SOMEONE wise once said "nothing good ever happens after dark." Desiree couldn't remember if it was her aunt Jessa who had said it, or perhaps it was a long forgotten memory from her late father. It was the former more likely than not as Desiree couldn't remember her father, much less any advice he'd given her before his untimely demise. Regardless of who said it, it was all that Desiree could think about as the never ending forest swallowed up the last bit of evening light.

A pit of unease grew in Desiree's stomach as her companion struck a match and coaxed the lantern to life. They weren't supposed to need the lantern until well into their trek back to camp, as they had planned to leave before the sun dipped below the trees. Too many things prowled these woods at night; bears, wolves, rebels–

A twig snapped in the distance.

Desiree started, whipping her head towards the noise as adrenaline coursed through her veins, warming her stiff limbs back to life.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Des," Xander murmured, though uncertainty shone in his eyes as he shouldered his pack. "I think we should head back."

They really should have left over an hour ago, but Desiree swallowed her retort as she slung her bow–well, Xander's bow over her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm sure Selene is worried sick by…" she trailed off, staring past Xander's shoulder. Was that another lantern in the distance?

Xander's brows knit together at her behavior and glanced over his shoulder to see what she was staring at. "I don't remember anyone else coming out here with us."

The lantern in the distance drew closer, three more joining it.

Dread twisted in the pit of Desiree's stomach, an ever tightening knot as the small voice in the back of her head pleaded with her to run, to not stick around and find out just who was headed her way. "I think we need to get the hell out of here," she breathed.

Each distant footfall twisted the knot in her gut tighter. Run, that voice in her head pleaded. Run, run, run, run, RUN!

Xander, Divine bless him, must have been thinking the same thing as he grabbed for Desiree's hand and blew out the lantern. The duo broke out into a sprint, following the trail they had taken from camp. The roar of Desiree's pounding heart filled her ears, drowning out the sound of snow crunching beneath her and her companion's feet, and her ragged breaths burned with each lungful of frigid, winter air. Captain Salos's training kept her legs moving, but it was Xander's guidance that kept her feet from stumbling over rocks and fallen branches as they tore through the forest.

Who the hell could be following them? The war zone was nearly a day's journey away from camp, it would be unlikely that Obrynite or Bressitine troops had broken past the lines. Everyone in the Quarter Legion was back at camp celebrating the Winter Solstice and would be too inebriated to realize two foot soldiers missing. That would mean whomever had found them were rebels, and in that case Desiree and Xander were completely and utterly screwed.

Desiree's mind raced a mile a minute. How had they been found? Had these rebels been waiting like wolves for a couple of sheep to be separated from the flock? Perhaps they were stupid enough to think that abducting a couple of nobodies would provide them with any kind of leverage. If that were the case then they'd be sorely mistaken, Desiree and Xander–along with everyone else in the Quarter Legion, were expendable. Young soldiers drafted and sent to the front lines where they could either fight like hell and survive, or die a slow and gruesome death on the battlefield.

Desiree wasn't sure what she'd prefer, being slaughtered on the battlefield at the hands of Obryn or being tortured to death by domestic rebels fueled by delusions that the King of Alydia, the True King who was said to be hand-selected by the Divine, had stolen his throne. She decided she'd rather be killed in combat rather than be left to the whims of those who sought to destroy their own country.

A sharp burning in her chest yanked Desiree back to reality as the adrenaline eddied from her system. The exertion of running for her life mixed with the frigid, winter air made every lungful of air feel like fire. She squeezed Xander's hand once, a silent plea to take a rest. Her tired feet screamed with every step and her legs shook so hard that she couldn't fathom how they still supported her.

Xander gave her hand a tight squeeze in reply, his calloused palm biting into her own. "Keep running," he hissed, his voice almost completely swallowed by the wind. Desiree struggled to hear him. "We're only a quarter mile from camp, they'll quit following us once they see the fires. Keep running and do not look back."

Of course Desiree had to look back. She had to see what her ears were unable to discern over the howling wind. It would be quick, she would simply glance over her shoulder to see if the rebels were still in pursuit. She dared to turn her head, squinting into the darkness behind her as she prayed no one still followed them, hoping they were finally–

Desiree's foot caught on something. She whipped her head around, smacking herself in the face with her long braid, and she didn't have enough time to throw her free hand out in front of her before she hit the ground.

"Okay now angle your elbow upwards," Xander said as he guided Desiree's arm into place. "Good. Pull the string tighter and aim."

Desiree's arm burned under the weight of the bow, but she kept her arm steady as she aimed at the little red apple that was perched atop a fallen log.

Xander adjusted her aim ever so slightly. "Great. Breathe in and ground yourself."

Desiree held her aim as she drew in a deep breath, grounding her weight in her feet and delegating her strength to her arms as she filled her lungs to capacity with crisp autumn air.

"Now release."

She released her breath and her arrow in one simultaneous motion.

The arrow pierced the apple, the momentum causing it to roll off of the log.

Bow still in position, Desiree's eyebrows shot up in surprise. In the three weeks Xander had been giving her lessons, she had never managed to hit anything.

Sitting safely out of range, Selene beamed. "By Divine, Des! That was great!" She shot up and made for the apple, holding it up for the others to see once she'd grabbed it.

"Not quite in the center, but a solid hit. Not too bad." Xander grinned, clapping Desiree on the shoulder.

Selene tossed the apple to Xander, who removed the arrow with careful fingers to avoid damaging the shaft.

They were polar opposites. Selene was tall, a good bit taller than the average woman, with lovely curves and a sturdy build. She had a certain grace about her that made her difficult to forget. She was just so sure about herself and everything else without being cocky. Xander was her inverse in every way; he was much shorter than the average man, standing only a couple of inches taller than Desiree and was almost a complete head shorter than Selene, and he was the most unsure person Desiree had ever met. He overthought just about everything and only seemed sure of himself when he was with his friends or using his bow.

"We should head back for lunch, all of that shooting has me famished," Desiree said, slinging the bow over her shoulder and rubbing her belly for emphasis. She failed to mention that she feared her arm would fall off if she had to hold the steel, military grade bow up with her nondominant arm for any longer.

A sly grin from Selene had Desiree wondering if her companion could read her mind. "No need," she drawled, tossing her tight, raven curls over her shoulder. She slid her pack off of her shoulder and plopped down on the fallen log as she rifled through it. "I brought sandwiches."

Xander paled visibly, his already snowy skin growing ashen. "Salos'll put us on the front line for a month if we get caught taking food outside of the mess hall."

Desiree snorted. "Salos'll put us on the front until the end of time if we get caught out here with one of his government issued weapons," she said, gesturing towards the bow she still held.

Xander bristled, looking everywhere except for his companions. "...That's different."

"How?"

"I may or may not have asked if we could borrow it for hunting."

Selene tipped her head back and cackled. "You told them we wanted to go hunting?"

Xander huffed, ready to spew some retort before Desiree cut him off. "Look," she said, tipping her head back to look at the sky, "first snow of the year."

Small, fat flakes made a lazy descent down through the trees, their fresh scent mingling with the sweet rot of autumn. Desiree stuck out her tongue, waiting to catch an approaching flake in her mouth. She grew up with snow, but that childlike awe never failed to come during the first snowfall of the year, even in adulthood. Despite the circumstances, a deep sense of contentment settled deep into Desiree's bones knowing that she would share this wonderfully mundane experience with her closest friends.

A searing pain tore through Desiree's temple. She clutched her head in her hands as her knees buckled.

"Des?" Selene's face was right in front of hers. Snow was starting to cling to her eyelashes, the white flakes contrasting against her dark skin. "Desiree, can you hear me?"

Desiree squeezed her eyes shut. This isn't how this memory was supposed to go.

"Desiree, please, can you hear us?" Xander's panicked voice pleaded.

Desiree opened her eyes. She was still in the forest. She stood up and spun in a slow circle. Dead leaves still coated every inch of the forest floor, but the snow looked like it had frozen in place around her. And her friends… She looked around again, frantically.

Her friends were nowhere to be seen.

Desiree.

That searing pain was back, worse than before. Desiree gritted her teeth as she clutched her head in her hands, spinning to find the person calling her name.

Desiree. Wake up.

The pain grew worse. Whimpering, Desiree collapsed on the ground and clutched her head tightly in her hands as if to stop it from cleaving apart. Voice be damned, she just wanted the pain to stop.

WAKE. UP.

Desiree's eyes shot open. Xander loomed inches away from her face, his teal eyes wrought with concern.

"Thank the Divine," he breathed. "Burning hell, Des, you scared us."

Desiree made to sit up, but was stopped by a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder. "Don't move," Selene said, tilting herself into Desiree's view. "You hit your head pretty hard."

Desiree opened her mouth to speak. Her tongue was leaden and her throat may as well have been filled with tar. She cleared her throat the best she could. "What happened?"

Xander snorted. "You did exactly what I told you not to do is what happened."

Selene nudged him in the ribs and his eyes softened. "You tripped and hit your head pretty hard. I'm surprised I was able to get you back to camp."

Desiree's eyebrows shot up. "You carried me back to camp?" Xander may have had a few inches on her, but he was so thin and wiry Desiree was sure she nearly matched his weight.

Xander's brows knit together as he noted her surprise, and his voice was wry as he said, "You'd be surprised what adrenaline can do."

"The cut on your temple isn't too deep," Selene peeled a bloodied rag away from Desiree's wound before applying a fresh one, "and the bleeding has nearly stopped. You shouldn't need any stitches."

"Fantastic," Desiree said, wincing as her wound pulsated to the beat of her heart, "but it still hurts like hell."

Selene nodded. She sat down on the edge of the cot while maintaining pressure on Desiree's wound. "I wouldn't be surprised if you have a concussion. You were completely out of it, we were starting to worry it might be more serious."

"You kept muttering about the 'first snow' before you came to," Xander added.

Desiree glanced around the room as her focus continued to steady. Camp was composed of an abandoned hunting village–if one could consider fifteen tiny cabins and a ramshackle general store a village. The room she currently occupied had three other cots, shelves filled with medical supplies, and a large hearth that filled the small room with a soft, warm light. Desiree had never seen the inside of the infirmary before, at least at this camp. It occupied one half of the general store, the mess hall being the other half. It was almost easy to forget it was there aside from instances the stench of the sick and dying would leak into the mess hall during meal times. Thankfully, she was the only patient, though she knew that would likely change with drunken shenanigans that would be taking place tonight.

The thought of seeing another injured person had Desiree shooting straight up in her cot. The sudden movement sent her head spinning while her vision darkened, but everything be damned she refused to be stranded in this Divine forsaken room with another injured person. "I'm ready to go back to my cabin now," she said in earnest, blinking away the dark spots that crowded her vision.

"Absolutely not." Selene guided Desiree back down into the nest of limp pillows, carefully as to not disturb theh clotting wound. "I'm keeping you here at least overnight," she said, and added with a wink, "medic's orders."

✧✦✧

The brisk wind tore at Desiree, stinging her face and ripping coppery strands from her braid. The past few days had felt like an eternity. The flurry from the night she and Xander were in the woods had turned into a full blown snowstorm, but they were lucky to have only gotten a few new feet of snow.

Desiree huffed warmth into her stiff hands as her eyes darted through her peers, searching for Selene and Xander. She had remained cooped up in the infirmary during the storm and her friends had not returned after the first night to see her. Neither of them seemed to be at training, which struck Desiree as odd, but she knew they must be here somewhere. She shook off her growing anxiety, telling herself that she would find them later.

Captain Salos was running late. This behavior was highly unusual from the captain, who often made late soldiers run laps around camp for miles while the other soldiers did their normal training. Desiree shifted from foot to foot, willing her stiff limbs to stay warm in the frigid temperature as her fellow soldiers exchanged hushed speculations among each other. Each theory Desiree heard was more outlandish than the last.

A routine hush fell over the crowd, a telltale sign of Captain Salos's arrival. The soldiers stood still at attention as Salos marched to the front of the crowd, followed by a tall woman Desiree hadn't seen before. Her long, white-blonde hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail on the top of her head. She stood nearly a head taller than Captain Salos, a man of average height, and had to be even taller than Selene. The woman's sharp features were schooled into a cool indifference but the energy that exuded from her was nothing short of lethal.

The woman took her stance at the front of the crowd of soldiers, her frigid, gray eyes showing complete disinterest as she scanned the crowd. Desiree felt herself growing restless as the seconds ticked by. She thought she might freeze to death before the strange woman would announce who she was and why exactly she had come, but the woman made eye contact with her. It was so brief that Desiree was nearly convinced she had hallucinated it, but the woman cleared her throat.

"Soldier Desiree Renarii, please step forward."