June gasped awake. His stomach felt like it's climbing up his throat. He took a few deep breaths, steadying himself. He squinted at the mass of trees blocking the sky. Circular, brown houses littered his surroundings like it did in Depandes. The only difference was that Diven rose up in an incline and that the houses dotted the hill itself.

Then, his gaze landed on a tree with blue leaves and white trunk. He sat up with a start, ignoring the black spots that danced in his eyes because of it. Trees. Food. Finally!

He pushed himself up only to fail the first time. His limbs felt like they were about to fall off. Well, for the record, one of them literally was. He gritted his teeth as he tried again, bracing a tree trunk to support his shaking knees.

Being upright suddenly sent a wave of nausea crashing into his senses. He doubled over, clutching the tree like a lover. He forced himself to look around, to find any semblance of food. Anything to get his body functioning again and keep his mind sharp.

He inched forward, one trunk at a time. He barely had enough energy to cast a shield around Xanthy and the satchel and he's supposed to climb trees to eat? What kind of irony was fate playing with him right now? He would kill just to have food in his mouth.

June stopped in his tracks before a languid laugh shook his shoulders. Oh, gods. He's losing it. How fast did he revert back to his past ideologies the moment he got starved? Pathetic. He shook his head, the action bringing stabbing pain to his temples. Keep moving.

After minutes of painstaking walking and huffing, he found himself under a tree filled with luscious blue fruits bunched together. They looked like they're shining or maybe that's just June's eyes. He didn't know or care anymore. He had to get up there. But...how?

If he used magic, the ones pursuing him would sniff him out as easily as getting a whiff of freshly-baked bread in the local bakery. Oh, he would kill for some bread right now.

No...he should be happy with the fruits. He was at least two or three feet lower than it...or more. Whatever. It's so high up! Were they even edible? What if he spent his precious magic for that and it turned out to be poisonous? Would fate be that cruel?

No matter. If he died out here, there's no one who would get Xanthy to those who could fix her. He just needed to eat something, anything. He stretched his hand up. Okay. He's going to risk it. It's for survival. Survival.

He mustered the last of his magic and sent a beam of energy towards the nearest bunch of fruit. The branch gave a happy crunch before breaking off from the tree with the fresh fruits in tow. June laid out his hands in front of him in anticipation of where it would land.

Then, he caught a movement of white fabric at the corner of his eye. He whirled just in time to dodge a dagger aimed at his eye. The blade whizzed past his cheek, leaving a hair-thin slice. The bunch of fruit landed on the ground with a loud splat. June's stomach growled in sympathy for the perished produce. He slowly turned from the fruits to his attacker.

It was Marin, breathing hard with a new dagger at hand. The girl kept looking at something behind and above him. He turned too late just as she shouted, "Now!"

Now? Now what?

His answer was a torrent of silver-plated feathers ejected from April's vulkraine wings. He stumbled out of their way and bumped into Kymalin. The banshee smiled at him before driving her fist into his stomach.

He collapsed to his knees as air lurched out of his lungs. His head pounded and his hunger seemed to have forgotten its existence. His senses heightened, diving low as April aimed for his exposed back. He rolled just as three women launched themselves at her.

In an alternate world, women charging at him wasn't so bad.

June gritted his teeth and summoned his magic once again. It sputtered like a broken timeteller but he was able to build enough to cast a spell that would buy him time. Hot, wild flames leaped out of his hands as he took a step back. He angled his spell towards April who tried to get close to him. Kymalin dove and slammed the air sprite into the ground, hissing something in her ear. June turned his spell towards Marin who tried April's tactic of sneaking at him.

June's arms became heavy. His breath came in shallow gasps. Run. He must run now. The whole forest must be torched now given that his flame leaped from tree to tree in quick succession. Run. Run.

He turned and picked his way towards Xanthy and the chalice. Just as he was about to disable the shield around Xanthy, something slammed into his back. His head smacked against his own shield. His vision darkened. He felt himself fall face-first to the ground. The weight off his back eased before coming back hard against his spine. He gasped as air was cut out of his system. He collapsed back into the ground, panting. Slowly, his vision made its way back, giving him nothing but hazy blobs of color. It's...beautiful.

"Hey, disable the shield," a woman was nagging at him.

"You hit him too hard," another said. Who were they again? "He's foaming at the mouth like a dying dagrine."

"Shall I hit him again?" a third voice asked.

"No!" the first woman screamed. Then in a much calmer tone, "I'll deal with him."

A hand grabbed a fistful of his hair. Another tapped his cheek. His vision got a little better enough to see green and white. "Hey, can you hear me?" she was saying. "Disable the shield."

Something dripped from his nose and into the ground. Was that...blood?

"Disable the shield!" the woman said again.

"No," June rasped.

"Let's just kill him," the third woman said.

"April, all you do is kill people," the second woman said, her voice sounding very much like a girl's. Young.

The woman holding his hair in her fist turned his head towards a dome of a shield housing a sleeping girl and a satchel. Yes, he shouldn't remove that shield. Ever. So he said again, "No."

The three women cursed the same word. The young girl's voice piped up. "Beat him up until his magic weakens," she suggested.

June wanted to edge away or curl into a ball but his limbs refused to obey. He was a stranger in his own form. The first foot slammed into his side and the next to his wounded arm. He cried out with every hit but kept his hold on his magic on the shield no matter how it kept slipping from his hold.

"It's weakening!" the girl said. "I'll go and try to break through it."

Something slammed into his wound again, giving him white-hot pain like he never experienced before. He screamed as his wound opened up for the third time. This was one hell of a wound. He hated it already.

"A little more!" the girl called. It's like he's nothing but a stuck lever they had to use to cater to their needs. It's not like he could do anything about it...right?

Another kick. His vision blurred and doubled. "Strike it now!"

That's when the smoke decided to show itself.

From June's hazy perspective, it looked and felt like clouds lulling him to sleep. Had his soul floated out of his body and ended up in the sky? Was that it?

"Get him out of here," a male voice said as June's vision blurred. His hearing was ebbing away, too. "Secure Xanthy as well. Get ready to retreat."

Someone gripped him from the armpits and began hauling him away. Did they say "secure Xanthy"? What? Where were they taking her? Who were they? June struggled as strongly as he could, which was no more than a few grunts and weak arm flailing. Where were they taking Xanthy?

"Ravalee, can you calm him?" an older woman said.

"Airene, help!" the male voice shouted. The older woman called someone named Ravalee who jogged to him. She crouched by him and June could never forget that face. She's...Xanthy?

Shh, it's all over now, Xanthy seemed to be saying. She's not moving her mouth. What's going on? Close your eyes. It's all over now. June didn't bother putting up much of a fight. He closed his eyes and let the forces tear him away from this world. It wasn't hard.