Chapter 2

*Jonete*

Jonete’s head throbbed as the world around her came into awareness.  She opened her eyes and pushed herself up from the ground groggily, her temples aching all the while. It was still early in the morning, not yet midday. Getting unsteadily to her feet, she stumbled over towards the cabin and shuffled through the front door, every bone in her body sore. She collapsed on the mattress that was laid out and flipped over on her back, staring at the ceiling. 

A satisfactory smile crept on her face, and she allowed the feeling of triumph to overwhelm her. She’d done it. She’d finally escaped. And she was never going back there again. She sat up against her body’s wishes and fished around in her bag for her map. Pulling it out, she studied her location and the location of where she was headed next. She was currently in the first region, and Zalfari was the closest town to where her cabin was. She rolled up the map and packed some crystals she’d stolen from the city in her bag. She then laid down on the mattress, pulled the thin cover over her body, and fell into a deep sleep. 

*Miria*

“Are you hungry yet?” 

“No.”

“What about now?”

“Nope.” 

“Now?”

She stopped in her tracks, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance. “Zared if you ask me one more time if I’m hungry I swear to god it’ll be the last thing you ask me.” 

Zared glared at her and folded his arms in front of him. “Miria, you’ve got to be hungry by now. We’ve been walking for hours. Aren’t your feet tired at least?”

They were, but she didn’t want to admit it. It would confirm all of Zared’s fears that she wasn’t ready to handle this kind of journey. “Fine! We’ll rest for a bit, if only to stop your nagging.” 

At that Zared looked relieved. “Great. Let’s find a place to sit down.” 

They walked for a few more minutes before coming across a shallow dip in the forest floor, the trees seeming to bend in on the area as if protecting it. Zared set down his quiver and arrow, and she took off her scabbards. After she set down her bag, Miria took out the map and studied it, even though she knew there was only one direction they could travel in. Dewhurst, their village, was located at the tip of a peninsula all the way on the southwest side of the country. It didn’t really leave many options to travel the rest of the country unless you knew how to sail. 

But Miria didn’t need to know how to sail. She took out her pendant and shook it, watching the glowing light stretch in the direction they’d been traveling in. Luckily for her, her dad seemed to be up north. 

She put her pendant away and brought out some of the food she’d packed, one of the blocks of cheese and loaves of bread. She handed Zared half of her portion and they ate together in silence. She finished before him and studied him as he ate. 

“Do you think you’ll be able to avenge her?” she asked. Zared glanced over at her, his expression still. He took his time finishing his food, and when he was done it took a while for him to answer. 

“To be honest, I don’t really know. It happened too fast, and I didn’t get a good look at the guy who killed her. All I know is that he’s part of the Excidium Sect, and I’ll use whoever I have to to find out who did it,” he said, his gaze growing dark with anger. 

She sighed. “The Excidium Sect, huh?” She remembered the attack well. About two years ago, members of the Excidium Sect had attacked their village in the middle of the night, searching for something that they’d never really elaborated on. They’d set fire to most of the houses in the village and had killed whoever hadn’t answered them right away. Zared’s sister, Lillias, had been one of the people they’d killed, and he’d blamed himself for months after it happened. 

“I wonder if they’ve got Dad,” Miria muttered. 

Zared’s eyes narrowed a bit. “If they do it wouldn’t be a surprise. They’ll do anything for power.” 

Miria’s gaze focused on her hands, dread growing in her gut. If the Excidium Sect really did have her dad, what were they doing to him? She knew he was alive, otherwise her pendant wouldn’t work. At least, she hoped he was. 

She stood up and brushed off the breadcrumbs from her lap. “Let’s get going, Zared. We have a lot of ground to cover before we make it to the city.” 

He nodded, picking up his weapons and she hers, and they set off through the woods again.

*Terrin*

He smirked. This was too easy. The shop was overcrowded and understaffed, giving him the perfect opportunity to go unnoticed. He jumped down from the roof of the house and walked across the busy street, his posture exuding confidence. Confidence was always the key to pulling it off. 

Terrin walked in the store and weaved his way around people, bumping into them on purpose sometimes if he spotted an item that looked worth taking. He reached the area of the store he was looking for and gazed in wonder at the different necklaces that were on display. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. What store puts jewelry on display without a glass case? Honestly, they were just asking to be robbed. His gaze flitted across the different choices, and finally saw one that caught his eye. He pointed to it and looked up at the man behind the counter. 

“Excuse me, sir,” he started, taking on a role he’d done many times before, “do you mind if I see this necklace, the one with the locket? My girlfriend’s birthday is in a few days and I think she would really like it.” 

The store clerk smiled, his eyes lighting up in understanding. “Of course. You certainly know how to pick a present though, young man. This necklace is one of our most expensive items.” 

Terrin feigned surprise. “Really? I had no idea. What makes it so expensive?”

The man chuckled. “Well, son, the chain is made from pure silver. That alone makes it worth a few gold pieces.” He took the necklace from the display case and handed it to him carefully. “I’m willing to give it to you if you’ve got the cash.” 

Terrin nodded as if he was going to pay. “Of course. To be perfectly honest with you, I’ve been wanting this necklace for quite some time, so I’ve been saving up to get it. Don’t be surprised if you see my girlfriend come in here with this on.” He started to hand it back, but stopped. “Do you mind if I pay for this at the main counter? There are some other items I want to get as well.”

The clerk grinned. “No problem. Just let me know how it goes with your lady.” 

Terrin flashed him a beaming smile. “Will do. Thanks!” He gave the man a wave and headed back through the crowd as if he were heading towards the main counter. Once he was lost in the swarm of people he stuffed the necklace in his bag and allowed himself a self satisfied smirk. Too easy. 

He was walking out of the store when he heard voices behind him. “Stop! Thief!” 

Terrin whipped around to see the jewelry clerk from earlier followed by a few guards, his face tomato red in anger. “Stop!” 

“Not gonna’ happen,” he whispered, reaching down and removing a small, black ball from the side of his leg. He threw it on the ground in front of him and crouched low when a cloud of dark gray smoke exploded in the air. The people around him all cried out, and he made his escape in the opposite direction from the store. He sprinted through the streets, taking a turn in a thin alley way where he jumped against the wall, using it to propel himself to the other wall, repeating that until his was out of the alley and on the rooftops of the buildings. He ran along the roofs towards the outskirts of the city, jumping off of them once he reached his destination. 

He landed and looked around him to make sure he hadn’t been followed, then walked towards the shack where he was staying. The outskirts of the city were home to a lot of poor people or outlaws, him being part of the latter group. A few people glanced at him as he passed by, but there weren’t very many people at this time of the day. He reached his shack and parted the curtain that covered the opening, stepping inside and surveying his home. 

The thin, wooden walls barely made for any shelter during winter, and the roof certainly had more than one hole in it that really sucked when it rained. He dropped his bag on the ground and sat down next to it, fishing out the necklace he’d stolen. He took out a small piece of paper from his bag and folded the corners to make it oval shaped, fitting it into the locket. He put the necklace around his neck and held the locket in his hand, gazing at the realistic sketch that stared back at him. 

His grip tightened on the locket. “Emota . . .,” he muttered. “Where are you?”

 

*Zared*

The first day was almost over. The sunset bled through the trees, making the leaves look like they were set ablaze. Their footsteps sounded muffled on the forest floor, and Zared could already see Miria getting tired, her eyelids drooping over her eyes. The thing about Miria was that she would never admit it if she needed a break from something. She would push herself and push herself until she collapsed or completed her goal, whichever came first. 

“Miria,” he said. “We should really rest. You look ready to fall asleep standing up.” 

She turned to him and frowned. “I’m fine. We can keep going a little further. At least until it gets dark.”

Zared looked up at the sky. It wasn’t technically night yet, but the sun wasn’t setting any slower. He looked back at Miria. “It’s alright to rest a few hours earlier. Getting enough sleep is critical in this kind of journey.” Miria just glared at him and started walking faster until her back was facing him. He sighed and forced himself to catch up to her. 

He heard a twig snap off to the left and he immediately stopped walking. Miria had stopped as well, her gaze intensely focused on where the sound came from.

Nothing happened.

“Maybe it was an animal,” she said, though she didn’t sound convinced of that.

Still nothing happened, and they decided to shrug it off. They turned to continue through the woods when the twig sounded again, this time accompanied by a rustling sound. Zared reached for an arrow and notched it in his bow, aiming it towards the direction of the noise. He heard metal sliding against metal, and glanced over to see Miria holding her swords in a guarded stance, her knees bent. 

“Who’s there?” she called, her voice ringing through the trees. 

Almost immediately a handful of people clad in black burst out from the undergrowth, heading straight for the two of them. Zared fired an arrow at the first person he saw, who went down as the arrow struck their chest. Another person lunged for Zared, causing a searing pain to flare in his side and he stepped out of the way, realizing that his attacker held a set of daggers. 

Miria. What’s happening to Miria? But he couldn’t think about Miria when the person in front of him lunged again, grazing his arm as he jumped out of the way.

Both cuts stung like fire, but Zared quickly notched another arrow and aimed it straight at his attacker’s head, letting it go before the other man could make a move. The man dropped to the floor and Zared glanced around to see how Miria was doing. 

She was fighting two people, a man and a woman, and Zared quietly brought another arrow from his bag, pulling it back and trying to aim for one of Miria’s opponents. But with Miria fighting the both of them there was a lot of jumping around, giving him a higher chance of accidentally hitting Miria if he shot. 

He’d have to wait for the right moment, and hopefully it would come soon.

*Miria*

The woman’s sword came from the right, aiming for her knee. Miria quickly blocked it with one of her swords, spinning away from the attack to crouch down with both swords in an X above her head as the man brought his sword down on her. She unfolded her blades, pushing the man back, and jumped out of the way of the woman’s strike. The chance opened up for her and she took it, lunging as she drove one of her swords into the woman’s abdomen, her cry of pain echoing through Miria’s head. 

She removed her sword just as quickly and turned to face the man, looking down as he realized she’d fallen with an arrow sticking out of his chest. She looked back at Zared, his bow lowered and his face beaded with sweat. He started walking over and Miria crouched down to clean her sword in the grass, trying to remove as much blood as possible. She stood up again and sheathed them when pain flared in several spots on her arms and legs, as well as one on her face. 

She and Zared sat hard on the ground, their breathing labored. They both started taking their leather armor off to asses their wounds, and Miria hissed through her teeth as she rolled up her sleeves and pant legs. Several cuts that she hadn’t even noticed in battle laced her biceps and thighs right above the knees, and she reached up to touch a cut on her cheek that stung. 

She looked over at Zared and realized that even though he had less cuts than her, he was in no better shape. A deep looking cut was bleeding on his left arm, and a thankfully shallow one wrapped the right side of his rip cage. 

“How are you feeling?” she asked, reaching in her bag for a cloth despite her body’s protests. 

Zared swallowed. “I’m okay. It’s nothing too serious.” 

She wet the cloth with a little bit of water from her canteen and leaned over to press it to his side. He hissed in pain and she apologized quietly. He replaced her hand with his and she brought out some long strips of thicker cloth. She scooted over to his other side and wrapped it around his arm, watching as his face twisted in a grimace. 

After they’d treated most of their injuries they retied their armor and stood up to find a clearing to spend the night. The sun had set at this point, and Zared lit the lantern he’d brought with them. He held it close to one of the attackers and studied their clothes. His eyes widened and he cursed under his breath.

“What? What did you see?” Miria asked, walking over to him to get a look. 

“These guys are from the Excidium Sect,” Zared spat, his face contorted in hatred. “They’ve got the insignia stitched on their clothes.” 

Miria’s eyes widened. “Why did they attack us? We don’t have anything to offer them.” 

“They could have overheard our conversation earlier,” Zared suggested, his voice taut with anger. “That’s the only thing I can think of other than the fact that they’re just brutal killers who don’t care for anybody.” 

Miria glanced at the four Excidium Sect members who’d attacked them. “I hope that’s what it was then. For both of our sakes.”