Zellira hadn't gone far when they started to hiss at her. The voices in her head that told her she was an idiot. "Why does she still live? You can't have been beaten, you aren't even scratched! Must've ran away...oh, the dark ones won't like that will they?" they taunted. Zellira ignored them. She ran away from the roads mostly...but they was one stretch she couldn't avoid. She pulled her hood low over her face and clasped her cloak. There were guards ahead, she could sense it. She put her ear to the ground. Slow, soft thuds reached her ears. They were riding slowly then, scanning the land. There was only one set of hooves as well...one rider. Maybe not a guard. She walked forwards for about ten minutes to where the road forked sharply left, and off to the north. She glanced to the left road, the western road, and saw a guard. "Damn..." Zelira spat, her wrist blade loosening. The guard saw her and broke into a canter, his horse quickly catching Zellira. The uniform generally brought alarm where the guards were concerned. The man stood over her on his horse, looking down at her. As if that gave him an advantage. "May I inquire about your business Sir?" he asked stiffly, fear obvious in his eyes. "Not sir...Ma'm, and thank-you for the horse." Zellira said bluntly as her wrist blade met the man's heart. She felt guilty. This man could have been a father, a brother, a friend. Why Mekoa made her feel so sympathetic she didn't know...but she enjoyed having humanity back, if only for a few hours. She calmed the horse and carved the assassin's mark onto the man's left cheek. A single tear landed on his face as she dragged him next to the crossroads and slipped a black rose into his hand.<span style="font-style: italic">Dark signs, dark flowers. Release the man's soul. </span>Zellira thought as she drew a six pointed star on his forehead. She kissed her fingertips to seal it. Power welled up into Zellira as she touched the man's soul. He looked at her with deep, soulful eyes that picked apart who she was. She let him. She let him see that he was sorry. She let him see how she felt. He would be gone soon after all. He would be on his was to the Black God. His luminous blue spirit lifted up into the sky, understanding and accepting. He knew why he had died, he forgave her. He knew how they would hurt her if anyone knew. He was a kind man. Zellira sighed. She mounted the horse and rode off, northbound and doomed to suffer for having gained a sense of humanity.<span style="font-style: italic">Ironic, that these people punish for lack of, and my people punish when you have a sense of humanity.</span>