Once night crawled into the sky — and Oryal confirmed it wasn't the Ivory Forest as we headed further towards the centre — darkness swallowed us whole. If it was even possible, it got darker still with every moment that passed.

The bounty hunter chose a place for us to set up and rest, considering it was getting difficult for us to see where we were going. It was a small clearing that was easy to defend from. Oryal grew thorned plants and wrapped vines around trees to create a border so nobody could sneak up on us. However, there was still an uneasy feeling settled in my stomach.

I ate half a tin of Sicrecan — an original pasta dish from the Kingdom of Wrosite — for dinner, offering the other to Oryal who passed. Instead, he drank a decent chunk of the contents of his flask, the scent of alcohol strong now that we sat so close together.

While he insisted on taking the first watch, I made myself comfortable and attempted to sleep. Despite how tired I knew I was, I couldn't get my mind to rest, wrestling constantly with my thoughts. What if the soldiers from earlier didn't actually die and found a way to escape? What if Oryal's plan to suffocate them failed and he didn't realise it?

The darkness around us was constricting, playing tricks on me. Shadows danced as if they were figures lurking behind foliage and trees, waiting for a moment to ambush us.

At home, I'd always had a light next to my bed so I had never gotten used to lying in the dark. It was never something I was fond of as a child as I never knew what could be hiding under the cover of it.

I wrapped my arms around my knees, hugging them tightly. I wasn't going to get any sleep unless I had something to distract me.

"Oryal?" I asked into the darkness.

"Yes?" The bounty hunter sounded like he was about to doze off himself.

"You know my parents, don't you? How?" They had never mentioned it before and this was the perfect opportunity to find out. When he didn't respond, I continued. "You stand outside of Deathly Delights so much and I've never known why."

"Your parents hired me to get some Vampire fangs before. That's how I know them." The deep rumble of his voice was soothing, fending off my worries. I couldn't see him too well in the night, but I could feel his presence, his body next to mine as he leaned against a tree.

"But that doesn't explain why you stand outside the bakery. Surely that was a one-time request." Crushed Vampire fangs made for a perfect poison that killed its victim over a long period of time, causing a tragic fatality through internal bleeding. From what I knew, there had only been one client who asked for it.

Oryal looked away, as if he were embarrassed. "I've been waiting for something."

"Something?" I raised a brow even though I knew he wouldn't be able to see my expression. "Care to elaborate?"

He took a swig of his flask, the scent of alcohol following suit. "No."

I sighed, stretching out my limbs from the ball I had curled myself into. "That's just as bad as the mystery condition you got me to sign up for. Do you feel like telling me what that is yet either?"

"That will come in due time."

"I swear if it's-" A snapping branch breaking within the Ivory Forest made me flinch, making me lose my line of thought. The fear I had been attempting to bury rushed back stronger than before, angry that I had tried to push it away.

"What's wrong?" Oryal shifted beside me and I could feel him looking down at me.

"Is there something out there?"

I sensed him grab the hilt of his axe. "Not that I can tell."

Swallowing my panic, I returned my knees to my chest and hugged them tight. I was just imagining it, I had to be. It happened before when I was younger, frightened by the creatures that came out to play in the dark. It was my mind running wild, but I still couldn't shake the thought that the Vahan soldiers were out there.

Picking up on my worry, the bounty hunter stood and headed to the edge of the clearing. "I'll go and check."

"Wait!" I sat up and tried to grab his hand, but it was too late. Oryal had already headed into the forest to discover what the noise was.

This was undoubtedly worse. Now, I was all alone in the dark with nothing to ground me. No voice to lull me into comfort, no heat to guide me to safety, no distraction to keep my thoughts from plunging deeper and deeper into madness.

My breaths arrived hard and fast and nothing could get them to slow down. I attempted to rub the tears away that forced their way to the surface, but they fell quicker than I could keep up with.

"I did a full lap of the clearing and couldn't find anything. I believe the culprit could have been a harmless grass snake. There seems to-" Oryal's axe dropped onto the white grass and the bounty hunter rushed over to me, kneeling before me. "What's wrong?" He tugged my arms away from my face, assessing me for any sign of injury, but there was nothing to be found.

"I'm-" I paused, hoping my chest would stop heaving to give me a chance to speak. "There's- I'm-" My hands trembled as he held them tightly, my head growing lighter with each breath I took.

"It's okay. There's nothing there." Oryal held my face in his hands, wiping my tears away with his thumbs. The scratch of his calloused skin was assuring, giving me something to focus on. "You need to calm your breathing, Tae. Can you breathe with me?"

I nodded, blinking away more tears. If I had to think of the most embarrassing moment in my life, this would rank as one of the top ones. A baker who used poison in her confection was scared of things lurking in the shadows. It was pathetic.

The bounty hunter exaggerated his breathing to make it easier for me to follow along. It was difficult at first, taking a deep breath was too painful for my lungs, but after a couple of minutes I was able to match his pace.

"Thank you," I murmured, my heart no longer pounding in my ears.

Oryal removed his hands from my face and soothingly stroked my knee instead. "What happened?"

"It's nothing, really. It's silly." A frown twisted my lips as I looked anywhere but at the man who had brought me down from the jagged rock and crashing waves my fear had placed me on top of.

"Nothing is silly if it makes you panic like that," he assured, squeezing my leg.

"I'm just... scared of the dark. That's all. I'm not used to being somewhere so dark. There's always a light at home or in the village. But here, there's nothing." I didn't bring the means to create a fire or even a lantern to catch fireflies in. I really hadn't thought it through.

"I have an idea." Oryal sat next to me and closed his eyes. "It might take a moment, though."

Furrowing my brows in confusion, but I gave him the chance to focus on his plan. Was he creating a plant of some kind?

A pink butterfly fluttered down and landed on the bag I had been using for a pillow. Its wings produced a faint glow, bathing us in a magenta light. Before I could question if this was Oryal's doing, hundreds more flew down from the Ivory Forest canopy — a kaleidoscope of transcendent beauty. Several different shades of wings made up the swarm, but most were a light rose. They settled all around the clearing, warding off the shadows that I had been scared of.

"How is this?"

I could have shed more tears at the sight. It was more comforting than I could ever imagine. "The butterflies were you this whole time? I had a feeling it might have been."

"Yes." Now, with the magical light, it was easy to see his shyness. "They get a little annoying at times. I can't exactly control them too well."

"Why would you be annoyed? They're beautiful." I reached out, extending my hand into the air, and one landed on my finger. The legs tickled my skin as it perched. I never imagined Oryal would have a softer side.

"What do the colours mean?" I questioned. "Are they random? Or is pink your favourite colour?"

He shook his head with a chuckle. "My favourite colour is green. And they represent my emotions. Whichever one I feel at the time of their summoning is the colour they will be."

I bit my lower lip as I thought. Some colours were obvious but others were a little more difficult to figure out. The crimson butterfly I had seen earlier when we had been faced with the Vahan soldiers clearly portrayed anger, however, shades like purple were trickier to pin down.

"So, what does pink-"

"Alright. It's time for you to get some sleep. If not, we'll be talking through the night." Oryal shuffled over slightly to make room for me to lie back down.

My eyes narrowed as I stared at the bounty hunter in suspicion. If I pushed for an answer, it would only be added to the list of mysteries he would reveal later. Soon, I would need to write them down so I didn't forget them all.

Even with his secrets racing through my head, trying to find pieces of the puzzle to slot together, exhaustion did creep through my muscles. I gave in and laid back on the grass, resting my head on my bag.

Oryal sat closer than he did before, his leg almost touching my body. With the warmth radiating from his body and the colourful illumination of the clearing, there weren't any moving figures in the shadows to haunt my dreams.

"Goodnight, Tae."

Chapter Word Count: 1,683
Total Word Count: 10,701