Cyan POV

We travel through the shadows of the streets, glancing down alleys and across roadways for any who may recognize us. A poster catches my attention, a crudely drawn rendition of me with crooked eyes. I rip the paper from the wall, glaring at it and the rendition of Draven that is far more flattering. Though no drawing could ever do him true justice.

"These sickening hemorrhoids. Take a look at this," I say, offering Draven the poster. He raises a curious brow barely discernible beneath his dark hood. "They made me look a fool. I bet I don't even need this hat. No one would recognize me from this. Whoever drew this should be fired."

Draven holds the poster up, admiring the both of us. I try not to flush under the attention, but I've been failing at that ever since we made our relationship official. And here I thought that'd lessen my heart skips, alas they've been made worse. If I must seek medical attention, Draven will be charged for it.

"I certainly see the resemblance," he says, smirking at my glare. He crumbles the paper and mumbles under his breath, "Though it's almost cruel to expect anyone to capture your true beauty."

My throat runs dry at his stupidly suave words that work more than I'd care to admit.

Draven offers me a swift glance then clears his throat, "Come along, they'll be starting soon."

"Right." I follow Draven, smiling when he ghosts his fingers over my palm. He never takes hold of my hand, just offers a soft touch that tells me he wants to. Slipping my fingers between his, our hands clasp and we continue our journey to the townsquare where Ristain informed us a few deserters of the Holy Church, like Seren and myself, will speak.

Almost a month has passed since we fled Seymour Manor. The children have been adjusting in their own ways. Arline keeps an even more watchful eye on them. Lore is actually grateful that the Holy Church searches so heavily for him and Seren. It gives them an excuse to lay low, to stay with the children and tend to them while Draven and I, along with others of the Red Moon, keep track of how our plan is fairing. While our posters have been cast about the cities, they pale in comparison to Lore, Seren, and even Olere. I'm surprised the Holy Church hasn't created a spell to show images of the most wanted criminals of the kingdom in the sky. Honestly, I'm a little insulted not to be higher on their watchlist. I'll have to cause more trouble so I can take the number one spot.

"What are you smirking at?" Draven inquires skeptically.

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"Stop thinking it. You're making me nervous."

That makes me laugh. Draven shows a soft smile that disappears as quickly as it arrived. We made it to the townsquare where a crowd of civilians had formed. They surround a makeshift platform. Four church survivors stand atop the platform. Draven and I gaze about the crowd, spotting six other members of the Red Moon. We're here to ensure nothing happens to those brave enough to speak out.

The survivors are already speaking, telling stories similar to my own. They lost their family to vampires or showed promise in the magical arts. The church took them away, beat us, trained us to be murderers. The crowd gasps when two of the survivors reveal the scars littering their backs. I roll my shoulders, recalling the countless times a rod beat against my skin until it bled. Draven rubs his thumb against the back of my hand, easing the tension with a simple gesture.

"What is this rubbish?" A man huffs beside us. "The Holy Church toughens kids up to fight those damned vamps. They wouldn't survive otherwise. They're causing a stir over nothin'!"

"That's no excuse to beat children," a woman argues.

"It ain't beating. It's strength buildin'!" He grabs an apple from the bag he's carrying to launch at the stage. "Get out of here, heretics!"

Draven holds my hand tighter, preventing me from punting that ass-licking snotrag to the next country. Maybe Draven's right in this scenario because, surprisingly, the crowd doesn't appear to agree with him. He earns a couple confused stares and even more glares. An uneasiness settles over the crowd when one of the speakers reveals a truth that has been spreading through the kingdom like wildfire, "The Holy Church is not what you think it is. They take frightened children and put weapons in their hands to lay down their lives fighting what the church deems to be evil. If you dare to say no, if you dare to say this is not the life you wish to live, they don't just cast you out; they send the monarchy after you to sell as bloodbags to Vexsis!"

That makes the crowd fall into an uproar; mixtures of disbelief, anger, and confusion. Whispers pass from one ear to the next, questioning whether to believe or if this is a hoax. Some shout it, like the man who threw the apple, shaking their fists in protest or storming away hollering.

"Vampiric lies!" some scream. "Rotten tales conjured by the Red Moon even!"

"Give it some thought," another speaker says in a softer voice. "How many do you know who left the church? How often do any admit to leaving? It isn't because many haven't left or that we don't wish to speak on it. It's because we're taken if we dare to stand against the church."

"I've heard others have been speaking of this in towns over," a boy whispers to his friend.

"Just because a few are speaking of it doesn't make it true. This could be the work of the Red Moon, telling a bunch of lies to skew our faith," his friend replies while toiling with a golden necklace of the Holy Mothers. Others do the same, clutching their objects of faith or gazing towards steeples on the horizon.

"Are we considering this going well or not?" I ask Draven, glancing towards a street where I can make out a priestess hurrying towards townsquare. Someone is guiding her, likely having heard the speakers and immediately went to retrieve a priestess to "diffuse" the situation.

"Better than expected, I believe," Draven replies, noticing the priestess too. "At least they're listening. Soon they'll gossip and those who have always had suspicions will speak up more and more."

"Let's hope so."

The priestess moves through the crowd, holding up a hand as she speaks, "Let's calm down everyone!"

Smiling, she ascends the platform and doesn't give the speakers a passing glance. Instead, she focuses on the crowd, gently waving her hands to keep their attention on her. "Take a breath everyone. These baseless claims need not cause concern. They'll clearly lies being fed to you as a ploy to deter your faith, either by the vampires of Vexsis or the Red Moon. We mustn't let them get their way so easily."

"It's time to leave," Draven declares. He nods towards another street where a handful of holy knights march towards the square.

Raising my hand, I give a nonchalant wave, a signal to the others to get moving. The speakers on the platform hop down and push through the crowd to meet their keepers. Draven and I scurry towards a nearby alley, narrowly catching the holy knight's arrivals. More and more have been dispersed from Trinia to attend to the cities after the church realized there was an organized plot against them. Those foggy minded toads are the true buffoons if they believe they'll stop us now. The mission will continue until Trinia falls, even if we fall with it.

"Hey, you two, stop!" Someone calls. Draven glances over his shoulder briefly, then he tugs me towards another street. I barely caught a glimpse of who called out to us; a holy knight. One that picks up their pace to catch up.

I trip over my feet, cursing when my back meets the cold brick exterior of a store. "What are you--"

Suddenly, Draven leans over me, clutching the fabric of my jacket to bundle around my neck that he gently cradles. Though his skin doesn't touch mine, that doesn't deter the heat radiating off him, and me. My eyes widen, breath hitches when he leans forward like he's actually going to kiss me. I grasp the end of his shirt with trembling fingers, a thousand questions on my tongue that I never ask. Although I could because he doesn't actually kiss me. We've gotten to holding hands without me scratching, but anything more remains out of the question. Even if I desperately want more.

Draven lingers here, hovering over me, creating an inferno between us that even my explosive hobbies cannot rival. I can't see past him like this, but I hear someone speaking again, "What are you doing? Those lying heretics went this way."

"Right, I just thought... nevermind," the same holy knight from earlier says, then they disappear.

Draven retreats, as much as I let him anyway. My hands haven't released him yet. I want to stay like this a little longer, pretend that we can do more.

"We should hurry back before that knight realizes he did recognize us," Draven says. His hands drop to his side. "Sorry. Was that too much?"

"Huh?"

"I thought surprising him might work."

"Right, yeah, no, that was... that was a good plan." I finally relinquished my death grip on his shirt. Stepping around him, I head towards the street, squeaking when Draven tugs on the hood of my jacket.

"It's this way," he says, smirking.

Stomping past him, I grunt, "Shut up."

"I said nothing worthy of such a request."

"I can hear you thinking something worthy of that request."

"I had no idea you could read minds."

"One must keep a few secrets to themselves to add an air of mystery."

Humming, Draven mimics his actions earlier; ghosting the tip of his fingers over my hand. When I take firm hold, he steps ahead of me to guide us the remainder of the way to the car we borrowed from the Red Moon. The drive back takes over an hour. During that time, I run my fingers over Draven's palm, his wrist, and up his arm until he rolls his shoulders.

"Ticklish?" I ask, amused.

"No."

I do repeat the action. He shivers.

"A little," he admits, so I do it again and he gently taps my thigh in warning. Though he holds my hand afterwards and I wonder if it's okay to feel this giddy over holding someone's hand.

By the time we return, the speakers from the event are already there. Lore lent the Red Moon his transporter to ensure the speaker's safety. The quicker they escape the better.

"Welcome back," Lore says from the meeting room. Seren, Olere, Ristain, and a few other members are there discussing how everything went.

"We've yet to have any severe interference," Marthia explains. "We've had dozens of events, each has received more attention than the last. A few papers have written about them, which the church has only started preventing in the last week."

"Word is spreading," Seren adds, smiling at me when I step beside him. "More and more are daring to even hint at the claims being true. They're realizing we're serious and want to stop the momentum before it gets too far ahead of them."

"Meaning they will likely begin to severely interfere," Marthia continues. "I won't be surprised if there's an attack next."

"Most likely, though that may work in our favor if they dare to attack in public," Olere adds. He didn't speak to the Red Moon much for the first week or so, often spending his time with Seren. Lore didn't like that at all, but Olere has come around and he has taught me a few cool moves. He's alright in my book!

"We're seeing promising signs, however, the people will never truly abandon the church without good reason," Olere adds. "Is it not time to reveal the documents now? Before a potential attack because a violent response may actually help the citizens believe the documents to be true."

Nodding, Lore speaks up, "Agreed, though the issue lies in how to do so. Once we reveal the documents, we'll truly have the church's undivided attention. We have to assume we may not get another chance to speak up as we have been so we must ensure to get this message out to as many as we can in one moment."

"The capital," Ristain claims, earning surprised looks from almost everyone. He leans his weight against the table, nodding. "It's a risk, but our best move. Everything leads to the capital so once gossip as severe as this starts there, it will spread faster than ever to the surrounding areas."

"How will we make it out of that alive?" I inquire, glancing at the transporter on the table. "We have one transporter. The likelihood of us getting separated during the chaos of literal fire raining on us from some very pissed off champions, and likely the Prophet herself, is high."

"We distract them," Seren answers. Lore grasps his hand under the table so tightly that his knuckles redden. Seren looks at Ristain and says, "I'll distract them."

- - ┈┈∘┈˃̶༒˂̶┈∘┈┈ - -

A month has passed and their plans are in action. Draven and Cyan had some sweet moments. They have also done some reconnaissance. Things seem to be going well, for now. Will they continue this way? Is it a good idea to go to the capital? What are Seren's plans?

As a warning, Ep. 106 will be the end of this series. You can start thinking up questions for the Q&A if you'd like, but obviously there's a bit left so I'd suggest leaving them in the comments section later!