Bells rang loudly, echoing through the halls. Fynley ran against a current of kids, hands over his ears, stumbling often. He prayed Mara was okay, but he would not leave her. She was all he had. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe5luTkimes
"Mara!" he yelled. Please don't be dead, please don't even be hurt... 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94jMxbVZV7
He reached the common room. It was filled with strangely dressed men, men he had never seen before. Yet they had an air of familiarity...228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlXxjIC2Ot
"Hey, kid," one of the men snapped. He was tall and all pale: an elf - and a royal one at that. "You're supposed to be going out, not in." 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhO1pB6Inwk
"But m-my friend-" Fynley stammered. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5m1OYRz9a7
"Your friend has probably already escaped. Now scram! Get out!" 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIR6lA1kbaF
"B-but you don't underst-"228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUcCXeFYdYU
Fynley cut himself off as he saw the men shift. He got a better look into the common room.228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHax2YBMym
There was a body, dressed in pastels, all delicate and pale and gentle. All too still. All too familiar...228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiWi8Idk9Q
"Mara!" Fynley screamed. "Mara, no! Mara, Mara, wake up! Breathe, Mara. Don't leave me, don't leave, you're all I have, Mara, don't go!" His yelled words turned into strangled screams as the men tried to pry him off of his friend's body. He held tight, not letting her go. He would never let her go. He couldn't live without her...228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjIRf7CrWP
》《228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYwl7V3zO5
Fynley sat up quickly, covered in sweat. A whimper escaped his mouth, then a sob. The dreams never stopped, not even after six years...he had killed his best friend. The only person he'd had left, dead, from a clumsy gift...228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7aDcBeVFtA
Tears still falling, he shifted himself out of his cot. He felt a scab on his thigh crack and spill warm blood, seeping through his pants. He screamed then, a howl of pain and exhaustion, one that spoke of loneliness and suffering. He hugged his knees to his chest, his nails clawing into the soft flesh of his shoulders, sobbing and sobbing until he was once again empty. Once the tears stopped, he still held himself like that, as if he would lose pieces of him forever. In a way, he already had. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2eccttXUyk
》《228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpD0XPDL8d0
Fynley woke up to the wind whispering against the fabric of his tent. It was a nice wind, gentle and comforting as a kiss goodnight. He had bandaged his thigh the night before, but his pants were still crusted with rust-colored blood and yellowish pus. An infection, he thought dully. Of course. He opened up a chest as tall as his knees and grabbed a few bottles filled with oily liquids and salves. One for pain, one for fast healing, one for blood replacement, and one for infection. After a thought, he put the ointment for fast healing and pain back. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmdWR0LLdz
He once again changed his bandages, this time rubbing the herbal ointments onto the wound, wincing. He threw his ruined pants onto the campfire, then he lit it. He wouldn't be needing the pants anymore, ruined as they were. He placed a pot of water over the fire to boil, throwing some herbs and vegetables in to make a soup. Then he started packing up his things, throwing them into empty crates until all of his belongings were boxed up. He then reached into his magical stores, opening a small window. Through the window, he could see nothing but black, almost a void, and some weapons, boxes, and food he had put there. It was a storage shed of sorts. A magical storage shed. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqRdcehm577
After mixing the soup - making sure it wouldn't boil over - he started lifting the crates through the window, stacking them in what would seem to most a haphazard way, though it made perfect sense to him. He put everything into his magic window until all that was left out were a few knives - mostly throwing knives and daggers - and a one-handed sword were left, alongside a satchel of food, a canteen of water, and an empty canteen for the soup. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOzCe9jTccR
Sighing, he hid and strapped the blades, concealing them under his loose clothing and boots. When the soup was done, he carefully poured it into the canteen, though he still managed to burn himself. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2famyMbfAw
"Godsdamnit!" he yelled, wincing and shaking his hand. Already, his hand was red, and he knew the burn would be pretty bad. On top of that, he was out of the cooling ointment to help it heal. "What a start to the day," Fynley muttered. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX6ZHZgktJ1
》《228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHAo1RO6Q5e
Fynley walked through the grass, which tickled at his bare ankles. I need new pants, he thought dully. Maybe he could pass through a town to grab fabric. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0fOZC7Nvb6
He was walking north, toward a forest he had never been to before. The forest scared him. He had never been in or near one in his life, and the thought of entering one gave him anxiety. However, he couldn't rely on others gathering his materials for him forever...for once he felt strong enough to face his fears. This one, at least. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3OyRyui691
When he walked through the trees, he stopped dead. It was beautiful. Soft moss carpeted fallen tree trunks, and dead leaves made a bed soft enough to sleep on. Fungi grew everywhere: on the trees, under damp piles of leaves, in hollowed trunks that were like tunnels. Fynley crouched in one such trunk, studying a fungus he had never seen before. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYTw6bVBck
He was so engulfed in studying this fungus that he didn't hear the snap of a twig under a misplaced step behind him. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoR4R6JFzlq
A hand touched his shoulder, and he whirled around in a panic, flinching away. 228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2s30g8CiFG
A boy was behind him, all dark: black hair that obscured his eyes and beautiful brown skin. He wore the clothes of a noble. "You've been caught," he said228Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN82tJwwuaY
