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Mayra stared with a mixture of confusion and horror as Nithel slowly faded away. Alessio raced to grab his hand, but he went right through it. Nithel smiled before vanishing completely.

Every muscle in her body went numb. No. Oh – no. Was – was she going to fade too? She found herself grabbing at her skin, her hair, her limbs to see if she too was disappearing. Luckily she wasn’t.

Looking up at everyone’s faces, she saw the horror implanted in each one. Alessio in particular, was pale with shock. And sadness.

Seeing their faces, she realised for a split second that the first thing she thought of was the danger of fading – not the loss of Nithel, the soft-hearted boy who spoke of Dewos and his love for humanity. She shook her head roughly, reminding herself that she needed to look out for herself, first and foremost. Nithel didn’t matter to her personally. That was a fact.

Then why did his loss affect her so? She couldn’t understand it.

“Well,” the dragon spoke into the stricken silence. “it seems we have lost another. However, I don’t intend to be meat for this place next. We should move. ” He motioned at the cages which had appeared out of nowhere. They seemed to contain bird like creatures. Griffins? She couldn’t tell.

“What door should we choose?” the dragon rumbled.

Slowly, she dragged herself to her feet. And turned to Alessio.

“Alessio,” she said. Softly but firmly. Reminding him that they were still here, still in danger of dying.

He turned towards her with a look that was nothing short of despair.

She met his gaze. She struggled to hold it. Eye contact was never her forte. But she reached out and touched his shoulder. She didn’t want to do anything else. Just that touch. To show him that she was here.

She didn’t care about the others. But Alessio – she would help him. She wasn’t sure if it was a sense of caring or empathy – but it was something. For so long, she had thirsted for someone to show her real, authentic love and kindness. She wasn’t sure how to feel about him. But she wasn’t going to leave his side.