With a gasp, Ki’s eyes flew open. Light filtered through a thick canopy of leaves above her head, leaving dappled spots across the ground. Ki pressed her hands to her eyes to block out the light, groaning.

  She froze. Light? Leaves?

  Despite the ache in her wounded side, she sat bolt upright. A forest stretched all around her, with soft grass beneath her and dirt clinging to her face and clothes. Trees dotted the land as far as she could see, their deep green leaves providing patches of shade from the expanse of blue sky above. The sight of it all tickled her memory, as if it were familiar but she couldn’t recall why. Not to mention, she struggled to recall words for the scenery. What was the sky-light called again? She tilted her head back, peering through the gaps in the leaves above her at the giant ball of light in the clear sky.

  It was warm and pleasant. Coupled with the fresh breeze, bringing the scent of water from nearby, it was… free.

  It wasn’t the dark of the Chamber, or the cold of the Vault.

  Ki couldn’t help but smile as tears rose to her eyes. 

  A dull stab of pain crawled up her side, pounding in her shoulder as well. She groaned and fell back against the ground. Clean forest air replaced the scent of blood, though she could still feel it sticking to her clothes at the edges of her wounds. Some small voice at the back of her mind marveled at the fact that she was still alive.

  Ti’s cold eyes flashed through her memories, a sight that mirrored the feeling of the spear’s point being driven through her flesh. Ki shuddered. 

  She couldn’t lay there on the ground forever. She had to find Na. Now that she was out of the Chamber, she had to look for some sign that he had escaped too from the other side.

  With a grunt of effort, she managed to push herself upright again with minimal protest from her wounds. Her shoulder screamed at the pressure as she maneuvered to her knees and finally rose to her feet. Below her, the ground swayed as black dots danced in her vision. Blood had pooled on the ground where she laid, a deep, dark stain on the green grass. The sight of it made her stomach flip. 

  To her left, the underbrush rustled. Ki jumped back, reaching for her spear on instinct, only to find nothing. Heart leaping to her throat, she spun around to where she had been lying. No spear there either. 

  Before her panicked thoughts could land at a proper conclusion, a figure emerged from the brush. On his back, he carried a quiver of arrows. In his hand, he held tight to a slim hunting bow. His gaze seemed hazy at first, bored almost, before he lifted his eyes and spotted her. With a gasp, he fumbled backwards, reaching for an arrow in his quiver.

  Lips quivering, Ki curled her fingers around her skirt in place of her spear. Not that she had ever known how to wield it, but holding it brought her a sense of comfort. Now, more than ever, she wished she had it in hand.

  “Who are you?” he asked, his hand slowly moving away from his quiver. “Sorry for the scare, it’s just that… we don’t usually see living people in the Forest of the Dead.”

  Ki blinked, furrowing her brow. Forest of the Dead? It didn’t ring any bells. She pressed a hand to the wound in her side, gritting her teeth against the rising sting. Even if it did, she didn’t have time to waste on casual conversation. She could practically feel her body shutting down from weariness, threatening to drag her to the point of collapsing. 

  The boy’s eyes flicked down, drawn to her wound. Realization crossed his face, easing the tensed look of confusion. He looked back the way he had come before breathing a deep sigh. “Alright,” he said, “forget the questions, you can answer them later. I’ll take you back to my village and tend to your wounds.”

  Ki narrowed her eyes. “How do I know I can trust you?” 

  It seemed stupid to ask when she knew he was her only hope at the moment, but her thoughts kept wandering back to Ti, who had attacked her the moment she strayed from the Master’s orders. To Na, who had left her at the Vault even after making a promise to her. To the Master, who had never told her anything.

  Why should Ki blindly trust the hunter in the forest if her own friends and Master couldn’t properly explain themselves to her?

  She shoved that bitter thought away. She couldn’t think like that. There had to be some reasonable explanation she had yet to find.

  And she was going to find it.

  The boy hesitated for a moment, dappled light creating strange shadows across his face. “I guess that’s up to you. There’s nothing I can say that would prove my trustworthiness, is there?” He gestured towards the underbrush, beckoning for her to follow. Without waiting for her to make a move, he turned and went on his way.

  Ki cast one last look at the ground, where her blood lay but her spear did not. Steeling herself, she ventured after the boy and deeper into the forest beyond the Chamber.

  He hadn’t made it very far before she caught up to him. All it took was a glance back for him to acknowledge her before he began to brush low hanging branches and thorny brush aside for her as she walked. Though she tried to ignore it, the throbbing pain in her wounds persisted with each step she took. Sticky, warm blood clung to her fingers as she pressed them to the wound. The flow had since slowed, but she knew a scab wouldn’t form on a wound that large without ample pressure. All she could do for the time being was put one foot in front of the other, willing herself to keep moving.

  She had to keep going in order to find Na.

  “My name’s Flint, by the way,” the boy said. Light fell on his eyes, revealing a steely gray color. The same as the tip of his arrows.

  Fitting. “Ki,” she answered. The name suddenly felt foreign on her lips, heavy with unknown meaning. For as long as she could remember, it had been her name. Yet, now that she was out of the Chamber, it felt wrong. It left a cold feeling brewing in her chest, like ice had spread across her skin. 

  Flint’s brows furrowed together, his lips forming a tight, thoughtful frown. “What a coincidence that you have the name of one of the Vault Guards…” Tucking his onyx black hair behind his ear, he scrutinized her. “You don’t look like a Guard though. They always carry these… silver spears.”

  “Oh?” Ki fiddled with her skirt, twisting the fabric in her fingers. She couldn’t help but note the bitter tone to his statements, enough that her chest tightened with worry. “You… know of the Vault?”

  He stopped in his tracks and gave her a look of incredulousness. “Everyone knows about the Vault.”

  Ki’s steps faltered. She studied him, looking for some sign that he was joking. Only seriousness met her stare, clear and plain in his eyes and in the tightness of his grip on his bow. He turned away, pushing aside a thick collection of wild, tall grass to reveal a dirt path. 

  “Almost there,” he continued, dismissing the topic of the Vault as easily as if it had never come up in the first place. 

  Ki nodded, stepping out onto the path and leaving the overgrown forest behind. As she walked, she couldn’t help but puzzle over his words.

  Everyone knows about the Vault.

  Upon closer inspection, she matched his loose-fitting clothes to those that she often saw on the thieves who came to the Vault. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, suddenly dry as realization dawned on her.

  She was outside the Chamber, in the place where the thieves came from.

  Flint was a thief of the Vault.