Taiga wiped demon blood from his blade in the moment of peace before resheathing it. He flexed his barked fingers, taking a final look over the large demon. He’d shattered its beak when it dug into his arm, a row of small needles lined the inside. His arm had barked before the pain even set in, breaking the teeth, beak, and jutting into the back of the demon’s head in quick succession.

  The fool.

  A smaller demon lay dead beside it, which he’d taken care of first with his sword. Taiga turned, finding Ellio atop the hill, pulling himself off a small demon. The grasses hadn’t warned him of that one, and he’d realized its presence only after he’s already entered the fray. A small relief sighed from him as he made his way back to Ellio.

  “That demon wasn’t there when I came over the hill.” He pointed to the one slain by Ellio.

  The way Ellio handled his sword told Taiga he’d used it before, and from the way he held it, was trained how to do so. Well, the bear of a man had the strength, obviously. But his usual soft demeanor and cautious way of moving made Taiga doubt. He wouldn't again.

  “Who trained you?” Taiga noticed Ellio’s eyes on his arm as he pointed to the sword.

  Ah. The bark.

  If it was Jule here, she’d probably ask to touch it. But Ellio only blinked away once caught, sheepishly blushing as if he’d done something shameful. Taiga glanced back towards the demon, its blood splattered across the grass.

  Interesting combination of a person. Taiga smiled.

  “Ah, my father, and then at the academy in Monx.” Ellio wiped the blood from his metal sword before sliding it back into place. Oh, how Taiga wished his own made that slick scraping sound Ellio’s did. Yet most of it was still wood.

  “Hmm, is that so.” Taiga turned, looking out over the plain. Blue glittered and steamed from the demons he’d fought, but the one Ellio killed had the slightest tinge of… something more. He moved past Ellio, squatting down beside the evaporating demon. Blue magic flowed from it in small streams, darker, a little redder than usual. Dark blue mixed to near purple.

  Taiga shot up, glancing around them as the remainder of the demon melted away, leaving just its corrupted heart. “Where did this demon come from?”

  Ellio blinked at him. “From the right as I came over the hill.”

  Taiga followed the direction Ellio pointed him towards, setting a hand to the tallest grasses and whispering his question. The grass flowed with the wind, and he followed it as it beckoned.

  He pressed a hand to the ground as the remnants of dark blues broke apart into the air. Further until the color did not shatter. The grass was drenched in blue magics and it bubbled, rejected from soaking into the earth. Here.

  “Ellio, I found the rip.”

  “What??” He ran up beside Taiga, looking every which way in the direction Taiga pointed, though likely seeing nothing.

  Taiga bent down, patting an area just in front of the bubbled blue magics. “Here.”

  “So this is the cause of all the demons appearing.” Ellio shuffled into his bag, and a chilled wind gust blew past, striking deep into Taiga’s exposed hand.

  He retreated his hands beneath his cloak and into Ellio’s coat pockets. “Jule was right.”

  Taiga supposed he may tell her to her face upon their return if she was still in low spirits. Surely, she’d love to hear how right she was. Ellio kneeled beside him, uncorking a jar and setting it down in the grass. Then, he scooped dirt and grass into the jar with clumsy precision. Taiga watched silently as the dark blues dispersed from the dirt, but enough had likely soaked in for whatever experiment Ellio and Jule intended with their sample.

  “Ah,” Ellio’s voice broke, and he dropped the jar from his hand. Taiga caught it as it began rolling down the slope.

  “What’s wrong?” Taiga looked over Ellio’s quickly darkening face.

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  Ellio blinked at the grass and the jar. “I can’t move my fingers.”

  Taiga paused. He’d thought the magic were in low enough quantities they’d be unaffected. The magic also dispersed enough that Taiga couldn’t follow it for long.

  “Sorry, I didn’t realize that it could still affect you.” Taiga shook the jar a little to settle the contents. “I can gather the rest. Your fingers should return to normal with a little time.”

  Even as Taiga dug his fingers into the soil and placed it in the jar, he was unaffected the way Ellio was. Well, he wasn’t human, of course, but it was only times like this and when his bark shelled his skin did he realize the stark differences. He bent over to scoop a small bundle of young grass when a small jingle caught his attention.

  The gold chain and purple gem of his necklace fell free from his coat and swung against his neck. The queen had told him these necklaces helped protect them from corruption.

  Surely it was fair to question how powerful these things were, considering how numb his limbs became when entrenched in a fog of pure corruption. But maybe he’d actually take on more pain and tingling without it. He wouldn’t die from such fog anyways, and while he’d finally gotten Mouse to wear it, he wondered if the necklace did him any good at all.

  Ellio bent down a meter away, glancing over the gem. “What’s that?”

  “A gift from our queen. Helps ward off corruption, supposedly. Though I’m more inclined to think it’s a hoax created by a salesperson.” Taiga slipped a little more soil into the jar before reaching towards Ellio for the cork, who gave it to him.

  He plugged the top of the jar and stood. Actually, if these necklaces had any power at all, would it not be safer to give them to Ellio and Jule? Being humans, they would be in much higher need for such trinkets than Mouse or Taiga, who could survive no matter what nature could throw at them.

  “Is it okay to ask…” Ellio peeked at Taiga before his eyes flitted back towards the ground. When they flinched back onto Taiga, he continued, “are you two close with the queen of Lanria? Since she gave you both this mission?”

  Taiga tucked the necklace back into his coat. He’d consider giving them away later. “Not at all. I find her insufferable.” The blood of the Ganakri drenched her hands. “Why?”

  “I was only wondering. You said before that she doesn’t tolerate non-humans well and yet you were both knights for her. I assumed she knew about…” Ellio fiddled with his fingers despite how numb they must’ve been. Likely a habit.

  “She knows. That’s why she assigned us to this mission, since we can survive any corruption the Guardian Spirits create.” Taiga cracked his neck and surveyed the area once more for any demons. The grasses hinted towards nothing, and he turned back towards the camp. “She keeps us around because she finds more use for us alive and in her control than dead.”

  That’s what happens when she eradicates an entire species before realizing she may need them later.

  “And you… agreed to serve her?”

  Taiga said nothing for a long moment. They peaked over the hill and made their way back towards Jule, Mouse, and Sweet Bun who eagerly awaited his return. He swallowed a thump of annoyance beating in him.

  It wasn’t Ellio’s fault, and he knew this. The siblings’ curiosity might’ve been understandable. Maybe it was normal to question and question and question. Maybe he thought the answers would be beneficial to their research. Quieting a groan, he took to a sigh instead.

  “It was agree or die. She didn’t exactly give us a choice in the matter.”

  Ellio said nothing the rest of the walk back, which Taiga appreciated. If it were Jule, surely she’d continue asking until he quit the entire partnership with them. Ellio, on the other hand, seemed to realize he broached an uncomfortable topic.

  Just as they approached the camp, Ellio whispered softly, “sorry.”

  Taiga paused at the apology. What was he sorry for? Awkward and guilt nagging him, Taiga replied, “don’t worry about it. It was a long time ago.”

  Yeah, surely the apology was intended for that part of the conversation. Right?

  He shook off the confusion and passed Sweet Bun, giving her a quick scratch beneath her chin. She purred a warbled song in pleasure. It only took a moment to find Mouse, watching Jule from where he sat beside the fire pit, a bowl of soup in his hands, half empty.

  Taiga came up beside him, listening in on Jule’s retelling of some story to the camp’s children. When Mouse spotted him, he handed him another fresh bowl of soup from beside the fire. “Did you know Jule was almost kidnapped by fairies when she was little? She’s telling the kids about it.”

  “Ah,” Ellio let out a small laugh. Mouse, who hadn’t noticed him behind Taiga, flinched. “We passed through a small fairy community when we were young. I was five or six? Jules was about eight. Our parents were working with some of the people there.”

  “And,” Mouse broke away from Jule’s clearly exaggerated storytelling, “she was kidnapped?”

  Ellio shook his head. “She’d picked flowers from the forest earlier in the day. The fairy wanted the dew off them.They led her out of bed for it, even. But that’s all.”

  “Hmm,” Mouse turned back towards Jule and the children when they gasped, “how interesting.”

  “Should we discuss what we found?” Ellio flexed his fingers slowly, the tips trembling.

  Mouse watched Jule speak with keen focus, listening intently enough that he didn’t seem to even notice Ellio speak. When was the last time Mouse had taken well enough to humans for him to listen in on campfire stories? Maybe their squad of knights before their recall from the border? Taiga watched Mouse’s eyes light up as the childrens’ did at the telling of a fairy appearing from beneath the leaf of a fig tree.

  “We can do it later.” For now, Mouse could enjoy the stories.