Adam is such a weird guy I:

Dedicated to my dear friend The_Scythian because even if she doesn't know it, she supports me and motivates me whenever I'm writing a chapter! Thank you so much Scythia!

We're getting close to the end of Part 1 O: so close to the end of LOST too. When Part 1 of F2R finishes I'll have to take a little break from F2R to plan Part 2 for your guys. And since LOST is almost done, the next book is already being planned, won't say what yet. All this is kind of inconviently timed so to make sure I'm not leaving you all with nothing to read, I'll probs post LOST short stories. That way you all have something to read while the next book and Part 2 is being planned. Part 2 won't take too long to plan so don't worry.

But we still have about 4 more chapters until Part 1 finishes, and about 5 till the end of LOST.

ENJOY!

~~~~~

Falling to Rise

Chapter 8

"The real risk is doing nothing"

~~~~~

"No! absolutely not!"

"But, whyyyyyyy!" Adam whined, Seto stood off to the side. He wasn't sure what to do, at this rate, he would never get the help he needed.

"You don't have the time to go running off to save one man, let alone a demon from Vragan! You have a duty to your kingdom and work to do here, not to mention the paperwork you need to finish, and need I remind, you never get done!"

"I know! I know! That's why I was going to leave you in charge--" Adam began.

"Unacceptable! You know by law, any royal advisor must always be in attendance with their advisee. Where you go I go...not to mention I wouldn't leave you in the clutches of a sorcerer..." Seto flinched as he heard the last part, regardless of him muttering or not, Seto heard it loud and clear.

"Then come with us, it will be a quick trip." Adam said.

"Again, no. Even if I did allow the trip, we would not go to Duhita, you could easily request assistance from Neim."

"But that is on the other side of Keuta, that would take even longer, not to mention the soldiers there are just another division of Emedo residing there. Plus what is wrong with Duhita? Me and the prince have been friends since we were younger."

"Exactly! The prince is the problem; you're too much of an idiot to realize what a manipulative, spoiled brat he is. Anything he does, he does for himself." Seto looked behind Ian, a little bit in the distance was a soldier leading two horses over. He knew they were for him and Adam, but it looks like they wouldn't be needing them. Just as Seto knew this would happen, no matter how much Adam assured that Ian would listen.

Seto looked back to see Ian still arguing with Adam, " Just forget about it Adam, the army needs you here--" Ian turned to his left to see the two horses lead here by the soldier.

"The horses you requested Sir."

"Thank you just leave them right there," Adam said, the soldier saluted and walked away.

"Horses! Adam, were you planning to go ahead with this foolish mission whether I said yes or no!"

"Kind of," Adam grinned and beckoned Seto over. He cautiously walked towards Adam as Adam lead the two horses over. Ian looked both baffled and furious, Adam handed Seto a lead, "Here, this one is yours. He's a gentle one, don't worry."

Seto took the lead and stared at the giant creature, Hesitantly Seto brushed his hand against the horse's neck, he felt the soft but rough fur against his palm. The horse turned its head so that it's brown eyes looked into Seto's brown eyes.

"See, he's very calm. Have you mounted a horse before?" Seto shook his head no.

"Adam are you even listening?!"

"Yes." He said then looked to Seto, "Well first off, take the reins in your left hand and a bit of your horse's mane." Adam pointed to the reins that rested on the saddle of the horse. Seto took them in his left hand and grabbed the mane, "Next, put your left foot in the stirrup, here."

Adam pointed to the stirrup, Seto carefully did as he was told and saw the horse watch him with careful eyes. He'd never seen such a calm creature, it made Seto smile a bit, even after all the things that happened.

"Ok, you see this?" Adam pointed at the front of the saddle, the strange part of it that was poking out, "This is the horn, now here," he pointed to the other end of the saddle that was raised up and slanted, "This is the cantle. Just grab this and using your right leg, spring up and over the saddle, while firmly grabbing the reins with both hands."

Seto nodded and Adam stood back, "D*mmit Adam! Listen to me!" Seto jumped up, he felt for a moment like he was floating, then suddenly he lost his balance. He fell back, with a shout he let go of the reins and mane with out thinking, his arms cartwheeling back. He felt arms catch him and pull him away. He looked up to see Adam helping him back up.

"Oh Notch! I forgot to check to make sure it was secured properly! I'm and so sorry Seto!"

"It's ok.." He felt his stomach jump around in his body, and clutched it tightly.

"There, the cinch wasn't properly fastened. It should be fine now, just a small mistake" Seto nodded, he had a feeling it was no mistake. He was sure it wasn't Adam's doing, but that doesn't mean it wasn't someone else's. He breathed in and out and did the whole process again.

Now safely on the horse, Seto watched Adam do the same thing with ease. His horse made quiet noises and stomped its feet before settling down. "Alright! And we'll be off!" Adam clicked his tongue and turned his horse away. His horse complied and walked at a steady pace, without being told Seto's horse followed.

"Whoa!" Seto shouted with surprise as his horse walked, making the world bump up and down.

"Adam wait!" Ian ran to the side of Adam's horse, "Don't you dare leave!"

And they were off, leaving the army camp in the dust. Soon they left the camp walls and were trotting down the dirt pathways. Seto wouldn't lie, he already didn't like riding horses, no matter how kind or gentle they are, riding them was not very comfortable.

~~~~~

With about half a day, they made it to the border of Emedo and Duhita. And in just a few minutes, Adam said they would arrive at the river.

Seto could already tell the land was very different to Emedo's, even though both had grass. Here the grass was taller and darker.

Setting off at a steady pace once more, Seto closed his eyes to relax, since his horse did a lot of the leading. He just needed to stay alert every now and then. Seto felt the calming presence of the wind in his hair, at the moment he had his hood down. The unfamiliar weight of Adam's cape flowed in the wind. Seto could hear the steady beat of hooves far off--

He perked up and opened his eyes, listening very carefully as he cautiously glanced around, "Adam! Do you hear that?!" He panicked.

"Don't worry, that's just Ian," he calmly said.

"What? Ian, I thought he was back at base."

"He was, but he followed us here."

Seto stayed quiet, then put two and two together, "You knew he would come, didn't you?"

Adam laughed quietly, "Who knows." He was sure Adam knew, just an hour ago they slowed from galloping to trotting, and Adam wouldn't tell him why.

The noises of the hooves grew louder, looking behind him, sure enough, Ian was on that horse and he did not look happy.

"Adam!"

"Ian! I'm glad you could make it!" Adam turned his horse to face Ian as he approached. Ian's horse came to abrupt stop as he pulled on the reins.

"Don't you 'I'm glad you could make it' me!" He glared at Adam, "As soon as we get back to Emedo, I am banning you from having any parties, until you finish all the overdue paperwork! No exceptions!"

Adam gasped, "Noooo! Please don't take away my fun!" Seto could see the tears he shed were fake, for underneath his sadness was a goofy grin.

Ian scoffed, "And you call yourself a grown man..."

"I am! I am the adultest of all adults!" He declared proudly. Ian gave him a doubtful look, grabbed a small bottle from one of the pouches on his horse. He unscrewed the cap and poured the contents on Adam all in one smooth motion. Adam screamed and flailed his arms, this caused his horse to panic stomping its feet repeatedly.

"What was that?" Seto had never seen Adam act like this before, though he was a strange and energetic fellow, this was more of a panicky side to him.

"Oh shut up you big baby! It was just a bottle of water!"

Adam sniffled, "Water? You're afraid of water?" Seto found it incredulous that the prince and general, no matter how immature, was afraid of water. Sure, he himself didn't know how to swim, but he lived in a desert his whole life, the only source of water was inland. There was no reason for him to swim.

"N-No! Of course not!" As their horses continued to walk, Seto could hear the sounds of the river getting closer.

"And I suppose you'll want my help leading you across the river, unless you can do it yourself." Ian pointed out.

Seto watched as Adam didn't answer, "Exactly." Ian sighed and dismounted off his horse as they approached the river.

"At least the sorcerer can lead his own horse..."

Seto looked up as Ian mentioned him, he shifted uncomfortably in his saddle, "Do I...do I need to know how to swim to cross the river?"

Ian looked at him incredulously, "You don't know how to swim either, the both of you are useless!"

"Hey!" Seto defended, "It's not my fault, I've lived in a desert my whole life, we only have one natural source of fresh water!" Seto felt himself raise his voice. Ian shouldn't get mad at him, he lived in a much different biome, it's not his fault-- Seto cut himself short when he realized his fist were tightly clutched. His face heated up, he was just about to apologize when he realized neither Adam nor Ian were paying attention.

"Just hurry up, the river is not that strong," Ian held both his horse's lead and Adam's horse's lead. He waded across the water, without waiting, while Adam stayed atop his horse. Seto dismounted and lead his horse across the river. The river was colder than anything he ever felt, it felt nice, but Seto felt to ashamed to really enjoy the feeling. He let his emotions get carried away, in fact, it scared him.

Not once could he think of a time he'd gotten that mad, well, except when he overheard those recruits talking about him yesterday. But he didn't know what came over him then either, it was like he was a completely different person, but he was still him, right? He was still Seto.

He made it across the river with ease, though now he was soaking wet. Adam and Ian were already on their horses waiting for him. Without missing a beat, Seto mounted by himself.

"Wow," Adam whistled, "Already a pro."

"What?" Seto looked up from his thoughts.

"Nothing, let's get going, we're almost to Kilerth." With a small kick his horse started moving again. He trailed behind both Ian and Adam as they neared the canopy of trees.

Knowing only a little bit about Duhita, he knew that Duhita was covered mainly in dense dark oak trees, and that the river they just crossed cuts Duhita in half.

Though the outskirts of the forest wasn't too bad. He'd just have to make sure not to hit his head on the lower branches.

~~~~~

The sun was still high in the air, it only took them a good half hour to reach the village, since they were very close to the edge of the Broken Woods.

Seto dismounted with the others. He glanced around and noticed the village looked deserted.

"Hm. Strange, no one is here," Adam looked around, "Well, the rest of the journey to the capital will be by foot, the forest gets denser the farther we go so there's no way we'll be able to ride horses the rest of the way."

"If I remember right, there should be a stable just over this way, we can tie up our horses there and then find an inn to stay for the night, before journeying the rest of the way to the capital."

"Sounds good," Seto followed both of them around the outskirts of the town.

"Look someone is there," Seto pointed; there, at the stables was someone shoveling bushels of wheat into feed boxes.

"Hello!" Adam shouted, the person turned, he appeared shocked and fumbled with the shovel in his hand. He dropped it, shouted as it fell on his foot then bowed.

"Your royal highness of Emedo, welcome to the village of Kilerth!"

Seto was confused, how did he know he was the prince, he looked at Adam and saw that Adam still had his amulet out of sight, did he just know him by face. Seto remembered Adam saying he was good friends with this kingdom's prince, so maybe that is how he knew who Adam was.

"Oh, you don't have to bow, it's fine, where is everyone?"

"The women and children have made haste towards the river, while the men stayed behind. Unfortunately the village is under another Havoc attack."

"Havoc?" questioned Seto.

His question went unnoticed as Ian spoke up, "Then what are you doing here, if the other men are out fighting against the Havocs, what about you?" It seemed to Seto that both Ian and Adam already knew who the Havocs were, unfortunately for him he was still clueless.

"The other men have the Havocs pinned up in the northeast section of town, I'm here to warn travelers such as yourself to stay away from there."

As Ian and Adam spoke with the villager, Seto heard a noise. He looked up to the dense leaves above him and thought he saw figures jumping from branch to branch ever so quietly.

But they were too fast for him to really tell, not to mention the leaves made it almost impossible to see what was up there.

Something compelled him to investigate, so he looked back at Ian and Adam, making sure they were occupied, then quietly backed into the forest. He acted quickly and when he was far enough within the forest, he turned and ran in. Only momentarily making sure he had a sword by his hip. Even if he wasn't skilled in its craft, it provided some sense of comfort.

~~~~~

:D I wonder what happens next X3

JK, I know what happens next, but you guys don't :D

This week is a LOST chapter! Get ready for it! The Climax is about to go down! Also don't forget to tell me if you want a SEQUEL to LOST then you guys need to tell me before to book ends. Just SIX more people and you all will get a sequel when F2R finishes.

Otherwise a sequel probably won't come out anytime soon for LOST

~WrittenDarkness