He could only watch helplessly as the beast flew off into the night, taking their ship with it. His hands clenched into tight fists and he threw them against the sand with a long groan. Behind him, Florina made a small distraught noise. They were stranded.

After a minute Lon'qu got up and did not bother attempting to brush the sand off of his clothes. He turned away from the shore and started away without another word. "Wh-where are you going?" Florina called in a frightened voice.

"If it pleases you to stand helplessly awaiting another wyvern to take you home, so be it. I must find a way back to Regna Ferox." He did not even bother to look her way.

Florina hesitated before starting after him once more. As she continued, she noticed the way the man before her walked with a limp, how he was holding onto his side. A wounded swordmaster without grace or poise; he'd be useless in battle. This deeply worried her, and her hands began to tremble. This had not been what she she had wished for. This was not how things were supposed to go.

They didn't know how long they'd been walking; without the sun in the sky, there was no way to measure the time. Lightning and thunder crashed around them, terrifying the jumpy girl. The rain was unrelenting, the muddy path was slippery, and they were quickly growing tired. The far-off town did not seem to be getting any closer.

The sun had still not risen when Lon'qu stumbled and ungracefully fell to the wet ground. He let out another groan and remained still, his pain immobilizing. "Are you okay?" Florina asked, sounding quite panicked. "Please, take the elixir."

She removed the flask from her pocket and extended it to him, but Lon'qu swatted it away. "I take orders from no woman," he growled. The bottle flew from her hand to the floor, where it landed on a stone and shattered. The blue liquid seeped down the stone and mixed with the mud, unusable. Soon, it was so mixed with mud and rain that it was unrecognizable, gone. Florina stared at the liquid, watched it bleed into the earth. She looked about ready to cry.

Lon'qu moved himself into a sitting position. His face was raw where he'd fallen on it, and blood trickled from a cut on his forehead. He felt that he was damp on his side, and when he looked down he saw more than his rain-stained robe. The wound he had received from Falchion was bleeding once more. Blood had leaked through his bandages and robes, staining all of them the color of the night. He showed nothing of his pain, but Florina noticed. She saw him bleeding, saw him trying to cover it up. Her eyes fell to where the elixir had dissolved.

What had she done to deserve this? She was stranded on an unknown island in an unknown time with the arrogant king of stubbornness, and not only that, he was very wounded. What was worse, that wasn't the end of her troubles-

"Well what do we 'ave 'ere?"

Lon'qu and Florina both jumped at the noise. Behind them was a man with a gruff voice, but they could not see him well. Lon'qu's grip on his blade tightened. "Who speaks?" he asked.

The man laughed. "Brave o' ya to ask that." He chuckled, and in the next moment a killer axe was being brought down on Lon'qu. He did not have time to defend himself.

"No!"

Florina stood before Lon'qu, her silver lance stopping the axe. She was on the wrong end of the weapon triangle and she was painfully away of that. "Go!" she yelled to Lon'qu.

He looked up in surprise to see he'd been spared. Immediately Lon'qu moved out of the way, but he did not do as he was told. "Like hell." Before, he might have let the girl fight her own battle. He might have even stayed around long enough for her funeral. Now, however, things were different. This girl had saved his life, and just like that he had taken on a debt he did not ask for and did not want. Now, there was no way he could let her fight alone.

He drew his killing edge and prepared for battle. Florina, still struggling to keep the axe away, glanced towards Lon'qu. "What are you doing?!" There was sheer terror drowning her voice. "Your wounds! You'll get killed!"

"That is not on my agenda." He stood with some difficulty and came at their assailant. The man easily side-stepped his blade, and in doing so he freed Florina. The girl didn't have time to get angry with Lon'qu. They needed to defeat this man before Lon'qu sustained anymore wounds. The stubborn man was not going to be backing down, so she needed to act fast. She prepared to strike him with her lance but Lon'qu was faster, and the sound of sword against axe cut through the night. Flroina took this opportunity to strike. Her spear cut through flesh but the man did not even seem to flinch. He tried striking Lon'qu again, this time nicking him. Lon'qu let out a cry before backing away. In a moment he was back for more.

"Get out of this!" Florina cried to him, but it was pointless. There was no way he would listen to her. Realizing that, she sighed and turned to face him. "I am really sorry about this," she murmured before raising her lance. Holding it just under the spear, she swung her handle with all her might right at Lon'qu, knocking him straight to unconsciousness.

When Lon'qu awoke the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. He looked over to she Florina. Her dress was covered in a dark red liquid and she was panting. In her hands was her spear and her knuckles were white from holding it too tightly. She looked exhausted, and her eyes and cheeks told him she had been crying.

Lon'qu sat up, his pain dizzying. His side was screaming, but louder was the pounding in his head. His hair was wet from rain, sweat, and blood. His skin was muddied and dirtied, and he felt as if he had just run three consecutive marathons. His vision was blurring at the edges. He needed a healer.

Florina looked up at him and let out a sigh. "Oh," she murmured. "Thank goodness you're up. I'm sorry I had to knock you out."

"The barbarian," Lon'qu demanded. "Where has he gone?"

Florina turned away. "I had to run away," she said. "You were too injured and he was too strong-"

"Coward," Lon'qu interrupted. "Only a coward runs from a battle." He looked up to the now clear sky, trying to guess what time it was. It was still early morning; he'd been out for a few hours. The man, for all he knew, could have been trailing them, and was just waiting to attack.

Florina reeled. She was about to defend herself but stopped. Her brows furrowed and she turned away. She had saved his life twice now and she was being called a coward for it? He wasn't worth arguing with. Instead, Florina stood and looked out at the forest they were in. She couldn't see much, and even if she could what good would it do? She didn't know anything about any of these places; she was lost. As she walked around to find some landmark, Lon'qu noticed she, too, was walking with a limp. She'd been injured, probably from tripping over her own feet again.

Knowing he'd get nowhere by just sitting around, Lon'qu forced himself to his feet and paused. Now that Florina had taken him someplace, he had no idea where he was in relation to the village. He had no lead to go on, and it was her fault. Not bothering to hide the annoyance in his face, Lon'qu picked a direction and started walking. Every step brought pain but he had to keep going.

Florina did not bother to stop him. She followed after him knowing he wouldn't make it on his own. They both limped across the still muddy terrain, utterly lost and vulnerable. If only they'd had some vulnerary, maybe even an elixir...

They were able to watch the sun rise as they continued on. All of their efforts seemed fruitless; the terrain was not changing no matter how far they walked and their progress only brought pain and slowed paces. Lon'qu was starting to think he'd never get back to Ferox; Florina had already given up hope of returning to Ilia. They stopped walking to regain their breath and energy, and Florina couldn't help but feel sorry for herself. She started to cry, and she slid to a helpless puddle on the floor. This only annoyed Lon'qu, but he could not continue just yet. He was losing too much energy, and soon Florina's crying was not the only sound they could hear. A growl erupted from his stomach. Florina quieted at that, and she looked around for something they could eat. There was nothing but fruitless trees and poisonous shrubs, which added another danger to their list: starving.

Just then, footsteps could be heard around them. "There they are," came a familiar voice. Both of them looked up to see a gruff man. He chuckled as he drew a weapon from his back, a shining killer axe. "You thought you could get away, could ya? Well you ain't welcome here. I'm sure you both's got a pretty penny for me, nah? Well this time I brought me friends, so there won't be no gettin' away."

Lon'qu and Florina looked around to see even more barbarians, men larger and stronger than either of them could be in their current state. Suddenly, their odds of survival had just gotten a lot worse.