CHAPTER 605: CHAPTER 606: BELIEVE

Ishana’s wings failed her after gliding only a few kilometers. She held Lilith tightly in her arms as they crashed into the forest canopy, branches breaking, leaves scraping against their skin.

The sound of splintering wood followed them until they finally hit the ground with a heavy thud.

Dirt and leaves clung to their bodies. Ishana forced herself up immediately, ignoring the pain coursing through her body, and checked on the girl in her arms.

Lilith was dizzy and pale, her emerald eyes glassy, but alive. Relief washed over Ishana’s face for just a moment.

Lilith blinked, her small lips trembling. Tears welled in her eyes as she whimpered.

"Isha... Isha..."

Ishana bit her lip and lowered her head.

Her wings were bent and bleeding, their membranes torn, one of the bones jutting out grotesquely. Her expression carried emotions far too heavy for the young girl to understand. In her mind she already knew the truth.

No one would ever accept a demon.

That was the way of the goddess races. She had long prepared herself to hear words of fear or hatred from Lilith.

Instead, what came was nothing but worry.

"Isha, you’re hurt... Isha..." Lilith’s voice cracked, her small hands shaking as she reached out.

Ishana’s hands trembled. Her face was pale, cheeks scraped raw, blood running down her skin. She could barely hold herself upright.

"Y... you... are you not afraid of me?" her voice faltered.

But Lilith’s tear-filled eyes ignored the question. She only repeated herself, louder and more desperate than before.

"Isha, you’re hurt! You’re bleeding!"

Her tiny hands pressed against the large, bat-like wings of her guardian, trying to cover the wounds, trying to stop the blood as if sheer will could make it end.

Ishana’s pale face broke. The child’s sincerity shattered her defenses, and tears spilled freely down her bloodied cheeks.

"I’m sorry... I’m so sorry... I’m sorry..."

Her arms wrapped around Lilith in a desperate embrace. She apologized because she was a demon.

She apologized because she had hidden it. But more than anything, Ishana apologized because she could not protect Lilith, because she was powerless in this moment.

But she would not stop. Not while Lilith still breathed.

"Come, my lady. We have to go."

She forced the young girl onto her feet, pulling her along. Her back bled heavily from the arrow still lodged deep, but she ran. Lilith gritted her teeth, her heart burning with helplessness as she watched the woman she loved suffer so greatly.

The demon-kin woman dragged her faster and faster, whispering between ragged breaths.

"We’re almost there... we’re almost there..."

Even though Ishana knew it was a lie, she forced hope into her voice. They would not make it. Even if they did, survival was not guaranteed. The truth clawed at her heart, but she refused to let despair take the girl beside her.

Her hands trembled. Tears fell against the earth as she prayed in her heart.

"Oh God, please hear me... don’t let her die here... please, please..."

In her darkest moment, Ishana—who had long lost faith—could only beg.

Lilith overheard the desperate prayer. Her small heart clenched. Fear for her own life was nothing compared to the pain of losing Ishana. Her lips quivered, her voice cold with the bitterness of a child’s raw hatred.

"Why are you praying, Isha? The goddess isn’t going to listen. She’s deaf... and blind. If she wasn’t, why would she let her followers do this to you?"

Her voice shook, her green eyes burning.

"I hate them. I hate them all."

Ishana froze. Her blood left a trail behind her, her lips trembling. She groaned and forced her wings open again despite the agony tearing through her body.

With one last push, she lifted Lilith back into her arms and soared into the sky. Her wings wobbled, membranes ripping further with every beat. She could not truly fly. She could only glide a little farther.

She looked down at the tearful girl in her arms and smiled faintly, her pale face streaked with blood.

"I may not make it."

Her words were brutal honesty. Even saying "may" was a kindness, for she already knew she would not survive this.

"No! No, Isha! No!" Lilith’s desperate voice cut through the air.

"Listen to me. I have kept many things from you. So let me tell you a little, before I—"

"No! I don’t want to hear that now! Tell me later, when we get home! I don’t want to listen!"

Lilith’s cries shook. She was smart enough to know these would be Ishana’s last words. She would not allow them to be spoken.

Ishana’s arms tightened around her.

"You still need me. But I need you more. How can I leave you?"

Lilith’s lips quivered, but before she could speak, Ishana’s weak voice pleaded.

"I just want to tell you a little story. Please, will you listen?"

Her face grew paler, her wounds bleeding faster, but her eyes softened. Lilith, tears streaming down her cheeks, nodded silently. Ishana’s blood soaked into her dress, warm and heavy.

"There was once a girl who was raised in a temple far away, on the demon continent. That temple had one duty. It was a place to remember names... names of demon lords."

Ishana’s voice trembled as she looked at Lilith.

"Some names became known. Some were never used."

Her vision blurred, but she pushed on.

"We were tasked with remembering them, so that if a new ruler arose with no throne, we could bring him before the unknown god. There he would be given a name. Names like Adramelech, Paimon..."

Her voice faded for a moment, but Lilith’s gaze never wavered. She listened with all her heart.

"Some names were great, yet never spoken. Amon... Astaroth... and Lilith."

The girl’s eyes widened at the sound of her own name.

Ishana bit her lip.

"I left that temple years ago, but my heart lingered. When you were born, I gave you the name Lilith. To me, it was the name of someone strong, a queen who carved her own path, no matter what the world demanded."

Her voice cracked, her wings trembling.

"Can you do that for me? Live. Carve your own path."

Lilith nodded tearfully, clutching her guardian tightly as they began to fall lower, Ishana’s wings shredding further.

"I can. I will. So Isha, don’t die."

Ishana smiled faintly, choking back tears.

"Do you remember all the stories of the god I told you?"

Lilith nodded.

Ishana took a deep breath as they landed clumsily, her knees nearly buckling. She forced her bloody hands forward, pointing at the faint outline of a temple in the distance.

"The unknown god is enigmatic. I know it is pathetic of me to seek divine favor after I abandoned my duty as a priestess. But..."

She placed a trembling kiss on Lilith’s forehead.

"If you go to that temple and call upon the unseen sovereign, the god of dreams will answer. Run."

Lilith’s eyes widened in shock.

"Run and hide, behind the god of the abyss."

When the girl shook her head, Ishana whispered a small lie.

"Do you remember the stories? If you pray to him, he will listen. He will help you."

Tears blurred Lilith’s vision, but Ishana pressed on.

"If you hurry, I can hold them off. But only if you hurry."

Her hands shook violently as she looked away, hiding her tears.

"I am counting on you, Lilith. This is the only way we both survive."

"I won’t leave you!"

Ishana’s trembling hand reached for the arrow still embedded in her back. With a pained groan, she pulled it free and raised it toward her chest.

"If you do not go, I will end myself here. Please... believe me."

Lilith’s heart broke, but she believed. She always believed Ishana.

"I believe... I believe..."

Her small feet carried her into the woods. Ishana collapsed, her vision swimming, but her lips curled into a faint smile.

If Lilith made it to the temple, she could hide.

Until then, Ishana would buy her time.

She stood, blood dripping from her wings, and waited with cold, killing intent for the hunters who drew near.