side as one of the guards nudged he

erhead. They must be travelling somewhere around Ylann by now as the forest had gotten more luscious around these parts. One by one, Shia can see the other ba

ones, and either holding them for ransom for their families (if they were rich) or collecting the rewards the Imperial Palace of Gascone has put forth. It was a lucrative business, as far as these bandits were concerned. They ju

r tossed her a piece of flat bread.

e said in a

ching on a mouthful. It was so hard to

ed to stab her heart (or any part of her body for that matter), but every time she did, she remembered her mother's last words, and immediately vines would shoot up from the ground to protect her b

t. On the third day, she had fainted. When she opened her eyes, she saw that the vines had grown enough to put a thick canopy above he

es, so cursed ones won't be able to use their powers within its walls. Every month, in the plaza, the king would order the execution of cursed ones

etal net descended upon her head, trapping her firmly to the ground with its weight. Shia could have resisted if she wanted to. She could fight with her bare hands, but she didn't. One of the men held a

e cursed ones to capture. At first, Shia thought it was a tiresome task – looking around for prey that they would not normally be able t

whole family left Tightwater and became nomads. She would at least take revenge for their sake. The king's hunt for cursed ones left her family with no permanent home and mostly empt

he atmosphere. The birds and animals tensed up, and the wind felt somewhat heavy. She knew f

ngly alarmed too. In a heartbeat, they heard a yel

e! An A-grade

en catch a deer even if their lives depended on it, so it was understandable that she would not believe that they caught a cursed one, especially an A-grade (their term

r thoughts like Shia, had his mouth caught

caught in the f

including Shia who even outran her captors

om her, but she could tell by the quality of his coat and garments that the person probably belonged to an extremely ri

her – with dark jet-black hair that covered his pallid face. Shia quickly scanned his body. He was u

d not budge. The leader raised his hand to slap the vic

eader exclaimed, "Wha

face with his palm. "Where's

ociously lift the boy's face for everyone to see, but the boy g

, but in a heartbeat, the boy was able to release himself in the foothold and threw al

ia to the boy in the foothold trap. There was something very familiar about him.

guiding stone staff. As the boy tried to fend off the attack, he lifted his hands away fro

starting from his face down to the soles of his feet. The boy quickly turned his face away as if trying to shield the crowd, but it was too late. All five bandits who locked eyes with him immediately turned int

ed inside her for three months, Shia immediately unsheathed the dagger she kept i