They burned the demon's corpse without a word.
The flames spat and hissed, thick smoke curling into the dead sky. Elian turned his face from it, but Sera stood still — eyes locked on the blaze like it owed her something. Maybe it did.
"You know," she said after a while, her voice sharp, "it's impressive."
Elian glanced up. "What is?"
"You've made it this long with that level of stupidity."
He stiffened. "Excuse me?"
She turned toward him, katana glinting faintly as she planted it back into the earth. "I said you're either incredibly lucky or too dumb for the demons to bother finishing off."
They walked through the ruins of the village, ash crunching underfoot.
Elian stayed a few paces behind.
"You've got no clue what you're doing out here," Sera continued. "Running through warzones like a lost dog. No sense of direction. No gear. No plan. Just… wandering."
"I've survived," Elian muttered.
Sera snorted. "So does mold. Doesn't mean I respect it."
Elian's hand twitched near the hilt of his blade.
She noticed.
"Go ahead. Try it," she said, eyes narrowing. "I could cut you in half before your sword clears the scabbard."
He didn't move.
She smiled faintly. "Smart boy."
They stopped to rest by a broken tower on the edge of the village. The stone walls were cracked with claw marks and old blood. A child's doll lay face down in the dust.
Sera cleaned her blade in silence, then looked up.
"You really don't know what's going on in the world, do you?"
Elian didn't respond.
She scowled. "Of course not. You've got that look — that wide-eyed, oh-no-I'm-different-but-surely-I-can-stay-neutral look. You're not neutral, kid. You're a target."
"I didn't ask for this," he said coldly.
"No one does. The difference is most of us didn't run crying into the woods when it started."
He stood. "I left everything behind."
"Cry me a river. You think you're the only one who lost something?" She shoved her blade back into its sheath. "Newsflash — every single person still breathing has lost everything. So grow up."
He looked like he might punch her.
She wouldn't have minded.
"Why did you even help me?" he asked.
Sera looked him over.
Disgust. Pity. Maybe both.
"Because leaving you there would've felt like shooting a chained dog. Pathetic. But not satisfying."
"And yet here you are."
"Yeah, well, maybe I'm tired of watching idiots die. Or maybe I'm just not ready to let whatever's inside you fall into the wrong hands."
That stopped him.
She stepped closer, her voice like poison.
"You think you're normal? That you can keep hiding in broken places and this… thing inside you will just go away? It won't. And when it comes out — they'll come for you."
Elian's voice cracked. "Who?"
"Take your pick," she said. "Angels. Demons. Hunters who don't ask questions."
A howl tore through the stillness.
Not close. But close enough.
Sera stood instantly.
"That sound? That's a pack. They're tracking something. And I bet you a sword to the throat I know who."
She tossed him a curved dagger.
"Don't get too proud — it's not a gift. I just don't feel like dragging your corpse around if they gut you."
Elian caught it.
"You don't have to help me."
Sera was already walking toward the trees, hand on her katana.
"Believe me — I know."
The forest didn't breathe.
Not anymore.
The howls had faded, but the silence that followed was worse. A hunting silence. Even the insects had gone quiet.
Elian's grip tightened on the dagger Sera had tossed him. It was lighter than he liked — balanced for quick, close strikes, not brute survival.
She moved through the underbrush ahead of him like a shadow. Every step precise. Every motion silent. Her katana rested loosely in one hand, but her knuckles were white around the hilt.
"Keep your damn footsteps quiet," she hissed. "You walk like a wounded ox."
Elian muttered under his breath. "Better than walking like someone with a sword up their—"
She stopped. Turned.
One sharp glare.
"Finish that sentence and I'll make you eat your own teeth."
He shut up.
Fair.
They reached a clearing: a grove blackened by old fire, trees twisted like screaming corpses. In the center, a shallow pool reflected a blood-colored moon.
Sera held up a hand — stop.
"Something's close," she said. "Two of them. One circling. One watching."
Elian sniffed the air — blood, ash, sulfur — and something worse. Something like burned feathers and wet dog having an argument.
From the shadows, a thing lunged — all limbs and bone and shrieking hunger.
Elian dodged too late — claws raked his arm.
He slashed back, missed the throat but scored the ribs.
The demon reeled, but Sera was already there — her blade flashed, and the head rolled clean off the body before it hit the ground.
"Thanks," Elian said through gritted teeth.
She didn't look at him.
"You're welcome. I've always had a The second demon struck fast.
It tackled Elian from behind — claws sinking into his shoulder.
He cried out, dropped the dagger — and then a wet crack echoed through the clearing.
The beast slumped forward, Sera's katana buried in its spine. She kicked it off and yanked the blade free.
She glanced at him.
"You drop your weapon again, I'm carving a leash from demon hide. Just for you."
He grunted. "Thought you weren't into pet ownership."
She smirked, dark and humorless.
"I had a dog once. Real loyal. Got eaten. I cried for maybe five seconds. Then I ate it back."
Elian blinked.
"…Was that a joke?"
She just turned and walked off.
Back at the edge of the clearing, she bandaged his arm with brutal efficiency.
"You know, a little gentleness wouldn't kill you," he said.
"Want gentleness?" she replied. "Next time, try dying near a nurse."
The demon bodies hissed as they burned — green smoke curling like fingers into the air.
Sera didn't watch the flames. She watched Elian.
"You're not normal," she said. "You're not ready, and that makes you dangerous."
"You keep saying that like you know me."
"I don't need to know you," she said coldly. "I've seen what you'll become. I've killed what you'll become."
A beat passed.
And then, quieter, more bitter:
"Didn't enjoy it. But I slept just fine."