Beneath the starlit sky, grey and white clouds veiled one mountain of the Silent Heights, shrouding the expanse below in an opaque, raging blizzard.

  Navigating the said expanse, Corvus—on the edge of succumbing to his many injuries—saw a last glimmer of hope, a light. It was emanating from a modest fire inside a shallow cave, deeming it to be his only chance at survival, Corvus entered.

  Inside, beddings were already arranged, the ground cleaned, and most important of all a small bonfire warmed the space. He touched the wall of the cave; its warmth brought such a pleasure that he pressed his face on it with a satisfied smile.

  His eyes then focused on the fire, Heat... Honestly, I won't mind death by burning for now.

  He greedily watched the fire with his mouth slightly agape before shaking himself back to reality.

  He calmed his fickle mind and fixed his gaze on the thing he desired the most: blanket. He just wanted to sleep.

  Corvus walked toward the blanket while muttering, "At last you shall be mine, and this time no one shall come between us, my dear sl—"

  Suddenly a lean figure collided into him; Corvus hardly felt an impact, yet the abruptness of the attack and his debilitated body made him stagger and fall. Sitting atop him, the older sibling brandished Sena's knife and plunged it at Corvus's chest.

  He clearly saw the knife approaching his chest, yet he could not stop it. One hand, mangled beyond use, and the other, frostbitten to the cold felt too numb to move.

  For all his might, he could only helplessly observe an unknown girl stab him for no reason.

  "You dare, bastard! Call my sister your slave! Die!" The older sibling yelled—its echoes filled the cave for a while—as she stabbed his chest.

  However, the blade could not pierce his skin—or rather she could not. Having hauled her sister along with other baggage, she lacked the strength to hurt a Mundukar like Corvus Ashford. Her attack only pressed against his skin like rubber, unable to leave so much as a scratch upon him.

  The older sibling's eyes widened in disbelief and her hands lightly trembled.

  Corvus, though, remained unbothered: "Ouch."

  His mocking remark brought the older sibling back from her daze. She placed the knife at his throat and asked, "What are you, monster?"

  "Don't make a monster because of your weakness, girl. The correct question is why are you attacking me?"

  "You wretch, don't play coy with me—I may be weak but no human could've survived that."

  "You must not have met many people then, because I can personally attest that there are plenty of individuals far stronger than me. Although I can understand where you're coming from—living in a secluded cave on a hill and all."

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  The older sibling was incensed, but before she could speak Corvus added, "Enough bickering, girl. Answer my question now."

  "Trying to play innocent, huh bastard. Drenched in blood and reeking of gore, I saw your crazy behaviour the moment you walked in. But above all, the greed in your eyes was palpable the moment you looked there," she pointed at her sister covered entirely in the blanket.

  Pressing the knife against his neck, she continued, "Now, I will ask you one last time—answer honestly, or else—"

  "Or else what, girl—you will endlessly poke me? Or perhaps, you can shout me to death—hell, you even have the most obnoxious voice of all the people I've ever met."

  The older sibling stared at him for a few seconds then said evenly, "You had your choice, enslaver."

  En—what? Corvus was confused.

  But before he could explain, the older sibling buried the knife in the gash on his abdomen.

  "Shout you to death. Nah. I've got a better idea—how about I bleed you to death," she said, digging into the wound with a gut-wrenching sound.

  "No, wait—listen to me..." His words died out as pain began to permeate his body.

  The older sibling felt tense doing something so grotesque, but her sister's safety took precedence over her feelings. As such, she kept stabbing the immobile man under her. Soon, her hands were covered with blood and her face spattered with scarlet drops.

  The sudden loss of blood and surge of pain jolted Corvus's body with a short burst of energy. Using the opportunity he immediately overturned the older sibling and stopped his blade a few inches away from her throat.

  He glared coldly at her when a small voice came from the blanket: "Don't kill my sis... Please, mister." The younger sibling had awakened, she sincerely pleaded to the man threatening her sister.

  "Pipsqueak—don't come closer," the older sibling said.

  Corvus slowly shifted his gaze and looked at the young girl, whose sister he was apparently about to kill. This doesn't look like what happened at all.

  "Don't worry little girl, I don't want to kill your sister... I mean no harm..." His words drifted as Corvus collapsed.

  The older sibling rose and tightly embraced her sister: "You had me so worried 'squeak."

  "Sis, where are we? And who's that man?" The younger sibling asked. Then sneezed rapidly a few times, and asked, "Also why's it so cold here?"

  The older sibling patted her sister's head, covering her in blanket again, she replied, "I'll answer everything, but first we have to take care of that man."

  Take care of me... That one is going to kill me, isn't she. Drifting in and out of consciousness, Corvus was half-awake, just enough to eavesdrop on the sisters.

  "But he said he doesn't mean any harm," the younger sibling argued.

  Good, at least one of the sisters can listen.

  "Lies. He knew he would blackout any moment, so in his desperation attempt he spun a lie," the older sibling countered.

  "But sis—"

  "Don't but me, 'squeak, I was observing his lunatic-like actions—he licked the cave wall, slapped himself and looked at the fire as if wanting to devour it, what sane person does that. Even if he's not an enslaver we can't keep an unstable guy like him around."

  "Still sis, we should at least give him a chance to explain. We can't just leave him to die, please," the younger sibling tried to make her sister see reason.

  Now I know my favorite of the sisters—not that it was ever a competition to begin with.

  "Listen 'squeak, I gave him plenty of opportunities to talk, but he kept taunting me and ridiculing me, alright."

  Opportunities? She started by stabbing me in the chest while screaming like a maniac. Now I know which sister I hate—not that it was ever a competition to begin with.

  Clasping her hands, the younger sibling softly spoke, "Sis, you can't kill people for standing up to you... Hey why are you giving me that look? Wait—"

  There goes the last hope of my survival... Corvus finally drifted into a forced slumber.