Devil's Masks

by ariescelestial

AU Shadow Hearts timeline. Alice returns to Rouen, only to find tragedy once more...one man's whim has a drastic effect. [Covenant Spoilers]

1. Zhaoyang: Savior or Captor?

Disclaimer: No, of course I don't own Shadow Hearts! . (But I'm keeping Yuri.)

Yuri: Hey!

**

Author's Note: Yes, yes, another fic. When I should be finishing all the others. But since I can't work on those in school, I'm working on this one. :p

A/U, written in Alice's POV. Most chapters will probably be about as long as this, so…^^;;

**

I gazed blankly out the window. The stars and moon were unusually bright this night. I'd given up on trying to figure where we were going a few hours ago; the countryside was nondescript and though the soldiers were talking loudly, I couldn't understand a word of their Japanese.

I glanced in the window at the reflection of two soldiers. One of them was watching me; he had a comical-sounding voice. The other's was rather gruff. Perhaps he ranked higher than the other? In any case, it was obvious they were talking about me.

Something odd appeared on the train, though we were miles from any station. Something subtle but powerful, and very dark. I hated that feeling; it reminded me of that night…and him…

"Oh God," I whispered. It might be Roger Bacon, but…how had he found me here? I didn't even know where I was. Maybe this army was connected to him? I shook my head. Bacon was European, what would he want with the Japanese army? But then why did they capture me?

My whole body tensed at the sound of a man's scream. I clasped my hands together and prayed, Oh God please not him, please not him!

The sound of gunfire rang in my ears. I opened my eyes and stood, seeing one soldier slashed in the chest and another receiving a cut to his neck. The wind shear laughed in delight, startling the last soldier into action. He took a gun out and began firing, yelling something with each shot. Whether his target was the wind shear or Roger Bacon, it didn't matter. The wind shear blocked all the bullets with its scythe. The gun was soon empty. I closed my eyes and a second later, heard a body fall to the ground.

"It's you…" There seemed to be nothing else to say.

"Yes, Roger Bacon. I thought you'd forgotten. It's an honor that you remember me so well."

He was approaching me. In desperation I looked for a way out, but the wind shear gave me a shallow cut on the cheek-a warning.

"You can't escape," Roger Bacon said as he took hold of my arm. "Come along quietly, sister."

The door slid open and I looked up to see a man dressed in black. I could not guess at his nationality, so I yelled, "Help me!" in Chinese, and then repeated it in English.

To my surprise and horror, he laughed. "So this is his choice? A helpless girl?" he spoke in flawless English.

Is he with Roger Bacon? I wondered, right before a hand came over my face. A soft blue glow preceded a fall into darkness.

**

"…So, you're waking up."

It was the man's voice. He was kneeling next to me. Frantically I looked around, but saw only grass and trees and dirt. Where had they taken me? And where was Bacon?

A hand touched my shoulder. I flinched. "Please calm down."

My head snapped back and I said sharply, "Why should I? Aren't you helping him?"

"Please, I can explain!" he said. "Listen to me." There was a tone in desperation in his words that silenced my protests. He hung his head as though ashamed. "I was helping him, but I couldn't go through with it…I'm sorry. I'll help you get back home."

He did seem confused, but what was this sudden change for? Still… "It's alright. You didn't hurt me, and you rescued me. You…you didn't kill any of the soldiers in the other car, did you?"

He shook his head emphatically, and I was surprised to find that I sensed no trace of deceit.

"Why weren't you involved?"

Now he almost sounded embarrassed. "I was…delayed." He shook his head, messing up his brown hair. "C'mon…we should get to a town soon." He helped me stand and then began walking.

"W-wait!"

He turned back, frowning. "What is it?"

"I don't know your name."

His brown eyes widened. "You're right. My name is Sasha."

Sasha? It sounded like a Russian name. "I'm Alice Elliot. Please, call me Alice."

Sasha nodded, his hand reaching up to toy with a talisman around his neck. "Alice, then." He looked around and then pointed to something behind me. I turned and saw a path. It looked like it had been worn down over years, but there was also vegetation creeping up to it. "Let's follow that. It should bring us to a town."

"Alright." That made sense to me. I was simply glad Roger Bacon wasn't here. As we walked down the path, I looked at him through the corner of my eyes, trying to get a better impression of who he was.

Sasha was of average height, though a little slim in frame. Medium brown hair, unruly, and brown eyes to match. His black clothes were loose fitting and rather plain. And around his neck, the talisman he wore.

"I don't have any weapons hidden."

"W-what?" I stammered. Realizing he must have noticed, I shook my head. "No, that's not it-" I dropped my gaze, but not before noticing he had black gloves on.

"Dead end that way."

We had arrived at a fork. I looked up and followed his gaze to a small clearing. Sasha turned to the branch in front of us. "What's the use of this one?" he wondered.

The path led into a river it seemed, but when I looked across, there was a path leading away. I pointed it out to him. "The path must have gotten washed out."

He shrugged. "Guess it's left for now." I followed him down the turn.

"Oh…there are sluice gates," I said, seeing three. "We can shut off the water flow, and the path will drain."

Sasha examined all of the sluice gates, then shook his head. "It's no good. This one needs a handle," he said, tapping the sluice gate, "and the other two are rotten. Let's see…" He went back to one of the rotten ones and started tugging on the handle.

"Are you having trouble?" I asked. He was grunting as he pulled on it.

He gritted his teeth. "I-think-it's-stuck!" He pulled so hard that he threw himself off balance and fell flat on his back. I covered my mouth, although I'm sure he heard my laugh. Sasha got back on his feet, ripped off his gloves, and tried again. This time the handle came off. "Got it! Here."

I took the handle as he slipped his leather gloves back on. Taking the handle back to the other gate, it took Sasha only a few seconds to jam it on and start cranking. The sluice gate closed.

"Now all we have to do is wait for it to drain," Sasha said. "Let's look around."

A small path off to the side led us to a run-down shack. The front wall was completely gone and the other three didn't look like they'd last long. But something drew my attention.

"What's this?" I knelt down and touched the blue circle, startled when it glowed white.

"Must be…these are supposed to keep monsters away. It repels them. Usually it works on the surrounding area as well, so…" He looked around. "If we're going to rest, we should rest here."

"Alright."

He spent the next few minutes gathering sticks and grass for a fire. Next Sasha set to lighting the fire. After a few false starts, he had it going. The blaze lit his face, and I realized he was only a few years older than me. He was Asian-pretty sure Japanese, not Chinese. But he had a Russian name, and lighter eyes.

"Are you Japanese?" I asked.

He looked impressed. "Yeah. Well, half." I guessed that the other half was Russian then. "Most Europeans would guess Chinese before Japanese, though. How'd you know?"

"Well, I've seen some Chinese people and some Japanese soldiers. I'm starting to pick up on the differences."

Sasha nodded. "You were in Changchun, right?"

"Yes. It's a good thing you speak English though."

He seemed puzzled, perhaps because I had brought it up so abruptly. "Why?"

"I don't know any Japanese or Russian."

"But you do know Chinese. That's good."

"A little-oh, you knew what I was saying?" Now I was curious. "How many languages do you speak?"

"Four. English, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian. How about you?"

"English, of course…a bit of Chinese, though my accent's horrible." He chuckled, confirming my suspicions of how mangled my Chinese was. I was a bit put out by this. The missionaries had said I was decent, but perhaps to a more fluent speaker my accent sounded atrocious. "I'm pretty good in Latin and French."

"Latin? That's interesting. I know a handful of words…"

Our conversation was relaxed and casual though we barely knew each other. It reminded me of the cafés I had been to in France…in Rouen…

"…right?"

"Huh?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, you're tired, aren't you?"

"Oh…a bit…" Today had been rather eventful, what with getting captured and all.

"Go on. Get some sleep. I'll keep watch."

He'd keep watch? How did I know I could trust him? Suspicious questions flooded my mind as I went through all the reasons sleeping could be a bad idea. He'd saved me from Roger Bacon, but he had been helping him in the first place. Why had he changed his mind? What if he changed it again?

"Alice?" Sasha was watching me curiously. "Are you alright? You've been staring at the fire."

"Sasha…may I ask you a question?" I said softly.

His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Sure, what is it?"

"Can I trust you?"

His eyes widened, taken off guard by the question. He was silent for a minute, but then he answered, "Yes, you can."

There was no deceit in his answer, and reassured I went to sleep.

**

Father carefully closed the back door behind him as he came out into the alley. "Sorry to keep you waiting," he said, smiling at me. The smile barely hid his anxiety. "Doyle still hasn't come out of the confessional. And he said he was going to go and meet Cardinal Simon… Has he not shown up yet?"

I looked around the alley, although I already knew the answer. "…Not yet. Father, is he really going to come?"

"Yes, he'll definitely come. He's the only one capable of defeating Roger Bacon…" As he began walking down the steps, I noticed a flash of light out the corner of my eyes and looked. There was a tall gentleman and he was approaching us. I stood, assuming it was Albert Simon. "Hel…What!! You?!"

"Heh heh heh… Pleased to meet you. I'm Roger Bacon."

The introduction was clearly for my own benefit, because my father was already reacting to the danger as Bacon began chanting a spell. "Alice, run!" he said, pushing me in the church's direction when I did not move. As I ran I could hear him calling on a spell, "Blessed Light". I sprinted into the church, dashed past the altar and stopped in front of the confessional. Frantically I began pounding on the door.

"Father Doyle? Please help," I shouted. "It's Roger Bacon--he's outside--we need help!" But it was silent inside the confessional. "Father Doyle? Father Doyle! Please--"

My chest constricted as I felt a large wave of black magic. A man cried out--it was my father. It was then I obeyed him for the last time, running out into the streets of Rouen and away from the church.

**

My eyes were wet with tears as I woke up. I quickly wiped them away, not wanting Sasha to see me crying. But when I looked around, I found him lying on the ground, sleeping.

At first I was upset. He said I could trust him, he was going to keep watch, and now he'd fallen asleep.

But on closer examination, it looked like he'd fallen dead asleep on his feet, his arms and legs spread all out. Sasha must have been exhausted too.

"I wonder how long we've been asleep?" The path was probably drained by now. I walked around the ashes left by our fire and knelt next to him, gently shaking his shoulder. "Sasha. Sasha, wake up…Sasha?" I shook him a little harder. "Wake up."

"…Masks…"

"Hmm?" I bent down, trying to see if his eyes were even opening. "Sasha…" His face was scrunched up, and he was sweating a little.

"No…Masks…shut up…"

He must be having a nightmare, I guessed, and shook him harder. "Sasha, Sasha-" My hand slipped going down to his stomach, and felt something wet. I brought my hand back and saw my fingers lined with blood.

He hadn't fallen asleep; he'd been attacked! "Sasha! Sasha! Are you alright?" I was pushing him hard, but he still wouldn't wake up. "Please, wake up!" I shouted.

At this his eyes finally slid open, and I was surprised to notice flecks of amber in his eyes. He started to push himself off the ground. Then he stopped, holding his stomach.

"Let me help." He held up his shirt as I healed the shallow wound. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine."

His tone made me stiffen. Is he…mad at me? "Are you sure? You were mumbling in your sleep about 'masks'. I thought you were having a nightmare."

"I'm fine, but I'm getting a headache."

"Alright," I said, starting to regret waking him up.

Sasha's harsh expression softened as he watched me. "Sorry, Alice. It's not your fault."

"What happened?" I asked again.

"I got attacked and had a nightmare. But it's alright. I'm fine now. Just taking my bad mood out on innocent bystanders," he said with a guilty smile. I found myself returning the smile, and assuring him that I understood, and wasn't mad.

It completely slipped my mind to ask him what had hurt him.

As we got closer to the sluice gates I heard a kind of squeaking noise. I turned around, my eyes widening as I saw a bat. Before I could react, it dove for me-and then Sasha snagged it, pinning the bat's wings to its sides. He squeezed the bat and I winced at the sound of bones snapping. Once he dropped it, the bat only fluttered a bit before stopping, dead.

"Huh. So there are monsters here," Sasha remarked, looking down at the bat. "That explains the circle-shit!" he winced in pain and I saw another bat, biting into his neck before he also grabbed and crushed it.

"Here." I put my hand on his neck, where the two fang marks were, and concentrated. I took my hand away but then he grabbed it.

"Do you hear that?"

It sounded like…there were more bats. "Oh no."

Sasha smirked as he turned away from me. "Don't worry. Bats are nothing. Do you have anything to fight with?"

Something to fight with? The missionaries in Changchun had given me a dagger, but of course the soldiers had confiscated that. The only thing I had on me was my bible.

As the first bat approached, I lost all of my reluctance to use the holy bible. With two swings, it went down and more swarmed around me.

Sasha was a martial artist, it seemed, because he was able to easily take out bats with quick punches. After a few minutes and many more bites, we were able to rest and heal ourselves.

My companion chuckled as he looked at the bible. "Never would've pegged you a bible-basher."

"There was nothing else to use…"

He laughed easily, perhaps unaware that there could be more monsters about. "I know. But still, bibles are pretty good weapons."

I leaned forward, interested. "Really? Why?"

"Well, it's not much for attacks, I think. But it helps with magic a lot. You use Light-classed magic, right?"

"My talent's really only at seeing things. I can cure, but that's it."

Sasha regarded me for a few minutes before shaking his head. "You really believe that?" he asked, lounging against a rock.

"Huh?"

"Trust me, if your ability was limited to perception, you would not be half as important as you are."

"Then, you should know…" I brought my knees up to my chest and hugged them; I was feeling a bit chilly. "How important am I?"

How important am I to Roger Bacon? Important enough to be worth the deaths of others…my father?

"You could determine humanity's fate…" I gasped aloud; surely he was joking. "…If you wanted to. But you can't do a thing with only a cure spell."

But, he didn't seem to be joking. Did I really have that kind of power, or was he mistaken?

"So how could I learn new spells?"

He shrugged. "Magic's just…knowing what you want and knowing how to use your power to get it. Use what you already know and see if you can get a new use out of it." As I pondered, he stood and brushed the dirt off his pants. "Come on Alice. I hope this path takes us somewhere."

Luckily, it did. After a mishap with two large spiders and a wolf (I refused to go near the spiders, forcing Sasha to deal with both), Sasha pointed out to me two bright lights.

"It should be a village," he reasoned, walking ahead. Suddenly he pitched forward, ending on one knee with his arms supporting him. I approached him, but stopped when I heard a static noise, like a radio not tuned properly.

"Be caref…Guardian…Purgatory…man-eater's…trap…" a woman's voice whispered.

The static stopped shortly after the message ended. I looked all around me, but could not tell where the voice had come from. It had seemed to be from inside my head, but that was impossible. "What was that-"

"Shut up! Shut up, you witch! I'm not your marionette, I'm not some puppet you string up to play with!"

I took a step back at Sasha's explosion. He was filled with rage and frustration and was staring up at the sky, his chest heaving with the violence of the outburst. I ventured to look up but realized there was nothing in the sky either.

"Um, Sasha?"

"What?"

"I don't think the voice was trying to harm us," I said. "I think it was just warning us."

Sasha raked disheveled brown hair through his gloved fingers before fixing me with his eyes. "You don't know her. She's not someone you can trust. That witch has been trying to manipulate me for three years now."

He spoke with such conviction that I knew he wasn't lying. Sasha believed wholeheartedly what he was saying. And yet I thought that the voice was trying to be helpful too. I had never been wrong before, so…how could this be?

I turned my gaze back to the lights. It was obviously a small village and I wondered what could possibly happen in such a place. "We'll just be careful then."

"Yeah, I guess," Sasha grumbled.

We approached the gates of the village. They were locked, so Sasha called out. Two children came in response. I thought that was odd, considering the time of night.

"Could you open the gate?" Sasha asked.

The child wearing a red shirt shook his head. "It's late now. Sorry, but you'll have to stay out."

I walked closer to the gate and got their attention. "Couldn't you open the gate? Please, it's just the two of us."

Both children looked surprised at the sight of me. "That's a girl, right?" the other child asked his brother.

"Yeah, it is!" They started whispering to each other, glancing at me often. I heard words like "fat" and "tasty". I turned to Sasha but he only shrugged with a nonplussed expression.

"Alright then!" The two children, with a great show of courtesy, opened the gate. "Come on in!"

"Thank you," I said as I walked through the gate. I looked at the children again and stared-one brother had red eyes, the other's eyes were yellow. I'd never seen eyes those colors before.

"Okay, we'll be waiting for you at Granny Mayor's house!" The red-eyed child smirked at me, then ran off with his brother chasing him.

There was something suspicious about this village. "Sasha, I think that voice…she was right."

"Hm." Sasha didn't seem convinced; he leaned against a building and looked at the ground.

I thought about the remarks the boys had made and saw a connection. "She said something about man-eaters. What if there are cannibals?"

"Then we'll deal with it," he said impatiently. He tapped the wall with the heel of his boot, then pushed off and began walking into the village. His bad mood was coming back it seemed. The person behind the voice must bother him a lot. I guess I should leave it for now.

To find our way to "Granny Mayor's" house, we asked directions of the first person we met. He expressed astonishment at our coming, saying he had "figgered the whole world had forgotten about Zhaoyang village". I tried to pretend I didn't see the sharp teeth that he constantly bared in friendly smile.

The directions turned out to be very simple; up the street there was a well. The house closest to it was the one we wanted. When we got there, a woman was standing next to the well. Closer, I could hear her humming, then starting to sing. Her voice cracked slightly and I could see Sasha's smirk as he approached her. She was startled, but only briefly; then she began flirting with him, to tell by her coy smile and how she placed her hand on his chest while asking a question. The Chinese flowed too fast for me to make any sense of it; but after a minute, they laughed and broke apart.

"Well, come on," Sasha said, switching back to English with ease. He led the way towards a dilapidated house that sank into the earth. The stairs creaked beneath me as I walked onto the porch.

Sasha sharply motioned for me to be quiet. "What is it?" I mouthed.

"They're talking." I could hear the children's voices, tinged with excitement, and a kind, weary voice, the grandmother. Sasha was listening intently, all his concentration put into hearing.

He gripped my elbow and led me back down the stairs, careful this time to make no noise. "Do you feel anything here? Any energy, like a church?"

I removed my arm and looked around. All the houses looked abandoned, and I wondered why none of the villagers took care of them. There was no sense of life coming from them-had there been an illness recently? As I turned back to Granny Mayor's house, I sensed the power of many souls, bound together in spell. But it wasn't from her house. I turned right and found a pathway winding into the mouth of a cave.

"That?" he asked. Curious, I began walking down the path without answering his question. It felt strange…not like any church I'd ever been in. What could be in a cave?

There was a soft breeze blowing, but as soon as I stepped foot in the cave, the air became still and heavy. The stench of decaying matter was sickening. Even more so was what I saw.

Skulls stared up at me through empty sockets, piled on top of long, white bones that still had thin strings of meat on them. I backed away, bumping into Sasha.

"They're bones…human bones," I said, feeling ill. The smell had become overbearing and I knelt as Sasha went forward to examine them.

"So Koudelka was telling the truth."

I swallowed and stood up. Trying to at least seem calm, I asked, "Who's Koudelka?"

"The witch." He tried to move one of the skulls but found it impossible. Instead he turned back to me. "You're pale, Alice." Sasha sounded surprised. He touched my chin with the same leather glove that had touched the skull. My body stiffened and his dark eyes softened. "I see. This is your first sight of death, isn't it?"

"Y-yes." It was strange; dealing with ghosts was one thing, but corpses were different. I had never seen a person die. Even with my father I had only sensed it. For a horrible second, I wondered what my father's corpse looked like-like this?-before I shoved the thought away. I mustn't think of that. I must be strong. "But you…you're calm."

Why was Sasha so impassive? Had he seen many deaths? Had he…caused many?

"I saw a woman killed by monsters when I was nine. And after that…" He trailed off, uncertain what to say. Finally he shrugged. "It doesn't affect me much anymore."

"So, you travelers like our shrine?"

I jumped, startled by the voice. "Shrine?" It looked more a burial ground than a shrine.

"The villagers built this shrine to pacify the Tortoise God. What utter nonsense! He's been gone for three months now! With him gone, we're free to do whatever we like…we can even change into humans. The only problem is we get hungry…"

His vacant gaze rested on the pile of bones and he licked his lips, as if recalling every morsel he had eaten. In a moment, I saw a lean old dog, his sides sunken in with hunger. The image faded, but I now knew what was so terribly wrong about the old man.

"And it's all thanks to our great protector, Yamaraja!"

"Yamaraja?" Sasha said coolly. He turned to look in the darkness of the cave, past the gleaming bones. I did as well and saw a small shrine with a closed screen, lit from the inside by a candle. "I suppose the little shrimp would be in that itty-bitty shrine?" he said in a mocking tone. I was surprised at his boldness, and more than a little relieved to know he wasn't worried about our situation.

The elderly man stomped his foot. "You...such insolence! But no matter…the dinner for our guests will be soon." With a disturbing smile he left, singing a strange song-it sounded like the same the woman by the well had sung.

"Don't have to be fancy, just tasty," Sasha muttered. I was startled to realize he had switched back to English-and I had understood the entire conversation in Chinese. "He says-"

"I know what he said."

Sasha gave me a curious look, but I shrugged it off. Perhaps my brief Chinese lessons were returning to me. In any case, there were much more important things to discuss. "That man was once a dog. These people aren't human, they're all animals."

Instead of objecting in disbelief to the theory, Sasha nodded. "Makes sense. Zhaoyang is a rural town, and yet we haven't seen any animals yet. That explains why." He put a hand on a long, thick bone in the stack. It might have been someone's thigh. "All the real people are here. We'll be joining them if we don't find a way out."

I shivered at how coldly he said it, speaking lightly of his own death. What was it about him? "I don't intend to die here," I told him. He nodded his agreement.

"Neither do I." His voice was full of determination and I took heart in the change. My companion had almost seemed as inhuman as the village's residents, but no; he was human, and he was real.

As we left the shrine and returned to the well, the two children began calling for us. I looked up at Sasha, asking his opinion. The villagers were watching us, and he conceded that there wasn't much else we could do. Again we approached the broken down house. Just before going in, he stopped me. "Show them that we're armed," he whispered, "but don't let them know we know." I carried my bible at my side.

Once we were inside, the two boys turned to their grandmother. "Grandma, look! We got a girl!"

"Sorry to bother you," Sasha said. He was speaking in Chinese again, but slower, making sure to enunciate his words clearly. I supposed he was doing it for my understanding, and though I appreciated the thoughtfulness, it made me feel rather idiotic. "We need some beds for the night. And food, if it's not too much trouble."

The grandmother laughed, showing sharp yellowed teeth. "Don't worry, we'll have a grand feast with our guests."

Sasha glanced at me and I spoke up, "T-thank you ma'am. It's awfully kind of you to take care of us like this, having just shown up in the middle of the night."

The grandmother smiled at me. "How polite you are! But you needn't worry about your manners…for they won't change the taste of your meat."

I hoped I had misheard or misunderstood, but Sasha laughed as if she'd told a joke and said, "Kind woman! You all talk as if you're going to eat us!"

"At least one of you has brains!" the old woman retorted, a flash penetrating her cloudy eyes. "Eat you both, we will! We'll have a feast with this girl…you could be an appetizer," she told Sasha with a distasteful look, "Too little fat on your bones, won't be tasty…Now before we start, I need to tell Yamaraja…"

She stood up shakily and made her way towards us. I clutched my bible to my chest, but Sasha stood still. The grandmother passed by us and the children followed her.

"We'll be at the door, so don't try to escape," the amber-eyed one called out merrily.

"We're trapped," I whispered when the door slammed me into reality.

"Looks that way."

His voice was tranquil again, though we were both facing death. It infuriated me. "How can you be calm?" I demanded.

"Get mad and you'll make yourself hungry," he told me with a slight smile. I frowned, letting him know I was not amused with his dark humor. "But let's save our strength. Aren't you tired?"

He had switched back to Chinese again, but his question confused me more than the language. How could anyone be sleepy at a time like this?

He yawned suddenly and loudly, his mouth stretching wider than I would have thought possible. "Yeah, I am too." He sat down on the ground, and then plucked at my sleeve to make me sit too. I started to ask what he thought he was doing, but he pressed a finger to my lips and shook his head no. Laying himself down, he closed his eyes. Then he opened his right one and mouthed something. Not knowing what he meant, I did the obvious and lay down next to him. There was about a meter of ancient, warped wood between us, a distance I felt comfortable with. Sasha smiled reassuringly before closing his brown eyes again. After a minute or two, he adopted a slower, heavier pattern of breathing, though I could tell he was not really asleep.

So this was a ruse? It might work. If the children thought we were sleeping, they might lower their guard. So Sasha did have a plan.

The thick air and faint coppery scent filled my lungs as I made an effort to fake a restful sleep. The knots in the wood pressed hard against me. With my eyes closed, I felt for a moment like part of the cursed village, and then wondered if the whole village was only sleeping, and this a nightmare that would break when it awoke.

I heard a creaking noise and caught my breath. "Are they sleeping?"

"Looks like. C'mon, let's take a bite."

I could not have kept still another moment; luckily I heard Sasha shift and stand. I stood as well and saw the startled expressions on both children's faces.

"You tricked us!"

Sasha shrugged. "Maybe you should learn to sneak around better."

"Now what are we gonna do? Everyone will know we tried to sneak a bite. They'll eat us!" one of them wailed.

"If we're gonna get eaten, I wanna taste the girl first!"

Sasha shook his head. "You just don't learn, do you? Why don't you show yourselves?"

The children exchanged glances and smirked. Then we were faced with monsters instead of children. They somewhat resembled a mix between a cat's head and a bear's body. Standing on their hind legs, they reached up to my chest. With fierce teeth and long claws, the two demons seemed quite formidable.

"Stay behind me," Sasha directed. "I'll take care of these guys."

"Are you sure?"

As answer he blocked one of the bear-cat's advances with a kick to its head. The monster snarled and tried to slash at him. He grabbed the paw and pulled the cat off-balance, at the same time bringing his knee up. There was a howl as blood gushed from its snout over its red fur.

So distracted, I did not notice the other approaching until it tried to attack me. The claws caught me on the shoulder; I cried out and then, taking my book, slammed it into his head. A black boot entered my vision and the bear-cat flew into the wall, breaking through the rotted wood.

Behind Sasha was the other demon, seemingly dead. Its fur was crimson from blood; if it was alive, it would not be arising anytime soon. My shoulder throbbed from the wound, but I tried to ignore it for a moment. "Are you alright, Sasha?"

"Yeah, he didn't hurt me. Except for a few scratches, but they're shallow." He frowned. "You need to heal your wound though."

"It's not too bad," I said. It did hurt very badly, but I thought I probably shouldn't make too much trouble about it. Since it was my left arm, it shouldn't be too bad. "I want to save my strength for when I really need it."

"You do," he said, "Your arm's hanging like it's dead. I doubt you can fight long like that. If you don't want to use your magic…" He searched in a small leather satchel at his waist, bringing out a leaf. "Take off your coat."

"What?"

"You can either eat these or put it directly on the wound. It works faster when it's direct."

Speed was important, so I shrugged off my blue jacket. Though my shirt was cotton and long-sleeved, I still felt chilly and shivered.

"That's a short skirt for autumn," Sasha muttered. I blushed and tugged it down, self-conscious. He grabbed my upper arm to hold me still. With his other hand and mouth, he ripped the leaf, holding one half between his teeth as he squeezed that other half. Tiny green drops fell on the wound and immediately the pain lessened.

Sasha was working quickly, well aware of our situation. Outside it was silent, bringing my nerves to a fever pitch. Why was it so quiet? Weren't they preparing for a feast? Did they somehow know we were trying to escape?

I gasped, tearing away from his grip. I stared at the door, hearing them again, louder.

"What's wrong?" Sasha asked. So he hadn't heard. It made me even surer of what the sound had been.

"The villagers-their ghosts," I corrected myself. "They're angry at how they've been bound."

"They're bound?"

"In the shrine…they're bound to the shrine. It's how their corpses are kept in place."

The low moan of the villagers was cut through by growls and shrieks.

"And that would be the villagers' pets!" Sasha picked up my jacket and flung it at me. "Let's find the granny. She has to be the animals' leader."

I tugged on my jacket. "At the shrine, right?"

"At the shrine for Yamaraja." Sasha opened the door and swore softly. "You bastard."

I joined him at the door and gasped. Most of the shacks we had seen before were gone or damaged badly. So much blood had spilled that patches of the ground were awash in it, making a brownish-red mud.

"This is the village," I whispered. Before it had seemed like a nightmare, but now it was hell.

"What's left of it," Sasha said. He stepped down the porch, motioning for me when I didn't come. I followed him closely, not wanting to be left behind in this forsaken village.

Suddenly he stopped. I walked into him and stumbled back. Wondering why he had halted, I looked up and saw two transparent figures rising from a pool of blood. They looked as if they were swimmers lifting themselves from Acheron-except it soon became apparent there was nothing more to lift; their bodies ended at the waist.

The diminutive ghosts had long, flowing hair and soft faces, obviously female. But when I noticed their missing breasts, I shuddered to think what the demons had done.

They'd been trapped in this village by the animals. As an exorcist, I felt that I should help them find peace…but could I even begin to…?

One of the girls was dragging herself along with her arms in fluid movements that seemed natural to her ghostly form. She approached me with malice in her eyes, but I only recited a prayer in Latin, hoping her soul could find rest. Instead she attacked me. I blocked the attack with my bible, and she continued her advance, screeching at me. I backed into one of the remains of a shack, and then I fell backwards after something bit me in the shin. A rat's large tail disappeared into the shadows of the little house. At a scraping noise, I turned to see the girl again. Her lips were twisted in a horrible smile as she reached forward with a hand stripped of flesh.

"Nightmare!" Sasha cried out; a spell hit the girl. She slumped forward and her eyes closed as she vanished. Not for good; she was not at peace. But for a little while.

"Cure," I whispered, healing my leg.

"Why didn't you attack?" Sasha asked, wading through the remains of the shack to reach me.

"I didn't want to cause her anymore pain," I murmured. With my leg still aching, I massaged it with my right hand. Slowly I stopped, then looked up at my supposed rescuer. "That magic."

"What?"

"It's like Roger Bacon's," I said hesitantly, feeling a thrill of fear worse than when the children had wanted to eat me. "Why is your magic like his?"

"Don't be silly," he said glibly, "I'm not nearly as powerful as him."

It wasn't the power that was similar, it was the aura that bothered me. Both his magic and his aura, as I probed further into it, reminded me of the warlock to a depth that was startling.

"Alice." Sasha's voice was pleading as he knelt down. "We're both Dark classes." I wonder what my face told him to make him beg like that.

Our eyes met. He was anxious for me to believe him, and I did not know if that meant he was guilty or not. Finally I nodded, choosing to trust him for the moment. He was the only one I could trust in this horrible place.

"I'm sorry."

"No, it's alright. Just please, fight your attacker next time. We can set them at peace after we've dealt with the demons." As I smiled sheepishly, I could feel his relief that I believed him, yet though there was relief, there was no sense of joy. It made me suspicious-and then I reminded myself that now was not the time. "Let's go get that granny mayor," he said with a false smile.

She was still in the shrine when we arrived. At our footsteps, she turned and asked, horrified, "What did you do to my children?"

"They're dead," Sasha said. Perhaps the change back to Chinese made me imagine the cold hatred in his voice. "Now it's your turn."

"Bah! Even if you kill me, Yamaraja will never let you out of this village."

"I could just destroy his shrine," Sasha said with a nod to the wooden box. "Goodbye Yamaraja."

"Can you get over the corpses?" the elderly woman asked, smiling. "They will always protect the shrine and Yamaraja."

"Not if you die," I realized. "You were the one who bound them together. So if you die…"

"You'll have to catch me first!" she taunted, "and POOF!" There was a brilliant flash of light and a loud cackle. "I'm gone!"

I slowly opened my eyes, still wincing from the sudden increase in light. The woman really was gone, but her voice lingered.

"You'll never find me! Wither and die in this village where the morning never comes!"

Sasha snorted derisively. "I'll find you and bag you, hag." He looked at me and indicated the cave's mouth. "Let's go." He took off at a steady run and, mindful we had to work quickly, followed at the same pace.

So I followed him back to the well, where we encountered the grandmother. She only laughed and disappeared, making Sasha mutter to himself about 'damn cats'. I smiled in spite of the situation.

"Is she hiding in her house?" I asked. It certainly was close enough.

"No, I don't think so. Let's try going back the way we came in."

A movement caught my eye. Either it was the flickering light of the torches or something had just moved by a pile of wood. I could make out a human aura, neither ghost nor demon. Concerned, I approached the huddled figure, realizing it was a man. He trembled the closer I got to him, obviously frightened. I knelt near him and said, "Excuse me sir-"

He cried out in abject terror, flinging some sort of amulet at me. He held it between us like it was some sort of shield, chanting a prayer as he stared at me with wide eyes.

"Definitely not exorcist material," Sasha remarked to me before addressing the man. "That's not going to do anything. We're not demons. And be quiet before you attract all the real ones."

The man calmed down slowly, looking quite embarrassed now. Even in the dark shadows I could make out his flushed cheeks. "My apologies miss."

"Don't worry," I said. "I first thought you were a demon myself."

"What are you doing here?" Sasha asked suspiciously. His eyes moved to the large packs lying at the man's feet. "You're a peddler?" The man nodded. "I don't think there's much business in these parts," Sasha said sardonically.

The peddler laughed nervously. "Yes, yes you're right. I had no idea what this village was when I came here." The words tumbled out so quickly I could barely make sense of them, but between his emotions and the few I did know, I was able to make out his message. "Thank goodness my wife gave me this amulet, I don't know what I would've done without it-!"

He held a small charm suspended on a string. Despites its diminutive and cheap appearance, I could sense quite some power from it. I wished I had something like it.

"Hey, what kind of stuff do you have?" Sasha nudged one of the packs with his boot. "Anything that'll help us fight?" He drew out his satchel again, searching until he found a bundle of Yuan, the Chinese currency. My eyes widened at the large amount and the peddler quickly got down to business. He first offered herbs similar to what Sasha had given me and called them Thera leaves.

"Thera leaves?" I asked. I wondered why I had never heard of any such plant before if it could heal so well.

"They grow in very remote areas, so they're hard to find. But if you see one bloom it'll bring you good luck for a whole year."

Sasha clearly wasn't interested, and I suspected he already had enough to last us a while. "Not items. Equipment."

The peddler nodded and brought out an assortment of accessories, weapons, and armor. He began to bring out a slingshot but then, seeing the weapons we possessed, he perhaps judged we would not be interested and put it back.

Sasha quickly skipped over the weapons and armor, which were similar to the articles we were already using. He instead rummaged through accessories, searching for something useful. I browsed through them too, but I was more interested in design than practicality. I lingered over the bracelets but blanched when he named the prices. Sasha probably had enough money, but to ask him to spend such a ridiculous amount…

"Two leather belts and bandannas," Sasha said.

At his order, I looked up in surprise. "I don't need a bandanna. I already have one."

"The one in your hair? But it's blue."

I looked down at the orange bandannas with their orderliness that was laughable in Zhaoyang. They were folded in half diagonally and then neatly into thirds, only a bit rumpled from their journey in the pack. Theirs was a similar patterning to mine, if not identical. "I'm sure they're just dyed differently."

"Hmm…" Sasha removed the glove from his right hand and felt one of the orange cloths. Then he moved behind me and I felt a light tug as mine was examined. "You're right. Just one bandanna then."

The vendor was slightly disappointed but maintained a cheery disposition as Sasha made his purchase. He handed a belt to me. At first I tried to slip it around my jacket, but it looked rather awkward, and felt odd too. I took off my jacket and tied the sleeves around my neck. The belt fit nicely over my cotton blouse.

Sasha had fitted both bandanna and belt loosely. The orange bandanna knotted behind his neck was a comedic contrast to the black shirt, but his leather belt looked rather nice, providing a better view of his physique…I blushed and then scolded myself. I didn't even know if I could trust him, and here I was…but I had decided I needed to trust him…

"Come on Alice. We've given the cat enough of a head start."

"Yes," I agreed. To the peddler I said, "Don't worry, everything will be over soon."

"Either Yamaraja will be dead or we will," Sasha added. I shot him a look and he smiled slightly. "Just telling the facts."

"I'm sure we're already well aware of our danger," I scolded him in English. "You don't need to remind us of it-Sasha!" He was already walking away, his brisk pace carrying him down one of the narrow streets.

I ran quickly to catch up with him. My legs were shorter than his and I almost had to jog to meet up with his speed. "Are you really so scared of death?" he asked as I approached him.

"I'm starting to be scared of you," I said quietly; he laughed in response. "It's no joke!"

"Why? Because I don't care? We're all going to die. I've seen it too often to be scared. Like I said, it doesn't affect me."

"It should!" I shouted, not caring what attention it brought. "It's the loss of a human life!"

He laughed again. "Aren't you a Christian?"

"So?"

"So death is only a reunion with your Heavenly Father. You shouldn't fear it, but embrace it." He stopped in one of the pools of blood, the liquid pulling down around his boots, and looked at me. "Or do you have a reason to fear your Judgment Day?"

I bristled at the rude question. "No."

"Didn't think so. Your aura is the purest I've ever felt. You must hate anything tainted…and death is stained with darkness."

I hate anything tainted? And he's a Dark class…does he think I hate him? "I don't hate it. And, and I'm sorry. This isn't the time to be arguing."

"Don't apologize. That makes it twice. Anyways, most people say I'm a pain to get along with." He nodded when he finished, as if agreeing with what they thought.

"Well, I'm probably not the most agreeable person right now either," I said.

"So we have two unsociable people, armed and in an extremely violent situation," Sasha said thoughtfully. "This could be interesting."

There was nothing I could think to say to that. Instead I watched as he stepped out of the pool, his footsteps marked by the red. Perhaps I just shouldn't worry about being on his good side, as long as I wasn't on his bad side.

There was a low growling noise; as I searched for the sound, I found three silhouettes skulking in the shadows of the houses. They were headed toward Sasha. Worried, I ran closer to them and then felt their demonic aura. "Sasha!" I called out; and because of this, I drew the dogs' attention and was the first attacked.

I grabbed my bible as all three approached. The first I whacked away with my book, but then both the second and third pounced. I quickly went down under the brunt of their weight.

The attack became a blur of large jaws and huge teeth. The dogs crowded me, all trying to kill me at once. I felt the power of the belt as I knocked one of the monstrous dogs away. Upon reaching me, Sasha lifted that dog and tossed it away, then kicked a second, drawing both of them to him.

Now faced with only one, I found fighting much easier. I repeatedly bashed its head with my bible, not giving it a chance to attack until a last blow finally killed the beast.

"Thank you Alice," Sasha said, helping me off the ground. "I forgot we need to stay close together. Are you alright?"

"I think so…" But as I stood, I saw the cuts on Sasha. "You're not," I gasped. Opening my bible, I drew on its holy power to heal the damage claws had dealt. "Is that better?"

Sasha seemed impressed. "You're the best healer I've seen. It wasn't much though-just some scratches from the mutts," he said, indicating the two he had killed. Both had snapped necks.

Sasha was a strong fighter. I wondered how he would fare against Roger Bacon before dismissing the notion as ridiculous. Bacon was a powerful warlock. It had taken him little time to destroy my father, who had been employed by the Vatican. And yet, perhaps because Sasha was Dark-classed…if he could defend with darkness but attack with Light…

I shook my head. It was impossible for a person to have two different Elements.

A sharp cackle pulled me into reality. The grandmother dodged Sasha's kick, taunting him with, "Close, but you'll never catch me!" She disappeared again and Sasha started muttering in a low voice. If I listened closely I heard a stream of obscenities, so I chose to ignore Sasha for the moment.

Cautiously I moved forward a few feet, listening for any monsters and spirits. Instead, I heard snippets of a conversation. Had some of the demons retained their human form?

"Sasha…do you hear that?"

His eyes narrowed as he focused on the sound. "Yeah." He grabbed my wrist and forced me to stay behind him as we moved forward.

They were two men, standing in front of the gate. One was elderly, while the other seemed to be in his forties or fifties. The older man, dressed in red robes, was kneeling as he examined a symbol as wide as the gate. He murmured a few words in Chinese that I didn't know.

"The Wind of Heaven…that's Dehuai."

"Dehuai?" I asked Sasha.

"Alice, are they human or demon?"

"Human."

Instead of looking relieved, he frowned. "Keep your guard up. They might be working for him."

"Who's Dehuai?" I asked again.

"I think he put that curse on this village. Especially because that dog before mentioned a 'Tortoise God'…don't act like anything's wrong though. Just keep an eye on both of them."

Still mystified on what was happening, I followed Sasha. "Hey!" he shouted, calling their attention. "You guys stuck too?"

The younger man started, but the elder only turned to us. "We are. At first we might ask the villagers for some help, but then…" he glanced at the street we had come from, his monocle glinting in the light of the full moon. "They turned into demons."

"Yeah, they got pissed when we told 'em we didn't want to be their feast."

The elder chuckled, shaking his head. I noticed then he was not entirely bald, but had a small pigtail. "I can imagine. So, they're man-eating demons. A village nearby employed me to find out what was wrong and take care of it. Now all that's left is to eliminate these demons."

Sasha smirked. "We'll just get out of your way then."

"Hey, handsome, don't you want to stay and watch?" the other man asked, swaggering up to Sasha. Sasha made no response, but looked the man over, not with disgust or any apparent interest, but a cool, appraising eye.

"Both of you move out of the circle," he said. "I'm going to see if I can get that door opened."

"Go ahead, but I've already tried," the older man said.

Sasha moved into the circle after they cleared out. He placed his hand on the exact center and closed his eyes. With a few Latin words, black tendrils emerged from his fingers, wrapping themselves along the circle's design.

"Impressive," the elderly man said. To me he remarked, "Dark-classed?"

"Yes," I said. Not knowing what else to do, I introduced myself. "I'm Alice Elliot. An exorcist. Though I wasn't quite expecting to work here."

Sasha opened his dark brown eyes and looked at me with annoyance. But…why? There was nothing wrong with telling my name. The man didn't work with Roger Bacon…unlike him. I steadfastly looked away as Zhuzhen-the old man's name-explained he was an Adept, which was similar to an exorcist as far as I understood. And his companion was Meiyuan, an acupuncturist skilled at manipulating the control a person had over their weapon. "I think he put your friend off," Zhuzhen remarked. "He tends to scare off customers with his certain…predilections."

Meiyuan did not comment on this, too busy watching Sasha. I wondered what tastes Sasha had. He hadn't seemed offended by the acupuncturist's advance, although I did not mention this.

Oblivious to my thoughts, Sasha had forced his magic over half of the circle. He was slowing, tiring, and I realized his magic came only from practice, and not any sort of natural talent. His back sagged as if loaded with a great weight and I thought he would collapse. Zhuzhen grabbed my arm when I moved forward. "Not now," he said. "He won't be able to make a second attempt."

Sasha was breathing hard as his magic inched forward. His eyelids drooped as he struggled to stay conscious. Finally the circle was covered in black magic-and then it erupted in flames.

The fire covered him so quickly I only heard him yell in surprise. Then it was gone and he was left laying facedown, his arm badly burnt. Bible open, I ran to him and rolled him over. His arm had a horrible odor because of the burns and I was unsure if I could heal all the damage. The first time I cast the healing spell, it only cured half the burns. Sasha stirred but did not open his eyes. His mouth was set in a grimace from the pain.

Luckily, another Cure spell took care of the remaining burns. Zhuzhen was kind enough to place his canteen at Sasha's lips and let him drink, which helped him to come around. His eyes fluttered open, the movement making his long eyelashes more noticeable. "Safeguards…why do I always forget to check for safeguards?" he complained.

Zhuzhen shook his head. "I didn't remember either."

Sasha's almond eyes narrowed at the Adept. "With your long experience, how can you forget?"

The Chinese man laughed. "It's long and I'm old. Don't sulk; you're alive and, thanks to your friend here, perfectly fine." He smiled at me. "Quite a talented healer."

I blushed at the praise, embarrassed but pleased. Sasha only scowled, making me wonder why he was so suspicious. Then the man's Fire aura became more apparent as he examined the circle again. The safeguard was fire and he was a Fire class…Sasha suspected Zhuzhen of setting the safeguard!

"Yes, I'm sure of it," Zhuzhen said. "You can't get out this way."

"Ah, I hate this, I hate it," Meiyuan complained. "We're trapped."

Watching Meiyuan fidget, I did not think he was acting. Zhuzhen seemed genuine too, contrary to Sasha's suspicions. His aura must be coincidence; perhaps Dehuai was also a Fire class. I believed that he had been hired by another village to find out what was wrong. The only complaint I could find was the funny odor surrounding him.

"We're not trapped, stop crying," Zhuzhen said in exasperation. "All seals are locks, with keys to open them. We just need to find out what that key is."

"The shrine…?" I wondered, looking at Sasha. He was chewing on a leaf, grinding it with his teeth before swallowing.

"You're probably right. Yamaraja must be the key to this seal."

"And to get to Yamaraja, we have to ki…destroy the cat demon," I said.

"I take it these two are the leaders?" Zhuzhen said. "You both seem to know what you're doing. I'll help." He turned to the acupuncturist, who was fiddling with his blue headband. "Are you helping, or staying here?"

"I'll dodge monsters here," Meiyuan answered.

"Alright. So, Alice and…" He paused, waiting for Sasha to introduce himself; Sasha turned away and walked into the village.

"His name is Sasha," I told the Adept.

We trailed behind Sasha as we searched for the demon. Even when Sasha slowed to let us catch up, I remained closer to Zhuzhen, glad for the elder's presence. After all, Zhuzhen hadn't been aiding Roger Bacon earlier in the night.

The cat demon had returned to the same hiding place. Her cocky grin disappeared quickly at Zhuzhen's approach. "What is this smell?!" she demanded. Before anyone could answer, she vanished, choosing to hide somewhere else.

"So your smell wards off demons?" Sasha asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'm not sure if that's a blessing or a curse."

Zhuzhen threw his head back, allowing himself a hearty chuckle. "It's not me, it's something I have. It only works at cat demons though."

"That explains the dogs," I said. Both men looked at me, puzzled. None of the demons were visible yet, but I could sense them close by. I focused on the closest aura and waited until it flared. I spun around as the dog leaped from where it had hid, giving the dog a heavy blow with my bible. It was an instant knockout, but the dog's momentum, which I had forgotten to consider, carried its body into mine, bowling me over.

Sasha smirked. "Trying to show off?" he asked as he bent down to help me.

"Sasha, behind you!" I said. Before Sasha could turn, a fireball from Zhuzhen had sent the second demon running. The Adept was shaking his head.

"At least she was paying attention."

Sasha frowned as he looked down at me. "Alright. We'll call it even." With his help, the heavy dog was lifted off and I could breathe much more comfortably. "You fine?"

"Yeah-yes. It hurts a bit, but it's not too bad." I was too embarrassed over what had happened to complain, but it really hurt.

The woman reappeared at the well. She seemed quite predictable, really. "So she'll be at the shrine next?" Sasha mused. The logic made sense to me, so I agreed and Zhuzhen followed us. The peddler must have hidden himself again, because I did not see him but felt his presence.

Inside the shrine, there was no demon. After a few seconds I felt the danger and backed away as several ghosts emerged from their corpses-only to hear growls behind me.

"We're surrounded."

"Well, that was clever," Sasha muttered.

"There's over a dozen," Zhuzhen said, his eyes sweeping over the shrine, "and that's just spirits."

"Do you think you could buy me a little time?" Sasha asked. "I know a spell that might take care of this, but it'll take a bit."

I looked at Zhuzhen. We both nodded and then turned. Faced with the dogs, I was quickly occupied keeping all four away from Sasha. To my horror, they all attacked at once, bringing me to my knees. I felt a strong heat behind me, undoubtedly from Zhuzhen's flame attacks. I quickly cast Cure and stood again, only to fall back as they attacked.

"Just a little more…" Sasha's voice was strained. "There! Revelation!"

A light grew over him, filling the entire room. Then the light turned black and struck, killing all the monsters at once.

"Wow," I whispered, turning to him. "Sasha, that's…Sasha?"

I got up on my knees as Sasha fell backwards, hoping to break his fall. And I did, ending up on my back with my lower legs pinned under me. "Ow," I said. It really didn't hurt, but it was awfully awkward, especially with Sasha's head on my chest.

Zhuzhen used his staff as a lever, sticking it between Sasha and me to roll him over.

"Wore himself out with that spell," Zhuzhen told me. "Rather risky…but it worked. Do you have any mana leaves?"

"Mana leaves?" I echoed, wondering if I had heard him right.

"To strengthen the mind. Well, maybe he has some." Zhuzhen sat down and took Sasha's satchel, rifling through it. "Let's see…ah." He took out a leaf and ripped it into small pieces, slowly feeding Sasha.

Sasha's eyes began to open after the third bite, though he was rather drowsy until he finished the leaf. Then his eyes focused on my face. "You alright Alice?"

I realized I was still bleeding. My hand brushed against the wound as I healed it. "Yes. What about you?"

"Me? My head hurts. That's it."

"No more spells," I said firmly. He did seem worn out. One of the missionaries in Changchun had told me too many spells for a person could be lethal. Sasha was being reckless.

He smiled faintly, wincing at his headache. "Yes ma'am. I don't think I could if I wanted to, anyways. Can't focus enough."

"Good." Zhuzhen and I helped him get back on his feet. Despite the overwhelming effect it had had on both demons and ghosts, the spell had not disturbed a single bone in the pile. There was no way around it; we would have to destroy the cat demon.

"She couldn't have gone down the street," Sasha said. "There's no way she could have snuck past Alice."

"That good of a perception?" Zhuzhen said. "Rather talented, both of you."

Sasha gave another of his confident smirks. "You haven't seen my real talent yet."

I wondered about that. It seemed true; his aura was stronger than most people's, and yet he had no special talent at spell casting. But I suppose we'd find out soon enough. "Is she in her house then?" I asked. "That's the only other place."

My shoes sank into the red mud as we left the shrine. Was it only me, or were there more pools of blood than before? It was almost as if the massacre was happening all over again. But there were no ghosts here to make such a phenomenon occur. Could the very earth remember the blood spilled on it?

A hand shook my shoulder. Sasha's voice reached my ears. "Alice?"

"The whole village remembers," I told him. Maybe my voice was too soft for him to hear. He took my hand and led me to Zhuzhen. I heard someone ask if I was all right. "I'm fine."

They both looked unsure. I closed my eyes, blocking out the pools of blood. I faced the grandmother's house and walked inside, followed by Sasha and Zhuzhen.

Sure enough, the demon reappeared, only to be put off by the odor around Zhuzhen. Sasha was put off too. "You can't keep scaring her off with that smell."

"It's attracting her too." Zhuzhen brought out a hidden pouch from within his Adept robes. He opened it and a fresh wave of the awful odor came. Inside there was some kind of blue plant.

"Catnip," Zhuzhen explained. "The dye is what gives off the bad smell. To cats it's horrible. The smell of catnip attracts them but the pungent dye is even stronger to their noses. If the smell is strong enough, the cat demon goes mad."

"So, let's drive her up the wall," Sasha said, grinning.

"We'll have to burn it." Zhuzhen looked around the room but didn't seem to find what he was looking for. "We need a metal vessel and some wood."

"I'll get them," Sasha volunteered. "Are you alright if I leave you here?" he asked, looking at me.

I understood what he was really asking. 'Will you be alright if I leave you with Zhuzhen.' He wanted to know if I had any doubts about Zhuzhen. If I did, he wouldn't leave.

"Zhuzhen and I will be fine," I answered, smiling. I did trust Zhuzhen. All he had done was help us. Sasha nodded and left.

I took out my bible and began reading. I usually read the scriptures every day. It was a calming ritual. But the movements of the Adept pacing back and forth distracted me.

"He's going out…aren't you wondering if he's fine? Or is he that good a fighter."

"I wouldn't know. We only met a few hours ago," I said. "But he's confident."

"Cockiness is not good in these situations," Zhuzhen grumbled, sitting besides me. "Even if he's sure, you just…don't seem like a person who could watch someone go into danger and not worry."

The comment stung, even though it was obviously not an insult. But I wasn't worried. Why should I be? I doubted he would die. And even if he died…was it really so bad? He had been helping my father's murderer…and his magic was similar…how could he be a good person? It was such a horrible thought.

"What does a class tell you about a person?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Eh? Well…Fire classes like me are usually very vibrant. Water classes can be just so, but are more subtle. But then, sometimes they're also very forceful. Like a tsunami." Zhuzhen tapped his staff as he thought. "Earth classes are mostly straightforward. Air classes are very volatile. They're always interesting to be with. Light classes are very plain in a way-they're usually not devious. Ordered, you could say. There are exceptions, of course."

"Of course," I echoed. "And Dark classes?"

"If you're asking about your companion, I can't make heads or tails of him. His aura seems very agitated, but in this situation…"

"He was troubled before too. I can't tell if I should trust him."

"I think you can. Has he lied to you?"

"No." Only tried to kidnap me.

"I'm pretty sure you can trust him. He reminds me of a good friend I once had. Sometimes you couldn't tell what the devil he was thinking, but he'd never go back on you. He bears such a resemblance…"

But appearances could be deceiving. This village had at first seemed a refuge when it was anything but. Would Sasha suddenly change back into Bacon's accomplice?

"He says he wants to help me get back home," I said aloud. "But there's someone else who doesn't want me to go back. I don't know what he wants from me…but Sasha would probably have to fight him."

"Is that a problem?"

"Sasha couldn't beat him in a straight fight," I said. There was another problem, but that was only if he was lying. For now, I'd assume he was telling the truth. It was the only way to operate here. Later…later… "We both couldn't. But since he's Dark-classed, if Sasha could attack with Light-classed attacks, we could have a chance. A slim chance." I laughed softly. "What am I saying? That's impossible, and even if it wasn't, we still wouldn't have a prayer."

"It is possible," Zhuzhen told me. His eyebrows furrowed as he concentrated. "Master taught a spell to imbue objects with one's aura. Since you're a Light-class you could imbue him with light, so he could attack with light but defend with his own darkness. That's what you were thinking, right?"

Excited, I almost tossed aside the bible before remembering to put it down more reverently. I faced the Adept. "How does it go?"

He licked his lips. Then he tapped his staff on the floor. Then he repeated the process. My heart sank when I realized the answer. "You…don't remember, do you?"

He had a sheepish smile. "I am getting old. I can't remember, but I know it is possible. If it comes back to me I'll tell you."

The door swung open noisily and both Zhuzhen and I raised our weapons. Then we lowered them again, because it was Sasha. He was holding a metal bowl, crusted with dried blood, and a torch.

"Got it."

I winced at the bowl's appearance, but Zhuzhen took the bowl and placed the blue catnip in it. He put the torch on fire himself with a touch of his fingers and put it next to the catnip, making both burn steadily. I wrinkled my nose as the thick smoke rose.

"That is nasty," Sasha commented.

Fortunately, we only had to wait a few seconds before Granny Mayor could bear the odor no longer. She appeared in her human form, but I could see she was losing control of the disguise as she hissed at us. Then she changed.

Similar to her grandchildren, her body resembled more a bear than a cat. Unlike her grandchildren, she was huge, towering above Sasha by a full head. Zhuzhen struck first, casting a fireball at the demon. When it made contact it burst into a wave of flames. Sasha rushed in as the fire subsided, punching twice before claws swept up, catching him on the side of his head. Sasha staggered as blood rushed down. Zhuzhen and I rushed forward, the Adept attacking with his staff as I helped Sasha back. His ear was badly damaged and I cupped my hand over it, whispering the Cure spell. I took my hand off. His ear looked normal.

"Thanks. She's fast," Sasha said. Zhuzhen was taking a wiser approach, only hitting once before stepping away. His evasiveness was frustrating the cat demon and she was becoming more desperate. I stepped forward to help him, but Sasha cut me off. "We need you to heal," he said, making it clear where I should stay. He joined in the fray, forcing the cat demon to try fighting in two directions. Unable to decide whom to defend against, the cat demon howled in fury as Sasha gave it a vicious double kick. Frustrated it focused its narrow eyes on the weaker fighter, Zhuzhen. It barreled after him, forcing him up against the wall and clawing at his chest before Sasha kicked it hard in the side, knocking the demon down. I healed Zhuzhen, watching as the white sparks entered his body. As if light itself was entering him…

Now that the demon was down, the battle was short and brutal. The two men worked together to take full advantage of her defenselessness. But Zhuzhen grabbed Sasha's arm before he could land a final blow. "Wait. She's changing back."

The grandmother reappeared, bruised and bleeding. Holding a hand to her stomach, she glared at us contemptuously. "You'll never…know the pain of giving birth only…to have them eaten…"

Zhuzhen shook his head. "Let your hatred go and rest. I'll ask my employers to pray for you and the others."

She laughed hoarsely. "Prayers! What nonsense…Yamaraja!" she called. "I leave everything to you." The elderly woman gasped and clutched her stomach. She coughed furiously, each spasm bringing up blood. It was clear she was in agony. Zhuzhen stopped that with a swift blow. The hit cracked her skull and she sank down to the floor, her eyes rolled back into her head.

Sasha stood and brushed himself off. "Now for Yamaraja."

When he turned to me I saw that his small talisman was yellow in the center. I hadn't noticed that before.

Our path to the shrine and Yamaraja was uneventful except for Sasha buying a bandanna and belt for Zhuzhen. I wasn't sure if he trusted Zhuzhen more or just wanted to have a better chance of defeating the demon we were about to face. I felt myself growing nervous and asked, "This Yamaraja…I've never heard of a demon like that."

"He's one of the lords of hell," Zhuzhen said. My heart sank further as he said that.

"But he's not too tough, right? Sasha? You called him a 'shrimp' before."

The fighter folded his arms. "I said that just to piss the dog off. Yamaraja's going to be hard to fight."

Now I was full of dread as we approached the cave's mouth. Sasha was unsure, and he had just volunteered to go alone and search around in a village full of demons. He had seemed fearless, and now that he was showing a little trepidation, I was feeling a lot.

Sasha walked up to a skull in the skeleton wall that was level with his stomach. He slipped two gloved fingers into the eye sockets and pulled it out, making an entire section of the wall crumble. He shook off the skull and it rolled away. I wished he would not be so disrespectful to the people who died here.

"Everyone ready?" he asked with one hand on the shrine door. "Once I fling this back, Yamaraja's going to be pissed and ready to kill."

"I'm ready."

I felt my bible, praying for strength. I stood behind Zhuzhen, realizing I would probably be healing often. "I am too."

Sasha opened the shrine. As the ground started shaking I knew that I was not ready, I was terrified. I took deep breaths to steady myself. But when Yamaraja appeared, I forgot how to breathe.

The demon appeared as a true lord of hell, with both golden crown and scepter. The crown scraped small rocks off the cave's roof as the gigantic blue devil stared down at us. The bones of the villagers snapped like twigs under his feet. I was prevented from fainting by the realization that the scepter was coming at me. I dodged as Zhuzhen fired balls of flame at the monster for distraction. Sasha tried to get in, but his close range method of fighting was useless against the scepter, which was as tall as him. Yamaraja allowed only one kick to land before batting Sasha into another part of the stone wall. Sasha flailed as the bones piled around him and Yamaraja turned his attention to us. I healed Sasha as Zhuzhen tried to go up with the devil. Zhuzhen's staff allowed him a wider range than Sasha, but the demon's weapon was still longer and Yamaraja was stronger. Still, Zhuzhen's surprising agility kept him from being injured too badly. As Sasha emerged from the pile, the lord of hell retreated to the back of the cave and raised his scepter. The cave filled with water, tossing us and the pile of bones around. Caught in the middle, I held my breath and curled into a small ball so that less of the hard bones hit me.

The water drained away and I filled my lungs with fresh air. I looked around. Sasha seemed fine, despite a few bruises. Zhuzhen's breath was ragged and he was on his hands and knees. He was a Fire class. He was weak against water magic and the bones had made it worse by cutting and bruising him. Sensing his weakness, the demon approached him. Quickly I opened my bible. "Cure!" I shouted. The spell healed all of the cuts and most of the bruises, allowing Zhuzhen to get back on his feet. Seeing the Adept stand, Yamaraja paused, and then turned to me. If he had possessed eyes, they would have narrowed at me.

"Oh. Great…it's a demon with brains," Sasha commented, moving swiftly towards the devil. Zhuzhen prepared a Fire spell, but the demon was already raising his staff. I hesitated before moving and received a glancing blow to the head, one that probably would have cracked my skull if I had stayed put.

There was a second blow as I was still reeling. I heard two cracks and breathing became an agonizing experience. Sasha pounded away at the demon, but it was only when Zhuzhen cast fire at it that it left me.

My breathing was shallow, as it hurt too much to take a full breath. I tried to heal myself, but my brain felt like it was being quartered. It was impossible to concentrate and so I only hoped that we would survive somehow as everything blurred. My eyes closed, but I still heard Zhuzhen and Sasha calling me for a while before my mind simply shut down.

Some time later, I opened my eyes to Zhuzhen's weathered face. He had me eat two leaves. One was plain, but the other was bitter. I almost gagged on it. Strangely, I felt much calmer after eating it. I guessed the other to be a Thera because the pain in my chest eased a bit.

I could hear a fight and the sound of two demons fighting. Worried, I tried to see around Zhuzhen. "Where's Sasha? Is he alright?" I asked as I stood.

There were two demons: Yamaraja and a demon resembling a tiger I had seen at a zoo. He walked upright and parts of his fur were green. For some strange reason, the two demons were fighting each other. But where was Sasha? For a minute I thought he was dead, but there wasn't even a body. Zhuzhen aimed me in the right direction: "He's the tiger."

I watched as the tiger attacked twice, sweeping its long claws against Yamaraja's body. Yamaraja countered with a water attack. "That's Sasha?"

"Yes."

I wished I could say that Zhuzhen must be joking. But underneath the creature's Earth aura, there laid a stronger aura. Dark-classed, and Sasha's undoubtedly. I remembered Sasha's words, that we had not seen his real talent. That he could turn into a demon. That he was a demon.

"Hoped the Pure leaf would keep you from panicking," Zhuzhen said a bit nervously. He was taking my silence as a bad sign. But though I felt a bit afraid, I was nowhere near panicking.

"Will he harm us if we get close?"

Zhuzhen shook his head. "He seems to be in control. He healed me before."

The tiger stepped back and roared so loudly I covered my ears. Magic rose from the earth, wrapping around its body and healing it.

Despite the fact that it was a demon-or maybe because of it-the tiger was a better fighter than Sasha. Both stronger and faster, and with an ability to heal itself, the tiger stood a good chance against Yamaraja. The lord of hell was actually weakening. I knew I wouldn't be needed for healing. As Zhuzhen began another spell, I approached Yamaraja, raised my bible, and struck as the tiger sunk in its claws, and Zhuzhen cast his spell. Yamaraja was pressed back against his shrine and then claws, bible, and staff were pounding into the demon.

Once the fight was over, the tiger demon pulled back with a low growl in its throat. There was a flash as it disappeared and Sasha's aura was unmasked. He looked weak and tired for a moment, but then gathered himself together. "My pouch," he said, holding his hand out. Zhuzhen gave it and Sasha selected three leaves, eating them all at once. "Better."

The demon's body faded, leaving only the scattered bones. "They should be buried…" I said, worried.

"They'll be cremated," Zhuzhen said. "I think that's better. Once they're ashes, the way they died will no longer matter."

"Cremation's certainly easier," Sasha said. "C'mon Alice, time to get out of here."

"Wait." Zhuzhen's voice stopped me, but Sasha continued walking for a while. When he stopped it was with a sigh.

"Look old man, make this quick. I'm really starting to get sick off this place."

"It's about who did this," Zhuzhen said, unbothered by Sasha's brusque tone. "I thought he'd died fifteen years ago--"

"Alright, alright, alright. God, you Taoists never know when to let up on the mysticism. It's Dehuai. I guess you must know him, being an Adept."

The older man's voice held a note of surprise as he asked, "And just how do you know him?"

"I've been around." Sasha gave a careless shrug.

"Underground?"

"A bit."

"You're a criminal?" I asked.

He smiled at me, apparently amused by my shock. "What, you didn't expect that? Kidnapping is a crime, you know."

Of course. Kidnapping was a serious crime. And especially when you were taking a prisoner from an army. To be willing to do such a thing, he had to be a hardened criminal. But I hadn't considered it. I thought he was rather young to be such a person. In a way, I felt depressed knowing he was.

"Then you probably know your way around," Zhuzhen said, "But Alice-" I turned to him, lifting my eyes from the ground, "Be careful with your talent. Sasha could probably tell you there are many who would love to use your powers--but they wouldn't give a second thought to your well-being."

"Shut up!" Sasha burst out, walking up to Zhuzhen, "I'm taking care of her. She won't get into any trouble!"

"You too kid. Fusion is a forbidden power. If you lose control, you'll be a danger to everyone around you." Sasha snorted. "Alright, don't listen to me. You should know well enough. I suppose you learned it from your father?"

Zhuzhen has said the wrong thing. I could sense a hatred welling up in Sasha as he turned to the Adept. "Do you work for Dehuai?"

Zhuzhen raised an eyebrow. "If I did, I wouldn't have thought he was dead."

"Is he telling the truth?" he asked me.

I wavered betweeen the two men, wondering what was going on. "Umm..."

"Don't look at him, look at me!" Sasha yelled, clenching his fists. The hate dominated his aura now. "Is he lying or not?"

"No!" I said. "I"m sure he's not."

Slowly Sasha calmed after I answered, though the anger was not gone. "Fine then," he said. "But if you--" he pointed at Zhuzhen-- " If you breathe one word of this to Dehuai, I'll make you wish you'd been one of these villagers."

I felt hollow inside. Sasha meant it. He actually meant, and believed, that he could make Zhuzhen suffer worse than these people had! What was he capable of?

There were so many things wrong with him. He was a demon, his magic was so much like Roger Bacon's, he had been helping Roger Bacon, he was a criminal, he was threatening someone who had only helped us! How could I have thought he had good intentions in 'rescuing' me? And I--I was supposed to rely on him? I backed up to the cave's mouth, wishing I could wake up from this nightmare.

"Don't worry. I won't tell," Zhuzhen said as he stood.

"Good," Sasha replied. Then he looked around, finally spotting me. His eyebrows drew together as he asked, "Alice, what's wrong?"

My face must have told him everything with the tears rising in my eyes. It blurred my vision, but I could still see Sasha walking towards me. I shook my head, some sound trying to escape my throat, and then I turned and ran.

"Alice!" Both of the men were startled, but Sasha's voice also held another tone. Desperation? I heared the sound of his boots pounding behind me and knew he was giving chase. It spurred my run.

I knew Sasha was fast, but he was not afraid. I had learned that fear gave you agility. I remembered how in Rouen my shoes had barely touched the streets as I ran from Roger Bacon, my father's death cry still ringing in my ears.

And just when I thought I was running as fast as humanly possible, a hand grabbed my wrist, forcing me to turn and see Sasha.

"What is wrong with you?" he demanded, breathing hard.

"Let go of me!" I shouted, trying to wrench my arm out of his grip. "Let go!"

"Why are you trying to run?"

I refused to answer him; he should know well enough why. Instead I tried to break away from his grip by putting all my weight into the effort. Still I could not get away. I remembered something one of the missionaries had taught me then, that a person's grip was weakest at their thumb. But when I tried, he still held on. His grip was like a vise. I couldn't escape. "Let me go!"

"I'm not going to until you calm down."

I brought my other hand up, thinking to either punch or slap or scratch him but before I could do anything, he grabbed that wrist too and pressed me against the well. I struggled futilely. All Sasha had to do was hold me and all my attempts were useless. That was how weak I was. I could kick and scream all I wanted and nothing would happen.

Finally I stopped, my chest heaving with dry sobs after I'd run out of tears. I saw Zhuzhen watching us, leaning slightly on his staff. Why wouldn't he help me? Why didn't he do anything?

Seeing I was too exhausted to fight anymore, Sasha leaned forward. "Look Alice, I can see why you don't trust me. I know. But if you'll let me, I'll protect you. You'll have nothing to worry about while I'm with you. I promise...no one's going to touch you." My eyes were aimed at the ground as the last tears dripped off my face. He put a hand to my face to wipe them off. I hated the familiar gesture and turned away. "Why are you so suspicious of me? Do your Demon Eyes tell you not to trust me?"

"Demon Eyes?" I said, more because I didn't want to answer his question.

"Your seeing talent. What does it tell you about me?"

"That your dangerous. But sincere about wanting to help me. I don't know why though." I met his eyes, my hands clenching. "So tell me why."

"I guess I...just wanted to see your talents for myself, and understand why someone would want your powers. After all, you only heal. But if someone wanted you for healing, you'd think they'd just come ask, not kidnap you. I never thought of a Light class as destructive. I want to see just what you can do."

"Isn't it obvious?" I said, choking out a laugh. "I can't do anything."

He let me go and I sat on the well's edge. "You're just tired. It's been a long night. But we still have to get somewhere safe. I know Fengtian. If we walk, it'll take until morning. But we'll have somewhere to rest."

"That's fine," I said softly.

"So you two are alright?" Zhuzhen asked. "Then, since my work's done, I'll be returning to my employers. Better get Meiyuan, so he doesn't give you problems." He looked at Sasha as he said this.

Sasha gave an aloof farewell. "Thank you for helping us, Zhuzhen. We couldn't have escaped the demons without you," I said.

Zhuzhen laughed cheerfully. "You are polite. I hope we meet again--though, not under these kind of circumstances."

I didn't want him to leave. I wanted to ask if we could go with him, but I didn't want to impose...and Sasha probably wouldn't want to go there anyways. "I hope so too," I said, forcing a smile I didn't feel.

After watching him leave, Sasha turned to me. "Alright, let's go."

Sasha...may I see your hands?" I asked. My legs dangled above the ground as I sat on the well. Puzzled, Sasha held out his hands. "You'll protect me, right?" He nodded. I took his hands, feeling the cool leather, and focused my energy on them as if I was healing. But I concentrated on trapping the energy so it didn't flow into him, but around his hands. "It's a new spell. I listened to what you told me." The sparks danced around his hands, casting strange flickering shadows on the ground.

"You're a fast learner." He was at first pleased, but then he frowned. "Who do you expect me to fight?"

I averted my eyes, not knowing how he would respond. "I thought Roger Bacon might come after me again." There was some silence; I thought he was upset until he sighed.

"He's not the one who wants you," Sasha said. "I didn't want to talk about it in front of that Adept, but Dehuai is the one who wants you. We were just supposed to get you."

My head shot up at this news. I stared at him. Roger Bacon didn't want me? Then what was my father's death for? "What does he want me for?" I asked.

"An experiment...he wants to call forth a god." His tone was contemptuous and he looked away, to the ground.

"If you don't approve, why were you helping?"

"Look, it's a complicated situation, and I've already messed up." He shook his head. By this time in the night, his hair looked as if he'd been zapped by lightning. "I'm in such trouble..."

If you're a criminal, you deserve to be in trouble, I thought, but said nothing. It was obvious he was being evasive on the subject. I let it go as the sparks let go of his gloves, dissipating in the air. I slid off the well and smoothed my skirt. Sasha led the way out of the village. On our way out we were accosted by the peddler. He was profuse with his gratitude and insisted that Sasha take the card he presented us with. It had a picture of a snake on it. I examined the illustration as the peddler explained:

"I'm part of a guild, y'see. It's a guild of shops. We sell items and--well, just show the card to a guild member and they'll tell you the rest. I've got to be going now, my wife must be worried."

Zhuzhen and Meiyuan had already left. We did not see them at the gate. "Good riddance Zhaoyang," Sasha said as we passed through.

"I have a question," I said, relieved that I could speak in English now.

"Shoot."

"You were working for Dehuai...but you don't want Zhuzhen to tell him about meeting you here. You're in a complicated situation. Is there...something you hid from Dehuai? Your..." I searched for the word Zhuzhen had used. "...fusion ability?"

There was a moment of silence as Sasha's pouch swung back and forth. "Sasha isn't my birth name."

"I see. Then may I know your real name?"

"'Sasha' has been my real name for fifteen years." Now, just as before, his voice made it clear he would answer no more. It was unfair; he knew so much about me and my abilities, while I knew only what my seeing talent could tell me. We were not equals. It was then that I understood I had not been rescued at all; I had only switched captors. I had moved from an iron cage to one of glass, one a little bigger but with just as secure a lock.

Throughout the night we walked through the tall grass, headed towards Fengtian. Sasha was navigating; I was wondering if there were poisonous snakes hiding in the grass. Or worse, those hideous spiders. Sasha was much more opened when I questioned him about these: he assured me that if they were in these plains, we would have seen them already--or be dead. He proceeded to add a vivid description of how they killed their victims. It involved filing their victims with acid through a particular body part and then waiting for their flesh to dissolve. Needless to say, I was sickened with disgust and did not talk to him anymore.

Sasha set a brisk pace, as if he was fresh and had not been fighting demons and spirits for the past few hours. I somehow found the strength to follow him, but my feet began to hurt. Eventually my brain went to sleep, only to rouse occasionally to remind me I was an idiot following a man tied to my father's murderer and giving myself blisters in the meantime. Then I told my brain to shut up. It went back to sleep.

So we continued on this way for the whole night. Neither of us spoke a word until dawn. Then Sasha said, "We'll be there soon."

I mumbled some reply. My mind was so tired I had barely uttered the words before I'd forgotten them.

"It's still an hour."

Another reply. Or did I reply?

"Well, this is unexpected," Sasha said seriously, but he already had a smile. "Are you a zombie, Alice? Should I get some holy water?"

"You're mean," I told him, irritated.

"Sorry, sorry. What's wrong?"

"I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, and my feet hurt." Under any other circumstances, I would not have complained. But in this situation, and with one of the guilty parties right next to me, I felt I had a right to.

"Well, I don't have anything to eat or drink. But..." He stopped walking suddenly and I almost ran into his back. Without warning, he bent down and plucked me up by the knees. Thrown off balance, I grabbed his neck so I wouldn't fall. "Don't choke me," he said, his tone annoyed. "Lean on me, not away."

"What are you doing?" I said, wishing he would put me down.

"Giving you a ride, what did you think? And stop leaning away, you're throwing me off. Rest on my back."

"But-but aren't you tired?" Hesitantly I leaned onto him, still hot in the face because of the close contact. No one had carried me like this except my father, and that was when I was a little girl!

"No, I'm good. You're pretty light."

Again I was thrown into confusion about what to think of Sasha. Was he my savior or captor? He performed the actions of one with the motives on another. I rested my head on the dark fabric of his shirt, his dark brown hair mingling with my white blonde strands. He was a chivalrous ruffian and a criminal gentleman.

And what should I do? Should I trust him completely, or keep an eye on him? Should I have run away before in the clearing, when he was unconscious? No, I believed I had done the right thing then--to leave him alone, asleep and hurt, might have been his death. I remembered the parable of the good Samaritan--and yet, what were you expected to do when your neighbor had tried to kidnap you, and for all I could see, actually had?

The thoughts chased themselves around and around in my head, but my eyelids drooped. I felt the weight of the gold cross and bible I carried and decided that all I could do for now was trust in God. I recited softly a prayer asking for His protection. The last thing I heard before I fell asleep was Sasha's echo of 'Amen.'