Mark looked up at the sky through the trees of the forest. It was starting to light up as day approached. At this point, Mark knew his father had found out that he was gone. He probably even sent royal guard off to get him. He wanted to get as far away from Trinsa island as fast as he could but right now, he wasn’t even sure he would make it to the border wall between Juhar and Nyskat without dying. The forest was dark which meant the phae were probably nearby. Mark didn’t know much about the creatures that lived in the Juhar forest which also made them potentially life threatening.

“So, we’re heading straight for Lindres right?” Mark asked trying to distract himself from the fear and anxiety building up in the pit of his stomach.

“No, I want to stop at the warlock district first. I have a friend there. I’m hoping I can get her help to get my dad out,” Somin replied. Just as she finished her sentence, she stopped dead in her tracks suddenly causing Mark to accidentally bump into her.

“What’s wrong?”

Somin stayed quiet for a moment as her eyes scanned around the trees. Several pairs of red eyes were staring straight at them and a soft hissing sounded as the red eyes began to move closer.

“The phae are here. Run,” she said and took hold of Mark’s wrist and bolted. Mark struggled to keep up with her and nearly tripped over several times. Somin pulled him up quickly each time.

Mark glanced back to see the shadows behind them forming into smokey, human-like shapes with sharp claws. Their beady red eyes locked on his and nearly bore holes straight into his soul. One of the phae grinned evilly revealing rows of sharp teeth dripping with a dark purple liquid. Mark’s eyes widened and he quickly snapped his head forward. These creatures were truly the things of nightmares.

At that moment, a large phae jumped out at them, knocking the both of them to the ground. It pinned Mark to the ground, its teeth gnashing. Mark stared with his eyes wide in fear. Quickly, Somin scrambled to her feet and reached for her dagger. She charged at the phae and slashed its throat. It shrieked loudly as black ichor spurt out of its wound and fell to the forest floor.

“Come on!” Somin shouted as she pulled Mark to his feet. Somin could just see the large border wall through the trees. They were getting close. She yanked Mark with her as she ran. They had to hurry or they would die.

Mark struggled to keep up with her but with the amount of adrenaline rushing through his veins, he ran faster than he ever thought he could. From the corner of his eye, he saw a phae jump out at them. Mark gave Somin a hard shove forward and collided hard with the phae. He groaned as his back hit a tree and the phae held Mark there by its sharp claws. Mark flinched feeling it dig into his skin and quickly grabbed the creature by its neck. A frost started to freeze over the phae’s head. The phae tried to fight it but before it could, Mark bashed its now frozen head with a hard punch. It burst into hundreds of pieces as the rest of the phae’s body fell to the ground.

Somin ran up next to Mark with her dagger at her side. Mark guessed she was about to rush in but he had killed the phae before she could.

“Are you okay?” she asked, glancing at the gashes on his shoulder.

Mark nodded putting his hand over his wound. “Yeah, I’m okay.”

“Come on, we’re almost there.”

Mark followed after Somin out of the forest without any more phae chasing after them. When they reached the center gate of the border wall, the high warlock, Wooyoung, stood there waiting. Mark was behind Somin as she began to talk to Wooyoung about meeting with someone named Sana who he guessed was Somin’s friend. Mark groaned softly and shut his eyes tightly. All of a sudden, he felt faint. His vision was going in and out of focus. He reached out for Somin, barely touching her shoulder. His hand slipped off and he fell to the ground unconscious.

Somin’s eyes widened and she quickly bent by his side, shaking him gently. “Mark? What’s wrong? Mark?”

Wooyoung bent down next to Mark’s motionless body and felt his pulse. His eyes scanned Mark’s body for wounds and he quickly noticed the gashes on his shoulder. The flesh around the wound was discolored a yellowish green. The blood that oozed out was strangely thick and was tinted with a purple color. “Poison,” Wooyoung said. “Help me get him up. I have to get him to Hyuna as quickly as possible. We need to treat him immediately.”

Somin pulled Mark up to his feet to the best of her ability and helped Wooyoung hold onto him. Wooyoung raised his hand into the air and two portals appeared.

“Go see Sana,” he told Somin.

“But I can’t leave Mark. He got hurt because of me…”

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t be with us while we’re treating him. Go.”

Somin shut quickly and wordlessly stepped into the portal. Wooyoung stepped into the other and appeared in a room with a single metal table. He set Mark down carefully as Hyuna, the queen of the Faeries, rushed into the room.

“I got your message. What happened?” She walked next to Mark and gasped when she saw the wound. “Antao poison…”

“We have to work fast.” Wooyoung raised his hands over Mark’s body and a soft white light began to glow from his hands. “He was with Somin.”

Hyuna glanced up at Wooyoung. “So, this was a phae attack?” She sighed softly and began to coat Mark’s wound with a thick yellow paste. The yellow paste slowly began to swell as if it were absorbing the poison. “Aogrei is stepping up his game to kill her, isn’t he? Using antao poison, it sounds like he’s getting desperate.”

“Or the person who put the hit on Somin is the one getting desperate.” Wooyoung swept his hands slowly over Mark’s body, the light slowly pulsating the closer he got to the wound on Mark’s shoulder.

“Where on Thyslao would he get antao poison though? It’s not native here. It’s not even with blooming season,” Hyuna said. “Not to mention how illegal it is here.”

Wooyoung shrugged. “I don’t know. But you know Aogrei, he’ll go through any means to kill.”

“But not this far…” Hyuna sighed as she carefully picked off the now dark purple paste off from Mark’s wound. “You think he knows about him?”

Wooyoung shrugged as he moved his hand over to Mark’s wound. The dim white light shined brighter as it drained out the rest of the poison. “Probably not. We didn’t know about him. There’s no way he would know.”

“But what if he does? If we hate the king, as does everyone else, who’s to say that Aogrei doesn’t?”

Wooyoung shook his head as he waved his hand slowly over Mark’s face and head as it emitted a soft blue light. “I don’t believe he would go so far as to killing the king’s son.” Wooyoung moved his hand and let out a breath of relief. “Good, he’ll be fine. Prepare some anrei for him. We have to make sure there are no traces of the poison left in him.”

Hyuna nodded and left the room. Mark slowly opened his eyes and groaned softly. His head felt groggy and his body felt like it was on fire.

“How are you feeling?” Wooyoung asked as he carefully placed a bandage over Mark’s shoulder.

Mark rubbed his forehead as he shut his eyes again. “Like .”

“You’re lucky you’re even alive. Any longer with that antao poison in you and you would’ve died.”

“What happened?” Mark asked as he sat up slowly. His eyes traveled around the small room with nothing else in it except the table he was on. The walls were covered in vines, leaves, and flowers. There was a light flowery scent wafting in the air that made Mark feel a sense of calm. Mark guessed he was in the Faerie district at the moment.

“The phae that attacked you had antao poison on its claws. The poison seeped into your bloodstream and nearly killed you. If you hadn’t gotten to me at the border wall when you did, you probably would’ve died.”

“Where’s Somin?”

Before Wooyoung could answer, Hyuna walked in with a wooden cup in her hands. “Oh, good. You’re awake.” She strode next to Wooyoung and held the cup out to Mark. “Here, drink this.”

Mark looked into the cup curiously as he held onto it and frowned at its dark pink color and thick consistency. “What’s this for?”

“Anrei antidote. To get the rest of the poison out of your body.” The Faerie queen picked up a bucket from the floor and set it in Mark’s lap. “Take it all in one go. Taking sips will only make you suffer longer.”

Mark raised the cup of his lips and tipped his head back as he gulped it down. His face wrinkled in disgust as the drink slowly made its way down his throat. He passed the cup back to Hyuna and ducked his head into the bucket as he began to throw back up the pink liquid as well as a small amount of the poison. The faerie queen gently tapped his back as he threw up and pinched her nose at the smell.

“So, tell me, prince Mark, why leave Trinsa island?” Wooyoung asked. “Did the king send you?”

Mark coughed and shook his head. “I left on my own.” He sat up straight and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “I couldn’t take it anymore. The orders and demands from him. He wants me to marry in order to become king but he’s picked out my bride without even consulting me about it. She’s supposedly a princess from Crestha…”

“And you don’t want to marry someone you don’t know.” Wooyoung nodded. “I get it. Why do you think I’ve been single after five hundred years?”

Mark huffed out a breath, trying to hold back from throwing up again. “I don’t know anything about Crestha. I don’t know anything about Thyslao. And I don’t know anything about being king. How am I supposed to become king of a kingdom I know nothing about? I thought everything was fine here. But just by being in the Lost District and hearing about how everyone hates my dad, it’s obviously not fine. And I’ll have to take the throne and deal with his problems? I don’t know if I can…”

Hyuna smiled softly as she took the bucket from Mark. “You truly are different from your dad. He never wanted to learn anything about Thyslao when he was put on the throne.” She reached for one of the flowers off the wall and picked off a petal. “Here, for your breath. Just place it on your tongue. It’ll dissolve.”

“Never?” he asked as he did as he was instructed.

“Whenever we had meetings with him, he never listened to what we had to say,” said Hyuna. “Things aren’t so great here in Nyskat for both faeries and warlocks. I hear it’s not so great down in Hiondus for the demons either.”

Mark frowned and looked into his lap. How could he have been so blind about the problems going on in Thyslao when things on Trinsa island are so perfect? It never seemed like things were bad because from what he heard, things were fine.

“All of this only started when your dad got on the throne. The previous royal family cared very much about Thyslao. Monthly visits, donations, volunteering even,” Wooyoung remembered.

“What happened to the previous family anyway? I don’t think anyone ever told me…”

“They stepped down from the throne after their baby girl was kidnapped. They were going to claim back the throne once they found their baby but they never found her so they gave up and moved to Crestha.”

“There’s rumors that your dad was the one who did it but I never believed it,” Hyuna said as she passed Mark a small tin. “For your wound. It’ll help heal it faster.”

“Thanks,” Mark said, taking the tin. “So, how did you guys know about me?”

“Jinyoung sent me a letter,” Wooyoung replied. “He said we could trust you. And honestly, who wouldn’t trust the chart keeper’s word? He knows everything.”

Mark chuckled softly and nodded. “Right… except about Somin’s dad’s innocence…”

“Speaking of Somin, she’s over at my place with Sana, my apprentice.”

Mark nodded. “Alright… can we walk there?” He looked up to Wooyoung who was about to summon a portal. “I want to see how bad things are around here. I need to see it for myself.”

Wooyoung and Hyuna exchanged glances. “Yeah, we can do that. Just follow me.” Hyuna smiled and motioned for Mark to follow her out of the room.