K'ger: Ok. My writing streak has official died. This chapter turned to be kind of a...female dog...about coming out right. I don't know what happened, one week I was writing like crazy, finishing a 3,500 word chapter in a night, and now it took me a week.

I'm still kind of...eh...about this chapter. But if I don't publish this, i'll never get moving on with the plot.

Never Look Back

The wagon came to a shuttering stop. Shaking the warm, tender grip of sleep, Benjamin opened his green eyes, eyelids refusing to open completely as he looked groggily toward the only window.

Even with the blurriness of newly woken eyes, he could see the first fingers of sunlight dappling the soft cerulean sky, a few thin white clouds lazily retreating in either direction, escaping the tendrils of brighter light. He blinked the blurriness away, his mind snapping into motion. The caravan should have kept moving far past dawn, most likely well into midday. And yet here they were, stopped just as the sun was beginning to rise.

He could hear voices outside. The sounded tense, like they were shouting at someone or something. He would have stood up, looked out the window to see what was happening, but Annalise was peacefully asleep, wedged against his side with her head resting on his shoulder. He didn't want to wake her.

So instead, he turned his head, one cheek against the wall as he strained his ears to hear.

"Who are you?" Once voice, a woman, called from in front of the wagon. It sounded like Mistress Fala.

No answer.

"Let us pass." She said, more commandingly.

Silence.

He jolted when there was a scream, and seconds later, the sound of someone hitting the ground. Angered cries followed, ones of outrage and protest. The wagon shook slightly as the horses that were hitched to it backed up, haunches bumping up against the wagon seat.

Soft, nervous whinnies came from outside. Another sound met his ears, a strange, low rumbling sound, almost like a growl. A beast-like growl that slowly grew louder, accompanied by the padding of large feet.

Breathing. He could hear breathing. Hot, heavy breathing, like the panting of a dog when it was too hot outside. Whatever it was, it was just outside the wagon. Instinctively, he wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulder.

She gave a soft moan, her eyes fluttering open as he disrupted her.

"…Benji?" She uttered in a small, sleep-groggy voice, lifting her head up a few inches from his shoulder. He shushed her, putting a finger to his lips, and held her tightly against his side, still listening to the panting, rumbling sounds behind them.

"…Benji…what's wrong-?!" Her voice was cut off forcefully when the sound of splitting wood met both of their ears. Shouting, Benji pushed against the wall, catapulting him and his sister away from the side of the wagon seconds before razor-sharp claws came ripping through the flimsy wood.

A shrill scream came from his sister's throat as she looked past him, toward the outside. He looked over his shoulder, and tightened his grip even further on Annalise as he found himself staring into the maw of what looked to be a huge dog. A fleshy pink tongue was lodged tightly between two sets of yellowing fangs that glistened with saliva, and as another savage growl rumbled from the beast's throat, a few droplets of froth splattered onto their faces.

He could feel Annalise stiffen against him as two more of the beasts peered into the wagon, almost identical to the one that was growling so fiercely at them. The beasts really did resemble giant dogs, with midnight-black coats that shone with greenish-purple highlights like the feathers of a raven. They were easily the size of a horse, with massive paws, ending in long, wicked claws that left deep marks in the wooden floors.

Annalise was frozen against him as the three giant wolf-dogs' closed their mouths upon seeing her. Their ears pricked upright, hackles slowly lowering to lay flat on their thick necks.

The first wolf-dog leaned in close, hot, acrid breath ghosting over both their faces, and sniffed at Annalise, taking in her scent. The others' followed suit, sniffing the two of them with short, stuttering breaths. Seconds later, all three of the beasts' threw back their heads and howled.

"Benji! What are they?" Annalise whined, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. Looking up at the beasts', it was then that he realized that there were people seated atop their backs. Three tall men, all with hair as black as the beasts' they rode and eyes the shade of blood. The man that rode the first of the beasts was by far the youngest, only a few years older than them if he was guessing correctly.

His face was angular, and refined, with a strong jaw and thin, arching eyebrows that were kept low over his crimson eyes. His clothes were simple, a gray tunic, under which a layer of chain mail rested, protecting his core.

Benji threw the man a harsh, threatening glare, hoping to keep him at bay. But instead, received nothing more than a pitying smirk. The man closed his eyes for a moment, his head shaking slightly to either side in a tired expression, before lifting a hand from his mount's shoulders, holding it, palm toward them for a moment before pointing two fingers toward Annalise.

Annalise screamed again when the beast lunged forward, fangs snapping. Benji rolled out of the way, and unable to stop itself, the beast let loose a yelp of uncertainty and anger as it crashed headfirst through the other side of the wagon, landing painfully on its shoulder and sending its rider flying.

"You little-!" The man growled, watching without even a chance to act as Benji pulled himself and his sister up, and dashed out of the hole in the wall that the creature had made, dodging as one of them lunged at him.

Making sure she was on her feet, he pushed Annalise away. The caravan had stopped on the edge of a small patch of fir trees, with green, leafy bows that clawed at the sky. Beyond that, he could faintly see a sparkling blue, darker in hue than the sky. The ocean.

"Annalise! Go!" He shouted, head whipping back toward the ripped open wagon, seeing that the other two beasts' had crawled through, and were stalking toward them. She automatically clutched her hands over her heart, and a unsure, frightened look spread across her delicate features.

"B-but…"

"But nothing! Go! Run! Get out of here!" he put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her toward the patch of trees. "Now!"

One of the beasts' leapt at them, forcing a grunt from Benji as its claws ripped into his shoulder. Annalise staggered back a few feet, eyes widening as her mind failed to comprehend as her brother gasped, falling to the ground before her feet, huge red marks appearing underneath the rough fabric of his shirt.

She stayed completely, frozenly still as the three beasts stepped to where her brother was laying, sniffing at his wounds. Just as it looked like one of the beasts' was about to snap at him, she threw her hands down to her sides, balling them up into fists.

A strange mixture of hidden emotions immediately came to a rolling boil inside her, sending her heart rate spiraling upward, and her mind racing with a rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"G-get away f-from my brother." She said softly not meeting the three men's gazes.

The first one, the one that her brother had glared at, gave another smirk. "What was that, little mouse?"

"I said g-get away from my brother!" She said, a little louder. The three men started to laugh.

"Did you hear that, boys? The little mouse wants us to stay away from her precious big brother!"

Annalise began to fume, hands shaking violently at her sides. Something suddenly snapped in her mind, like a switch had been flipped.

"I SAID GET AWAY FROM MY BROTHER!" She screamed, making her throat hoarse as the sound ripped from her voice box. She raised her palms, eyes clouding over, turning a milky blue, like those of a blind dog, unfocused and unseeing. The atmosphere around the group seemed to thicken, and a dark purple energy pulsed around her hands.

The giant wolf-dogs and their riders were sent flying as a massive throb of blackish purple energy sliced through the air, radiating around Annalise. As the beasts dragged themselves shakily to their paws, riders still clinging to their fur, she pointed both hands at them, breathing becoming ragged.

Snarling, the beasts' attempted to lunge at her again, only to be thrown back by another blast of strange energy.

Benji painfully looked up from the ground, to see his sister standing over him, dazed and surrendering to the beast that slumbered inside of her.

Damn.

He rose to his feet, holding a hand to his side. Annalise glanced at him, as if her eyes were seeing two different pictures at the same time. A dribble of blood escaped his lips, trailing down his chin and dropping onto his chest as he stared at her.

The energy field dropped completely, her eyes remaining the milky, whitish-blue. Her hands fell limp to her sides as she stared back at him, uncomprehending.

"Anna." He whispered hoarsely, reaching out a touching her wrist with his free hand. She recoiled away from his touch, an animalistic growl coming from deep inside her throat. She jerked her head away, refusing to look into his eyes.

"Anna, look at me." He coerced. Only another growl answered him, and with a slight tip of her head, she bolted, racing toward the sparkling blue ocean in the distance.

With the dark energy from Annalise gone, the wolf-dogs' rose to their feet again, snarling at him.

He didn't give them a chance to attack, and instead, sped after his sister, yelling. "Stay away from my sister! She's not one of you!"

He followed her through the thicket of massive pine trees, and down a steep, grassy decline that led to the ocean shore. Crystalline water washed across the fine, dust-like white sand, ebbing on the shoreline, hungrily eating up the ground, before losing the battle and retreating to its home, deep and a thick, Prussian blue.

Across the sand, leading off out of sight, was a single trail of petite footprints. His sister's footprints.

He sped down the beach, eyes completely focused on the trail, not noticing as the wolf-dogs slunk stealthily down the hillside after him, paws making not even the slightest sound on the sand.

The trail of footprints led far down the beach. It was amazing how fast she could travel when she wanted to. Upon passing under a strange rock formation that arched over the beach, he found himself entering a darkened, grassy cove. Seawater flowed in from a narrow inlet in the cave-like walls, pooling near the opposite side of the cove.

He sighed in relief when his eyes came to rest on a small human shape standing near the water's edge. Annalise was standing there, looking down at the water as if hypnotized.

Walking toward her, the younger girl didn't even notice as he approached, still staring into the deepest portion of water. In the midst of swirling kelp and seashells, a crumpled shape was laying, tangled in what looked to be a fisherman's net.

But he did not expect Annalise to suddenly emit a small, shuddering gasp, staggering on her feet for a moment before burying her face in his shoulder. He looked down at her, shocked, before realizing why. From the crumpled shape in the water, red liquid was bubbling up to the surface, spreading out and threatening to cloud the entire pool.

Blood.

One of Annalise's many, many fears.

He carefully pulled himself from her grip, and taking a breath, waded into the water, swimming out until he was just over the shape, then diving in. He paddled down about eight feet, till he reached the shape, and quickly turned it over, finding that it had a vaguely human shape.

It was a Zora. Its skin was a light, cerulean blue, with spiraling blue and red tattoos all over its body, tangled incomprehensibly in the net and bleeding from a deep, ragged gash in its side. Grabbing it by the net, he pushed his feet against the sandy floor, and dragged the injured Zora with him to the surface.

Annalise jumped away from him as he dragged the Zora ashore, leaving behind a trail of crimson. Once the Zora was out of the water, Benji quickly set to work untangling him, well, he assumed it was a him, and for . Stealing an occasional glance, he also found that the wound on his side was quite deep, mortally deep. He wouldn't be able to fix such a wound.

The Zora was dying.

The best he could do was to make him as comfortable as possible. It was the least he could do. It was one of his fatal flaws, deep inside his gut, he felt a severe need to protect and comfort everyone, which, could easily get him in a lot of trouble.

He gingerly pulled the netting away from the Zora's body, listening as a pained gasp shuddered from his mouth, the ropes having been firmly lodged in his wounded flesh. As he reached for the final bit of net, he himself gasped slightly when two cold, scaled hands grabbed a hold of his wrist.

Benji looked toward the Zora's face, and watched as the creature's liquid black eyes cracked open, swirling with an aura of worry and despair.

"Please…" The Zora uttered shakily, voice hoarse and raspy.

Annalise stared at him, wide eyed, mind not fully processing what was happening.

"Please…Please help her…" He said, head tipping to one side, toward the pool of water, as if hoping to catch a glimpse of some imaginary creature.

"Help who?" Benji asked calmly, throwing the net flippantly aside and settling down on his knees beside the Zora.

"…Woman…Stole egg…Tried…G-get it back…She needs it…" He mumbled incoherently, his grip tightening on Benji's wrist. The young man shook his head softly, and carefully, he removed his wrist from the Zora's hands, taking a closer look at the wound. It looked like a sword of some kind had made it.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand." He said, eyes narrowing as a bird from outside the cove squawked loudly. He had paid the bird, a seagull, little attention as he had passed, merely a passing glance as he walked, barely noticing as it sat, contented, in a tuft of grass.

But now it was making a ruckus, squalling, the fluttering of angry wings meeting their ears. Seconds later, three black-coated beasts' leapt through the natural archway, mouths open wide and fearsome snarls coming from deep in their throats.

Annalise, now completely back to her usual self, squeaked and dashed over to kneel behind her brother, hiding her face in the crook of his arm. The Zora turned his head to the other side, and saw the three wolf-dogs stalking toward them.

"…T-those beasts…She rode one of them…Please…Go to t-the Great Bay Temple…Please…It's h-her only hope…"

The wolf-dogs stalked ever closer, a bit of frothy saliva dripping from their half-open mouths. Looking down, Benji found that the Zora's eyes had closed, and discreetly pressing a finger to the side of his neck, felt no pulse, no breathing. He had passed.

"Boy, you can't escape, we have you cornered," the youngest man spat from atop the beast as Benji stood, pulling his sister up with him. "So why don't you just surrender her? She's obviously beyond your control."

He backed away slowly, Annalise giving a soft protest as they both stepped into the shallow water.

"She's my sister, and I promised my mother that I would protect her. No matter what. So leave us alone!" And with that, he leapt backwards, ignoring his sister's desperate scream as they both plunged into the water. The wolf-dogs lunged, only to miss them by inches, a safe barrier of water between them and the monsters.

A plume of bubbles escaped Annalise's mouth as they sunk to the bottom, her scream muffled by the water. He quickly reached for her, plastering a hand over her mouth so that she wouldn't swallow any of the salty water, and using his other hand, pushed them both toward the narrow inlet.

It was extremely small, barely wide enough for him to fit through, and as he slowly dragged himself through the narrow, tunnel-like area, his lungs began to burn. In all truths, he wasn't a very good swimmer at all. The last time he could remember swimming was over ten years ago, in a lake with his sister when they had still both been children.

His cheeks puffed up as his lungs ached for more air. A pounding headache formed in the back of his skull as a lack of oxygen started to take its toll. He was almost out of the tunnel, almost to freedom, almost able to breath again when he felt Annalise go limp in his arms, dragging him suddenly down to the ocean floor again.

"Anna-!" He sputtered, realizing a second too late that he had let go of his breath, water quickly flooded his lungs, stinging his throat the entire way down.

No, I'm not going to drown!

He pushed against the sandy floor, kicking wildly, flailing, trying desperately to drag both his weight and his sister's weight to the surface. He made it about halfway, his vision ebbing in black, before his strength faltered, his grip loosening, and Annalise's limp form slipped from his arms, sinking yet again.

But his mind was full of fog, he could barely notice that Annalise had slipped, and slowly, he too began to sink.

The last thing he felt was something warm and smooth, like a hand, grabbing at the ratty, tattered collar of his shirt before he slowly slipped out of consciousness…

Among the wreckage, a thin, shorter young woman walked, stepping carefully with her bare feet as to not injure herself on the sharp rubble. Her black hair was kept up, out of her eyes in a loose, slightly disheveled bun, and as she stepped over the bodies of those who had not escaped the wrath of the metal demon, her knee length white dress flowed around her in the foul-scented wind.

But as she looked through the rubble, eyes emotionless and cold, she stopped, looking at one person who had yet survived.

She approached carefully, quietly. The woman was holding a broken spear in one hand, a pitchfork in the other, and her head whipped toward her as she came close, a dangerous look plastered on her face.

Seeing the young girl, her look softened slightly, but her grip remained firm on her weapons.

"You're that demon's niece, aren't you?" The woman asked, a dangerous tone to her voice.

"Yes, but I'm not like her."

"And how am I supposed to believe you? This could all be a trap. She could have told you to say that."

The young girl dipped her head slightly, bangs coming to obscure her eyes.

"Yes, she could have. But she didn't. You're right, I'm Charise, Mistress Eshana's niece. I'm sorry she did this to your village."

A pause followed, neither of the women knowing what to say, or if to believe what the other had said. After a moment, Charise turned.

"Young lady? Are you going to back to that woman?"

Charise stopped dead in her tracks, but did not turn to look at Selia, the village matriarch.

"No. I'm never looking back…"