Turns out, they weren't safe at the border. Far from safe.

"Now you have done it," Nyxis cursed as he ran alongside her. He raised an eyebrow at how Xanthy carried June on her back. "They are the Unities. They can cross any borders!"

"Now you tell me that, genius!" Xanthy yelled. She adjusted her grip on June's waist. Her soles thumped against the forest's moist but compact soil in squelching thuds. "What do we do?"

"Beats me!" Nyxis threw his hands up. "You tell me what to do since you are always going ahead, barreling to whatever front you find yourself in!"

"Now this is my fault?!" Xanthy ducked as a flaming branch almost hit her in the head. The branch hit a tree with a bright pink trunk and snuffed out as it rolled on the forest floor. "You could have at least told me these red-skinned devils can cross borders!"

"Halt in the name of the Imperial Highness!" a soldier bellowed behind them.

Xanthy snorted. As if she's ever going to.

Nyxis had his hand stuffed into his trusty satchel, no doubt looking for some magic herbs that might get them out of this mess. "Hurry," Xanthy breathed as her side began stinging. Her breathing turned into pained wheezes.

Nyxis freed his hand from his satchel, yelping as he swerved to avoid running into a sienna trunk. Shouts and clangs of weapons echoed behind them. All kinds of animals howled, cawed, and shrieked from the canopies and even the forest floor. The humid air had turned fresh and cold but despite that, sweat still soaked Xanthy's back and made waterfalls at the side of her face. Where were they headed?

Spells rained on them like a barrage of arrows. Xanthy twisted her upper body and returned some of her own. The first line of soldiers fell back as one of her spells made the soil beneath their feet explode. Stun spells and sleep spells joined the mix not long after. Still, the Unities never seem to run out.

Should she tap into the Virtakios?

Without muttering a word, Nyxis turned and flicked his hand towards the red coats. They were thrown backwards with such force as if a giant arm swept past their ranks. Nyxis scoffed and turned to run. Xanthy smiled. At least they both haven't lost their touch.

Then, pain bloomed in Xanthy's leg. What the...

She fell forward as her grip on June loosened. From somewhere beyond her, Nyxis cried her name. Her chest heaved against the stinging pain shooting from her muscles like a bowstring hitting raw skin. How dare they hurt her!

Heat tore off Xanthy's form in a huge blast. Haze burned her vision to shreds but her ears registered screams of terror. Panic. Then, it was quiet. Xanthy collapsed into the ground as her senses slowly returned. After a while, she gritted her teeth against the nausea gripping her temples and picked herself up.

Blood pooled from her wounded leg where a dagger hilt protruded. Whoever threw this had some magic up their sleeves to have it sink this deep. Xanthy cursed as she sent her magic into the wound, willing it to close. Come on. Heal.

Slow. It was healing slowly even after she plucked the dagger out. A sigh made it out of her lips. At least the dagger wasn't made of dwarven metal. Next came the muted thud of the weapon against the forest floor as she chucked the dagger away. Disgusting.

Nyxis's face was the first to come into view as he crouched next to her. Magic pulsed against her skin, crawling and sinking into her gaping wound. She forced her mouth to move and her tongue to unlatch from the roof of her mouth. "Go," she met Nyxis's green eyes reflecting the forest behind her. "Take June and find help. I will hold them off until you return."

Nyxis took one look at Xanthy then at her leg. He bared his teeth. "No."

A ball of dread dropped in Xanthy's gut. "Nyxis, please—"

"No," Nyxis said, firmer than the last. "I will not leave you to get captured and offered to the Heiress again. Never again."

Xanthy should have been touched by those words, should have been strengthened with that amount of dedication. However, it only made her feel worse. She gritted her teeth against the remaining pain in her leg. Later, she would deal with her feelings later.

She met Nyxis's eyes. "Do as I say," she inched closer to a tree with a feathery bark and braced an arm against it as she pulled herself up. "Take June and find help."

Nyxis's eyes flared as he turned to her. It's the first time Xanthy ever saw them burn that bright and with great anger directed at her, too. Fear gripped her throat. The sounds of the red coats coming nearer rang louder in her ears. They didn't have much time. "Nyxis, please," Xanthy said again.

Nyxis stalked towards Xanthy and got into her face. "If you even think for a second I would go with that traitor," his tone was as cold as ice. "That is where you will be wrong."

"Nyxis—"

"I will not hear it," Nyxis splayed his fingers in the air, stopping Xanthy from saying more. "He is your burden to carry, not mine. I am only doing this because of you. It will never be for him."

Xanthy swallowed against the forming lump in her throat, against the anger building in her chest. Later. She would deal with everything later. The forest has quieted as the usual shrieks of wild animals were now replaced with just the trees' colorful canopies rustling against the wind.

Her immediate surroundings looked like a storm passed by. Branches hung from trunks shredded with what looked like giant claws. Grass, shrubs, fungi, and small critters lay unmoving a few distances away. The soil itself was blown away in a huge arc from Xanthy's feet. She blinked. Did she do that?

June answered by retching from where he lay.

The sound of it was so wretched that it broke something inside Xanthy. As if it wasn't already broken. It felt like she was slowly remade again, only to be torn apart by some hideous force. She will be remade again then mangled again. Over and over. This feeling hasn't stopped since she woke up a few hours after the High Queen's death.

June gasped for a reprieve of air then retched again. Thick blood dripped from his pale lips and stained the forest floor red. A small squeak hitched on Xanthy's throat as June collapsed against a tree, his chest rising and falling with each breath becoming a wheeze.

They were out of time.

"Please come with us quietly for this to be easier for you," a deep male voice intruded her thoughts.

Xanthy huffed. Out of time.

"Stand up," the man called. "We have you surrounded."

What a bummer. Xanthy obeyed, her healing leg dead weight. For some reason, her magic had started to fray when they entered Dwanzeig. It's shielded. Unfamiliar. Heartbeat pounded in her ears but she gritted her teeth and pushed her magic to the surface. If only Nyxis would just take June behind her, she could have unleashed a hail of spells at the red coats a long time ago.

"Hands up from where you stand!" the soldier called. Xanthy leveled her gaze at a single red coat a few distances ahead, edging closer to her. Mud decorated his bright red uniform. He had lost his black helmet, revealing a tanned face, dark curly hair, and amber eyes. Blood dribbled down from a cut across his forehead. Xanthy's eyebrow crept up. Whoa, she really did a rune on them.

Xanthy was willing to bet her versallis that this soldier was a fire sprite. Then again, weren't they usually topless? "Let us go or you'll regret it," she said just to get the image of a topless fairy out of her mind.

Her magic sputtered as she tried calling to it again. She clamped her jaw hard enough to hurt her temples. No. They couldn't know something was wrong with her. Later, she told herself time and again. She would deal with everything later. Escape. Focus on escaping. Alive.

The soldier chuckled. "Round them up, boys," he commanded in the empty air. "Especially that one with white hair. I got a feeling he will be worth more than I suspect."

Red coats flickered to life and swarmed closer to her. A deep, primal growl escaped Xanthy's lips. They'd not be taking June. As soon as a soldier got within Xanthy's armlength, she let the Virtakios bleed from her and into the red coats' trails.

Yield.

The word echoed in the chambers of her mind as control over the red coats' magic turned over to Xanthy without anyone's consent. A grin spread from Xanthy's lips. This power...it's anything she wanted it to be.

She clenched her fist and the red coats began screaming out of control, clawing at their faces and collapsing to the floor. "Want me to stop?" She called to the soldiers. "Let us go."

Xanthy stepped forward in time for the world to start swaying. Her eyes unfocused. What...

She glanced at her leg. It's fine. Then, where?

Strength and her control of the red coats' magic slipped from her form. Her knees shook; her legs folded beneath her. The soil kissed her cheeks as she collapsed. This wasn't...

"Xanthy!" Nyxis's voice sounded far away "What is wrong?"

Ha. Xanthy was wondering that too. So close. She was so close in convincing the soldiers to let them go. Close to freedom...

Her vision darkened. A strange buzzing echoed in her head.

"Xanthy!" Nyxis's scream was sharp and dull at the same time. She felt her body being pulled back.

"Careful now," a foreign voice said. "That human can still pack a punch."

Xanthy clenched her jaw and forced herself to stand up, to do something. June. She needed to help him because no one would. Nyxis. She had to save him, too. Xanthy gritted her teeth against the pain. It's now or never.

Mustering enough magic for one final spell, Xanthy raised a heavy arm. Smoke erupted from the soldier's ranks before a word even flew out of her mouth. She pushed herself up and turned towards Nyxis to find him with his arms forward. His eyes were closed; his lips moving to the words of a spell.

More thick plumes erupted from the red coats' feet. Screams of pain and annoyance echoed through the undergrowth. Nyxis hauled Xanthy to her feet as smoke continued to envelop them like fog on Drodham. It stung Xanthy's eyes and sent it to water. She blinked and rubbed at it. Run. They needed to run.

Xanthy staggered but she trudged to where June lay and grasped him by the collar. Bile mixed with blood dribbled down his chin and into his tunic. Xanthy gasped against her churning gut. Later. She would fix him later.

They plunged into the smoke with Nyxis leading their retreat into the shadows of the forest. Just a little more. A whoosh of metal. A hearty twang. Xanthy was thrown down, her face hitting into the dirt as something pressed against the back of her head. Voices cheered.

"Secure the girl!" the fire sprite red coat yelled. "Bring her to the Palace. If anyone could plunge a dagger into our Queen, it's this girl!"

Xanthy almost cried with relief. At least they didn't want to take June or Nyxis. That's the least she could do to her friends. Thick, woven ropes lashed her down to where she was with metal clamps secured deeply into the mud. Just like the ones they use in Cardina. This wasn't a new experience.

Nyxis crouched and began pulling at the metal locks, muttering something about a yakhite or something.

"Secure the half-blood, too," the red coat ordered. "Kill the human."

Xanthy throat closed up as she tried to claw her way out of the trap. She tried summoning her magic but only cold greeted her. No. No. The Virtakios was oceans away from her reach. What...?

"Take them," the fire sprite commander said. "Tonight, we will feast well until dawn."

Nyxis extended his hand. "Do not come further."

The fire sprite was unconvinced. He nodded to somewhere behind Nyxis. "Kill him."

A barrel resembling Reeca's flintlock edged into view. Xanthy's eyes widened as it clicked and fired. No!

Something roared. Xanthy wrenched her lids open. When had she even shut her eyes? A flattened bullet shell thunked near Xanthy's nose, giving her a whiff of what infernal powder used to fire it. Odian powder, was it? No matter. What happened?

Xanthy craned her neck up at the mass of dark fur attached into four legs and a bushy tail. The sunlight peeking through the canopies bathed the creature in a glaring white halo. When she squinted, she glimpsed someone seated on the creature's flank. Who...?

Through the gaps between the animal's feet, Xanthy saw the line of boots step back as one. "Do you know what to do when a raslione comes?" a silky masculine voice said from atop the creature. "You run. Its howl is bound to call others more and devour you in..."

The man paused, as if counting. "Five seconds."

A ripple passed through the assembled red coats. Then, the Unities turned and scrambled to be first out of the thick, unfriendly forest. The sound of ropes ripping filled Xanthy's ears and soon, she was free. Her magic flashed to life underneath her skin as a pair of chipped leather boots edged to her vision.

"Up you come, my girl," the man with the silky voice bent down and extended his hand towards her. A mop of light brown hair sat in a rumpled mess on his head. He was the one who drove the red coats away with the help of that strange creature.

She accepted his hand and he pulled her up. "Tha—"

"Round them up," a deep, feminine voice speared from behind Xanthy. "The Grand Royal will deal with them."

Xanthy's heart sank. What—

The man with light brown hair spun her and soon, a twine secured her hands behind her back. He pushed her forward. His grip was strong even when Xanthy squirmed. Then, before he led her towards a brand new set of captors, he winked at her.