Screams filled the darkness. Somewhere loud and angry. Others were quick cries of pain that were suddenly silenced by a final blow. But they each had the same result and Vale couldn't stop them all. 

She had tried to intercede two hours previously and was rewarded with a long cut along her thigh and blood on her hands as a girl fell, the light leaving her eyes. Vale didn't even know the girl's name but she would never forget the shock and the sound as the air was snatched from her body with a crude wooden spear. 

After several more gashes, Vale forced herself to retreat to the hiding spot where she had left Reign. She hadn't been able to find any wounded or fight back without lighting up the forest around her with lightning and becoming a beacon for an attack in the process. In short, the entire decision to leave the safety she had found to try and help the cries she had heard had been a disaster.

The simple fact was, the thick trees blocking out the moonlight made it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead, and Vale had been torn between attacking any sound she heard and attempting to break up the silhouettes she did see. 

Squeezing behind a boulder, Vale crouched in the entrance to a hidden cave and took a moment to collect herself. Her thigh screamed in pain where a girl had stabbed her with a knife carved from a rock. After fumbling with a sleeve of her blouse, Vale ripped it into strips and wrapped it around the wound. She couldn't see it clearly and hoped that when she checked in the morning light, it would be manageable. 

But Vale knew better than to hope for good news. If she hadn't dodged, the girl would have nicked her tendon making it nearly impossible to run away. Some of these girls have been well trained. They must have known what coming to the Devinus House would cost. 

Pulling the material tight around her leg, she worked it into a knot and limped deeper into the cave. 

"Vale?" Reign asked quietly. 

"Yep," Vale replied collapsing on the ground. 

Long bouts of silences so thick that Vale began to hope that the hunters that had taken advantage of the dark were satiated filled the night. But the screams continued to rip into the night, startling and terrifying. 

Vale threw her arm over her face and closed her eyes, settling in on the hard ground and ignoring the cold that settled into her bones. Reign didn't say anything else. There was no point in asking if Vale had been able to help anyone. She had come back alone. "We should try and get some shut-eye." 

"'Kay." 

Vale's heart rate spiked with each cry she heard, her wounded leg throbbing in rhythm. "How did you know this place was here?" Reign asked. 

Vale hesitated. She didn't know if Kebar could hear them and was afraid of getting Sky into trouble. He was most likely being forced to watch the battle that was happening outside. "Was just hoping for a good place to get some shut-eye. This turned out better than I had hoped for." 

Tears filled her eyes. Thank you, Sky. 

Angry shouts filled the air. "How did you meet Sky?" Reign asked. 

"Don't you want to get some sleep?" Vale asked with a groan.

"Are you serious? Can you hear what is going on out there?" 

Vale nodded. Then realizing that Reign couldn't see her, she added "I met him on a ship." Vale blushed in the dark as she remembered seeing him for the first time. "He had the most beautiful hair I had ever seen. It looked like it was woven straight from sunrays. The bluest eyes I had ever seen." A tear escaped Vale's shut eyes. "He saved my life." 

"How?" 

"My metal arm had gotten injured and was shooting sparks of lightning everywhere. He got me the help I needed." Vale edited the story slightly, not wanting to give too much of Sky's abilities away, nervous that Kebar would find a way to warp his talents and use them for his selfish gains. 

"I didn't realize he was trying to help me at first, so I... attacked him and ran away." 

Reign burst into surprised laughter. "Seriously?" 

Vale smiled to herself. "Yes. He was pretty irritated. I don't blame him. I was very paranoid." 

"You love him don't you." There was a smile in Reign's voice.

"I do," Vale replied into the silence. The screaming had stopped.  "What about you? Do you love your guy back home?"

Vale could hear the smile in Reign's voice. "Yes," she breathed. "I love him very much." A pause. "He's clever." Her voice was soft, tender. "He loves carving beautiful designs into wood. His red curly hair is always covered in wood carvings. You would like him. He's the kindest person I know. Nothing like me..."

"You are kind."

Reign laughed bitterly. "No, I'm not."

"You've gotten better," Vale countered, not sure if she was being helpful.

"Not being mean doesn't make me nice," Reign muttered. "Amare is different. He finds the good in everything and everyone. He'd be out there just like you, trying to stop everyone from hurting each other. Not hiding in here terrified." 

Vale winced. "Then he must be kinder than me. I didn't do much good out there." 

"It's not your fault. This whole thing has everyone acting like savages." Reign adjusted the way she was laying down. "If I don't make—." 

"No," Vale cut her off.

"Vale, the odds of both of us living through all this is pretty small."

"Doesn't matter. We have each other's backs. Don't say morbid stuff. We already have all that screaming outside as a dark enough backdrop."

Reign's voice was full of conviction when she whispered into the dark. "I hope you win."

"I don't want to win," Vale admitted. "I want him to have the freedom to choose." 

Reign snorted. "You're just saying that because he'd chose you if he got to." 

Vale thought of the girl in the blood-red dress, her lips against Sky's, and felt a deep ache in her chest. She shook her head. "Even if I wasn't his choice, I still want that for him."

Losing all desire to talk, Vale ended the conversation. "Night Reign. Try to get some sleep." 

... 

A single ray of light peeked past the boulders and struck Vale's face. The warmth was a small comfort as Vale stirred into the waking world. She felt stiff as she stretched out and sat up. Reign was still asleep a few feet away. 

Vale tugged at her makeshift bandage and bit back a groan as the material fell away. The wound was deep. Ignoring the thought of Dash, who would most likely reprimand her for being so careless, Vale looked around the cave, hoping for something to clean out the wound. 

She had to wash it out to see how deep the damage was. Waking Reign, Vale told the groggy-eyed girl to stay put, promising to come back after getting some water. Peeing through the small opening, Vale took in the grey morning sky. She listened but was met with silence. 

I can't wait around forever. Squeezing past the boulders, Vale made her way down a small slope, toward the riverbed. Scooping up a mouthful, she drank, enjoying the crisp cool water. Sitting down, she tugged the open material of her pants around the wound. Vale poured water over it, watching as red bloomed, and ran down her thigh. 

The color of blood faded and the water slowly turned clear. Glancing down, she nearly threw up. Exposed muscle lay bare for all to see. "No," she whispered, the word sounding final. 

"You shouldn't have tried to help all those girls." Vale didn't bother turning around. She knew the voice wasn't truly there. "And now you are a limping target." Vale ignored Kebar's taunt. "Have you at least learned anything from your moment of compassionate weakness?" 

Vale turned her arm into a long knife, trying to think past the panic and pain, ignoring Kebar entirely. 

"Your heart will be your downfall if you don't learn to ignore it." 

Vale stared at the knife and brought electricity to the surface. She watched it dance across the knife. "Do you give this little pep talk to all the girls?" 

The knife turned red as Vale watched the lightning snarl around it.

Kebar laughed. "Nonsense. My time is far too valuable for that. I am merely... trying to move the game forward."

Vale pushed her back up against a large rock, steadying herself. "How noble of you," she muttered as the lightning died on the knife. Shoving the scraps of her shirt sleeve into her mouth, she placed the flat side of her knife against her leg. Tears streamed down her face as she screamed past the cloth. 

Vale tried to stop her cries but found the pain blinding. Forcing herself to focus, Vale moved the knife across her thigh and cauterized the wound. When it was finished, she dropped her hand and felt her world blur at the edges.

She fought to stay away as Kebar spoke again. "Your lack of enthusiasm for this game is disappointing... So I have sent some... incentive your way." Her vision faded. "I wouldn't fall asleep if I were you." 

Then Vale fell into darkness, the pain pulling her down, and replacing the jungle of death with visions of her mother, pushing sweaty strands of hair out of her face. Hold on Vale, her mother whispered.