This entry was written by Sara_R_Stark who wrote the guild Crimson Shadow. Enjoy :)

The smoke had begun to fade months ago. Now, the sky was a crystalline blue when it wasn't filled with the Dragon Empire's parasitic warships as their impenetrable blockade was strengthened tenfold. The remaining Magi still stranded in the forests of Kypha had formed a small colony. Most of them had been killed off in risky raids, and their numbers had dropped to less than fifty, though their strategic attacks had allowed them the pleasures of at least a semi-comfortable lifestyle. When they weren't fearing for their lives or hiding out in the vast expanse of Tythan's wilderness as the Dragon Empire's troops tramped through the forest, they were content.

About a week after the attack, one of the guild leaders went off on their own and returned to their 'base camp' with a radio, one of the special ones used by Evina that broadcasted the entirety of the Magi Games as well as radio stations from neighbouring planets. Supposedly it was once used to contact the others, though no one could seem to figure out how that function worked. Either way, the radio was used almost daily to get a report of the state of the known galaxy as it was slowly taken over and forced to submit to the Dragon Empire.

By the next week, five other planets were reported to have been conquered and their citizens either killed or forced into the army. Three weeks later, an entire system had been taken down, and more were on the way. Days later, Marko heard that the empire had nearly reached Iryda and he stopped listening. Any news of the loss of his homeworld was too much for his already suffering heart to bear, and he would rather stay ignorant than fret for the safety of his entire planet.

Marko had been counting the days since the Dragon Empire first attacked. It had been just over a month before the Magi decided to launch their first full scale attack on one of the empire's main food pantries. They had taken down half the guard there and fled with pounds of rice, dried fruits and vegetables, and sacks of dried meats. As well as the food, they had snatched up a stack of notebooks and a container of pencils, and Marko had been drawing in his ever since, allowing himself to pass the time and fade away from the brutal reality that had become his life.

Exactly 42 days later, while the dawn was still fresh, the Magi held an emergency meeting. Marko was roused from a particularly fitful slumber as someone shook his shoulder, alerting him of the gathering. Still half asleep, Marko shoved his notebook into his pocket and got up to join the other Magi circling around one of the giant stones in the middle of the clearing typically used as a speaking podium. The guild leader from Black Dragon who had been deemed the leader of their group stood atop the stone, arms crossed over his red tunic as he gazed across the clearing. It was funny, Marko thought, how Rovad had become such of a father figure to everyone there in such little time. He had a very calm nature and it was extremely easy to be around him. He would periodically check in on each individual Magi, allowing them to rant about their problems and offering them a shoulder to cry on.

When Rovad had gotten around to Marko, he had found the young Magi drawing beneath one of the trees, lost in his own world. He crouched down next to the youth, watching him in silence as his pencil danced masterfully across the page. Grinning, his eyes crinkling at the corners, he gently took the book from Marko's hands and began to flip through the art, whistling appreciatively at how detailed the sketches were. They were of past guildmates whom he recognized from the games, as well as scenery likely from his homeworld of Iryda. Rovad stopped on one drawing in particular, a beautiful sketch of a river snaking through a sunlit clearing as it faded into a waterfall spilling over a shimmering cliff. Raising his eyebrows, he passed the book back over to Marko, a questioning look in his old eyes.

"It's from my homeworld," Marko smiled sadly. "My family grew up as farmers, and they had such expansive land that I simply had to explore it all. One day I stumbled across the river and decided to follow it for a bit until I eventually hit the falls. It sort of became my own hideaway when things got bad, and it's the one thing I miss terribly from home."

"Iryda looks beautiful," Rovad said softly.

"It really was," Marko sighed, leaning back against his tree, "though I have no clue as to what happened to it when the empire attacked. I assume it was taken over like the others, so I've made it my job to encompass its beauty in my art if it's truly gone for good."

"And the people you drew," Rovad asked slowly, speaking lightly for fear of setting the Magi off, "who are they?"

Marko smiled tearfully, flipping back to the pages of his friends. He started with Catelyn, the girl who could never seem to control her temper, and though she always got on his nerves, he loved her like a sister. Then Xenia, the woman who had stolen his heart, her eyes just as beautiful on the page as they were on her, caused his heart to flutter in his chest. Next Jacob, the brother he had always wished for, flashed through his mind, looking just as happy in his mind as he did on the page. Vance, the elf whose emotions were nonexistent and yet he always seemed to do the right thing, was next, his face stoic, through a glimmer was in his eye as if Michael had just told one of his terrible jokes and he was attempting not to laugh. And then there was Michael, the one person that Marko trusted with his life. Michael was an innocent soul who never took no for an answer and made it his personal agenda to keep everyone as happy and upbeat as possible. His jokes were horrible and usually inappropriate, but they always seemed to brighten up the atmosphere in a room. Michael was a lady's man, though he never took advantage of his good looks and instead decided to simply be friends with everyone. Tears filled his eyes as he stroked the page where Michael sat, eyes closed as laughter wracked his body.

"My family," Marko answered simply, clearing his throat as he attempted to bite back the tears. Rovad rubbed his back comfortingly, and Marko attempted to muster up the heart to continue. "They all started out in the games, but when Vance and Jacob went missing, I had to fill in. Catelyn was always like a younger sister to me, and Xenia and I dated for two years before the games this year. I had been planning to propose, but when she was the taken to the games, I decided to wait. Now I'll never get the chance. And then there's Michael. He is - was, the best guy I'll ever know. He always knew how to cheer a person up and never took no for an answer if it meant keeping those around him happy. I just can't seem to accept that they're gone, you know?"

"Of course," Rovad nodded. "I remember Michael. Your guild leader seemed to enjoy telling him off." Marko smiled sadly, brushing away a tear that had dripped onto his cheek. "He seemed like such a kind boy. I'm sure he'd be proud of how far you've gotten." With that, he stood up, patted Marko on the shoulder and walked off.

Marko smiled, playing with his notebook in his pocket as he waited for Rovad to begin speaking. Once the guild leader was sure everyone had assembled, he cleared his throat and began.

"My friends," he started, "It is clear that we are losing in this war against the Dragon Empire, and I believe it is time to step up and fight back. Our food resources are growing low, and with their defenses strengthening, it will soon be impossible to leave the planet all together. The time is now to escape this destroyed world and begin the next step to regaining Tythan and bringing back the Republic." A cheer went up, though Rovad silenced them quickly. "We must be swift and sure with this mission. Our goal is to find a way off Tythan as safely as possible. Any ideas as to what our goal might be?" All was silent, but within a moment, one Magi timidly raised his hand.

"We could attempt to steal one of their ships," he suggested. "They've got a huge storage facility in the same spot the final competition was held in. A lot of their smaller transport ships are there."

"But that area is highly guarded," someone else responded, sounding uncertain. "It would take weeks of careful planning to break into something that size."

"I don't think that's the case," Rovad cut in gently. "In fact, this plan might be the best one we've got. If we can watch them for a week at most, we might be able to discover their schedule for switching out the guards. Once we do, we attack when they're most vulnerable."

"Who will help do the spying?" the second Magi asked, crossly putting her hands on her hips. "It's clear that only the smartest of us are capable." Rovad shook his head, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"That's why I will choose the group. I need all the remaining guild leaders and..." he paused, staring around the clearing until his eyes fell on Marko, "Marko. Everyone else is relieved of their duties for the day." The Magi fumed, stomping out of the clearing with a huff as Marko followed Rovad out of the clearing. The man placed a comforting, fatherly hand on Marko's shoulder, and the younger Magi grinned appreciatively.

Nearly five days later, after hours on end of watching the same building, the group had finally found a pattern in the defenses. Guards were switched every three hours, and from what they could tell, all of them were simple humans armed with electrical spears capable of taking down even the most experienced Magi. 47 days after the fall of the Republic, the group was once again assembled in the clearing so their plan could be set into motion.

"A pattern has been found," Rovad began, catching the attention of the group. "Guards are assigned first at midnight and are switched every three hours following the original guards. It's best for us to strike at early morning, likely around 3 am, in order to catch them when they least expect us. A night attack will at least give us the cover of darkness to escape if something goes wrong."

"The plan itself is fairly simple," he continued. "We split up into three groups. The first will charge forwards and take out the guards, allowing the second group to enter the building without issue. Both groups combined will take out any guards inside while the third group defends their backs. Once the ship is stolen, we will escape and fly towards one of the near planets that, as of yet, hasn't been taken over by the empire."

"And the groups?" the same snotty Magi as before asked. "How will you assign groups?"

"Each group has already been decided," Rovad said, shooting an annoyed look at the girl. "I will lead group two, alongside the guild leaders. Any Magi remaining from the Knight's Watch and Crimson Shadow will join me. The other groups will be decided by your jobs around camp. Those of you in charge of defense, scavenging and strategic attacks will be sorted into group one. The rest will make up group three. Everyone meet back in this clearing at exactly midnight. We set out then. Pack everything you can afford to carry." With that, he jumped from the stone and walked off, leaving everyone scrambling to carry out his orders.

Marko spent the rest of the afternoon at the foot of his tree, doodling in his notebook as he snacked on a red apple. He sketched the entire campsite from the speaking stone to the tents, the trees and the flowers that grew around the clearing, and even the small pile of boxes and bins housing all their stolen supplies. He left no detail out, making sure to capture the entire beauty of the place they had grown to call home. By midnight, he was shaking from anticipation, and he had long since pocketed his sketchbook. He had no other belongings to pack.

Rovad once again stood atop the stone, looking as regal as ever in his shimmering red tunic. Everyone was completely silent as Rovad vaguely directed them into their groups. Marko approached his small group 2, consisting of the three remaining guild masters (including Rovad), 2 other Crimson Shadow members, and 7 Knight's Watch warriors.

The walk from the campsite was once again silent. Marko found himself gazing over his shoulder, a pang in his chest as he realized that he would never again return to the area. His eyes lingered last on his tree and the small dirt spot on the ground where he had always sat. The remains of his apple were still on the ground. Sighing, he turned back towards the imperial capital ahead, steeling himself for the battle. As always, he fidgeted with his daggers tucked into his belt, hoping and praying that this would not be his last exhibition. He couldn't let himself die as his teammates had.

The sprawling silver lights of Tythan's beautiful capital shimmered through the gloom, a billowing silver mist distorting the specks until they were no more than small splotches through the trees. Finally they made it to the edge of the city, creeping along the backside of one of the once crowded shopping outlets. Their footsteps were silent as they dashed across the street, so far undetected by the Dragon Empire's patrols. Group one instantly dashed ahead of the rest of the Magi, disappearing into the shadows across the next street. Within minutes they heard the sounds of a struggle as weapons clashed and bodies fell to the floor. Moments later, all was silent.

The signal, a single shrill whistle down the street, alerted Marko's group that it was their time to shine. They all sprinted from their hiding place in between two brick buildings, allowing themselves to fade into the shadows of the street as they approached the stadium. Once they were there, group one ushered them through the wide opening quickly, and group three filled in behind, forming a protective wall between them and the outside world. Marko quickly slipped his dagger into his hand and spun it around skillfully, feeling comfort in the familiar leather grips in his fingers.

The bright golden lights that had illuminated the building had been turned off in order to make their escape less visible. Rovad ran ahead of everyone else, approaching the nearest ship and slipping inside. Seconds later, the interior lights came on and his silhouette was projected across the floor. His arm raised and he beckoned everyone to enter the ship with him. Another shrill whistle sounded, and the pounding of feet stampeded into the arena. A second ship was promptly boarded.

Marko's heart was pounding as he sprinted up the metal ramp and inside the ship. It was a transport ship, making it highly spacious and capable of holding up to thirty Magi at least. He crammed himself into the copilot seat, helping Rovad power up the ship as everyone filled in behind them.

"Is everybody ready?" Rovad called, and a murmured assent echoed throughout the ship. Rovad nodded, his eyes shifting wildly as he pulled a lever and the ship jolted, beginning their escape.

Marko could feel his pulse hammering in his ears as he scanned the skies warily, not seeing anything hovering above them. Then, knowing that Rovad was holding his own with the piloting, he began to carefully check their sensors, assessing heat signatures in their genital area. Luckily for the group, nothing was spotted and they were able to begin their journey across the town, their second ship trailing behind.

"We're all good so far," Marko mumbled. "Please..." His eyes never once left the scanner, and his knuckles turned white around the armrest of the seat.

Suddenly it all seemed to go wrong.

There was a jolt, and everyone screamed as the ship rocked wildly. Marko's eyes widened as suddenly hundreds of heat spots flared up on the sensor, closing in on them from all sides. Rovad's eyes widened, and he seemed to freeze up. Marko felt a shiver run up his spine as Rovad didn't move whatsoever, and he carefully nudged the leader's arm.

"Rovad, we need to get away from these guys," he said loudly, though the Magi didn't flinch. "Rovad!"

Panicking, he quickly flipped the switch that transferred all master controls to his side of the ship, placing his hands on the steering lever. With the experience of a trained pilot, he flipped the ship around and opened fire on the others, watching as brilliant golden beams of energy shot from the front of the ship. Balls of fire lit up the sky as he took down one ship after the other, desperately clearing a path in between the army for the ships to flee the atmosphere. As soon as they were free of the ships, they would be able to use evasive maneuvers and throw the ship into lightspeed, allowing them to traverse the galaxy at a much faster pace.

Behind them, their second transport began firing at the Dragon Empire as well, and fireworks of destroyed ships rained down upon them. In the time it took Marko to clear them a path, two Magi healers had entered the cockpit and taken Rovad to the back, replacing him with a second Magi who manned the blasters for Marko as he wildly piloted the ship out of the battlefield. Everyone screamed each time Marko had to do a barrel roll to escape falling debris, and every time he tilted the ship violently to the side, people fell atop one another in a heap.

Shot after shot attacked the ship, and it was clear that they wouldn't last much longer if they kept getting fire like this. His heart in his throat, Marko did another daring turn, firing at a ship within his close proximity before shooting forwards. Within moments, the firing stopped, and Marko took a moment to look at the sensor to see each individual ship fading into the distance. His eyes widened, and it took him a moment to register the fact that they had just launched themselves through the Dragon Empire's barricade around the planet.

A cheer went up from the back of the transport as the Magi to Marko's left implanted the coordinates for their rendezvous location into the ship's navigational computer. Marko leaned back, elation flooding his veins as the view outside their window faded into a constant swirling purple. Grinning, his eyes falling closed from exhaustion, he allowed himself to slip into a peaceful unconsciousness for the first time in over a month.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Six months had passed since they escaped Tythan. Much to Marko's surprise, the planet Rovad had chosen to hide out on was Iryda, Marko's home planet, and they had used Crimson Shadow's old headquarters as their camp. The moment their ship touched the ground, Marko was outside, tears streaming down his face as he once again breathed in the fresh mountain air of his homeland, though within moments, the painful realization that this planet no longer housed all the people that made it special dawned on him and he fell to his knees. People were at his side in a second, whispering comforting words to him as they helped him to his feet and into the base which had clearly been empty for some time.

Marko quickly moved back to his old apartment building which he had shared with the rest of his group. His bedroom used to house himself, Vance, Michael and Jacob, and downstairs, Catelyn, Xenia and Nora bunked together. They had one kitchen between them and a sitting room where they would always read and talk together. It was daunting having all that empty space to himself, and Marko wouldn't allow himself to leave the building for the first few weeks of his stay. Food was brought to him which he kept in the kitchen, though he could barely force himself to choke it down. The sorrow of being alone hit him hard, and the sight of his friends' past belongings sitting unused as if his group was going to return made it worse.

He couldn't seem to force himself to pack them away, though, so he wallowed in his depression for days on end.

By the middle of the second week, there was a knock at his door. Marko dragged himself out of bed and downstairs to answer it, surprised when he saw Rovad standing at his doorstep. The older Magi smiled sympathetically as Marko instantly threw himself at him, sobs wracking his body as he finally allowed his pent up emotions to spill out. It was funny to Marko how quickly he had accepted the older Magi as a sort of father figure, though the presence of someone so willing to comfort him was the most amazing relief he had felt in days.

Rovad allowed the boy to cry into his shoulder, and once his episode was done, he offered to help him make the apartment a little more homey. He suggested moving all his friends' things into the bedroom downstairs and leaving his bedroom empty for a roommate to move in. Marko immediately accepted this idea, and allowed Rovad to help him move his friends' beds and trunks into the downstairs bedroom, stacking the mattresses to make more room.

As soon as he got to their pictures hanging on the wall, he froze. He had a collage of all his friends on his wall, surrounded with memorabilia from their past in the guild that Marko never realized would give him such pain. The first one he was was of him and Michael laughing together at one of the guild balls nearly three years ago. The two had just pranked Caroline and had escaped with Jacob trailing behind, just barely visible in the corner of the photo. He didn't realize the tears had begun flowing again until one dripped down onto his chin, though he pushed through and moved onto the next one.

This one was of the whole group. They had just gotten back from military training and were still wearing their gear, though they were happy and laughing as if they didn't have a care in the world. Rovad appeared behind him and silently stared at the images, taking note of the pained glance in Marko's eyes.

"I can't believe they're all gone," Marko murmured. "They've always been there but now they aren't and I don't know what to do."

Rovad nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. He stroked his beard thoughtfully with one hand and watched as Marko quickly wiped the tears off his cheeks.

"They were all great people," Rovad said. "It'll be hard to get used to, but you're a strong boy. I have to go and help plan with the other guild leaders, but I will be back to check on you tomorrow. Are you good to be alone tonight or should I send someone to stay with you?"

"I'll be alright," Marko sniffed. "I just need a bit to get myself centered, is all."

Rovad nodded and patted him on the shoulder before leaving through the bedroom door and disappearing outside. Marko turned back to the pictures and ran his hand across the closest one, a group picture taken the day everyone else went off to the Magi Games. Their bags were all scattered around their feet, and Caroline stood impatiently in the background, and yet they were still happy. Despite all the emotions swirling about his head, Marko found it in himself to smile. He missed his group, but wherever the dead went, they were probably happy. Where they were, there was no war, no struggling, and no Dragon Empire attempting to take away their hope. One day they would all reunite, and Marko knew that day would be one he would look forwards to for a long time. But for now, he could allow himself to just live.

He turned away from the photos and exited the room, closing the door softly behind him.