Zayn sighed, his voice gentler now. "You’re good at more than that. You’ve got speed, reactions, those venom shots have range. If you weren’t trying to rob , I’d say you’ve got potential."
She looked up at him skeptically. "You’re not even mad?"
"Oh, I’m furious." Zayn said. "You tried to turn into goo. But after the fifth ti soone’s tried to kill you, it kinda stops being personal."
There was a pause.
"...You’ve had five people try to kill you?"
"Probably more," Zayn said, counting on his fingers. "I’ve had so many encounters y’know..."
She snorted. Actually snorted. Like the tiniest laugh had slipped past her venomous facade.
"You’re weird."
"I’m aware."
Another pause. Then she glanced at him again. "So... what happens now?"
"You help find my friends. Then you... go ho? Or wherever. Just don’t lt people."
"I don’t have a ho."
Zayn was quiet at that. The horse’s hooves clopped steadily beneath them, breath huffing clouds in the air.
"Well," he said after a beat, "we’ll figure sothing out."
"You’re just saying that."
"Nope. I’m a chronic helper. It’s my curse. Trust , it’s exhausting."
She stared ahead, a little stunned by the weirdness of it all.
A guy who beat her up, kidnapped her, threatened her with flaming eyeballs, and now offered to help?
Definitely weird.
"...What’s your na, anyway?" she asked.
"Zayn. And you?"
She hesitated.
"...Seren."
"Seren," he echoed, trying it out. "Sounds like a perfu."
She gave him a side-eye. "You gonna keep carrying like a princess the whole way?"
Zayn gave her the most exaggerated gasp. "I would never carry a princess. You spit venom. You’re more like a battle toad."
"...I’m getting off this horse."
"No you’re not."
She didn’t.
...
The horse neighed with sothing that sounded like a snort of relief as they finally burst through the last curve of the path.
The once chilly breeze was warming up now, and the horizon ahead glowed faintly orange with the setting sun.
"There." Seren pointed forward, her voice small. "Edgeville."
The na was accurate.
Wooden gates stood tall in the distance, worn and a little crooked like they were built by soone who really loved axes.
Beyond them, the silhouette of clustered buildings, smoke, and maybe three people fighting shirtless on a rooftop.
Edgeville looked like a town where you’d go to get stabbed and possibly find really good kebabs.
Zayn looked at Seren.
She tensed imdiately. "You’re not going to drop , are you?"
He raised a brow. "Drop you? What am I, your ex?"
She blinked. "Huh?"
Instead of answering, Zayn suddenly lifted her up like she was a roll of cinnamon buns and plopped her right in front of him on the saddle.
Her body went stiff as she instinctively gripped the horse’s neck, her legs dangling awkwardly off the side. "W-Why am I in front?!"
"I need to steer," Zayn said calmly, adjusting behind her. "Plus, I’m bigger than you."
"Don’t you dare try anything!" she snapped.
Zayn leaned forward, his breath grazing her ear. "Like what?"
"Anything inappropriate!" she shouted, already beet red.
Zayn scoffed, rolling his eyes like a full-ti older brother. "Please. I’m not a pedophile."
Her mouth dropped. "I’m not that young!"
He looked down. "You sure? Chest says otherwise."
"Y-You jerk!"
He snorted. "That’s the weakest punchline I’ve heard all day."
Seren just curled up more, muttering sothing about cruel tall people.
But they were already close — just a few feet from the gates now.
Two guards stood watch, both wearing what looked like black armor and matching expressions of ’I haven’t slept since the war.’
One of them stepped forward. "ID?"
Zayn reached into his coat and pulled out his adventurer’s badge — the silver glint catching the last rays of sun. "Zayn. C-Rank Adventurer. On an unofficial detour."
The guard took it, squinted, nodded. "And her?"
Zayn didn’t miss a beat. "Younger sister. Not of age. Lost her ID to a river. And trauma."
Seren blinked. "Wait, what — ?"
"Shhh," Zayn whispered dramatically.
The guard stared at her.
Seren smiled the most awkward, unconvincing smile ever. Her venomous glare was gone, replaced by sothing between panic and "I hate this so much."
The guard sighed. "Alright. We’re not gonna argue about family drama."
He stepped aside and waved them through.
Zayn’s eye twitched the second they crossed the threshold into Edgeville.
"Is it just ," he muttered, "or does everyone in this town look like they’re halfway into a villain arc?"
He wasn’t wrong.
Edgeville looked like Hot Topic had a lovechild with Mad Max.
Black trench coats, spiky shoulder pads, people with eye scars, chain accessories, leather boots that clacked with every edgy footstep.
Soone was literally petting a raven that sat on their shoulder while talking about the "dark pact of yesterday."
A street perforr was juggling daggers. Another guy nearby was painting flas on a skull mask.
Seren leaned back slightly to whisper, "Are you sure this isn’t a bandit town?"
"No. That was your crowd," Zayn whispered back.
She pouted. "They weren’t that bad."
"You guys tried to rob an innocent man on the road with his horse." He pointed at her. "That doesn’t sound bad?"
"...Fair."
They passed a shady-looking café where a man was sipping black tea from a goblet while glaring at nothing.
"Why does everyone here look like they write poetry about knives?" Zayn muttered, guiding the horse through the narrow streets.
"Edgeville is known for attracting people with... intense vibes," Seren explained, shrugging.
"No kidding. I just saw a guy bench-pressing a coffin."
"I’ve seen weirder."
They pulled up to the stables, and Zayn handed the reins over to the stable boy, who looked like he’d bitten soone earlier.
"Hey I’m Zayn, You take good care of Zayn," Zayn said to him.
The boy blinked. "You’re Zayn."
"No, that’s Zayn," Zayn said, pointing at the horse.
"...Why?"
Zayn just gave him a thumbs-up. "Identity bonding. It builds trust."
The boy clearly did not get paid enough for this. But he took the horse anyway.
Zayn and Seren stepped onto the cobblestone path of the town center.
"Alright," Zayn said. "We’re in Edgeville. Let’s find the others, get you a blanket, and maybe figure out what the hell this place is even doing."
Seren gave him a look. "Wait. You dragged through a battlefield of ice and dirt, half-threatened into guiding you here... and you still don’t know where your friends are?"
Zayn looked thoughtful. "I call it vibes-based navigation."
She smacked her forehead.
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