Somin woke the next morning facing toward Mark’s sleeping face. She was so close to him that she could feel his breath brushing against her cheek. She stared at him for a long time admiring his handsome face. She admired every curve, every perfection, and imperfection about his face and bit her bottom lip softly. For just a moment, she could have sworn her heart skipped a beat as she studied his features. She quickly shook it off when she heard Mark grumble in his sleep.

He to his other side, facing away from Somin. She couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed that he did so until she noticed something just under the collar of his shirt. Somin studied the peculiar mark not sure if it was a birthmark or a scar and her curiosity got the best of her. She reached out and touched it gently. The skin felt like scar tissue, something Somin was familiar with. She had a fair amount of scars herself.

Mark groaned softly as he slowly woke up presumably from Somin’s touch and she quickly retracted her hand and sat up quickly to make it seem like she didn’t do anything. Mark yawned as he flipped onto his back and stretched out.

“What time is it?” he asked.

Somin got up off the bed and grabbed her dagger from the bedside table. “Time for us to go. We don’t have much time left. He’s getting executed tomorrow so we have to hurry.”

Mark grunted as he stretched and he slowly sat up. “Yeah…. Alright…”

He got up off of the bed and straightened out his shirt. Somin peered over at him out of curiosity and noticed the scar still visible. “So, uh, I have a question,” Somin said without thinking.

“Yeah?” Mark ran his fingers through his hair to fix it and glanced over to Somin.

“I couldn’t help but notice that scar on your neck this morning… I was just wondering what it was from. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Mark reached his hand as he touched it gently. “Oh, uh, I’ve had it since I was young. My dad struck me because I disobeyed him.”

Somin frowned. ‘Dammit,’ she thought, ‘I shouldn’t have asked.’

“If you see the whole thing, though, it looks kind of cool,” Mark said calmly.

“The whole thing?”

“Mm, it goes nearly all the way down my back and wraps around this shoulder to the front,” he replied as he gestured where the scar was.

Somin bit her bottom lip. ‘I really shouldn’t have asked…’ she thought with regret.

“Anyway, we should probably go, yes?”

Somin nodded and led Mark out of the room. They made it all the way to the front castle doors when Jaebum and Youngjae approached them.

“Queen Sunmi sends her regards, but she had to leave to visit Queen Hyuna for a quick meeting,” said Jaebum.

“We’ll you two to the border and send you on your ways,” Youngjae added.

They walked through the forest in silence. Mark noticed the forest felt different than it had the first time he stepped foot in it and smiled to himself. The grand demon tree was doing better which meant that it wouldn’t harm any more demons.

As they reached the center gate, Aogrei stood in between the two guards. “You two are still at it, are you? Pity. There’s still time to turn around and run back home to safety, you know.”

Somin rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to give up until I save my father.”

Aogrei sighed. “In the end, you won’t save him.”

“I will.”

“That is if you make it through the Lindres forest. My phae are waiting for you.” He averted his gaze at Mark. “I hope you survive as well. It would be a shame for all of your promises to go to waste.”

“Leave them alone, Aogrei,” said Jaebum. “Don’t you have business to attend to with your son?”

“Ah, yes. His birthday.” He focused his cold eyes on Somin and Mark and smirked. “Good luck, you two. Especially for when the truth is revealed.” He strode away and melted into the shadows of the forest.

Youngjae shuddered. “He’s so creepy…”

“He has a son?” Mark questioned. “Who would have a kid with him?”

“We don’t have time for this,” Somin said as she hooked her arm with Mark’s. “Let’s go.”

The gate creaked open and Somin pulled Mark along with her.

“Good luck,” Youngjae called out to the both of them before the gate closed behind them.

Mark followed after Somin through the Lindres forest and even though it wasn’t as creepy as the Hiondus forest, every single animal noise he heard made him flinch. He wasn’t sure if it was because he had become accustomed to the quiet of the Hiondus forest or if it was because he was afraid a phae or royal guard would attack at any moment. He settled on the latter when they reached a small clearing where Mark had noticed it was dead quiet. The animal noises were distant and the trees weren’t rustling anymore as the wind died down.

He quickly froze in his steps and grabbed Somin’s arm to stop her. Right at that moment, an arrow whizzed right in front of her face, lodging itself into the tree next to her. Her eyes widened as she stepped back, standing close to Mark as they were both completely surrounded by both the royal guard and phae.

“Oh...,” Mark swore as Somin drew out her dagger quickly and held a fighting stance. “So… what now?”

“Well,” said Somin as she scanned the area, “the easiest thing I can think of is to force our way through but they’ll still follow after us so...just...wing it?”

“Wing it? Seriously? Weren’t you top hunter?”

“Yeah, I was, but we don’t have a lot of options here. The best thing I can say is to use as much of your powers as you can,” Somin said as her hand flared up with flame. “You’re from Crestha so you can use your powers without worrying about the physical damage. So I’m counting on you to help out when I run out of juice.”

Mark bit his bottom lip as he nodded. “Right…” He looked around and sighed. ‘I should tell her,’ he thought. ‘But now’s not the time…’

He ducked below a phae that jumped at him and stepped on its body. It shrieked loudly as a frost crept its way over the creature’s body until it was frozen over. Mark quickly froze his hand over as he deflected a sword from a royal guard. The sword bounced off his hand and threw the royal guard off his balance giving Mark time to throw a few punches at him. The royal guard yelled out as the frost froze him over.

Somin stepped out of the way of one of the royal guard’s punch and kneed him hard in the stomach. He heaved over and Somin whacked him in the side of the head with the hilt of her dagger while throwing a fireball at the phae that jumped at her. She held out her dagger as it flared up with fire and she began to slash down any phae that came at her. Somin grunted as a royal guard punched her cheek. She was knocked back by the force of his punch but quickly regained her footing and flew a side kick at him. She willed fire into her kick and her foot impacted with the side of the royal guard’s head. The royal guard yelled out as the fire burned him.

Mark stumbled back, bumping into Somin. “What do we do?” he asked as more phae began to close in.

Somin grit her teeth and pointed her dagger at the flood of phae coming closer. A fireball grew at the tip of her dagger until it was nearly the size of a boulder. It shot straight at the phae, blasting most of them into a shower of black ichor.

“Dammit,” she said as she clutched her side and nearly fell over. She held her hand up trying to will another fireball into her hand and only a small spark came. “I’m all out.”

Before Mark or Somin could react, a royal guard rushed at her and stabbed her through the gut. Blood spilled out of Somin’s mouth as the guard twisted his blade before he pulled it out. Mark’s eyes widened and he jumped forward to keep Somin from hitting the forest floor.

“S-Somin,” Mark panicked as he pressed his hand against her wound. Somin groaned in pain as she gripped onto Mark’s arm tightly. “A-Are you okay?”

Somin bit her bottom lip as blood trickled out of the corner of and shook her head weakly. “M-Mark… p-promise me… you’ll s-save my dad.”

“No. No, I can’t. You… You have to save him. Not me. I can’t…” Mark panicked seeing Somin’s eyes slowly closing. She groaned out and leaned her head against his chest. Her breath was getting shorter. Mark could feel her pulse getting slower. “S-Somin. No, you have to stay awake.”

Somin nodded weakly. “O-Okay…”

Mark bit his bottom lip. “Just… hang on… okay? I’ll be right back.” He gently laid her down on the forest floor and glared up at the royal guard who stabbed her. Fear was evident in the guard’s eyes as Mark’s own glowed a bright snowy white. Mark stood and slowly made his way toward the guard. With every step he took, the ground frosted over. The guards and the phae both seemed to be afraid and tried to escape only to find their feet frozen to the ground. Mark took hold of the guard by the throat and lifted him off the ground with ease.

“S-Spare me… p-please, h-highness…” the guard pleaded.

Mark laughed darkly. “Me? Spare you? For what you did to her? That’s funny.” He voice sounded cold which only elevated the fear within the guard. Mark gripped tighter on the guard’s neck before smashing his skull against the ground killing him instantly.

Mark looked up at the remaining guards and phae around and raised his fist. Icicles shot out of the ground, impaling the guards and phae alike. Mark panted as he slowly calmed down and groaned feeling one of his arms grow stiff. Part of his face began to cover with a frost as he went over to Somin who was passed out on the ground.

He tried his best to get her onto his back and began to walk through the forest. He could see the Hunter’s district just out of the trees, but he could already feel his legs wanting to give out from under him. He swore under his breath just as he took his one last step and collapsed. His vision blurred as he saw Somin laying next to him unconscious. He slowly tried to reach out to her but he out before his hand could reach her.