Your legs were shaking as two of the emperors men grabbed you by both sides and guided the way up a small hill. All of a sudden, breathing felt painful. As if it was a punishment. They forced you to kneel at the edge of the hill, lay a rope around your neck like a cattle and held the blades of their swords to your throat.

Without thinking, you let your eyes wander through the landscape. It was calm, no animals were around. Not even birds were flying in the sky. But when you raised your head just a little, you were able to see the edge of the forest at the other side of the riverbed.

There were shadows moving.

Hastily, your eyes jumped over the Morvran.

He was knee,img beside you, his eyes staring at the ground. He seemed to have no life left in him. Not even the feeling of cold metal pressing against his skin seemed to bother him. He wasn't shaking no more. It was as if he was somewhere far, far away.

With an unmoved expression on his face, the emperor stepped before you. You couldn't raise your head enlighten to look him in the eyes but the feeling of his gaze burning into the back of the head was as noticeable as fire. For a very long, tense moment, he just stood there and stared. Then, he placed a hand under your chin and forced you to look at him.

"I will enjoy this as much as I can.<<, he said. >>You took my best general. I will take your life."

A sarcastic grin appeared on your face.

"I did not take your best general. War did. I just picked him up and opened his eyes again.", you spit him in the face. "I will not give you the satisfaction of fear in my eyes."

Shortly, Emhyr raised his eyebrows. He seemed a little impressed. But only a little.

"You have a sharp tongue. I see why the general took a liking to you. Too bad that you will he responsible for his death too. I assume that won't be so funny to you."

The grin on your face got slimmer but it did not fully fade.

"He will be in a better place soon. I don't think that death is his destiny.", your eyes jumped back to the edge of the forest.

It was just for a mere second. But the shadows were gone.

Emhyr noticed your mind being absent. He threw a gaze over his shoulder, checking what was so interesting. But he didn't notice anything.

"Getting nervous before dying?", he asked.

"No.", you looked up at him. "But time is running against you."

Surprised, the emperor frowned.

"What are you saying?", suddenly, there was something in his eyes.

Hesitation. He was confused by your words.

But he had no time thinking about it. Suddenly, a magical bomb exploded right before you.

Struck by surprise, the men of the emperor jumped aside while their master was thrown back by the huge shockwave. All of a sudden, there were soldiers of Redania storming the hill. The red of their armour was covered in fresh blood. There was hate shimmering in their eyes.

One of them killed a Nilfgaardian immediately. The others got caught in a fight.

Morvran tilted his head, throwing himself onto you to provide protection from an arrow.

Dust twirled up and filled the air.

As quickly as you could, you shook the right sleeve of your arm. A hidden knife fell out, the one that you had taken from the boy. You managed to grab it with one hand and began to cut the ropes that were tying Morvran's hands.

Around you, a battle had started. People were screaming, death was vibrating in the air.

As quickly as you could, you freed Morvran. He took the knife and cut your ropes also. As the both of you were free, he grabbed you by the hand and dragged you away. Without looking back, he managed to pull you down the hill without being noticed. While the battle was raging around you, he crawled through the dirt, guiding you towards the edge of the forest.

You did not dare to look back. All you could focus on was Morvran. His hand was holding onto yours as if his life depended on it. Quickly, the two of you jumped into the safe cover.

A shaky breath left your lips. Your hands were shaking.

Suddenly, he got back on his feet, dragging you with him and ran a while. The sound of the fight became more distanced. With every step the air felt clearer to breath. As the trees became bigger and the day more silent, he grabbed you, pressing you tightly against his chest and let his back fall against a huge tree.

His chest was rising quickly. He was shaking all over.

The feeling of his beating heart filled your ears. It was like a fast paced song that told of fear and danger.

"It's alright.", you whispered and pressed yourself into the hug. "We made it."

"Not yet.", he shook his head. "My horse is nearby. I hid it before getting caught. Come on, let's go."

Hastily, he pulled you with him through the bushed. One last time he threw a gaze over his shoulder. The sound of raging battle was still noticeable in the distance. People were still fighting. Hopefully, the emperor wouldn't survive.

After a while he managed to led you down a small hill. A cave lay hidden behind a wall of green branches and weeds. Looking around in fear, he pushed you last the green wall into the cave.

It took your eyes a moment to get used to the darkness. As you were finally able to see, your eyes widened in surprise.

"A camp.", you said, looking at the two sleeping bags and the little campfire.

A horse was standing in the cave, tightly tied to a rock so it couldn't escape.

"Pack the necessities. We leave now.", without loosing a second, Morvran grabbed a bag and filled it with food and other things.

"Where to?", you began to back another bag.

"I don't know. Toussaint, the no mans land, anywhere. But as long as we stay together it will be fine."