Female 1: Shapeshifter Sage Lilja Svana

"Lilja z Milvake, dávena, dotah tnou mekám ořu sistra?" Visaraenar's voice was soft, almost shy, as both girl and Pegasus trotted side by side along the earthen rode towards the capital of Castre, Komesen. Lilja of Milvake, tell me, do you miss your sister?

If it were anyone else other than the speckled grey colt who had asked the question, Lilja would've either ignored the person altogether or throw a harsh retort back. However, ever since the remaining magi's escape from Vaxon's arena, Lilja had warmed towards the excitable yet kind Visaraenar, who had risked his own life to save her from Kyren during the intense battle. Though the question itself was somber, Lilja could not keep a small flicker of a smile creeping up onto her face at Visaraenar's words. Memories flooded back, from childhood to adolescence to finally adulthood – memories of Chanel and herself that Lilja would forever treasure in her heart. "Mommy, I don't like this dress," Five-year-old Chanel whined, tugging at her pink satin dress that was just a tad too big for the girl's slender body. Lilja giggled immaturely at her twin's discomfort while their mother Anna-Marie laughed and just continued to brush Chanel's long, silky brunette hair while the girl pouted. "I look icky," she continued to complain. "I hate wearing dresses and going to your dumb parties!" "Lilja! Come play!" Seven-year-old Chanel grinned as she did a perfect cartwheel in the Svana family's backyard. The humidity of summer did nothing to stem the playfulness and cheekiness of the girl that contrasted like black against white with her twin sister, who preferred to play dress-up with her dolls and host tea parties then run wild with Chanel. "Good heavens, Lilja, you're in L-O-V-E!" Thirteen-year-old Chanel chanted as Lilja blushed, hurriedly trying to get her twin to hush as the girl started to chant "Lilja and Steven sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!". It was true that Lilja had a crush on a freckled boy with carrot hair – Steven – at her school, and even though she hated for Chanel making such a big fuss out of it, inwardly Lilja was glad that Chanel was by her side through the confusing stage of puberty.

"So. Race you back to the campground?" Chanel and Lilja were both nineteen, fugitives, on the run from the wicked Vaxon.

"Of course," Lilja chuckled softly, eyes regaining their usual kind twinkle and shine. Still, she couldn't help but add a touch of sass as she rolled up her sleeves and got ready to say the necessary spells to change, "But you know I always win, right?"

"I beg to differ."

It was the last race that the two sister had, the last race before they were captured and sent to die in the arena. Once, when Lilja and Chanel were eight, there was a ferocious storm that ravaged the land of Castre. During the night, Lilja had whispered to Chanel in fright, "I'm afraid I'm going to die."

In response, Chanel only laughed and hugged her timid sister tight, before murmuring in reassurance, "Don't be silly, Lilja. I won't ever let you die." Her hazel eyes had taken on a solemn look as she leaned close and said, "If we die, we die together." Only, that promise was not kept. Chanel had been the one who had died, instead of Lilja – instead of them perishing together. Like Lolita's murder, Lilja now carried a second burden of death on her shoulders, this one heavier than the last. She sighed, her footsteps weary and slow, before she stopped her trek altogether and looked Visaraenar dead in the eye. "I dotah," I do, she whispered. "Moka tchán yzopu šil nevře koná." More than you will ever know.

~

When Lilja and Visaraenar finally stopped to rest, Lilja's legs were so tired that the girl nearly collapsed from exhaustion; it was only her hand's grip on the Pegasus's lengthy grey mane that kept her standing. The reason being that she had stopped riding Visaraenar a few hours after the escape, for the girl had noticed that the colt had begun to wheeze and that was foaming slightly at the mouth. Knowing that she was the main cause for Visaraenar's fatigue and weariness, Lilja immediately hopped off and resolved the continue the journey on foot. Jahad's capture had shaken them all, and while walking, Lilja had discovered that the slow, rhythmic clip-clop sound of Visaraenar's hooves on the path and the songs of the birds in the trees helped to relax her previous tense muscles a little bit. Not to mention the fact that she had been feeling extremely lightheaded during the entire journey – once nearly fainting and had to be tended to by the healing mage – Lilja forgot his name. The diagnosis was odd, as the healing wizard had said that the lightheadedness was not from natural causes and that Lilja had perhaps been poisoned – but the incident was quickly forgotten by everyone as the journey continued.

Still, when the scraggly group of refugees – along with various species of creatures such as Pegasi, Griffin, and even Dragon – stopped in a large, spacious clearing for an hour's break, Lilja couldn't help but fear nerves running down her spine at the sight of Kyren Asherex himself being unloaded from Alyra's back. Surmyr's second-in-command seemed less than happy to be given the job of transporting Kyren from Elloyn to Komesen, but with a little prompting from Surmyr, Alyra had reluctantly agreed. When Kyren had been fastened tightly with coarse rope to a yew tree by two buff soldiers, Alyra immediately trotted over to where Lilja and Visaraenar were standing and snorted, "I hopán tahat boye rošt in Hel."

I hope that boy rots in Hell.

Lilja noticed Visaraenar's ear twitch at Alyra's bitter words, though said nothing. The girl, however, remembered back to Alyra and Kyren's initial confrontation and recalled how Alyra had angrily told her that a member of the Asherex family had murdered her children, in their sleep. Though Lilja had offered her condolences more than once, Alyra had always bared her teeth at the girl and chased her away, but underneath the strong façade of the lead mare, Lilja noticed flecks of sadness and regret. A mother's guilt. So before either she or Alyra knew it, Lilja had placed one pale hand on the mare's mane, saying so softly so that only they two could hear, "Imám very síry fůr ořu losa." I am very sorry for your loss.

Though Alyra's usual response would be an attempt to bite or an angered snort, the mare surprised Lilja this time by sighing and them muttering, "Thanh iotu, Lilja z Milvake." Thank you, Lilja of Milvake.

She nodded slightly and then took a step back, allowing Alyra to trot forward towards Surmyr and the rest of the Pegasi herd to report on Kyren's behavior – another task that she had been given. Turning her attention back to Visaraenar, Lilja nodded in the vague direction of where Kyren was being held and had a sudden flash of inspiration, "Visaraenar," she mumbled in an undertone so that no one else could catch her words. "Schoulí I góje ante talis to hem?" Should I go and talk to him? Though internally, there was a part of Lilja that dreaded going anywhere close to the adoptive son of Vaxon, after everything that he had done, there was an idea that grew and swirled inside of her mind for Jahad's rescue.

After all, he is an Asherex, she reasoned. He knows Vaxon and the rest of the Royal Family better than any of us. It would be easy for us to launch some kind of attack with him on our side...that is, if we even manage to convince him. Lilja risked another glance at the man, who was sitting with hunched shoulders and a resentful expression etched on his face. Although the clearing that the escapees now resided in was calm and serene, with lush green grasses that the Pegasi munched on, and the gentle meandering stream, the peacefulness of the arena seemed to clash violently with the aura of darkness that surrounded Kyren. On second thought, it might be best not to arouse the monster...

Visaraenar seemed to share the same idea. "Lilja z Milvake, art tmou falang albrighta?" Lilja of Milvake, are you feeling alright? A warm, wet tongue licked the girl on the cheek as Visaraenar asked in worry, "Idou are quita hutě. Schoulí I celá Surmyr?" You are quite hot. Should I call Surmyr?

Lilja shook her head fervently, forgetting in the moment to speak in Pegasi and instead protesting in English, "No, no, I'm quite fine, thank you. I was just wondering if I should speak with him?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she could still see Kyren, apparently not having moved from his original position. I need to talk to him now, when no one is in my way. Mind made, she strode across the clearing towards the yew tree, forcing herself to ignore Visaraenar's soft panicked whinny's. I can do this; I need to convince him. She stopped in front of the shadow mage, wondering which tactic to go for – demanding, pleading, or honest – when Kyren's head snapped up and he snarled, "What do you want?"

Somewhere deep inside of her, Lilja felt a surge of anger. How dare this man, this evil man, talk to her this way? After everything that his family had put her through, how dare he still have the cheek to snap and snarl and her? Without thinking, Lilja bent down onto her knees before bringing back her hand and slapping Kyren Asherex hard across the face – her hand throbbed, but she felt a sense of pride blossom inside of her heart at what she had just accomplished. It was something Chanel would've done – and most likely approved of – as Lilja looked the stunned Kyren hard in the eye and hissed back with equal ferocity, "Don't you dare speak that way to me again, you hear? Or I'll personally cut off your pretty little head."

Kyren made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded like a cross of a snort and a grunt, but said nothing. Lilja stood back up, taking a step backwards, so that she could face Kyren directly. In all honestly, the man did not look much better than she did – wounded and weary, though still with another fiery anger to light a furnace. As she continued staring, memories of Chanel once more flashed before her eyes.

"You can change back now, Lilja," Chanel's gasps, hot and heavy, as the two sisters teleported into the werewolf tundra were Lilja had run away to leave her sister to die.

"Don't ever be afraid," Chanel's last words, as her sister slipped away into the cold embrace of death in Lilja's arms.

"What?" Kyren's voice was bitter and scratching, like nails on a chalkboard that infuriated Lilja to no end. Despite her inner thoughts to remain calm and collected, the little lady that she once used to be, Chanel's glazed hazel eyes burned into her heart and soul as Kyren continued to jeer, "Have you lost your tongue, hm?"

Something inside of her snapped cleanly in two as suddenly Lilja found herself on top of Kyren, relentlessly punching and striking the man in the face while shrieking, "You killed her! You killed Chanel! You killed my sister!" Though the fact may not have been true, Lilja only knew that Kyren was an Asherex, thus meaning that he had a hand in their capture and Chanel's death. Tears welled up in her eyes as she grabbed Kyren's sharp cheekbones and slammed the man's head back into the bark of the yew tree, a haze of red tinting her vision, "You killed them all! How could you, how could you? What type of sick human being are you? Tell me!"

"Lilja, Lilja!" Someone was calling her name, and before the girl knew she was being dragged off Kyren's heaving body, kicking and screaming. Alyra appeared in front of her eyes, blocking her path to Kyren as several guards rushed to the mage to inspect his wounds. "Shh, shh, hus nos, chudl, tiš albrighta." Hush now, child, it's alright.

"No it's not!" Lilja wailed, trying but failing to get past Alyra. Instead, she collapsed in a sobbing heap on the ground, tears streaming unashamedly down her face, "He killed her...my sister...Chanel..." Her last word ended in a shuddering gasp as Lilja hiccupped, head buried in her hands. She was vaguely aware of Alyra nuzzling her, and the mare saying something, but her attention was only captured fully when she felt something small and very tiny bumping her right leg.

Lilja looked down through her tears, and what she saw confused her at first but then caused her heart rate to speed up a thousandfold. At her feet, so small that she had to squint to see, was a creature that looked like a cross between a rat and ferret. Mousy-grey in color, it looked nothing spectacular, but as it sniffed the air and opened its jaw to speak, Lilja nearly screamed in both terror and joy.

"Don't ever be afraid," the creature said, in the exact same voice as Chanel, and before Lilja could react it had scampered off into the trees, leaving Lilja stricken and shocked, lying in a heap on the grass. 

Female 2: Shadow Sage Jaeyria Lightwood 

Jaeyria stared blankly at the stream that gurgled in the forest behind the encampment. How had everything become such a mess? She'd done what Vassti wanted. She hadn't originally gone with the rebels, and yet here she was. However, this time she wasn't here for any friendly reason.She was a spy.She didn't know how it could've come to this. She hadn't felt any loyalty toward most of the Magi. Those she'd felt an affiliation towards were dead, and Eiridan was all she had. She set down the laundry she'd brought out to wash and stared at the Mark on her hand.Being Bound to Eiridan was the best thing that had happened to her in her whole life. Everything else always seemed to go wrong, but this hadn't, and it made her happy.Dizziness washed over her, and she recognized it this time for what it was: a vision induced by Vassti's power. It was Vassti's way of communicating with her, and Jaeyria found it to be effective despite the disorientation it caused. She stepped through the massive door that led to Vassti's audience chamber. "Your Highness," she said cordially, curtsying as was expected.Over the span of time between her last vision and Vassti's note to go back to the rebels, Jaeyria had come to believe that the woman wasn't nearly as bad as people said. Yes, she was manipulative and cruel. True, she didn't speak the truth unless it served her somehow. But Jaeyria understood her. She could predict Vassti in a way that she couldn't always predict others. She suspected it was because of their slew of similarities."How is your work faring?" Vassti asked, raising a brow in condescension."Not well," Jaeyria admitted, shaking her head. "Half of them won't talk to me or hate me, and the other half is barely polite. Permission to speak freely, your Highness?""Of course.""This won't work. Our best bet is to get the female Light Mage to help. The others have accepted her into their ranks freely. If she's helping, she'll get more information than I do. The best I can do is glean little bits and pieces by listening in; as I said, the others won't speak to me.""I see... And what do you recommend using as leverage against the female Light Mage?""What you used against me," Jaeyria said, feeling just a little upset with Vassti.Vassti should've known that she didn't have any ties to the other Magi. She didn't truly care if their rebellion failed or succeeded because she had every intention of convincing Eiridan to flee Castre entirely to go to one of the surrounding kingdoms where they wouldn't be under the Family Royale's thumb. If Vassti had bothered to pay attention to Jaeyria's movements, she would've realized that she didn't need to use Eiridan. She could've simply promised the two of them safe passage to their self-imposed exile."A friend or family member's life in exchange for her aid?" Vassti mused. "Well, perhaps...""I do have a petition to make," Jaeyria spoke quietly, knowing that this was a risky endeavor."Do you?" Vassti examined her nails in disinterest. "Does it somehow enable you to do a better job?"While Jaeyria did sometimes identify with Vassti, she often felt annoyed by the woman's callous attitude. "It would provide incentive for me to do something a little more... risky." She lifted her chin and met Vassti's gaze with determination."Really? And what is this risky idea of yours?" Vassti suddenly seemed interested as she settled back in her gold-gilded, ebony throne. She tapped her nails against the polished arm-rest. "Spit it out.""I'll get Kyren to come back here. He's already refused to help the rebels, so I think I can convince him to return for his family's sake. That way, the rebels won't have a chance to change his mind. You know he's got a history of rebelling against you and your husband."She nodded, pursing her lips. "That he does. Very well. What do you want in return for this, Lightwood?""I want your guarantee that after this war is done, Eiridan and I can leave Castre."Vassti's brows lifted in surprise, and then she laughed. "You want to leave? Where would you go?""I don't know. One of the neighboring kingdoms, probably. An island perhaps. Wherever we went, we'd be out of your hair. We'd never come back, so Vaxon doesn't have to worry about us threatening his reign," Jaeyria reasoned, putting her hands out palms up. "It's not an unreasonable agreement, is it?"Crossing her arms, Vassti narrowed her eyes and considered the idea for a long moment. "I think that I could convince my husband to grant that wish," she said. "On the condition, of course, that you first bring Kyren to us.""Done," Jaeyria said, slipping her knife from her belt and making a small cut on her right palm.Vassti got up with a huff and walked down the dais's steps to meet her. "This again?"Jaeyria laughed. "Yes. You and I, we're more similar than perhaps you'd admit. That means that we'd both be happy to go back on our word. So I want to make sure you can't do that." She extended the hilt of her dagger to Vassti with her left hand.Vassti took it, but her eyes flickered down to the tattoo on Jaeyria's ring finger. She grabbed Jaeyria's left hand and flipped it over to look at the Mark. "You're Bound with the Healer boy?"Jaeyria's cheeks flushed, and she too looked at the Mark she'd been examining earlier. "Yes.""Why?" Vassti dropped her hand with a bemused look."Because... We're a good match. The heavens agreed," Jaeyria said defensively. "Plus, we needed to. Your husband made sure of that when he sicced his wraiths on us."Vassti gave her an appraising look. "I didn't realize that had worked. Vaxon told me it failed." She frowned. "Well, I'll have a talk with him about that. The last thing I need is for you two to go crazy on—"Jaeyria felt something burning through her body, and the Mark flared brightly. She winced as she felt pain ripping across her knuckles. "Finish the deal, Vassti. I need to go back."The Queen's frown deepened. "He's in trouble."Jaeyria nodded, gritting her teeth."And naturally you have to be there to make sure he doesn't get hurt... You know who he's probably fighting with, don't you?" Vassti asked casually as she slid the blade across her palm."Eiridan's fighting?" She blinked and shook her head. "He doesn't fight.""Oh, but he does. And he's currently arguing with my son," Vassti said, smirking.Jaeyria pressed her bleeding palm to Vassti's, sealing their deal with a quickly mumbled oath. Vassti did the same."I can't believe that idiot is fighting with Kyren," she snapped, crossing her arms. "I have half a mind to let him get beaten up for that lunacy.""You ought to. Besides," Vassti remarked. "Kyren's not the only one giving out some nasty blows. It seems that we both underestimated your lover."Jaeyria shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I swear; that boy's going to be the death of me.""Probably. Are you going to keep talking or go make sure he doesn't kill himself?" Vassti asked with a cold smile."You're the one who has to send me back," Jaeyria pointed out.She gasped as she came back to herself. The clothes lay in a wet, tangled heap on the grassy bank beside her, and the stream continued to gurgle cheerfully. Bees buzzed from flower to flower in the warm summer air, and cicadas hummed in the trees. Her eye caught the glow of a faerie or two flitting between the trees as she jumped to her feet.Abandoning the pile of clean clothes, she raced back toward camp.***So she wasn't lying. He really did start a fight with Kyren, Jaeyria thought as she flew into the clearing.The other Magi had stopped their preparations to move out to watch the unfolding disaster. By the number of wide eyes and agape mouths, she guessed that everyone else was as astonished as she was. She saw several of the boys who had picked on Eiridan during their time spent running from Eiridan, and she smirked when she saw their horrified expressions. They'd think twice before laying a hand on her husband again.The other women in the circle seemed dazed and confused.She'd arrived just in time to see the end of the fight.Despite the slight breeze, everyone gathered around the two could hear everything said."You take what you said back!" Eiridan yelled.Jaeyria couldn't see Kyren's expression because Eiridan's shoulder blocked her view, but she could imagine what it was: a smirk. It seemed like the only real expression Kyren could utilize. Whatever his expression was, Kyren's next words caused an even greater spike in Eiridan's irritation. "Why? I meant everything I said," he snarled.She winced as Eiridan hit him again. "That is not an apology!" He punctuated this with another blow to Kyren's stomach."Give... up," Kyren wheezed. "You're... not... getting one." He grabbed Eiridan's shirt with a snarl and shoved him off.Jaeyria stepped forward as Kyren pressed his fingers to Eiridan's collarbone. Eiridan let out a pained shout, trying to shove Kyren away. Kyren just rolled his eyes with a dark laugh and grabbed Eiridan's wrists with one hand. "Next time," Kyren said as Jaeyria decided to intervene. "Don't pick a fight with someone bigger and smarter."That's it. He needs to be taught a lesson, and clearly he didn't learn it when Eiridan snapped. Jaeyria ran into the circle as Eiridan went limp. "What did you do?" she screamed at Kyren."Knocked him out. Would you prefer I kill him?" Kyren questioned with a smirk.She felt empty of feeling and conscience as Eiridan's conscience and stream of feelings were cut off due to his unconscious state. Jaeyria felt her own adrenaline spike as she came closer to him. Her energy was low like Eiridan's because they'd expended so much on taking out the force field. She felt the effects of it much stronger now that Eiridan was out cold. Depression mingled with anger in her soul as she felt the loss of his magic's communion with hers.Infuriated with him and the large audience that had witnessed Eiridan's humiliation, she turned on the crowd. "Get out of here!" she yelled. "This is none of your business."A few of them glared at her, some narrowed their eyes, and others flinched under the brunt of her fury. They all hurried to disperse lest she turn her wrath on them in the way Eiridan had turned his on Kyren.With a satisfied nod, she looked back at Kyren. "You're an idiot for making him that angry in the first place. Not only that, you're a savage because you clearly don't have the intelligence to act like a human being instead of an animal."Kyren glared down at her, his jaw clenched. "Oh, really? If I'm an animal, then why haven't I punished you for your utter lack of respect towards a superior? Animals have no problem with it, and what you're doing is clearly a challenge.""You have no idea what a challenge is, Kyren Asherex. You're nothing but a pompous brat who needs to have some holes shot in that inflated ego of yours," Jaeyria spat.Kyren tried to slap her, but she grabbed his wrist, fighting him off. It wore her down to fight with him, but she wasn't letting this go unpunished. "You just don't get it, do you? Eiridan's done nothing but help you, and all you've done is force him to hurt you.""No one forced him to hurt me this time, darling," Kyren murmured with a smirk. "Your husband isn't nearly as kind as you'd like to think. Do I look like I was the only one delivering the blows?"She had to admit that Kyren did look exhausted, beat up, and extremely ticked off. Those weren't the signs of a triumphant, untouched victor. She'd seen exactly what Eiridan had meted out, and she wasn't even there for the first part of the fight. She knew for a fact that Eiridan had hit Kyren at least once before she'd shown up. "I don't care. It's about time someone beat it into your thick skull that you can't treat people however you want. If Eiridan snapped, you clearly did something to make him that mad. I felt his pain and hurt earlier when you were talking, so I know for a fact that you brought this on yourself, you jerk."His eyes narrowed. "Exactly what do you hope to accomplish with this?" he demanded.She glared at him. "I'm hoping to make myself feel better, but I've just realized that I can't do that if I just talk." Before he could figure out what she meant, she slammed her fist into his nose. She felt the satisfying crunch of breaking bone, and an appeased smile slid over her face when she saw the blood spurting from his broken nose. "There. Now I feel much better."He stood there, nursing his broken, bleeding nose and glaring at her. She didn't need Eiridan's ability to see auras to know that Kyren was beyond outraged. His whole body shook, and he looked like he was on the verge of going crazy. Before he could do that, she walked over to Eiridan and pulled him into her arms.He was heavy, but she managed to get him a few yards away from Kyren. Jaxon stepped in to help her when he saw her struggling."He went crazy," Jaxon mumbled. "But Kyren had it coming. You should've heard the things he was saying. It's like the guy has no idea when to stop.""Yeah," Jaeyria snapped. "He doesn't have a clue. But maybe he'll get the hint because he's got a broken nose now too. You guys might want to restrain him. Get the anti-magic chains that Jahad had the good sense to bring along. Restrain him with ropes and then add the anti-magic chains for good measure."Jaxon nodded. "I thought maybe he had a little bit of goodness in him. He didn't kill Leo when he could've, so I thought maybe he had some compassion. But the way he verbally flogged Eiridan makes it obvious that he's a self-serving twit."Jaeyria tried not to laugh because Jaxon's description of Kyren's behavior was spot-on. "You know, I can hardly believe that he has a wife and kids," she griped. "What woman would marry that scumbag?"With a shrug, Jaxon helped her lift Eiridan into the back of a cart. She jumped up and pillowed his head on a sack of cornmeal that they were bringing along."So... You and Eiridan, huh?" Jaxon asked as she climbed down and started back toward the camp.She paused, blinking. "What?""You're Bound. Everyone in camp has been talking about it," Jaxon said.She blushed, realizing that it had been silly to think they wouldn't. "Uh... Yeah...""How long have you two been in love?" he asked, falling into step with her."I don't know. Years..."He smiled. "Why now?""Why not now?" Jaeyria said, looking at the ground as they walked back into camp.Jaxon shook his head. "I don't know..." He smiled shyly and waved goodbye, heading off to finish his own preparations.Jaeyria frowned, wondering why she got the vibe that he was holding something back.***While the others finished packing up, Jaeyria disappeared into the woods for awhile. They had a ways to go before they'd run into the cities of Elloyn, and out here, Elloyn still had forests and streams that were home to various types of magical creatures and wildlife.She let the song of the birds and the burbling of the stream sooth her as she wandered along its banks. It widened out further up into a quickly flowing river, and the trees became more numerous. Jaeyria stood and watched the birds hopping from branch to branch across the river. She gazed out over the water, taking in the way fish leapt in and out of the rippling river."Hey..." A musical, soft voice startled her from her reverie. "What are you doing out here?" Sigel asked, sitting on the riverbank beside her.She looked down at him with a sigh and then sat beside him. "Thinking. You?""Thinking..." he mumbled with a sad smile.His silver eyes were distant and distracted, and in their depths, Jaeyria caught something of the conflict he was feeling. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who felt torn by this situation. Suspicion lurked inside as she eyed the silver haired, pale-skinned boy beside her. "Thinking about what?" she asked, masking her suspicion with concern.Sigel's gaze snapped to hers, and he narrowed his eyes. "A lot of stuff... Vaxon... Jaxon says you were talking to Vassti when he came to camp."Jaeyria shrugged. "Jaxon seems to like talking. Do you always listen to gossip?""No. But I usually agree with what I've seen myself. What did she say?""Why do you care?""You're consorting with our enemy," Sigel snapped. "Shouldn't I care?""I'll make a deal with you," she said with a sly smile.His silver eyes scrutinized her dispassionately.Jaeyria knew she was walking a very fine line with Sigel. He couldn't be trusted. She'd seen how he manipulated people in camp many times. She wore her masks for protection. Sigel wore his because he wanted something. He knew how to handle people, and he had no qualms about doing whatever he needed to in order to get his way. "Well? You want to make a deal?"Sigel bit his lip, looking out over the steadily flowing river. Willows draped their boughs in the water, and their leafy fronds were tugged at by the eddying water by the bank. "What is the deal?" he asked quietly.I can always force it out of him if he doesn't agree to the deal. He's up to something though, and I don't like it... "You tell me the truth about why you're out here with that conflicted look in your eyes. Then I'll tell you why I'm out here."Sigel smirked. "I don't need to share my reasons. Yours are transparent to me already. Clearly, Vassti offered you something. She probably wants you to spy for her, am I right? Naturally, you don't have any qualms about that, but you're not sure how to do it. You're also not sure how to deal with the fact that Jaxon knows about Vassti's conversation with you. He might not know the content, but he's a bright guy. He'll figure it out. Am I right about that?"Jaeyria wanted to glare at him, but she schooled her face to a neutral expression before he could see the anger lurking in her eyes. "You assume a lot, Sigel Silverblade.""I assume, yes, but I note that you're not denying or confirming it...""Why would you think any of that was true?" she asked, sensing that his secret had much to do with his deductions about her."First, I want a confirmation or denial of my deductions.""What will you do with that information?""Keep it to myself," Sigel said."Fine. She asked me to spy, yes. Jaxon is a problem, especially if I want to do as she has asked.""And her leverage is Eiridan?"She nodded."You've got a self-inflicted wound on your palm. Probably from your knife." He nodded to her hand. "I'm guessing you've given your Blood Oath to do whatever she's already asked."She stiffened, hiding the injury from his sight. "How did you know that?" she asked. Surely there's no way to know that my wound was self-inflicted! How does he know that it's a knife that did it, and that it wasn't another person or creature who inflicted the injury?"Simple. It's too clean of a cut to have been made by anything besides a blade. It's too small for a sword, so I'm guessing a dagger. It's not quite as clean as it would be if someone was doing it for you, so I'm guessing it's self-inflicted. Your hand must have shaken a bit while performing the ritual; it's a natural response," Sigel said, shrugging.Jaeyria stayed quiet for a long moment, not sure if she should be relieved that Sigel wasn't going to tell or not. If he wasn't telling, he had a good reason. "Why aren't you going to tell?""Because I'm a spy too," he said. "And since we're working on the same side, telling wouldn't really suit my purpose, would it?"She shook her head, bemused. "No."He smiled, but it held no warmth to it. "What will you do about Jaxon?""Nothing... I don't think Jaxon's going to figure it all out in a day or so. He's not my concern right now; if he becomes a problem, I'll get rid of him."Sigel looked at her, blinking. "Cold, but efficient.""What would you do?"He gave her a crooked, sly grin. "Kill him before he becomes a problem. But he doesn't know Vaxon talked to me. So I'm leaving you to deal with it."Jaeyria leaned against the tree behind her. "I'm not dealing with it. I don't kill if I don't see the necessity. If Jaxon makes it a necessity, he'll pay for it."Sigil shrugged and got up. "Nice talking to you... I've got to get back now."She nodded, waving him off. Now that she knew what she'd wanted to know, she didn't care what Sigil chose to do. She'd keep an eye on him when she could, but it wasn't as though she could keep him from going back to camp. Secondly, she couldn't let on that she didn't trust him. Perhaps he already knew, but that wasn't the point. Sigel was dangerous. There were myriad reasons for that, but foremost was the fact that he was slippery and always had his own agenda. Tying into that was the fact that he'd been raised in a noble family, and therefore he had the education to enable him to play nearly any game he wanted successfully."Yeah, sure. See you later, Sigil." She gave him the most genuine smile she could muster.He smiled back, but the calculating look in his eyes wasn't the least bit subtle.She watched him disappear, and when she was sure he wasn't still hanging around, she headed further into the woods. There wasn't a reason to do so, but she had the bad feeling that something was going to go wrong. It stemmed from the knowing look in Sigil's eyes when he'd told her he was spying for Vaxon.He wanted her to assume that he was spying on the same people she was. He'd been too willing to share the information, too quick to spill his secrets. It bothered her, and she wasn't going to ignore her gut feeling. Sigil was bad news, period, and the sooner she and Eiridan were away from him, the better.She was so lost in thought as she wandered the winding footpath in the forest that she didn't notice the palm-sized butterflies at first. When one landed on her arm, she looked down in surprise. It was exquisite with midnight black wings and beautiful blue spots creating eyes on the inner portion of its wings.They danced around her, sprinkling black dust over her skin and hair. For some reason, they made Jaeyria forget to be upset or worried about anything. She felt only happiness as more gathered. In fact, they lured her to them, drawing her in with their many colors.At the center of the swarm spun a slightly larger butterfly. Its black eyes gleamed, and its antennae waved in the breeze that stirred through the heavy air of the forest. The humidity seemed to stifle her as she came closer to the over-sized butterfly.Its wings flapped slowly, brushing her face and hair as she stopped in front of it. Blue, sparkling dust blew in her face as she stood there. She smiled, feeling all of her pain and frustration washing away. Its antennae brushed over her face, and the butterfly's emotionless eyes held hers.Inside of her head, the wraith was going insane. "You need to snap out of it! They're killing us!"She swatted at it mentally. "Shut up," she mumbled. "Go away..."The vortex of swirling butterflies sucked her in, and she felt her energy and life force draining away slowly. But she couldn't muster the strength to care. It was okay, wasn't it? She felt so happy. How could it not be okay? Nothing that felt this good could be bad."They're killing m-me..." the wraith wailed, its voice glitching as its presence faded in and out of her mind.She smiled, reaching out to the butterflies. They landed on her arms, covering her in blue, yellow, brown, gold, black, and nearly every color in between. Weighed down, she collapsed. Panic began running through her when she realized that they were taking more and more from her.Her limbs felt heavy, and her eyes shut slowly. A ray of light streamed down on her, hitting her face through the wings of the giant, blue butterfly, which hovered over her.No. She fought weakly against the calming influence it was throwing at her. No. I'm not giving in. I don't want to die. Jaeyria managed to swat a few of the butterflies off. Their hold on her loosened a fraction as the butterflies became disoriented. The soporific feeling faded just a little, enabling her to fight harder.The butterflies swarmed, sensing that they were losing her. She slapped them away from her, killing a few in the process. They drifted to the ground, dissolving into puffs of multi-colored powder on impact. Several limped off, nursing injuries. Finally, only the blue butterfly that had led them remained to exert its influence.With a weak scream, she batted it away from her when it tried to land. Then she ran as fast as she could, not looking back to see if the butterflies had followed.***She woke from her slumbers that night with Eiridan's confusion and fear washing over her. Despite her concern for him, Jaeyria was grateful that he'd woken her from her nightmares of the soul-sucking butterflies from earlier in the day. She pressed closer, tangling her legs with his. "What's the matter?" she asked. Reaching out, she brushed his damp, messy hair out of his eyes."Jae..." he whispered, taking her hand in his and brushing a kiss across her knuckles.She shivered, sighing because she knew he wasn't happy or being romantic at the moment."Can't life just be black and white? Why so many grey areas?"Jaeyria smiled, sadness rolling over her. "Is this about Kyren?"He nodded. "His magic is consuming him."She took his hand, tracing her fingers lightly over his Mark. "Then the Kyren we know is gone.""He's not. I think he's just lost in the dark right now. He needs someone to overpower the darkness in him. I think..." Eiridan stopped, looking around.Jaeyria wondered what he was going to say. She didn't see any reason for him to be so furtive. The other Magi were asleep, the night was peaceful, and the moon was high without a cloud in the sky."Look, he's the only way into the castle. If we help him trick his father and rescue his family, he might agree to help the rebels. Maybe he can't do much, but if he fakes loyalty to Vaxon a little longer, we can save our families and take his father down."She smiled at him, running her hands over his chest. He's grown a lot in the last week or two... First he beats Kyren up, and then he admits that he can't fix Vaxon. "You're certainly losing some of that naïveté. What happened to the man who believed he could fix anyone?""He realized that particular notion was ridiculous and decided to focus on helping those who want it," Eiridan mumbled. "And he wedded you, so he feels that he should probably stop doing stuff to get himself killed.""Well, I'm glad he's learning. He should also stop talking in third person," she joked, kissing him. "About time, though," she murmured, pausing for a moment. Then she said, "Hey, Eiri? I'm proud of you for standing up to him today. Even if you're not..."He shrugged. "Yeah... Are you helping Kyren or not?"She remembered what Vassti had promised and their agreement. This was the perfect way to fulfill that promise. "Yes. I'll help."He frowned, confused. "You're not refusing?"She shook her head. "Nope. You're right. And Vassti offered me something..." she hesitated, looking up at him through her lashes."What is it?" Eiridan ran his fingers through her hair."Your life. She wanted me to spy on the others, but I can't. They don't trust me. No one says anything about their plans if I'm there. They mostly view me as conniving and deceitful.""Hmm..." Eiridan sat up, and she followed suit, settling into his lap.He nuzzled her neck softly, making her smile. Sadness swept out the happy feeling his gentle kisses gave her. "I shouldn't have worn so many masks," she mumbled. "But enough of that. Let's go."She got up, giving him a hand. He took it.They made their way to the tree where Kyren was chained in silence. He was still awake, and he watched them through narrowed eyes as they crouched in front of him."Look, we're here to help. I know you won't attack with the Magi because of your wife and kids. I understand because I have family in there too," Eiridan said. "So I'm not going to ask you to do that. Instead, I'm asking you to help us in another way.""Which is?" Kyren muttered, glancing around him."I'm assuming, based on your earlier comments, that you'll do anything to keep your family alive?""Yes. Your point? Do you have a death wish? Because you'll be in the way of that goal," Kyren huffed."Yeah, no... I won't," Eiridan said, looking at Jaeyria quickly.She shrugged. He seemed to be doing okay so far, and Kyren wasn't nearly as confrontational as he was earlier. She felt hopeful that this would work, actually."We're going to turn ourselves in," Eiridan said. "It's the easiest way inside the walls, and we'll side with your father. I know it's why he allowed you to help me; he thinks I can be easily swayed. Your mother's already contacted Jae, asking her to spy on the Magi. We're going to trick them into complacency by cooperating. First chance we get, we rescue your family and mine. After they're safe, we help the rebels."Kyren eyed him for a long moment. "Just what makes you think I'll help the rebels after my family's safe?"She knew he'd have objections. Her argument had been prepared since that afternoon, in fact, and Eiridan had just given her an excuse to use it. "Fine; don't help. That's your choice. But take the chance to save your family. Consider this: if you don't go with us, you'll be a prisoner. You won't help your family, and even worse, you'll be as good as dead. How long do you think the others will keep you chained up like this before killing you?" Jaeyria asked, deciding that being blunt was best. Kyren wouldn't listen to anything else, and Eiridan's attempt to sweet-talk him certainly wouldn't work. The King's son needed a harsh dose of reality before he decided on a stupid course of action that would land his family on the execution block.Shrugging, Kyren said, "Fine. I'll go with you. But I'm not agreeing to help you. Got that? I may decide not to, and if I decide that, you'd better run." He directed an annoyed stare at Eiridan, and Jaeyria tried not to laugh. "That means you, Healer. You keep coming back for more, even after I've continuously kicked you while you're down."Eiridan laughed, but it was strained. "Remember, I can give you a good thrashing if I need to. Not that I won't apologize later, of course... Once you've come to your senses, I will.""Great," Kyren snapped. "Just what I need. And your pretty face doesn't seem to be thanking me for this afternoon."Let's see how his pretty face thanks me when I bash it in for that kind of commentary! Jaeyria smacked Kyren on the side of the head, gratified to know that he couldn't do anything about it. "I'm not thanking you either. I like his pretty face the way it is, so keep that in mind next time you fight with him. You'll have to take it up with me if you ruin something permanently."Kyren glared at her. "Next time, I'll go for something a lot more lethal than his lip," he threatened.Jaeyria narrowed her eyes. "You do that, and I'll make sure you go to an early grave, Kyren Asherex.""Duly noted," he mumbled. "Now get me out of here."

Female 3: Lightning Mage Ashni Damini

Freedom has never felt so good.

This was the thought echoing in my mind as I sat against a tree in the small camp we had set up. It wasn't too different from the camp we had been staying in before Vaxon found us, but the mood was completely different. There, everyone had been relaxed, training halfheartedly with their magic just in case Vaxon ever found them, which seemed unlikely. Now, I could tell that everyone was more alert, knowing that they could be attacked any moment. Still, I was relishing my freedom. I suppose it was because I not only was freed from the arena, but I was freed from the code that had imprisoned me for so long. I had spoken to Evian, and I had never felt so good in my life. It was amazing to not hide behind the secrecy any more, and to actually speak my mind to someone.

Still, there was the one small part of me that warned, You're going to regret this. Something terrible is going to happen to him, and it will be your fault.

But I pushed that part aside. Speaking felt too good, and now that I had started I didn't want to stop.

The rest of the Magi, however, seemed tense. Apparently, Jahad was nowhere to be found. Not even his personal guards knew where he had gone. There were whispers that he had been killed. I didn't believe them, though. Jahad was probably off doing something to aid the rebellion and he didn't want any of us to know.

The air in the camp seemed tense, as if most of the Magi were holding their breath. Some trained quietly, some talked to others in rapid whispers, and some just sat, thinking about the events that occurred. It was as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting for something to happen.

And happen it did. A guard bolted into the camp at top speed, clutching a piece of paper in his white, shaking hands. We gathered around him, pressing him to tell us what the message said.

When he finally spoke, it was with a trembling voice. "It reads: 'I have captured Jahad. You will end this foolish rebellion now if you want him to live. Do not try to rescue him or you will all be destroyed, along with him.'"

The guard lowered the paper with fear in his eyes. "There was no signature."

There didn't have to be a signature. We all knew that the message was from Vaxon himself. Who else would want us to end the rebellion and not come after Jahad?

Evian spoke up next to me. "Well, I think it's obvious what we have to do now."

Some of the Magi gave him confused looks, so he continued. "We have to go after Jahad."

The group fell silent. There were some nods of assent, some stunned looks, and some skepticism. Suddenly, breaking the silence, a voice called out from the back of the group. "Why?"

It was Kyren. His face was filled with anger.

"Because," Evian responded, "that would be what Jahad would want."

"You heard what he said." Kyren gestured to the guard with the message. "If we try to free Jahad, my father will kill him. Is that what he'd want? To be killed?"

"No, but he wouldn't want to die alone, knowing that we had been too cowardly to free him, either. Think about it, Kyren. If we give up now, if we end the rebellion, then we'll be playing right into Vaxon's hand."

"Or would you?" Kyren snapped back. "Maybe he knows that you all would rather die than leave Jahad in his hands. He very likely knows that you want to rescue Jahad, and he's probably preparing an army as we speak!"

"So what?" Evian shouted. It was the first time I had ever heard him raise his voice. "We just leave Jahad there to die? We have to at least try to free him, and if we die, so be it!"

"This is madness," Kyren scowled, then turned abruptly and walked away from the camp.

"Kyren.." I called pleadingly, but he didn't make any sign that he heard.

"Blast!" Evian muttered, so only I could hear him. "We need him to help us get into the castle."

"Should I go after him?" I whispered. "I've been able to persuade him before."

Evian shook his head. "Stay. We need to prepare for the journey to Komesen."

I nodded, quickly shooting a glance in the direction that Kyren had disappeared.

He was out of sight.

The quiet that had set over the camp that morning was gone, replaced with the noise of preparation. Magi and soldiers ran to and fro, organizing supplies for the journey. Jahad's guards estimated that it would take two to three days to reach Komesen (if we traveled through the night, that is), so adequate food would be needed for all on the rescue mission. Besides that, we would need a lot of weaponry to break into the castle. Evian was pacing relentlessly, a nervous grimace obvious upon his face. I approached him softly and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know what we're going to do," he said, looking at the ground. "Without Kyren, we won't know anything about the castle. We're going to be walking in blind, probably into a trap. There's no knowing what we'll face in there."

"Everyone's treating me like the leader of this mission," he continued, "when all I did was suggest that we go after Jahad. I wouldn't have spoken up if I had known everyone would look up to me this way. I'm usually not the 'leading' type." He sighed. "I don't want to lead all of us into our deaths."

I smiled. "I'd rather die freeing Jahad than be slaughtered mercilessly in the arena, and I'm sure most, if not all, of the other Magi feel the same way."

"Thank you." He returned my grin, though in a sadder way.

One of Jahad's guards ran up to him. "Sir, preparations are finished. Do you want to begin the journey now, or wait for the cover of night?"

Evian pondered this for a moment, then answered, "We leave now. The sooner we get to Komesen, the better."

We began to walk, Jahad's guards bringing up the front and rear with the Magi in the middle. This was in case of an attack, according to Evian, because it made the attackers have to fight through guards to get to the Magi, who Vaxon really wanted to take out.

The day cooled down, and the sun dipped below the horizon. I drew my cloak closer to myself as night fell, preparing myself to keep walking. Traveling in the dark would be much more difficult, of course, but it was necessary if we wanted to reach Jahad as soon as possible. Many times, my eyelids grew heavy, and I nearly fell asleep on the spot, but something always kept me going; Evian's hand on my shoulder, the noise of guards talking in the night, the sound of footsteps.

On and on we went, through the seemingly never ending night and until the light of morning. It wasn't until the sun had completely left the horizon and was beginning its rounds in the morning sky that Evian let us rest. I knew the reason: he was just as tired as the rest of us.

We set up camp in a clearing, building a low fire and congregating around it. The mood was somber, and a tired sort of silence filled the camp. Food was passed around and eaten silently. After the meager meal, we were allowed to rest for what seemed to be seconds, but was really about an hour, and then we were walking again. Through it all, Evian didn't speak to me, but kept to himself. I could see the stress written on his face. Still, even though I knew he was stressed, there was something that clearly bothered him whenever he looked at me...

With aching feet we continued, walking for hours. It was slow going, but we steadily made process. The sun rose in the sky, then started to sink again. Hours passed in the blink of an eye...

Suddenly, we stopped. The whole caravan halted. "What's going on?" Evian muttered beside me.

I stood on tiptoes to see over the heads of the guards in front of me. From what I could make out in the growing darkness, there was a figure standing in front of the guards. The darkness seemed to be drawn to him, surrounding him in a great cloud and collecting in his hands...

Kyren.

I couldn't help the gasp that escaped from my throat. "What is it?" Evian whispered.

"Kyren," I said back, just as softly.

I could see Evian's fists clench. "He dares to come back here? Does he think he can take us all down single-handedly?"

"Evian, let me talk to him," I pleaded. "I might be able to convince him to join us."

"No!" His voice was raised. "I highly doubt he's here to negotiate, and I'm not going to put you in danger!"

"I don't think Kyren wants to kill us," I said, "just to stop us from going to Komesen. Believe it or not, despite the mask he so often puts on, he actually cares about people. I just need to talk to him."

Evian lowered his head. "Fine. Just be careful."

Without another word, I pushed my way through the crowd of Magi and soldiers, running to where Kyren stood. The darkness pulsed around him, and it seemed to draw all warmth out of the air. The scowl on his face grew as he saw me. "You put yourself in danger, lightning girl."

"Kyren, whatever lies you're telling yourself need to stop," I said imperiously. "Please, help us save your uncle. You know it's right."

The scowl on his face only grew. "My family is getting enough death threats as it is, thanks."

"Exactly! Don't you want to free them? Saving Jahad is the first step to defeating Vaxon, to freeing your children!"

"Yeah, yeah, I remember your earlier speech. Save yourself the trouble of repeating it. I've given it plenty of thought."

"Kyren--"

"NO!" he suddenly shouted. "Don't try to lecture me any more. No matter what you say, I'm done."

My heart sank. I knew I was losing this battle. "Please, Kyren, just come with us to Komesen. You don't have to help us free Jahad, but just travel with us. It'll be good for you."

He sneered. "And why would I want to do that?"

"Because it would be a good chance for you to think, to reflect on what you need to do."

"I know what I need to do."

I sighed. This was going nowhere. "Are you sure? Your vision might be clouded."

The scowl on his face grew. "By what?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"By love. By the desire to keep your family safe. By the darkness your father has planted in your mind. Let it go, Kyren! Set yourself free from his influence!"

His sneer lessened. He seemed to be considering what I'd said. Finally, the dark cloud around him disappeared. "I'll come," he muttered. "But only," he said, after seeing the look of hope on my face, "only to Komesen."
I nodded, and together we walked back to the group.

Once again, we walked all night, although now the size of our party of Magi had gone up from seventeen to eighteen. Sometimes Kyren walked beside Evian and I, while other times he wandered among the group of Magi, talking to some. I noticed that Evian's mood had improved considerably now that Kyren was among us, but there still seemed to be something holding him down.

Once morning arrived, we again stopped to eat and rest, then went on our way again. One of the guards cheerily reported that if all went well, we would reach Komesen before nightfall. We had made good time. Spirits were high among the Magi, happy that we were nearing our goal. The only one who still seemed stressed was Evian. He would stare at nothing for hours on end, lost in his thoughts. I wanted to comfort him, to tell him that I knew what that was like, but at the same time, I didn't want to interrupt his reverie.

The sun was at its peak in the sky. The day was neither too hot nor too cold, and a breeze stirred among our ranks. I thought about what it would be like to be back in Komesen, the city of my birth, a place I hadn't been in ten years...

A horrible, ear-splitting screech filled the air. It was not a human scream, but something far, far beyond that, something terrifying. Then came another scream, this one from the lips of a human. I looked to my right to see a horrible creature breaking through our ranks, scattering men like insects.

Its body was that of a giant snake, reared up and ready to strike, except for a few things: huge, scaly legs that kicked the bodies of soldiers aside; one, single bloody arm that looked like it had been torn off a human and hastily attached to the creature; and huge, leathery, bat-like wings coming out of what appeared to be the back of its neck. For one moment, I simply stared at it in horror, but then, coming to my senses, I began to call down lightning on the beast. The other Magi began to do the same, using their powers to attack the creature.

However, the magic seemed to have no effect. Instead, the monster seemed to be absorbing the energy. It blew a stream of fire, like a dragon, incinerating some of the guards. Only ashes remained.

"Our magic isn't working!" Evian called to the other Magi. "We'll have to use regular weapons only!"

Everyone heeded his advice and proceeded to pull out weapons of various types. "Evian!" I called. "I don't have a weapon!"

Quickly, grabbed a bow from where one of the guards had dropped it and threw it to me, along with a few arrows from his pack. "These are all the arrows I have, so use them wisely!" he called, before running off to attack the beast with his sword.

Frowning, I struggled to fit an arrow to the bow. I was more skilled with magic than with a weapon of this sort, but it was my only choice at the moment. I drew back the string with considerable effort, aimed, and released the arrow. It flew hopelessly off to one side, getting nowhere near the creature. Frustrated, I quickly loaded another arrow. I was down to three now.

The next arrow was closer to the creature, but still didn't hit him. The third hit his scaly legs and bounced off. I had one left, and I knew I had to make it count. I aimed carefully at the creature's underside, which had considerably less protection. Taking a deep breath to calm my shaking hands, I released the string.

The arrow flew, straight and true, at the beast's belly. I was positive it was going to make its mark. The beast would be dead, and we could continue on to Komesen...

At the last second, the monster moved to the side, and the arrow flew past. I cursed under my breath. I was so sure I was going to hit him, and now there were no arrows left... If I had just aimed to the side a bit...

Suddenly, all at once, there was a yell of fury, and the monster's head was disconnected from its body.

There was a dull thud as it hit the ground, drawing the Magi into silence. Standing behind the beast, holding a large, black sword, was Kyren. He was panting heavily, and the weapon fell from his hands. I could see he was tired, though he tried to hide it.

He walked over to the rest of us, who were all staring at him in surprise. "Well?" he said angrily. "Let's clean this up!"

There were four hundred soldiers that had been killed by the attack.

None of the Magi had died, but some had been badly injured and were on the brink of death. Even the healer wizards couldn't do anything without exhausting their powers. Still, Evian insisted that we carry on to Komesen.

"It'll be easier to take care of them once we get inside the city," he pressed. "We can find someone there who has enough power to heal them."

There was logic in his plan, so everyone agreed. We loaded the injured ones onto makeshift stretchers and hoped that they would hold out until we reached the city.

The fight with the creature, whatever it was, had changed me inside. For a moment, I'd felt what it was like to be completely hopeless, no magic, no weapons. That scared me, and I didn't want it to happen again. It showed me that no matter who you are, or how powerful you think you can be, there could be a moment where you have nothing to aid you. Although there had been times when I had felt that way before, this time was different somehow, in a way that I didn't exactly know.

As we walked the last stretch to Komesen, I had some time to think about this. For the past ten years, I had been completely alone in the world. True, I had been surrounded by people, but none of them even knew my name. I had been silent, and so they had been silent back. That was what I wanted. But now, even after a few days of actually speaking, I felt that I couldn't bear to go back to that old lifestyle. I had friends now, something I had never been able to say. If they were taken away, I would become nothing.

See that? I told the part of myself that was always nagging me not to speak. See where your little code got me? See how much happier I am now?

And although that part of me didn't respond with a clear answer, I could tell it was saying something, something that I hoped with all my might wasn't true.

The worst is yet to come. 

Female 4: Fire Mage Vala Leanour

There was so much people didn't understand about siblings. They never understood the fine, but distinct difference between having a sibling of the opposite sex versus having one of the same gender. They never understood how you could be furious with them one moment, and terrified for them the next. And they never understood that siblings were imperfect mirrors of each other, always reflecting the other so that you were given no choice but to know them as well as you did yourself, sometimes even better. Now was no different for Vala. As she walked towards her brother, she could see him pacing, a sign of frustration and worry."Kalix?" Her brother froze in place, his gaze locking with hers. "Go away." His voice was rough, almost scared sounding, and her heart ached at the sound. "Kalix, what's wrong?" "I want to be alone." His words were like a knife, cutting into her heart and tearing at its fragile shell. She stepped towards him, trying to ignore the pang of hurt that followed when Kalix immediately stepped away from her. "Look, I just want to know why you're avoiding me." She tried for one of her usual bright smiles, but she knew the expression failed miserably. "It's weird, not having you around, always looking over my shoulder." She never thought she'd miss it, but she far preferred the lack of privacy to the cold shoulder Kalix was currently giving her. "I said I wanted to be left alone," Kalix said again, his voice sharper than before. It sent irritation crawling over her skin, and her own voice sharpened as she asked, "Why?" Vala moved forward at the question, and this time Kalix stood in place, finally looking directly at her. "I wanted to kill you. I was going to kill you, but then the phoenix attacked." The words are spoken evenly and calmly, and for a moment, she doesn't comprehend their meaning. The idea is almost unthinkable. But slowly, they sink in, each word like a brick above her head, waiting to fall. When she finally accepts Kalix's words, her first reaction is anger. A brief, violent anger at how easily the admission had fallen from his lips, like it was nothing. The anger was quickly snuffed out by guilt as she remembered the Shattered Sight that had afflicted them both. It could have been me. "That wasn't you Kalix. I don't blame you for it; it was Vaxon." Her words are full of a conviction that she doesn't fully feel, but she refuses to let herself doubt her brother. He has protected her, saved her, sacrificed himself for her. One person's actions will not come between that. "You should!" Kalix's voice exploded into the silence, and he stepped towards her for the first time, his eyes burning with an emotion she can't read. "I wanted to kill you. I wanted to-He stops himself, and shakes his head, but she can still see something unstable burning within him, and it unnerves her. For the first time she can remember, Vala is scared of her brother. Not because of his admission, but because she no longer knows him. She stepped back from him, and Kalix turned away from her, his spine straight and stiff. Vala inhaled shakily. She moved towards her brother, but then faltered and shook her head. Later. She would talk to him later. As she walked, she could feel weariness creeping up her. Her fight with Kyren had taken too much energy, as had her efforts in getting rid of the Hissite and Wessi. She'd barely had time to rest since then, and the lack of rest was wearing down on her. Vala briefly considered trying to sleep, but her mind was restless, jumping from topic to topic and still almost guiltily reveling in the thrill of being free from Vaxon's cage. Free. The word was intoxicating, sending tiny sparks of delight through her body each time she looked up at the sky and saw no sign of the shimmering blue dome. She looked up at it now, smiling at the clear sky, blue, with the faintest hints of purple in it. It was the most beautiful sight in the world. She smiled at it, but it didn't last long. Inevitably, her thoughts went to Kalix. His confession had chilled her, and she wondered if he ever would have told her if she hadn't pushed him. She doubted it, and that made her wary in the worst of ways. Before she could dwell on it too much, a soldier jogged up to her, his expression relieved."You're one of the Magi, right?" he asked, and she nodded. "Why?"The soldier's expression turned serious, lines appearing on his forehead that made him look twenty years older than he was. "Jahad and a small number of our soldiers have disappeared.""What? How could that happen?" she demanded.The soldier spread his hands in an 'I-don't-know' gesture as he said, "We're not sure. We think Vaxon captured him and everyone with him last night and took them to Komesen." "Who's in charge then?" she asked, biting her lip. The soldier shook his head. "All of our leaders were taken. We have no one here who knows what to do apart from Prince Kyren, and he doesn't exactly seem inclined to help."Vala shook her head, hair flying wildly as she did so. "What do you mean we don't what to do? We have to go find Jahad!" she exclaimed, and the man sighed, rubbing his temples. "That's what we're planning to do, but it's not going to be that easy.""We have to though! We owe him." I owe him. He's the reason we're out of that dome. Vala whirled around before he could answer, emotions rippling through her with the speed of a rushing river. I need to find Kyren. Vala moved through the camp quickly, bumping into several people and apologizing distractedly. At last, she spotted who she was looking for. She ran towards him, ignoring the tiredness that ran through her muscles. "You have to help us!" she blurted out, and Kyren raised his head to look at her, a bored expression on his face. "No, I don't," he replied blandly. "Vaxon has your uncle, don't you want to rescue him?" she demanded, and anger flashed in Kyren's eyes. "And you think that if we just go up to Komesen my father will apologize and hand him over?" he snapped. Vala flinched at his tone. It was like ice, cold and hard and brittle. "No, but-""He won't. He'll kill him as soon as we get near the castle. And then he'll kill our families because we even thought we could stop him," Kyren snarled. He'd stood up at some point, and Vala stepped back. Darkness swirled within his eyes, making them look like black holes. There was a hunger in his eyes too, a hunger for blood and retribution that made fear thread through her. She swallowed, but stood her ground. "If he sees us get near the castle. If you helped us, we might be able to slip past him and get your uncle." Kyren's face didn't change, so Vala pushed a little more. "We might be able to rescue your wife. And your kids," she whispered. "No, we can't!" Anger mixed with hopelessness washed over his face, and Vala swallowed again. "I know my father and he will kill my family before we even get close enough to rescue my uncle. He won't hesitate. And he won't hesitate to kill your family either," he spat. "Kalix-""Gods, you're so stupid!" Kyren bit out, and Vala felt a tiny pinprick of hurt at his words. "I'm not talking about your self-absorbed brother. I'm talking about whoever you left behind when you got captured."My parents. Mixed emotions flickered through Vala at his words. It had been years since she'd thought of them kindly, even longer since she'd seen them. She could remember with shocking clarity, the image of her parents leaving her and Kalix with Mathas, and the feeling of betrayal that had filled her when they left. They left us. For years afterwards, anger had filled her each time she thought of them. Anger that slowly festered and morphed into an angry hatred at the thought of them. Even now, she couldn't completely dispel the hurt and anger that the mere thought of them conjured. I can't let them just die though. No matter how angry she was, no matter how much she hated them, they were her parents. They had raised her, loved her, taken care of her. Until the war. Then Kalix took care of me. But they were family. And if there was one thing she knew about family, it was that you didn't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they made it. It was quite possibly the only lesson she had ever really learned from Kalix. You took care of family, no matter the price. I have to help them. She raised her head at the thought, looking Kyren in the eye. "I know Vaxon won't hesitate to kill my parents. But I also know that my parents would rather be dead than blackmail for me and my brother, and that if there was even the slightest chance that I could rescue them, I'd take it." She stepped forward, so that she was close enough to see every detail of Kyren's face. The anger in his eyes, the tenseness of his jaw, the way his mouth was pulled back in a snarl. "What about you, Kyren?" Doubt appeared in Kyren's eyes, fighting briefly with the anger before the darkness swallowed it. His lips pulled back into a scowl as he replied. "I know that I can't save them. I'm not naive like you are." He jerked forward and she flinched. His words remind her of Kalix, of how her brother will roll his eyes and scoff when she suggests that maybe, not everyone hates the Magi. And that fact irks her; she hates that she can see so many similarities between her brother and Kyren. She hates that in some, small part of her mind, she can imagine Kalix being Kyren. "I'm not being naive. I know our chances are slim. But I owe Jahad. We all owe him for getting us out of there, and I know that you want to save him. I know you want to save your wife and kids just like I want to save my family. We both want the same thing. To rescue our loved ones and get rid of your father. And maybe we can't do both, but we have to try." Vala inhaled shakily, and she could feel tears pricking at her eyes. "I don't want to risk people who I care about dying, but if they're going to die anyway, I'm going to make sure it wasn't for nothing." Vala looked at Kyren steadily as she spoke. Before, she would have been angry and frustrated, but now she's only tired, so very tired and full of a hopelessness that threatens to consume her. She opens her mouth to say something else, but then she shook her head. "What will happen when your family is gone and Vaxon is still there? Is that when you'll finally stop doing everything he wants?" she asked quietly. There was no answer and she sighed heavily. Is this what Kalix felt like when we argued? "Look, Kyren. I can't force you to do anything, but you're not the only one has a family at risk. All of us do." Vala didn't wait for an answer, instead turning and walking away. She had a new appreciation for Kalix and his seemingly endless patience with her. She wanted to go talk to him now, to know how he felt now. But something stopped her from finding him again. She wandered around the camp instead, helping some of the others pack up in preparation. Her body went on autopilot, doing whatever was asked as her mind jumped from thought to thought. They centered on her parents, whom she could only remember clearly in half of her memories. Bits and pieces about them floated through her head. Her mother had loved to visit Elia's bakery, she would come home smelling of freshly baked bread almost everyday. Her father had a fondness for staring up at the stars, he'd point out constellations to her and whisper made up tales to her before bed. He'd often tell stories of brave heroes that sought freedom from oppression and saved people, and she had listened to them eagerly, drunk them up like water in a desert. And then they'd left her at Mathas' doorstep. Vala's hands tightened around the cloth in her hands, wrinkling it. She released her grip on it slowly, breathing deeply. Folding the cloth neatly, she looked back up at the sky. As her eyes moved upwards, a dark figure caught her eye. Vala put the cloth down, shielding her eyes against the sun as she looked more closely. The figure was vaguely humanoid, but hidden in the shadows. Ignoring caution, Vala moved forward until she was in the forest, and unable to see the others. She looked once more at the figure; six tentacle like limbs waved in the air, each long and covered in sharp black barbs. Yellow cat eyes shone, and Vala sucked in a sharp breath. Zenarie. Common, but dangerous monsters. They were one of the few monsters that she felt sorry for. Zenarie used their tentacles to suck a human's life force, taking through the years their victims would have otherwise lived so that they themselves could live. The Zenarie threw its head back, letting out a short harsh sound that she recognized as a battle cry. Fire. A pillar of flames appeared in her hand, and Vala bounced on the balls of her feet, ready to fight. The Zenarie moved without warning, running full force towards her. Vala jumped to the side to avoid the attack, and a familiar rush of adrenaline shot through her, bolstering her flagging energy and wiping all worries from her mind. Attack. The fire in her hands shot forward, wrapping tightly around three of its tentacles. Stay. The flames did as she commanded, holding fast to the Zenarie's tentacles. The creature let out a high-pitched sound of pain that grated on Vala's ears, and she gritted her teeth, forcing herself to ignore it. The Zenarie's tentacles surrounded by her fire fell to the ground in a quick succession, and the creature moaned lowly in pain. A faint sense of satisfaction filled her, and she smiled widely. Rope. Again, the fire turned to rope, wrapping around the creatures last three tentacles. She tightened them until she was certain that its circulation was being cut off. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, and she fought the urge not to gag at the smell. The Zenarie stumbled towards her, and she dodged again, careful to avoid the black barbs on its limbs. She had no blade or weapon to defend herself with but her fire, and her energy was rapidly decreasing. Tighten. The fire tightened even more, and more cries of pain filled the air. They blurred together, interrupted by the sounds of its limbs falling again. Yes. Vala grinned with delight and ran towards the Zenarie. Without its limbs, Zenarie were only as dangerous as you let them be. Vala's body rammed into the creature's, knocking it off balance. Taking advantage of her position, Vala quickly surrounded her hands with fire and wrapped them around the creature's throat, squeezing tightly until the Zenarie stopped moving and its head went still. Stop. The fire died away, and Vala leaned back, panting heavily. Green blood covered her hands, and she grimaced at the sight. She stood, and the world around her tilted. Fatigue rushed through her, and she stumbled forward. Maybe not the best idea to wander off, a voice whispered in her head. It sounded suspiciously like Kalix. Vala closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply. Then she forced herself to continue walking back to the camp. She still had Jahad, and her parents, to rescue.

Female 5: Illusionist Sage Zentra Oromis

"Is she alright?" the voice asked. Zentra was slowly coming to in a damp environment. She opened her eyes and the first thing that greeted her eyes was the violet dawn. Looking around her, she noticed three figures hunched over her and staring at her like she was some wounded animal. She saw that two of them were men in grey chainmail. The third was Aelia Zephyr, the air mage that had escaped with her from the arena."Where am I?" she asked, standing up. The last thing she remembered was escaping the arena, storming the palace, and killing her family. Throne! Why did I do that? She began to go weak at her knees. Aelia went over her. "After we escaped the arena, Vaxon's soldiers were on us like flies on horseshit." She explained. " They fired blisters that contained some kind of knockout gas and you ended up swallowing some." "Wait? Really?" Zentra's eyes lit up. "I thought we were inside the palace. In addition, how are you still alive?" Aelia blinked in confusion. " What are you talking about? We were nowhere near the palace when we were attacked. Luckily, we were rescued by these guys." She motioned over to the men in chainmail. Zentra was speechless. She had many thoughts speeding around inside her head, but she knew she was relieved that her family was still alive. She let out a sigh of relief and glanced at the soldiers."Are these people rebels?" she asked Aelia. "I guess you can call them that, though they are really Jahad's guards."Zentra and Aelia started to head off with the soldiers. Ten minutes later, they arrived at a camp swarming with soldiers and magi. Zentra stared in awe seeing the magi together instead of trying to kill each other. Then, Zentra felt her chest get heavy. She had planned to kill her fellow magi in the arena in order to face Vaxon to avenge Mathas, but seeing them like this made her feel...remorseful? " Just a head's up, Jahad has been captured by Vaxon and his lieutenants have all been killed. Despite that Sergeant Endan"- Aelia points to a man inside a tent conversing with others- "has assumed command for now, this army lacks a complete leader." "I see.." Zentra sighed. A rebellion, huh? Mordzar would definitely have loved this. Speaking of which, where was he? "Hey, have you seen Mordzar around here?" Zentra asked her companion. "To be honest, I have not. Maybe he is somewhere among the other magi?" Aelia shrugged. "Anyway, let's get something to drink. I am parched." They headed over a table that contained jugs full of ale and took some for themselves. Zentra had sat down and it was right when she guzzled down the drink that she realized how thirsty she was. After conversing a little with Aelia, Zentra had decided that she needed to take a little walk to clear her head." I'll be back, just need to go for a little walk." Zentra explained. "I think the ale has gotten to me a bit." "Ok, but don't wander off too far. You never know what could be hiding in the woods nearby." Aelia warned. "Noted." Zentra replied. Soon, she was taking a stroll near the ravine at the edge of the woods. She was impressed that even though Elloyn mostly had metropolises, a small area of woodlands had survived. She couldn't help, but reminisce about the time when Mathas had brought them here once before war had broken out. They were on an assignment to scout out a creature of their choice and they were each assigned partners, though not without objections. " My dear magi, I don't know why you are all complaining."Mathas had sighed. "I think of you all as my family so why shouldn't you all do the same?" Everyone gazed at Mathas as if he had spoken in the forbidden language. " I know some of you are actually siblings." He had gazed at the Aerie brothers. "However, I want you all to think of each other as brothers and sisters because you spend more time with each other than your family. In fact, you guys need to learn to trust each other with your lives if you are ever in battle."Tears had started to fill her eyes. Mathas had told me to treat my fellow magi as family, but I had ended up pushing them away. No, I targeted them all willingly and killed them like they were vermin. "Ack!" She tripped over some log in her path. She scrutinized it and gasped in fright as she recognized it not as a log, but as a human body lying to its side! Turning it over, she let a squeal as she identified it as Mordzar! His features made it look like he was in a peaceful slumber. Zentra felt him for a pulse, but found a faint one. She drew her dagger and pointed it at his throat, but then stopped in hesitation. Mathas's words had echoed in her head about fellow magi being family. There was one instance that his words made a point. "Master Mathas something's wrong with Mordzar!" Zentra had screamed. Mordzar had fallen to the ground, his breathing becoming shallow. Zentra had put a hand to his head and had felt him burning with fever. "It looks like he is ill, let's take him to the beds!" Mathas had ordered. None of the Magi had wanted to help Mordzar for fear of catching his sickness, but Zentra had decided to intervene and help a struggling Mordzar to the beds. She had noticed some dark marks appear over his face, which she reported to Mathas. "It's like I feared, he has come down with the Black Plague!" Mathas had stated. The Black Plague was ravaging Castre around this time and it had claimed many lives. Many of the magi would never visit Mordzar for fear that they would contract the disease and die. Feeling sorry for the poor boy, Zentra had visited him on a daily basis to keep him from being lonely.She had kept him busy with questions about his life back in Komesten and his family. Zentra was surprised to learn that this weird boy's parents were respected alchemists working for the king. Tears spilling from her eyes, Zentra sheathed her dagger and helped Mordzar's limp form up. She heard voices and saw a couple of Jahad's rebels nearby. "Hey! Over here!" She shouted. Soon, they were over Mordzar inside a red infirmary tent. Soon, he had awoken and Zentra felt relief surge through her. Then, the rebel known as Endan had announced that they would be marching north toward Komesten and they should get moving. As soon as everyone left, Zentra decided to hang back with Mordzar. "Hello? In case you haven't noticed, we are marching north so I suggest you move your butt out if you want to be a part of this rebellion." She told him. Mordzar whirled around in shock. Throne! He is super jumpy!"Zentra? What are you doing here? I thought you said rebellions against Vaxon were pointless. In addition, I am surprised you haven't slit my throat yet. Have you decided killing me is getting old?" he responded skeptically. Zentra couldn't help, but laugh. "Could you at least show some respect?" she grinned. "After all, it was me who found you near the ravine. Besides, killing you is no longer necessary as we are out of the arena and I have no need to end Vaxon's games now." The look he gave her was hilarious. "Uhh. Are you ok? You are not acting like yourself." "I couldn't be better. Now hurry up and let's get out of here." She said, impatiently. They both regrouped with their fellow magi and the rebels. They got onto the Destriers supplied to them and started to ride north. They were not even an half an hour ahead when a bloodcurdling screech cut through the air. Cringing, Zentra looked up and nearly fell off the Destrier in terror. Circling above them in the purple twilight like a hawk was a gigantic bird, except there was something off: Birds had feathers, not scales. So this must be an Akaba! Zentra had heard about the reptilian birds from stories, but had not seen one in person until now. Before long, it was gone and they continued to camp. "That one must have been scouting our position for Vaxon!" Ashni shouted. The girl had a point. The only ones these dreadful beasts were loyal to were the royal family. She couldn't help, but to take that as a bad omen. They finally set camp on an open hill an hour later. Zentra overheard Mordzar question the sergeant about the position of the camp. She couldn't help, but agree with him. It would make more sense to camp out in the nearby woodlands in case that Akaba returned with its friends. She started to stroll through the new position when something caught her eye. She noticed Kyren tied to a pole with anti-magic cuffs. She decided to head over to him. " What's up?" she asked. Kyren's eyes shot open and the turned to her. His dark eyes narrowed upon seeing her. "What do you want?" he glared. Zentra just sneered. "Oh, nothing much. I am surprised to see you in this state." She replied. "Well, it is thanks to you magi that I am here." He sighed. "I find it hilarious that you act like you are not one of us."Zentra lectured him. "You do realize we all have family members in Vaxon's clutches just like you, correct?" "I figured." Kyren just muttered. "Then you know we are in the same boat. When we arrive at Komesten, I am sure they would have the place in lockdown mode. By any chance, would you know of any alternate way past the gates?" " I do, but why should I tell you?" Kyren smirked. "Maybe we could help you break out your family along with yours. In addition, they would have our full protection." Zentra replied. Kyren looked deep in thought. " I am not sure I can risk my family just to help you all out for your own needs." Kyren looked away. "Whatever, but talk to me once you come to your senses." Zentra left him. She appeared near the infirmary tent and saw Mordzar walk out. She stared inside and noticed the shield wizard was inside. She then turned to see Mordzar pacing nervously, back and forth. "So, you do like her, no?" She asked. Mordzar jumped like someone poured cold water over him. "Yikes! Quit sneaking up on me like that!'Mordzar snapped. "As for your question, I like her as a friend, ok?"Zentra just smirked. "I am sure it is more than that.""Oh, shut up." Mordzar replied. A whistling sound resounded in the air as if ghosts were descending onto the camp. What is that sound? Surely, Mordzar must have heard it, too. "Do you hear that?" she asked."Hear what?" Mordzar responded. When he heard the sound, his eyes grew wide."Akaba.." he whispered. Zentra felt her heartbeat increase. Has that Akaba returned with its flock already? ""Everybody, take cover!" Mordzar shouted. Zentra had thrown herself on the floor just as the piercing shrieks ripped through the night. She felt an immense force from above as a whole flock of low-flying Akaba shot past her. Jahad's soldiers tried to shoot them down with arrows, but the birds proved too fast and nimble. She heard frightened screams as Destriers were ensnared in the talons of the monstrous birds and were taken to a high altitude and were dropped like rocks. A shocking realization hit her. They were targeting the supplies and horses rather than the soldiers and magi themselves. Was this a preemptive strike for another attack later on?" They are striking the supplies!"Mordzar told Zentra. So he has noticed as well."Of course!"Zentra growled. "They want to cripple us here before an ambush squad arrives!" The look on Mordzar's face said it all. Mordzar suspected the exact same thing. "Come on!" he urged her. "We must attack them!" "What? Are you out of your mind?!" Zentra snapped. The moon above them was blocked by a dark shape. The Akaba, resembling a sort of angel of death, let out an unearthly scream as it swooped down on them." Zentra, I have a plan, but you must cooperate for it to work." Mordzar called over to her as they both ducked the beast." You actually have a plan?" Zentra asked. Then, she smiled upon seeing Mordzar exasperated. "I'm kidding, tell me your plan.""Can you distract the creature with your illusions while I try to kill it?" he asked. Zentra nodded at him. Glad that she could use her magic again, she took out her stylus and thought of an illusion. The worst enemies of Akaba are dragons, right? Well, I got just the thing. She started to write a rune, but a massive gust of wind threw her against a tent. "Did you draw it yet?" Mordzar asked. Zentra just shook her head. How could I make the illusion if that bird keeps throwing us around with its powerful wings? " Wait, I'll distract it with y metal magic while you create the illusions, how does it sound?" The metal mage asked her. "Got it!" she replied. She watched Mordzar attack the raging avian with metal shards which seemed to anger it even more. She used that opportunity to write the rune and conjure the imaginary dragon. The screech of the Akaba proved that the illusion was successful. "Careful!" she shouted as Mordzar caught onto the low flying creature's tail and started to hoist himself up. All around her, the battles between the Akaba and the magi with their rebel allies raged on though the beasts did not seem deterred by arrows or magical attacks. Zentra began to despair. How does one defeat these monsters? She looked back up to Mordzar and was shocked to see that he had generated a titanium spiked collar which had pierced the beast's neck. " You actually nailed it!" Zentra shouted. She fell on her knees huffing as a quarter of her magical reserves were depleted. She heard the Akaba screech and looked up just in time as the beast started to plummet to the ground. She barely managed to leap out of the as it slammed into the ground, sending dirt in the air as well as causing an earthquake. Suddenly, a thought hit her. Wasn't Mordzar on its back? "Mordzar!" she shouted and began to search frantically for him. Please don't let him be crushed, she hoped. "Over here."a weak voice croaked. She turned to see Mordzar sitting against a nearby tree, breathing heavily. That spell must have drained a lot of his energy. By the time she arrived, he passed out. "Hey, I would appreciate some help here!" she shouted to the nearby soldiers and magi. Screeching,the Akaba began their retreat. After all, they had completed their mission of destroying their supplies, leaving them vulnerable for a future attack. Almost immediately, the rebels heeded her call and took Mordzar to the infirmary tent. Zentra stretched her arms and sighed. " Did you see the size of those things?" she heard Asawake the light mage tell the others. " Yeah, those birds resembled mini dragons!" Chiara the other light mage replied. All this talk about Akaba made Zentra feel uncomfortable so she ended up taking a walk toward the woods. She took a swig from a flask filled with water as she walked through the destruction caused by the Akaba battle. Twice, she had to step over fallen trees or tents that had blown over from the winds. Zentra sat next to a ravine and looked up at the navy blue sky dotted with glowing gem-like stars. "Master Mathas, I see what you meant back then." She whispered. " The rest of the magi and I are actually working together like family in order to survive this whole ordeal and you were right about us being like family. Unfortunately, we lost half of them already to a tyrant's games."She felt tears start to form in her eyes and she let them stream freely down her cheeks."The least I can do is make sure the rebellion succeeds in order to avenge you and the rest of the fallen brothers and sisters." She continued whispering. "Who am I kidding, you can't even hear me." Everything that had happened seemed surreal. For the past couple days, she was hell-bent on killing her fellow magi, but now she was joining forces with them, especially Mordzar. She understood now why he had wanted to lead a rebellion. He was not much different than her and had wanted to free this land of Vaxon's iron fist and rescue his family. Heck, he even wanted to avenge their late master as well. Zentra thought it was her imagination, but somehow she felt the wind start to pick up. She sat up and scanned her surroundings. Could the Akaba be returning for a second run? Worried, she looked at the horizon, but saw no sign of the demon birds. The wind started to turn into a strong gale. Cringing, she covered herself. What the heck is going on? Then, she heard a hissing sound from behind the trees."Who goes there?" she shouted, drawing her dagger. "Show yourself!" As if on cue, a loud hissing sound similar to a basilisks was heard as a hooded form as grey as ash slithered out of the trees. It stared at her with glowing red eyes. Zentra froze in terror. It was almost as if the figure was staring right into her soul! "Who the hell are you? What the hell do you want?" she inquired. The creature raised two grey skeletal hands and lifted its hood to reveal itself. Zentra's mouth hung open in horror as she stared back at the skull-faced creature. Is that a Badaduk? A Badaduk is a creature from stories that can kill its victims by revealing their worst fears to them, thus making their heart cease to function. Here was one in front of her. The humanoid creature had a face that resembled a gaping skull with glowing red eyes. Zentra felt her body quake and soon she was on her knees. She found herself caught in a sticky substance which she recognized as a web of an Arachne. No! No! No! She wriggled like a worm and desperately tried to free herself from the restraints. She felt the web start to shake and what she saw made her scream in terror. A couple red Arachne with eyes that resembled snakes were slowly making their way toward her. Desperate, she tried to cut through the webs, but they the material was too powerful. D'arvit! How am I going to get out of here! He started to sweat profusely. Soon, the Arachne were over her. One of them started to prod her with its like rod-like legs."Help!" she shrieked. Screaming hysterically, she fruitlessly kicked at the oversized spiders, but her legs were glued to the silk.Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream cut through the air and she was back on the grassy floor near the ravine. She looked up and saw the Badaduk with a silver sword sticking out of its chest. It turned to ash instantly and behind it was standing a man with long, dark hair and a scar over his right eye. She noticed he was wearing armor as dark as the night sky which had an insignia with snarling wolves emblazoned on it. Before Zentra could thank the man for saving her, he disappeared into the woodlands.Could he have been one of the rebel soldiers? Zentra realized she was still shaking and it took a good ten minutes for her trembling to subside. She was considering searching for the man to give her gratitude until she heard screams and shouts from the magi camp. A green flash lit in the air and Zentra saw the light take the form of the insignia she saw on the man's armor. The truth hit her like a fist to the face. He was an enemy soldier taking part in an ambush on the rebels! Upon arrival, Zentra saw the camp filled with burning tents, corpses, and blood. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Aelia and Lilja surrounded form all sides by wolf-masked warriors. Thinking quickly, she made a rune and the soldiers turned away from their victims, giving the magi the chance to strike. Zentra stepped on the hand of a dead rebel soldier and noticed his sword lying nearby. Picking it up, she ran through the chaos." Going somewhere?"A wolf-masked man stepped in front of her. Zentra smiled. "Yes, through you!" She struck at him with her newly acquired sword. He parried her and they traded blows until she cornered him into a tree. She looked behind him in horror. Taking the bait, the soldier turned, giving Zentra the edge. She ran her sword through him. "That was exhilarating." She muttered. She turned and noticed Mordzar fighting one of the 'wolfmen.' Unlike the rest of his comrades, this man was shirtless and his body bore fresh scars. She gasped as she saw him pin Mordzar to the ground. Thinking quickly, she ran over and slashed the man over his shoulder. Letting out a cry of pain, the man turned. Zentra's eyes grew wide as she recognized him as the guy who saved her form the Badaduk. A sinister sneer played across his lips."Well, well. This evening is turning wonderful. What's your name, cutie?" the man grinned. "Your can call me your doom!" Zentra snarled. She and the 'wolfman' engaged each other in a swordfight. She had to admit, he was pretty skilled. What's more? He was not bad looking, either. "Why did you save me back there?" Zentra inquired. The man sneered as they locked swords. " Let's just say I did it on a whim for a fair maiden like you." He responded. "That will be your downfall." She warned him. " You are very feisty, I like that." The soldier cackled. Before any of them could break the deadlock, a screaming Mordzar slammed into the man and pinned him down, causing him to lose his sword. "Shurkan, prepare to be avenged!" Mordzar swung down his weapon, but Zentra countered it with her own. Mordzar glared at her. "What was that for?" he snapped at her."If you kill him, what would make you any different than him?"Zentra countered. "Besides, Mathas had said killing a killer adds more killers to this world, remember?" Mordzar seemed to concede to her point. They both restrained their prisoner of war in chains just as four of his comrades arrived. Zentra raised her sword to battle them, knowing she would be outnumbered, when several white arrows struck the enemy. She turned to see soldiers clad in white form head to toe arrive. "Winter is coming!" Mordzar shouted. "Winter is here!" they responded. Zentra's mouth hung open. "You know these people?" she asked. Mordzar turned to her, grinning like a child who has earned every candy in Castre. "Yeah, they are here to help!"The new arrivals confiscated the sneering prisoner from them and dragged him to a nearby tent. "So what now?" Zentra asked. "We march forward." Mordzar raised his fist. Zentra smiled. This boy's attitude was surely contagious.

Female 7: Air Mage Aelia Zephyr

Aelia laid staring at the trees above her, the stars slowly streaking across the sky. She tried to remember all of the constellations, all of the stories and legends that went along with them, but her mind couldn't focus enough to think of them.

She'd been thinking a lot ever since the Magi had met up with Jahed's army. Wondering what had happened to her ever since the day ten years ago when the last person she knew was killed.

One of the many stories her mom had used to tell her, many many years ago, was a Fae legend about a soldier who had survived when the last of his brigade had been ambushed and killed by Elves, back in the Fae wars hundreds of years ago. The soldier, Wren, had been so angry that he disguised himself as an Elf, became one of their soldiers, and destroyed the entire Elfish army from the inside.

Aelia was sure that there were more details to the story, but she couldn't remember them.

Rather than think, she tried to focus on all of the things that didn't require energy. The loud chatter of Jahed's soldiers making camp for the night. Aelia was trying to avoid the Magi that had survived.

She didn't think that she could handle knowing who had lived and who hadn't.

Instead she immersed herself in the chaos of the soldier's life, the soggy grains they ate, the enchanted swords they carried everywhere. Aelia pretended she was one of them, someone who didn't have any threatening magic and who was barely important.

If she weren't so obviously an air mage - it wasn't her fault she couldn't stop swirling the leaves around her, it was a nervous habit - Aelia could almost imagine herself as a soldier. But she wasn't, she was just a girl acting like one.

A soldier that had drank too many drinks stumbled over. "Are you ever going to sleep?" he slurred, although it ended up sounding like, "Aryuh eva gunnas leap?"

She craned her head so she could see him. It was Coal, the soldier that had lent her an oversized pair of clothes that weren't covered in dirt and blood.

"I don't know, are you?" she asked.

He sat - which was more of a fall - next to her and looked up at the stars.

"I dunno, m'not sure I can."

Aelia sighed. "I can't."

Coal grunted, an odd reply but he continued to lay next to her.

It was unusual to be able to talk to someone new, and she relished on the feeling. He wasn't anything special, he was all Aelia wanted to be.

"How do you fight with a sword?" she asked.

Coal didn't immediately reply, but she assumed he'd heard her.

"Well, I dunno. I just, y'know, stab the other guy." He seemed to be in some sort of deep, intoxicated thoughts. "Sumtimes you block the other sword so y'don't get stabbed or nuthin. You wanna learn?"

Aelia nodded.

"I cuden't see that, that a yes?"

She laughed, "Yes, of course. As long as you have an extra."

"Hm, I'm sure I coud steal one from tha' spares."

"That sounds great."

Aelia crossed her arms on top of her chest as she listened to Coal's breathing slow down and then begin to snore.

It had always been an odd dream of hers to learn how to use a sword. She'd never been talented enough to hold one correctly, and if she'd had to use a weapon she used a bow and arrow. The wind had always made sure her shot was more than accurate.

She thought a lot that night. Probably more than she had in the last ten years.

Ever since Maas, the last person she knew and trusted, had died, Aelia had watched herself change. She went from inviting to distant, from adventurous to wary, from helping to watching.

She had gone from joyful to shattered. Or, as her father would say, she'd turned into a side character in her own life.

Aelia had heard of other people picking up their broken pieces and making their life better, but she had never done that. She watched the parts of her crumble around her as the wind carried them away, and now she feared there wasn't a piece left to pick up.

---

"Finally, I was wondering if you were ever getting to sleep, little air Mage."

Aelia was standing in a large, well decorated room. She tried to move just a little bit but her legs refused to budge and her hands were tied behind her back.

Vaxon grinned at her from the other end of the room. Jahed's was bound and kneeling to the left of Vaxon, and three other people she couldn't recognize on the right.

"Hello," she said. The lone word echoed in the silent room.

"Your rebellion has no leader, as you can see I've captured Jahed. You will crumble to pieces before you even reach Komesten."

Aelia said nothing, she only stared at him.

"Along with him, I have three of your loved ones. I have a proposal for you. Become my spy and they will live, give me all of the battle plans of the Magi and your movements. If you don't of course..." He paused.

A cloud of darkness swarmed around the three people and they screamed in pain. Aelia tried to cover her ears - the sound was agonizing - but the magic in the air wouldn't even let her raise her hands.

Finally, the cloud withdrew and the people were left to try and catch their breath while hot tears fell down their cheeks. Aelia got a glimpse of their faces and could only recognize one - the Pastry Man.

Who were the two other unfortunate souls that got trapped in this mess?

Vaxon's grin grew, "I'm sure they would think that was enjoyable compared to what I'd do to them if you refuse. So, air mage, what do you say?"

"My name is Aelia," she said. Aelia smiled at him. "It seems as if I have to say yes, doesn't it?"

Vaxon laughed, "I suppose so."

---

Sometime during the night, Aelia had fallen into a deep, restless sleep.

Before that, and before her message from Vaxon, she decided something. If there was no part of her left, she'd make one. Acting like she was whole could lead to her believing she was, and if she believed it she would become it.

"Did you sleep at all, air mage?" mumbled Coal from besides her. She would have forgotten he was there if his snoring hadn't been so loud.

"My name is Aelia."

"Well, Aelia, I've got a rather horrible headache," he said. Aelia saw him stand up, watching him stretch and yawn, his red hair hanging limply and covering his face. "If you don't mind, I believe our swordsmanship lesson will have to wait until I don't feel like death itself."

She smiled a little but continued to stare at the blue sky above.

Vaxon had Jahed. He had their leader, and now she was a spy. For Vaxon.

It wasn't as if he had given her any other option, she couldn't let three innocent people be tortured and killed because of her. She would find some way around it, false plans or possibly not the whole truth.

Aelia shook her head, Vaxon would know.

After several minutes she forced herself to get up, trying to ignore the scratches all over her body and the thoughts in her head. The healers had been busy with more injured people, and before Eiriden had even gotten a chance to ask to see the cuts she got lost in the crowd of soldiers.

As silent as a breeze, she made her way to the area where the Magi had camped.

"Morning," someone said, a little too happily for an army camp. She smiled at them, but didn't pay enough attention to see who it was.

The first thing she noticed was that Morrow wasn't there, which was a horrible way to start off the morning. Secondly, she saw Kyren near the edge of camp, simply staring out at the forest.

Aelia walked over to Eriswen, who looked as upset as Kyren. Ionean's death wouldn't be easy, not considering he had been Eriswen's closest friend.

"Any news on what we're doing?" she asked.

"Jahed's been captured, but I'm sure you know." Eriswen lowered her voice. "You got the dream, didn't you?"

Aelia's breath caught in her throat and she nodded.

"We're trying to figure out what to do. Of course we are going to Komesten to rescue him and overthrow Vaxon, but we have no idea how."

"Couldn't Kyren tell us how the castle is laid out? Isn't he on our side?"

"We've been asking him but, well, just go talk to him yourself," Eriswen said, motioning to Kyren.

Aelia looked over at Kyren, who was still laying against a tree and looking at nothing. An aura of darkness seemed to be around him, one that was stronger than it had ever been.

She walked over to him, swirling the leaves around her ankles.

"Hello," she greeted and sat down next to him.

"Don't bother. They've been asking me all morning." His voice was both empty and enraged, his eyes so dark but there was nothing behind them.

"Why won't you, though?"

He turned his head towards her, only slightly, though. "You already know. Vaxon has my family, so I will never betray him."

"He has everyone's families. We're all risking something."

"But doesn't he have yours?"

Aelia smiled sadly. "It would be rather hard to kill someone that's already dead."

He grunted, as in a way to say I'm sorry, but I also don't care.

"Are you going to try to convince me that my family is worthless and I should leave them to be killed, then die myself in a hopeless rebellion?" Kyren asked.

"I think that's a harsh way to look at this all, you should try and be a little bit more positive. Think about this possibility: we mightwin."

Kyren rolled his eyes and laughed, a dark and pitiless laugh.

"I might kill you, if your false hope doesn't first. Stop lying to yourself, you are going to lose. And, as much as this pains me, all of you Magi are going to die in this battle of yours."

Something about that pushed her over the cliff she'd been standing on for years.

"That's true, Kyren, maybe I should just give up like you. Maybe I should walk right up to Vaxon, smile at him, and tell him he wins, just like you are. I won't even try to save the innocent people he has! I'd rather doom them to a lifetime of misery!" Aelia was almost yelling now, her voice was becoming hysterical. She hadn't raised her voice in ten years, and it felt horribly good.

He scowled at her. "That is not-"

"Oh, that's not what you're doing? It isn't, is it! I'm sorry, you must be the hero. Valiantly risking everything for his family. The hero always plays it safe, just like you, right Kyren?" She was standing now, looking out to where he was still staring, and screaming. She wasn't even yelling at him, she was yelling at Vaxon and the war and the lives that were lost.

The wind was picking up, but she wasn't going to stop herself. "Kyren the hero! He's the only one that can help, but he won't help the hopeless rebels because he's saving his family!"

Kyren was getting angrier, now, and she should have stopped. He stood up, pushing her and staring into her eyes. Tendrils of darkness were forming around him and his eyes seemed to absorb every bit of light that touched them. If she wasn't so angry, Aelia would have been trembling with fear.

"You don't know what you're talking about. You know nothing. About Vaxon, about my family, about this rebellion Jahed has started," he growled at her, "You don't understand, your family is dead. So don't pretend that you do."

It was almost like he slapped her - in fact that might have been less painful. When Aelia spoke again, her voice was barely above a whisper.

"I do. Vaxon has three people that he thinks I love, and he's threatening me just like he is you. But think of this, Kyren, do you really want your children growing up in a world like this? What if they have magic, do you think Vaxon will spare them then? Do you want your daughter to be afraid for her life every day, or your son to be forced for a king that he hates? And, you're right, I don't know you. But I feel like any father wouldn't chose that for his children. You could save them from that future, we just need your help."

She walked away from him before he could reply, the crowd that had stopped to watch was making her uncomfortable. Aelia quickly found herself back to where Coal's camp had been, and he was there packing up the tent he hadn't used.

"Welcome back," he said.

She smiled at him and tried to forget her conversation with Kyren. "Hello again."

"You've got a pretty loud voice, you know that?"

Aelia could feel her cheeks turn red. "You heard that all?"

Coal laughed and looked up at her. "I bet the whole camp did, all two thousand or so of us."

She groaned and buried her hands in her face.

"Don't worry, we think all of you Magi are a little crazy," he said. "Anyways, ready for the sword lesson? I'm sure walking and fighting is a little bit more tricky, but you'll get the hang of it."

Coal threw a sword at her and Aelia barely caught the handle.

It turned out that sword fighting was much more difficult when you are walking and surrounded by soldiers that don't appreciate being stabbed. She got the hang of basic steps, but all of the blocks and attacks felt awkward.

"Are you sure it's supposed to be this heavy?" Aelia asked.

"Well, this is one of my sergeant's swords, so I'm sure it's a little heavier than most. He got the blade custom made out of lava rock, and I think be made of the purest iridium... You want to try mine?"

She smiled, "I was only joking, but I'll try."

Coal's sword was a lot lighter, and the handle was enchanted to mold to fit the user's hand perfectly. It was obvious he'd had the sword for many years, and Aelia felt bad for taking it. After a little bit of arguing, she agreed to keep his, but only until they reached Komesten.

After they switched, she could feel the different blows and parries grow easier, and Coal was constantly amazed how light she was on her feet. The trick was to never let them touch the ground.

After three hours of walking through the forest and sword fighting, the army stopped to take a lunch break. Instead of eating with Coal, as enjoyable as his company was, Aelia jogged and met up with the other Magi in the front.

"Where've you been?" asked Eriswen, her only friend now that Morrow was gone.

Aelia shrugged. "Swordfighting, but anyways, how is the planning?"

"Well, we're still going to Komesten. Kyren hasn't talked to anyone since your, er, argument. I'm hoping he's thinking of it, though."

Aelia agreed and found herself lunch, which was just a stale piece of bread and berries she'd found, trying to ignore the stares of others. Now she regretted her fight with Kyren, was she too harsh?

Possibly, but it was too late to take back anything.

---

The next few days went by quickly. Aelia continued to have sword practice with Coal, and she tried to spend as much time as she could with the other soldiers. They were hesitant at first, probably because the news of her argument with Kyren had spread, but after they realized she wouldn't yell at any of them they accepted her presence.

The only time she went to see the other Magi was for a daily update on their plans. Nothing much was getting done, and their only hope was that Kyren would eventually make up his mind and tell them the layout of the castle. For now, though, they only had hope and prayers.

Aelia was more than thankful for Jahed's soldiers. She was trying to enjoy every moment with them, just because they were so different and loud and alive. For some reason, the thought that they were heading to what might be their last battle didn't scare any of them. Instead, each seemed to be lit by a similar passion of wanting to take down Vaxon and his corrupt monarchy.

She was also thankful that none of them ever directed their conversations towards her. Surrounded by them, Aelia floated towards the back and only listened. Every once and awhile someone would ask her to do a trick with the air, and in which case she'd use the wind to make the fire dance and climb into the air, but they never looked to her like she should be doing something important.

Sword fighting was getting much easier the more she practiced, and after only three lessons she could fight Coal without it being laughably easy for him to win.

"You learn fast, don't you?" he asked one day. "Or maybe you just move fast, you little air mage cheater."

Aelia laughed, because she was cheating. The occasional gust of air to knock him off of his feet didn't seem to be hurting, but she guessed she wasn't being too subtle.

Then, of course, there was Coal. Aelia didn't want to grow too close to him, not when the battle at Komesten would likely kill them both, but it wasn't bad to make a new friend, was it?

His usual sarcasm and jokes definitely made the trip easier, and they always seemed to take her mind off of the dark thoughts that clouded her mind. Aelia was trying to get rid of the thoughts of Vaxon and his message, but she could never shake off the feeling that he was watching every move of hers.

The pressure of having three lives depend on her was too much, she could barely handle herself.

However, on the fifth day of travelling, there was an odd feeling in the air. Ever since the Shattered Sight spell, Aelia had been very cautious whenever something felt off.

"Do you know where we are?" she asked Coal that morning.

He shrugged, "Somewhere in Elloyn"

"You know what I meant."

He looked around at the forest and then at his compass. "Looks like we're somewhere in the Myriel region." A look of fear fell over his face.

The Myriel region, the one full of, well, Myriels. A Myriel was described as a creature that was the master of all of the elements, they could swim through fire, water, earth and the air will equal amounts of ease. According to legend, they had a large shell and were distant relatives of tortoises.

Aelia was terrified of tortoises.

Coal must have seen the look of terror that swept over her face because he instantly walked a little bit closer.

"It'll be okay, Myriels aren't usually aggressive. As long as nobody messes with them or anything, we should be fine."

She was trying to keep her breathing steady, there was no need to panic, they hadn't even seen a Myriel yet. But there was still that undeniable feeling of dread as the memories tried to come back to her.

"It'll be fine," Maas had said. "We are completely safe here."

The first soldier was sucked into the ground, his bones making a chilling crunch as the Myriel took him.

The night was rainy, the moon and stars completely shadowed by the clouds. The street was lit by the light streaming out of the loud tavern.

The second was taken from the air, and Aelia could only get a slight glimpse of his body after the Myriel came from the sky and flew into the forest. The screams didn't stop, though.

The only noise was the laughter and music coming out of the same tavern, but if you listened closely you could hear the breathing of two children hiding in the alley.

Lots of soldiers were screaming and everyon ran forwards. Nobody wanted to be the next victim.

"Come on Aelia! Run!"

"They found us, they found us, they found us..." muttered the little girl as she shook her head.

"No they haven't," said Maas. "We're perfectly safe."

She was running, now. Her gaze had sharpened and it was almost as if she could predict where the Myriel was coming from before it did.

An air gust sent it off its path, an air gust sent a person into the air before they were taken.

The man in front of them had crystal blue eyes. That was all she noticed before he drew his sword and lunged at Maas.

Maas barely dodged the first attack, but after the second he wasn't so lucky.

"Faster!" screamed Coal.

She was running faster, trying not to be trampled by the soldiers behind her.

The sword had caught him right in the abdomen, and had come right out the other side.

The boy only lived long enough to watch her suffocate the blue eyed man.

Suddenly, everyone stopped running. She could hear the roar of a river ahead, but the screams had stopped. Aelia stepped over a dead one, it's giant turtle-like body completely still, the shell partially cracked.

The Myriels must have given up.

Two bodies laid under the tavern sign.

"The Turtle Tavern," it read.

Two dead, one only a child and the other a blue eyed killer.

The little girl didn't stop running until she collapsed from exhaustion.

Female 11: Healer Wizard Lydora Steele

"How are you doing, Lydora?" Kyren asks while we trudge through the vibrant vegetation of Elloyn. A cluster of butterflies startle out of a bush when we walk by. Everything is so beautiful. It hardly fits the situation.

"Do you actually care?" I ask seriously. Kyren is a strange person to understand. He can be really caring or he can be unbearably sarcastic. I'm starting to understand that it depends on who he's talking to.

Maybe I'm only being optimistic, but it almost seems like Kyren has taken a liking to me.

"I do actually care," he says. "You're young. You don't deserve this."

He sounds genuine. If Jaxon could see this side of Kyren, he might actually like him. They are both so snarky and head strong though...they butt heads a lot.

"Do you know a spell to fix this?" I ask with a hope I shouldn't have. Deep down I know the answer. The only person who can fix this is Vaxon.

"I don't. Sorry."

My tongue runs across my teeth in contemplation. "Kyren," I ask. "Are you going to help us?"

He sighs. "I want to, I truthfully do. But my family is at risk."

"Is that a no, then?"

Kyren ignores me and keeps his head forward. The sun rains down and catches my ashen skin, making it look worse than it is. I didn't even think that was possible.

"I have a hard time believing that Vaxon will save any of us. Surrender or not." My words aren't exactly directed to Kyren. I'm more or less thinking out loud. If he wants to listen, that's just as well.

"I have to try. There's always a chance."

"But you know what's right. I know you do. It's this, what we're heading to do."

"No," he yells. "Saving my family is what's right."

My voice raises as much as my decaying body will allow. "Jahad is captured, not because he was trying to save the minority, Kyren. He's captured because he could see the bigger picture."

His jaw clenches. My guess is that he doesn't want a fourteen year old to put him in his place. I don't care. We can't defeat Vaxon without Kyren. He's the only person that can help us sneak through the castle.

"Jahad is my family. I'm not letting him die. He's the only one that ever cared about me."

"Wrong," I say with confidence. "Mathas cared about you. I know he would have. He's dead too, not for saving the minority might I add."

"What do you know? You're just a stupid kid anyway."

Ouch. Maybe Kyren is not so fond of me. Though there isn't much reason for me to blame him. After all, I am kind of challenging his beliefs and values.

Maybe his values are the right ones and mine are wrong. My family is captured. I'm willing to let them die for a greater cause. Am I selfish or selfless? Sometimes the two blur into one confusing line.

Supposedly, going by word of mouth, Vaxon has captured our families. That means that he would have Hexil and my parents. What if I never get to see them again?

"You have to understand, Kyren. Your family isn't the only one captured."

"Exactly," he says, expression stony and impassable. "Mine's not the only captured, but I'm saving mine. Now," he says. "I don't go around judging everyone else for their choices. I would appreciate it if you wouldn't judge me."

I shake my head and let my dirty and limp curls fall into my face. I'm not judging him, though nothing I say will convince him of that. The only thing going on here is me trying to convince him to help the masses.

Maybe I'm only so prepared to throw everything away because death is staring me directly in the eye and slowly wrapping it's cold fingers around my throat.

"What if—"

"Lydora," he warns. "Just stop."

"No. You're not the only stubborn one here. Let me ask you this, then." He looks at me from the corner of his eye, never turning his head. "What is your definition of family?" I keep my voice sweet so that the question doesn't seem too invasive. He seems to shy away from that type of question.

"People you're related and married to, I guess."

That was the answer I expected from. Personally, I think he's wrong.

"And why is someone you are married to family? They aren't related." My voice is challenging him a little now. I want him to know that I have appoint to this.

"I don't know. Because of love, probably."

"Yeah, probably." I roll my eyes. He's always so evasive and untrusting. Just once I'd like to breakthrough to him.

"Why?" He asks in irritation. He's catching on, I do believe.

"Because of love. Your words, not mine. Believe it or not, Kyren, I love you. Most, if not all, of us do. We're your family too."

He snorts. "You don't love me. You're just saying whatever you need to."

"You couldn't be more wrong. I've saved you a couple times. I wouldn't do that for someone I didn't care for."

His posture stays stiff and almost robotic. This conversation is making him uncomfortable.

"Well," he says defensively. "You're brother doesn't like me."

"He likes literally everyone. You two just pick childish fights with one another."

"I'm not exactly a pleasant person. Most of these people don't like me. Stop being so optimistic."

If I had the energy to punch the stupid out of him, I would in a heartbeat.

"Boo-hoo. You stop being such a depressing little...cow."

"Cow?" he asks dryly.

I clench my fists and scold myself for not coming up with an actual insult. "Cow. Yes."

"Stop trying so hard, Lydora. You're too innocent to be able to understand stuff like this."

Anger flares up inside me. He has a lot of nerve for someone who is technically a prisoner. All I wanted was a civil conversation and he can't even give me that.

"Oh, you mean stuff like death and dying? In case you haven't noticed, Kyren, I understand it very well."

"That isn't what I meant."

"Whether you want to hear this or not, Jahad would be very disappointed in you for not helping us. He knew the risks when he tried escaping. Don't let his sacrifices go to waste, Kyren. Don't."

"Where's Leo? Shouldn't you two be soaking up the last bit of time you have together before you die?"

Even as he says the words, I can see the regret in his face. That still doesn't take the hurt and sting out of it.

"I'm so sorry, I—"

I only shake my head before walking sadly back to Leo. I'm hurt and disappointed for a multitude of reasons.

"Woah," Eiridan shouts from the front of the group. "Get ready to fight. There's a pack of Lydora up ahead."

"What?" I ask Leo.

"They're like dragons, but not. They don't have powers, they're just incredibly fierce and deceptively pretty."

"So I'm named after a violent dragon? Great..."

I never knew Lydora was anything but my name. So much for the creativity I credited my parents with...

All of the older magi, including Kyren and Jaxon, run to the front and begin to shoot their various different types of magic at it.

The pink and purple dotted creatures growl at the encounters. I turn in to Leo to avoid watching the fight. If any of my fellow magi die, I don't want to watch.

+++

Pain radiates and claws at my insides. Sleeping is next to impossible. Being comfortable isn't a viable option.

Leo holds me close to his body. His warmth radiates onto me. It's the closest I'm going to het to warm. My heart has been slowing. It's a strange sensation.

Jaxon told me once we were safely past the barrier that Vaxon has a spell on me. Something was wrong with me, that much was obvious. I just didn't think Vaxon would be trying to kill me.

Foolish.

I walk the tight rope of consciousness, falling in out of wakefulness. Jaxon's low voice quietly rumbles beside me. If I'm not mistaken, the other voice is Kyren's.

Jaxon rests his hand on the back of my neck and I relish the warmth that transfers to me. It's strange knowing that you're dying. It takes a toll.

Jaxon shouts and startles me out of any sort of rest. I groan in painful protest. This is misery.

Not only do I quite literally feel like death, but after using my magic to keep Leo strengthened and safe, my magic hasn't restored. The fact is, I'm not recovering.

The thoughts destroy any hope of sleep so I sit up, careful not to disturb Leo. He's been incredibly drained as well. The last thing I want is to rob him of the sleep he needs.

"Why don't you let me take watch?" I ask Jaxon. It takes a lot not to cringe at my voice. Even I didn't expect it to sound so frail.

"You can't. You should sleep," he says.

I disagree with him and he looks away from me. He hasn't accepted my fate yet. It's not an easy thing to come to terms with. I personally haven't done so yet.

"I can't. I haven't been able to sleep for a while. I can't get comfortable." My voice stays quiet. Hopefully that hides how horrendous it sounds.

"Does it hurt?" he asks tentatively.

My eyes land on a drying leaf that twitches in the light breeze. It's frail and breaking...like me. The tears sit on the rim of my eyes as I twirl the leaf for distraction.

With a small smile I say, "I try not to think about it." Thinking about is more painful than the physical pain.

"If I turn myself in to Vaxon, you might live." Jaxon peers at me through eyelashes similar to mine. He's trying to gauge my reaction.

Truthfully, that's a dumb idea. Sweet, but dumb. "Even if I live, you won't. Don't risk it."

"I can't stand idly while you die. It's not an option Lora."

He's completely serious. Jaxon seriously wants to turn himself into to Vaxon. It's a complete suicide mission.

I'm not worth that.

Jaxon needs to know the reality of what is going on. "I'm not going to live, Jaxon. Deep down you know it. Don't throw it all away for me."

"Lydora—" Pain seeps out of his words. It's a poison that affects my heart. I don't like hurting people.

"No. Listen to me. This is a rebellion and we can't do it without Kyren. Don't let him sway you. You sway him."

Jaxon makes some sort of unnatural sound as he punches the ground with so much force that I wonder how he didn't break his hand.

"I'm not letting you die." The anger and hate in his voice is evident.

If Jaxon doesn't accept what's happening, he will drive himself mad. He needs to get it. "I already am."

"Dang it, Lora! Don't talk like that."

I don't know that I've ever seen so much frustration come from one person. Why is this so hard for him to understand? I'm going to die. That's it. End of story. Nothing he does will change that.

With a tired sigh, I say, "Please go to sleep. You need rest and I want some alone time."

"It isn't over. Don't give up."

Jaxon lightly touches his lips to the top of my head. I don't miss the quiet gasp when he touches my hair. My eyes pinch shut to block out tears.

"Jaxon?"

"Hmm,"

"Sleep. Maybe you'll come to your senses in the morning."

He's been keeping watch for too long. With some sleep, he just may realize how bad of an idea it is for him to surrender to Vaxon. It's probably only a trap, anyway.

Jaxon turns his body away from and lays on his side.

"I'm sorry," I whisper quietly so that he doesn't actually hear me.

My eyes wander to Leo on their own. He's been the biggest help to me through this. I don't know what I'd do without him.

In the brief lengths of time he stayed, we always got a long incredibly well. I think he's half the reason I'm a good healer.

A soft chuckle escapes me. I was always healing the kid. Be it from fights or being a little clumsy.

Never would I have imagined us here, in this situation. We've been through too much. Starting from being captured and ending whenever this nightmare ends.

I think my nightmare will be shorter than most others'...

Dying is weird. Well...everyone is dying, but I'm different. I'm dying. Not little by little, but all at once. Vaxon's squashed my energy and stolen any hope I had left.

I hug my knees to my chest. Partly to ward off the creeping fingers of the wind and partly to squeeze the fear out of me. If I really want to be truthful, I'm terrified out of my wits.

I try not to be scared because it won't help. It won't help and it won't keep Leo or Jaxon calm. They almost need more reassurance than I do. Those two will be left to deal with my death. I'm only dying. Once I die, that's the end.

For the first time regarding my situation, a tear breaks free and the rest follow in an endless stream. My resolve is broken. I can't be strong anymore. Not for myself and not for those around me.

Does that make me selfish? Weak?

Probably. Pretending I'm fine when I'm not is destroying me as much as Vaxon's spell is.

I'm a piece of glass, thin sheet that can only take so much weight. This is it. My carrying capacity has been breached and I'm a million shattered pieces that no one can ever fix.

Even if I manage to make it through this, the memories will always haunt me. There will always be a reminder to the time I was dying.

As much as I try to hold it all in, the pain rips through my throat in a silent scream. No amount of air can fix this. The silent sobs have taken over me and constrict my throat.

I feel so alone, even with all of the magi around me. Being alone right now is fine. Crying in front of people makes me feel weird. I don't even like the stars being able to see me cry.

That doesn't even make sense, does it? I guess I'm losing my mind now too.

"Lydora, what's wrong?" Leo sits up and rubs the sleep from his eyes.

Embarrassed to be caught, I turn my face away and try to wipe the tears away. Wiping them away would work great if they would stop coming.

"Lora,"

"Just leave me be. I'm fine." Most of the words get lost in hiccups.

"Hey," he says softly, reaching an arm around me. "Good grief, Lora. You're freezing!"

He says it like it's surprising. It shouldn't be. After all, he knows I'm dying. I've been freezing for a solid two and half days now, at least.

"Here." Without a second thought, Leo strips his shirt off his back and gives it to me.

I take several breaths before responding. "No. It's too cold for you to give me this."

"Just stop being stubborn for a little bit and take the shirt."

Without feeling like I have an option, I grab Leo's shirt and slide it over mine. His warmth still clings to the fabric. So does his scent.

By now, the waterworks have ebbed and I'm left with puffy, tired eyes. My breathing is a little erratic too.

"Thanks."

He nods his head and pulls me close to him and his bare chest. Not that I'm paying attention to that. If I were, however, I would maybe notice that they are more defined than those of the average fourteen year old. But since I'm not paying attention, I don't notice anything.

Yeah...right. It's amazing that even in a terrible situation, I can still pay attention to Leo and feed my attraction. My priorities might be a little twisted.

I try not to think about twisted priorities. My life is ending. There is no reason why I should deny myself simple pleasures like admiring Leo.

"What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?" he asks.

With a long sigh I say, "A lot of things. I can't stop—" I can't stop thinking about dying, is what I want to tell him. I can't because the weight in my chest threatens to crush me. My throat locks with sobs that I refuse to let out.

Leo touches my quivering lip gently. "Oh Lora, I'm so sorry." His arm tightens around me in comfort. A few strangled noises form in my throat before he whispers, "You're allowed to cry. I would rather you cry, actually."

My head shakes in protest. "I'm not—" I have to stop talking because my mind is unraveling again. No...this needs to stop. My pieces can't fall apart. Not now, in front of Leo.

I'm like a puzzle. My pieces just don't quite seem to fit together anymore.

"I hate this Leo," I say as the tears finally burst from eyes.

Instead of giving me words that would be nothing but lies, he just holds me tighter. Traces of his own tears slide down the back of my neck.

Soon my tears begin to wear me out and I'm left only taking uncontrollable breaths. Throughout all of this, Leo keeps me tight against him.

"Do you want to sleep?" he whispers to me.

I nod my head slowly against his chest. Sleep is the only thing that ever ebbs the pain from this all. Even then it all still hurts.

Leo backs himself up against a tree and pulls me back into lap. He wraps his arms around me and tells me to lean back. I shouldn't do this to him...get close only to die. It isn't fair. But I do it anyway.

Am I Selfish or selfless?

+++

"It's time to wake up, Lora." Leo's soft voice breaks through the wall of sleep that separates me from him.

I slowly open my eyes and smile up at him. Every time he wakes me up he looks at me like he's relieved to see my eyes. He's afraid that when I close my eyes they won't open again.

I shouldn't allow him to get so close to me. He's too kind. Hurting him would be unfair.

Jaxon yells for everyone to wake up. I much prefer Leo's way of doing it.

"How are you feeling?"

The question gets old. I'm asked several, several, times a day. Even though I'm not the only one in our camo being affected by the spell, I'm the only so close to death. My only guess is it's because I'm so young. Either that or Vaxon is targeting me personally.

"No better than usual." That's as truthful as I get on the subject. I'm always worse, no matter when asked. There's no getting better in this.

"Please stop trying to be strong. You don't have to be."

"What are you talking about?" I try to play clueless, like I've not been acting most all of this time. If I break, the Leo will break. Jaxon probably would too. So, I play strong.

"You don't have to act so okay all the time. You wouldn't even cry last night. I just want you to know that I won't look at you any differently."

He stares at me expectantly. What am I supposed to do? Telling him that I just really don't even have the strength to stay awake anymore would be beneficial for no one.

"So, Lora," he says helping into a sitting position. "How are you really?"

"Scared," I whisper. Death shouldn't be scary. It should be an almost welcomed thing after everything I'm going through.

Whatever this spell does is vicious. I can feel myself losing everything. My brain is somehow slower, making everything else about me slower. It hurts, too. There's a constant burning in my stomach and a stabbing feeling in my heart.

It takes everything I have to not just give up. Truthfully, I believe I'm only still breathing because I haven't told myself that it's okay to let go. But the second I decide that it's okay to stop fighting...everything is over for me.

I am the only reason my heart is still sputtering blood into my veins. It has nothing to do with being physically capable. However, it haseverything to do with being mentally capable.

"You know I'm here to listen if you ever need to talk."

"I know," I sigh. "It's easier to ignore it all than to face it."

I don't like being sneaky. Hiding everything from Leo is not necessarily good for me. But I just can't pile all of that on him. He doesn't need that.

"How about you stop being stubborn for a little bit longer and tell me how you're actually feeling."

He is incredibly persistent. That doesn't matter though. Whatever he says won't be enough to sway me to break. If I start telling him, I'm going to turn in to a sobbing mess.

To avoid the question, I say, "Speaking of stubborn, take your shirt back."

The sun should be enough to keep warm for the day. Besides, seeing Leo without a shirt makes me too uncomfortable. I would be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it, but it still makes me feel weird. It's like I'm intruding on his privacy or something.

Leo pulls out some of the gargoyle meat that was cooked on the fire last night. Gargoyle always weirds me out. The fact that their souls turn into stone once they die...it's just plain weird.

As everyone gets up to travel, he hands me a piece that I slowly nibble on. I know eating is important, but my stomach just doesn't want it. I'm not hungry.

A bit of the tender meat catches in my throat the wrong way and causes me to start coughing. The all too familiar taste of iron fills my mouth yet again.

Leo groans a sound that echoes panic. "You're okay. Take a deep breath."

Sometimes it's easy to panic when these things happen. Deep breathing is usually the last thing on my mind. No matter what Leo feels on the inside, he usually hides it well to get me through this.

"Thanks." My voice is a pathetic sound now, raw from all the coughing. "Hey, do you care if I go talk to Kyren for a bit?" I have some unfinished business with him. I'm not letting myself die until I can at least convince him to help.

"Go ahead." He stops walking and holds onto my waist. "I really care about you, Lydora." He kisses my forehead. His warm lips are an almost painful contrast to my cold skin.

"I know you do. And sometimes I wish you wouldn't."

When I die, I don't want him to be affected. He's lost enough in his lifetime. I don't want him to hurt.

"Why?" he asks.

"Later," I reply before walking back to Kyren.

"Please don't make me hate you," he says before I even have a chance to fall into pace beside him.

"Whether you hate me or not is up to you. I'm only trying to make sure you won't end up regretting your decision."

A low growl comes from his barely parted lips. Yeah...he hates me. That's a shame, too. I actually kind of like him. Where most people see danger, I see potential.

Kyren was going to help us until he learned of his uncle's capture. The thought of losing even more of his family has him scared, though. He's willing to do what he has to in order to save them.

It's a worthy thing to make sacrifices for family. But I just don't think he realizes what's at stake here.

"Why can't you see that I'm not going to help you. I mostly wish I could, but my family..."

"We are all family Kyren. Being a magi is a family in and of itself. We're supposed to look out for one another."

"But Jahad is blood. My children are blood. Ashyra is my wife."

He's so blinded at the very small chance that Vaxon will let his family live that he's missing the truth to it all. Even if they live, they'll be miserable.

"Say Vaxon lets them live," I say. "They'll be forced to be slaves, or prisoners, or something like that. That's not living. They would only be merely surviving."

He shakes his head vigorously, leading me to believe that maybe my word are starting to break through that skull of his.

"I might be able to convince him. I could make a deal of sorts," Kyren says.

I actually feel bad for him. He's so scared of losing his family that he's becoming delusional. Grasping at anything, no matter how farfetched, prove it all.

"I don't know if you remember or not, but Vaxon isn't a man of words. You won't be able to convince him of anything. Admit it to yourself."

Kyren stops walking and scrutinizes me with his dark eyes. I actually long for the moment he beats the darkness. Seeing his natural eye color would be far less disturbing than seeing the black fog that glazes them now.

"You're not going to convince me of anything." Even though he says the words, his tone speaks differently. Maybe I'm finally starting to wear away his hard shell.

"What if we break them out once we sneak into the castle?"

"It won't work," he says without a moment's thought.

"You're incredibly difficult." I fold my arms across my chest. How can he be so dense? No matter what choice he makes, the end results are death.

"So I've heard."

He makes no attempt at more conversation, or more accurately described, arguing. Instead of forcing the subject, I walk back to Leo. Bombarding him with all of my arguments at one time won't work. I need to give him time to think on it all before I come back and bring up more arguments.

"How'd it go?"

My shoulders shrug for response. It could've gone a lot worse and it could've gone a lot better. +++

Once night started to blanket the forest, we all stopped to set up camp. Kyren started a fire and pulled a log close to it so I could stay warm. No matter what I do it seems he'll always have a soft spot for me. I'm a kid to him. He pities me.

Jaxon sits on the ground beside me. He's been really distracted today. At one point he even ran from me, like he couldn't even stand being around my dying form. It was an action that cut me deep.

I understand why he did it though. It would be hard for me to watch if this were happening to him. I wouldn't be able to do it. Especially knowing that there's no way to help.

"Do you want crackers or anything?" Leo asks me.

I stay beside Leo, in his shirt once again. His one arm envelops me and keeps me closely nestled into his side.

"I'm not hungry."

"C'mon, Lora," he says softly. "You have to eat something."

He's trying to be helpful, but I don't want food. I want sleep. Throughout the day, my insides grew hotter. The pain is getting nearly unbearable.

"We don't even have crackers," I counter. My voice sounds like a small whimper. Talking hurts now, too.

"I'll conjure some up for you." He starts to say some different language that I never learned.

"Don't. You need to save your energy. You're still worn from disabling the shield." He needs to save his energy for something more important than force feeding me. If we get attacked, his conjuring skills will be helpful.

I flinch in pain and grab my stomach. The burning is intensifying and rising.

"What's wrong?" Leo asks with concern.

I shake my head. Speaking doesn't seem like a possibility. The pain is eating away at my words.

"I don't feel good." The words seem to sit right at the back of my throat. It's the feeling that always accompanies throwing up.

My legs act before the rest of my body does. Jaxon doesn't even notice me getting off the log and away from everyone. What has him so consumed?

Leo reaches me as my legs collapse and I start retching on the ground. The contents that leave my body are a mix of deep and bright reds. Blood.

It burns my throat and everything inside me.

"Jaxon," Leo shouts in a panic.

"What's wrong?" he asks coming beside us in to time.

"I—I don't know. She's vomiting blood, I think."

My body is weak and threatens to completely shut down. I think I want it to. This isn't worth it anymore.

"I can't do this anymore," I cry quietly. " I want it to be over."

The words leave my mouth and more blood soon follows. I'm okay with giving up. Nothing is worth this pain. Not even Leo...

My heart rips apart at the thought of leaving him.

Jaxon makes some sort of visceral sound and covers his mouth. Leaving him will be hard too.

She throws up a couple more times and it is in fact mostly blood. I use my hand to cover my mouth and stifle the sobs that threaten to make a loud appearance.

"You're going to be okay, Lora." Crystal beads sit in the corners of Leo's eyes when he pulls my into a hug. Jaxon soon follows his actions and hugs Leo and me together. He doesn't think I'm going to live.

+++

Leo holds me in his arms again for sleep. Aelia is the one taking watch tonight, so Leo will get to get the rest he deserves.

My lids fall heavy and in this moment, my decision is made. I'm letting go. In my sleep will be the easiest way to go about it.

Darkness envelops me in a whole new way. This is death. Letting go of everything feels incredible. The pain doesn't exist anymore. A weightless bliss replaces it.

I'm sorry, Leo.

Death reaches out to me and I take its icy hand. What a relief...

+++

"Lora, you better freaking come back to me. Don't do this!" Leo's voice is strong, yet somehow wavers.

I pinch my eyes shut tighter. I was dead! I want death to take me back. Why did it reject me?

Something feels unnatural inside me...I realize that my lungs are moving, not by my own decision, but someone else's... Something is keeping my heart pumping, too.

"This isn't fair to do to her," Kyren growls.

"I'm not going to lose her. I can't lose someone else." The pain in his voice is so raw that it wraps around my tear ducts and makes me nearly cry in this weird in between state.

"What if she doesn't want this?" Kyren asks.

"But what if she does?"

So Kyren is keeping me from the sweet embrace of death. Instead of trying to fight his magic inside me, I open my eyes. I can't leave Leo...

+++

Leo keeps me in his arms. That much I'm thankful for. Walking is no easy task after whatever I went through.

My best guess is that my heart was still pumping just enough for Kyren to bring me back. My mind wasn't conscious, but my heart was. Maybe it's a sign that I wasn't meant to die yet.

Jaxon left at some point in the night, probably to turn himself in to Vaxon. He left a little old doll for me. Leo gave it to me when I fully came to my senses. The doll was probably mine before the war.

"Kyren," I whisper weakly. My voice can only be a whisper.

"Yeah?"

"Don't hate me, but if you don't help us, Vaxon stays in power."

"I know," he replies softly.

"If he stays in power, what is to stop him from doing this all over again?"

"The death of all magi. He would have no reason to do it again."

Leo stays silent, occasionally looking down at me.

"He solves problems by eliminating people he doesn't like. That isn't a ruler. He's a tyrant Kyren. Just think about."

He bobs his head looks at me. There is more normalcy to his eyes than I expected. "I am," he replies.

Female 15: Shield Wizard Eriswen Faervel 

Wind whipped through my hair as I walked, chilling me to the bone. I couldn't get Ionean's death out of my head. It would forever haunt my dreams like that day in Odera. The moment had been so surreal and it had taken its toll on me. My whole body had gone into shut down, and, according to Eiridan, I'd slept for hours.If I'd had any dreams, I didn't remember them, and that was probably a good thing. My energy levels were still low, though, from all of the running I'd done. My muscles were sore too, especially my arm muscles, since I had dragged Kyren the whole way. He was probably in worse shape than I was, though, considering how far he'd been dragged across the ground.Pushing those thoughts out of my mind, I untied and mounted the horse that one of the army's stable boys had readied for me. It took some effort, but I pushed aside the fatigue and pain in my body and focused on my surroundings instead.Eiridan and Jaeyria were both sleeping, and as far as I knew, they were the only Magi around who would care about stopping me. Maybe Aelia would try, but I wasn't going to listen to anyone. This was something that I had to do.My horse, a fiery black stallion, pranced back and forth nervously, but I soothed it gently. It was something I'd always been able to do. Animals listened to me, and I understood most of them well enough to interpret what they were trying to tell me most of the time. The horse quieted, and I nudged him gently in the side.He immediately darted forward at a quick trot. I adjusted to the speed and nudged him gently again, urging him into a canter. He sped up, and I quickly left the camp behind, heading toward the capitol.I didn't get far before Mordzar found me. It surprised me that he'd been the one to come look for me. But he was a friend, and I had less of those now than I'd ever had before.His horse thundered up behind me, and I turned slightly in my saddle, slowing my own horse down to a trot while he caught up. When he drew level with me, he pulled up, matching his horse's stride to mine."What are you doing, Eris?" he asked over the sound of the wind rushing through the fields around us."I'm getting Kzaqua and the hatchlings back," I said. "I have to, or Vaxon will hurt them like he did Ionean.""What happened to Ionean?"His soft voice was like shards of glass cutting into my heart and ripping it to pieces. The reminders of Ionean were endless, surrounding me everywhere I turned. It hurt, knowing that he wasn't there anymore. Every time I heard the sound of birds above me, I instinctively looked up, expecting to see him circling high above me. Every time I thought about running free through the skies on my shield, I remembered that Ionean would never again be free to fly through the air. Maybe his spirit had been safely released after he died, and he was free to roam the heavens instead. Maybe even now, he was watching over me from above."Vaxon," I said.Reliving it wouldn't help me, and I wasn't going to go into details about what had happened so soon after his death.His eyes were full of sympathy, and he nodded slowly. "What's your plan, then? Just attack Vaxon, break them out, and run?"Logically, I knew he was trying to help, but it didn't dissuade the hurt that those words brought to me, and I couldn't hold back the scalding tears that suddenly burned in my eyes. "I can't leave them, Mordzar," I whispered.He pulled his horse to a stop and dismounted. "Come here, Eris," he said.I pulled myself off of the horse and walked over to him. "What?"He pointed off in the distance to where the sun was setting. "You see that sunset?"The tears in my eyes began to fall as I nodded. Another reminder. They seemed to taunt me endlessly, as if they were saying, "You'll never see him again, and you could have prevented that.""When you look at the sunset, I want you to remember one very important thing. I want you to remember that no matter what, Ionean is always with you." He placed a hand over my heart. "He's in here, Eris, and I know that's the safest place he could ever be. Remember that."More tears fell, reminding me that I was no longer the strong, tough girl I used to be. The girl whose emotions were always held in check had vanished, replaced by a weak and uncertain girl who was in way over her head.My feet wobbled slightly as I moved back towards my horse. Black spots danced across the edges of my vision, and I had to steady myself against the horse to avoid falling over. "I have to go, Mordzar. You shouldn't have come after me."He looked sad as he mounted his horse and began to head back to camp. Relief filled me as I realized that he wasn't going to try to convince me not to go. Forcing myself to pull my aching body back into the saddle, I tapped my horse's side.He didn't move. With a stubborn whinny, he stamped his foot. "Please," I whispered quietly. The black spots began to take over my sight, and I tapped his side again. "Please move," I said again.My head began to swim, and the horse still refused to budge. He danced back and forth nervously before letting out a high whinny. Finally, he moved again, but he began to head back toward camp. My weak attempts to redirect his flight did nothing, and he continued on, heading straight for Mordzar.My legs lost their tight grip around my horse's belly, and I began to slip off. The horse sped up, upsetting my balance even more. As my body bounced up and down, the black spots in my vision merged, taking over my vision. My eyes closed, and my entire body relaxed, slipping off the horse completely and thudding to the ground with a painful jolt.Someone yelled my name and strong arms grabbed me, lifting me upwards. Vaguely, I was aware of the ride back to camp and the people who quickly circled around me as I was set up in a hospital tent."Hang in there, Eris," Mordzar said. I wanted to open my eyes and ask what was wrong with me, but they felt glued shut. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew that I was unconscious, but I could still hear and understand most of what was going on around me.Jaeyria and Eiridan's voices joined the general din around me, and people began to quiet down. Someone took my hand and said something. My awareness began to fade as my energy levels lowered further still, and I slipped fully into unconsciousness.***Vaxon stood in front of me, tapping the surface of a polished oak wood table. Kzaqua and the hatchlings were chained up behind him, sleeping. Kzaqua's gently glowing gold scales glittered a little in the soft light coming through a tiny window in the wall above me, and the light illuminated dust everywhere.A scraping noise came from behind me, and I turned to see Aliquin, Asawake's griffin friend, struggling against chains of his own. Vaxon cleared his throat, and I turned back to him, mixed feelings of helplessness and rage churning deep within me when I looked at him. His smug smile and captivating blue eyes were painful reminders of his role in Ionean's death."What do you want?" I managed."Your help, little Magi," Vaxon said, fingering a dagger that sat on the table. He picked it up, turning it over in his hands absently while he studied me."Why would I do anything for you, Vaxon?" My anger was snuffed out and replaced with fear as Kzaqua stirred behind him. It was happening again. My loved ones were being used against me."I have Jahad, but this rebellion of his refuses to be quelled. You're going to spy on it for me, and give me a regular report of their activities.""Because I betray my friends all the time, and it never bothers me," I said sarcastically. "Again, what makes you think I'm going to do anything for you?""If you don't listen to me and obey me, I'm going to kill every last member of your precious dragon's family. And I'll make them suffer." He drew out the word suffer, adding emphasis to it.Pain roared through my head suddenly, but I clenched my teeth and bore it. Showing weakness in front of Vaxon wasn't a good idea. "You suspected it all along, didn't you? You were going to let me get away no matter what so that you could blackmail me into spying on the rebellion."He smiled that sardonic smile of his. "Of course, Eris. Did you really think you had any small chance of defeating me? You were on the very last drop of energy when I got there; just on the brink of collapse. I could have easily trapped you and you never would have seen any of your friends again. Your life would have been short and miserable. And you were injured too, although you refused to allow yourself to see that. You're too stubborn for your own good, you know."I wanted to curl up and die. He'd played me right into his hands like a puppet, and I'd let him. I'd never had the upper hand, except maybe in his room the night he caught me. "I won't help you hurt more people, Vaxon," I whispered.More pain erupted in my skull, worse than last time, and I let out a small gasp, unable to hold it back. Vaxon ignored me, unchaining one of the six hatchlings and picking up the slumbering creature. It had red scales like Ionean and shorter, gold horn stubs that were just beginning to grow in.A lump rose in my throat as the hatchling woke up and realized what was happening. With a terrified shriek, he flapped his wings and tried to get away. Ropes of darkness enclosed him, squeezing tight around him. They kept squeezing until the hatchling's shriek died in its throat, and it couldn't draw a breath.Kzaqua woke up and roared with anger and sorrow as she saw her baby in Vaxon's grasp. "Ryafus," she cried.Ryafus squirmed in Vaxon's shadowy grip again, and I couldn't bear it any longer. "Stop!" I screamed. "Stop it, you bully! Let him go, and I'll spy for you." The words broke my heart into shards, but I couldn't watch him kill Ionean's children, especially since Ryafus looked so much like his father. Watching him kill Ryafus would be like reliving Ionean's death.Vaxon smiled and released Ryafus, who shuddered and quickly retreated to the safety of his mother's sheltering wings. "Good. I'll keep in touch."***I woke up with a pounding headache and cold tears on my face. Trembling, I reached up and wiped them away. The thin, straw mattress that I was laying on bounced up and down underneath me, which, I assumed, was because we were in a cart. It didn't help my headache, but I didn't complain. Instead, I struggled into a sitting position and brushed my hair out of my face. All of my muscles ached and I felt wound tight from the encounter with Vaxon. It was only just now starting to sink in, and I realized the depth of what I had promised Vaxon. He didn't make you seal it. You could go back on the promise. Or feed him false information. I was touching the line, and I knew that if I went over, the consequences would be deadly.Someone cleared his beside me, and I looked over. It was Mordzar. "Hey," I croaked painfully.He looked tired, and he had dark bags under his eyes. The sound of my voice seemed to perk him up a bit, though. "Hey, Eris.""What happened?" My throat was dry, and my tongue felt equally lacking in moisture, but I forced out the words anyway."We aren't sure. Eiridan tried to help you, but he had no clue what was going on. He would have chalked it up to exhaustion, but you show signs of a nasty concussion. He said you weren't letting his magic in to heal it. Why won't you let him help, Eris?"I blinked slowly, processing the information. "How'd I get a concussion?""It wasn't from your fall on the horse. You didn't hit your head then. We're assuming that it had something to do with when you went up against your dragon. Do you have any idea what might have happened?"Rubbing my head thoughtfully, I shook my head. "I can't remember anything about the encounter, Mordzar. It's like it was wiped clean from my mind." For that matter, it seemed like a lot of comforting memories had been wiped clean from my mind. It bothered me, but I didn't mention it to Mordzar. Instead, I swung my feet over the side of the cart, ignoring the bile that rose in my throat from the abrupt movement.Mordzar grabbed my arm. "You have a concussion, Eris. You can't just jump off the cart and walk," he protested.Gently, I pushed his hand away and got off the slow moving cart. "I'll be fine, Mordzar. You should look after yourself, and stop worrying so much. Thanks for bringing me back, but you don't need to do anymore."He sighed, apparently realizing that I wasn't going to be dissuaded. "Alright, fine. I concede your point. But at least let Eiridan try to heal you again. You can't do anything to help if you're barely able to walk."I swayed a little, but caught myself on the cart. "I'm perfectly capable of fighting, Mordzar." Just leave me alone. I can't deal with you right now. I need time to think.He put up his hands with a small grin. "Alright, alright. Just, promise you'll get him to look you over?""Fine, I'll ask him to check on it, if it makes you happy," I huffed.Satisfied, he hopped out of the cart and walked off.Staring at his retreating form, I realized that he could have been sitting next to me since I'd gone fully unconscious, and I never would have know it. Who knows what could have been done to me while I slept. It made me realize that it had been weeks since I'd done any training. I've been so busy I forgot to.Eiridan was on another wagon with Jaeyria, talking about something. They both shut up as I approached, and a pang ran through me. It was like they somehow knew why I was here. "Hey, Eiri," I mumbled.He frowned. "You shouldn't be up. You've got a concussion," he said.Shrugging, I hopped into the cart. "I'm not staying bedridden. You know I'm too jumpy for that sort of thing. Anyway, Mordzar made me promise to ask you about trying to fix me again."Eiridan smiled. "I'll see what I can do."Jaeyria was frowning in the background at us. The look on her face could have been jealousy, but I didn't think it was. She of all people would know how hard it was for me to let people in. And besides, she had Eiridan's complete love. It was so painfully obvious that even I didn't miss it, despite how little I knew about things like that.I turned my thoughts away from her and back to Eiridan as he laid a hand on my arm and started the healing process. Focusing, I tried to allow his energy into my body to heal me, but I could feel my body rejecting it and rerouting it back to Eiridan. He frowned in concentration, his eyebrows drawing together as he pushed harder.Finally, I pulled my arm away. "It won't work," I said with a sigh.Eiridan nodded. "The question is... Why? No one else has problems with healing. Haven't you been healed by a healer Magi before?"Thinking back, I realized that I hadn't. "No... I guess I always wanted to just let my body heal in its own time.""That had to be tough," Jaeyria said."Well, I never got any really bad injuries, so it's not like I had a broken leg or anything. The only injuries I ever got were usually because I made stupid mistakes when I fought with other Magi.""Could it be your elfin heritage?" Eiridan questioned."Have you ever tried to heal an elf before?"He could be onto something there.He shook his head. "Well, you should find another wagon and lie down for a while. I'm not sure how severe your concussion is, but it could worsen if you overwork yourself."Rolling my eyes, I got off of the wagon and found the one I'd been on before. Once I'd nestled into the sacks of potatoes stored on it, I pulled a thin blanket off my make-shift bed and draped it over myself. It didn't do much to block out the chilly wind, but it was enough to keep me from freezing.A quick check of my energy levels told me that they were still annoyingly low. They refused to come back up to normal while I slept. It wouldn't have surprised me if Vaxon had leeched off my energy to keep the dream connection open long enough for our nice chat. At that moment, I could have thought of several choice names for him.Heat blazed across me for a moment, and I detected the sound of wings flapping in the wind. My head shot up.Ionean? And then the knowledge that he was dead crashed into me, and disappointment mingled with intense sorrow washed through me.It wasn't a dragon anyway. The flapping of its wings was too quiet, and a dragon would have been called out. No one raised the alarm for this, so I figured it must have been something else. Tossing the blanket out of the way, I got up and made my way unsteadily to the edge of the cart and nearly toppled off.Once I was safely out of the way of the carts, I made my way to the edge of the road and looked into the woods in the direction that I had heard the creature heading. Little fires danced along the leaves in the trees, and my curiosity grew. If it wasn't a dragon, what was it?I left the road behind and made my way through the trees, following the trail of fire that the creature had left behind. Finally, I found a clearing ringed in fire. There was a little opening that I edged through carefully. It closed as soon as I was through. Uncertainty suddenly reared its ugly head. The door in the flame wall had clearly been an invitation, but now I was trapped in the clearing with a creature that I knew nothing about.The winged being perched on a branch hanging over the middle of the clearing, its head held high, its wings raised. Fire danced along its tail feathers, feeding the fire around the clearing. It beat its majestic golden wings a little to keep its balance and eyed me with eyes of pure fire. Red, orange and blue colored feathers peaked up from the top of its head, dancing lightly in the breeze.I stared at the beautiful creature. Seeing it here brought up memories of finding Ionean and raising him. The little gaps in my memory made for an unfinished story but a beautiful one nonetheless. A beautiful story that clearly didn't warrant the happy ending that so many other stories often did. "What are you," I asked softly.The creature raised its head to the sky and let out a piercing shriek that split through the near silence of the forest. A voice filled my head, again reminding me of Ionean. "I am the Phoenix," it said matter-of-factly."Why did you want me to follow you here? And why do we know nothing of you and your kind?" Never before had I heard the name of the Phoenix mentioned. It was as if the creature had suddenly created itself out of thin air."I am the daughter of the sun, sent to judge those who commit great sins and do not repent and to seek out those who might pass the tests and qualify to be my successor."The words sent a shiver up my spine, and my hands began to shake slightly. I curled them into fists to keep control of them. You could have come for Vaxon ten years ago, I thought wryly.The Phoenix cocked its head, and, as if it had heard me, it said, "I came for Vaxon ten years ago, but his darkness extinguished my light. I have only now been able to come back again.""Why come for me? How did you know I would follow you?""I have been watching you, Eriswen Faervel, and you have shown yourself worthy of being tested to become the next Phoenix after I fade. The test is intense, but I believe you will pass. Perhaps you will even be stronger than me and have the ability to defeat Vaxon. If you go up against your greatest fear and show courage and knowledge of the situation, you will pass the test. If you do not do that, you will not pass, and I will be forced to kill you. I cannot allow anyone to have knowledge of my presence, or Vaxon might seek me out."I didn't like this, but going up against my greatest fear was my best chance of survival, and I was willing to do it. "How does this work?" I asked, just seconds before I was nearly swept off my feet by the vision.Smoke spiraled around me from fires everywhere. I knew where I was instantly. The ashes of Odera crunched underneath my feet as I slowly walked through the destroyed city. Corpses of Magi and humans alike lay scattered across the ground, many with silent screams frozen on their faces.Crows flocked above me and the familiar fear I always felt when they were around rushed through me, sending shivers down my spine. I watched them spiral down and land on the ground as a flock, going for the corpses of the people around me. Some began to land on me, pecking at my hair and yanking it.With a shriek, I slapped them away and began running, but I tripped over the burned skull of some poor citizen that Vaxon had murdered. They flocked to me, landing all over me and pecking away, going for my eyes first, and then everywhere else too.Terror and adrenaline rushed through me as I brushed more away and forced myself off of the ground. My head pounded relentlessly and my scalp stung where the birds were grabbing my hair and yanking it.With an enraged yell, I felt my power flare up within me, waiting for the words needed to let it out. I screamed. "Edonna thand!" The shield materialized around me, locking most of the birds out. A few flapped at me again, but I managed to knock them senseless against another shield as they rushed forward.Then I sank to the ground and slumped against the shield, staring at the mass of black crows waiting for my energy to drain. Tears ran down my face as I spotted more corpses outside of the shield. More people I knew, many that I loved and cared about. Your fault; your fault; your fault. My mind taunted. Letting out another scream of frustration, I let the shield down and allowed the crows in. If they were to be my end, I would let them. All of this had been my fault and now was when I paid for it. I wouldn't fight that.They came at me with a vengeance, tearing into me and shrieking at the sun angrily. Excruciating pain erupted all over my body, and I screamed, curling up into a tight ball as they continued to dig into me.It seemed like forever before I snapped out of it. I came back to reality all at once, locked in a shivering ball in the middle of the clearing. The Phoenix was staring at me, the fire in its eyes dimmed slightly. Its voice bounced through my head clearly. "You have a surprising amount of courage in you, Eriswen Faervel. You have passed the test. Rather than defeating your fear, you chose surrender, showing that you knew well that you would not prevail. You fought valiantly, child, but it was wise of you to give in. Perhaps in you lies the defeat of Vaxon. Time will tell."With those parting words, it disappeared, taking the fire around the clearing with it. There was no puff of smoke or anything to show it had left. It was just there, and then it wasn't.Slowly, I forced my body to uncurl and got up. The clearing was untouched by the fire and I began to notice details about my surrounding that I hadn't seen before. Little faeries flitted around the clearing, their bells tinkling as they came up to me and landed in my hair for a few moments before flitting off again.The woods calmed me, their serenity helping to ground me in reality once more. I couldn't forget the fear that had coursed through me at the sight of my ruined home. It had been so real, and that still freaked me out, even after ten years. Thinking about that day made shivers run up and down my spine.A leaf drifted down from above and landed in my hair. I brushed it away and moved to a tree. Grabbing the lowest branch, I hoisted myself upwards and started climbing. It was tiring, especially since my body was so beat up from everything that had happened, but I was used to the physical pains that came from pushing too hard.Finally, I poked my head up from the tree canopy and looked out across the trees. The road was difficult to spot from the distance I was at, but I eventually found it and took note of the direction it was in.For a while, I just sat there and enjoyed the view. The sun had begun to sink low in the sky and hues of orange, red and yellow were breaking out around it, spreading like a blanket across the sky and mingling with the deep shades of blue above. Ionean would have loved it. A pang of sadness raced through me, and I quickly climbed back down again.Mordzar found me as I was back on my way to join the others."Why are you out here, Mordzar?" I asked."I was looking for you! You just disappeared, and when I came to see if you were doing okay on your own, you weren't there. I thought you'd been hurt or something.""I can handle myself," I protested.He let out a frustrated sigh. "You're injured, Eris. Just come back before you get hurt worse."He wasn't going to budge, so I left it at that and followed him back to camp. By the time we got there, my head was pounding relentlessly, and the little black spots were back. Normally, the exercise would have made me feel better, but apparently my body wasn't going to cooperate today."I need food," I said, looking around at the wagons.They'd camped out for lunch, apparently."There are meals over in the back wagon," Mordzar said, pointing. "You okay?""Yeah, I'll be fine."I needed sleep. That much was obvious by my low energy levels and the fierce headache that refused to go away, but I decided to ignore it. Sleeping wasn't going to happen for a while, especially after my encounter with the Phoenix.Something moved off of the road to my right, and my eyes flicked over to watch. It was Kyren. He slipped off the road and into the woods. Against my better judgment, I followed.He had me pinned to a tree with a knife to my throat before I even realized he was onto me. Apparently, I hadn't been very stealthy. Considering how tired I was, that didn't come as too much of a surprise to me.I squirmed a little in his tight grip. "Let go, Kyren," I muttered angrily.He raised an eyebrow. "Why are you following me, Eriswen? Couldn't you just let me leave like the rest of them?""I was curious," I said.He frowned. "Is anyone else following me?"I kicked him between the legs, and he let out a groan, his grip on the knife slackening. I grabbed it, and threw it into the bushes. "I'm not here to hurt you, Kyren. And honestly, I never expected you to come at me with a knife like that. I always thought you'd use your magic on me." "You know what, Eris?" Kyren asked. "You're becoming a really big pain."Sighing, I put out a hand to help him up, but he ignored it. "I'm the annoying one? I rather thought you were being a bit of a pain yourself. I'm tired and hungry, but instead of eating and relaxing, I'm out here talking to you," I shot back."I'm going. Stay with the rebels. It's where you belong anyway," Kyren said, turning to walk away.I trapped him, ignoring the headache it caused. "You can't just leave," I protested."Watch me," he said, moving around my shield.Letting it down, I watched him leave. "I have friends in there too, Kyren. They're all I have left, and I don't want to see them die anymore than you want to see your family die. If I can fight your father, you can get your head out of the clouds and fight him too. You're our best hope of getting in there and making a difference. You can't just walk away from that.""Do you know how much a family means, Eris? You don't give up on family, and you never, ever put them in harm's way. I can't let my family down, and I refuse to put them on the butcher's block just to join your doomed rebellion."I got in his face, suddenly angry. "Do you know what a bond is, Kyren? A bond is the one person that you can fully trust with your safety and well-being. Someone whose magic can effortlessly combine with your own and make both partners close to invincible. And you know what, above all of that, a bond is your family, friend, and the best thing that could ever happen to you. I had a bond, and guess what? I messed up, and I let him die. His family is in Vaxon's dungeons, and if I don't feed Vaxon information, he'll kill them. Most of them are hatchlings. I can't let them die, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to fight Vaxon. If I can still sacrifice after everything that has happened to me, I think you can manage to fight your father."As soon as I was done lecturing him, all of my anger drained away, replaced with sorrow and a heavy exhaustion. Turning, I walked back to the camp without bothering to see if he followed or not.

Female 17: Light Mage Chiara Gonzolas

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