Maya with his last breath.
Rom buried his face in his hands and screamed, letting out his anger and pain, unable to contain them anymore.
Rom wiped his tears and pulled himself up; his heart was heavy with pain and sorrow. He walked outside and looked at the forest, and soon the pain was replaced by anger, and vengeance was his new purpose.
If until now he had played the long game, now it was time for a new strategy against the witch. Despite the pain, he was feeling from losing his friend. He knew he had to see what he could do for his sister.
He was sure that Dak would do the sensible thing, and he would go back to Dahlia since she was a healer and might be able to pull his sister back from the claws of death.
In his pained state, driven by anger, he set fire to the hut with Sylus in it, hoping to erase the memory of his sister lying on the floor, bearly hanging on the last thread of life.
He walked away from the blazing hut that glowed in the night, utterly broken with one thing in mind. End the witch at all costs!