Kanae stood in the door frame, glowering at the second most infuriating person she knew. They glowered back, two stubborn women refusing to budge.

"Stay," said Kanae.

"I'm not a dog," shot back Kyoko.

"You're right. A dog would be able to obey even a simple order like stay."

They'd hissed and barked at each other for the last ten minutes, getting nowhere. Because Kyoko would just not promise to stay in her room. Seriously, if Kanae thought Cain was in any way able to do without her, she would just stay with Kyoko and avoid this whole headache!

But as it was, Kanae had decided to join She had good reasons, though as she bickered with this stubborn idiot, she had to remind herself of them.

Firstly that the scouts had returned, declaring the tincture a success, and that they had found some suspicious stuff down there. Hiroaki was thrilled and wanted to go check it all out personally.

It wouldn't normally have been a big deal; except they'd gotten a few tips regarding recent public opinion. Now that Cain was considered an irredeemable wreck of a monster, people were becoming desperate to take him out. Which meant those that pledged their loyalty to him were in danger. Hiroaki Ogata included. So, Kanae was going along, not only to keep an eye on Cain, but to help guard their resident expert in medicine. That was the long version of reason number one.

Reason number two was a bit more macabre. A few of the scouts had been in stage two of the rot when they'd explored the roots A few hours after returning, the disease had progressed and now each one of them was now in serious critical condition. On the other hand, those men who either did not have the rot or were only in stage one were fine.

Kanae, as one of the few strong people on their side who did not have the rot, was a natural choice to accompany Cain and Hiroaki.

It still makes no sense why I haven't contracted the rot, thought Kanae. It took an average of a week after exposure for someone to start showing signs, yet Kanae was clean. Add that the only people who hadn't contracted the rot were powerful light mages, it was a mystery why she was fine. But here she was, the only non-light user besides Kyoko that hadn't contracted the rot. Well, and Cain.

Which was also strange. Kanae was no expert when it came to diseases or whatever, but she knew that a weakened body got sick more easily, and yet Kyoko was still unaffected by the rot. Not that Kanae was complaining. This woman would probably die if she got another illness.

Kanae raised a finger, flicking Kyoko in the forehead. It stopped the woman's current rant about Kanae's overbearing sense of control.

"We're going to be a few hours away," said Kanae. "Everyone knows about it. Which means idiots may try and attack you. Now, I'm sure these men are competent at their job—" She ignored the muttered curses at her sarcastic tone. "But I'd rather they didn't have to take unnecessary risks."

Kanae pointed to the leader of the guards today, the "local hero" Hikaru Ishibashi. Hopefully, the respect for him alone would deter people from taking this opportunity to attack Kyoko.

"She doesn't leave this room," said Kanae. "No matter what."

Kyoko pushed out her bottom lip, eyes shimmering in betrayal. "Nooo, don't gang up on me using Hikaru."

"We won't leave her side," said Hikaru, honest eyes trained on Kanae. "I promise you. We'll protect her."

Or die trying, was implied.

Well, even if she didn't trust his skills, she could trust his determination.

But true anger was starting to seep in Kyoko's expression, that hard glare sharpening her eyes. It didn't matter how many times Kanae had seen it in the past week, she felt her stomach churn each time.

Then it was gone a second later.

"You can't just keep me here caged up and doing nothing!" said Kyoko. "I can be useful."

"Then be useful by getting better," said Kanae. "Only you can get better Kyoko. Only you can give us our strength back by fully recovering."

Only you can call back the Phoenix.

Kyoko's eyes narrowed. "Which is why we need my help. Why I need to help find a cure for my curse. Sitting around waiting for it to progress helps no one."

And this was the crux of all their arguments the past week. Kanae wanted Kyoko to rest. Kyoko wanted to help with the research.

"I need to go." Kanae pointed a finger at Kyoko. "This conversation isn't over."

Kyoko responded by sticking out her tongue. Kanae returned with a hand gesture Shin had taught her.

But as she walked away, she felt no real anger. This was the closest to normal Kyoko had acted toward Kanae in a while. When she came back, they'd talk again. Properly this time.

Kanae met with the group, heading straight for Hiroaki. The man was all in a tizzy, flitting around without actually doing anything. A genius he may be, but the man's backbone was too soft much of the time.

"Hey."

Hiroaki jumped, his alarm leaving the moment he recognized her.

"There you are. I've been looking for you." He fished out a vial and bracelet, handing them to her. "Don't drink the tincture until I instruct everyone to do so. It only works for three hours and we want to maximize our time in the caves.

Kanae pocketed both, examining the man.

"How is she, really?" said Kanae. "Kyoko. You did an exam right before we left, didn't you?"

"Uh, yeah I did, and she's doing alright." Except the nervous tugging on his ear said otherwise. Kanae remained silent, aware her flat stare would cause most men to break. And after fifteen seconds of silence, she got exactly what she wanted. "She's not doing well," he finally admitted. "In fact, I'd say… we don't have a lot of time to find a solution."

"And exactly how much is, 'not a lot of time?'"

"…A few weeks. Maybe?"

Kanae swore loudly enough that she got a few curious looks.

"I'm doing everything I can to help find a solution," said Hiroaki, hurrying to placate Kanae. "I really think getting the inhibitor up and running will help her a lot but we're still about a week away from that being ready and I can't do much to help at this point. I focus on medicine, not arcane mathematics."

This came to reason number three that Kanae was joining the exploration group. Kyoko was sick. Really sick, and Hiroaki hoped to find some solution at the base of the roots. If there was a cure to be found, Kanae would be there to witness and protect it.

"I know." She pressed a fist of her forehead, fighting down the urge to yell. "Let's just hope we find something useful in these caves."

"Don't tell Cain," she cautioned. "He has enough going on as it is, and details like this will only cause his relic to act out more."

"I won't lie if he asks me directly."

"Then make sure you don't give him that opportunity."

She left to take her position among the chosen few selected for the exploration. Four researchers with their assistants, and ten soldiers. A very small party, but still big for what they wanted to accomplish. Kanae just hoped the caves beneath were wide. Otherwise, she'd have a hard time with her spear if someone wanted to have a go at her.

Cain called at the head of the group, motioning for everyone to move out. She trudged beside Hiroaki, his safety being her main concern today. Few people talked as they left the city, earning a few stares from the townsfolk that watched them pass. But despite the death glares no one threw rocks or attempted to assassinate Cain.

The rumors seemed to have made the rounds.

Their journey to the cave entrance wasn't long. Cain remembered the way, having come this far once before. He led them to the outskirts of town, passing over rocky terrain running alongside the edge of the towering cliffs of the Broken Hills. At this point, he let Koga lead, showing them the rest of the way.

"Our entrance should be just over this rock formation," he said. "There are a few other entrances, but this one is the largest and closest for what we need."

Cain nodded, taking the natural path around the boulders. As he crested the top of the hill, he saw it, his eyes finally catching up with what his essence had sensed long ago.

The entrance punctured a hole in the rock's face, spare of any weed or branch that might have obstructed its view. They'd passed several thickets of brambles and weeds on their way here, but around the mouth of the cave, nothing living flanked it. Cain could guess why.

The cave oozed with dark magic. Most of it stopped at the line where shadow met light, but small wisps escaped into the atmosphere, no doubt making the immediate area unlivable even for weeds. The oddest thing was that he could barely sense it. Were it not for his assisted vision he might have been completely unaware of the unseen barrier between the cave and the outside.

"What do you see?" said Hiroaki, eyes glued to the entrance. "Any spells?"

"Only one that I can make out." He pointed to the unmarked line in the ground where most of the dark aura stopped. "There's some sort of barrier. It seems designed to keep any dark magic from escaping."

"Escaping?" said Kanae, narrowing her eyes. "I can't sense or see any spell. And though there's obviously dark magic, there doesn't seem to be a lot of it."

"There is," said Cain. "Trust me. I'm no longer surprised that everyone who has entered this cave unprepared has died. In fact, I'm surprised our scouts returned alive at all."

Hiroaki turned pale, red rimming his eyes under the yellow sun. Kanae jabbed a thumb over her shoulder toward the nearby men.

"Say that a little louder why don't you?" she said.

"We should get started," said Cain. "The sooner we can get everyone away from the cave, the better."

Everyone quickly downed their tinctures and activated their amulets. Cain himself didn't have one as the light magic would hurt rather than help him and as he was constantly emanating a small amount of dark magic, he doubted he'd be hurt by any sort of aura inside the caves. Were that proven to be untrue, the knowledge would probably help Hiroaki and his team anyway.

Noting the mood of the men, Cain took the first step, motioning to the man who had the map to follow close behind. The paths beneath were said to branch off, creating a small labyrinth to those unprepared. They didn't plan to go deep enough that they were in much danger of getting lost, but still, Cain wished to be prepared.

He cast a spell, a small orb of light floating ahead of him. Only a few feet in he noticed a dramatic deepening of the shadows around him. He had no idea if the others could perceive this difference. He sensed others behind him imitating the spell and soon the shadows were banished by a dozen shimmering lights.

"Take the left," said the guild when they quickly reached a fork. Cain did as instructed, continuing to lead.

The air tasted stale, the walls slick with condensation in some areas only to jut out awkwardly in others. They bent and twisted in some places, narrowing just enough to allow one at a time to pass, only to widen enough for five men to stand in line. Any areas that may have at one point been impassible had long since been manually widened by previous explorers and researchers. The group remained quiet, the only sound the scraping of their boots against rock and the occasional puff of air as someone remembered to breathe.

His stomach clenched when they passed remains of other explorers. The scouts had recovered as much as they could of their fallen comrades, but they hadn't been able to bring back everybody or piece of equipment. Cain made a mental note to send a group to retrieve the remains and give them a proper burial.

They continued for a solid half hour, stopping at the occasional intersection and constantly checking on the men's condition. So far, the tinctures and amulets were holding up. No one was showing any signs of duress. At least, not any caused by the dark aura. More then a few of the researchers were emanating nervous energy the deeper in they got.

"How much further?" said Cain. They'd been going down this particular stretch for a long while, the road bending neither left or right.

"Our destination should be coming up soon." The man pointed at the wall. A thick yellow root protruded from the wall, pushing and twisting through sheer willpower despite the powerful rock.

"This is one of the roots of the fig tree," he said. "We'll see more as we get closer to the heart of the roots. We should have already seen others well before this point."

And given that the root they had found seemed so frail, Cain didn't feel this was a good sign.

They pressed ahead for a few minutes more, passing more withered roots. A few looked as bad as the roots located in the city. He could tell Hiroaki wanted to stop and study them, but he kept them moving.

Finally, they reached their destination. The path ended and he found himself in an open area, the air moving more here than in the compact caves. He could hear a soft rushing and a distant rumble that sounded like water. The power of his small light wasn't enough for him to see the walls or ceiling.

He multiplied the spell, casting dozens of stronger lights upward. He forced them to stop before they reached the ceiling.

The group stood now within a large chamber. It extended further to his left and right, well past his line of sight. He spotted a few others openings like the one they'd exited, each no doubt leading further into the caves. A small river of water, clear and sparkling rushed down and into the darkness toward the deeper rushing sound.

But most notable of all was the large root jutting out of the middle of the ceiling. It branched into several smaller pieces, one plummeting straight into the water, others punching into the wall or the ground. A small trickle of sand fell steadily from the roots, dusting the otherwise clear water.

Hiroaki stepped up beside him, gazing at the looming root with open mouth.

"First time seeing it?" said Cain.

Hiroaki swallowed, shaking his head. "Dad took me down her once when I was a kid. I remember it being a lot... different."

"How so?"

Hiroaki pointed to the root. "Despite being underground, there were a lot of small weird buds growing off the roots. Different than the buds of the branches but powerful in quality. The city would harvest them for medicine as well as research. They were one of the many reasons Mosall was hailed as such a powerhouse for health and wealth. And then—" He swiveled to an oddly flat patch of ground where soil instead of ground covered a perfectly rectangular space. "They used to have small gardens here. Plants that would benefit from the natural light aura of the tree. And while it's been years since I was here, I can hardly imagine them stopping the practice."

At this, the guide interjected. "We had to after our tenders started dying. And before we could find the cause the entrances were all sealed to protect us. Didn't stop a few hopeful thieves, but we passed a few of them on our way here."

"Should we keep exploring ahead?" said Cain.

Hiroaki rolled up the sleeves of his robe, motioning for his assistant. "No, this will be more than enough to start. I want samples of the water and the tree roots. And the ground of that dried garden. Let's see if anything has survived."

Papers littered Kyoko's bed, the scene becoming increasingly familiar over the past few days. She spent most of her free time pouring over her notes, looking for any new nuggets of truth that may help their situation. Hikaru watched from his chair by her bed, mouth twitching with amusement.

"I'm fairly certain when Kanae said for you to rest, she did not just mean for you to stay off your feet, Lady Kyoko."

Kyoko waved a pen at him. "She just told me not to leave the room. And look, I'm being so good and staying put. You should be praising me for listening to orders for once."

Hikaru smiled, well at ease with a sword strapped to his side. Maru stood by the door, three others guarding the outside. With Yuki and Horiuchi recovered and expecting to join her guard tomorrow, they felt justified assigning so many guards around her at this time. Especially since, as usual, Kanae was right. With Cain and her gone, this was the perfect opportunity for someone to try and assassinate her.

Hence, the only reason that Kyoko was staying put. It had nothing to do with Hikaru personally guarding her, thank you very much.

"I'm as eager for a solution as you are," said Hikaru. "Lady Itsumi's rot is on the verge of entering the third stage and I spotted my first marks just this morning. But I'd rather we didn't find a solution at the expense of your health."

Kyoko eyed him, a smile forming at the ammo he had just given her. Mostly because it would successfully differ his attention from her

"Oh, did you see Itsumi this morning?" said Kyoko, her voice casually innocent. "How is she doing?"

And that easily, he was deterred, eyes brightening as he talked about his recent courtship. "A little better, I think that tincture did help, but it's not enough to do most than ease some of the symptoms. I think she's more sacred than she lets on. In that, you and she are very similar. You're both well practiced in hiding your fear."

That hit too close too home. She focused on finding a certain slip of paper to cover her discomfort.

"It would be stranger not to be afraid at this point," she relented. "There's no guarantee anything will work out."

"It will." How he spoke with such conviction was beyond her. It came out a second later. "You and the prince always come through, despite all the odds."

She really shouldn't have updated him on everything that had happened since he'd left. His reverence when talking about their supposed accomplishments had somehow increased. Instead, she lifted her papers, shaking them with a level of annoyance.

"Well, I can't do much if I'm stuck here and unable to do more research, now can I?"

Hikaru just laughed. Because he thought it was a joke. Grumbling, she once more buried herself in her work, looking at the reports of rotten tree roots.

Hikaru interrupted her a minutes later.

"She really admires you, you know that?"

"Who?"

"Lady Itsumi."

Kyoko raised a brow, pointing to herself. Hikaru's smile warmed as he spoke in a wistful tone.

"She was terrified you would hate her for what she did. She told me herself. And she thinks it's amazing that despite everything, you've supported and stood beside Prince Kuon, taking on the world. I think she's a little envious as well of your conviction."

"If she's jealous of anything, it's our friendship." Kyoko pointed at him. "I hope you're properly convincing her that you have no interest in me. Otherwise, all that admiration will twist and she'll hate me as surely as those concubines that thought I loved Prince Kuon."

"But I thought you did love him."

"At the beginning, silly. Did you forget that I hated the idea of love?"

At the L word, Hikaru became dazed, gaze focused on something over Kyoko's head. This man… she knew that look.

"You're so far gone," said Kyoko.

Kiharu ducked his head, rubbing the back of his head. "You don't have to tease me for it every time we talk."

Kyoko grinned. "How can I not? You make it so much fun." At his sulking, she relented. "Fine, fine. Let's talk of something else. How about your patrols? Everyone still listening to their bright, young, brilliant local-hero Coronel?"

He scowled good-naturedly at her surplus of adjectives, taking a moment to answer.

"All things considered, I haven't had too many troubles. I told the men at the beginning if anyone had any problems following me, they could be reassigned with no penalty, and less than we expected took me up on the offer. As long as I don't mention the orders come from Cain, I don't have problems, and only a few have outright confronted me about following an Accursed. And think someone's been spreading rumors that I'm doing my own thing while pretending to be loyal to Cain. Or following orders from General Kuresaki directly."

"That was probably Kanae and the other lot," said Kyoko. "I think she enjoyed her self-appointed role a little too much."

"Yup!" said Maru from the door, giving a happy salute. "Made sure to boost your reputation to the top while dragging Cain's in the mud. Wasn't hard."

"They got a little too enthusiastic," said Hikaru. "Not only are there now rumors of Cain, but there are also many of you and Kanae. Most are ridiculous, like that you're both secretly Accursed as well."

Interesting. An Accursed Kanae would be terrifying.

"I'm very glad that's not true," said Kyoko. "What else has been going on?"

Hikaru shrugged. "Mostly we've been screening and helping the refugees coming from other cities. A few have been added to the ranks while others have been assigned to defense centered tasks. But our main goal is to find any spies."

"Any luck?"

"Little. There are so many it's hard to take the time to examine their intentions. I have no doubt we've let in more than a few spies passing information to other Accursed."

That explained why Kanae and Cain had become more vigilant when it came to her protection. With more enemies flooding in silently, they were harder pressed to keep her safe.

"There's no way to vet them properly?" she said.

Hikaru shook his head. "Not without draining more resources or denying people from entering. We've found a lot more monster nests as well as herds roaming the outskirts of the city. We're just lucky so few of the travelers have been attacked on their way here."

"Don't you think that's odd?" said Kyoko. "I mean, the outposts were taken out, and we were attacked several times on the way to this city. Now there's a flood of people coming in the city and so few of them are being attacked? Unless…" Her brows lifted in sudden understanding. "They're doing it on purpose. The Accursed. Shepherding all the people here so more spies to get in, as well as tax our supplies, or something."

"We've thought of that. It's too strange that so many monsters would ignore this influx of people crossing the sands. Regardless, there's nothing we can do except redouble our efforts."

Which was everything in a nutshell. All they could do was wait for the horde of monsters to close on their city, hoping the king and his army would catch up in time to save them. Or that the monsters would be stupid enough to wait for themselves to be pincered between the city and the army.

But she couldn't move on from the refugees. Something about it was bothering her. Was there another reason why the Accursed would want to force them all in Mosall? Why wouldn't they just kill them?

She immediately thought of the Shueman's rot. How it was weakening the city. Yet another weird behavioral pattern. Why would people be willing to flee to a city, unsure if they'd be attacked and knowing they'd get sick? Was something driving them here? Were they that scared of the monsters, or did they have that much trust in the king's decree to retreat?

Her eyes drifted to one of the papers scattered around her. She lifted it, wondering what exactly had caught her attention. It was a list of the rot's signs of symptoms as well as detailed individual accounts of certain patients. One, in particular, caught her attention.

A man who had been in stage one moved to the center of the city near the tree. His symptoms had abated for weeks, his physician sure the fig tree's light magic had healed him. Then his condition had suddenly turned, and he'd died less than 24 hours later.

She remembered reading about these cases a few weeks ago. How the frequency was slowly increased and eventually leveled out. Why would that be?...

That's when it clicked. When she'd finally discovered what her brain had been trying to tell her.

"It's not what we thought it was," said Kyoko slowly. "But that means… it is coming from the tree."

"What was that?" said Hikaru.

She raised her eyes to him, filled with a buzzing excitement at her realization.

"I can't believe we never figured it out," she said. "Except it was Sozen. He'd been doctoring and changing the reports, so we never thought to question it. We've been chasing the wrong solution for months without even realizing it. That's why we could never find the cause. Because it was the rot the whole time. Just the rot."

"I'm still very lost," said Hikaru.

She waved a hand impatiently. "Don't you see? It's not because the tree is protecting them. The symptoms we thought were symptoms aren't actually symptoms. They're the cause. Because it's not a disease. It's a drug. A poison."

"Okay," said Maru slowly, having completely left his post at this point. He came to stand by Hikaru raising a finger slowly. "I didn't understand anything except that last part. You're saying the rot is a poison?"

Kyoko nodded excitedly, scrambling through her notes. "It makes sense. It explains why people are coming to the city. Why they're not leaving. Drugs can become addictive if you don't use them properly. And if it was airborne and comes from the tree, then it's likely they've become addicted to it without realizing it. It's why the scramble to be near the tree is so bad. Because they subconsciously feel the pull to be near the tree, which is probably the source of the poison. Just like a drug addict will subconsciously reach for his pouch even when they're trying to quit. Despite all the terror and dangers, no one is leaving."

"Okay, you called it a drug, and then a poison," said Maru. "Is there a difference?"

"Many drugs can become poisonous if you overdose. But seeing as there are no supposed benefits to this, it's probably better to classify it as a poison."

She pulled out a diagram of the rot's marks, pressing a finger to the paper. "This right here, we've been ignoring it because it didn't seem to be causing any problems. We thought it was a symptom. But what if it was the cause? What if this is the accumulation of poison within the body?"

With each word, Hikaru's expression became worse and worse until finally, he pulled the bracer from his arm. Underneath was the unmistakable blackened mark of the Shueman's rot.

"But you've analyzed it before," he said. "How did you not figure out it was a poison?"

"Because we still haven't been able to analyze its properties short of knowing it resonates dark magic," she said. "We've been more focused on treating the other symptoms since they were the ones doing the damage. You know, neurological damage, organ failure, that sort of thing. But these marks, we just thought it was a manifestation of the underlying cause. There are other diseases that manifest boils, rashes, and other things. Fix the disease, and the rest will follow."

"So... what? Are you saying we just need to remove the marks and no more poison.?" said Maru.

"I'm… not sure. I remember reading a report about an attempt in the early days." Then she smacked herself in the head. "And I doubt anyone has bothered to try again after Sozen's departure. Either way, the best thing would be to find the antidote. Especially since there are people dying both from overdosed and withdrawal symptoms."

"There are?" said Hikaru.

Kyoko pulled out another portion of her notes, pointing to another account. "A patient in stage three left the city, later reported dead from different symptoms. It's always been an outlier so most of us ignored it. We just assumed he caught something since he was already weakened from the..."

She trailed off.

Hikaru was no longer paying attention. His head was cocked as if here were listening for something, eyes narrowing.

"Maru," His voice was suddenly sharp. "Return to your post. There's fighting nearby."

The battle mage returned to his post without a word. Hikaru stood as well, unsheathing his sword.

"Don't worry, Lady Kyoko," said Hikaru. "I doubt they'll make it past the guards outside."

That's when she finally heard it. Sounds of conflict coming down the corridor. If she concentrated hard enough, she could sense the fluctuation of magic occurring right outside her door. Kyoko pulled the papers closer to her, hand reaching for her necklace. Cain was far away, but should she still call for him? To be safe, she flashed a single signal, just a sign that she wanted to see him. Not an emergency yet. But he'd be on guard for a second one if she needed to send it.

"Watch your step."

Kanae examined the offered hand, knowing she'd never take it. She sought to understand the sudden gesture. It was given with a kind smile devoid of any malice or ill-intent, which just made it even more suspicious.

She batted the hand away, stepping down the uneven slopes.

"Your job is to watch the entrances, Koga," said Kanae. "Do it properly."

Undeterred, the man followed with a smile. "My job is to keep the research team safe. I have other men posted at the entrances. I'm just making the rounds to make sure all is well."

A likely story. She chose to ignore him, at least for the sake of appearances. She was very aware of his presence, taking care to make sure he was never stationed at her back. A step to the side allowed her to stay beside Hiroaki and his team while keeping Koga and everyone else within her line of vision.

Everyone was spread out, one team near the water, another stationed on the large tree roots above the water. Apparently, they'd found buds reminiscent of the root's original ones. Mind you, they were much smaller, shriveled and contained who knew what, which meant more time spent extracting samples and shepherding researchers back and forth over the water.

"How are things looking?" said Kanae.

"We've learned a lot, but at the same time, not much." Hiroaki motioned one of the lights closer so he could examine something. "The water is fine, but we had tested the city's water weeks ago, so no surprise there. I am concerned with a few things though. Like that stream of sand." He pointed to the steady line reflecting light as it fell into the water from above. "That's not sand. It's decay from the rotting roots. I'm not sure what effects it would have on the water or if the natural filtration would take of it like it does everything else."

Kanae hummed, letting her attention on him waver as he kept talking. Hiroaki was the same type as Kyoko. A person who thought better out loud with someone at least partially listening. He continued his ramble, talking theories with his assistants and overall doing his job. Hopefully, this wouldn't be for nothing.

Koga stepped up next to her. Literally, taking a step so he was right next to her like they were buddies or something.

"So," he said with the casual grace of a pubescent boy. "You're pretty close to Cain and Kyoko." She didn't dignify the comment with a response. It caused him to shift uncomfortably but did not completely deter him. "Strange that an Accursed would care about anything."

"It's stranger for you to think they don't," said Kanae. Even if it was a thirst for blood, the Accursed were nothing but driven by their desires. She had met enough to know this from personal experience.

"And you think you know what it is they want?" said Koga. "I guess as humans we too are driven by what we desire, and love, but how can you be so sure that they even care about you? What happened to make you believe the words of-"

"Koga, don't make the mistake of thinking I'm interested in listening to your obvious philosophical bullshit." She turned her eyes to his, gleaming dangerously in the smattering of cave light. "If you're thinking you can confuse me to the point of betraying them, then stop wasting your breath. The only reason I let Cain bring you on this trip is because you seem to have a reason to stay on his good side. But the second you do anything that puts them in harm's way I will not be as merciful as Cain."

The smile on Koga's face didn't waver. It increased in depth, the sincere crinkle of his eyes missing from the expression. "I didn't mean to offend. I was just trying to understand."

"Then understand from a distance. You're in the way."

Koga inclined his head. "My apologies." Then he stepped back like he was asked, but not in a normal way. He didn't turn his back to Kanae. Instead, he paced backward, eyes measuring her as surely as she was measuring him. It wasn't until he was safely on the other side of Hiroaki that he stopped walking sideways, engaging one of the workers in conversation.

That settled it. He was going to be a problem in the future.

And guessing by the expression on Cain, they had another problem already. The Accursed was walking toward her quickly, robes billowing in the wind his stride created.

"She activated her necklace," said Cain.

Kanae raised a brow. "Two signals, or just one?"

"One for now." His scowl deepened. "I want you to go back and check on her."

"No." Kanae pointed to Hiroaki's team, who was currently exclaiming over the new sample taken from the tree. "I don't trust these men with Hiroaki. Especially Koga. He's up to something. It's more likely Kyoko figured something out and wants to tell you about it. She gets like that."

He obviously didn't like that, but hey, if this man didn't like listening to logic and wisdom that was his own problem.

"We're nearly done with our time anyway," said Kanae. "Or is it that you don't trust Hikaru and the others?"

That seemed to do it. He remained tense but relented under Kanae's logic.

"We'll head back quickly," he said. "I'll tell the researchers to start winding down their—"

A puff of dark exploded around Hiroaki's team.

Nerves on high alert for this very sort of thing, Kanae grabbed Hiroaki by his collar, hurtling him back. Only problem was she wasn't the only person to reach for him.

Another hand brushed by her own and thanks to the cloud of smoke quickly encasing the others, Kanae couldn't make out who it was. By reflex, she batted the hand away, still trying to back up. The smoke was expanding, screams coming from inside.

She felt the whoosh of a weapon before it hit. She threw up a shield, pushing back the smoke and attack at the same time. Something clanged against her vambrace, but she ignored it in favor of deflecting the smoke and other unforeseen magic attacks. Something clipped her shoulder, making her stagger backward.

With a final grit of her teeth, Kanae pulled with magical assistance, taking Hiroaki with her into the clear air and out of the way of the smoke. It had stopped moving outward, now rising to the cave ceiling and slowly unveiling what it had left behind.

Someone shrieked.

Two men lay where the smoke had been, bodies covered in black twisting marks. Another man stood nearby, this one screaming. Black marks like the ones on the dead men were winding slowly up his arm. In a flash, she understood why it was happening.

His protective amulet had been broken.

She could see the shredded gem from here, leaking magic as something slowly took over. Others rushed forward, trying to help, scrambling as Koga directed the men in this emergency. All the while Kanae didn't leave Hiroaki's side, weapon drawn and eyes darting around.

"What happened?" said Kanae.

"I-it was the pod," said Hiroaki. "We were just looking at it and then it suddenly exploded for no reason."

"Without reason, huh?" She found that unlikely.

The man with the broken bracelet was already dead. Everyone else was checking their own. Hiroaki moved forward toward one of his assistants, but Kanae pulled him back.

"I need to help," said Hiroaki. "I think he inhaled some of the smoke."

"It's not safe," said Kanae. "Someone tried to attack me during the explosion."

"Kanae."

It was Cain. He grabbed her arm, raising it so she could see what was there. Or better yet, what wasn't.

Her amulet was gone.

"Hell!"

Kanae clamped a hand around her arm. The amulet had probably been knocked off during her escape from the smoke with Hiroaki. Her mind raced, already imagining those dark marks swallowing her in pain like they had the other man.

"Do we have any extra amulets?" said Kanae.

Hiroaki shook his head. "No, we wore what we had."

"Shit!"

There had to be a solution. Blood pumped through her ears, the rush drowning out any noise. Nausea rose. She had to lean over quickly, emptying the contents of her stomach on the floor. Was it already taking her? It had happened so fast for that other guy.

Her eyes fell on the two dead men. Unbroken amulets glittered around their wrists.

Kanae shoved Hiroaki at Cain, bolting forward. Just before she reached the bodies, two streaks of magic shot out. She prepped to defend herself, but the spells flew wide. They collided with the bracelets as they shattered, metal and magic flying. A piece grazed her cheek. She reached up to wipe the blood away, eyes rising to meet the person who'd sent the spell.

Koga.

The smile on his face finally became true, open in pleasure.

Anger rose hot within her. In a few strides, she closed the distance between them. The man was not expecting to be accosted. Nor was he expecting to be swept off his feet and slammed into the ground, but here he was, pinned by her boot, too slow for her spear.

"You did this," she roared. "Are you so blind in your prejudice that you killed innocents just to get to us?"

She heard other swords being drawn. A bark from Cain to stand down. Whether it was meant for her or the others, she ignored him, pressing her spear against Koga's neck.

"I had nothing to do with this," said Koga.

"Bullcrap!"

The anger in his face grew, frustration twisting it. "What about you? You seem to be alright, despite losing your amulet."

"I—"

That's when his rage registered. The look of disgust. The same look he gave Cain when his back was turned.

"You're one of them," snarled Koga. "An Accursed, aren't you?"

She wasn't.

But she was also fine. How was she fine? After vomiting, nothing else had happened.

She pressed the spear closer, ignoring the forming spells around her. "You were the one that attacked me. You broke my amulet. You broke the others."

"And what if I did?" His eyes left her, focusing instead on Cain and the audience around them. "You monsters are an abomination and I would gladly die before serving any of you. I will not lay over and let your magic corrupt the hearts and minds of my people like so many others have allowed. I am a true soldier of Ashuron. Loyal to the crown and Rosa."

"Clearly," mocked Kanae. "As you've just slaughtered three of those citizens in your thirst for glory."

Anger flashed in his eyes. "I had nothing to do with that."

Kanae's hand tightened on her spear. Her heart was still thumping loud in her ears. When people tried to kill her, they usually ended up dead, and she didn't see why this man should be different.

"Kanae," said Cain, his low rumble carrying over the noise.

She growled at his tone. Sounded like a freaking prince or something, calming down his wayward angry subordinate. His reprimand was clear.

She wrenched her spear away, finally taking her boot off Koga's chest.

"You, take Koga into custody." Cain pointed to one of the men. "Take away his weapons as well."

The men scrambled to obey, some staring openly, others muffling cries. Kanae stomped back over to Hiroaki, carefully looking over every inch of her skin.

It was unblemished. Nothing marred it. No sign of the rot or the twisting black marks that had killed the other men.

The hell was going on?

Thanks for reading!

As always, your words and theories make me squee in happiness. Thank you for reading and taking the time to leave reviews if you do!

-Blushweaver

Hope you enjoyed it! Are you ready for what comes next? *insert evil grin*

Rejected titles: "The Root of the Problem" "Down Once More To The Dungeon of my Black Despair" "I Hate You So Much Right now"

-Imouto