Mel

I listen to Damian's heavy breathing as he follows behind me to the backdoor while the grass crunches beneath our feet. The clicking sounds of our shoes hitting the wooden floor fills the empty hallways as we continue walking towards the meeting room. Tess had a map laid out on the round table and points to a trail. "Tomorrow afternoon, the state leader will be passing through this trail on a carriage. I want you to intercept him here," Tess says pointing at the map, "I want you to leave as soon as possible, so you will be camping out at night. I suggest taking one horse to minimize sounds."

"I can do this solo mission," I tell her while leaning against the wall. Tess gives me a I know what you are trying to do kind of look.

"No," Tess insists, "You will do this as a duo. I don't know what is going on between you two, but you are both my strongest soldiers. It is vital that you can work together. On top of that I doubt Damian is comfortable with field work, so who better than my best soldier to show him the ropes," Tess says while patting my shoulder and flicking her wrist as if she was swinging a rope.

Tess hands the map to Damian with circles drawn on it, "Here is the map in case you need it, get prepped."

"Yes ma'am." Damian responds.

As much as I don't want to go on a mission with him, Tess is too stubborn to argue with, so I walk away dropping the subject. I hear the pacing of Damian's footpaces increase and the sound of his breathing becomes closer, so I tell him, "If you are not ready in 10, then I'm leaving you." I sense his gaze lingering on my back, but I continue up the stairs to my room.

I begin packing my bag and weapons. I grab the newest book in my collection titled "Conspiracies: The World Is Not What It Seems" and quickly stuff it into my closet. I glance one last time at the picture frame on my dresser and decide to take it with me.

I head over to the stables and begin saddling up my favorite horse; a beautiful chestnut stallion with a white streak down the middle of his eyes down to his muzzle. While feeding him and combing out his mane, I sense Damian's presence coming towards me. Although he isn't saying anything, I can feel is sharp eyes attempting to analyze me

Taking in a sharp breath, Damian cuts the silence, "What's his name?"

Debating on whether or not to respond, my voice comes out as only a whisper, "Buttercup."

"What was that?" He asks and leans in close to my lips.

"Buttercup!" I yell and push his shoulder away from me, annoyed that he didn't hear me the first time and that he came so close.

Damian jumps back at the sudden loud noise but quickly smiles.

"That's a cute name for a stallion," He says. Is he mocking me? I snatch his bags out of his hands and attach it to the horse.

I gracefully step up and throw my leg over the horse and grab the reins, "Hurry up and get on."

Damian asks me, "Are you sure you don't want me to ride it?"

"Are you undermining my ability to ride a horse?" I ask even though I know it wasn't his intention, "Besides he's my stallion, so I will ride him."

Damian simply nods as he gets on the horse, yet I can feel his hesitation. I roll my eyes and take off full speed to their destination. I feel Damian's hands quickly grab my waist causing me to tense up. Great. I hate sharing my horse with other people. It always makes me feel so awkward, yet they insist they can't read my emotions. I thought being awkward was an easy emotion to detect. I continue to guide Buttercup through the forest, avoiding villages as much as possible. During the ride, the only time we would speak to each other is when I asked Damian for directions.

As the blue sky fades into a bright red, the sounds of rushing water begins to fill my ears. By the time we reach the source, the only source of light is the moon. I pull the reins causing Buttercup to stop, and Damian quickly hops off the horse as if he had been waiting for that moment for a while. I slide off the horse and watch as he quickly conjures a fire while I tie the horse to a tree. I awkwardly watch as he removes his red mask to eat. The fire chases away the darkness far enough for me to clearly see him. His ocean eyes reveal so much of his emotions, yet beneath the surface there is so much depth that you're bound to miss something.

He looks up from his food and his eyes lock with mine and asks, "Aren't you going to eat?"

I pause before responding, "I would rather wait."

"Why?" He insists on knowing.

"None of your business," I say annoyed.

"Is it because of your mask?"

I resist the urge to glare at him, yet even with my response, he tosses me a loaf of bread. Sighing, I turn around, so my back is facing him. I hesitantly pull down my mask so I can take a bite of the bread. By the time I finish eating and turn around, Damian has already laid both of our sleeping bags, and he was already laying down. My eyes dart back and forth between the two sleeping bags before I pull my sleeping bag further away from him and step into it. I bury my body deep into the sleeping bag and look up into the sparkling night sky. 1...2...3...4...5… there's too many stars.

I am running. Running away from a group of men. I'm running as fast as I can, yet they are catching up to me. I reach for my mask through instinct, but the scarf is nowhere to be seen. The men eventually begin to overwhelm me, touching all parts of my body. I try to scream for help, but nothing comes out. Tears flood my face as I look down to see my clothes no longer fit me. I look forward and see a mirror reflecting my younger self with men's hands all around me. I cried out one last desperate time and all the men burst into butterflies. I smile as I reach my hand out and one lands on my finger. "Melody," I hear a sweet voice call out. I quickly turn around and break into a sob. "Mom…" I try to reach out to her, "Mel," she says in an urgent voice, "MEl!" She screams as she begins to crumble away, "MOM!" I yell as I attempt to run to her. MEL!"

I shoot up gasping for air. I feel warm hands grasping my shoulders. I glance over in shock to see Damian sitting next to me.

"Are you okay? You were talking and crying in your sleep," he asks with concern obvious in his ocean eyes.

I wipe my tears and feel my mask still covering my face. Sighing, I look around noticing it is still slightly dark. Right. Just another nightmare. I push Damian off me and say, "I'm fine," while getting up.

I feel Damian's eyes following my movements as I walk to the edge of the river. I watch as the sun slowly begins to rise, it's sunbeams stretching across the earth. After enjoying the short sunrise, I compose myself and go back to help Damian. We quickly clean the area and saddle up Buttercup. Damian hops on first and offers me a hand "Tch," who does he think he is? I reluctantly take his hand and we take off.

We travel down the river following the trail. I spot an old structure looming over the river and point to it. We use the structure to cross the river, and after a couple of hours of riding, we enter the forest where we will make contact with the state leader. The stallion swiftly weaves his way through the trees and over rocks. The forest was full of life; from the bright green trees to the deer running next to us.

"Look out!" Damian yells, knocking me out of my thoughts

A whip made of water slams into our sides, flinging us off the horse. I feel Damian's arms wrap around my body, and I closed my eyes expecting a harsh impact, but opened it when I realized I had landed on top of Damian. I quickly stand up and see Damian on the ground unconscious.

He isn't moving. I could kill him. I could even blame it as an accident. Before I could make a decision, however, I spot another water whip in my peripheral vision. I jump over it, throwing my body forward into a roll, then throwing a knife in the direction the whip came from. Buttercup took off which shouldn't be too much of a problem. I quickly scan the area and notice a carriage with the state emblem in front of me, four guards, and a woman standing in between two guards. She has long black hair, tied up into a tight ponytail. Her eyes are a deep ocean blue - similar to Damian's - and she has tan skin.

"I see you're more flexible on land than on a horse," the woman mocks.

I don't respond, and instead jumps forward drawing my sword. The woman creates a sword made of water to deflect me. However, I side step and kill the two unexpecting guards to the right. While in close proximity to the woman, I go in for the kill. The woman, however, quickly conjures another water whip flinging me into a tree. My body crumbles to the ground, but I attempt to shake it off wobbly standing back up. I throw two knives killing the other two guards, and I lunge forward to attack the woman again. Mid air, two halves of water slam into my body crushing me. I try to swim out, but my efforts only seem to drain my energy further. Encircled by a ball of water, my vision begins to fade. I look one last time at Damian's still body with regret before everything goes black.