The following days passed as in a dream to Damian. While she frequently had lapses of despair and shed many tears, most of the time the attack and her former life in Aether seemed far away. Yet, the life she had now felt unreal, and she often wondered if she was going to wake up and find this all a dream. She immersed herself in this new life, consistently amazed at the wonders of the world that lay beyond Aether's borders. For though she had traveled the country with her father on his semi-annual trade routes many times in her earlier years, they had always stuck to well-developed roads through dull farmlands that offered little entertainment to a young girl riding atop a wagon.
Damian and Domino had decided to go south to the city of Trent, where a tributary from the east met Destin River. Rather than travel many miles east to the heavily-used road that swung south to the source of the tributary before curving west towards Trent, they moved through the forest, finding hunting trails or otherwise picking their way slowly south, usually keeping just in sight of the river.
Damian's spirits rose as they journeyed on. She focused solely on the world around her, forgetting the pain behind her and the trials still to await her once she reached Trent. She learned how to ride the mare she liked more each passing day. At the beginning, her feet were often sore from walking or her backside from riding, but Domino was patient with her and she quickly hardened to the travel. Domino had a supply of biscuit and hard cheese that kept them nourished, along with the game he caught and the fruit they found on their path.
Domino told Damian much about tracking, hunting, plants and animals of the forest, weather, and facts about the land in general, but he never said a word about himself. He seemed distant at first, but as they traveled on, he grew warmer to her. He asked her many questions about her old life and listened to her various stories, uninteresting though they seemed to her in comparison to the life of a mercenary. Still, at the end of the journey, she knew no more about him as a person than she did when she first met him.
Damian, Domino, and the horse passed several small hamlets along the way and saw many more on the other side of the river. The towns served as gathering places for the farmers of the west and the loggers of the east, as well as the occasional stopping point for the river boats traveling up- or downstream. They usually rode straight through the tiny villages, the towns having neither an inn nor a shop where they could buy supplies and the occasional traveler given food or lodging in the houses of the villagers themselves. Most of the towns they passed didn't even have names.
Damian grew more attached to Domino as they traveled onward. Despite his mysteriousness, he was the best company she could have hoped for and his kindness helped her accept her new life gracefully. She almost wished the journey would never end and the thought of the future she had to rebuild for herself put her ill at ease. Such thoughts often brought up more painful memories, so she tried to concentrate only on her current surroundings, and for the most part she succeeded.
She wasn't sure how many days had passed, though was certain that it had to be more than a week, when they crested a high hill along a well-defined trail and saw the forest begin to thin far in the distance. As the trees grew more sparse, buildings sprouted between them, and soon the town covered the land. The full spread of Trent wasn't visible from this distance, though the eastern arm of Destin River could be seen winding off to her left.
At once, Damian rejoiced at seeing a large town for the first time since she had fled Aether and felt despondent that her journey with Domino was coming to a close. The latter feeling quickly overpowered the former as the intimidating thought of starting her life over filled her mind. She didn't want to go to Trent. The travel to this point had been joyous, but only suffering and hardship waited at its end.
Domino hesitated to speak, and when he saw the expression on Damian's face, he refrained from commenting. He looked at the land spread out before them and the early evening sun falling to the west.
"We should arrive around midafternoon tomorrow," he remarked. "Let's start looking for a place to make camp." Damian remained silent as she began following him down the twisted path, leading the horse with its reins in her hand.
Dusk had fallen by the time they found a suitable campsite. Damian sat on a fallen log on the edge of a clearing, Domino's cloak wrapped around her. She watched idly as he arranged the wood he had gathered and lit a fire with his tinder box. A rabbit he had caught that morning made their supper, along with biscuit, apples and blackberries they'd gathered along their way, and water from the river. The first stars were visible by the time they finished eating.
Damian sat gazing at the fire in silence, growing more despondent with each passing moment. The thought of arriving in Trent hung over her like a black cloud. She didn't feel ready to rejoin town life, though she was more prepared to do so now than she had been earlier in the journey. The skins of the animals Domino had caught were stowed in the horse's saddlebags for Damian to sell in town. Domino had told her that he didn't need the coin and she could use the profits to start her life over. Money, she soon realized, was not the greatest of her concerns in going to Trent. Once again, she was about to lose a friend, and not only that, but one she had actually opened up to for the first time in years. To think that Domino was about to walk out of her life like so many others when she had no one else left was heartbreaking.
Eventually, she made herself ask, "How... how long are you going to stay in Trent?" Domino sent her an uncertain glance from the struggled sound of her voice.
"I won't leave until you're settled in," he answered. He had meant it reassuringly, but he had only confirmed all her fears in those few words. He had no intention of staying any longer than he had to. And how long did he deem she would need to settle in? He could be gone within days. Damian pulled her knees toward her, telling herself that she had to be optimistic but failing to do so.
"Are you alright?" Domino asked curiously. His expression was concerned as he gazed at her. Was he truly worried for her? If he was, then why was he leaving? Domino was all Damian had since the attack on Aether and he was all she needed. She knew she never would have survived this far if it hadn't been for him, and his care and support had helped her accept her new life easily.
"What's wrong?" he continued. The hurt was clear on Damian's face. Losing her only family, being attacked by monsters, and now losing the friend that had been her strength since then, it was too much. She couldn't handle life on her own.
"I..." she attempted. She would give anything, anything she still had to give, to keep Domino by her side, but she was still afraid. She knew that if she told him the truth, she would only push him away, but it hurt too much to imagine life without him.
Falling to her knees before him, she cried, "I don't want you to go! Please let me stay with you! I'll do anything if you let me travel with you! I need you! Please, please don't leave me!" Damian buried her face in her hands and sobbed. The shocked look on his face while she spoke had said everything. Her heart plummeted into her stomach as leaves rustled before her and she knew he was leaving. She'd taken her heart into her hands and had paid the price for it. She was alone, now and always.
Hands rested on her shoulders. She looked up, startled, and found the saddest expression she'd yet seen on Domino. This time, there was no reluctance as he pulled her forward and held her close. Crying, Damian wrapped her arms fully around him for the first time. The warmth of his body pressed close against hers comforted her in a way she had come to learn well throughout their travel.
Neither of them said anything for a long while. Only the snaps and crackles of the fire and Damian's shaky breath filled the forest clearing. Domino said nothing to alleviate her fears, but simply expressing them and having him hold her eased her pain. And if he was going to leave her soon, at least she would have a happy final memory of him.
They spoke no more of what Damian had said, though she found she didn't want to. Once again, she focused solely on the travel and when they entered Trent late the next day, she had other concerns occupying her mind.
The outskirts of the town were quiet and homey, much like Aether. The houses were well spaced apart with trees, green grass, and a rainbow of flowers growing between them, and the streets were peopled with merchants and craftsmen going home for the evening. While she caught a few uncertain glances in their direction, many of them smiled and nodded at her atop the honey brown and white horse. She couldn't help but notice that the smiles never met Domino. His eyes remained fixed forward, paying no mind to anything but the cobblestone street ahead as he walked beside the mare.
The transition was so sudden that Damian hardly realized when it happened. Soon, the buildings grew close together, and even tighter knit was the crowd packed in the street like a barrel of fish. Men and women walked in every direction, the murmurs of their conversation filling the air. Children darted about between their legs, laughing and chasing each other, picking pockets or filching wares from the various stalls lining the sidewalk, running messages or errands through the crowd, or announcing their own wares for sale, their shrill voices rising above the roar of conversation around them. Dogs darted among the crowd with the children, their barks mingling with the yowls of cats in alleys and on rooftops and the coos and flutter of pigeons taking flight. Horses snorted and clopped down the street, some pulling carts or carriages that hardly had room abreast of her own mount in the narrow streets. The air was thick with the scents of sweat, dung, baking bread, leather, meat and herbs, and the sulfuric fumes of a forge nearby.
When Damian had accompanied her father on his trade routes, she had loved to ride in his wagon, towering over the throng of townspeople like a lady in plain view of everyone. Now, however, she felt exposed and wished she could disappear into the anonymity of the crowd. Yet, at the same time, she felt caged in by all the people around her, making her nervous and afraid. Even the air felt stifling and she longed for the openness of the forest they had left. She clung tightly to the horse she rode, eyes scanning the crowd warily.
The smiles she had been greeted with earlier were gone, and the few people who bothered to look in her direction at all wore unfriendly expressions, though what precisely they felt she couldn't decipher. People backed away from them and Damian's heart raced. Perhaps they knew. Somehow, they could tell she knew magic, could see the connection with those beasts that had attacked Aether. She looked to Domino for answers or at least reassurance, but he only stared impassively ahead.
The next transition was as sudden as the first, and Damian felt she had skipped a moment in time when the horse suddenly stopped. Half a dozen soldiers in leather and chainmail hauberks and coifs formed a semicircle around them, hands on the swords sheathed at their hips. There was a bubble of open space in the middle of the street around them and all of the soldiers stared right at Damian and Domino. Damian's heart pounded in her chest, terrified.
A black-haired, thickly-bearded man in the middle of the soldiers with his armour hanging over a pot belly stepped forward, thumbs hooked through his sword belt. His expression was as cool and his voice as hard as stone.
"Pardon me, mister, but might I ask where you came from?" Damian glanced around, too frightened to move or speak. A growing number of people around the edges of the circle stared in at them, wondering what was going on. Domino's eyes traveled cautiously over the soldiers.
"Is something the matter?" he asked, his deep voice cool as well. The black-haired soldier pulled his sword belt up. It slid back down to where it had rested before.
"I heard tell you were in Aether around the time of that attack," he remarked. Damian's eyes fixed on him, startled. She felt utterly lost. These soldiers meant them ill, she knew that much, but she couldn't imagine what they had done to earn such notice. Did they know she had taken the horse? Had they learned that the creatures that attacked Aether were interested in her and didn't want to endanger Trent? Was the attack her fault, somehow? The thought caused her stomach to knot up.
"I was there," Domino answered simply.
"Funny thing is," the soldier continued, as if he hadn't heard the mercenary, "no one mentioned seeing you in town." The soldier lowered his head and stared suspiciously at him, but Domino's expression never wavered.
Finally, Damian worked up the courage to utter, "W-what's going on?" All eyes turned to her. Her insides turned to water and she regretted calling attention to herself. She felt naked, exposed to the scrutiny of the townspeople and soldiers.
"And what's your story, miss?" the lead soldier inquired. "You from Aether?" Her breath raced.
"Y-yes," she stammered.
"How'd you come across this bloke?" the soldier wondered with a nod to Domino.
"He... I..." Damian attempted. She glanced at Domino for help, but he never even looked at her. Suddenly, she felt cold. "I found him outside of town." Did she have to say it all? Would they know her secret if she told them what had happened? The soldier kept his eyes on her, waiting for her to continue. She swallowed and told herself she had nothing to hide. She had done nothing wrong. She didn't need to be afraid.
"I fled the town while the monsters were attacking," she told, her voice slightly steadier. "They chased me, but Domino fought them off and helped me escape." The mention of Domino's name sent a wave of murmurs and whispers through the crowd around them. The soldier didn't even spare them a glance.
"Fought them off real easy, did he?" the soldier stated accusingly.
"What do you want?" Domino asked, his voice growing darker.
"No! He--"
Domino grasped Damian's foot, a warning, and the soldier went on, "So you weren't even in the town during the attack and didn't get a scratch from them krolmins, did you?" Damian could feel the hostility rising in the soldier and everyone around. Even the mare whickered softly at the growing chaos around them. "Seems a little too coincidental to me." The voices of the townspeople watching in grew slowly louder and Damian caught snippets of conversation speaking angrily or fearfully of Domino. She felt confused as much as she was afraid. What did they think he had done?
"I had nothing to do with the attack," Domino snapped.
"It's that pendant," one of the other soldiers piped in, hand beginning to slide steel out of his scabbard. Domino raised a hand to pull his cloak over his amulet, hiding it.
"It's magic!" chimed a voice in the crowd. "I seen it before! It's dark, evil magic! He summoned them monsters, he did!" Shouts raised up in every direction, agreeing with the man. Damian's heart plummeted into her stomach at the accusation. But as she looked once more to Domino, all she remembered was the comfort and protection he had given her and she knew it couldn't be true.
"I think you'd better come with us," the pot-bellied leader finished, offering no argument. He gestured to the soldiers, who advanced carefully on Domino. "Tie his hands and I'll have that sword o' his," the leader added. The persecutions surrounding them turned to cheers when one of the soldiers produced a rope. Domino made no struggle as the soldiers pulled him away from Damian and the horse, held his arms behind him, and tied his wrists together. Another soldier removed his sword belt and stepped back.
"No!" Damian cried, but the cheering townspeople drowned out her voice.
"Let's go," the leader commanded and turned, the other soldiers falling in step behind him, a soldier to either side of Domino leading him along by the arms. The crowd parted to let them through.
"Stop!" Damian screamed, dismounting and running after the soldiers. "He hasn't done anything wrong!" She grasped at the arm of the leader, but he threw her off roughly. She stumbled, almost losing her balance.
"This doesn't concern you, missy," he grumbled. "Go find you a Seer, they'll deal with you." She wanted to argue, but no words would come. The soldiers following the leader pushed her aside as they passed. She looked despairingly at Domino, her eyes pleading for him to deny the charge. His expression softened as those gentle blue eyes finally faced her, an apologetic look crossing his face. The gaze was like a knife through her heart, but she still refused to believe he was responsible for the attack. He couldn't be, she begged inwardly. Damian could only watch the soldiers march on with tears in her eyes.
"Hey!" a voice cried out behind her. She turned to find the last soldier swinging at an urchin boy, who quickly drew his hand back from the mare's saddlebags and scurried off. The soldier shot Damian an annoyed look. "Get back to your horse if you don't want it gone."
"But..."
"Take your damned horse!" the soldier demanded and began stalking away. Hungry eyes drank in the sight of the abandoned animal and Damian hurried back to the mare. She took its reins in her hands and stopped, not knowing what to do. The tears flowed down her face with the realization that she was alone, again, and she didn't even know why. The people who had been screaming for Domino's capture now utterly ignored her. The bubble of safety was gone, people shouldering carelessly by her as they moved down the street.
Quickly feeling suffocated by the crowds, Damian lead the horse forward and away, not knowing what else she could do. The evening air grew chilly as the sun fell behind the houses and buildings surrounding her and she was lost.