Lola slumps against the abrasive trunk, sliding down the tree into a crouch where she was out of sight, her chest throbbing from the cacophony of uneven beats. She had been running for days, having practically no time for sleep. Shuddering against the bark, Lola wraps her arms around herself in an attempt to bring warmth back into her wind blown, cold body. Peeking up at Lorelei, Lola presses her lips together as she tilts her head, questioning what the woman was doing.

With a dismissive flick of her hand, Lorelei crouches in the maze of tree roots to the left of Lola’s hiding spot, her jade hued eyes affixed to the distant group of mercenaries no doubt tracking them. Despite it having been days since they left the neutrality of Liveta, making the harrowing four day journey through the eerie no mans ground between regions. Naturally the pair were being tracked and followed, a huge bounty upon Lola’s head. The only reason Lorelei was in no danger was because the law didn’t apply to her; and how could it? How could a law preside over Death Incarnate?

Lorelei narrows her eye at the distant silhouette of a group in the Misty banks, stringing her bow with an arrow easily the length of her alabaster, slender arms. Lola swallows thickly as he holds her body close to the tree, not even daring to breathe in the unlikely event such a thing distracted Lorelei’s focus. Of course, Lola knew better than to doubt the woman’s skills, but over the weeks of shared companionship and a singular goal, Lola had found herself worrying for the safety of the tall, mysterious woman more and more often.

Standing tall at the average height of a man, Lorelei was an absolute enigma to Lola. Despite being raised in a community of warrior women, she had never met anyone as quietly terrifying, someone so seemingly truthworthy and simultaneously ruthless. She had bore witness to Lorelei’s rage the last time she got injured. The memory of blood splashing across the dirtied skin of her cheeks days prior, of Lorelei slitting one mans’ throat simply for staring at Lola for too long. Lola swallowed anxiously as she leant her head back into the cradle of branches, her eyes still attentively locked on Lorelei.

Her form was perfect, her lithe and capable body arching as seamlessly as her bowstring as she let the arrow fly, followed by six more in quick succession. Lola stared out of both awe and disbelief, watching streaks of smokey black fly across the dense, misty bough of trees hit true. Hearing the tip of flesh, and the gasps of death, Lola shrunk back into the tree further.

She had seen so much abuse and death in the short span of her life so far, she almost couldn’t bear it.

With a near silent sigh, Lorelei strung her bow onto the harness fashioned over her chest and back, pushing a pale hand through her thick locks of ebony hair. She pressed her lips into a somber line as she walked to Lola, taking the shorter woman’s face into her cold fingers with a look that rendered Lola entirely silent.

They remained utterly still, Lola’s face grasped with unnerving gentleness, staring deeply into each other’s faces as if trying to read whatever lay behind their expressions. Lola raised her hand, gently setting her hand over Lorelei’s, pressing the cold fresh into her cheek and sighing in relief, enjoying the nip of cold that confirmed she was real. She wasn’t alone anymore. She could survive this.

Lorelei’s lips curled into a softened smile, a rare sight that only Lola got to see, as she swiped her finger across Lola’s cheekbone. “I need to tell you something before we cross the forest,” she murmured, her voice taking a tone Lola knew better than to interrupt. The smaller woman tilted her head in question, leaning deeper into Lorelei’s touch, her amber eyes seeking answers as theh restlessly roamed over Lorelei’s.

Dragging in a deep breath, Lorelei leant her face toward Lola’s, pressing their foreheads together as she often did in moments where she needed to collect her thoughts. Each breath passing made Lola more antsy, and understandably so. It isn’t often her quiet but commandeering lover had something of such serious nature to share.

Lorelei debated her words, her plump lips pursed in thoughtfulness as she let out a sigh, a honeyed breath washing over Lola’s face due to the close proximity. Lola remained silent, her doe shaped eyes fixed with almost worrying level of attentiveness.

“I haven’t been perfectly..forthcoming about where I’m leading us,” she murmured, her voice laden with anxiety, her face the picture of guilt, as she stared down at Lola. Shifting weight from one foot to the other, Lola rose an eyebrow at her lover, seemingly pondering what to say in turn.

“Are you taking me away from things like that?” Lola asks, waving a hand in the general direction of the puled corpses Lorelei had left.

“Yes,” Lorelei confirmed, a small, amused smile tugging at her lips as she smoothed her fingers along Lola’s jawline affectionately.

Lola’s honey hued eyes fixed back to Lorelei’s as she hummed, reaching her arms up to wrap around Lorelei’s neck, brushing her fingers over the intricate silver bow attached to her back.

“Is it safe where I’m being taken?”

“Safe for you.” Lorelei replied, her tone slightly cooler, subtly filled with her worry that Lola would reject her wholly when realisation dawned.

Lola’s lips twitched into a knowing smile, though she was evidently curious.

“I trust you with my life Lorelei,” she murmured, leaning up to press a chaste, shy kiss to the corner of the others lips. Lola quickly rocked back from her tiptoes, looking away into the mist with an embarrassed huff. It made Lorelei smirk to see, to witness Lola’s endearing sense of reserve when it came toward affection. Especially when it was so blatantly clear that the smaller, red haired female paid so much attention to anything Lorelei did.

“The irony of your words, darling, are not lost on me,” Lorelei murmured, provoking a confused look from her lover.

Knowing she would no longer bear the weight of lies between them, Lorelei decided in that moment that she feared nothing. She did not fear Lola’s rejection, she did not fear regret. She knew that regardless, she would ensure Lola’s safety at any cost.

“I am Death incarnate,” Lorelei said slowly, sounding each syllable with a rare uncertainty to her voice.

Lola simply stared, silent and waiting, as if the words had simply passed through her. That is until her face crumpled with such a pained look of betrayal that Lorelei immediately knew this wouldn’t be the idealistic daydream she had thought of before this moment, but instead a lot more questions. And a lot more rifts between them.

Lola cleared her throat but simply nodded, a frown tugging at her lips.

“We’re you involved in this manhunt for me?” She asked quietly, voice shaky. The question provoked absolute bewilderment on Lorelei’s part

“No, never.” Lorelei uttered sternly, her face the picture of rage at the mere idea of harming Lola. Nodding, Lola sighed and turned on her heel, out stretching her hand toward her enigma of a lover.

“Then we can talk more about that bomb shell when we’re somewhere safe,” Lola sighed, giving Lorelei an amused but wary look as she began to walk in the direction Lorelei nodded in.

They walked through the misty labyrinth of twisted roots that gnarled the ground below it, bare of any life.

It dawned on Lola, finally, the forest was bare of life because they were nearing the realm of Death.

Lorelei’s domain.