Chapter Nine

AS CAD AND IRIS RETURNED TO THE CAMP, Alaric was, of course, running around in a circle like a rooster with a missing head. As soon as he saw the two come out of the trees, Alaric ran up to them, hugged Iris close to him and glared at Cad.

“What were you two doing in there? Answer me!” He demanded.

Cad began, “I—”

“Cad was only teaching me how to shoot properly, and in turn I taught him which herbs were the best for headaches and cuts.”
Alaric scoffed and shook his head. “And why would a healer need to know how to shoot an arrow?”

Chapter Six

CAD SLEPT AROUND THE BURNING FIRE with the other men that night before leaving the next day early in the morning. He was aroused by Julius kicking a live coal at his hand, giving it a slight burn. He only reduced his screams by rushing over to the cooking quarters and dousing the left over porridge all over his hand from the day before. When he returned the men stared at him in shock. Cad finally looked over at his appearance and realized that he looked like a bear caught with honey.

Chapter Five

CAD EYED THE MAN THAT LAY ON THE GROUND. His hair was reddish blonde, his face bruised from the fall and a small cut on the side of his right cheek. His ax lay several yards away, lying in the muddied banks of the creek.

The man pushed Cad forward, making his knees land in mud. Cad turned his head slightly to the left and saw his kidnapper grabbed the other man by his hand and brought him to his feet.

Chapter Four

IT TOOK HIM THE REST OF THE DAY to get to the border of the hunting territory. He scavenged for berries and holly trees before dark and gorged down roasted squirrel. He made a bed out of fallen willow branches and a bed of mossy rocks. Cad thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep until his eyes gave away out of weariness.

Chapter Three

CAD BOLTED THROUGH THE FOREST, GLANCED BACK ONE OR TWICE. Good, Beck was still there. The arrows in Cad’s quiver jiggled and his arms ached from carrying his bow. Twice he’d tripped and fallen; the first time he had scraped his head from a holly tree and the bruised his hand on the bark of a sycamore.

Chapter Two

AFTER THE MARKET AND CAD LEAVING EMBER WITH ARIA, the boys went to go visit Alfrick. Alfrick was a dwarf that lived in a small cottage outside the village. Most of the villagers said he was a “crazy hermit” that practiced sorcery and other forms of magic.

But Cad knew better. Back when Cad had first moved in with Beck’s family, he had ran away from their home after, supposedly, speaking to a bird. He’d ran deep, deep into the forest which he had named the Sanctuary.

Chapter One

A YOUNG BOY WATCHED FROM BEHIND A TREE. He eyed his prey with skill and knowledge. To him, these two went together hand-in-hand as a bow and an arrow. The prey, a beautiful snow stag, was standing between two oak trees. It rubbed its antlers against one of the trees and then shook its head.

Violante stared in shock and almost horror. Tulzir howled with rage as he and Krayan began to search for any clue of the attackers. Snapping out of her daze, Violante dropped to her knees to check for vital signs. There were none. The way Tulzir had reacted, she was hesitant to tell them.

Violante was bored, but she knew better than to say it out loud. As Krayan would say, "Don't say it out loud, or something will happen." Well, she wanted something to happen, whether or not it was good. She mulled over what she should do in this regard, and finally said, "I'm bored."
Krayan turned to her and opened his mouth to say something when a huge shadow fell over them. They all looked up to see a great, gold dragon descending on them. Krayan groaned.
"He is the first guardian of the Mist of Vision." He hastily explained as a stream of flame came toward them.

Violante's life had drastically changed in the past week or two. She had originally been scrounging for food and barely keeping herself alive. Then she had been kidnapped for no apparent reason, watched two people die, and got taken captive again by these strange people who offered her freedom at a price. It was a better price than she would've bargained for, she knew, and maybe sometime she could find a way to escape.