Mia's point of view is probably always going to be the shortest, on most occasions at least. I feel bad about it, but for some reason it's the hardest for me to write. Anyways, I hope you enjoy, and thank you for the support!
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Luke's point of view-

Finally, I located a mercenary camp. The sun had gone down, the freezing weather caused them all to have to huddle at the fire. I squinted from seeing the sudden brightness from the flames. The navy blue flags were still up on the pole, waving in the wind. Blue tents were up as well, but I didn't know if anyone was inside of them. The camp was surrounded by logs stuck vertically into the ground, and the tips were carved to a point.

"Finally." I said to myself.

I didn't know what I was going say. I've had all day to think it up, but when the time came to it, my mind was drawing blanks. Something in my head just told me that this was a waste of time. I should be out there looking for that hybrid myself, and not relying on half-wits to help with my job. I reconsidering my decision to come here, but when I snapped out of my thoughts, I was already in the camp. The men looked at me, with confused expressions. One of them stood up and walked towards me.

"Lucas? Is that you?" He said, tilting his head.

I recognized the voice. Oh no. This guy has been on my case ever since I failed to kill Grayson at the river. His name was Henry. The captain of the entire squad. He always made little temporary captains and set them out without his supervision. Ignorant.

I sighed. I'm going to hate this. "Yes, Henry. And just call me Luke." The emperor is the only one I tolerate calling me by my full name.

He came up to me, and put his hand on his hip, giving me a smug smile. "So what brings you here? Run out of supplies already?"

Why do most of these people have that cocky way of speaking? A tone in their voice that they use to hid the fact that they're mocking you.

"Can't find the hybrid? That's a shame." He said, with irony in his voice.

"No! I did find him, I just..." What am I doing here really? I'm just making myself sound like I'm terrible at my job. I look like a fool right now.

"You lost him, didn't you?" Henry laughed, and went around me, throwing his arm over my injured shoulder. I yelped and rubbed it as he began leading me closer to his team.

"I sent out Clark over here, earlier with three other men." He gestured to a young Brunette, with bandages on his arm.

"They found the elf and the hybrid, and he was the only one that made it back. Even the captain I assigned to keep them in check was killed."

My body tensed up about what I thought he had said at the first half. Did he say what I think he said?

"The hybrid's with the female elf?"

"Yeah. Clark's team almost caught the b**ch, but the hybrid came along and they wiped out the squad."

Great. Another hindrance in my mission. I don't want to have to kill a woman if I haven't been ordered to kill, even if she is a criminal. But I suppose if it comes to it, I might have to bring myself to take her out. I can't let anything stop me. For my own sake, and the reward I'll receive.

"A-anyways." I was getting nervous. "I, um.." I scratched the back of my head.

He hit me on my back again with his arm; his fist once again hitting my bad shoulder.

"Ow! Stop that!" I rubbed it as a glared at him. He just chuckled at me.

"Anyways, uh...Where did you find the hybrid? What direction did he go?"

Clark answered. "I wasn't able to see where they went. I'm sorry."

I knew I shouldn't have come here. Even it seems that I'll get a lead, it just turns out to be a big let down. I'm going to have to wander around and hope for the best.

"I knew this was a waste of time!" I said as I lifting up my arm, and hitting Henry's arm that held me. The greedy expression on his face changed to one of surprise.

I turned sharply and walked to the exit of the camp. I could hear Henry's laughter as I left. I'll show him that I can do this. I'll show him that I'm so much better the likes of him.

I stopped when he spoke. "It would be a shame if the emperor found out that you failed again. Maybe you won't get all of those riches that said you'd get."

My blood boiled. My hand shot down to the hilt of my sword, I pulled it out and charged at him. He froze in place from fear, staring down at the blade that was now inches from his neck. Sweat rolled down his face, and he breathed heavily.

"I've had enough of your sh*t. Stop focusing on my failures and focus on your own.
You let your team go out without you, and you got them killed! You can't trust anyone with what you think you can trust them with!"

My chest ached from my own words. How could I say that without even following them myself? But in my case, I guess it's vice versa.

I shook my head. "You shouldn't have trusted him to lead, and you should have done your job like you were ordered to by the emperor..." I said it softly, putting my sword away slowly.

"Not rely on others to do it for you."

Once again, my own words were used against me in my head. What am I doing right now? I'm going against my own words. Relying on others, when I should do what needs to be done myself. I turned around and left the camp. Not one of them spoke while I marched out, with anger for him, and a raising anger towards myself.

Drake's point of view-

The world faded in and out. The ringing my ears did the same. I felt that I was slipping in and out of consciousness; being unable to move, to be aware as the world of dreams, of nightmares, engulfed my mind and let got for only split seconds.
Finally, I opened my eyes and saw light. Rays of sun poured into the room, but the air was still cold. I had a headache, both internal and external. It felt like a headache on top of being smacked in the head with something hard. My back was aching as well, like I was asleep on rock. Wait a minute. I shot up, looking around franticly. I was lying on the ground in the carved out room, right next to the door way. The diamond was still in it's titanium crate. My heart raced, and I felt fear rise in me.

"W-why am I down here?" I asked no one in particular. I was just trying to wrap my head around what was going on.

I honestly felt scared. Terrified really. Not to mention that dream. It was the first time since my dream linked with Armen's that I couldn't tell that what was going on wasn't real. My neck still burned. I had a thought of what had happened, of how I ended up down here, but I didn't want to think of it. I didn't want to consider accepting the explanation that came to my head. Another thought crossed my mind.

"Dangit. What if Mia's up there looking for me?"

I stood, feeling wobbly on my legs at first. I used the wall to support me for my first few steps, but I quickly able to walk on my own. I felt a lot better than I had the day before, and with Mia around, I felt confident about the day ahead. As always, I closed the doors behind me, then went to the ladder and climbed up. Once I was out, I turned to corner to see if Mia was there and waiting for me, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Alright, I guess she's still asleep then. Good." I stood there, wondering what to do.

I didn't want to think and try to come up with a different answer as to why I was down there. I knew that trying to change what I knew would probably only hurt me later. Then again, accepting that I might have lost control would hurt me anyways. Why am I trying to force myself into denial? Weather it's true or not, I need to stop focusing on these problems and worry about taking care of Mia. She is my guest after all.
I grabbed my backpack, then I left my room and went to the study, were I had told Mia to sleep overnight. The cold air still caused me to shiver, but at least small rays of sun were allowed to hit the earth in patches where clouds weren't present. I pulled my cape in close to my chest.
Once I was up to door, I knocked and moved the vines out of the way so it would be easier to get in. I really thought about cutting those off, but I had always gotten distracted by other things and forgot about it. Well, I don't get gust often anyways. I took a while, but I finally heard the rustling of the bed sheets and boots walking along the floor. I quickly put my bag on back. The doorknob clicked, then Mia pushed the wooden doors open, rubbing the tiredness from her eyes.

She yawned. "Good morning. Thanks for waking me up." She said it in a sarcastic manner.

"Hey, I'm the only one that can be good with sarcasm around here." I said jokingly.
She laughed.

"Yeah. Sure." She messed with her hair that wasn't pulled back into her messy blonde and pink highlighted ponytail.

"Just came by to see if you were awake, but apparently you weren't. Sorry about that."
"It's alright. I went to bed early anyways, but still, the earlier you go to sleep, the more you want to sleep in."

I chuckled as I scratched and rubbed the back of my neck. I mainly did it because I felt awkward, but because my neck still burned. It wasn't the kind of burn when you fell sick; it was more like it was set on fire awhile ago and put out. That stupid nightmare I had was toying with my mind. After an awkward silence, I spoke up.

"So...What do you want for breakfast. I only really have a bunch of fruit honestly, so there isn't much I have offer in that category."

She shook her head. "It's fine. I don't mind eating the leftover bread I have."

She took a crisp loaf of bread out from her backpack. Taking a bite, she began with her mouth full, but it didn't bother too much.

"Are you feeling any better?" She said with her cheeks full, then she swallowed.

"I'm feeling better than yesterday. I still have a small headache though."

She looked concerned. She knew about my problems with headaches, and knew that they weren't a good sign. Especially with my "condition".

"Well, we know that your headaches aren't good. It is possible that it's just because you were sick, or..you know...Him."

"I know. Let's just hope that it's because I'm sick and not because of Him."

She took another bite of the bread and chewed and swallowed it as she looked out the window. Her eyes widened in delight, looking like an idea had popped up in her head. She turned to me with a wide smile and the usual shining in her eyes.

"A few weeks ago I was searching a tomb for artifacts, then this big earthquake hit! I was scared that the tomb would collapse, but dang was it an experience!"

"Really? I heard about the earthquake. I think I've been in one personally myself, but that was one of the first years I came to the badlands. I still have quite a bad memory."

"So, have you seen or anything bizarre while we were separated? You do have quite a crazy life."

I laughed, but it was to mask out the hint of despair I felt. She doesn't know the half of it.

"I've been getting a lot of nightmares lately. When I'm not sick, I have trouble sleeping because of it, but on a brighter note, I can do things like this now..."

I looked at the pink sword in her bag. I lifted up my arm and aimed my hand at the weapon; my hand glowing a bright purple. The same purple aura covered the sword as it wobble out of the bag. Once it was out, it shot towards me; the handle landing perfectly in my palm. I grasped it, making sure it didn't fall and ruin the moment.

"You're so cool!" She cheered, walking around and examining my hand and the blade.

"Yeah, I guess. I've known this levitation spell for about a year now, but I'm just starting to master it. I didn't use it a lot because it took a lot out of me, but now that I have more mana, I feel more comfortable using it."

She looked out of the window again, looking up at the sky.

"Can you come out with me to find supplies before it starts raining? I'm really running low on materials, and I need to make more arrows. I'm all out."

"Sure. Of course I'll go with you. I'm not going to risk letting you get attacked again, even if you have the capability to defend yourself."

She looked back at me, swaying her head slightly and sarcastically saying, "Oh thank you, my hero."

I smiled and chuckled. "So you do you think we'll find somethings useful? Mortem is destroyed and completely scavenged through, Alduin's keep was completely cleared out when they evacuated, and the Red keep was taken over by cultist."

"I don't know. We could find something. Even if it is just in a bunch of ruins. To make arrows I could just grab a bunch of sticks and rocks and sharpen them to a point. I like walking around anyways. It's not like I have much to do anyways, except search for cool artifacts."

I shrugged. "I guess. Alright. Let's just stay away from where we were yesterday. I don't remember how far it was and it's most likely that those mercenaries set up a camp. For all we know, they'll looking all around for us."

She grabbed her backpack and adjusted the straps onto her shoulders. Then she took the last bite of her breakfast and finished it before speaking.

"Yeah. It was a bit far, so I didn't plan on going there anyways."

"Alright then. I guess we'll get going?"

"Sure." She reached into the side pocket of her backpack and grabbed a water bottle.

"That bread was dry." She opened the bottle and drank half of it down. She put the rest back in the pocket, then cleared her throat.

"Oh! Wait!" She took off her backpack again and searched through it. Not finding what she wanted, she searched the large front pocket.

"Yes! Here they are!" She pulled out two flower crowns with white daisies and handed me one of the pair.

"Uh...A flower crown?" Flower crowns always felt a little too feminine too me.

"Yeah! I made them myself! The other ones I had were destroyed at the Magic library."

I examined it while she put on her own flower crown. They both had real vines holding them together. She looked pretty and cute in hers. I took off my backpack and opened it.

"Thanks." I tried to put it away, but Mia stopped me.

"Come on! I made it for you. The least you can do is wear it."

For a moment I hesitated, but it was only right to wear it. I put it on my head. It fell a little bit to the side, and was slightly itchy, but it was a good fit.

"Aren't I pretty?" I said, jokingly. I never expected that I'd ever say anything like that, but it made Mia laugh.

I took it off, and received a disappointed whine from the elf.

"Don't worry. I really like it, it's just making my head itch. I'll wear it later." I put in my backpack and it bag on my shoulders. I pulled up my hood as I turned around and placed my hand on the door, then opened it.

"Come on. I want to get going before it starts to rain." I said as I let her out the door first.

We left the study, and went to the staircase leading down the mountain. The ground was wet, but dry enough that it was safe to walk down. The staircase was thin, and I could tell that Mia was a bit cautious while walking down. We jumped the broken steps, first myself then Mia.

"Almost twisted my ankle." She said, as she stood back up from the jump, and shook her right ankle to make sure it was alright.

"Yeah. You always have to careful about that spot. I'm quite good at parkour, so I guess I have nothing to worry about."

"Alright then, mister show off. I'm not used to parkour. I don't need to do it everyday, unlike you."

I turned back around and began to walk as I pulled up my hood. When we got to the bottom of the mountain, a black mist past my sight. I stopped, making Mia bump into my back. My head ache pulsed.

"Woah. What's wrong?" She walked around me, looking up to my eyes, with her own big lime green eyes filled with concern.

"N-nothing. Just my headache. I'm fine." I said as I grabbed my head.
"Don't pass out or anything, alright?"

"I'll try not too." A chuckle escaped my throat.

She turned back around slowly and began to walk, seeming almost reluctant to break eye contact with me. I knew that she was worried about me and my condition, but what can we do really? All I know of what to do is to hold my ground and stay strong. I can't let myself waver. I have to stay strong for them.

Grayson's point of view-

I passed by another sign with Drake's description on it. It wasn't even where wanted posters normally hung around here. Usually they hang on proper boards for everyone to see, but this one hung on the trunk of a big oak tree. I tore it down, even removing the nail from the tree. I could tell that it was recently hung up. I looked down at the paper in my hands, feeling angry at the emperor. For the first time, I wished it was a poster for me instead. I crumbled up the paper and shoved it into my satchel. I let out a growl that I felt I couldn't hold back. Sharply, I turned around and hopped back onto the horse's leather saddle.

"Come on." I pulled on the reins gently, making the horse walk.

Droplets of rain began to fall from the dark clouds. I pulled my hat down so it would shield my eyes better. Drake's home wasn't too far from where I was. I could see the mountains that were close by, with sun peaking out of where the clouds ended. It was just a mile or so before I would reach Alduin's keep. As usual, I could see my breath from the coldness of the sunless, but wet morning. My skin was forming goosebumps and I was slightly shivering. I felt so much anger and hatred rising inside of me, but I mostly felt regret.

"Why did it take me so long to decide to go to his house? Am I a horrible friend?" I asked myself. My horse nayed.

I looked back up at the mountains. "I'll be there soon buddy. Just please...be there."

Suddenly, I heard a noise that sounded like talking. It was far up ahead and barely noticeable, but the strange silence, even with the rain hitting the ground, made it easier to hear the slightest sound. I sat up straight and looked up head on the gravel path. I jumped down from the saddle and grabbed reins to lead it.
Slowly, I drew my sword as I walked closer, with caution. There's more than one, actually, it sounded like multiple people. I walked closer and closer in the direction of the voices, until I found a clearing, where mercenaries were readying their equipment to set up a campsite. I jumped back, and pushed my horse back behind the trees.
It snorted. In response, I put my finger to my lip and shushed it. I peered through the bushes and watched the group of men. There were five of them, and three horses. One horse had a carriage behind it loaded with supplies. Three of the mercenaries tried to unload the carriage, while the other two spoke to one another, examining a map in their hands.

"Henry and his team met up with me earlier this morning. They said that the hybrid should be in this area, but they're not positive."

The second one holding the map on the left corners, called out to a comrade at the carriage. "Did you hang up those posters?"

"Yeah. It's taken care of." He grabbed a box from the carriage and placed it on the dirt. "Why is finding that hybrid creep so important anyways?"

"I don't know, but you know that the emperor has to get what he wants. When he doesn't, he unleashes h**l. Besides, he's an accomplice to the dragon egg thief. We could get a lot of information out of him."

I growled. They're looking for Drake. I wanted to jump out and kill them all, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it since I was too outnumbered. Maybe I could just shoot them with my arrows? As they moved the large wooden crates out of the carriage, one of them dropped it. It made a loud sound as it hit the ground, scaring my horse. It got on it's hind legs and let a loud scream like sound. I grabbed the reins and pulled them, hopping they didn't hear, but my hopes were abolished. They all looked in my direction, and saw me struggling to get the steed under control.

"It's Grayson! Attack!" They grabbed their crossbows and swords and charged at me.

As fast as I could, I got on the horse and rode as fast I could make it go. The mercenaries got on their own horses and chased after me. Arrows zipped past me. I have to get rid these guys. I can't let them catch me and I can't lead them to Drake's home. Despite that, I continued in the direction I was going before. I can't let them live now that they know that both Drake and I are down in this area. They'll sent a search team and will infiltrate his house. I won't let that happen. Somehow, I have kill them all.

Drake's point of view-

We searched through the old camp site. I nudged the rocks of an old campfire with my foot as I waited for Mia to finish searching the torn up, dark blue tent. I had my hood up to block out the rain that was falling from the sky. I was starting to get irritated again. But most of the irritation didn't feel like my own. It was like it was being forced in me. That feeling only made it worse.

"Did you find anything yet? This rain is getting on my nerves."

"Be patient! I found this old looking chest!"

That sparked my curiosity. I walked up to the small tent and went inside, having to crouch down until I was on my knees. I scooted in and looked over Mia at the small opened chest she held in her hands.

She said without breaking eye contact with the items within it, "There are four Sovereigns and two Florians. And an old glass bottle. I guess I'll keep that."

She put all of the items in her backpack. I walked backwards out of the tent, and cracked my spine from being in the uncomfortable position. Mia turned around and stood up, her knees had to arch in order for her to fit. The tent was incredibly small, and seemed to be only mention for laying down in.

"Darn. I didn't find any arrows. I guess I could buy some with this money, but I'd have to make sure that no mercenaries are around."

I nodded. "Right. Wouldn't want anymore problems with those guys. So are you going to go with the plan of making homemade arrows, or are we going to have search everywhere to find a town?"

On our way up to the abandoned camp site, Mia had grabbed the thinnest rocks and the straightest sticks she could find, just incase we didn't find any arrows.

"I want to try to make one. If it doesn't turn out well, then I'll just have to go buy some, I suppose."

I looked up into the sky, momentarily forgetting about the rain. A drop fell into my left eye. I closed my eyes tight and looked back down, as I wiped my eyes to get the water out. I blinked a few times to clear my vision as much as I could.

"Can we please go somewhere where we can get out of this rain? You know that I hate getting wet."

"I know. I know. I guess we could get going and take shelter for a while." She said as she held her hand over her eyes to keep the rain from getting in them.

She backed up into to protecting of the tent, taking off her backpack. She opened it and reached in, pulling out a big piece of green fabric. She whipped it around her shoulders and put it on her neck, buttoning it. She pulled up the hood of her green cape, then grabbed her bag and ran back to me.

"Alright. I'm ready now. Why can't we just stay in the tent?"

"Do you see how small that thing is? With you in there, I can barely fit in! And it hurts my back having to bent down like that."

"Alright, you have a point."

I walked into the mass of trees, heading back in the direction of the main path. The thick branches and all of the leaves on the trees made the rain stop pouring down on us, with only drops here and there dripping down from above. I inhaled and exhaled, feeling myself calm down. That was another thing that's been going on with me this past month. I started to become easily irritated and agitated. It wasn't like myself at all. I didn't know if it was because of stress, or...other reasons.
The only thing that was getting on my nerves now was the fact that I was wet and the sound of the rain hitting the leaves. Usually I found it sort of relaxing, but at that moment, it felt like it kept getting louder, and louder, and louder. I held my ears as they began to ring. I heard distant echoing, but they were drowned out by a voice.

Pitter patter, Pitter patter. Isn't the rain so much fun?

I growled at it. "Quit it."

When something touched my shoulder, I jumped in surprise and released my ears.

"...ke? Drake?" Mia shook my shoulder. "What happened? Why did you cover your ears like that?"

I shook my head. The ringing stopped and light sounds of rain returned to normal.

"Oh. Sorry. My ears were just starting to hurt. It's nothing, so no need to worry."

She looked like she was about to speak up, with worry on her face, when multiple water droplets fell down onto her hood, distracting her. She looked up and mumbled something, but I started walking away from her, trying to avoid another conversation about my health, and possibly my mental state. Is she just worried that I'm still sick, or have I not been hiding my mumbling to the voices in my head well enough? I'm fine. I'm fine... Why do I keep lying about that?

"Drake, watch out!" Mia yelled as she grabbed the back of my shirt collar, and yanked me back behind the cover of the bushes and trees. Horses ran past us at a fast speed, with men riding on top of them. None of them saw us.

"Were those mercenaries?" I asked, thinking that Mia saw them better than my blurry eyesight.

"I think so. You have to be more careful. You could have gotten run over by a horse!"

"I know. I just... I got distracted." I said, feeling embarrassed.

"Well don't get distracted so much in the future, mister."

I chuckled, then looked back in the direction the group went. I got an idea. I didn't know if it could have been thought of as good or not, but it was something at least.

I looked back at her, and said as I smiled, "Do you want to try to see where they're going?"

"But they're going too fast. We can't catch up to them."

I sighed. "Oh, right." I looked back up. "Not to mention that if we get caught, who knows what will happen." Under my breath I mumbled, "It wouldn't be safe to use my magic to chase them or to help fight back either."

I wanted to go after them. Something felt like it was compelling me to go.

"How about we head in that direction and see if we can catch up. Something's telling me to follow them."

"Alright. If you insist." She started to walk away. I followed her as we walked quickly down the large path.

We tried following the hoof prints in the thick mud, but the rain was beginning to flatten and cover the muddy tracks. Once again my ears began to hurt like h**l, but it wasn't my mind. Small, but painful pieces of hail began to hit us on the front of our bodies. I covered my face with my arms, while Mia tried with both her arms and hood to shield herself. I closed my eyes from the water that slipped through my arms and went into my eyes. My hood had fallen down, allowing the rain to pour down and wet my hair; slowly dripping onto my face.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Mia yelled as our fast walking turned into running, trying to escape the storm.

The loud sound of ice hitting the ground stopped, and the pinching pain of ice hitting my skin ceased.

Mia looked back behind as we slowed down, now out of the hail storm. "That hurt. I hate it when that happens."

I nodded. "Me too. Do have an idea of where they went? I lost them." I looked left and right at the path that was now split in two.

Mia looking to the path to the eastern south and pointed. "They went this way. Towards Alduin's keep." I ran, even though I really didn't mean too. Mia struggled to keep up.

"Slow down! Why are you so eager to catch them anyways? They'll kill us!"

I didn't answer, or look back at her. I was becoming so focused that I was zoning out the world, not even letting the rain in my eyes bother me. I don't even know why I'm doing this. I'm putting us in danger. Why am I doing this? Will something come out of this that will be worth it? I doubt it, but I need to to know for sure.

Mia's point of view-

Why does he want to catch up to these maniacs anyways? He's acting crazy. This is too risky, but he was running to fast for me to stop him. I felt with every step I took, the mud slipping out from under my feet, trying make me slip and fall. Alduin's keep was just up ahead, and I could see the horses rounded up. Some were standing, and some laid on their sides, something horses should almost never do. Something's wrong up there.
Drake changed direction slightly and purposely ran into an oak tree to stop himself and keep him from falling; holding up his arms and keeping them in front of him to avoid hitting his head on the bark. I found myself needing to do the same to stop myself in time and avoid slipping into the wet mud. I held up my arms, readying for the impact. My body slammed into an oak tree, bruising the sides of my arms as I hit the tree. I looked across the path, where Drake peered from the tree, looking at the horses. He shook his head, and ran his hand through his hair, before pulling his hood back up.

"They look...dead." Drake said, as he walked out of the cover of the tree, allowing himself to be seen, but nothing attacked.

The steeds that were alive ran away as we walked closer to them. I was disappointed about that. It would have been cool to own my own horse. Two bodies of horses laid on the ground, unmoving. I walked up to one of the bodies of the animals lying on the ground. I kneeled down to examine it. It wasn't breathing, and an arrow stuck out of it's front right shoulder, with blood pooling on it's fur.

"They're definitely dead." I said as I stood back up.

I back up at Drake. He looked over another corpse, with a look of shock. He turned to me, with wide eyes.

"There's a dead mercenary right here." He said, more calm then his expression made it seem like it would be.

I stood up and walked to him and the corpse. I looked over the body of the horse, seeing yet another body, but one of a man. His hat had fallen off of his head, and his black hair was covered in mud. His blue eyes remained open, staring into the sky. An arrow was penetrating his chest, directly in the area of his heart, soaking his coat with blood.

"Whoever did this, killed them really quickly, but there were more than this, and clearly one of them was able to get away." Drake said as he walked to the corpse I previously stood by.

"There were definitely more than this. Whoever they were chasing didn't kill them all."

"I wonder who did this. They obviously have a grudge against the empire like we do."

He looked over his shoulder at me. "Either that, or they're a ruthless killer. Who knows?"

"I have no idea." I said as I went around the dead horse and over to the dread man. I pulled the arrow out of his chest and put into my backpack.

"Gross." I heard Drake say behind me.

I replied, "Well it's better than having nothing."

He shrugged. "I guess that's true."

It was silent for a few minutes as began to slowly leave the the area, watching out for the other mercenaries that escaped, and the culprit to their comrades deaths. I guess to Drake, it didn't really matter. It didn't bother me that much either. They worked for the empire, and the empire is our enemy.

"Alduin's keep is up here. I guess we might as well head back to my place. What do you think?"

"Sure. Can you show me more of your magic stuff?

He laughed and looked down at me, putting his hands into the pockets of his pants. "Yeah. Why not?" He said. I cheered.

We made it to the boards at Alduin's keep. I gasped at the sight of even more bodies lying on the gravel. One of the bodies of a mercenary with darker skin and black hair was shot in the head, leaning on the board covered in recent news from the empire. Most of the signs around him were stained with red. Another body had it's head hanging into the ravine next to us.
I counted the bodies, all of them being mercenaries and their horses. There were three men, and three horses. Two horses and one mercenary were shot with arrows, while one horse looked as if it's throat was slit, and the rest of the men looked to have been stabbed to death. One of them was even decapitated.

"This is...brutal." I said, as I kneeled down next to the body on the news board. I reached my hand up to the arrow lodged in the guy's head.

"Mia, please don't." Drake said, knowing what I was doing.

"Too late." I said as I pulled the arrow from the corpse's head, blood spraying out.

Drake looked away. "Why are you so grossed out? It's not like it's the first time you've seen a dead body."

"I know. I just... I don't know. I just want to find whoever did this, and find out why."
I looked at the path, and saw a fresh trail of blood.

"Look" I pointed to it. "We'll follow that. If we don't find anything, then we'll go back to your place and look at all the magic stuff, alright?"

He gave a faint smile and agreed to my plan. We followed the trail of blood, hoping it would lead us to the person who caused this bloodshed.

Grayson's point of view-

So close. I need to get rid of these guys. Arrows shot past me, but each of them missed. I held a bow in my hands, readying to grab an arrow, turn around and fire. I heard galloping getting closer, until a black horse was next to me, with it's rider holding a bow and aimed at me. He released it, letting the arrow fly towards me, but it missed me. Instead, it hit the horse I rode upon, right in it's shoulder. It gave out a final screech, as it fell onto the ground, and I went flying off of the saddle.
My body hit the ground and skidded on the gravel and dirt. The mercenary that killed my horse jumped off of his own, and ran at me with a sword ready to bring down on me. I grabbed an arrow from my backpack, pulled it back on the string, and released. It went into his heart, instantly killing him. His body fell over, as an arrow from the further back mercenaries hit his horse in the side, and killed it. Idiots. They didn't even know how to properly aim, either that or they just such at their jobs. Probably both.
I ran into the direction of Alduin's keep before they caught up to me. I stopped and readied my bow and arrow once more. I fired, the arrow hitting a steed in the neck. It feel over, but the rider jumped off.
Quickly, I readied another one, and shot it at him. It penetrated into his forehead, and his body fell back onto the news board, covering it with his own blood. I got my last arrow ready, waited for the next horse to run at me. I fired it. The arrow hit its chest, and it fell over with the rider still on it's back. Hastily, I drew my sword and ran to him.
Before he could fully recover and stand, I brought my blade down on his side. I pulled it out as he began to cough up blood. Ending his misery, I raised my sword again and swung it straight down onto his neck, slicing through his throat and cutting off his head. His blood sprayed on my lowed body. As much as I want to see these b*****ds suffer, I don't want to leave them alive longer than they should be. One last rider ran at me, with fury in his eyes. I ran at him, both of us swinging our blades at the exact same moment.
My blade slit the horse's throat, as his blade cut deep into my left arm. I hissed at the stinging pain. As the animal fell down, I looked at the wound in my arm. It bled quickly, and looked like it definitely wasn't going to heal on it's own. The man stood up after the fall, and ran at me, relentlessly. The iron blade came at me, but I blocked his attack. He started walking backwards as I swung at him. I blocked every swing, and he blocked every swing I made. His blade finally made it past my defense, and cut me in between my chest and neck, leaving a long, but minor scar.
As that happened, I took a low swing, and cut into his knees. He fell over, his head hanging over the ravine. I cut into his wrist, making him drop his sword into the ravine, leaving him at my mercy. Mercy that he wouldn't receive.
One last time, I held up my sword and brought it down with force. I brought it up and down repeatedly, the iron piercing his skin and insides, and spraying more blood on my chest and face. The rain washed the blood off of my face, but it went into my eyes and mouth. I rubbed my eyes and spit onto the ground to get rid of the blood getting in them. I hissed and put my hand over the deep wound on my arm, that I knew needed stitches. I looked up at the mountains.

"Drake... I'll be there." I said, breathing raspily.

I still felt adrenaline from the fight, and ran along the path to the hybrid's home. The pain in my arm stung from the wound, and it continued to bleed. The blood covered my whole sleeve down to my elbow. As I ran, I searched through my satchel for health potions, but I only found a dirty cloth. I knew it wouldn't be the best idea to use a dirt rag as a tourniquet, but I need to stop the bleeding fast. I pulled out the cloth, and ran to a boulder by a hill.
I was starting to get light headed. How could a simple arm wound make me feel light headed? I've seen people get their arms amputated when I was in the imperial army, and I don't remember people saying they got light headed. Although, I really shouldn't compare such a minor wound to something as serious as an amputation.
Putting one end of the cloth between my teeth, I put the other end around my arm, then tried to tie a knot with my right hand. Once I got as much as I could, I pulled it with my right hand and my teeth to tighten it. Once that was done, I spit onto the ground to get rid of the putrid taste of the cloth. I stayed laying on the boulder, trying to catch my breath. I held up my head, welcoming the rainwater that hit my face and went into my mouth, giving me hydration. I need to keep going. I need to find him. I need to warn him. My eyes widened when I heard voices that were muffled from the rain and the slight ringing in my ears.

"Please don't be more of them." I sighed as I pulled out my sword, but didn't move from my position.

I glared at the two blurred figures that began coming closer to me. One of the figures didn't look normal. It was abnormally tall. I wiped my eyes, and squinted to see them better. My heart raced more when I recognize them. An elf in a pink dress with blonde hair with pink highlights and wearing a green cape, and the tall man with purple and white eyes, with the right side of his face, shoulder, and hair being completely black, with blue clothes, and a gray cape. The two faces I yearned to see again.

"Drake..?Mia..?"

They stopped in their tracks and became silent when they saw me. I pushed myself off of the boulder and slowly walked towards them, putting my sword away.

"G-Grayson?" Drake said, speechless. "You're-you're hurt!"

He ran to my side, bend down, and put his arm under mine, trying to help me stand, even though I felt that I could stand perfectly fine. Almost. My legs did feel a little wobbly from the blood loss. I looked at my arm around Drake's shoulders, completely covered in blood.

Mia walked up to us, her hands clamped together and over her mouth from shock. "Are you okay?"

I took a few breaths before I replied. "I need a health potion. Drake, you're a Mage. Do you have one?"

He took my arm off of him and lead me to a big rock to sit on as he said. "Yeah. Yeah. I do."

He took off his backpack quickly and frantically searched through it, before he pulled out a glass bottle filled with glimmering pink liquid. He handed it to me with shaking hands. I sat down and took it from his hands. I then opened it, and chugged it down, feeling some of it drip out of my lips.

"I'm so glad to find you! You have no idea! I heard that you went into hiding, and I admit that I was scared you had died!" Drake said, cheerfully, but I could see in his eyes that his cheerfulness dissipated almost instantly after he said that.

I didn't know if it was my wound, mentioning my possible demise, or something else that was starting to bother him. I didn't say anything about it.

"I was in hiding. I live in a big hidden temple inside of a mountain now. I'll show you guys sometime. I think you'll like it a lot!"

"Are you the one that killed those mercenaries back there?" Mia asked.

I nodded, holding my arm out to Drake, trying to hand him back the bottle. It brought back memories when looked like he didn't want to take it. I smiled, and he finally gave in and took it back.

I turned back to Mia. "Yeah. They were chasing me and I couldn't lead them to Drake's house, so it was better to just take them all out."

Drake spoke. "You went a little far. Don't you think? You decapitated a guy!"

"Drake..." I said, still breathing heavily, but now mainly from the pain. "I came here looking for you..." I searched through my satchel, until I found the moist piece of crumbled up paper. I flattened it out on my leg.

"...because of this." I handed the paper to him, now getting wet from the rain that was dying down and turning into sprinkles.

He held part of his gray hooded cape up to cover the paper as he grabbed it. He rested it on his leg so the wet paper wouldn't fall apart in his hands. His eyes scrolled through it, widening the more he read.

"W-what does it mean? Is it because I'm wanted for treason, or what?" I could see that he was starting to freak out.

I shook my head. "I have no clue, but for whatever reason it is, you have to stay away from them at all cost, unless you aren't outnumbered. When you go into towns and cities, be careful. You won't know who will know about this."

"What? What's wrong?" Mia asked. Drake handed her the paper, and she covered it with her own cape.

"You're on a wanted poster! How come I don't have a poster?" The piece of the paper that she heldin her hand ripped, making a majority of the wanted poster fall into the mud, and nearly blending in and get getting dissolved by the water.

"Oops." She said, letting go of the rest of the paper in her hand.

"I don't know, but now that we're reunited, we can figure this out together. Besides, I still have things I need to attend to that I need your help with."

Drake stood up, and grabbed a lower part of my arm that wasn't injured. "We'll discuss all of this on the way to my place. We have to tend to your injury as soon as possible."

He pulled me up, keeping his have on my arm to help me walk in case I suffered too much blood loss. We began walking down the gravel path, making our way to Drake's house.

"So what do you need our help with? It has to do with the dragon egg, right?"

"Yeah. When I left the portal, I ended up a few miles away from the empire. I looked at the map to the Drago' hatchery, and of course, it's past the empire. I could steal an airship, but I can't do that without you guys watching my back. You're the only people I can trust."

He smiled down at me, replying, "Don't worry Grayson. We'll have your back."

It felt great having people I could trust when everyone else is out for my head. I looked ahead, seeing Mia ahead of us.

"So when did you guys find each other?"

Drake answered. "Actually, we met up just yesterday. Some mercenaries recognized her and tried to catch her to turn her in, but I came just in time."

I started to wonder more about those stupid posters that were put up for Drake.

"So if the mercenaries are already after you guys, then why aren't there any poster for Mia? Or did you just do something stupid and get into trouble that you don't want to tell me about?"

He shook his head. "No! I didn't do anything stupid! I don't know what's going on."

Mia called from ahead of us. "You guys still sound like a bickering married couple!"

"Shut up! We do not!" I yelled out. I felt like like running up and grabbing her to give her a playful noogie on the head, but I was still feeling weak.

We made it the stone bridge that lead back into the dry terrain by the crag mountains. It looked down at the scar above my chest. It was bleeding a staining the brim of my green shirt, and for such a tiny looking scar, it stung. My arm, on the other hand, was starting to become numb from blood loss and not moving it. My blood was starting to go down my glove and fingers, warm and sticky, and dripping onto the dried dirt and sand. When we got to the steps of his mountain, I tripped on them, nearly falling over, but Drake caught me.

"Can you walk up here on your own?" He asked.

I felt like I was being treated like child, but it is understandable. That's how people get when they see others they care about with an injury. I've done that a lot.

"I'm fine, just, stay close behind me, you know, just incase."

He nodded. Mia walked up the first few steps, then turned back and looked at us.

"Be careful. Don't hurt your arm when you have to jump this over here."

We walked up the spiral staircase around the mountain. The scent of the sea masked the scent of the blood. Mia jumped the broken piece of the steps, where I had fallen down last time I was there. I jumped across, more efficiently than I had the last time. The breeze was cooler up here, but warmer than at Argon's wall. We reached the top, and made our way up to Drake's room.

"Just sit on the bed. I need to look at that nasty injury on your arm."

I sat sat down on the red covers of the soft bed, then took off my cape, my gloves, and my dark gray jacket. I set it all on the stone floor so I didn't get the covers dirty. I also removed my hat and set it on the soft, white pillow. Drake sat next to, and removed the old cloth from the wound. It had stopped bleeding, but infection could still set in. He cringed as he took it off, and tossed the bloody cloth on the stone ground.

"This definitely needs to be stitched up. We need to clean it then do that." I knew that was what he was going say.

Drake stood up, then went outside. After a few seconds, he came back in with a glass bottle filled with shining water. He set it next to me, then went around the bed and searched through the draws of the cabinets to the right side of the bed. He pulled out a needle and clear thread. He came back to my side and sat down.

"Unfortunately, you're gonna have to take your shirt off so I can clean it better and not accidentally sew your shirt to your arm."

When he said that, Mia shook her head, with blushes on her cheeks. "Okay! This is awkward now. I'm just going to, uh.." She looked down at my clothes on the ground and picked them up.

"I'm going to clean these for you! Uh, Drake, can I use that fountain thing to clean them?"

Drake nodded. "Sure. There's a brush in my bottom drawer. Use that to clean them better."

She nodded back, and walked around to the bedside cabinet. She opened it and pulled out an old brush that looked like the kind people usually use to clean horses. She closed the drawer, then left the room. I removed my shirt to make the procedure easier. The hybrid tied an end of the clear thread onto the end of the needle, then put it down and took the bottle of water.

"Lift up your arm so I can pour the water on it. It might sting a little." He said, removing the cap.

I lifted up my arm, stained in my own blood. He poured the cold water onto the wound, and then the rest of my arm to clean the blood. I cringed from the small stinging.
Taking off his backpack, he grabbed clean bandages, and ripped off a small piece, then another. He rubbed them on my arm, the fabric soaking up the red and water. He bent down, and grabbed the bloody cloth I had wrapped around my arm. He held it and the bundled up bandages in his hand, looking at them strangely. He took in a breath, then with a flick of his hand, they vanished in a purple light.

"Okay. Good." He said under his breath.

"Now time for the hard part." He lifted up the needle.

I got a little uncomfortable. "Do you even know how to do this?" I asked.

"Yeah. I do. I mean, mainly with clothing, but somethings I have to stitch myself up. I almost had to do it the other day, as a matter of fact."

"Why?" I asked out of curiosity.

He lifted up a part of his shirt, revealing bloodied bandages. "I was attacked the other day by some guy. I guess it had to with the whole...wanted thing."

He placed the tip of the needle on my skin, the piece of metal feeling cold.

"Take in a deep breath." He said.

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply, as he stuck the needle in my skin. I bit my lip from the pain. It's nothing really. I've been through so much worse. I can't count all of the times I've been through things like being shot with countless arrows throughout the years and getting many scars from battles. Heck, I've had an arrow in my head and somehow still lived. Even with that, I'm not completely numb.
The whole fact of Drake's rising status as a criminal started to bother me again. I looked away from him, trying not to look as he continuously pierced my skin to seal the wound.

"You don't seem too bothered by the fact that all of the badlands will be on the lookout for you now.

"Well," He replied. "It's just another problem to throw in the pile of many others. Besides, I've been trying to avoid others recently a lot. It's nothing too bad."
He sighed. "Okay. The hard parts over with."

I looked back at my arm. More blood was starting to come from it, but the pain was starting to form into a very uncomfortable itching. My eyes everted up to Drake's mismatched orbs, and I thanked him. He said that it was no problem. As he took the bandages and began to wrap them around my arm, I noticed something different about him. It took me a second to realize exactly what it was.

"Your eyes. Not your white one. Your Enderman one. The color looks...faded."

He looked up at me, then back down. "R-really? I never noticed."

He made strange movement with his hands, like he wanted to cover up his eyes, but stopped himself. He continued to wrap the bandages around, then broke it and tied it so it would stay in place.

"There. Finished. You gotta be a lot more careful out there Grayson."

He put all of his supplies back into his backpack, then stood up. He looked outside at the sky. It was a beautiful orange and yellow.

"Perhaps you should get some rest and not use your arm for awhile. You can use my bed. I don't mind using my sleeping bag." He said with a smile.

I wanted to insist that he used his own bed, but I guess this is his house. He makes the rules.

"Um, alright." I said, slowly laying down on the bed.

It felt weird. Usually I go to bed really late at night. I'm probably going to have trouble sleeping. Drake left the room, going outside to get Mia. I smiled, feeling happy to be reunited with them.
---
The night fell, and I fell in and out of sleep, but it was for other reasons than I had expected. I sat up in my bed, hearing rustling of fabric and whimpers. I rubbed my tired eyes, and looked down at Drake, laying in the blue sleeping bag I had given him last month. He tossed and turned, looking distressed in his slumber. I sighed, feeling bad for him. This was the third time this night. I took the blankets off and stood up, the joints in in my legs cracking. I yawned and crouched down next to him, shaking his body.

"Drake. Wake up! Your doing it again."

He opened his eyes and looked up at me, rubbing them.

He yawned and said to in his tired voice, "Again? I'm sorry. I've been getting a lot of nightmares. They won't go away."

"Don't you have any magic to help?" I asked, worried about him.

He pointed to the dream catcher above his bed. "Usually that's supposed to help, but, recently, not so much."

"Is there anything I can do?"

He looked down, thinking. "I don't think so. Just...go back to bed. I'll think of something. Maybe I could just use water from another fountain outside. I'm definitely not using the one we cleaned your clothes in." He chuckled.

"Um, alright. I'll stay awake until you get to sleep, okay?"

He looked like he didn't want me to stay awake with him, but he gave in.

"Alright. I'll be back." He said as he got out of his sleeping bag, grabbed a bottle from his backpack, and left.

I sat back down on the bed, and waited for him. I wonder why he was getting all of those nightmares? They'll have to go away soon.
He came back, drinking the water down. He put the glass bottle back into the backpack, then got back into his sleeping bag.

He closed his eyes, and said quietly "Goodnight."

I could tell for awhile that me watching over him sort of bothered him, but eventually, I heard him lightly snoring. For a few more minutes, I waited, just incase the night horrors came back to his mind, but he remained sleeping peacefully. Finally. I laid back down, putting the covers over myself, and eventually fell into my own sleep.