The air was cold when Chris rose before the sun. Dew clung to his boots as he made his way from the woods back into the main road, each step dragging with the weight of something far heavier than exhaustion.
Damian was still asleep beneath the makeshift tarp they'd strung between crumbling stone arches. His raven hair spilled across his eyes, face relaxed in a rare moment of vulnerability. He looked… human. Not dangerous. Not like someone who could wield forbidden magic. Not like someone who'd just saved Chris's life.
And yet…
Chris looked down at the silver crest in his hand — the royal insignia of Solaria's order. A communication token. His one chance to report.
To do his duty.
He turned away.
---
A few hours earlier, Chris had stood just outside the cursed town's perimeter, soaked in ghost-ash and fear, pacing back and forth like a madman.
He saved your life.
He's also a shadow mage. A wanted criminal.
He could've left you to die.
He's dangerous. It's your job to report him.
Duty warred with instinct. Logic battled gratitude. Every lecture from the Academy echoed in his skull — never trust a mage, especially not one of shadow.
And yet, Damian had stood between him and death without hesitation.
"Why?" Chris had whispered to himself in the dark. "Why the hell would you do that?"
Now, dawn light bled into the world, painting Damian in gold as he stirred beneath the tarp. Chris watched him shift and yawn, blinking sleep from his eyes.
"You're staring," Damian said, voice hoarse. "Flattered. But creepy."
Chris tossed him an apple.
Damian caught it mid-air. "Truce breakfast?"
Chris didn't answer.
---
They hit the road before the sun fully rose. The forest grew quieter the deeper they went, and Chris couldn't stop glancing over his shoulder. Something felt off. Off in the way silence sometimes screams.
Damian noticed. "You're twitchier than usual."
"Just thinking."
"Dangerous habit. Thinking gets people killed."
Chris forced a laugh, but it cracked in the middle. "Tell me something, Damian."
"Now that's dangerous."
"Why shadow magic?"
Damian raised an eyebrow. "Why not?"
"It's outlawed. You'd have been hunted no matter where you went."
"Some things are in your blood, Chris," Damian said quietly. "You don't get to choose them. You either run from them or use them."
Chris's hands tightened on his reins. "And what did you choose?"
"I chose not to die. That makes me the villain, right?"
Before Chris could answer, a sharp whistle cut through the trees.
Damian froze.
So did the birds.
Then—
"GET DOWN!"
Chris tackled Damian just as a bolt of lightning magic blasted the earth where they stood. Trees split. Dirt erupted.
Bounty hunters.
---
A dozen of them. Clad in black with the red insignia of Umbraxis hunters — the elite few who didn't ask questions, only hunted rogue mages. Their faces were masked, their weapons glowing with infused light and shadow both — a dangerous blend that could pierce magical defenses.
Damian hissed. "They followed me. Of course they did."
"You know them?" Chris demanded, sword drawn.
"Used to be one of them."
"Are you serious?!"
Damian smirked bitterly. "What part of exiled didn't you get?"
The hunters advanced. No words. No hesitation.
One raised a sigil. "Damian Kaelthorn," the hunter intoned, "you are charged with treason against Umbraxis. You are to be executed on sight."
Chris blinked. "Wait, no arrest? No trial?!"
The lead hunter looked at Chris like one might glance at a fly buzzing near their soup. "Step aside, knight. This does not concern Solaria."
Chris's heart thundered. He looked at Damian. At the fear buried behind those defiant eyes.
This man saved his life.
And now…
Now Chris had to decide.
He could let the hunters take Damian. He'd be hailed as a hero. He could forget everything, go back to Solaria, and pretend none of it had happened.
Or he could choose the other path — the one no one would understand. The one that might brand him a traitor too.
He drew his sword.
"Then it concerns me now."
The lead hunter frowned. "You stand with a traitor?"
"I stand with the man who saved my life."
"That will be your last mistake."
They attacked.
---
The fight was chaos.
Chris moved instinctively, steel flashing as he parried bolt after bolt, ducking blasts of shadow fire. Damian moved beside him — a blur of midnight energy, swirling around Chris like living smoke. He didn't hold back. This wasn't the slippery, teasing mage Chris had grown used to — this was a weapon unleashed.
Shadow tentacles lashed out, yanking one hunter into the air and slamming him into a tree. Chris caught another with a shield bash, spinning and slashing before he could counter. They moved as one — chaos and control.
"I thought you said you weren't a killer!" Chris shouted, dodging a bolt.
"I said I prefer not to kill!" Damian called back. "But I'm also not a corpse enthusiast!"
Another explosion rocked the forest, lighting up the early morning like fireworks. Three more hunters fell, retreating into the brush. The rest circled.
"We're not going to win this!" Damian said. "We have to run!"
Chris hesitated — knights didn't run. But looking around, he realized it wasn't about pride anymore. Damian was right.
"Go! I'll cover—"
"Nope," Damian snapped, grabbing his arm. "We go together or not at all."
They fled into the woods, dodging trees and flying spells, breathing ragged. They ran until their legs burned, until the sounds of pursuit faded into silence.
---
They didn't stop until they reached a narrow river.
Both collapsed onto the grass, panting, soaked in sweat and magic and blood.
Damian coughed, half-laughing, half-exhausted. "Next time… you report me… before breakfast."
Chris didn't answer right away. His sword lay at his side, and his entire body ached.
But his mind was clear.
"I did," he said.
Damian stiffened. "What?"
"I reported you. This morning. Used the crest. Told them where we were."
Silence.
Damian's face darkened, shadow magic crackling around him like static.
"So why are you here?" he asked quietly. "Why not let them kill me?"
Chris met his eyes.
"Because I changed my mind."
Damian stared at him, stunned.
"I thought I knew what was right," Chris said. "Solaria, duty, orders. But none of that was there when you saved me. You didn't ask if I was worthy. You just acted."
He reached out, slowly, cautiously.
"You deserve better than death. You deserve someone at your side."
Damian didn't take his hand. But he didn't pull away either.
The magic faded.
"…You're an idiot."
Chris smiled. "I've been told that a lot lately."
They sat in silence beside the river, the forest breathing around them, the dawn golden and strange.
Enemies by fate.
But something was changing.
Something important.
Something fragile.
And for the first time, neither of them ran from it.
---
End of Chapter 5