The hackles on his next rose, there was an electric buzz in the air as the war drums in the distance flared up, paced and agitated. He couldn’t quite remember waking up, but his instincts took control as every part of his body screamed in alarm. The campfire had long since been put out by the rain pouring through the canopy of trees, falling in thick heavy drops. His eyes were relatively adjusted to the dark, but he could not see his friends anywhere, all the while the din quickened and closed in. If they were still around, he could not find them, and could not wait. Taking off deeper into the forest, he tried to put as much distance as possible between himself and the din as possible.
Branches and leaves slapped him in the face and outstretched arms as he crashed perilously through the brush. Suddenly his foot caught a fallen tree, sending him careening to the ground. “Ryther, come on lad, there’s no time to tarry!” Unexpectedly he was hoisted up by his arm, being dragged bodily forward, he caught sight of his surroundings. Lorgal had pulled him into a small clearing in the forest, in which a stone circle with pillars surrounding its edges stood. Lorgal spoke again, “C’mon laddie, can ye walk?” Despite the roughness of the fall, Ryther surprisingly felt no pain whatsoever. He gave a nod of acknowledgment before Lorgal continued, “We caught wind of one of his servants, and it’s the man behind the slaughter at, Three Peaks. We need to find him and get our answers!”
He started to pull him to the right of the ruins as a second voice called out, pleading, “Stop Ryther, this isn’t you! You might not be able to see what is happening, but I can.” Ryther stopped suddenly, resisting the pull from his friend, turning to see Aryleth standing on the other side of the stones, her clothes and black hair completely soaked.
Lorgal pulled again, “Lad, dennay listen to her com’on, we have to go.” With a stronger pull Ryther wrenched himself free, and backed up, looking between the two of them. Once more Aryleth called out to him, the tone in her voice as urgent as Lorgal’s, bordering on frantic. “Please, please stop. You’re losing who you are. You will always mean the world to me, but you are not the same person you were when I first met you. Yes, you were a soldier and were trained to kill. but you were kind, your heart hurt for others.” Beckoning to himself, Lorgal continued the tug-of-war between their friend. “This is our chance, if you leave it, we may lose our shot at finding the answers we need. Don’t let her sway you, this is what you wanted. It always has been. This is why you set out, this is the whole purpose of what we as a group exist for, to support you. What about your family, your country? It will all be for nought if you give up now.” Any distance Ryther had put between himself, and the war drums was now gone, as they were getting dangerously close. Aryleth’s tone changed to one of desperation. “Take an honest look at yourself now, you are something else entirely. You are strong, you are powerful, none will deny or contest you that, but you are losing yourself to anger and bitterness. Come back, come back with me to Lithrenn and we can make a new life together, we could start a family, this doesn’t have to end here! You don’t have to walk this road.”
Ryther’s head hurt, he could not choose between the two, but his indecision had cost him all his time. He turned around, and through the trees he could see millions of torches, dancing to and fro. The army cried out in various cheers and roars, working themselves into a frenzy. Realizing it was too late to run, he reached for his bow with full knowledge that this would be his last stand; at least it would be made with his friends. He knocked the arrow, but before he could loose it the torches were suddenly extinguished. He could not tell which scared him more, the sound of them chasing or the sudden silence. dead. silence. String still taught, he looked back and forth trying to find even the slightest trace of his pursuers, but none could be seen. It was at this point he realized he could no longer feel the pelting of rain as he realized something was wrong, very, wrong. He spun around to see both his friends frozen in place, as still as stone statues. Their faces were contorted in pain, the same type he had seen when he had run his marks through with a sword. Their eyes were glazed over, it was as if they had been forced to roll into the back of their head, and around the edges were stained with blood. It took him a second to take in the scene before him, but before he could make any sort of action their eyes popped, running down the sides of their face like gooey milk streaking downwards to the ground. As this happened, it was as if time restarted, rain pelting his face, stinging as it struck. His breath was taken from his lungs as the trees started to crack under the force of a sudden wind. Thousands of crunches could be heard as they were laid down flat against the earth, exposing Ryther to the sky. He now had a full view of his surroundings. As the trees on the other side of the clearing were broken off, he could now see he was on the edge of a large cliff. Covering his face with his hand, he fought his way towards the peninsula that jutted out at the edge of the cliff. Screaming at the top of his voice, with a primal rage he yelled to the sky. “Show yourself you gods damned bastard! I’ll kill you! I’ll rip your throat out and watch you bleed out on the ground!” A giant seam in the clouds opened, giving way to a massive eye. Massive bloodshot veins created a maze all through the white, leading towards the pupil. It stared into his soul, as Ryther felt it probing every part of his thoughts and feelings. He fought back as hard as he could, but it was no use. Then, as suddenly as this all had happened, light. Campfire light. He was on the ground back at the campsite. Getting up he saw the others, healthy and whole. All four were accounted for, seeing this he silently moved into the trees to clear his head