Grandmother is lost now.
Her breath tangles with gods.
We make ruins with every step.
But we dare not turn back now.
There is a place for us.
And we will find it, no matter if
We must march forevermore.
~Holy Texts of Amaryllis
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"Honey roused with ash in her lungs."
She sat up and coughed before gulping down a large portion of what remained of the water rations. The sun was just breaking through the thicket of pine, casting the mountains before them in glittering light. Lukas was still sleeping, snoring loudly, but Dai was already up, if he went to sleep at all. His legs were crossed and he was writing in that journal of his.
When he heard Honey string, though, he snapped the journal shut and returned it to the impossible folds of shadows which made up his cloak. He turned his head to look at her, the ash thick in his hair. When it was dappled by the early morning light, it almost made it seem as if Dai himself was covered in frost.
"Hey," Dai said.
"Morning," Honey said, drinking some more water before rummaging through their food supplies. There wasn't much, just a bruised apple. Honey bit into it anyway. "You ready to finally find this stupid book?"
Dai's expression darkened as he turned his head back to the towering pines of the Wild Woods. "If we live."
"Why do you have to be so grim?" Honey asked. "You know-"
"He's right, you know." The sudden male voice took Honey off guard. She hadn't been expecting it so it caused her to flinch and jump backwards. Then when she did see the figure, it did nothing to lessen the terror building in the root of her stomach as she stared up at the impossibly tall man.
He'd come from nowhere. Despite his size, he was silent when he moved and wore rich red clothing. Something like the color of wine... or blood. His skin was the color of the earth, deep and rich, but he had silver eyes that spoke only of the moon's domain. His black hair was long, styled in braids and it fell around his shoulders in complete perfection. He wore a smile, this thin and false looking thing.
Dai got to his feet. He didn't even seem the slightest bit phased by the sudden appearance of this man. Lukas rolled over, still soundly asleep. The man stepped over the god, not even batting an eye as a sword appeared in his hand - made of silver steel and with the moon carved into it, just below the blue of the hilt.
This sword - this sword Honey had seen Dai summon from shadows just like that - dangled precariously over the still sleeping Lukas's form.
"I'm not going to let you hurt my master," Dai said, summoning his twin ice blades.
The man clicked his tongue, as if disappointed. He rose his sword up. Would Dai be able to stop it in time? Honey wasn't good at fighting, but she knew that she needed to buy time. For Lukas to finally wake up, for Dai to brace himself.
She could... she could do that.
"Who-" Honey squeaked, but found her voice too high. "Who are you?" she tried again.
"Me?" the man looked at Honey in simple curiosity. His face wasn't cut in any cruel manner. In fact it looked rather delicate and soft. Like Dai's features. Not that it mattered, of course. The question had served its purpose. He was distracted. "It's been such a long time since any creature has asked who I was." He turned thoughtfully to Dai. Not good. "What do you make of that, little brother? Have the mortals truly forgotten my face after a thousand years?"
"A... thousand years?" Honey squeaked.
The movement was a quick one. A ferocious one. Dai was so quick and so agile that if this man was anything close to normal, he would have been decapitated with the swing. Instead, he just faded into shadow, which caused Dai to stumble and fall directly onto the sleeping Lukas.
The good thing was the god was finally up.
"What the-" Lukas spat, jerking upwards. "What's going on?"
"Your sword!" Honey said. "You need your-"
The man reappeared in an instant, swinging for Lukas. It was clear that Dai wasn't his real adversary here and Honey was just a distraction... for both sides. Once again, if Dai was anything close to mortal, Lukas would have been dead. Instead those two ice blades countered the blow for a fraction of a second - giving Lukas time to jump back.
Of course, the ice blades then shattered. Just like they did when they were put against Lukas's sword.
"That was impressive," the man said, his hand resting on his hip. "I didn't think you had that in you, little brother."
Dai hissed.
Lukas, on the other hand, still seemed to be reeling. Honey didn't blame him. She was reeling too, because unless she was mistaken this man... Dai's elder brother and the one he seemed to equal parts admire and fear... he was-
"The Dark Master," Lukas breathed.
"Sword of Moon!" Dai snapped, dropping what remained of his ice blades so that the sword disappeared from the Dark Master's hands and into his own.
His slashed the air, missing the Dark Master by a hair.
The Dark Master, unlike with the first blow, didn't just disappear. That trick had to have been reserved for when he was scared. This... this however, was just a game to him. He dodged each of Dai's slashes like it was nothing. In fact, he was grinning. The skill between them was so vast that he was playing with Dai like he was swinging a wooden sword instead of one of the most powerful weapons in history.
And just then, when Dai wore himself out, the Dark Master extended his hand and the sword vanished from Dai's grip. Dai was bent over, gasping for breath. "You're luck you're cute, Dai," the Dark Master said, resting his hand on Dai's head. "See, that's not something my other little brother possesses."
"Dai! Honey!" Lukas snapped. He was wielding the Sword of Sun now. "Go get the Rose Book!"
"But-"
"Hurry!" Lukas said. "The blast will-"
The Dark Master lunged forwards in a burst of divine speed. Lukas barely managed to get out of the way. When those two blades collided... well Honey could still remember the last blast they created, the searing heat of pure magic. Neither she nor Dai could take that kind of strain.
So she gritted her teeth and turned to run. Dai didn't, though. "Come on, Dai!" Honey shouted, struggling to be heard. "Lukas says-"
"No!" Dai snarled. "I can't-"
"Dai!" Lukas said. "Go!"
"I-"
"Now!"
The word was said with more force than any of the others. A collar of flames - just like the one that Dai had worn when Lukas had first bound him as a familiar - appeared around Dai's neck as his body followed his god's command, even though it was clear that his mind didn't want to. He was... he was being forced to do this. Like that woman god's familiar.
Honey clenched her jaw. To take another person's free will was awful, even under these circumstances but... there was no time to protest. Even when the collar of flames vanished and Dai grew able to control his own limbs once more, the pair of them kept running. Through the village, to the mountain, to the cave, to the Rose Book.
They had to get it.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Y'all think they're going to find it?