This picture is the courtesy of DannatoDestinato, an awesome author and book critique. (And apparently an amazing artist) a thousand thanks, DannatoDestinato, for this awesome illustration!

  When Dray opened his eyes he was met with total blackness. No light lit his small cold place of respite. Dray was not awakened by loud wind, the light of day, or even the cold. He was awakened by the lack of them. He could hear no noise. The air seemed thin and in a very small quantity. For a moment he didn't even know which way faced out. He rolled up his blanket, packed up the stuff he had taken out and removed his backpack that was stopping the entrance. He felt forward with his claw-hands and found, blocking the entrance outside, was a hard packed wall of ice and snow.
Panic gripped him and he began frantically clawing at the icy wall of his cold prison. He knew he was at least five feet into the mountainside. Which meant that there was at least five feet of solid ice and snow holding him in. He tried pushing against with all his might, but it did nothing. He continued clawing at the ice, terror pushing his body to its extent. After about five minutes of scratching and clawing at the hard-packed snow and ice, he had only scraped clear less than a few inches. If he continued in this manner it would take him a day, maybe more, to break free of his icy captivity. Dray collapsed to the cold hard floor, his chest heaving as he tried to breathe in enough of the thin air to satisfy his lungs. Dray scooted to the back of his confinement, feeling with his claw-hands for a outlet of some sort. He found nothing. Defeat conquered his mind, he was going to die. Once he resigned himself to this fate, he laid his head on the ground and drifted into sleep.

Dray awoke with a start, jumping to his feet and slamming his head against the rock ceiling. Dray fell onto his back, his head throbbing and red explosions shooting across his vision. He clutched the bloody lump on his head, gritting his teeth. When the throbbing abated, Dray smelled something; it was a musty, algae-like smell. He slowly raised himself to a crouch position, feeling along the ceiling of the crack he was in. His claw-hands discovered a open space that he must have moved when he smashed his head on the rock. There was a large rock covering the entrance to a thin tunnel leading upwards, that he had dislodged.
It was freedom.

******
Fadriel wiped the sweat from his brow and peered through the mist around them that had blown from the Hiki Marsh into the Sovereign Parting, to see the large grey shape that he hoped was the Enarkin wall. Within a few minutes of marching, it was unmistakably the Enarkin defense of which he saw, with its high sandstone walls looming up from the fog. Fadriel hissed in pain with every step he took, his wounded leg throbbing, pain shooting up his body. Dusk was creeping into the Sovereign Parting as the weary men trudged through the thick grasses.

General Zarkean, who was heading the party, put a horn to his mouth and blew a long wailing blast, sounding  through the fog to the Enarkin stronghold. An answering horn was blew, and the gate set in the wall slowly clanked open. Flies and vultures swarmed over the many rotting bodies strewn across the huge field from the recent battle. Some amount of Enarkins had been gracious enough to clear the road of the refuse and carcasses. Fadriel entered the gate, his hand gripping his bow staff and using it as a walking stick. He looked up at the numerous Enarkin guards positioned on the high walls. He limped towards the infirmary along with many other of the weary troops. He entered the large building and sat down on a bed at a nurses bidding. Fadriel lifted his pant leg to reveal a bloody, dirty, and swelling wound.

"Ah, that's bad," said the Enarkin doctor, "I'll have to treat that immediately if you want to keep your leg."

"By all means," Fadriel said through gritted teeth, pain surging up his leg as the doctor walked away.
The Enarkin doctor returned shortly with the necessary tools.
"I'll get it fixed up with only a scar to show," said the doctor, lifting a needle and thread, "but first," he lifted one shelled finger, "I must put you to sleep."

Oh perfect, Enarkin medicine. Fadriel shook his head as the stinging ointment was added to his wound. The throbbing commanded his full attention as his vision began to cloud over and the doctors talking drifted away. The blood pounded in his ears as his head went cold, he drew a ragged breath as the light started to fade. His last thought was of the young warrior bounding up the rocks towards him, sword in hand, glowing in the weak sunlight, face filled with determination. Then Fadriel slipped into darkness.

******
Arleen chewed on the inside of her cheek as she nervously scratched at the windowsill with her fingernails. The steady drum of the hundreds of feet marching across the terrain reverberated in her head. He army was not yet visible but the sound was unmistakable. Over five hundred feet all stamping the ground in unison.

She pulled herself away from the window and headed for the stairs, going higher to get a better vantage point of vision. She reached the highest tower and pushed past the guard to look out the open window. Snow covered the windowsill and a cold wind blew through it. Arleen pulled her sweater closer around her bare arms and looked down over the countryside.

A long line of men marched toward them, armor glinting in the evening sun. The general rode on a huge mountain ibex in front of the soldiers. A shrill horn pierced the air, echoing off the mountains. The mountain Arleen was in trembled as the monstrous gates set in the stone were unlocked and opened. Arleen turned from the window, her hair flitting across her face. She descended the many stone stairs down to the lower levels.

The marching of feet grew louder as she continued down the steps, her blood pumping, her emotions swirling. A mixture of fear, anger, hope, expectation, and unbridled enthusiasm to see the return of the army. She reached the common road which was carved into the mountain, a small fraction of the network of large tunnels and solid stone storefronts and homes. The huge gate gaped open, spewing sunlight into the lamp-lit interior of the mountains tunnels.

The gate's maw opened the sheltered under-mountain city to the wide world, one of the only outlets of the mountain kingdom. The hundreds of men, although weary from battle and the long trek across the Hiki Marsh, had put on a returning show of splendor and military precision. The horn was blown again, this time in a show of splendor. Arleen jumped up and down trying to see over the heads of the crowd. She let out a frustrated exclamation and jumped up onto a large crate to get a better view.

"Make way!" The enforcers of the city shouted, pushing the crowd to the sides to let the Alhradan army pass. The battle weary men marched with resolute eyes focused ahead, each foot placed deliberately and in unison with the others. All of the men had their swords drawn, held up in front of them. Arleen frantically searched every face, young and old, for the two men she loved more than anyone else in all of Sarian. Then she spotted him. Erin.
"Erin!" Arleen shouted, waving her arms. He didn't hear her over the stamp stamp stamp of feet, and the noise of the crowd.
"Erin!" Arleen shouted again, becoming desperate. His head whipped around, his shaggy coal-black hair swaying with the movement. His crystal blue eyes scanned the crowd for a moment, and then fell on Arleen, standing on the crate. His marching rhythm broke for a moment and his sword lowered. He started to step out of the line towards Arleen, but then he seemed to decide against it and continued his rhythmic marching. He glanced longingly to where Arleen stood, then,
resolutely fixed his gaze forward, raised his sword, and marched on.

Arleen jumped off the crate and pushed through the throng to keep up with Erin.

"Halt!" The general of the army commanded, holding up his arm. The army stopped instantly, not one stumble took place in the whole troop. "disband!" He shouted.

Immediately all of the soldiers broke their military lines, and the army melted into the crowd. Erin pushed through the thick mass of people toward Arleen, who was doing the same toward him. At last they reached one another. They flung themselves into each other's arms, pulling each other close. Arleen slid her hands inside Erin's armor to wrap them around his body. She grabbed a fistful of his tunic as she rested her head on his shoulder.
"I'm so glad your alright." She said, breathing in the smells of earth, sweat, and blood that accompanied a true soldier.
"I never thought I'd see you again." He said, running his hand along her back. Arleen suddenly pushed away just enough for their eyes to meet. Hers a hazel brown, and his a piercing, crystal, icy blue.
"Where is he?" Arleen asked, the fear creeping into her heart, "where is my brother?"
Erin's eyes fell. "I haven't seen him since the ambush."
"Ambush?!" Arleen gasped, her hold releasing from his tunic as she recoiled.
"We were ambushed by a band of Enarkins in the Hiki Marsh. I saw him at the beginning of the fight, but since then I haven't seen him." Erin said quietly.
"But he's your commander, you must know where he is!" She said, her voice almost commanding him to tell her what she wanted to hear.
"All the commanders were called to the front with the general, it's possible that he went to the front before I saw him." Erin said, trying to push away Arleen's anxiety, but in vain. Her love for her brother was deeper than a few words, and he knew she would not rest until she found him, dead or alive.
"I must find him." She said resolutely. Erin knew better than to try to dissuade her, although he knew it was all but fruitless to search for one man in the thousands of people that had gathered in the large carved cavern.
"Impossible." Erin said under his breath, and then pushed through the crowd after her.

How do you like both new characters? Did I not explain them well enough? Did I explain them too much?(impossible)
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