Seth managed to carry Kirin on his back while he lay passed out and unconscious, he ran as fast as he could, if was what he had thought was really happening then there was nothing he could do anymore, absolutely nothing the both of them could, even if Tharros was here, he wasn't sure they would make it out alive.The building where they had been suddenly shuddered as though something was emerging from it, Seth turned around to confirm his suspicions, the building was slightly lifted up as though something was trying to emerge from the ground."Ooh, my little saplings!"Seth heard as the familiar chalky voice of the Blood Vine called out to the both of them."Come now, I need to thank you for pushing me this far" its voice rumbling through the entire village, Seth just kept running, he never turned back, not even once, his and Kirin's survival was more important than any stupid mission."You can't escape boys, I've surrounded the entire village with my roots" the voice called out once

Seth looked around confused and scared, in all truth he had never witnessed anything as he did now, he was sure he was still alive, the continuous stabbing of his lungs was a clear reminder of that, but in the grey hue of the forest with trees and vines all surrounding him, he felt everything slower yet he could move as fast as he could if he wasn't tied.Kirin was a few places away from Seth but he looked as though convulsed in pain, as though he did his best to resist something, Seth wasn't sure if this was the Blood Vine's doing or not but he knew this wouldn't end so well.Before he could draw in his next breath, time had returned to its normal speed, the immense pain returned making him grit his teeth in pain but he looked once more and Kirin wasn't there."Phew" Seth heard an unfamiliar voice thunder just above him."That took a lot longer than I expected, well it's been thousands of years since I did something like this" The voice came from Kirin's lips but they weren't his.Im

"Why aren't you laughing?" Kirin asked, "Did you hit your head against a rock or something?"."Laugh Seth! Don't look at me like the nonsense I just said was true" Kirin pushed further but Seth looked at him with a calm expression."We can't both be mad, that's your thing, not mine" Seth paused in his footsteps."Seth, laugh!" Kirin said as he clenched his fists, he didn't like being made fun of, especially in situations where he couldn't remember what had happened, it made him feel he had been taken advantage of."Indra" Seth whispered, so quiet that Kirin barely heard it."Indra? The thunder god? What does he have to do with anything here?" Kirin said in a reproachful manner but Seth just shrugged."He was beautiful Kirin, you were beautiful" Seth's eyes finally met with Kirin's, , he looked into Kirin's eyes so much that it made him uncomfortable."What's wrong with you man? Did the Blood Vine get into you or something? I need answers" Kirin said as he calmed himself down, he knew

Kirin woke up with a slight headache and a parched throat, he was alone on the ground, he turned around and saw Seth trying to grill some of the meat from the day before.Kirin walked up to the entrance of the cave and fell in the snow face first, after letting the cold melt into his bones, he turned around facing up, it was a poor attempt of him trying to wash away his shame at what he had done.Last night was a miserable night, while he studied back in the clan, no one ever told him about things to do out in the wild to survive, and he certainly never expected sleeping with a man, skin to skin to stop both from freezing to death, he felt... Tainted.After a moment, he packed snow into his mouth to reduce the dryness he felt in his throat."Get back in here Kirin, snow isn't a good substitute when you're thirsty" Seth called out but too late, he already had a mouth full of snow, he tried his best to not spit it out in disgust as he felt other things in his mouth that weren't snow.'B

"Do you know what you have said?" Wisteria asked Kirin, he simply nodded his head in acceptance, he knew there were not enough words in his head to convince her if he was lying or not, rather it depended on how he presented the truth."Go on, tell me why there are only the two of you here," she asked him with a serious expression on her face, the lax look on her face was gone, now she looked serious, sat up properly, and faced him with eyes that bored into his souls, as though searching for something unknown to him."The demon can take over the bodies of others as it comes in contact with the blood of anyone, it then makes it their host and uses them however it sees fit, that was what happened to the warriors sent before us, they all died, not a single one of them survived," he said and a deathly silence overtook the hall, as though they knew that the words that had left Kirin's lips were nothing but the truth."We were part of the second group sent to patrol when we encountered them,