“Bleh… This stuff really is gross,” Horo spat. “So what’s with the tats, bleached ya head too?”

  “Only on the hands…cool huh?” Ben replied. Scanning Ben’s hands, Horo scoffed.

  “Looks ridiculous, but if you like it, so be it. I still think you’re too young for all this.”

  “So what?! Didn’t Dushyanta and Graham start the Council Thirteen at my age?”

  “I suppose they did,” Horo said. “So what’s your plan then? Gonna start your own gang?”

  “I’m more about the look, I’m not as stupid as the rest of ya. Not trying to get killed, ya know.”

  “Fair enough,” Horo tossed the drink into a bin. “Let me take you home.”

  “No need, I just got my license, remember?”

  “Ah, that’s right…be careful then,” Horo waved goodbye.

  “You too!” Ben replied with a jumpy smile.

  Snow… “Princess? I’ve never heard of a princess chillin’ on her lonesome,” Akli said.

  “Never heard of Nomkyak either,” Valory added.

  “Perhaps because you two aren’t all that educated,” Haza replied.

  “Can I punch this brat?” Akli asked Valory.

  “Hold off…” Let’s just relax, she probably is what she says, or at least something similar. She’s got a bizarre accent, so perhaps she is from somewhere afar. “What do you want with us?”

  “Not with you, miss. Him,” she pointed.

  “Huh?” Akli scoffed.

  “You’ll become a Saint, I can surely see it. That you will become what saves this world from destruction.”

  “Val…I think this child has hit their head a few too many times.”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “I want to agree…however, what makes you so sure, uh Princess?” Valory squatted to Haza’s eye level.

  “Haza is fine, and it’s because he can see fate.”

  “Hoh, yep, this girl’s lost it. Val, let’s go,” Akli said as he began to walk off. “Val…?”

  Her eyes did not divert from the golden abyss. “No…she speaks the truth.”

  “Are you serious…Val come on!” Akli exuded a soft pressure that weighed onto the sand beneath his leather soles.

  “You’ve seen it too, but not to the same degree?” Haza asked, puzzled by Valory’s trust.

  “I once saw him stop my friend Horo from being killed. Graham said he could see that Horo would surely die—”

  “That’s because the fool was walkin’ straight for it! Anyone with a brain could see that!”

  “Then tell me how you knew the number of men that came for us, how they would have guns, and which paths to take so that we wouldn’t get caught. Even Dushyanta says you have a way of getting out of trouble. If fate is the right word for it, then I believe it. And now some random girl says you're her savior. Tell me, Akli, what do you see?”

  “…” Rubbing his face, the lines became clearer, the strands that held fate. “Valory, your line is red, one of the reddest I’ve ever seen. Like a river of blood. Princess, you have nothing, like a ghost…it freaks me out. Happy now.”

  “Am I going to die?” Valory asked with exceptional calm.

  “I don’t know,” Akli pinched his brow.

  “You won’t, not if Akli Graham becomes the Saint and takes me across the border to Ontiganel,” Haza said.

  “Haha! You’re crazy, Ontiganel. Why would we cross the desert to arrive there?” Akli asked hysterically.

  “Because I’m being chased…so won’t you protect me until I can no longer be found?”

  “And why should we do that?” Akli asked.

  “We?” Valory gave a smug look.

  “Me, you, and Dushyanta. If I’m to cross the border, be it by boat, foot, or car, I would at least like to enjoy it with my friends.”

  “You’re crazy, we can’t just leave!”

  “I thought you were the one who thought this was a good idea, you humoring this brat and all!”

  “Ya, for you, but I and everyone else actually have lives!”

  “And I don’t?!” Akli brought his face closer.

  “Umm…” Haza raised her hand.

  “One second…” Valory said. “Fuck off…for a second,” Akli said.

  “All I’m saying is—”

  “It’s summer. What do you got going on? Nothing. Same with the rest. So how ‘bout we become bodyguards to a Princess for a couple months? Sounds dope, no?”

  “Haah…you give me the biggest headaches.”

  “It’s a deal Princess, let’s meet up at Dushyanta’s and set our plan into motion,” Akli decided as he cackled up the hill.

  “Is this really all right?” Haza asked Valory.

  “It’s fine…he’s right, not like I had anything better to do this summer. I’ll just tell my mom I got an internship somewhere. Don’t stress, we’ll take care of you.”

  “I see, thank you…” Haza closed her eyes, seeing the threads in her mind dwindling.