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♞ C H A P T E R  F O U R ♞

" and i'll use you as a makeshift gauge
of how much to give and how much to take. "
- i found by amber run -

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" before—
all i could feel
was rage.
but then—
then i met
you. "

        DEWDENN WAS JUST ABOUT THE same as it was over a year ago to Eris. The village homes were the same dreary colors, the mood was still pretty dreary and dry, and the people still stared at her as if she was an outsider—which she kind of was. Some stared with curiosity while some stared with fear—which she could understand considering who she was. The only excited one was a boy who insisted she called him Squirrel years ago. If she remembered correctly, the boy wouldn't leave her alone the last time she was there and followed her everywhere.

This time was no different. The young lad was extremely curious when he noticed the Green Knight break through the tree line with a woman in his arms. He immediately rushed to Gawain's side, his eyes widening in shock when he noticed who the woman was. "What happened? Eris?"

"Red Paladins happened," Gawain replied with a grunt, readjusting his grip on Eris's body. "She needs a bed immediately."

Eris was struggling to stay awake, but just managed to lean her head over to stare at Squirrel. "How's it going, Percival?" she managed to tease him with his real name, a small smirk on her pale, sweaty face.

Squirrel scowled at his real name. "Don't call me that, Eris," he demanded. The boy was a rather harsh little fella, but that was what Eris loves about the kid. He had a mouth on him, that was for sure. The boy's eyes immediately softened when Eris began to cough up a bit of blood. "The Jamison residence is abandoned. I use it as a playhouse a lot. There's a right comfortable bed in it."

"Lead the way," Gawain instructed, glancing down at Eris in his arms. "Just hold on, Eris."

The walk to the house wasn't too far, thankfully, and Squirrel led them there in no time. It was a small wooden shack that was pretty much falling to pieces. Gawain understood now why it was abandoned. Nobody would want to live in it for fear the roof would cave in on them.

Still, he carried Eris into the broken house, praying to the gods it wouldn't fall to pieces with them inside. He carefully laid the she-wolf down on the bed that was in the room connected to the tiny living area. He sighed deeply when he noticed she was finally unconscious, pushing bits of her hair out of her eyes. "C'mon, Eris," he whispered, hoping she could hear him.

"Is she going to be alright?" Squirrel asked from the doorway, staring at Eris as she laid unconscious on the bed. He had never seen the woman injured, and he had always seen her as untouchable—invincible really. Perhaps he was foolish to think such a thing.

Gawain didn't take his eyes off of Eris, watching as she twitched in her sleep as she always did. He always wondered if the twitching was due to nightmares, but he never got his answer every time he asked. She'd never wake up screaming or crying, but he also knew that she was a master at composing herself. "I hope so," he replied truthfully.

Suddenly, a commotion sounded outside. The smell of smoke filled their nostrils, causing both of the guys to run outside, finding men in red cloaks destroying the village of Dewdenn.

"Red Paladins," Gawain muttered to himself, his hand immediately reaching for his sword. He longed to fight them—to try and protect the village. He only wished Eris was awake and well enough to help him. Together they'd be a force to be reckoned with. He couldn't fight, though. He couldn't leave Eris. "We need to get Eris out of here."

"I can do it," Squirrel stated confidently, standing taller at the thought of doing something important. "You distract them. I'll get her out."

Gawain stared at him unsurely, his eyes going back and forth from the boy he didn't really know to the Red Paladins as they began to set up crosses to begin burning Fey folk in the village.

"And how do plan on carrying her, boy? Might I remind you she weighs much more than the average woman. She's part-wolf, y'know?" Gawain retorted, narrowing his eyes at the boy.

Squirrel thought for a moment before a lightbulb seemed to go off in his head. "Easy. I'll wake her up."

Gawain sent the boy a dumbfounded expression. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

The young boy smirked. "Trust me." Then, he ran back into the house, not even giving Gawain anytime to respond.

"I feel like I'm going to regret this," Gawain remarked before drawing his sword.

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        A COUPLE YARDS AWAY, THE Weeping Monk was assisting in the burning of homes and killing of Fey, his sword stained crimson with the blood of his enemies. Most of them didn't fight back—as most of them didn't even seem to know how to fight back. Nobody had taught them to fight. They were peaceful folk. Yet, he still killed them—murdered them—anyway.

Hours earlier, they'd received word back at camp that the Demon Wolf had been sighted seemingly on the way to the small village of Dewdenn. They'd made it to the village as soon as they possibly could, almost immediately beginning the assault of the place.

The Weeping Monk was positive there were also humans without Fey blood in the village, but Father Carden did not care one bit. Apparently, anyone who associated with the 'demons' should also be massacred.

Just as he was about to head over to Father Carden, the Weeping Monk caught a whiff of her. The scent of pine and leather yet again filled his nostrils, and he couldn't help turning away and heading in the direction the scent came from.

He was led to an old abandoned shack on the outskirts of the village that was barely hanging on at the seams. Narrowing his eyes in confusion, he pushed open the door, almost immediately hearing a bit of rustling inside. He walked into the small room, closing his eyes as he took in the strong scent of the woman. His feet carried him to the room connected to the main room of the house.

There she was on the bed, her eyes closed yet again. Her hood had fallen off her head, revealing her messy medium length light brown locks. He stepped closer to her until he was right next to the bed, staring down at her as he wondered what to do. He could see her wound through the hole cut through her layers of clothes. She had cauterized the wound to stop the bleeding, which meant she'd be just fine once her body healed from the Wolfsbane.

"Get away from her, you Paladin scum!" a little boy's voice shouted before a weak punch hit his back.

The Weeping Monk turned to find a little boy with light brown—almost blonde—hair and striking light green eyes. He wore a determined look on his face. As he stared at the boy, he was reminded of a certain little boy many many years ago.

"Are you deaf? I said get away from her!" the boy shouted again, a disgusted glare on his face as he stared at the assassin.

Just as he was about to tell the boy to run along, he was pushed forcefully against the wall, the back of his head hitting the wood behind him. He found himself face to face with the glowing blue eyes of the rather terrifying Demon Wolf. She barred her fangs at him in rage, releasing a low growl. "Who are you? And why do I keep smelling you everywhere I go? Are you following me?"

The Weeping Monk just stared at her in a mixture of shock and confusion, his eyes examining every inch of her morphed face. Her long claws were right next to his throat, a harsh reminder that she could kill him with ease if she pleased. He should have been absolutely terrified of her—of her supposed demon blood and devilish abilities—yet for some reason, he could not find it in himself to be fearful of her. Before he could say anything, though, the sound of Red Paladins conversing outside caused him to begin to panic. He turned back to her, his eyes filled with nothing but urgency and a bit of panic. "You need to go. Now. They're coming, and they will kill you." He didn't know why, but he didn't want the woman to die. Just being in her presence caused something inside him to almost...awaken.

The woman scoffed at his words, sending him a harsh glare. "What makes you think I can't take them?" she asked, her voice slightly morphed due to her sharpened teeth. When she spoke, he managed to catch a glimpse of her teeth—almost every one of them edged to a point, ready to rip someone's throat out.

"I haven't a doubt you can." He focused his gaze on the boy—who wore glare on his face as well—who stood near the woman. "But I doubt he can." He then glanced down at her wounded abdomen. "You're also injured."

The anger coursing inside the woman intensified at his words, and she could feel the beast inside wanting to take over completely. She could barely feel her wound anymore due to the overwhelming rage in the pit of her stomach. "You didn't answer my question," she retorted plainly.

His eyes narrowed, his eyes darkening as he practically stared into her soul. He got the strangest sensation just being around her—as if he could actually see into her soul and feel everything she felt. All he could smell was pine and leather. "I could ask you the same."

She could hear the Red Paladins on the porch, ready to enter to home to search it. She sent a glare towards the Weeping Monk before turning and leaning down in front of Squirrel, forcing her glowing eyes and claws away. "Listen to me, m'boy. You run out that back door, you hear me? You run and run and run. Don't stop running, alright? When I'm finished here, I'll find you. I'll find you, I promise."

Squirrel, noticing how serious Eris was being, nodded swiftly. When she released her hold from his shoulders, he reluctantly exited the room and ran straight for the back door.

Just as the boy escaped the house, the two Red Paladins on the porch kicked down the already broken door and entered the home without hesitation.

Eris spared the Weeping Monk a glance—a glance that lasted way longer than she intended. She didn't know what it was about him...but when she looked at him long enough, staring at his rather handsome face and the dark 'tear' marks under his eyes, she felt something deep inside her...awaken. She broke their intense stare down, slightly startled by the overwhelming emotions bubbling inside her heart. She hadn't felt something like that in...well...never. All she'd ever known was anger and rage. She didn't know whether to love the newfound emotion or hate it. So, she did what she did best and pushed it away instead, focusing on the two Red Paladins who stood in the doorway.

"Who's first?" she asked menacingly, her eyes glowing a vibrant blue.

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