The splashing of water was the first sound Gilan heard when he woke. He blinked his eyes open and looked around. His memory was fuzzy, but as he moved his injured arm, it all came back to him.

He remembered everything. His prank, sleeping in the tree, Abelard and Blaze's warning, the arrow that pierced his arm, Halt- Oh Halt. Gilan blinked the salty tears out of his eyes before actually taking a look around.

Gilan was tied onto a pole on a ship. There were three other kids, two boys and a girl that were still unconscious, tied with him.

Into the distance, Gilan could see more ships. There had to be at least two others. He looked around for awhile longer, before blinking and slowly turning.

There was a sudden feeling that he was behind watched. In fact, Gilan hasn't seen anyone except for the three kids around him. The feeling gradually became stronger, and Gilan gulped. "Who's there?" He stupidly asked before mentally kicking himself. He already knew it was some cult.

No answer came to Gilan as he looked around again hoping to see someone. "Anyone?"

"Learn to be patient," a low voice sounded as a man wearing a black and purple cloak appeared.

Gilan faced the man, who's face was hidden under the cowl of his cloak. He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. He instead shivered in fear.

The man seemed to have an uncanny aura around him. One of mystery, of wisdom, of death.

Gilan shook his head. "What is your name?" He blurted out.

"Names aren't important."

"Okay then," Gilan said, regaining his voice back. "I'll just call you..." he paused. "I'll just call you Crow Man then since you don't really care what you're called. Gilan didn't really know why he said Crow Man, but he guessed it was because the man was shrouded with mystery.

There was a giggle beside him, and Gilan turned his head to see that the girl had wakened.

"What are you laughing at?" Crow Man growled and turned to the girl, who shrank down in fear.

"N-nothing!" She stuttered.

"We reach land!" A voice rang through the air.

Crow Man narrowed his eyes before stalking away to the helm of the ship to help his friends. As Gilan looked around once more, he finally noticed some of the other members of the cult.

After a moment, Gilan looked at the girl, who returned his gaze. They stared at each other for awhile.

"I'm Elaine," the girl said, breaking the silence.

"Gilan."

She smiled sweetly. "Nice to meet you, Gilan."

Gilan slowly nodded as he observed Elaine. Her brown hair was in a pony tail with one strand lose. She had leaf-green eyes and slightly dark skin.

Gilan sensed movement as he settled down. He looked to his left to see one of the boys wake.

He was a red-head with brown eyes. His skin was pale and he was tall. The boy met Gilan's eyes with a defensive glint in his own.

"Who are you?" He demanded. "Where am I?"

"I-I'm Gilan," Gilan said. "And this is Elaine."

Elaine tried to look back at the boy and wave, but she was tied to the opposite side of the pole and was unable to turn. "Hi!" She called out to him as she slumped back down.

"The name's Humphrey," the boy muttered.

"And we're on a ship," Gilan continued.

"I can see that! I'm not blind." Humphrey snapped before muttering. "Just my luck for being stuck with a bunch of idiots."

Gilan winced as Elaine stiffened. "Don't say that! Don't judge people by first impressions." She exclaimed. "Especially rangers," she added after a moment of hesitation.

Gilan snapped his head in surprise and faced Elaine. "How did you know that I am a ra-"

"Your cloak." She interrupted.

Gilan looked down and realized that he was still wearing his cloak. He blinked in surprise. Why wasn't it confiscated?

Suddenly, Humphrey was yanked up and the rope was cut. Gilan was next, then Elaine, and then the one unconscious boy was lifted up.

"Walk!" Crow Man ordered.

The three kids walked off the ship in a single line. The fourth was dragged off like a doll. They merged with other kids, and the cult came together as a whole.

Gilan didn't pay attention to where they were being led to. He instead was focused on where they were.

A few Skandian wolfships were beside the ship they came off of. There were many fisherman, and lots of shops set up by the sidewalks. The buildings were wore down, and the landscape was beautiful. The forests around the town were green and the soil seemed fertile. Overall, the town was very poor, but the nature around it was beautiful.

"Gallica," he heard a new voice. He looked behind him to see the before unconscious boy awake.

"Definitely Gallica." The soft voice repeated.

"Keep your head forward."

Gilan spun around and did as the person said. He looked around a bit more, and realized that they were indeed in Gallica. More specifically La Rivage, a common trading spot. It was then, when it finally hit Gilan.

He was no longer inside of Araluen. He was now in the unknown, dangerous world, alone, without Halt.

He was alone.

A/N:

Just a "filler" chapter to introduce more characters and tell y'all where Gilan is. Bit boring in my opinion.

Thoughts? Death threats? Emotional feelings? Anything?

Also:
Should I change the name of this book to The Amethyst Order? I've been thinking about it, and this is the cover I made just in case I do change the name.