A few weeks before
He stood on the plains outside E'trin, a bow over his shoulder and a quiver of arrows at his side. His eyes squinted in the bright sun. He saw movement, and took the bow off his shoulder, and brought an arrow to bear. His keen eyesight zeroed in on the location of the movement, adjusted his aim, and let the arrow fly. It found its mark, and he walked over to the kill.
It was a hare. Small, but fast, in life; it now had an arrow lodged in its eye. He bent down and removed the arrow, wiped the blood off onto the animal's fur, and put it back in the quiver. He hefted the hare by the legs and slung it over his shoulder, a sm
The instant the sun rose over the camp, it was intensely hot; hotter than any other day Jack and Layra had spent in the desert. For this reason, they decided that they would stay confined to their tent as much as possible. Jack had taken his top off to stop it getting covered in sweat; although they weren't in the sun it was still hot inside the tent.
The past few months had done wonders to his body. What had once been plain, with maybe a little bit of fat, was now very flat, rigid, defined abdominal and pectoral muscles, but his body was also covered in scars. There was one in his shoulder, from what he got shot with an arrow, and many more
Walking into the desert was like walking into a fire. It took mere minutes for Jack to start sweating profusely, and Layra was no better. They had barely taken a step in to it before they were blasted by the immense heat
Jack wiped his brow; sweat was clouding his vision, dripping into his eyes. He tore his shirt off and wrapped it around his head. It helped, a bit.
The landscape present before them was dry, barren, and for the most part, totally empty. Between the rolling sand dunes and rocks, there were maybe one or two small, incredibly hardy plants, visible at a time. To Jack, it was amazing that anything lived out here.
Within an hou
She walked through the burning city, looking for the way out. She heard more screaming, the roar of the fires...
A tear rolled down her cheek as she walked. She was certain that Jack would die in there, if he did not leave soon.
Before long, she found the gate out of the city. With a final look back at the burning city, she walked slowly out the gate. She saw a person chasing after her. At a glance, she could tell it was not Jack, so she ran. With her head in such turmoil, she could not reach for her magic properly, so without anything to aid her, she was fatiguing. She tried to run, at least, but before long, she was stumbling.
Layra loo
The small mob ran towards the castle, Jack in the lead, with Layra not far behind. They approached the base of the castle and jack stopped, and turned. He could see a somewhat shapeless mass approaching from behind them. He assumed that it would be the prison guards
He spoke quietly but urgently
"Me and Layra will hold off the guards for a minute, you guys find a way into the castle"4
They ducked into an alleyway roughly half way between the prisoners, and the guards, and put their weapons in the shadows, and then stepped back out and confronted the guards. By now, the prisoners had dispersed enough to not realise they were being double cr
Jack stood up and stretched, he had probably been in here a while and his back was sore from lack of movement. His back cracked a few times and he settled back down and took in his surroundings a bit more.
He leant against the cell wall connecting his to Layra's. It was made of a few, thick metal bars, allowing prisoners to communicate to pass the time, but not allowing them any chance to escape.
"you awake there?" he muttered through the bars, she was lying down on the bed, not moving. He could see her chest rising and falling, so he knew she was still alive, although maybe not conscious. A good sign.
She rolled over and opened her eyes
When Jack woke, Layra was sitting in front of the smouldering embers of the fire, heating a piece of bread and some of the boar meat for breakfast. Jack was groggy, his vision was slightly blurred and his mouth was dry. He walked down to the water and splashed some on his face. It helped, a little, but his vision was still blurred
"Headache?" said a voice from behind him
"Yeah. How'd you know" Jack said as he turned around, rubbing his eyes
"It happens. Magic isn't totally without consequences. Until you get more used to it, that's going to keep happening"
"Does it happen to you?"
"A little bit, some times. But it hasn't for a while"
"W
They walked into the foothills, and the mountains were partially blocking out the sun. It made it a lot easier to walk, without the sun beating down on them. They eventually found a pass, in to the mountains. Most of the mountains were far too steep to climb, but before long they found what could be possibly the perfect place to stay. There was a small overhang of rock that provided some shelter, inside a valley between 3 mountains. There was a freshwater stream running through the valley, and a relatively flat area they could use to fight and practice magic.
When they were walking through, they both just looked at each other. That as good a
They walked. And walked. And walked. Layra and Jack were dirty. Filthy, even. They were both covered in dust, ash, and small amounts of blood. They kept going all night, and by sunrise they were starving and thirsty. The bread in Layra's bag as now cold, having lost its normal warmth from the cupboard at home. They found shade underneath a small group of trees. They were right on the coast, but they couldn't drink the water. It was sea water, and as such was full of salt. It would only dehydrate them further. There was thin grass in this area, and patches of dirt in places, and trees were not uncommon.
They relished the opportunity to lay
"What? How can you know? What's going to happen?"
"I have foreseen 3 deaths before. My Father's, my best friend's, and my mother's. Both my father and my best friend died in the same way and at the same time as I foresaw. It is going to happen sometime tomorrow. I don't know when or how, but it will. I need you to help me protect her"
"If you have foreseen her death, how can I stop it?"
She shrugged "what is foreseen is what shall happen if no one makes a conscious effort to change it"
"OK, but I don't know how to fight, and if we don't know what is going to happen, how can I help defend her?"
"Simple. She isn't sick. She isn't injured.