I found myself waiting patiently just behind the treeline. I was strangely anxious to return to the group, even though I probably didn’t need to be. I mean, I knew these people. I guess I didn’t really know Selene, but I also didn’t care much about what they thought of my behaviour, so it balanced out.

  I watched as they all sat, still on the little log seats that had been set up. They were all talking, like nothing was wrong. Like we weren’t all caught in the middle of nowhere. Well, I suppose that Noren wasn’t trapped, but the rest of us were.

  I took a deep breath and, checking my form for the tenth time, stepped out from amongst the trees. At least, I was going to. But I didn’t. Instead, I simply stood there, watching.

  Another attempt and I was still stood there, so I backed a little away. Everything was easier with momentum, so I gave myself a bit of space to get moving before I had to reveal myself. Then a bit more space, because nothing is ever easy.

  Everything was going well, but when I made it back to the treeline I saw that Cassie was missing from the group. The other two didn’t seem concerned, so I assumed she didn’t just up and disappear. Still, I didn’t know where she was.

  “Hey,” I suddenly heard a sullen voice beside me.

  “FUC- Cassie!” I yelped, jumping as I noticed her right beside me. “By the gods! Why did you sneak up on me.”

  She shrugged, but there was no life in it. “Thought I might as well.”

  I tilted my head, confused. “What’s wrong? You seem… sad.”

  “I’m fine,” she said.

  If this is some kind of joke at my expense, I swear I’m gonna… I don’t know, but it’ll be something.

  “Are you sure?” I questioned. “You really don’t seem fine.”

  A sad smile forced its way onto her face. “No, it’s alright. I’ve just been doing some thinking, is all. You did give me plenty of time.”

  I bit back a grimace. “About that…” I began.

  “Don’t worry about it. I get it,” she said, although the way she said it made me think that she didn’t.

  “Listen, Cass, I’m sorry about what I said, alright? I just needed a bit of breathing room, you know? It’s not like me needing time to myself is a new development.”

  Cassie said nothing, just shrugging mournfully and turning away from me.

  “Listen, I was gonna talk about this with you later, but I’m getting the feeling you’ve misread something here,” I announced, sitting down on the grass. “Come on, sit down.”

  She did as I requested, slumping to the ground. “Okay, so you’re being very over the top right now. As in, way over the regular limit.”

  Silence fell again, but she refused to look me in the eye. “See, that’s exactly what I mean. You’ve got to talk to me, Cass.”

  “What do we even have to talk about?” She asked.

  “What do we-? Are you serious? What do you think happened an hour ago, Cass?”

  She shrugged. “You got upset about something, I got clingy. I made a mistake, we broke up.”

  Is she serious right now?

  “Dear gods…” I muttered. “Are you kidding me? Why would we have broken up? We had one fight.”

  She met my eyes for the first time. “We… didn’t?”

  “No!” I exclaimed, exasperated. “Honestly, why would you think that?”

  “Well, you… I made you… We’re still together?” She asked again, like she thought I was lying.

  “Yes! Honestly,” I huffed. “Did your parents teach you nothing about relationships? Even I know that wasn’t a break-up fight.”

  She looked downcast, and I realised a slight issue with what I’d said. “Shit, I mean-”

  “It’s fine,” she interrupted me. “I should have known that. I just… I don’t know. Everything got all sad, you know? After you left, it’s like my heart was convinced I was all alone.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Really? You’ve been alone before, why would you think that?”

  “I don’t know,” she murmured. “Sorry…”

  Yeah, this isn’t right.

  “How bad was it?” I asked, because there was no way that this was Cassie’s genuine reaction to me fighting. I knew her, she wouldn’t mope if she thought we were splitting up. She’d probably be really, almost annoyingly determined about that never happening.

  “Bad,” she groaned. “I still kinda feel like life sucks, you know?”

  “No,” I answered flatly. “Okay, that confirms it. There’s no way that you of all people would end up like this,” I said, gesturing vaguely at her. “After one fight. How’re the other two?”

  All I got was a shrug, so I turned to look at the others myself. Sure enough, they both seemed fine. Although, Noren was sitting awfully close to Selene, now that I really looked.

  “Yeah, okay. Wait here,” I said, clambering to my feet and marching over to the other two.

  “Oh, would you look at that,” Selene announced as they noticed me. “Julie has returned. How generous of her.”

  “Quite,” Noren echoed.

  “Would you mind sharing why you felt the need to storm off, young lady?” They asked.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  I came to a stop in front of the pair and crossed my arms. “Not really. It’s kind of personal. I would like to know what happened here, however.”

  “Whatever do you mean?” Selene questioned. “We are all reeling from a daring escape, but aside from that I believe we are all doing fine.”

  “Yes, we’re doing fine,” Noren repeated.

  I tilted my head. “Really? I get so angry that I have to physically leave to clear my head, Cass is depressed for some reason, Noren isn’t the centre of attention, but we’re all fine? Yet you’re okay, aren’t you Selene? What did you do?”

  “Me?” They asked, offended. “Why, I have done nothing? Quite frankly, I’m offended that you would even consider the possibility?”

  “It’s very offensive,” Noren droned, but I decided to just tune him out. He didn’t seem like he had much original thought to add right now.

  I stepped closer. “Please,” I scoffed. “We’ve known each other for all of half an hour, but even so I can already see that you’re a wild card. You did something.”

  “Why, this is quite unbelievable-”

  “Oh, save it.” I’d had quite enough of this fool. Honestly, I’d had enough of just about everyone here. It was clearly Selene at fault, so I’d rather just kill the bastard and get it over with.

  Hold on, what? Since when was I so trigger happy?

  I forcefully reeled myself in, pushing against the quickly swelling tide of rage. “You,” I snarled. “Stop it. Now.” I took another step forward, levelling my sword at them. I couldn’t quite pin down when I had drawn it.

  Selene removed their hands from where they had been wrapped around Noren’s shoulders and held them up in a gesture of surrender. “Now now, Julie. I think we’re all getting a bit hotheaded, don’t you think?”

  I practically felt my anger dissipate. Most of it, at least. A burning core remained as I realised what they had been doing. “Oh, you little-”

  “Ah,” Selene interrupted me. “Clear heads must prevail, don’t you agree? Besides, I’ve done no harm.”

  “Done no harm?” I seethed as Noren hastily disentangled himself from Selene. “You have ten seconds. Explain yourself.”

  “As you wish,” Selene sighed. “I was merely providing a… front row demonstration of my abilities. I believe you understand how valuable I could be, for whatever you wish to accomplish.”

  “What happened to providing us with information?” I asked. “That was the deal.”

  “Not an official deal,” Selene informed. “You of all people should know not to trust a deal we didn’t shake on. No, I don’t think I will be providing you with any free information. However, I do appreciate your aid, however misguided. As such, I shall be providing you with this.”

  They flicked their fingers and a slate grey coin burst into being in a flash of fire, engraved with the image of a grinning two-faced figure. They bent at the waist and offered it to me, arms outstretched. “Freely given,” they announced.

  “...And this is what, exactly? Somehow I don’t think I can spend it at any local establishments.” I took the coin, because at this point I got the feeling that if Selene wanted to kill me they had easier ways.

  A chuckle found its way out of Selene as they straightened back up. “Very dr?le. No, this is my token. In essence, I am giving you a single favour, for use at your discretion. Simply snap the coin in two and I shall appear.”

  I had a feeling that more than just our agreement had been a lie. “You aren’t a human at all, are you?”

  Another laugh, this one a little darker. “Oh, dear lords below! Perish the thought. I am far superior to some mortal.”

  “...Great,” I deadpanned. “Alright, if you’re so superior, how’d you get trapped?”

  “Oh, don’t remind me,” Selene complained. “Not that it matters now. Honestly, having a dragon show up out of the blue is far better than what I had planned. Gave me all the time in the world to undo my bindings without interruption. None of those pesky ‘contingencies’ planned for dragon, after all.”

  “Bully for you,” Noren moaned, to which he was promptly ignored by both of us.

  “I have to ask-” I started, only to be interrupted by Selene.

  “You want to know if your emotions were real, and if so how real, correct?” They guessed.

  “Yeah,” I admitted with a sigh.

  “Mortals. Always the same. Of course they were real. All I did was pick whatever the opposite of whatever your general mindset was and enhance it a little. The lizard here got to be quiet for once, you actually expressed something and the ray of sunshine running towards us rented some clouds. All over-the-table stuff, don’t you worry.”

  “So it was real, just exaggerated,” I clarified. I needed to know the damage with Cassie, and if it was real then I had upset her in some way.

  “Quite. Now, if you don’t mind-”

  “Wait!” I heard a cry from behind me, turning to see Cassie running up to us. “Something’s up with Selene!”

  “Yes, we know!” Noren complained. “You couldn’t have come back a little sooner? Julie’s already made a deal with the devil.”

  “Devil?!” Selene seemed to dislike the implication. “Absolutely not! I won’t be slandered in front of my very face! I am a demon, you overgrown gecko.” Selene’s from flickered, and for a moment I saw a humanoid figure formed of cracked white porcelain, an endless blackness spreading between shattered limbs. It bore two faces, one grinning and the other weeping. In the blink of an eye Selene was back in Gerald’s skin like nothing had happened.

  “That was a figure of speech,” Noren replied easily, not at all phased by the slip-up.

  “...Ah. Well, I was going to reveal that piece of information anyway.”

  “Sure you were,” I added, because if I couldn’t mock the infernal trickster standing right in front of me, then what was the point in living?

  “Tch. I am leaving now, so that you people don’t ruin the moment. Honestly, no sense of drama. Don’t forget now, give me a call. I’ll be happy to help.” With their piece said, Selene bowed, burst into a brief inferno and promptly disappeared without a trace.

  “Well,” Noren started after a moment of silence. “Wonderful things truly do happen around you two, don’t they?”

  “I wish the wouldn’t,” I grumbled before straightening up. “Right. This was a mess. You,” I pointed at Noren. “Are going to explain yourself. Properly, this time. Then we’re going to fix this mess, okay? Then,” I spun around to Cassie. “We need to have a nice long chat. But before all of that I need to sit down, because this is stressing me out.”

  I sat heavily on one of the logs laid out nearby, the other two remaining silent. Eventually however, Noren spoke up. “Okay. I can’t say I saw that coming. I would like to know what they told you both before I showed up, but we have larger concerns. I would like to assuage your worries, however. Our position isn’t as bad as it may seem.”

  “Oh really?” I asked. “And how is that, exactly?”

  “I’m glad you asked. You seem to be under the impression that we will be in some kind of legal trouble for our actions, yes?”

  “Your actions, but yeah,” I corrected.

  Noren sighed. “Very well, my actions. However, I had made arrangements to clear our names. I have already mentioned this, but I don’t believe I can blame you for not listening, knowing what we do.”

  “Wait, so we just get away with it?” Cassie asked.

  “Yes,” Noren answered simply. “We just ‘get away with it’. Obviously, don’t mention to anyone that we did it, but we won’t be connected to it.”

  “There a lot of dragons around here, are there?” I snarked.

  Noren scoffed. “Absolutely not. Why do you think I’m here?”

  “Great,” Cassie chirped. “So we can go back to Meria then?”

  Noren grimaced. “Or we could go somewhere else. Have a nice day of camping in the woods?”

  I groaned. “Why? It’s like nine in the morning and I’m already done with today. I just want to get the rest of the day done without another plot twist.”

  “Are you sure?” Noren ascertained. “It is a lovely day today.”

  “Yes, I’m sure. Unless you have some reason we can’t just go back to Meria?” I prompted.

  “...Fine, I may have placed us on a public schedule to be out of town as of last night. It’s an alibi!” He defended.

  “Oh,” Cassie mumbled. “I’m kind of with Lia here. Today’s been a lot.”

  Noren stood. “Well, it appears that we’ll be spending it in the woods. Just like old times, eh?”

  “Um, Noren?” Cassie piped up after a moment. “How fast can you fly?”

  “Very. Why do you ask, my dear?”

  I saw where Cassie was going with this and couldn’t help but smile. “I think we could spend our day in a much more interesting place.”

  like just lying, but I felt like it was on brand for a demon.

  a lot in the next few chapters, because my plan kind of sucked for this bit. So that's fun.

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