Chapter Twelve: Out of the Woods

Yuri woke up some time in the early afternoon. They'd arrived in Aurnion around dawn and wasted no time going to the town's only doctor. Flynn had been whisked away for treatment, Sodia was asked to stick around to make sure she had no underlying complications from their two and a half weeks in the wilderness, and then a nurse handed Yuri some cream to put on the nettle stings.

Back at the inn, Judith helped him get all of them, especially since several were on the back of his neck, but by the time they were all covered, every inch of exposed skin was white. This was an improvement on the bumpy red welts he'd been covered in before, but that didn't stop Karol from laughing at him. After a very long day and an entire night of fighting, getting stung, and flying on Ba'ul's bare back, he fell asleep.

When he woke up, he was relieved to find that the cream had soaked into his skin and he no longer looked like he'd gone overboard on makeup foundation. The welts were still present but only hurt when he moved them and at least the burning sensation was gone. Karol was still fast asleep in the bed next to his, so he slipped on his shoes quietly, pulled on his vest, and headed out.

Compared to Zaphias, Aurnion was tiny. It didn't take long to reach the doctor's office, and as soon as he entered, the nurses remembered him from this morning.

"Good afternoon, Yuri," a young nurse named Jenny said, looking up from the desk in the main room. "How are those stings feeling?"

"I think they look worse than they feel. Thanks for that cream; it really helped."

"My pleasure," she said brightly. "Are you here to see the commandant?"

"Yeah." He leaned forward on the desk. "How's he doing?"

She patted his elbow. "He's going to be just fine, don't worry. Sodia is fine as well. She's sleeping back at the inn because the doctor said there was no need to keep her here."

"Yeah, that's great." He hurried her along, because honestly Sodia's condition wasn't a huge concern of his. "What room is Flynn in?"

"The first one on the left. If he feels up to it, you can take him out for some fresh air. I'm pretty sure he's awake."

"Great, thanks." In under a minute, Yuri was through the main room, into the hall, and then entered the first door on the left.

Flynn jumped when he entered and craned his neck over his shoulder. "Of course it's you. You're the only one who never knocks."

He smirked. "Gotta keep you on your toes." Flynn sat in a wheelchair by the window, so Yuri frowned and added, "Especially since you're not even on your toes right now."

He sat on the edge of the bed across from Flynn. Flynn looked better already, though part of that was just that his hair had been washed and his face shaved, and he wore clean, pale blue pyjamas instead of his ripped and mud-encrusted uniform. He still looked tired and pale, with sunken eyes and shallow cheeks. Even with the loose pyjamas covering his frame, Yuri could tell he was skinnier than a fence post. Bandages encased his wrist and palm, and his leg stuck out in front of him on a footrest attached to the chair. Sodia's impromptu branch splints had been replaced by professional metal ones, but the leg was still crooked.

"What's with this?" Yuri gestured at the leg. "Aren't they going to fix it?"

Flynn scowled and rested his chin on his fist. "It's complicated. The bone's already started regrowing to heal itself, except - as I'm sure you can see - it's crooked."

It was like a new joint had spring up halfway down his shin, bending his leg inward. "Yeah. That's a problem. Can you even walk if it keeps healing like that?"

"Unlikely."

"So… what are you going to do?" Flynn spent so much time on his feet, running around and saving people, that to imagine him crippled for life was simply impossible.

"On the plus side, it's not beyond fixing. The doctor can't set it now because the bone's already healing, but he can fix it if I break it again."

Yuri eyed the bruised and swollen leg. "Are you planning on breaking it again?"

"I have to, don't I? It's the only thing to do if I want to walk again. I just have to let the doctor re-break my leg so he can put it back together in the right position."

Yuri winced just thinking about this happening to someone else. "That sounds really painful."

"It will be." Flynn grimaced.

"How come you haven't done it yet? Don't you want to get it out of the way?"

"I'm waiting for Lady Estellise. Judith already left, actually. She's picking Lady Estellise up in Halure and bringing her here so she can use healing magic on my leg. There's no point putting myself through re-breaking it until she's here to heal it seconds later."

"That makes sense," Yuri said while nodding. "And I guess you can't use any other gels or stuff for your other injuries?"

"Nope. Any magic-based healing would target my leg and just making re-breaking it more difficult later. They offered me medication to ease the pain, but that stuff makes you loopy and after my stint with delirium I'd rather keep my head clear."

Yuri considered this for a moment. "That sucks."

"Yeah." Flynn yawned and leaned back in his chair. "All things considered, though… I'm alright. It could have been a lot worse."

"I'm glad to hear that, then." He grinned and stood up. "So, what do you say we ditch this join and go for a walk?"

"I don't know. I'm still pretty tired and I'm not really dressed for-"

"Good, let's go." He grabbed the handles of Flynn's wheelchair and pushed him toward the door.

"Huh? Hey, Yuri! I didn't agree to this."

Yuri's grin only expanded as he pushed Flynn out the room and through the main office. He waved happily to Jenny as he steered Flynn out to the street. "I don't know, Flynn, Judy's probably gonna be back with Estelle by tomorrow and then you'll be on your feet again. I feel like I have this rare window of opportunity to push you around like this."

"Are you actually taking advantage of my injuries? I thought you were better than this, Yuri." He crossed his arms and sulked, but he didn't actually sound too mad.

"Come on, you need to get fresh air anyway." Yuri cheerfully made his way down the street, while the wheels of Flynn's chair kicked up dust on the dirt road.

"I think I've had enough fresh air, thanks," Flynn said. "I haven't been indoors for two and a half weeks."

"Like you wanted to spend the whole day sitting in a stuffy hospital room. Hey, let's see how fast these wheels can go!"

"Yuri, no-"

He took off running toward the town gate, pushing the chair as fast as he could. Flynn gripped the armrests while Yuri laughed his head off. The trundling wheels hit the wooden drawbridge and the smooth surface gave him a burst of speed. They zipped out of the town and Yuri careened to the side, screeching to a halt just as they reached the grass.

Yuri couldn't stop laughing, and seeing Flynn's indignant expression just set him off again. "I have never seen you this grumpy." He pushed the chair over the grass away from the gate and then fell down with a grin.

"I really hate you sometimes."

"No you don't." Yuri stretched his arms through the soft grass. He was still a bit tired after last night. "Besides, are you really going to say you hate me after I went to all the trouble of finding you in the forest?"

Flynn sighed wearily, like it pained him greatly to have to be thankful to Yuri. "I suppose I ought to thank you for that. Those stings you're covered in can be preemptive punishment for pushing me around."

Yuri chuckled again. "If you say so."

"Really, though… thanks."

"Don't mention it. You'd do the same for me. Of course, if anyone tried assassinating me, I'd kick their asses! Some commandant you are."

Flynn twisted in his seat and scowled at Yuri. "We took care of them just fine. It was the fall that did me in."

"Clumsy commandant."

Flynn rolled his eyes and shook his head, choosing to ignore Yuri's immature jabs. "Now Mimula will think I've killed both her brothers. I'll need to stay on my toes because a second attempt on my life by her is likely."

"Can't you arrest her for planning this first one?" Yuri sat up enough to rest his head in his hand while lying on his side.

"I can certainly try. Getting enough evidence will be the hard part. It would be easy to make it look like Simon came after me on his own, and that he was the one who originally hired the assassins."

"Ugh." Yuri wrinkled his nose. He didn't even know why he was surprised; bastard nobles getting away with shit was just another day in the empire. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about Simon getting off. You're not going to tell me I shouldn't have killed him, are you? Because this wasn't like his brother - he was actively going after Sodia when I stabbed him."

Flynn shook his head. "No, I understand entirely. That was clearly self-defence. Besides… I'm not entirely sure you and Sodia are the ones who killed him."

Yuri sat up and frowned as Flynn pensively watched the grass. "Are you talking about that… uh, monster you were going on about last night?"

"I honestly don't know. The further I get from it, the less realistic it seems." With his eyes on Yuri he said, "You know when you first wake up from a dream and everything is fresh and real in your mind and you're certain it really happened? And then it takes you a few minutes to gradually remember that the big test is still a week away and finding yourself naked while giving a speech didn't actually happen?"

"Not… specifically, but yeah, I get where you're going."

"The longer you're awake, the less real the dream feels. The details slip away and the edges blur and you wonder how you ever thought it was real in the first place. Of course your father isn't a squirrel, what were you thinking?"

"What the hell kind of dreams are you having?"

He shook his head quickly to brush aside Yuri's comments. "Now that I'm out of the woods, surrounded by civilization and daylight, it all seems so ridiculous. The only time I ever actually saw anything, I was delirious and certainly hallucinating other things. Even when I was healthy, isolation, fear, and darkness can do funny things to your head. My memories of seeing this… this thing have the same fuzzy quality half-remembered dreams do. Even now, I'm having trouble remembering the details."

"Do you remember anything at all?"

Flynn frowned, glancing nervously at Yuri. "The one time I saw it clearly… it looked like you."

Yuri balked. "Me? How would it even know what I look like?"

"I don't know. That's part of why I'm not entirely sure it was real. How could it possibly have matched your appearance, tone of voice, and style of speaking so precisely, unless it was a product of my subconscious?"

"Hm… did you ever, I don't know, touch it or something?"

"I think so. Actually, the time it looked like you ended in it trying to strangle me to death." His fingers drifted over his throat. "As soon as I overpowered it and Sodia arrived, it disappeared and there was no sign of bruising. No evidence it had tried to kill me."

As confusing as that was, Yuri was still stuck on the fact that his nameless being had worn his own face while trying to kill Flynn. He couldn't even imagine how much it would mess him up if Flynn tried to kill him, even if he knew it wasn't actually Flynn. Did even looking at him remind Flynn of getting strangled? Damn, maybe it was a good thing those memories were getting fuzzier. His glower deepened. "How dare that thing use my face? That's just plain rude."

"It's fine, Yuri. I know it wasn't you. It was freaky, certainly, but I'm not too worked up over it."

"Yeah, ok." Yuri crossed his arms stubbornly. "That thing had better hope it doesn't exist, because I'm gonna kick its ass if I see it."

Flynn frowned and started to open his mouth, and then second-guessed his decision to point out the logical flaw in Yuri's assertion. "That's very touching, Yuri. You probably won't have to worry yourself. All logic says it was a hallucination."

"If it was something, what do you think it was?"

Flynn frowned and shook his head. "I honestly don't have any idea. Not an ordinary monster, but not an Entelexeia either. Definitely not human or Krityan."

"Something new?"

"No… something very old."

Yuri watched the silent trees across the field. "That's… weird."

"Yeah."

"Let's not go back to that forest."

Flynn added even more conviction. "Yeah."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Yuri tried to pretend everything was normal, but if things were normal, Flynn would be sprawled out in the grass next to him and not awkwardly seated in a wheelchair with a face that said he hadn't been given nearly enough pain meds. Getting lost in a forest was not something Yuri had ever seriously considered as a way he might lose Flynn, but he really had come alarmingly close. If Simon had held out just a minute longer… Yuri didn't even want to think about it.

"I meant to tell you." Flynn broke the silence. "Sodia told me what happened at Zaude."

Yuri stopped fiddling with the grass. It was hard to read Flynn's carefully even tone. Yuri tried to match that with, "Good for her."

"So… are you going to tell me why you never told me yourself?"

He shrugged one shoulder and started playing with the grass again. "It was between me and Sodia. I didn't see a reason to drag you into it."

"Maybe I would have liked to have known that one of my most trusted subordinates tried to murder an ally behind my back."

"So you wanted me to tattle? Sodia and I worked it out. We had other things to deal with at the time than dragging you into it."

"You've had six months to tell me since the Adephagos was taken care of."

Yuri pushed off the grass and sat upright. "I understood her motivations. I could hardly condemn her doing the same thing I did. I was fine and I thought you needed her, so I didn't see a reason to throw the midden at the windmill by pointing fingers."

"It doesn't matter that you were fine. She tried to kill you. That matters. Your life is important."

"Considering how touchy-feely you two were last night, it seems like you worked out your differences. Why do you insist on dragging up the past?"

Flynn slammed his fist on the armrest. "Because you almost died and never told me."

"Hey, I'm the one who got stabbed. Don't forgive Sodia and then hold a grudge against her victim."

"I'm mad because you always do this. Why do you act like it doesn't matter if you die?"

Yuri rolled his eyes. "Of course it matters to me, and don't think I'm happy to just forgive and forget with Sodia. It's not that I forgive her for trying to kill me, I just know there are things more important than that. She's valuable to you, and she can help you accomplish your goal of changing the empire from within. I didn't want to mess that up by pointing fingers. What good would that do?"

Flynn met his eyes for a long moment before finally blinking and glancing away. "I get it."

"Good. So, are we good?"

"Just… think about how you felt this past week when you didn't know where I was. Especially last night, when you had no idea if Simon had gotten to me first and you thought I might be dead. Really think about how that made you feel."

Yuri couldn't help but pull up those memories as Flynn spoke, and they hurt even though he knew Flynn was fine. When he'd thought Flynn might already be dead, murdered and buried somewhere deep in the forest where he'd never be found…. That was the worst feeling in the world. The only time that could compare was when Estelle had been kidnapped by Alexei.

Flynn saw the pain in his eyes. "That's how I felt for weeks after Zaude. I'm sure all your other friends felt the same way. You say it's no big deal since you're fine now, but you're not the only one who was hurt by Sodia's actions.

For the first time, Yuri felt a little guilty about keeping this a secret. "Sorry."

Flynn tried to stay stubborn and unhappy with him, but after maintaining eye contact for about half a minute, a smile slipped to his face and he pulled his head away. "I'm too happy to not be dead to stay mad at you. Just don't ever do it again."

"Yeah. I promise. So, what's the deal with Sodia? Are you arresting her, or…?"

"No, I'm not pressing charges. He glanced at Yuri and quickly added, "Unless you want to, of course. I've decided to let her off with a warning. I know that sounds pretty mild for the severity of her crime, but I firmly believe she's already learned from her mistake and I tasked her with dedicating her life to protecting the empire. She's not a dangerous or evil person, so I thought she deserved the chance for atonement. I made my decision based on the assumption that you didn't want to press charges since you hadn't mentioned it. If you want her punishment to be harsher, you of course have the right to request that."

Yuri shook his head. "No, that sounds fine. Oh, wait, can you make it part of her punishment that she's not allowed to glare at me behind your back like I'm an axe murderer in a preschool?"

Flynn wrinkled his brow. "Does she really…? I mean, it can't be that bad."

"Well she certainly doesn't like me."

"To be fair, you don't like her very much, either."

Yuri shrugged with a mild frown; no point denying it.

Flynn sighed. "I really wish you two would try to get along more. You're both important to me and my life would be easier if you could be in the same room as each other without the temperature spiking."

"Hey, she stabbed me!" It was nice that he could whip that out as a defence now that Flynn knew the truth. "I don't think I have any obligation to be nice to people who tried to murder me."

With a slight smile and a shake of his head, Flynn said, "I suppose I can't hold that against you."

Yuri gave up on sitting upright and fell back into the grass. He usually felt fidgety if he sat around doing nothing for too long, but today it was nice to relax. The grass was soft, the breeze warm, and the sky so blue the over-saturated colour seemed to bleed into the snowcapped mountains behind Aurnion. He took simple pleasure in Flynn's presence next to him, even if it did come in a wheelchair. Flynn suddenly disappearing off the map and vanishing into the wilderness was not a stress Yuri had ever prepared himself for, nor one he wanted to experience again.

It must have been at least five minutes before Flynn said, "Yuri? Can we go in now?"

He lazily turned his head. "Already?"

"Sorry. I'm tired and my leg is killing me. I'm starting to considering taking the doctor up on those pain medications."

"Yeah, of course." Yuri jumped to his feet. Just looking at Flynn's misshapen leg made his ache; he didn't even want to imagine the level of pain Flynn must have endured in a constant drone for two and a half weeks. "Although, you know…" He started strolling toward the gate. "I could just leave you here."

Flynn glared at him. "Don't you dare."

"I don't want to encourage laziness or anything by pushing you around all the time. You've got to do some of the mobilizing yourself!" The aggravation in Flynn's eyes brought joy to Yuri's heart. Maybe it was a dick move, but taunting Flynn made everything seem so much more normal.

"You know I can't walk."

"You can move your own wheels, can't you? Use your arms! Willpower!"

"That would be rather difficult, considering the wheels are currently dug into the grass and turning will be hard. Besides, with my wrist sprained I can only move one wheel at a time."

Yuri had a quick mental image of Flynn spinning in circles with ever-mounting frustration, which amused him far more than was probably healthy.

"What are you grinning at?!"

"Nothing," he said with an innocence so over-the-top it was pure guilt.

"Just push me back to the doctor's office."

Yuri put his hands on his waist. "Awfully demanding of you. I know your mother taught you better than that! How are you supposed to ask people for favours?"

Flynn grabbed the wheel and leaned, trying to turn back toward the gate on his own. The chair rocked, the wheels stuck in the damp soil. Yuri stepped forward before the chair actually tipped over and grabbed the handles. "Here, don't hurt yourself."

"If I had, it would be your fault." He crossed his arms and sat in the chair with an expression of pure disgruntlement as Yuri pushed him back into town.

"I'll make it up to you." They rolled over the wooden drawbridge.

"How?"

"Sodia told me you've been living on weeds and stuff for the past week. So, as soon as your doctor says you're recovered enough to eat a big meal, I'm going to cook you a feast."

"Oh…" It was almost a moan.

Yuri pushed Flynn through the rest of town, until they were almost at the doctor's office and he said, "Flynn… don't tell Estelle or the others about Zaude, alright?"

Flynn looked over his shoulder. "You plan to still keep this a secret?"

"It doesn't concern them even more than it didn't concern you. It would just make them upset."

"I think you ought to be honest with your friends, but I'll respect your decision."

"Thanks."

Estelle arrived the next morning. Karol and Repede woke Yuri up to tell him she and Judith had arrived, and then they walked with a brisk pace to the doctor's office to meet them. A bell jingled when they entered the office, and they found Estelle, Judith, and Rita in conversation with Sodia. Yuri shouldn't have been surprised to see Rita; Estelle rarely travelled without her.

Estelle finished what she was saying to Sodia and started saying hello as she turned around. "Hello, Yuri, it's good to - oh! Your face! What happened?" She was on top of him before he could reply, grabbing his arms and inspecting the lingering welts. "Oh no, let me heal you."

"Estelle, it's fine, they don't hurt any-"

"First Aid!"

With a flash of golden light, the marks disappeared.

"…more." Yuri dropped his arm. "Well, thanks for that anyway."

"What happened to you?" Rita asked, her arms crossed and lurking by the wall. Her posture had been carefully constructed to make it clear she was only here because Estelle begged her and not because she was actually worried about Flynn or anything.

"He fell in a patch of nettles," Karol said.

"Hey, technically I got pushed. And the other guy is worse off now."

Estelle cocked her head. "What happened to him?"

Sodia answered, "He's dead."

"I told them the full story," Judith said. "At least, the parts of it I know."

"Yeah, thanks," Yuri said. He hadn't bothered filling her and Karol in on the precise details of what had happened after they split up, mostly because there were parts that weren't entirely glamorous. Dangling upside-down from a tree and falling into a patch of nettles were some of those parts.

"You should have told me Flynn was missing!" Estelle said, her fists on her hips. "I could have helped!"

Yuri leaned back to avoid her wrath. "Ah… sorry about that. When we first set off for Egothor, we weren't expecting him to be missing."

Estelle deflated and smiled again. "Oh, well, I suppose that's alright."

Footsteps, and then nurse Jenny appeared in the room. "If you're ready, Your Highness, we can begin the procedure now."

"Oh, good!" Before immediately charging off, she glanced to Yuri and asked softly, "I haven't even seen Flynn yet. Is he really bad?"

Yuri grimaced. "It's not pretty. Nothing you can't heal, though."

She nodded with a tight smile. "Good."

The whole group followed Jenny into Flynn's room. Jenny glanced disapprovingly at Repede, but since the princess and the commandant seemed alright with him there, she didn't comment.

Flynn sat in bed, propped up by pillows, with a tray on his lap. He didn't look much better than yesterday, but there was a bit more pink in his cheeks. His right leg was exposed, and the splint that had held it still yesterday had already been removed. He smiled when he saw them. "Good morning, everyone. Lady Estellise, it's good to see you."

Estelle gasped and hurried to his bedside. "Oh, Flynn…"

"Please calm down. Really, I'm fine." As he spoke, Jenny cleared the tray and empty bowl from his lap and left the room with it.

"You clearly aren't!"

"It's ok, Estelle," Rita said. "You're going to heal him in just a few minutes, aren't you?"

"Well, yes…" She gave Flynn a pained look. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to heal you the moment you got injured. And you're so skinny…"

"Geeze, Estelle," Yuri said. "You sound like his mother."

Her hand covered her mouth. "O-oh."

"Alright!" The door opened again and the doctor entered. "Let's get this show on the road."

Flynn swallowed heavily as he eyed the mallet in the doctor's hand. Yuri couldn't say he liked the looks of it very much himself, and it wasn't even going to be used on him.

"What are you going to do with that?" Karol asked.

The doctor straightened his glasses and then lightly swung the mallet into his hand. "Quite simple, my boy. He commandant's leg is healing crooked, so we're going to smash it to separate the broken pieces, pop them back into alignment, and then Princess Estellise is going to using an arte to accelerate the healing to finish it off!" His thick moustache bristled as he grinned. "Well, it is slightly more complicated than that, of course. You can't just go around smashing people's injuries with a hammer and expect it to fix them, right?"

He guffawed, but it petered out when he realized no one was joining him. The whole group stared at him nervously, none more than Flynn who was completely horrified. "Don't you worry, lad. I know what I'm doing."

Karol sidled closer to Yuri while the doctor moved on to Flynn's bedside. In a low voice, Karol whispered, "If I ever break my leg, I don't want this doctor."

"Yeah, I'll save us the bill and smash it with a hammer myself, shall I?"

Karol glanced up nervously. "W-wait, that's not what I meant."

"You lads!" the doctor bellowed, pointing to Karol and Yuri with the mallet. "I'm going to need your help. You ladies can help as well."

"We'd be glad to," Judith said, smiling sweetly. "Do you need someone to wield the hammer?"

Yuri laughed. "Judy, we want to crack the fracture, not shatter the leg entirely."

"That's right, my boy," the doctor said. "Gentle. Precise. I'll be doing the cracking."

"Aww," she pouted. "I wanted to wield the hammer."

Sodia cleared her throat. "Is all this banter really necessary? The commandant is in a great deal of pain so let's get this over with so he can finally relax."

Yuri ignored her and spoke to Judith. "Don't worry, I'm sure if you ask nicely, Flynn will let you shatter his leg some other time. Right, Flynn?"

Flynn shook his head wearily. "Sodia is right; let's just get this over with, please."

"Right! I need you lot to hold him down."

"Hold me down?" Flynn looked to the doctor with alarm. "Why do I need to be held down?"

"Because you're going to want to punch me and I'd rather you didn't."

"Oh," he replied weakly while the door opened and Jenny returned.

"We're all ready to go," the doctor said. "Everyone, take your positions. Jenny, hold his knee for me, please."

Yuri stood by Flynn's right shoulder and planted his hand over it. Sodia was on his other side, while Judy pinned his left leg. Karol, Estelle, and Rita stood back and watched nervously. Yuri met Flynn's eyes and nodded slightly, and then Flynn grabbed his hand. His grip was weak considering the sprain, but Yuri squeezed back reassuringly.

The doctor lined up the head of the mallet with the site of the fracture. "Ok, Commandant. You know how doctors say, 'this won't hurt a bit' to mean it's going to be mildly discomforting and borderline painful? Well… this is going to hurt. I'll go on three."

Flynn clenched his teeth and nodded. His grip on Yuri's hand tightened.

"One…."

The mallet swung, and a loud crack resounded through the room. This was followed by Flynn's left foot smashing into Judith's chin.

"You lying bastard!" Flynn screamed. He tried to sit up, presumably to punch the doctor, but Yuri and Sodia managed to keep him pinned against the pile of pillows.

With a passive smile, the doctor gripped Flynn's ankle in one hand and his shin just below the knee in the other and yanked, twisted, and finally shoved the leg back into place. While this happened, Flynn's grip on Yuri's hand tightened so much Yuri feared Flynn's leg wouldn't be the only broken bone the room would see today. Flynn's face scrunched up and he took short, deep breaths through clenched teeth.

"There we go!" the doctor said cheerfully. "All straight. Your Highness, you can use your artes now."

Estelle rushed forward without a word. Within seconds she unleashed a golden wave of energy, focusing primarily on his leg but shooting across his body to heal the numerous other small injuries. When she was done, Flynn's breathing finally calmed and he released his iron grip on Yuri's hand. "Is that ok, Flynn?" she asked. "Do you need more?"

"No," Flynn panted while Yuri massaged his aching hand. "That's… perfect. Thank you."

"I'm just glad you feel better."

The doctor set the mallet on the table and wiped his hands. "My job here is done. You can pay the bill for medical treatment on your way out, Commandant."

"Yeah…" Flynn said, not really paying attention with his eyes closed. "Thanks."

Yuri eyed the mallet, considering using it on the doctor who had a very casual attitude toward causing his patients pain.

"You're all healed, Flynn," Estelle said, "but broken bones are pretty major, so I couldn't completely heal it. It will take a few days to a week or so to get full strength back. Take it easy and don't run around on it and you should be fine."

"Thank you again."

"So what are you going to do now?" Karol asked. "Technically your vacation ended almost a week ago."

He opened his eyes and his voice regained some of its strength. "I'm going back to Zaphias."

"Sir, are you sure that's wise?" Sodia asked. "Your injuries have healed but you're still weak. The effects of malnutrition can't be fixed with a healing arte."

"I know," he nodded. "My vacation is over but I'm going to take another week of sick leave. I feel ripped off, since my vacation wasn't terribly relaxing at all."

"You could spend it in Aurnion as originally planned," Judith suggested. "That way you won't have to be around the Council and people wanting you to get back to work."

"That's true, but honestly I really just want to go home and sleep in my own room."

"I can understand that," Yuri said. "We need to be getting back to Dahngrest anyway. We'll drop you and Sodia off in Zaphias on the way."

The first thing Flynn did when he got back to Zaphias was arrest Mimula Cumore. He gathered a group of surprised knights at the castle and led them to her house, wanting to get this out of the way as soon as possible. His knights were surprised to see the commandant show up almost a week late at the end of his vacation and hobbling around with a cane, but they had nothing on the satisfying shock displayed on Mimula's face when she answered the door.

"You!" she gasped.

"Good afternoon. Mimula Cumore, you are under arrest for conspiring against the Imperial Knighthood and attempting to assassinate the commandant."

"You can't prove… I have no idea what you're talking about." She attempted to slam the door shut, but Flynn caught it with his cane.

"Your brother told me you sent him, Ms. Cumore." He pushed against the door. He'd managed to keep her from closing it because his cane jammed the doorway, but that meant he didn't have the cane to lean on and he was rather short on physical strength at the moment. Mimula shoved back against the door, knocking him off balance.

Sodia caught him before he hit the ground. Before even getting to his feet again, he pointed to the door and said, "Knights, after her! We can get her on resisting arrest now, too."

His knights stormed past, busting the door open with ease. Flynn stood back with Sodia, righting himself and breathing hard. It was embarrassing that such little effort had exhausted him, but considering Estelle had fixed his leg only this morning, he supposed it wasn't too bad. "Thanks," he said to Sodia.

"Any time, sir."

The knights returned, pushing a furious Mimula in front of them. "Unhand me!" she shrieked. "You have no evidence! I'll have you impeached for this!"

Flynn sighed and leaned on the cane. He was too tired to deal with her bullshit today. "Ms. Cumore, you gave me a false report to get me to go to Egothor Forest where - coincidentally - and assassination attempt occurred. Then - coincidentally - your older brother showed up to finish the job when the first attempt failed. He also coincidentally told me that you had begged him to kill me. There is such a thing as coincidence, and then there is a chain of events that clearly points to a culprit. Of course, since this is a fair government, we will let the courts decide which is which."

"You're lying." Her normally pretty face distorted with fury. "Simon would never accuse me. Where is he? I want to talk to him."

"He's dead."

Her eyes widened. "What? No. He can't be!"

Sodia said, "Simon Cumore died of his injuries two nights ago in Egothor Forest after provoking a battle with myself and a civilian. He was mortally wounded as a result of our defensive attacks."

"You killed my brother!" Fury transformed into anguish. "Just like you killed Alex. Now both my brothers are dead because of you!" She launched herself at Flynn, grabbing his shirt before he had a chance to move. Tears welled up in her eyes as she screamed, "You beast! You've destroyed my whole family."

Knights grappled with her and pried her off Flynn, while Sodia grabbed his arm to stabilize him. When Mimula's hands finally let go of their vice-grip on Flynn's shirt, she dropped to her knees and hung her head, surrounded by the drawn swords of knights ready for her to make another move. Despite that, Flynn had a feeling she was done.

"He's dead…" she murmured. "Both my brothers are dead now. This is really it. I've lost everything."

Flynn's ability to feel sympathy for her was hindered by the fact that she was to blame for all his pain and suffering over the past two weeks. Even still, he couldn't help feeling a sliver of pity for the woman. Her assassination attempts had really been ill-thought-out and desperate. She was less a criminal mastermind and more a desperate woman grasping at straws in an attempt to bring her life back to normal. "Ms. Cumore, you are under arrest. You will be given a fair trial."

"Yes," she whispered. The knights grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet before handcuffing her. While placing the cuffs, she looked to Flynn with wet eyes and asked, "Did Simon suffer when he died?"

Flynn thought of those awful rips and screams and suppressed a shudder. "He bled out from a wound to his abdomen. I do not think he suffered unduly."

"Good. I never liked him very much, you know? But still… he was my brother."

"Perhaps you should not have sent him to kill me," Flynn replied coolly.

Mimula hung her head, and then the knights led her away. Flynn half-leaned and half-sat on the metal rail around her front stoop. His leg hurt from standing for so long, but it felt good to walk around after over two weeks on his back.

"I can't believe her," Sodia said, watching the knights lead her away with a scowl. "Does she really expect anyone to give her sympathy after what she did? Simon was a monster; he deserved what he got."

"Maybe so," Flynn said. "But I don't envy Mimula. She doesn't seem to have any close friends, and now that she's lost the last of her family, she's all alone. I don't know how I would have turned out if I didn't have friends to rely on after losing my family. She really is pitiable."

"Sir, sometimes I fear you're too nice for your own good."

Flynn smiled and pushed himself upright. "Heh. Maybe I am."

Sodia held out her arm to help him down the steps to the street. "I can't complain, of course, after you showed unwarranted kindness and mercy toward me."

"Maybe that was selfishness, though." They started the walk to the castle, moving slowly to accommodate Flynn's limp. "You're my only friend in the Knights and I didn't want to give that up."

Sodia made a small flustered sound but didn't reply.

Walking on cobbled streets with a cane was aggravating because it kept twisting into the cracks. Hopefully his leg would be healed completely by the time he had to wander the streets again. He was going to have to relegate himself strictly to desk work for a little while. After a few minutes of walking, Flynn said, "We should stop somewhere on the way home and grab a bite to eat."

"But we already had lunch, sir."

"I'm still hungry." He'd been hungry since he woke up without a fever four days ago.

"If you insist. I'll pay."

"You really don't have to do that."

She bit her lip and frowned. "It's just… I still feel guilty that your condition deteriorated as much as it did. It's my fault you got sick. I should have realized your wound would get infected."

"And what would you have done about it if you had?"

"I… don't know. But that's no excuse for failing you."

Flynn shook his head. "Sodia, if you hadn't insisted on going to the forest with me, I would be dead now. With that as a starting point, everything you did can only possibly be positive. You did everything you could and more, so don't blame yourself."

She smiled. "Thank you, sir."

"Anyway, I said we should hang out more outside of work, so let's get dessert somewhere and split the tab."

"Are we allowed? Aren't we still on duty?"

Flynn shrugged. "Who's going to get mad at us? I'm the commandant. Anyway, I'm taking time off for a few days. Lady Estellise will surely scold me if I walk around too much." He counted arresting Mimula as working overtime. From his reasoning, any day you woke up in the hospital and endured painful medical procedures could officially be counted as a sick day.

"Hm, alright. That sounds like fun. I certainly hope whatever we get tastes better than the last meal we shared."

Flynn laughed. "Anything would be a step up from dandelions."

Estelle rushed to pull the blankets back from his bed. "Here you go!"

"Thank you," Flynn said, "but really, Lady Estellise, you don't need to do this." She had refused to return to Halure until Flynn was completely better, instead insisting on staying in the castle and making sure he took care of himself. She had cooked him dinner that night, too, against all protests that he really wasn't sick. His only issue was that his leg was still weak and he didn't need her futzing around him, but Estelle seemed to want to compensate for not being around to help him when he first got injured by overdoing it now.

Flynn sat on the side of his bed and took a few seconds to appreciate how wonderful and soft it was. After getting ice cream with Sodia, he'd still had things to do when he got back to the castle before he could officially start his time off. There had been arrest papers for Mimula to fill out, meetings to attend with angry Council members who thought he'd purposefully extended his vacation, and piled up reports and requests that really needed to be taken care of at once. Finally, the day was over and he could go to bed.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Estelle asked.

He shook his head. "You've done more than enough already."

"Ok. Good." She hugged him, for what was probably the fiftieth time that day. With his face pressed against her shoulder, she said, "I'm sorry if I'm babying you, but I'm just so worried about you. I hate it when you or Yuri gets hurt and I'm not there to help."

"I understand." He managed to pry out of her grip. "I can't imagine Yuri is too fond of your care, either."

She giggled. "He's always so indignant when he comes to me for healing. You know how he is. Well, if there isn't anything else I can help you with, I'll let you sleep."

"Oh, wait a moment," he said as a thought suddenly occurred to him. Estelle was the most well-read person he had ever met.

"Do you need something?"

"I was just wondering if you've ever read something about… creatures that aren't monsters but aren't Entelexeia, either." Even finding a word to describe the thing was difficult.

She frowned and put her finger to her lips. "Hm… I don't think so. I never even knew about Entelexeia until I met Belius."

"I see." He hadn't expected her to know, but it was worth a shot. The mere fact that a temple existed deep in the woods meant there must be some record of the people who built it and maybe the thing they worshipped, but it was also possible all knowledge of it had been lost to history.

"I suppose there's no real reason to assume such a thing couldn't exist, though," she continued. "There are still so many unexplored regions in the world, and so much we don't know. It's rather exciting, isn't it? To think of how many mysteries the world still holds?"

Flynn nodded slowly but without much conviction. He wasn't so sure he found the world's mysteries so exciting when one of them had possibly tried to kill him.

"Why do you ask?"

"No real reason." There was no point alarming her with his stories of shadowy beasts that in all likelihood didn't even exist.

"Ok. Well, goodnight, Flynn! I hope you feel better in the morning."

She left, and he quickly changed into his pyjamas and fell into bed. He sighed deeply as he sunk into pillows and blankets and buried his face into his fluffy blanket with a smile. Nothing could make someone miss their own bed quite like sleeping on the ground in the middle of the wilderness for two weeks. If civilization meant cozy beds, he was civilization's biggest fan. He drifted off to sleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillows.

He wasn't sure what woke him up in the middle of the night. It was probably a carriage trundling too loudly on the street, or one of the night maids bumping into something and making a crash elsewhere in the castle. Maybe he was just so unfamiliar with sleeping without the sounds of nature all around that his brain woke up to check that things were still alright. In either case, he found himself awake and immediately rolled over with a groan. He should be asleep. He was going to let himself sleep in the next day, but that didn't mean he should stay up all night.

With a yawn, he glanced around his room. It was nearly pitch black, but a slight movement from the corner of his eye called his attention. His heart leapt and his head shot around. In a split second, his mind filled with images of monsters, claws, and the overpowering reek of blood. It took almost five seconds for his heart to calm down and realize it was all just memories freaking him out. The movement had been nothing but a tree branch waving outside the window. At least… he was pretty sure that's what it was.

Flynn shook his head, silently reprimanding himself for being so skittish over something so childish. He was home now, safe in his own bed, and there was no reason to fear things that went bump in the night. He rolled over, closed his eyes, and waited for the telltale rush of wind outside that would confirm there was enough of a breeze to make the tree branches move. He was still waiting to hear a single gust of wind when he finally fell back to sleep.

A/N: The end. Thank you for reading!

Also, if you're really desperate for more answers on the shadowy creature of the forest, you can PM me. I purposefully left out most of the details about how exactly it works, because I've always found that scary stories become a lot less scary when you know exactly what's going on. But if you really the answers, I can tell you.