Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prologue: Rise of a King

Clouds covered the nightly sky making it impossible to see the moonlight. A cloaked figure galloped through the Kingdom, the horse’s hooves collide against the cobblestone as it galloped into the King’s palace. The guards don’t move they stay silent and still as the figured climbed off his horse and strode into the palace.

The wind blew against the figure’s cloak causing the hood to fall from its resting place onto the back of his head. The guards bowed their heads as he passed by; the candles flickered as the wind gentle kissed the light, making the flame dance along the palace walls. The figure’s shadow ascended the staircase, heading to the King’s chamber. The figure pulled a knife from underneath his cloak and raised it to his lips and licked the blade with his tongue, crimson droplets tumbled to the ground splattering onto the concrete. He stops at a big wooden door with a lion emblem plastered to the door; he places a hand onto the door handle and slowly began to open the door. It creaks as he pushed the door inwards into the room, he stepped over the threshold and into the room there is one candle that flickered in the darkness.

The figure walked silently across the room to a single bed, he approached the bed to see a sleeping man and women together. The man slept on his back, he had short blonde hair and a mustache above his upper lip. The woman had long red hair and sleeps on her side away from the man with her arms tucked to her face. The figure hovered over the man and raised his knife over his heart, before he had time to change his mind he plunged the knife into the man’s heart. His eyes exploded open revealing a sky blue eye color; he grabbed the knife from his heart and tried to stand up but fell to the ground.

The woman jolted out of bed and rushed over to her husband on the floor. Blood seeped out of every inch of his body as he lied on the ground dying, she let out a high-pitched scream, the figure walked over to the woman and grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the wall. He looked into her cloudy green eyes and began to choke the life out of her, she kicked and hit him but it only fueled his fire and strangled her tighter. The light in the woman’s eyes went out like a flick of a candle, her body went limp in the man’s hand, he let her go and her body fell to the floor like a rag doll.
The figure picked up his knife that lied next to the dead King’s body; he wiped the blood on his cloak and tucked the knife away. He began to walk towards the door when a small crying sound made him stop in his footsteps; he turned to see a hidden room behind a pillar. He walked towards the room to hear the sound become louder; he walked into the room to see a cradle sitting by the window seal. As he walked near the cradle the sound vanished, he peaked his head over the cradle to see a baby staring wide-eyed at him.

He grabbed his knife and straightened it over the baby, knowing the only thing to do is to kill him. The baby rolled over onto its side and began to laugh and smile at the figure; he tucked his knife away and picked the joyful baby up. It tugged on the man’s beard and began to play with his cloak. The baby had to be no older than a few weeks, it had no hair and the eye color had yet to be defined. The man couldn’t help but peak a smile as the baby played with his cloak. He placed the baby back inside the cradle and took out his knife again, the baby looked up at him with its big doe eyes and smiled. The man shook his head and placed the knife over the baby’s heart but as he brought it down upon the baby he flung his hand away and the knife went flying into the wall.

He picked the baby up and walked out of the room and pasted its dead parents, he pressed the baby deep into his chest hiding the bloody mess in the room. He walked outside of the room and into the palace hall. The guards stand outside looking up at the figure; he descended the stairs holding the baby. A man walked up to him and looked him in the eye and the figure handed the baby to him.

“What do I do with this sir?” the man asked.

“Dispose of it, I never want to see this baby again. I don’t care if its dead or a live, I never want to see it again,” the figure says. “Mitt, don’t make me regret giving you this child."

The cloaked figure walked out of the room passing the guards as they bow their heads in respect of the man. Mitt is left standing there with a baby in his hand, he looked in the pants to see that the baby is a boy. He follows behind the cloaked figure into the court yard, the sun began to rise peaking over the mountains, pink, purple and blue hues set the mood of the morning. The bells began to rung as villagers step outside of their homes and into the courtyard, the figure steps onto a platform along with a guard.

“King Aton and Queen Belaya have been murdered. We captured the murder and tomorrow he will be executed for his crimes. Let us all take a moment of silence and remember them,” a guard spoke up. The villagers bowed their heads in silence.
“I am very sadden by the lose of Aton and Belaya, they were dear, dear friends of mine and I once made a promise to Aton. If anything ever happened to him I would step up and become King, it was his wish and I will honor that wish. I will stay King until his son is old enough to take the throne for himself but for now. I am your King,” the figure said.

“All hail King Than,” the villagers said in unison.

“I promise to protect and serve you. I am at your disposal, I am sorry for the interruption, you are welcomed to go back to your homes now,” Than spoke up. The villagers began to disappear into their homes; Mitt walked up to Than and looked him in the eyes.

“Sir, I will dispose of the baby right this instant. You will never have to see him again,” Mitt spoke.

“Good, now I shall go clean my new chamber,” he said then walked back into the palace. Mitt walked over to stables and strapped the baby to his chest and climbed onto a horse. He steadily trotted out of the Kingdom’s walls and into the mountains, once past the gates he than began to gallop going quicker and faster. The sun had rose over the mountains and rested high in the sky, a single cloud drifted across the sky.

He rode fast and hard until he came across the river, he climbed off his horse and walked towards the river. He unstrapped the baby, the baby was sound asleep he dangled the baby over the river. The baby’s eyes open and smiled at Mitt, he grabbed ahold of his shirt and began to laugh at Mitt. Mitt couldn’t help but smile at the baby he brought the baby back towards him and strapped him back onto him and climbed onto the horse and began to ride again.

After a few hours of riding Mitt and the baby finally had reached the village that lied hours and a great distance away from the Kingdom. They trotted into the small village; the sun had just begun to set behind the mountains signaling night was coming soon. He climbed off the horse and tied it up to a house and walked around looking for a small cozy house that would take in the baby. After minutes of walking around looking lost, a big hulky man and a lady with a belly that looked as if it was about to pop approached Mitt.

“Can we help you sir?” The lady asked. Mitt hugged the baby close to him and looked at the couple. “Are you lost?”

“I am not lost, but this baby is. I found it outside of the village by a tree and came to find his parents,” he lied. He showed the babies face to the couple, the ladies face lightened up at the baby.

“Oh my, what an adorable little child. I can’t imagine who would let it out of their sight,” she said.

“Neither can I. I would have token the child in and raised it as my own, but you see I am a traveler and that is not a life for a baby. The best I can do is find his family or a suitable home for the child,” he explained.

“Oh honey, do you think we can help this helpless child out?” she asked her husband.

“Lora, I don’t know, we are struggling as it is and remember we are expecting already. I fear if we take in another child we might be struggling for years,” the man spoke. She grabbed hold of his hand and kissed his cheek, she bashed her eyelashes at him.

“Please darling, you know I can’t stand by and watch as this helpless child is left abandoned. What if our child was left parentless wouldn’t you want someone to come and take care of him as if he was their own child?” she asked. The man let out a sigh and turned away from us and ran his hands through his hair. When he turned around a few strands rested on his forehead and he smiled.

“You’re right darling, if our child was parentless I would want someone to take care of him or her. We shall take care of this child as if it were are own,” the man said. The lady’s face lightened up as she reached toward Mitt and took the baby from his grip and held him right towards her body.

“You two are very kind. I hope all goes well for you,” Mitt said and than began to turn away.

“Wait sir, what is your name?” the lady asked.

“Mitt, and yours?” he asked.

“Lora and Sawn Wentworth,” she said with a smile on her face. Mitt walked towards her took her hand and kissed it very light.

“It was my pleasure of meeting you two,” Mitt said. Mitt turned around to see Lora and Sawn standing there admiring their new bundle of joy. With that he turned away and walked back to his horse climbing onto its back and slowly walking towards the exit of the village and back to the Kingdom. At the edge of the village he glanced back one last time just to see the two of them walking away, heading to their home for the night. A small smile creped across Mitts face as the prince found a new home, save and away from the King’s reach.

Chapter Text

Chapter One: Past, Present and End

It’s been five years since father has passed away; I’ve become the man of the house. The house is slowly falling apart bit by bit. My job at the forge is helping us scrap by, but I need more money; I want to move mother and Lil from our house out in the woods and into the village. The wolves are growing hunger and are starting to intrude on our land, one day something will happen—and I will not be able to stop it. I’ve heard stories of this great tournament the King holds, yearly.
It’s a battle against the finest competitors in which one will become victorious and win some of his riches it is perfect for the lower class. Mother and sister do not know, but I am about to sign up for this great tournament we need the money, and this is the only way. We will not survive much longer, winter is coming and the house cannot survive another deadly winter. I am the man of the house now, and I have to serve and protect my family, even if it means sacrificing my life for the ones that I love.

One day I took off to the Kingdom, it’s far beyond Myth Village, but I had to do something to keep my family alive. I took my father’s horse Storm and rode day and night. It was a two-day ride, but since I didn’t stop I made it by the following days morning. The Kingdom was vastly larger than the Myth Village. Storm and I galloped into the Kingdom looking for the tournament signup sheets. We made our way through the tightly packed crowd, seeing a line formed around a corner; I slid off Storm and tied him to a pole and waited in the line.

“MAKE WAY FOR THE KING!” A voice yelled out. I turned my head to see four guards pushing the crowd back allowing a person to walk through with no incident. “MAKE WAY” the voice yelled again, then a person emerged through the crowd, a man with a crown perched on his head, his face solemn giving no expression. A man pushed me into a wall as he passed by me.

“Watch where you’re going!” he said as he spit on my face. I lunged forward trying to hit the man, but two guards pulled me back.

“Looks like we got a trouble maker here,” one of the guards said. The King emerged from the crowd.

“Let him go!” he commanded, the guards followed his orders and released me. I shrug my shoulders back, as I try and hit them with my shoulder. “What’s your name son?” the King asked me.

“Chase,” I replied. He did not look old, but then he did. His face is covered with a long white beard, his hair cut short; his eyes are a yellow-green—unusual.

“Well Chase, take care,” he said with a smile on his face, then continued walking in the direction they were headed. I wait in the line, waiting to get to the front and sign myself up for a battle, in which I hope to win.

Black clouds began to roll into the Kingdom; lightning lighted up the sky thunder followed behind it. “NEXT” a voice yelled out, but thunder concealed his voice.

“NEXT,” the voice yelled again, but this time cleared the earsplitting thunder. I noticed the man was talking to me—I moved up in the line facing him. “It will be fifteen silver, to sign up for the tournament,” the man said.

“Oh, right.” I dug around in my pockets and pulled out fifteen silver and slid it to the man.

“Name, and Village?” he asked me.

“Chase Wentworth, and Myth,” I said scratching the back of my head.

“We shall see if you are chosen or not, Chase” he laughed. “NEXT” he yelled again.

“Wait, how will I know?” I asked the man.

“You will know, now please move along, I have other people to sign up,” the man said as he waved me away.
I walked away from the man and back to Storm. What had the man meant I would know? I shrugged off what the man said, slid onto Storms back and rode back to the Myth Village. The storm still hovered over the Kingdom; rain poured down on me, lightning rippled through the sky, this was going to be one long and dangerous journey back home.

The sunlight wakens me from my dream; I lay on my back to see the sun trickle in through the cracks of my broken window, the curtains on the floor no longer keeping the sun from seeping into my room. The house rat scuffles across the floor to its home between my room and my sisters; my bed shifts when I move around, the floorboards crack as I put my weight onto it. My picture of my father and I sits on the floor broken, shards of glass on the floor from when mother threw it. I grab a green sweatshirt out of my dresser slide it on, then dash out of my room into the main part of the house.

“Chase, will you go feed the pigs, they’re getting into the trash again,” mother yells. Mother has never been the same since father was killed; she’s never been a mother since that day. Lil and I have had to step up, she does the launder and I repair the house as best as I can but my job at the blacksmith shop doesn’t let me get much done as I should.

I’m already late for work; I scurry out the door and grab my bow and arrow then proceed into the village. I pass by Lil, her fiery red hair explodes in the ray of sunlight, mother calls it the devils red, she stands in a patch of snow folding clothes; snowflakes tumble from the hazy sky settling on her head, I look to the pigs to see she’s already fed them for me.

“Bye, Chase! I’ll see you tonight and I’ll play a game of poker with you, maybe this time you’ll let me win,” she laughs.

“We’ll see about that Lil. Don’t forget to close the door before the sunsets, oh and thank you for feeding the pigs,” I state. She waves at me with a smile on her face, I wave back to her.

I walk along the path to the village, snowfalls from the trees concealing any trace of human life. Animals slumber in the woods, rabbits in their holes, birds in their trees. The village lights are off, not a human is stirring in the village of Myth not even the blacksmith shop, Burke isn’t inside he must be asleep in the loft. I put on my apron, light the fire to the forge and begin pounding on a sword I began on yesterday.

I begin to sing a song my dad would sing to Lil and I before he would leave on his hunting trips. I always loved the songs he sang, either of his adventures or of us. I always sing them when I feel lonely.

One day, You and I,
Will be together,
In a dream. But for now
I must go, become the hero
Of your fantasies. One day you will be
In the same situation as me.
But just remember that one-day
You and I will be together
In a dream.
My love for you will never fade away
Like photos in a frame.

“That’s very touching did you write that?” a deep voice rings out. I spin my head around to see a man in a black cloak concealing his face, a bag is strapped across his shoulder, as he waits in the front waiting for me to attend him.

“May I help you?” I ask. I put down the sword and walk towards the man cleaning my hands on the apron. He pulls something out from his bag and sets it on the counter. “What’s this?”

The object he places is black shaped like an oval, almost as it is a stone but I am not completely sure.

“I have no money, but I am willing to trade you this for a fine sword,” the man says. I take the stone and begin to examine it, the surface is smooth not a fail on it. I pull my dagger from my boot and tap the handle on the surface.

“Don’t do that!” The man yells. He takes the stone from my hand and cradles it. “There is something valuable in there, that will come of great use to you,” he places the stone back on the counter.

“How valuable are we talking?” I ask. The man pulls back his hood, just enough to see him a form a smile.

“It’s a gift from the King so lets just say this item is exactly what you need,” he says pulling back his hood, concealing his face again. I take the stone from the counter and examine it again, I press my ear to it. I hear a small murmurs and breathing of a sort.

“Is there a creature inside it?” I ask. The man turns towards the door and begins to walk away from me.

“Good luck on your conquest you are about to face,” he says. He opens the door and disappears into the early morning.

“Wait! Don’t you want a sword?” I ask, but the man does not return. I put the stone into my apron tucking it away not wanting to break it. Burke does not come down meaning he is still asleep. I turn back to my station and continue working on my sword. I begin to lose my thoughts in what the cloaked man had said, and what is inside the stone.

“Father, where are you going?” I asked when he was sneaking out of the house, sword in hand. He was creeping through the dead of night. Father lingered in my room before I got the presence that someone was standing in the doorway I woke before he left. I could only see his silhouette, but I knew he turned around too face me.

“Go back to sleep my son, I’m going nowhere” he lied as he tiptoed out of my room. I sprung out of my bed, the floor creaked as my weight settled down, my feet drumming against the broken floorboards as I run after him. The moonlight leaking in through the back door father had set forth out, I ran after him.

“Father!” I quietly yelled, not wanting to wake up my sister and mother. I pushed out the door into the dead of night. I was in the village, screams pierced through the darkness. Fire spread across the homes and shops, woman and children scrambling to find order. Barefoot, I ran around the village helping those who needed help screaming “Father, father, where are you?” not receiving a reply back from him.

“Chase, go home, this is no place for a young boy,” Burke the blacksmith owner had told me. He grabbed me by my arm, thrusting me in the direction of my house in the opposite direction of the village. I disobeyed his orders running back into the flames.

“Father!” I screamed out, falling to my knees crying. The fire was quickly spreading as men rushed from the lake to the west with buckets of water trying to stifle the flames.

“Chase!” A voice cried out. I spun my head around to see my father stumbling towards me, an arrow in his side. I ran over to him as he collapsed in my arms. “Chase, go home,” he whispered to me. I examined the arrow wound in his side. “Chase Go!” he yelled at me again. But as stubborn as I was, I was not going to let my father bleed out, I pulled the arrow out from under his side, stripping my top-layer shirt off and putting pressure into his wound.

Panic rushed through the village of Myth, as woman screamed “HE’S COMING, HE’S COMING”. I stood up to see who was coming, as a man in a black cloak rode by on a black horse. In his left hand he was holding a head, blood drizzling from the neck splattering onto the ground seeping into the cracks of the earth. The cloaked figure thrashed his sword in the direction of those who tried to stop him.

I turned back to father, his mouth stained with blood, his blue eyes vacant of any living soul. “Father?” I cried out. I shook him rapidly, hoping it would somehow bring him back. “FATHER!!” I screamed. I had lost him. I took his sword that was attached to his belt, it was heavier than the ones that I had worked with, I knew how to use it, it wasn’t my best weapon I was good at; but I was skilled enough that I knew how to kill with it. I turn towards the figure; snow began to fall for the first time that year. A sign, winter was coming early. I looked over to my father seeing the snow cover his body, I dropped the sword and cradled him until someone came and helped me. I never knew what happened to the cloaked figure that night; legend says he was a myth, a dream in my head. No one recovered the head he pranced around; they told me it was just an allusion to the fear of losing my father. I know the truth though, I saw him with my own two eyes. I did not just lose my father that night; I also lost the faith I had in the village. Forever doomed in the village of Myth, my mother slowly wilting away. Lil never had a childhood and I, had to become my father even though I could never replace him. I knew one day, I was going to risk my life for my family to provide for them, which my father would do every day; this was the battle for life, or death.

“Chase!” a voice cries out. I draw out of my memory to see Burke standing over me. I finished about six swords during the recall of my memory. “Blimey boy, you really were working today. Its almost night fall you may want to scurry home now,” he says. I put down the hammer and look outside, the sun has fallen behind the mountains to the east the sun is growing weak as the darkness begins to cover village life.

I give Burke a weak smile and take off my apron; the stone tumbles from it onto the ground. Burke bends down and picks up the stone, his eyes widen and look back from me to the stone.

“Where did you get this?” he questions me. I take a step back; I grab the stone from his grip and tuck it back into my apron. “Where did you get it?” he me grabs my by my collar and drives me into a wall.

“A man came into the shop asking to trade this for a sword, but he did not take a sword,” I explain to him. I rip his hand of my collar, he stumbles backwards tripping over a broken floorboard. “Why what is it?”

He straightens himself and dusts off his pants. He takes a seat next to me shaking his head at me.

“Do you remember the legend I once told you? The legend of the chosen ones?” He asks. I shake my head, he’s told me so many stories and myths I can’t remember them all. “Well King Than sends his messengers to collect the ones who have signed up for his blood bath of a tournament. The messengers give the chosen ones an egg; the egg contains a creature that will help him survive the tournament. The first stage twelve go in, then two for the last stage.”

“Oh, that is what the guy meant by you will know,” I say.

“Yes you foolish boy. Don’t you ever listen to what I tell you? I told you never to go and enter a tournament with the King. Now you just sentenced your life away. But nonetheless, you are a chosen one, you have to go or the King will hunt you don’t. What in gods mind possessed you to sign up for the tournament?” Burke asks me.

“We need money, I can’t afford to keep the maintenance on the house. Foods starting to run low, I just need the money. Also I didn’t know what the tournament truly was. How do you know so much?” I ask. I pull the egg out from my apron and examine it.

“I was one myself,” He says pushing away from his chair, as he crosses the shop to the window. “There was a time when I was once young; I was the happiest man alive. I had a fiancée she was the girl of my dreams, and I was soon to be a father. Yes I was young but I was so in love, we were planning to marry in the summer. All seemed great, than one day I was working at my father’s shop, a man with a black cloak appeared saying he had a gift for me then handed me a stone just very like the one you have in your hand. I had forgotten that I had signed up for the tournament; I only did it because I needed the money for the baby, and I never thought I would get chosen. I tried to refuse the egg but the guy would not allow it, so I took the egg knowing that I’d just accepted my own death. Oh Melina was furious with me but she accepted it and gave me the courage to try and win. So a few days later my egg hatched, and inside it was baby phoenix, she saved my life more times than any, although I could not save hers,” he explains as he turns back to face me.

“What happened to her?” I ask, even though I can only guess the answer.

“There were only 2 contestants left, I was one of them. We were on our way to victory; she was keeping guard in a tree while I caught up on some sleep. When the enemy grew near she would alarm me, that’s what she did, but before I could grab my sword, an arrow pierced through her heart, she tumbled down the tree landing at my feet. I cradled her until she released her last breath. Something came over me, a rage that I have never felt before, I want him dead, so I grabbed my sword and ran after the son of a bitch who killed her, I slit his throat, and watched him suffer as she suffered, his hawk disappeared before my eyes, that’s when I knew I had won and I would get to go home to my beautiful Melina,” Burke begin to mumble to the point where I could not understand what he was saying.

I cross the room and look outside, darkness covers the land, the snow piles up on the window, the wind creases the glass. “Burke, I have to go a storm is on its way,” I explain to him. The door explodes open, the fire extinguishes by the wind, snowdrifts in from the outside world. “Burke I have to go,” I say as I grab my bow and arrow and run out the door.

“BEWARE CHASE! BLOOD WILL BE SPILLED!” he yells out after me. I ignore his comment, continuing on the path to my home. Just like in the morning not a living soul is wondering the village, this is not a good sign. The sky is sheer black, ominous clouds obscure the moonlight making it difficult to move through the snow. Low growls come from the woods beside me; yellow eyes burn in the darkness, the eyes of a wolf. I take in their warning, not willing to venture into the woods; I pick up my pace until I see our broken home on the hill. I take in a deep breath and march up the hill.

“CHASE!” a voice screams out. “WOLF!” the voice screams again. I rush up the hill with my bow and arrow ready to strike any wolf. My mother comes running out of the house, her clothes stained red, her long web hair flowing freely, her face is eerie white. I run right pass her into the house, the place is destroyed furniture is broken on the ground, lamps broken, the table on its back. I slowly creep through the house keeping my ears and eyes open for the wolf. Blood smeared on the ground leading into Lil’s room. My heart begins to beat rapidly; low snarls come from inside the room. I peek my head inside and see Lil on the ground, the wolf on top of her; I put my arrow in the bow, pulling it back releasing it striking the wolf in the head. The wolf goes limp on the floor, I tiptoe into the room Lil lies lifeless on the floor.

“Lil?” I ask. I cross over to her body, her neck stained with blood, her green eyes frozen with fear. “Lil, please wake up.” I whisper to her as I hold her in my arms.

“Why didn’t you close the door, Lil, I told you to close the god damn door, but you never listen to me, and now look what happened!”

I pick her up, leading her outside the room into the gloomy night, where the village people have gathered. Tears fall down my face and splatter onto her lifeless body, I place my hand on top of her head and close her eyes. I lie her down on the ground in front of mother. I collapse on top of her body crying. This was all my fault, she should have closed the door, but she never listens to me and now her own life was taken, I should have been there for her, she would still be alive.

“Is she dead?” Mother asks. She bends over me trying to get a good look for herself.

My body tightens, I spring up from Lil’s body and turn away from mother, my face-hardens with hatred with her. I take a deep breath and try to calm my self down, but Lil’s body is right next to me, there is no way to calm myself down. I turn towards mother and walk up to her. Her body shakes a little and as she puts her arms around me. I push her back and taken one step closer to her.

“You did this!” I yell out.

Her eyes widen as she calculates the meaning behind the words. “Chase, what do you mean?” she questions me.

“I told you when father died that we needed to move into the village. I told you something like this would happen. When the wolves get hungry they will intrude on our land to hunt for food they can get their paws on. LOOK what happened, Lil died because of your foolish mistake, every since father died you died to us as well. You were no longer a mother to us; just someone occupying a room in the house, she was only thirteen years old mother. It’s your entire fault; you should be the one that’s dead not her!” I yell at her, wagging a finger at her and pointing it to Lil’s lifeless body.

I bend down grab my bow and arrows, and begin to walk towards the woods.

“Chase where do you think your going?” Burke speaks out from the crowd, pushing through.

“I’m going out hunting,” I explain to him as I storm off. He rushes over to me grabbing my arm. I turn around to face him; I break apart in his arms. The water breaks through the barrier streaming down my cheek as Burke holds me in his arms.

“It will be okay, everything will be okay,” he explains to me.

I look over at Lil’s body and begin to wonder if I should have taken her away from this place a lot sooner. If only I could go back in time and change the past, move her to a different city and start a new life a better life. Maybe I wouldn’t have entered this tournament, everything could have been better if I only took the time to realize how bad things were and she would be here playing poker with me. The villagers take her body and walk it into the village. Burke walks with me into the village and away from my home.

“I’m sorry, Chase. Your sister will be missed, and I’m sorry about you entering the tournament,” Burke says but I begin to ignore him. We walk into the village and the villagers disappear with Lil’s body. Burke leads me to his home, my new home for now until I have to leave. He places me onto his couch, I thought it would be difficult to sleep, but instead sleep came pretty quickly.

Chapter Text

Chapter Two: The Funeral

I toss and turn on Burkes couch hoping to fall back asleep but it is nearly impossible. I cradle the egg in my arms hoping it will hatch but I know it won’t, I place it on the floor and turn over onto my side. Tears continue to fall as I think about last night and how the wolves killed my beautiful little sister. My heart aches as I wait for the pain to stop, but I know the pain will never stop. I’m lost and lonely, but without her I don’t know what will happen, it feels as if the world has crashed around me, the pain is too much, if only my heart would stop. I wait for her to come running through those doors, but that will never happen. I wait for her, but she will never return back to me. I pull the blanket over my face and continue to cry; footsteps echo through the house, Burke’s up.

“Are you awake, Chase?” He asks. I pull the blanket from my face and roll over to face him.

“Yes,” I say.

“Lil’s funeral is a few hours away, you might want to get ready,” he states.

“What’s the point,” I mutter as I roll over.

“She was your sister. You have to go show your respect. I know it must be a difficult time for you right now, it won’t get better but you might as well go say goodbye to her before she is buried. This will be your last chance, and if you don’t go you will regret not going later on,” Burke says.

“I don’t think I can do it. I don’t know if I can say goodbye to her, for good,” I say.

“Don’t think of it as goodbye, but see you later,” he explains to me.

“How do you say see you later, when you know it won’t be for a very long time?” I ask. Burke scratches his head then laughs.

“Now that I don’t have the answer for, but let me just say this. You have just entered a tournament in which you are risking your life for, you may lose it faster then you think. But don’t go in thinking you will lose or you most likely will. Try and win for your sister, she wouldn’t want you to be miserable over her death. She was a lively spirit and wouldn’t want you to die because you couldn’t get over her death, she would want you to be happy and move on with your life, and now is the perfect chance. Win and never return to Myth, move somewhere and start a family, otherwise you will be completely stuck here reliving her death,” he says.

“I don’t know if I can win,” I state.

“Not with that attitude you won’t, now go get washed up and get ready. I want to help them out before the funeral begins,” he says walking away from me.

I roll over onto my back and begin to think about what Burke had to say, its true, Lil wouldn’t want me to mope around because she died. She would want me to live life and get out of Myth, but what she didn’t know, is once I won the tournament I was planning on moving us out of Myth and to another village that surrounds the Kingdom. I’d asked mother lots of times for us to move out of the village after father passed away, but her answer was we could never afford it, or she would completely ignore the subject. She fell apart after he passed away, I don’t know why I never just took her away from this place, I should have but I couldn’t just up and leave. Myth has been my home every since I was born, there is lots of memories within the village that I will never forget. But there are also bad memories, this place is my home I couldn’t just up and leave without a great amount of thought put into it.

I get up from the couch and head to the bathroom; I open the door and see a white shirt lying on a chair for me along with black pants. I look in the mirror my blonde hair falls into my eyes, my blue eyes are blood shot red, I no look like myself, I lost myself when I lost Lil. I look in a cabinet and pull out a pair of scissors I grab the front of my and pull it straight into the air, I line up the scissors with the hair and cut straight across. I drop the hair in my hand and let it fall to the ground; I grab the back of my hair and cut it also. I cut all my hair until it is short and no longer shaggy. It was time for a change, a new beginning a new life. I peel off my blood strained clothes and toss it into Burkes hamper; I climb into Burkes shower and turn on the water spout wanting to wash away the blood, but only a little water comes out, he must have not put water in the bucket yet for water. I grab a washcloth and dampen it just so I can get off the dry blood on my arms.

I close my eyes as I scrub the blood off, but as I do so I just imagine me holding Lil and her blood getting all over my body. The water pressure increases as cold-water sprays across my entire body, I shout from the surprise attack of water. I can hear Burke laughing from outside as he did it on purpose. The water feels like icicles as it sprays from the spout and touches my skin, my body begins to shiver the longer I stay in the shower. I hurry up and scrub my body clean then jump out of the shower, I grab a towel and quickly try off my skin; I slide on the clothes Burke left for me and walk into the living room where he sits on the couch.

“You chopped off your hair,” he says with a surprise look on his face.

“It was needed, it was getting pretty long,” I say, its partially the truth.

“Are you almost ready?” he asks me.

“I just need to put my shoes on, then I will be ready to go, is the funeral going to be held on Painted Hill?” I ask. Father’s funeral was held on Painted Hill he is also buried there, I hope Lil is being buried next to him, it would mean a lot to me. I wanted to be buried next to him but I know by the time I were to die someone else would have the spot next to him. Not that many people have passed away since his death and most of the families wanted to bury their loved ones on their on land, but we didn’t have the money to have our own graveyard and we don’t have that many generations as some families do around here.

“Yes, her service is on Painted Hill and she will be buried there also,” he states. I give a weak smile to him. I sit down on a chair next to the couch and begin to put on my shoes.

“Ready.”

“Okay, lets go then,” he says. Burke gets off the couch and heads out the front door, I follow behind him, I hold the doorknob in my head, I take one last look inside and close the door behind me.

The entire village gathers around Painted Hill showing Lil their respect. I sit by Burke trying to avoid my mother, I have nothing else to say to her and I want nothing to do with her. Rain clouds cover the sky but not a single raindrop falls from the sky; I wish it would rain so this service would be over but no rain or snow ever stops a funeral here. We wait for the pastor to speak but we all take a moment of silence. I shut my eyes and begin to cry, I don’t want anyone to see my tears so I wipe them off quickly. I open my eyes half way and stare at Lil’s casket; I should be laying in that casket not her. Lils funeral reminds me of fathers in almost a way.

Snow was falling from the sky, Lil was crying so much she wouldn’t let go of me. I hugged her for the entire ceremony; she was no older than nine years old when father passed away. She understood death, but then at the same time she didn’t. Mother sat next to Lil and I, her eyes filled with tears as the pastor begins to say a few words about my father. All is the same, he was a good man, it wasn’t his time, he will forever be remembered. They all say the same thing but nothing actually gives the family closer.

“Chase, are we going to have to move?” Lil whispered into my ear.

“No, Lil. We won’t have to move, I’ll take care of you, don’t worry, I’ll take care of you,” I whispered into her ear smoothing down her hair. Lil wiped her a nose clean and rubs its on my shoulder.

“Is mother going to be okay?” Lil asked. I looked over to see mother blowing her nose into a handkerchief, her eyes are bloodshot as she cries her eyes out over her husband’s death.

“I don’t know Lil, I just don’t know,” I replied.

The pastor gave the signal for them to start lowering the casket into the ground; Burke and some other village people walked over to the casket and picked it up. I looked over at Lil to see how she was handling this last part; her eyes were filled with tears that poured down her face. Burke and the others began to lower the casket into the ground; mother got up and ran over to the casket.

“NO! He’s not dead, he can’t be dead!” She yelled as she grabbed onto the casket. One of the men ran out from the crowd and grabbed my mother. She kicked and screamed as the man pulled her away from her dead husband. “LET ME GO!”

I know I should’ve helped her, but I couldn’t part from my seat. I held onto Lil as tightly as I could trying to shield her from all the pain but I know I cannot do much for her. Burke walked over to me and gave my shoulder a tight squeeze.

“Everything will be okay,” he said

I shift back to reality, right as the pastor steps up to Lils casket and bows his head in a pray for her. Everyone joins; I bow my head but keep my eyes open gazing at everyone to see their expression. I hear sniffles and soft sobs, probably from Lils friends. The pastor says “amen” and we all raise our heads.

“Today, we our gathered here for a moment in time, where we mourn the lose of someone special, someone who was dear to our hearts. Lilith Avari Wentworth, she was only fourteen years old when she lost her life, yesterday was a tragic day for our community when the wolves took her life. For years we thought we lived in peace with these monsters but they have finally took the life of this innocent child. But we are not here to take revenge on the wolves, we are here to celebrate the life of Lilith, she was a joyful child who enjoyed life and loved her brother Chase. She could light up a room when she just walked in, she could turn a frown upside down, I know I was touched by this blessed child,” the pastor says taking a breath. I look over at mother to see her staring into space, not shedding a tear. “Does anyone want to come up and say a few words?”

“I do,” a small voice speaks up. A girl with short brown hair walks over to Lils casket; Amberly she was Lils best friend. “Lil and I have been friends probably since we were six years old, we had the most amazing times together. Some of which I don’t want to speak of knowing I will get in trouble for. When Lils father passed away it was a hard time for her, but she still managed to be happy, if I lost my father I know I wouldn’t be happy for a long time. But Lil, she was different, she knew how to make me laugh even when I was angry at something; she just had the magic touch, I wish she was still here its going to be hard to be without her, but I know she would still want us to be happy even though she is gone from us forever. May you rest in peace Lil, we will love you forever and miss you,” Amberly says.

“Thank you, Amberly. Is there anyone else who would like to say something?” the pastor asks as Amberly sits back down.

“I would like to say something,” I say getting up from my seat next to Burke.

“Why thank you, Chase. I’m sure this would mean the world to Lil,” the pastor says.

“Yesterday and today I say goodbye to not only my sister, but my best friend. I did everything for Lil; we went on adventures together she was my life. I told Lil I would protect her when my father passed away, but last night I failed because I was earning money to help put food on the table. Lil has always been a stubborn child who thinks she knows best, but she was only twelve years old and didn’t know what was best for her. That day, I told her to close the door before the sun went down, and stubborn Lil didn’t listen to me. No one knows the pain you feel when you lose a sibling, someone you grow up with, someone who you can complain to when you get annoyed with your parents.” I take a breath and look at mother, her facial expression does not move. “The pain is a lot harder then loosing a husband, loosing a child should be the hardest thing you would have to experience, but you don’t have a soul to even shed a tear for your own child MOTHER! How can you be so cold and heartless, Lil was apart of you and you can’t even cry, every since father died you act as if we don’t exist. The only time you acknowledge us is when you need something, other than that we are nothing to you, well go to hell! I should have taken Lil away when I had the chance, but I always hoped that you would come back to us but you never did!” I shout hoping to receive some emotion from her.

Burke gets up from his seat and runs over to me. I collapse to the ground crying; how can a mother not care about her own flesh and blood. Nothing makes sense to me, I know I was supposed to be talking about all the good times about Lil, but nothing was coming to me when I saw my mother staring coldly into space as if nothing has happened within the last twenty-four hours. Burke picks me up and walks me back to my seat, I fold my arms around my head as I hunch over in the seat Burke pats my back.

“It will be okay,” he whispers.

The pastor begins another speech but I tune him out not wanting to get frustrated anymore then I already am. I close my eyes counting the seconds till when I can finally be alone. The only time I was truly able to be alone was when I was sleeping and taking a shower, other than that I have been surrounded by people, I need time to grieve by myself.

“With that, will you help me lower the casket into the ground,” the pastor says. Burke and a few other men walk over to Lils casket and walk it over to the hole she will be placed in. I wait until everyone leaves to have my alone time with my sister.

After what feels like an hour, the last person has finally left Painted Hill and heads to the tavern, Burke waits in the chair we sat in during the ceremony. I go and sit by Lils grave; rain begins to fall down from the sky, concealing my tears. I tilt my head back letting the rain wash away my tears. I run my hands through my hair rocking my body back and forth.

“You should have listened to me, Lil. But it’s not your fault, I should have took you away from this place sooner, its my fault not yours. I wanted a better life for you, so I entered this tournament to have enough money to leave his place. I wanted to take you closer to the Kingdom, oh it is beautiful you would have loved it there.” I say as I look over at Burke who is getting soaked by the rain. “I don’t think you ever knew this, but before father passed away he was going to move into the village.

He knew the wolves would start attacking soon and didn’t want us to be closer to the attack zone. But all of are money went into his funeral that is why I never did move us out, plus when I got the job with Burke all my money was going to food, even that wasn’t much. I love you, Lil. I wish you were still here for me, but you are in a better place, you’re with father now and I know he will look after you. I will be leaving soon, I have to go into the tournament but I don’t want to win because I have no reason to win now. But I know you wouldn’t want me to sacrifice my life, I will try and win for you, because that is what you would have wanted. I thought the tournament would be almost a sword fight, but Burke told me it’s a battle for survival, if I would have known I would have never entered. Burke seems pretty angry that I entered, but I never thought I would have been picked; want to know how I was chosen? They give you an egg that is how you know; I’m curious to see what my companion will be.

“I have to go Lil, it’s getting late and its cold right now. I love you Lil and I will miss you, I will try and visit you before I have to leave. I don’t know what will happen with this tournament, but I promise I won’t give up I will at least try—for you,” I say. I look up into the sky, “Father, please watch out for Lil, I know you are probably already doing this, but I just need to know that she is save. Also Father, will you please look out for me. You owe me this one thing; if you were still around I wouldn’t have entered this tournament. I still have yet to understand why you went out that night, if you didn’t leave we would still have our father, our family would still be complete and not broken. I don’t want to get into this right now, just please look after me, I love you and miss both of you,” I say pushing up from Lil’s grave. I walk over to Burke as he gets up from his chair.

“Are you okay?” He asks me.

“No, I will never be okay, I lost my family and I will never get them back, how will I ever be okay?” I ask Burke. Burke wraps his right arm around my shoulder and walks with me.

“You may never be okay, but you can at least try, for their sakes. No one ever said it would be easy, that’s life. But I know you will be able to learn to deal with this pain, you are your father’s son, and he was strong and so are you. I know how you feel though and I myself am still dealing with the pain of a loss. Lets go back to my house, it’s been a long day and we both need some rest,” Burke says as we walk down Painted Hill.

“Does it get any easier?” I ask.

“I’ll let you know when I figure it out,” Burke says.

“Can I ask you something, Burke?” I ask as we walk into the village.

“Not right now, Chase. I’m very tired and want to go to sleep,” he says as we approach his house. He opens the door and steps inside; I close the door behind me.

Burke disappears into his room before I can say another word. I climb onto the couch and begin to drift asleep when I feel something hit my body. I open my eyes to see Burke standing over me.

“Put some dry clothes on you nincompoop,” he says walking out of the room. I strip off my funeral clothes then put on Burke’s clothes. They’re big but are comfortable which will make sleeping a little more relaxed. I lie back on the couch and stare at the egg that sits next to my wet clothes. I close my eyes and let sleep take me, even though I know it will be difficult to sleep still.

Chapter Text

Chapter Three: The Calling

The night seems to never fade away, every second I close my eyes all I can see is Lil, the horrible death of the wolf she had to endure, and how I should have been there to save her life. I try to fall asleep but sleep never does come. I try to push Lil from my mind but every time I get close to doing so, I can hear her voice in the back of my mind making me feel guilty. I know its just my conscience, because the real Lil would want me to get over her death and move on, but how can I move on from my own sisters death?

I lay on Burkes couch while he shuffles from room to room. I stare at the egg and pounder what could be inside it. I have so many questions: Does everyone get a different creature? Are they bond to you for life? What will mine be? When will it hatch? With all these questions cluttering my mind I finally begin to drift off into an endless sleep, terrified of the nightmare I will surely endure.

I creep through the house, the floorboards cracking under my weight. The door’s left wide open, inviting the world into our broken home. Black clouds cloak the moon, but still reveal a flicker of light that touches the trees, casting their silhouettes in front of me. The wolves howl in the distance, each wolf having their own melody singing a chilling song luring me into the sinister woods. I walk barefoot catching my legs on stray branches, my feet getting cut from the rocks and twigs.

“Chase” The wind whispers as it gently caresses my skin, making my hair rise on my neck. I enter the woods falling a hazy blue light; the trees behind me swell the entrance I entered from, enclosing me in the woods.

Growls and snarls come from behind me, the wolves emerge from the trees. Blinded by darkness I can only follow the blue light ahead. I can hear the wolves behind me, their paws compressing the twigs into the earth. Their yellow eyes burning into the back of my neck, I trip over a log, my body tumbles to the ground my face into a pile of mud. The wolves’ growl, snapping at my leg, I pull myself up continuing in the direction of the blue light. The light disappears behind a gathering of wild flowers; the wolves disperse back into the obscured woods. I walk through the wild flowers, snagging my leg on thorns and isolated branches. Pushing through the barrier of flowers I become exposed to a lifeless lake. Flowers wilting away, the moon suspends in the sky conveying a gloomy red glow over the lake.

A black figure wonders from the eerie trees in the distance. The wind drifts through the woods, kissing my skin, carrying my fragrance to the figure. It’s face suddenly turns towards me; its fiery red hair glides through the air. “Chase” the figure whispers as it walks towards the lake.

“Lil?” I whisper. The figure does not respond to my comment. I watch the figure as it approaches the lake, howls slice through the night as they tear through the veil of the woods. Streaming towards the figure, their teeth exposed their yellow eyes narrowed at the figure. The Alpha wolf leaps at the black figure seeping its teeth into its neck, flaying the body around. Frozen in fear I cannot help but watch. I blink my eyes, the wolves vanish the figure lies bloody and dead in the distance. I swallow my stomach and walk over to the lifeless body. My hands tremble my body aches, my mind screams for help. The figure’s face is smeared with blood; its fiery red hair begins fade to a dull lifeless grey I sink to my knees tears streaming down my cheeks. I turn the figure on to its back; its lifeless eyes stare straight at me, green eyes that belong to Lil. I scream hitting my legs, wanting to kill myself for not helping her. I force up legs to stand, I put one leg in front of the other but I stumble to the ground.

“Why don’t you just kill me?” I scream into the distance. A pair of yellow eyes shines through the woods, followed by a howl. “KILL ME!” I yell out as the wolf casually walks out of the woods towards me, it stares me in the eyes, revealing its teeth, bends down to my face growling and begins to lick its bloody muzzle. A life for a life I think.

As quickly as I fell asleep is as quickly as I wake up. “Chase!” a voice whispers into my ear. I blink open my eyes to see Burke hovering over me. “I have a surprise for you” he says as he disappears into the kitchen. I sit straight up looking around; the egg is no longer in my arms. I jump off the couch, looking underneath the table, thinking it might have rolled off when I fell asleep. To my luck it isn’t there. What if it hatched? I rush to the kitchen were Burke rests next to the fridge.

“Have you seen my egg?” I question him. Burke smiles and points to a fur ball creature lying in a bed made up of blankets. “When did you get a dog?” I quietly ask not wanting to wake the black creature.

“It’s not mine, it’s your companion” he smiles at me. I smile and bend down petting the fur ball. It lefts it’s head up at me, its bright yellow eyes . . . except they’re not yellow but an unusual green that stare right into me. Green eyes that remind me of Lil’s.

“It’s a wolf,” I whisper, taking a few steps back. Was this some kind of joke, Burke must be pulling a joke. This cannot possible be real.

“Are you okay Chase?” Burke asks me. I don’t know what to say, I was staring at a wolf. “I don’t know what I should be feeling” I explain to him. I turn towards the kitchen window; the sun spills from the clouds spreading light over Burke’s garden. The snow melts away, children running around outside throwing snowballs at each other. I close my eyes trying to withhold my tears.

“Chase!” Lil yelled out. I turned around to see her standing in the meadow the sun radiating off her skin, her hair flowing into the breeze. “Aren’t you coming?” she whispered into the wind having it carry her voice too me. I stood there watching her smile at me, as she disappeared in the direction of the lake. I ran after her towards the lake, my feet padding against the smooth grass as I ran down the hill towards her. “Chase come on,” she yelled again. I picked up my pace and headed in her direction. The lake came into sight; father was sitting on a log with a fishing rod in his hand. He turned around, waving me over.

“Father!” I yelled out, I had not seen him for days; he had left on a hunting trip over the great mountains of the east. I was growing closer to him as he dropped his rod and stood up arms stretched out. I ran into his embrace, holding on to him tightly. “I missed you father,” I told him as he let me go, he turned away and picked up his rod

“Son, there is a lesson you need to learn” He told me as I took a seat next to him. “Everything happens for a reason, no matter what the situation is. Don’t ever question it.” He explained to me.

“I don’t understand father,” I told him.

“Over time, you will,” he said “Now why don’t you go play with your sister.”

I draw back from the window; I now understand what he meant that day, the wolf is gift even if I don’t want to accept it. With what has happened in the past few days, things have changed I can no longer dwell in the past, the future is to survive this tournament, and this pup will help me.

“My father once told me, that everything happens for a reason.” I explain to Burke looking at the pup.

“Your father was a very wise man, and he’s right. This is no accident that a wolf killed your sister, and you received a wolf for a companion. Give the pup a chance you may be surprised.” Burke smiles at me and picks the wolf pup up. He opens its mouth shows its pearly white teeth, then lefts up the pup’s leg. “It’s a girl” Burke laughs, the pup winces her eyes, a drizzle sound echoes through the kitchen. “What the hell, she peed on me,” Burke yells out than sets the pup down, she rushes over to me and curls behind my legs quivering. I bend down and look at her; her ears pull back, her eyes are big and watery. I stroke her head.

“It will be alright,” I whisper as she begins licks my face and whines. “Burke? How long do they usually stay a baby?” if she is suppose to help me in the battle I need to know how long it will take until she becomes an adult.

“For a normal wolf it would take a few years. With the King he has wizards that enchant the egg to speed up the growth process of each creature. My phoenix was an adult in 3 days, I don’t know about others. I know one of the contestants her bear was full grown in a few hours. I think it all depends on how much time you spend with your animal. They will be coming for you in a few days though, you and your pup may want to start training, and come up with a name for her,” Burke explains as he cleans up her pee than exits out the back door, heading back into the village.

I still cannot believe what is happening to me, everything I knew is starting to change. I want to prepare for the battle that is coming up, my body physically wants to prepare but my mind wants to mourn the loose of my sister. Burke is right though, I need to name my wolf but also, that I need to begin my training with her; if the tournament is coming up I need to be prepared with what is ahead of me. I wonder what it will be like, who my opponents will be and what other animals I might encounter. Burke had already explained that it was going to be a fight to the death, but there is so many questions that have been left unanswered, I just have to wait and see what will be revealed over time.

The wolf pup is just sitting there, staring at me. “I guess I should come up with a name for you,” I begin to question names Artemis, Ebony, Hina, Layla, Thanasi, Aiyana or Avari. These all seem to be good names for her, but what would be the best that suits her. She still continues to sit there, nameless, motionless as if waiting for a name herself. I take a seat at the kitchen table; I wave my hand at her. She slowly walks over, one paw in front of the other elegantly, her tail sweeping the floor when she sits down; she places her head on my knee looking up at me.

“Avari,” I whisper. She looks at me then drags her ears and head back and releases a squeaky howl that crescendos up the musically scale holding her highest note for a few seconds, than decrescendos down to a faint whimper. “I take it you like the name?” Without a hesitation she jumps up and licks my face giving me a sure answer. “I guess it fits, you are after all a gift from the heavens, despite a blasted tragedy.”

I spring up from my chair and walk over to the door where my bow and arrows hangs on the hook. I swing the bow over my arm, grab Burkes quiver sliding my arrows into the slots than slide it over my arm. I swing the door wide open: “Let’s go girl!” I whistle, without a hesitation she runs out the door into the outside world, into the dark eerie woods, where the fog from the night before still lingers inside. I put a weak evil smile on to my face. “It’s time to hunt some wolves,” I whisper as I bolt out the door after her.

Avari and I run past Burke’s garden into the woods, where darkness prevails over the sun. The sunlight disappears behind me when I slowly creep into the woods. Avari walks silently next to me, her breathing low and steady, her green eyes shine through the darkness. I close my eyes, waiting to hear if the wolves are near. A rabbit jumps to the east with her babies behind her, a deer grazing to the west of me. The wolves drink at the lake to the north of me. I open my eyes and whistle low at Avari, her green eyes the eyes that remind me of Lil’s look up at me. I throw my arm in the direction I want her to go in; she disappears into to the east. I take a deep breath, and begin to run north. I weave in and out of trees, jumping and tripping over fallen logs, snagging my pant leg on stray branches.

I stop at the end of the woods, gazing at the wolves drinking the water. Avari hides in the shadows on the other side of the woods, her green eyes illuminate in the veil of darkness. I pull my bow out from my arm, grabbing an arrow sliding it between the string and the wood. Two wolves lie in the snow, the Alpha wolf perched on a rock eating a stray deer it had captured earlier that day, one wolf takes a drink from the lake. I aim my arrow at the wolf lying on the ground; I pull the arrow back releasing it from my grasp. The arrow flutters like a bird through the air directly into the wolf’s skull. The pack member’s heads spring up, searching for where the arrow came from. I slither back into the veil of darkness; my bow snags on a tree. The eyes of the wolves lock on to me, as I fight to free my bow.

The wolves leap off the ground launching like a rocket in my direction, first the hunter now the hunted. I tug my bow from the tree freeing it from its grip. I grab an arrow sliding it into the bow releasing at one of the wolves, as the arrow soars through the air Avari springs from the bushes, holding her position between the wolves and me. The arrow pierces a wolf in the eye blood begins to ooze out of the eye; the wolf collapses to the ground with a low whimper staining the snow red with blood. Only 3 wolves remain, as they grow closer to me they’re only a few feet away from where I stand. Panic crawls across my body as the wolves get closer, I reach to grab another arrow but the wolves are too close to penetrate with one. I strap my bow on my back and run as fast as I can, searching for a tree to climb. I peer over my shoulder to see the wolves on my tail, Avari takes down one of the wolves the Alpha wolf grows closer to me, making me run faster then my legs can carry me. I spot a tree straight ahead of me I sprint to the tree leaping from the ground and grab a hold of a branch, just when the Alpha wolf leaps up from the ground sinking its teeth into my left leg. He tries to pull me off the branch but my grip is too tight, I begin to kick the wolf with my right foot, just as he lets go I swing my legs on to the branch and climber to a higher branch where they cannot reach me. I look around for Avari, but she is nowhere to be found.

I grab my bow from my back and slide an arrow in between the string and the wood. The wolves below, growl and snarl at me the Alpha wolfs muzzle stained with my blood. My leg pulses from the bite blood seeps from the wound A life for A life I think releasing the arrow, as it drives through the air into the Alpha wolfs skull, it’s body collapses to the ground as it lets out a sigh. I jump from the tree landing lightly on the ground. I grab my knife from my boot, the last remaining wolf charges at me, teeth ready to sink into my skin. It springs into the air and jumps right on top of me, making me fall on to the ground, I penetrate the wolf with my knife, blood sprays from the wound saturating my face, the wolf yelps as I push it off my body and onto the ground. I push my body to a standing position and stand over the wolf; it lifts its head at me its yellow eyes blister into my heart. I take my knife and slit the wolf’s neck, its eyes sway lifeless into its skull. It is done; I have taken revenge on the beasts that killed my sister. The light begins to trickle through the trees making the darkness disappear. I wipe my face with my hand, my face and clothes are soaked in blood my vision is hazy with the dried blood clinging to my eyelashes.

“Avari!” I yell as I quietly listen for any sign of life. I walk quietly through the woods, my feet compressing the soil into the earth. “Avari” I yell again as I push through twigs and leaves. I continue stumbling my way through the woods towards the lake. I pause for a second, listening to the low breeze that creases by my ear, trapped inside the breeze is a low muffled whine that guides me towards the lake. I pick up my pace from a sluggish walk to a brisk run, jumping fallen trees running through bushes until the lake comes into sight. I emerge from the brushes into the opening where the lake rests. A black body lies just on the edge of the lake, I’m not sure if it is Avari’s body or the wolf that she had taken down. I approach the body slowly, blood seeps out of the body and sneaks into the snow. I steady my breath, hoping it is not Avari’s body.

I drop to my knees when I reach the dead body. I close my eyes and hope it is not her without her I will not be able to complete the tournament. There is a reason the King gives each contestant a companion, it will be a grueling journey and will be difficult to do without one. I rest my hand on the dead wolfs body, readying myself for it to be Avari’s body. My head begins to spin around, my leg still pulses after the bite I inflicted from the wolf. The trees around me begin to spin, the world I know is slowly beginning to slip away from me I’m losing too much blood and quick to. Before I pass out I have to discover to see if this wolf is indeed my wolf or not.

I counted to three, and turn over the wolf to face me. I lose my breath for a second, but regain it when I see that it is not Avari. But if it isn’t her, then where did she run off. I push away from the wolf, forcing my legs to a stand, but my left leg gives out and I tumble into the snow. Everything begins to go hazy, I slowly lose my grip on reality this is the end. No one knows where I am and my wolf is nowhere to be found, I’m going to die for taking revenge on the wolves that destroyed my life. Darkness begins to swell around me and then everything just goes out like a light bulb.

Chapter Text

Chapter Four: Acceptance

I’m running through the desert with Avari at my side. I gaze behind me to see if any purser is falling behind, but there’s not. I stop long enough to catch my breath and break open a cactus to retrieve water for Avari and I. She begins to drink from the cactus; she shows her teeth and begins to growl. I pull my bow and slide an arrow into it. By the way she is acting somebody is growing closer to us. Before they come into sight I release my arrow letting it soar through the air, but miss the target. I slide my bow onto my shoulder and grab the hilt of my sword and run in the direction of the attacker. I run up the hill and stand on the edge, there is nowhere to hide, but why cannot I see the attacker? I close my eyes and steady my breathing, waiting.

I keep my eyes close and wait for them to come near. I turn around and open my eyes thinking that the attacker never existed or just simply ran away. Just as I open my eyes I come face to face with—Burke. As he is about to open his mouth my leg gives out from underneath me. The sun radiates off the desert and slowly disappears behind the mountains; trees slowly begin to materialize alternating the desert back into the woods.

“H-e-l-p m-e,” I stutter. My body is freezing from lying in the snow. My body is still too weak from the loose of blood in my leg. Darkness surrounds the woods, not a trickle of sunlight leaks through the trees. This is truly the end for me, I don’t want to die here, and I’m only seventeen I’m not ready to die. I know the only way for me to survive is to make it back to Burke’s place, but that is going to be a challenge for me.

I take in a deep breath, and begin to push my body off the ground to a standing position. I hold myself for a few seconds then when I take a step forward I stumble and fall back onto the ground hitting my leg. I bite down on my lip trying to withhold my pain but it is to much. I let out a scream that hurts my throat and cradle my wounded leg. I give up, I can’t make it back to Burke’s house, why bother trying to make it back, when I will just die in the tournament? I might as well die from my own foolish mistake then let someone get the satisfaction of killing me.

Tears begin to tremble their way down, knowing that I have failed my family, that I couldn’t save my sister and that I broke my promises. I promised myself that when Father passed away, that I would protect my family and not let anything happen to them, but I’ve failed at that task. The world won’t miss me, no one even knows that I’m gone, no one will enter to come looking for me knowing the wolves are out there. I did the best I can and this is how it will all end. The wind creases my skin as snow begins to drift from the sky onto my body. My eyelashes begin to freeze from the snow; I won’t make it another day. I take in a deep breath and close my eyes for the final time.

“Chase,” a voice whispers. I blink open my eyes to see a brilliant light settling upon me. I take a look of my surroundings. A white figures walks towards me, its hand is held out. I blink a few more times hoping the white light will decrease letting me see who I am staring at. “Chase, it’s time to get up boy.” After a few seconds the light begins to dissolve and reveals a band standing before me, not just any man but my father.
I rub my eyes unsure if this is reality or a delusion. Father bends down and pulls my body to a standing position. I slowly begin to feel stronger then I have in what feels like days. I look at my injured leg to see that it is no longer injured.

“Father, where am I?” I ask. I already know the answer, but I want him to tell me himself. I close my eyes and wait for the answer, but the answer never does come.

When I open my eyes again I am surrounded by darkness, I feel the sudden urge to cry. I’ve never felt this alone before, even after Lil died. “Father?” I wait for him to reply or come back, but he never does. I’m all alone in this unknown place.

I sit down knowing that I will never get out of this place. My eyes grown tired, my mind begins to shut down. I yawn then lie down, tears begin to flow down my cheek damping my clothes.

“Men don’t cry,” I whisper as if anyone can hear me. I sniff away the tears, but there is no use. I am not a man; I’m a child pretending to be a man. I close my eyes and think of my Lil, thinking of all the good times we had together. When father was still alive we would play games with one another, her favorite was Hide n’ Seek, I never could find her she had a way to mold into the flowers and hide her fiery hair. When we grew older we started to play less and less games, out childhood slowly began to wilt away and we grew up, we took care of our mother and ourselves. Every night I would lie in bed and hear Lil prey to the Heavens, asking for forgives for whatever she had down to take Father away from us.

I never could convince her that it wasn’t her fault, but my own. If it weren’t for me searching for him in the streets that night, she would probably still be alive. Blaming ourselves never will bring him back and I had to explain that to her. I miss her. My mind finally begins to wind down, and I begin to drift off into an endless sleep hoping that when I wake, I will be in a different place rather then here.

“Tic, toc, tic, toc. Rise and shine sleeping beauty,” A voice says loudly into my ear. My eyes explode open making my body jolt forward. “Take it easy.” I look around to see Burke standing in front of me with a smile on his face. ”Good to see you’re alive.”

“What happened?” I ask. I push my body to a sitting position; Burke takes a seat next to me and runs a hand through hair.

“I expected more from you, Chase. You did a foolish move,” he says avoiding eye contact with me, “If it weren’t for your wolf, I might not have been able to find you and save you. What were you thinking? Did you honestly think you could go into the woods without anyone knowing and kill the wolves? You almost lost your life.”

“I’m sorry Burke,” is all I say. I wish there were a way for me to explain to him what I am going through, I don’t need him to hound me for all my foolish mistakes.

Before I can open my mouth and say another word Burke wraps an arm around me and pulls me into his chest, tears begin to fall down my face and wet his shirt.

“I’m just glad that you are okay. But it is time to get down to business,” he says then leaves the room. What does he mean, time to get down to business? I shift around on the touch trying to get comfortable. When I find a position, I realize there is a burning sensation running through my body. I look at my hands to see that they are black and blue; tears continue to run down my face when I realize I will not be able to fight. They are badly damaged and there is no way for me to use my bow or even a sword. It’s all very pointless now. There is only one way out of this mess, and that is to run away. I peel off the covers and stumble off the couch and walk across the room to the door. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Just for a walk, I guess,” I say, “okay, I was planning on running away. I just don’t know how I can fight in this tournament with my hands badly damaged.” I sit back down on the couch and bury my face in my hands.

“Boy, you know if you run away the King will find you and sentence you to your own death or just throw you into the tournament without a weapon. How senseless can you be?” Burke states.

“You don’t understand, I will die no matter. I don’t want to go into this tournament and die Burke; I’m too young to die. And now that I don’t have my hands I will surely die now,” I explain to him. He walks towards me and hands me a cup.

“Drink this, it will help with your hands, and don’t worry about that. The King has ways to fix your hands. Have father, Chase. There is a chance you can make it out of this tournament alive. Just look at me I made it out just fine. You know how to fight, you know more about survival then you think you do. All you have to do is rely on yours and on your wolf,” Burke explains. He moves away and heads into the kitchen letting out a whistle. Instantly Avari runs in from the kitchen running towards me. She leaps from the floor soaring and colliding into my body.

“Hey girl,” I say scratching her head. She cleans my face with her tongue. I push away from her and examine her to see any wounds, only to discover she is perfectly fine, “how many days was I out?”

“Just about a week,” he says. I drag myself off the couch and walk into the kitchen, Burke and Avari follow suit. I sit down at the kitchen table and bend down and pull Avari’s face up to mine.

“Why did you leave me girl,” I whisper into her ear. She pulls her ears back and licks my face. “You scared me, I thought I lost you, I needed you. If you didn’t leave I might have not been hurt. I’m not mad, just was worried for you is all,” she begins to whine and puts her head down. I kiss her face and pat her. Avari is no longer a pup, she’s fully-grown and is ready for this tournament.

“When you were unconscious she’s been outside hunting birds and other small life. She is prepared as best as she can, but she has all of her natural instincts as a wolf, but Chase, the time has come. New has traveled from within the village that the King’s men have arrived for you,” Burke says with sadden eyes.

“I don’t want to leave, I’m not ready Burke,” I say looking away from him. I exit the kitchen and head to the living room. Burke’s garden is plastered in snow. The sun illuminates in the sky melting away from of the newly fresh snow; two figures stroll in from the town as they march in long strides matching each other’s pace and come up the stone path to the house. I turn away from the window and return back to Burke. “They’re here for me.”

“Before they knock at the door there is one thing I want you to have,” he says disappearing into his room then returns in a blink of an eye. He has something in his hand that is wrapped in a cloth, he unwraps the object revealing it is a sword. “This was mine when I was in the tournament. It saved my life, a lot of blood has been spilled wit this sword, but I am sure it will save your own life. I want you to take it and come out a winner.” He hands me the sword and opens his mouth to say something but is interrupted with a knock on the door that makes the house vibrate. Burke disappears to answer the door leaving me alone.

I’m left standing there with the sword in my hand and Avari on the floor staring at me. I let the sword become an extension of my right arm feeling each movement with it. I pull it to my face and examine the blade; smooth, sharp a well-made sword that is made for the slaughter of people. I tie the sword to my pants and take in a deep breath then follow where Burke went. Avari whimpers then follows behind me, her ears pull back and her head faces down, she knows we are walking to our own deaths. The walk to the door feels like its an eternity, but I finally arrive to see two men standing that, two men that are going to take me away from Myth Village and take my to my death.

Both men are tall and lengthy; they both wear a black cloak, which conceals whatever weapon they bold. They wear chain mail boots, probably the traditional uniform for the King. When Burke sees me he turns around and shakes his head, I walk over to the men as one of them puts his hand on my shoulder. I try to shrug it off but he doesn’t let go.

“Ready boy?” the man asks. Before I reply Avari shows her teeth and begins to growl at the men.

“I think you should take your hand off me if you would like to keep it intact,” I state. The man jolts his hand away and takes a step away from me.

“As you say, sir,” the man says, “The King wishes we do not squander, our orders were to escort you back to the Kingdom as swift as possible. You will not need to bring anything other than your choice of weapons and your hatchling. We’ll let you say your goodbyes, we will be outside once you are ready join us.” He eyes Avari who still growls at him then walks out the door shutting it behind him.

Once the two men leave, Burke and I are left standing in an awkward silence. Neither of us don’t know what quite to say to one another. I don’t know who this is harder for, him or me. He knows what will happen and fears for my life, but I’m going in blind and don’t even know what will happen all I can do is imagine.

“Burke, thank you for everything,” I say. That’s all I can say, he has done so much for me these last few years and I don’t know how to repay him.

“Be safe, Chase, remember don’t trust no one, not even your own thoughts,” Burke says then walks away. That’s it, no goodbye, no I’m gong to miss you or you were the best apprentice I have. And what does he mean not to trust my own thoughts? What is that supposed to mean? What a hell of a way for me to remember you when I’m about to die, I want to march up to him and give him a peace of my mind but that’s no way of ending things.

I storm out of the house and whistle for Avari to follow me. I slam the door behind me and push his last words to the back of my mind knowing that maybe this is extremely hard on him and he didn’t know what else to say to me.

“Are you ready sir?” the man asks. I nod and slowly breathe taking in the last air of Myth. “Have you ever traveled by magic?” I know the King has wizards, but to truly travel by magic is beyond my belief.

“No, I have not,” I say taking Burke’s house one last time.

“Don’t’ worry, many have not. It’s going to be easy, we would have traveled by portal but we don’t have a wizard here to open that,” He says. “Now take a hold of your hatchling and don’t let go.”

I bend down and grab onto Avari’s fur and wait for whatever is about to happen, to happen. The man places his hand on my shoulder as I tense up. He places his free hand into his pocket and pulls out a black powder that leaks out of his fingers and throws it on the ground. Black smoke rises around us and my body begins to stretch in different directions. Avari beings to bark and whine, she must be feeling the same sensation I am; I tighten my grip on her fur. I look at the two men to see their faces are perfectly still, no smile no emotions running through their faces at all. Everything around us seems to expand and contrast, our bodies flash through places I cannot imagine. It makes me wonder if the people can us like we can see them. We pass by a boy and his dog, a girl with her mother fishing at the pond. The speed begins to pick up; I begin to lose my focus between what’s happening now and what is happening in the outside world. I slowly start to lose my grip on reality, I fight the urge to let go of Avari, but my body is starting to feel frail, then my mind slips into utter darkness.

“Sir, you must wake up,” a voice whispers. I blink open my eyes to see the man that brought my Burke’s house is standing over me. Avari sits next to me licking my face then begins to sniff my entire body. I push her away and stand up.

“What happened?” I ask even though I already know that answer. Everything was perfectly fine until the speed picked up. I could no longer focus everything started to get dizzy my mind could no longer take the pressure of what was happening.

“I’m sorry, I forgot to warn you about the speed increase. Your body was not prepared for the increase, once again I am terribly sorry,” the man says. He keeps his eyes on the ground not making eye contact with me.

“It’s alright. Where are we?” I ask.

“We are in the Kingdom, I will be your escort until the tournament begins. You will not see any of the other competitors until you are inside the arena. My name is Mitt and I will be at your expanse. You are in your chamber right now, I will just be outside your door if you need me at any time. You will find clean clothes in the dresser and I am sure they will fit you better then what you are wearing right now. I placed your weapon on top of your dresser as well,” Mitt says with a glisten in his eye. “Is everything okay?”

I look around the room taking in everything; I cross over to the dresser inspecting my sword. Why was my bow not here? That’s right I didn’t grab it, its either back where Burke found me hanging by the door either way, I don’t have a ranged weapon.

“I know this is not my place to ask, but did I have a bow with me at all?” I ask wanting to know that I was not foolish enough to forget it.

“No sir, all you had with you was your sword. Do you need a bow?” He asks me.

“If I am to survive I will need a long distance weapon, is there any possible way I can gather such a weapon?” I ask.

“I will see what I can do sir. Why don’t you and your hatchling rest, your food will arrive shortly,” Mitt says then walks towards the door. “Oh, and sir, please do not leave your room, I will be at your door entrance.” He closes the door behind him. Without saying a word I look around the room then crawl into the bed. I pound my hand on the sheets for Avari to follow suit. She leaps onto the bed and curls into a ball then drifts off into a sleep almost instantly. I set my head down on the pillow and close my eyes, I wait for something to happen and wonder how everything will happen in the days to come.

Chapter Text

Chapter Five: BYLAWS

I wake to the sun beating down on my skin, and to my clothes clinging to my sweaty body. I feel utterly exhausted as if I didn’t get any sleep the last few days. The room looks the same as when I first looked at it, there is a plate of foot on the dresser waiting for me, Mitt must have brought it in when I was asleep. Avari is still curled in a ball asleep. I see there is a bowl of food for her on the flow which has been wiped clean of any substance.

“Sir, are you up?” Mitt calls before opening the door. “I’m sorry to wake you, I heard you moving around and I thought maybe you needed any assistance.”

“I was just searching for food. How long was I asleep?” I ask.

“Just a few hours sir, it is nearly dawn,” Mitt replies. He looks rather tired himself.

“When is the last time you’ve slept?” I ask. His eyes are heavy like he might fall asleep any second.

“A few nights ago, once you go into the arena I will be able to sleep all I want, but for now I am at your every demand. In a few hours I shall take you to the practice room where you and your hatchling will practice if you want,” he explains.

I haven’t thought about training the past few days, granted I have been more focused on other things, like taking revenge on the wolves that killed sister, but it just doesn’t feel right to practice. I feel like I haven’t grieved long enough for her death.

“When does the tournament begin?” I ask. Mitt walks over to my bed, takes the plate and heads out to the door and opens its.

“Tomorrow, sir,” he says then leaves the room. The door clicks behind him. With nothing other to do in my chamber I take the advantage of sleeping in an actual bed one last time. I close my eyes letting the darkness swell any bit of sunlight that trickles through the room and welcoming sleeping. Knowing that in the days to come, sleep may never happen again.

Lil and I play on her birthday, she wears a short summers dress mother had made for her. Father’s not here, he’s never here. All Lil wants for her birthday is a pup from the Cot’s liter. For weeks she begged me saying she would take care of it, she would feed it and clean up its mess. The dog was brown and white, all the puppies were the same except one, and odd ball that was black and brown and of course Lil wanted that one, since no one else did.

“Please, Chase! I will take care of it!” She repeated for weeks. Mother has forbidden getting any sort of animals besides pigs. I tried to explain to Lil that a farm wasn’t a place for a dog, which was a lie but I had to get her to stop asking about the pup. After we were done playing I sent her inside to help mother with supper, what she doesn’t know is that I am going down to the Cot’s and buying her that puppy she wants. I take a short cut to their home, which means I have to cut through Old Man Fraud’s backyard. I usually never cut through his land, but the sun is settling and I need to hurry to getting home before nightfall or ill get beat by mother, then once again when father gets home.

I stand at the edge of his property line, listening for any sign of the Old Man but he seems nowhere in sight. I push past his house, jump his small fence and stop at the end of the property line; I stop to catch my breath.

“What are you doing on my yard?” A voice cries out. Before I even can turn around I knew who it is. Old Man Fraud. I want to run away but I know he saw my face and I will get more trouble once he tells my father that I was on his land. I turn around to face him, and ready to face my punishment. “Chase?”

“Hello Mr. Fraud,” I say. I’ve never call him Old Man to his face it’s disrespectful, even if he is old.

“Why did you cross my yard?” He asks me. He’s known my family for years, he trades his corn for are pork.

“I’m sorry Mr. Fraud, today’s Lil’s birthday and I am going to the Cot’s to get her a puppy from his liter, but night is coming quickly and cutting through it the only quickest way without going all the way through town. Once again I’m sorry,” I explain to him.

“I once had a sister, she wanted a pup as well. I guess I can let you through this time with a warning, but Chase, beware of the wolves, they are hungry tonight,” he says with a smile then disappears into his house. I take his warning and run to the Cot’s place quickly not wanting to get home when it’s completely dark.

“Hi, Chase!” the Cot’s daughter Melissa greets me. She is about the same age as me and she’s always had a crush me. Her mother wishes that one-day her and I will marry but I don’t know if that will happen, I’ve never had an interest in her.

“Hello Melissa, is your father around? I’ve come to make a deal for one of your puppies,” I say to her. The idea of making a deal with her father terrifies me, I was never quite as good at making deals like my father is.

“He’s in the barn with the puppies, would you like to see them?” She asks twirling her hair in her finger.

“Yes that would be excellent,” I reply. She takes my hand and laces her fingers between mine and led me to their barn. Their house is much bigger than mine.

“Father! Chase is here to make a deal with you,” Melissa says as we enter the barn. She releases her fingers from mine and begins to twirl her hair again.

“Greetings Chase. What deal would you like to make?” He asks wiping his hands.

“I have ten silver, I’m hoping I could exchange them for a pup?” I ask him. I can see his mouth twitch into a smile.

“Is that right now, well the puppies cost fifteen silver, there is only one pup that has not be claimed, it’s the—“ he says.

“The black and brown one,” I finish his sentence with a smile. “I’ll work for you on Sundays to earn the other five silver. The pup is for Lil, it’s her birthday today and she really wants this puppy.”

“Hmm, well that seems like a fine deal to me. I accept,” he says holding out his hand. I firmly grip his hand and shake it, sealing the deal with Mr. Cots.

I bend down to pick up the puppy and thank him. They offer if I want dinner but I generously decline and scurry on home. I cut through Old Man Fraud’s yard giving him a wave as I pass by. The sun begins to set behind the mountains, darkness will becoming in a few minutes. I pull the dog tightly to my body and begin to run, it will take five minutes to get home from Old Man Fraud’s yard, this will place me at the house right when the darkness arrives, that’s if I run all the way home.

I take in a deep breath and continue running through the path that leads me home. The pup scrums in my hand, he wants down but I can’t put him down otherwise I won’t make him home till after dark, and with what Old Man said about the wolves being hungry, I’m not going to risk becoming a meal for them. The trees around me slowly starting to become familiar to me, I know I’m getting closer. A smile light ups my face as I pick up my pace.

I come around the turn to see my house come into view. I’ve made it. I slow down to a steady walk. The moon takes its stance in the sky, signaling that it is nighttime, a time where monster roam the world terracing kids in their dreams. I suppress the feeling the feeling of the monsters that lurk the woods and walk towards the house; I walk up the hill with the pup in my hand and with a smile on my face.

“Lil!” I yell out. I wait for the door to swing up and to see Lil’s face when she sees me with the puppy she’s been wanting. From the corner of my eye I can see the wolves yellow eyes shine through the darkness of the trees, staring at me. The village lives in fear of these creatures; fear is what drives us in at night. Lil never does open the door; she knows the wolves are out. I eye the door, calculating the distance to the door from where I stand, ten seconds to run and open the door, but with the pup in my hand I’ll never make it, the wolves will just charge at me and kill me. I know what I have to do.

I take in a deep breath and place the pup down whispering my apologies to the poor defenseless creature. I take a few steps forward when the massive creatures emerge from the trees. The Alpha wolf licks it’s muzzle staring down the innocent creature I had to sacrifice. I keep my face towards them as I walk backwards towards the house. In a blink of an eye the world shifts underneath me, blood sprays through the air, trees fall and the ground shakes.

“Chase,” a voice whispers. I look around, the wolves are still shredding what left is left of the pup. I push my body from the floor, but it shakes rapidly, the floor underneath me gives away. I begin to fall through the earth then I slam into the ground. My eyes explode open.

“I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to wake you, but the King would like to meet with you,” Mitt says standing over me, he lets go of my body and steps back. I blink away my confusion in my mind, I’m in the Kingdom, I’m not in front of my house watching Lil’s birthday gift getting torn into pieces.

“Thank you, Mitt. I will be ready in a few minutes,” I tell him. He backs out of the room with a smile on his face. I peel off my clothes are crusted in sweat from my feverish dreams. The clothes cling to my body as I pull each article off my slender body. I throw my shirt in a basket stationed by the dresser, I grab a new shirt and slide it onto my body; the material is tight fitting but flexible to move around in. I assume this is the article of clothing I will fight in. I peel my pants and slide on the black tights that were placed by my shirt. I grab my sword from the dresser then open the door; I whistle for Avari to follow, but she does not respond.

“Mitt,” I whisper. He turns around and smiles at me.

“You ready sir?” He asks me.

“Have you seen my wolf?” I ask. I have no idea where she is, all I remember is her lying next to me when sleeping, but I don’t remember her leaving my room since we got here. Hopefully Mitt will know where she is.

“I’m sorry, sir. I forgot to tell you, your wolf is with the King’s wizards getting checked out to make sure everything is working properly with her. Excuse my lack of information I should have told you, but you looked as if you needed to sleep,” he explains to me. I nod and smile at him. “Let me explain to you firefly what will happen in the hours to come. I will take you to the weapon room where you will meet with the King. He will explain the rules to you and you will be able to train with your hatchling in a few hours, then I will bring you back to your chamber where you will eat and rest for the rest of the night.”

I nod and follow mitt through the door, he takes me through a series of hallways that begin to look the same to me. The hallways are empty besides the servants entering or exiting a room with cloth in their hands. Mitt nods and acknowledges them; stop trying to memorize each turn we take because I begin to lose track and can’t remember if we took a left or a right or if we were up or down. Eventually Mitt leads me to a staircase where we decent about two stories then we come face to face with a door.

“You may go inside, Chase,” Mitt says then takes a few steps back. “I will be out here if you need me.” I take in a deep breath, then push through the door and enter to what I assume is the weapon room. The door closes behind me exposing me to the dimly lit room. A figure stands in the middle of the room, with a brightly colored cloak around his shoulders and a mountain lion imprinted in the fabric. Weapons cover the wall, each one different from the one next to it and not one weapon is alike. I walk closer to the figure not wanting to disturb them. When I am about five feet away I stop and stare at the figure.

“Hello,” I whisper. I assume this is the King, but I honestly don’t know. There is no crown on his head and I have only seen the King once that was a long time ago. I was raised in a village where no royal member ever visits. The figure finally turns around and smiles at me.

“Well, it’s finally nice to see you again, Chase. I am King Than which you already know that. I hope Mitt has been treating you well?” he asks

“Yes, very well,” I say. I don’t know how to act around royalty, “Mitt said you were going to explain the rules to me?” He scratches his white beard.

“Yes, he is correct. Come take a seat and we will get right down to business,” he says steering me over. I take a seat across from him and wait for what he has to say.

“I would like to congratulate you on being chosen to compete.”

“Why are you congratulating me? You’re sentencing me to my own death,” I spit out. It’s true; if it weren’t for him organizing this whole killing spree I would still be at home. Before receiving that egg, I never did imagine how I would die, I always knew I would settle down with some girl inside the village and raise children of my own, but now I never will.

“You don’t understand. I am giving you the opportunity to enhancing your living style. You will understand more when you step forth into the arena. But let me get on to the bylaws as of right now. You will not meet any of the other competitors until you face each other in the arena. You will not be able to climb out of the arena, if you attempt it you will be chocked by the force field the wizards have put around it. You may kill the game for food, try and protect your hatchling and most importantly, survive,” he explains to me, but during most of his speech all I can think about is stabbing him with my sword. “Any questions?”

“Why did you choose me?” I ask. I know I signed up for the tournament, but when I got there the line was huge, there must have been hundreds of people who had signed up, why was I chosen from the rest of the applicants. It’s a question I am very curious about, what does he do, use his wizards to spy on us to see if we can and cannot fight?

“You don’t want to hear the answer to that Chase,” he states.

“I have the right to know, I know I entered this willing, but there must be a reason as to why I was chosen out of hundreds of applicants. You can at least tell my why I was chosen out of better fighters and stronger competitors, I’m just a simple farm boy from Myth Village. I lost my father along with my mother and sister, I know what I can and cannot handle,” I say, pushing out of my chair. My hand shifts to my sword ready to strike any second if he does not tell me what I want to hear. The King rubs his beard then holds his hand out telling my to calm down.

“I do not respond to threats. Please don’t pull your sword out, take a seat. Mitt!” he calls out. Mitt’s head pops in through the door.

“Yes my liege?” he asks.

“Will you please unarm our competitor, I do not trust his judgment right now,” he states. Mitt does not say another word; he crosses the room over to where I sit. I remove my sword and hand it to him. The king is foolish, he disarms me but we are in a weapon room. If he were smart, are little meeting would not be placed in a room where it is easy to execute him. “I am sorry for what I am about to tell.”
I wait, and wonder why he apologies to me.

Chapter Text

Chapter Six: The Cloaked Figure

“Winter had come early that year; my wizards did not expect this. We were a week’s trip back to the kingdom. Instead of trying to beat the weather through the night I decided it was smart to seek shelter in a village nearby. We had stumbled into Myth by luck and fate. I knocked on doors seeking refuge for that night than we’d move on in the morning, but no one would let us stay. The night grew colder, my sons were beginning to freeze, and they were only seven years old. We decided to threaten a household to letting us stay the night. I grabbed a torch ‘Let us stay or I will burn your house down’ I yelled from house to house. But they kept slamming their doors in my son’s face and mine. I knew this village did not believe in my rulings or even knew what I looked like. Even when I claimed who I was they still slammed their doors, so I did what I knew best. I brought violence into their world I torched the village. Woman and children fled from their homes screaming, one woman attacked me. I grabbed my sword and sliced her head off for attacking the royal family. Men ran to a nearby water source to stifle the flames, but they were already out of control.

I knew I shouldn’t stay much longer. I had a feeling that the village would revolt against me and surely try and kill me. I hopped back on my horse with the severed head in my hand heeding a warning to those who tried to cross me. Most of everyone coward around me, but one man stood up against those who wouldn’t. He took his knife and ran at me with it, he sliced one of my boys face. I grabbed my bow and shot an arrow into him. The man stumbled away from me bleeding. I pushed my boys off into the direction that would lead us out of the town; I turned to see the man I had shot. His blood trail lead my eyes to him slumped over in the snow, a boy rushed over to him with tears rushing down his face. He took his father’s sword and turned towards me, about to strike; instead, he dropped the weapon and attended his dying father till he drew his last breath. From that moment I knew, I had to have that boy when he was old enough to compete in my tournament. And then when I saw you that one day to in the court yard, signing up. I knew I must have you; you will be a tough opponent to beat. You are that boy.” The King finally finished. My hands tightened into a fist.

He is the reason why my father is dead; he murdered him because my father was going after him with a knife. I don’t blame my father, if I saw a man with a severed head in his hand I would go after him with a knife. I had the chance, and I didn’t take it, I wanted to be with my father before he passed away. I have the chance right now though. “You killed my father,” I say pushing out of my chair. I inch to the wall hoping to gather a sword.

“I am sorry for killing your father, but it was either kill or be killed,” he says eyeing my movement. “I wouldn’t grab a sword if I were you. You will be knocked out before you get even an inch to my face.”

I don’t heed his warning I continue to inch to the wall until I feel a hilt slide across my fingers. “You didn’t have to kill him. He had family! How would you have felt if your sons were murdered!” I spit out. He shifts in his seat.

“Don’t you dare talk about my sons! You don’t know how it was the night, how cold and scared they were. I had to protect them I did protect them. But your father left a mark on one; he will never have a perfect face a prince should have! I’m glad I killed your father, he deserved it he was a coward for coming after me—“ he tries to say.

I snap before he can say another word. I grab the sword and charge at him. As soon as I get a few feet to his face my body cringes and I drop to the floor. A surge of pain rushes from my head to my chest; I drop the sword and stare at the King. “I warned you. Did you honestly think you and I were alone in the room,” he chuckles.

A figure steps out of a shadow his hands raised in the air. “Chase meet Arlene, he’s one of my wizards. I can make him let you go if you promise not to attack me again”.

“That will not happen. I want to pierce this sword through your heart and watch you suffer as my father did that night,” I say as I spit at him.

“If that’s what you want then. Arlene, you know what to do then. Knock him out,” he casually says. I try to fight against the pain to pull myself up, but the wizard’s power is just too strong.

“If I survive, I will kill you!” I yell as the King walks out of the room. The wizard walks over to where I lie, he places his hand on my head then mummers nonsense words. “What are you doing to—me.” my words began to slur together, my eyes began to close, the room around me disappears behind darkness.

“Father, where are you going?” I ask when he is sneaking out of the house, sword in hand. He creeps through the house in the dead of night. He lingers in my room before I get the presence someone is standing in the doorway; I awake up before he leaves. I can only see his silhouette, but I know he turns around too face me.

“Go back to sleep my son, I’m going nowhere” he lies as he tiptoes out of my room. I spring out of my bed, the floor creaks as my weight settles down my feet drum against the broken floorboards as I run after him. The moonlight leaks in through the back door father walks out of, I run out the following not to far behind him.

“Father!” I yell quietly, not wanting to wake up my sister and mother. I loose sight of him when I get closer to the village; I lost him in the dead of night. I end up in the village, screams pierce through the darkness. Fire spreads across the homes and shops, woman and children scrambling to find order. Barefoot, I run around the village helping those who need help screaming “Father, father, where are you?” but not receiving a reply back from him.

“Chase, go home, this is no place for a young boy,” Burke yells at me. He grabs me by my arm, thrusts me in the direction of my house in the opposite distance of the village. I disobey his orders running back into the flames.

“Father!” I scream again, falling to my knees crying. The fire quickly spreads as men rush from the lake to the west with buckets of water trying to stifle the flames.

“Chase!” A voice cries out. I spin my head around to see my father stumble towards me, with an arrow in his side. I run over to him, as he collapses in my arms.

“Chase, go home” he whispers to me. I examine the arrow wound in his side. “Chase Go!” he yells at me again. But as stubborn as I am, I’m not going to let my father bleed out, I pull the arrow out from his side, stripping my top-layer shirt off and putting pressure into his wound.
Panic rushes through the village of Myth, as woman scream “HE’S COMING, HE’S COMING”. I stand up to see who is coming, as a man in a black cloak rides by on a black horse. In his left hand he is holding a head, blood drizzles from the neck and splatters onto the ground seeping into the cracks of the earth. The clocked figure thrashes his sword in the direction of those who try to stop him.

I turn back to my father; his mouth is stained with blood, his blue eyes vacant of any living soul. “Father?” I cry out. I shake him rapidly, hoping it will somehow bring him back. “FATHER!!” I scream. I have lost him. I take his sword that is attached to his belt and charge at the cloaked figure that waits a few feet in front of me. This will be the only chance to slaughter him. My feet slosh across the newly formed snow as I creep closer to the figure. I thrash the sword through the air heeding a warning as I inch closer to the figure; I slice at the horses legs, forcing it to collapse with the figure on its back. He does not move when I pull him up to my face wanting to get a better look at the man who just murdered my father. “You will die, the same way my father died,” I yell penetrating the knife into the figures chest. He folds to the ground blood seeps out of his wound; I bend down and pull off his hood. But, instead of seeing the King’s face, I see my own. My body crumbles to the ground, my heart races, blood begins to seep through my shirt.

My body begins to convulse, my blood slips out of my mouth. I’m dying. The village people rush from their hiding places to my body. Burke bends down and whispers, “You son of a bitch, you killed a great man.” Then he steps away. I try to speak, to tell Burke that I am not the King, but my words are subdued. As each villager passes by, they whispers something cruel and veil that makes my body tremble. They have no idea that it is me. Tears roll down my cheeks, I am dying and the villagers have no idea. I roll on to my stomach to see my father’s body still lying in the snow, the villagers surround his body saying their preys, mother is hunched over him crying, and Lil, is embraced inside my arms. I was an innocent boy at that time, caught between sorrow and hate. I grew up wanting to take revenge on the monster that murdered my father, but instead, I grew up becoming a monster. My father taught me never to kill unless it was for survival, but I wanted to kill out of misery. I was a monster, and that’s not who I am.

My heart begins to slowly stop, my eyes begin to close instead of darkness that surrounds me it is light this time. I am about to die for my foolish action. I should have stayed with my father’s body, rather than charge at the cloaked figure. It wasn’t worth losing my life for. Voices begin to call me; I feel my soul lift out of my body and into the sky. The tears that once rolled down my eyes, stop, the pain I feel is no longer there. I feel happy, I will finally be with my father again, so I embrace the welcoming of the light and let it take me away once and for all. As my soul lifts out of my body, I can see myself lying on the blood stained snow. The light grows brighter and strong that’s when I see him, my father.

I wake up to see a light shining down on me, I try to move my head but its stuck in place. A figure appears over me his face covered in a white mask letting me only see his eyes, dark grey eyes that look straight into my soul. I try to move by the figure holds me down and shakes his head.

“He’s waking up, put him under again. Don’t worry Chase, you won’t remember anything, you’ll wake up and everything will be a dream for you, when you wake up you will be on your way into the arena,” the figure speaks. I try to open my mouth but he covers it with his hand and looks at me. “Don’t try and fight it, just let the sleepiness take over soon everything will be over.”

I feel a serge of pain rush over me, the pain was coming from the back of my ear, I look out of the corner of my eye to see blood dripping onto the table. I begin to panic more, but the figure tries to calm me down, but when he realizes that I can’t be calmed he waves his hand in front of me making me slowly fall asleep. I look at the figure one last time, they pull down their mask and smile at me, a smile that lets my pain drift away as if it never existed, as if there was no pain what so ever.

I slowly draw back to reality. I grab ahold of my neck and check for any blood but there was nothing, small relief makes me feel better, but anger rushes through my body, I do not want to kill the king, it was not what I was raised to do, but I can still feel hatred towards him. I pity the man; he took a man’s life to save his own without a fair fight. He is a coward who cannot take actions into his own hands that is why he watches people fight each other he cannot do it himself. I have to try and forget this, it cannot affect my performance, I have to win. I will not give him the satisfaction that I am a weakling, I am my father’s son, and I will win for him. Losing is not an option for me.

“Mitt” I call out. I wait for him to poke his head inside the room, but he never comes. I push myself up and then notice, I was not in my room, but a wooden cage being dragged by a horse. The cart is filled with hay, my beautiful wolf; Avari is curled into a ball next to me. People gather around the cage cheering as I am being pulled, I feel around for my sword, panic sets in, the battle is about to begin and I do not know if I am armed or not, I finally feel it strapped to my belt, I stroke Avari’s head when something catches my eye. I rifle the hay pulling out a long wooden craved bow and a quiver of twenty or more arrows. Attached to the bow is a letter from the King.

Chase, deeply sorry I had to put you to sleep like that, but it was necessarily. Here is a gift from me to you, this bow is made from a Red Oak tree, it is very strong and will not break, the arrows are also made from Red Oak, I am sure you will be pleased on how strong your weapon will be. I made sure Mitt strapped your sword back on you, as you might have noticed by the time you woke up you slept the night away and are about to go into the arena. Good luck and remember the one rule I gave you, survive. Hope you survive.

I crumble the letter up and threw it out of the cart. The cart continues to push through crazed crowd. My heart begins to race, as child stick their hands into the cart to touch me and wishes me luck. I feel like a wild animal on display, but that’s exactly what I am. I am an animal fighting to win for survival, being put on display for show, for their mirror entertainment. There is no chance for me to get out of this, in a matter of seconds I will enter the arena, with my beautiful wolf Avari, the bow the king gave me, and Burke’s sword. I wish Burke were here right now, he would know what to say he went through this once before.

The horse draws closer to the massive arena, the crowd disperses letting me get a view of my surrounding. Two wizards stand on the opposite side of one another their hands in the air, in between them is a huge gapping door, which the horse is heading into. The horse steps through the gaping hole in the arena. Trees surround the area, with snow covering the ground. Birds perched on trees singing their melody. The horse pulls me a little further into the arena taking me away from the entrance. Finally the horse stops and a man jumps off the horse. His face battered, with a scar under his eye, he opens the door and smiles at me. I grab my bow and quiver; I shake Avari awake then exit out of the door. Without a word the man gets on his horse then rides away. I look in the direction of the hole watching it shrink. The arena is silent, as I wait for someone to make the first move.

“Ladies and gentleman, I would like to inform you of the newly instated rule change,” a voice sayings breaking the silent. I turn my head to the air thinking someone in the sky is talking to me, not me, us. “As in previous tournaments we let you control the course of events, this year it is going to be different. Instead of you hunting people, you will be the hunted.”

Chapter Text

Chapter Seven: Blood Chase

The voice disappears as if it never existed, I take in a deep breath not knowing what to do but my mind does, so I begin to run for my life, I don’t know what comes over me but I have to find a place to live and make camp for the night. I know it isn’t safe running through the snow, the other competitors can use my track marks to hunt me down. I take a branch from a nearby tree and cover my tracks and hope they will not notice my footprints, but they could mistake Avari’s for a deer. I slow down my pace, and slowly begin to step through the snow. Suddenly a scream slices through the silence of the arena, a blood cruelled scream, someone has finally killed. Reality finally sinks in, nowhere is going to be safe.

I take a look of my surroundings, the trees seem pretty thick and easy to climb, I could make camp in one of the trees; Avari could hide in a bush or underneath the snow to cloak her midnight coat. That won’t work, I look when I see a cave in the distance, but that is an obvious choice to take shelter it will be easy pickings if someone does make camp inside it. I decide to take my chances with the cave, it will be easy to maintain a fire inside and it will be dry and warm.

I glance at Avari as she sits in the snow licking her paw clean. My stomach starts to growl, I can’t remember the last time I had a meal. I want to start a fire before I go hunting; maybe I can send Avari out to get food while I make shelter. I rub her head and continue walking in the direction of the cave. The sun is beginning to fall below the arena walls, night is coming soon, and so are the predators. We arrive at the entrance of the cave, no one occupies it. . . yet. I slide my bow and quiver onto my arm. The entrance was small enough that I can hide it with some brush and blend it in with the trees and hillsides.

I grab a pile of brush lying next to the entrance of the cave and try an attempt to conceal the entrance. I cover the entrance then take a step back to see how well it camouflages opening with the trees around it. It blends in well with the surrounds, one would not be able to recognize it from the distance and know that a cave was behind the brush. I bend down and stroke Avari.

“Go find food and bring it back here” I whisper to her, before I could say another word she takes off into the trees disappearing from my eyesight. I hope she’ll be okay. I push my thoughts to the side and decide it is best to make a fire before the light vanishes for the night. I search around the area hiding behind trees and bushes hoping that I do not get spotted. I find two stones that are perfect to try and start a spark; I stuff them in my pocket and grab a handful of leaves stuffing it next to the rocks. On the way back to cave I harvest a load of sticks and carry them to the cave. I squeeze my way through the brush that conceals the cave. I throw pile the sticks in a corner, then I pull out the stones and leaves I collected. I build a nice fire, just waiting to start it whenever Avari will return with food, if she caught anything, or if she is still alive.

Of course she’s alive; she can outrun any human and predator that crosses her path. She will return with food for her and I to eat, she has to. I can’t think negative, she is a wolf of course she’ll return she has survival instincts like any other wolf. She saved my life, she knew I was injured and went and fetched Burke, she’ll be able to find me with her nose. But, if she can find me, then if anyone else has a pet they can smell my scent and come across it as an unknown scent, what if they decide to hunt me down. Okay, I need to calm down and start thinking logically and take one step at a time. If she does not return anytime soon I will go out and find her, I need her.

I sit and stare at the fire that has yet to be lit. My mind begins to wonder as I wait for my wolf to appear out of the small opening. I run through the forest my sword in hand; I slice branches out of my way while I run for a new shelter. Avari has not returned I knew she was dead. A growl forces me to stop; I slowly turn my head around to see a mountain lion standing on a rock licking its lips at me. My heart stops for a split second, this was the end of me, this lion is going to kill me—I haven’t even been in the tournament for more than 2 days, I haven’t killed anyone but yet the end has come. I slowly begin to back away keeping my eyes on the mountain lion, hoping not to disturb him or make it pursue me. The lion stays where he stands; a figure appears from the bushes behind him, his face is battered his clothes stained red. His eyes filled with hatred, his mouth foaming.

My hand tightens around the hilt of my sword as I wait for someone to make the first move. Time seems to have slowed down, I lose track of time, has it been a second, a minute or an hour. It as if time has stopped completely as I stand there staring into the eyes of a lion and its master. I knew one sudden movement would be the end of me; I just had to wait patiently and wait for them to move on. Maybe they do not see me, but that is a foolish though; of course they can see me I’m not invisible.

I close my eye, breathing in and out trying to lower my heart rate. I let my ears be my eyes for me. I hear footsteps to the right in front of me, the master must be approaching me; most likely ready to kill me. I am weak, I am no predator, I am a coward—I let my sister die I was not there to protect her; this is my punishment for letting her die. I will suffer a cruel death, just as she had. My hairs stands up on the back of my neck, someone was behind me; breathing down my back. This was going to be the ultimate end, any second now I will black out and go to death.

My eyes burst open; I was no longer in the forest, but inside the cave I fell asleep in. I push myself up from the ground and take a look of my surroundings; everything seems to be in place where I left it, but Avari is not back yet. I dust my clothes off; grab my bow and arrow then my sword. It is time for me to go find her; even if it means me running into a few enemies—one way or another, someone is going to have to die.

I walk out of the cave ready to fight anyone who comes in my sight. I just hope Avari is safe and has not been killed yet; she is my only friend that is not trying to kill me. Darkness has fallen around the arena, newly fresh snow covers the plants and the slumbering animals. Its going to be a challenge to find her in this, I would say near to impossible; but she is my wolf and I will find her. The snow comes up to my knees, making it difficult to truck through it all. I walk silently through the snow as possible as I can, once in a while my foot becomes snag on a branch buried in the snow. I fall on my face a few times leaving obvious signs a human was here.

I don’t try and hide my tracks because it will help me back to the cave, once I find Avari, that’s when I will hide my tracks. But soon someone will run into me or stumble across my tracks. My feet crunch against the snow, my heart beats outside my chest as I continue in the direction I am heading. A howl pierces through the silences of the arena, I stop dead in my tracks; I’d know that howl from anywhere, it’s Avari. I have to signal for her to find me, but it’s going to be tricky. I cup my hand over my mouth and lick my lips, I suck in a deep breath and release a settle howl letting her know that I am her. Hopefully she will come towards me and not away.

I head back towards the cave, hoping that she is waiting for me. I place my feet in the same holes that I made not wanting to make double tracks. The snow continues to fall covering my tracks for me as I proceed back to the cave. Owls hoot in the tree above, their eyes staring me down as I walk on by. I near the cave when I tale a short break to gather my breath, the cold is making it harder to breath, its as if my lungs are freezing right now. My eyes begin to adjust to the darkness that swells around me, my hands, legs and arms are freezing, I have to make it back to the cave soon or I’ll freeze to death. I take a step forward when I hear a branch snap to the right of me. I grab my sword and point it in the direction of the sound.

“Show yourself,” I whisper loudly enough for the person to here. It has to be the hunter, it just has to be, why else would they hide, they want us to be the prey, waiting until the right moment to strike. I take a step back when green eyes burn through the veil of darkness, followed by a low growl. The green eyes shift through the darkness, moving towards me.

“Avari,” I whisper; I don’t take my eyes off those green illuminating eyes, I wait until she reveals herself entirely. She finally emerges from the darkness; a wolf a pure black wolf—my wolf. She pulls her ears back and reveals her teeth; I put my sword away and kneel down. Avari’s reactions changes, her ears perk up and her teeth disappear behind her muzzle; she runs towards me and licks my face.

“I missed you too; you had me worried girl. You didn’t happen to get food did you?” I ask patting her head. Before I have time to get up she rushes into the darkness.

“Avari!” I take a step towards her direction, but she reappears before I get far. Hanging out of her mouth dangles two rabbits, she drops them at my feet and springs to her hind legs and licks my face, I give her a quick pat. “Well done, let’s go home now” I grab the rabbits and walk back to the cave.

Home, I never thought I would ever call this cave our home, its the furthest thing to home, but also—its the closest. I start the fire then watch the flames dancing off the wall; everything still in its place. I put the rabbits down on the floor and curl up in a ball; my eyes begin to seal shut, tired and exhaustion hits me. I need to sleep; with that I slip into complete darkness.

Tick, tock, tick, tock, the clock strikes twelve; I jump out of my bed running as fast as I can. My feet patter against the floor as I ran outside, tonight was the night. I was going to meet my brother or sister for the very first time. I hope they would like me. I ran to the front door in my hopes they were coming up the hill right now; mother had went into labor last night, they took her down to the nearest caretaker to give birth to the baby. I’ve been alone all night anticipating the arrival and now the time has come. I see heads bobbing up the hill, I see my father’s head first, his short brown hair and a smile as wide as the universe across his face. Mother is wheeled up the hill with something delicate wrapped inside her arms. I sprint at the door towards them my father stops wheeling mother in the patch of flowers—his arms are wide open as I run into them for a hug.

“Father! Is it a boy, please tell me I have a baby brother,” I say with a smile on my face. He smiles at me and hugs me tightly.

“Lets take your mother and sister into the house,” he says then wheels mother, my head drops to the ground for a minute. As he wheels mother away I stand there and looked at them, I don’t have a baby brother, but that still didn’t mean I’m going to be the best big brother there is. A smile lights up upon my face and I chase after them, father wheels mother into their bed room and helps her into bed.

“Chase, meet your sister. Lilith Avari Wentworth,” Mother announces.

“Mother, may I hold her?” I ask. Mother looks to father with a worried face.

“Let the boy, he won’t drop her,” he replies. I jump into bed with her and hold out my arms.

“Hold very still Chase, and support her by the head,” she says. I couldn’t stop staring at her, my baby sister with her big green eyes staring at me; her red fiery hair. I never will forget this day.

I close my eyes and begin to sing.

The Sun beats against me;
The moon rises so high,
The Clouds dance around me, for the rest of my life.
You are the sun that brightens my day;
You are the moon that shows me—my path.

I began to drift off into another world, the vision of me holding Lil swirls into darkness leaving me alone in a world filled bleak memories.

“Mother, Father” I yell out; but no one replies. I stand in the darkness—waiting for something. Fog begins to drift through, filling the gap between my legs—not letting me see in front of me.

“Help me!” a faint whisper creases my ear.

“Who’s there?” I yell out.

“Help me,” the voice whispers again.

“Hello, can you hear me?” I yell again; but no one appears around me. Darkness still swells my vision. A faint light flows in the distance; my heart begins to pull towards the light.

“Chase!” The voice whispers again; sending chills up my spine. “Chase!” My feet begin to move towards the light, letting the voice lead me. “Faster Chase, faster!” I begin to run as I step into the light; my eyes fasten themselves shut with the sudden brightness. I trip over my feet and begin to follow into a hole. My body turns and spins for what fells like a second until I collide with the ground. I open my eyes and see that I’m back at the lake.

“Chase!” the voice whispers again. I feel a hand glide over my chest; a figure walks past me towards the lake. The figure has long flowing red hair; wearing a white dress that touches the earth’s ground as it walks toward the lake.

“Help me Chase” the figure says again as it walks—it turns its head to me to show me it’s facial feature’s.

“Lil?” I whisper. I take a step forward but my legs are wrapped by tree veins. I reach for my sword, but no weapons are attached to me.

Lil reaches the edge of the lake, she turns around to face me. “You let me die Chase! You weren’t there to help me,” she whispers as she walks backwards into the water, her feet disappear into the water. “This is what I would look like if you saved me Chase! All that is left is for me to haunt your dreams.”

I try to move but I’m still stuck in place, I try to speak but my voice is gone. There is nothing I can say or do to make things right with Lil. I shut my eyes as her body disappears under water. I do not want to see her die.

A howl pierces through the cave snapping me awake from my awful nightmare. Avari guards the cave entrance; her teeth showing and a growl rippling through her body. A branch snaps outside the cave—the fire is dead, but daylight has risen in the outside world.

I roll over onto my side and spring myself up. I reach for my sword and stare at the cave entrance. Someone is outside. The shadow moves past the cave entrance, I wait a minute then crawl out the opening. A figure stands in the middle of the snow, there back turn towards me. Avari crawls out from the cave and stands next to me, her teething showing; but no sound escaping from her mouth.

I take a step forward my feet crunch against the snow. The figure snaps their hand towards me; exposing their true identity. A female with blonde hair hides inside her hood, her blue eyes strike me. Before I can grab the hilt of my sword she runs away. I whistle at Avari and she spirits after the female. My feet take off as I charge after her; my heart racing a million miles per hour as I attempt to kill this beautiful creature, Avari’s twenty feet ahead of me—but on the heel of the girl. She runs the girl into a hill trapping her. She waits for me to appear—the girl looks terrified, fearing she will die any second.

The girl stares me down with her brilliant blue eyes, burning into my soul. She has no animal; I wonder if it was killed or if it’s getting ready to strike at me or if she is the hunter. I take a step towards the girl, my hand on my sword. Avari stays by my side every inch I move towards the girl. She is the most beautiful creature I have seen; but I know what I have to do. I have to let her go, I can’t kill her its not me.

My hand slips from my sword; I whistle for Avari to follow as I retreat from the girl. At first Avari resists my order but once I am almost out of sight she comes running behind me. I fear I made the wrong decision I take a step forward ready to go home and sleep until the next day, but something stops. I grab the hilt of my sword and turn back around just as an arrow flutters inches by my face and strikes a tree. The girl stands on a rock with a bow in her hand.

“You should have killed me, you must not be the hunter. But I still won’t let you live,” She yells. Before I can command Avari to attack; she leaps from her position and charges at the girl.

I reach for my bow; realizing all I brought is my sword. I pull the sword from its sheath. I sprint towards the girl, she has already reloaded another arrow aiming it at me—but it misses me by a mile. Avari reaches her before me her teeth exposed and a fierce growl ripples through the air.

She latches on to the girls left leg thrashing her like a dead prey. The girl lets out a scream and starts to hit Avari with her bow—she falls to the ground, screaming at  Avari as she tries to rip off her leg, I run up to the girl and see blood everywhere. Avari keeps thrashing the girl’s body around like a rag doll, her teeth gnawing deeper into the girl’s leg.

“Let go!” I command her, and she does what is told. I take my sword and point it at the girl’s heart. “You made the mistake, NOT ME.”

“I am only here to survive,” She says almost as a song. Her blood is everywhere, she is going to die no matter what, if I kill her she won’t suffer, so I’m doing the right thing. Right?

“And yet you are going to die. Ironic isn’t it. You’re here to survive, but you are going to die,” I say firmly. The idea of killing her thrills me, I imagine what she will look like when all her blood spills from her body, how her eyes will look when they are vacant of her life. That’s when I know; killing her is the best decision.

Before she can reply I thrust my sword into her heart. She looks at me with disbelief. She lets out a sigh, and just like that her eyes become lifeless. Her head shifts to the left, her mouth left ajar, blood tricks down the corner of her mouth and blood seeps out of her body, a pool of blood and that’s when I know she’s dead.

I killed the girl with the brilliant blue eyes.

Chapter Text

Chapter Eight: Reality or Hallucination

“Chase!” a voice whispers at me. “Why did you kill her Chase” Everything around me is hazy as I stand over the girl’s body, her blood covers my hands.

“I thought you where better than that,” the voice whispers again.

“Who’s there?” I ask as I snap out of my daze, trying to get a hold on my surroundings. The snow begins to fall down, beginning to cover the body. Avari sits beside the body licking her lips, her lips stained a crimson red. She walks over to the body and begins to tug on the arm dragging it into the snow leaving a blood trail.

The wind begins to pick up around us, the blood stained snow becomes mixed up in the wind blowing it into the air. Avari drops the body and stands in the blowing snow. The snow begins to thicken around me making it difficult to see. The wind fiercely picks up around me covering the silhouette of Avari’s body. I close my eyes blinked by the dense snow.

“Chase!” The voice whispers again. I uncover my eyes as the wind dies down to nothingness. Lil stands before me, her mouth smeared with blood. “You killed me Chase, you killed me and you killed this girl! Will you stop at nothing?”

“Lil, I didn’t kill you! I tried to save you. The wolves are what killed you,” I reply. Lil walks over to me placing her ghastly white hand on my shoulder.

“What about the dog Chase?”

I pull the dog tightly to my body and begin to run, it will take five minutes to get home from Old Man Fraud’s yard, this will place me at the house right when the darkness arrives, that’s if I run all the way home.

I take in a deep breath and continue running through the path that leads me home. The pup scrums in my hand, he wants down but I can’t put him down otherwise I won’t make him home till after dark, and with what Old Man said about the wolves being hungry, I’m not going to risk becoming a meal for them. The trees around me slowly starting to become familiar to me, I know I’m getting closer. A smile light ups my face as I pick up my pace.

I come around the turn to see my house come into view. I’ve made it. I slow down to a steady walk. The moon takes its stance in the sky, signaling that it is nighttime, a time where monster roam the world terracing kids in their dreams. I suppress the feeling the feeling of the monsters that lurk the woods and walk towards the house; I walk up the hill with the pup in my hand and with a smile on my face.

From the corner of my eye I can see the wolves yellow eyes shine through the darkness of the trees, staring at me. The village lives in fear of these creatures; fear is what drives us in at night. Lil never does open the door; she knows the wolves are out. I eye the door, calculating the distance to the door from where I stand, ten seconds to run and open the door, but with the pup in my hand I’ll never make it, the wolves will just charge at me and kill me. I know what I have to do.

I take in a deep breath and place the pup down whispering my apologies to the poor defenseless creature. I take a few steps forward when the massive creatures emerge from the trees. The Alpha wolf licks it’s muzzle staring down the innocent creature I had to sacrifice. I keep my face towards them as I walk backwards towards the house. In a blink of an eye the world shifts underneath me, blood sprays through the air, trees fall and the ground shakes.

As I draw out of the memory of buying Lil the dog and back to reality, with she stands in front of me. I begin to lose what is real and what is a delusion. Lil, my dead sister stands before me in her black shirt, blue jeans and fiery red hair—but the only difference is . . . she’s supposed to be dead.

“Lil, it was either the dog or me! I didn’t want to die that day and I sure as hell don’t want to die now!” I spit out.

“You’re the idiot for entering the tournament Chase! You can’t blame anyone but yourself!” She shouts.

“Lil! I miss—,“ but before I could finish my sentence the wind picks up stirring the snow again. Lil’s face begins to dissolve, the wind flows by taking the rest of her with it. I’m left standing in the snow alone, with my wolf Avari by my side.

The wind kisses the back of my neck “You killed me” the wind whispers as it passes by me. I look around seeing the blood on my hands and a body a few feet away from me. “Chase” the wind passes by again.

“NO!” I shout as I begin to scratch my face. I can’t take it no more. I am a murderous person who does not serve to live. I grab my sword that lays next to the body, I aim it at my stomach ready to plunge it into by body and end my life, just as I had ended hers. Then suddenly something strikes me in the head making everything go black.

“BEWARE CHASE! BLOOD WILL BE SPILLED!” Burke yells out after me. I ignore his comment, continuing on the path to my home. Just like the morning not a living soul was in the lifeless snow. The sky was sheer black, ominous clouds obscuring the moonlight making it difficult to stagger through the snow. Low growls come from the woods beside me, yellow eyes burn in the darkness, the eyes of a wolf. I take in their warning, not willing to venture into the woods, picking up my pace until I see our broken home on the hill. I take in a deep breath and march up the hill.

“CHASE!” a voice screams out. “WOLF!” the voice screams again. I rush up the hill bow and arrow ready to strike any wolf. My mother comes running out of the house, her clothes stained red, her long web hair flowing freely, her face eerie white. I run right past her into the house the place is destroyed, furniture broken on the ground, lamps broken. I slowly creep through keeping my ears open to where the wolf is. Blood smeared on the ground leading into Lil’s room. My heart begins to beat rapidly, low snarls coming from inside the room. I peak my head inside and see Lil on the ground, the wolf on top of her, I put my arrow in the bow, pulling it back releasing it striking the wolf in the head. The wolf goes limp on the floor, I tiptoe into the room, Lil lays lifeless on the floor.

“Lil?” I ask. I cross over to her body, her neck stained with blood, her frozen with fear. “Lil, please wake up.” I whisper to her as I hold her in my arms. I pick her up, leading her outside the room into the gloomy night, where the village people have gathered. I lay her down on the ground in front of mother.

I couldn’t get her image out of my head, I didn’t do anything to stop the wolf from killing her. I should have ran faster from work, maybe she would be alive.

“You killed me!” Lil’s voice whispers through the air.

“Yes Chase! You killed us!” Father’s voice joins along. I snap my head and look for the source of the voices. Father stands in front of the villagers, in face ghostly white, his face smeared in blood. “You killed me!” He hissed.

Lil steps forward from the crowd. “Why did you kill us?” her voice is barely above a whisper. “Murder! Murder!” She hisses out.

I take a step back away from the body . . . and away from the ghosts. “I didn’t kill you! I didn’t,” I plead as if it were going to save my life.

The villagers begin to join in the chant “Murder” they whisper slowly, each time the word slicing me deep inside.

“No! No! NO!” I shout running into the woods. I stumble into the woods as the village follows me with their pitchfork and lights. I take a look back as the woods entrance swallows me whole, making everyone disappear around me. A distant light catches my eye, the only light through the woods gets closer to me. I move in the direction the light goes to.

The trees slowly begin to fade around me, the light begins to swell around me, blinding me by the light.

The light becomes too bright, I peel open my eyes to see where the light is coming from.

“Wakey, wakey.” A raspy voice mumbles.

A man steps into the light revealing his face. His jet-black hair falls into his face concealing his eyes. “Well look who decided to wake up” the man mumbles. I cover my eyes with my hand trying to tune down the light.

“Who are you?” I ask as my eyes begin to adjust to the light. I try to push my body off the ground. Obviously he isn’t the hunter otherwise I wouldn’t be alive, I don’t want to trust him, but something inside tells me that I should trust him.

“Don’t try and move, you’re actually tied up. I’ve seen what you can do with a sword—I don’t want you anywhere near me,” he mumbles.

Even though he warned me to not move I still try anyways. The man lets out a frustrating sight annoyed with my actions. I feel a sharp object slide against my skin—the hair on my legs stand up.

“I told you not to move, don’t make me do something I don’t want to do,” the man whispers into my ear. My heart stops beating for a split second, this guy is crazy. But then again, so am I.

“Where’s my wolf?” I question the guy. I can’t hear her; it makes me wonder if she’s alive or dead.

“Your wolf? Hmm, that is a good question. Well the answer is simple. She’s perfectly fine hanging up in the tree. Her skin will make a nice pelt. Don’t you think?” he says in a very stern voice. “Just kidding around kid! Learn how to take a joke. You wolf is fine, she’s unconscious but fine.” I try to raise my head to see where exactly where she was, but he pushed my head down to the ground. “Why must you make this so difficult? Do as I say and you may live yet another day,” he says firmly. I nod at his response. “Okay good, I’m going untie you. If you make any sudden movements, lets say. Try to run away. I will use your own sword against you. Understand?” He asks me. I nod my head. “Good, stay very still.”

He takes the knife he used to graze across my skin as a warning and cuts my bonds on my wrist. I touch my left hand to my right wrist and begin to rub it, the bonds were beginning to dig into my skin. He then began to cut the bonds on my legs—as soon as my legs were free he grabs my arm and pulls me to the standing position.

“How long was I out for?” I ask. I take a look at my surroundings and notice that in a different location. The trees are more spread out, leaving it wide up for attack but then again, its perfect since one would be able to see then coming. The snow had begun to melt away as the sun stays high in the sky. I take a step forward.

“Whoa there! Where do you think you’re going?” He says in a horse voice.

“I just wanted to see if we were on a mountain or a hill top,” I reply keeping my eyes on him. He takes my arm like I am some sort of prisoner, dragging me 20 feet and stops me at the edge.

“Yes! Now you know my brilliant plan to stay out in the open. It’s better then your idea, being cooped up in a small little cave.” He spits out.

“At least I was warm and if anyone tried to get in I would know . . . Wait. How did you know I was in a cave?” I stutter as I reply his words in the back of my mind.

“Don’t be stupid! You must have known people were watching you. Waiting for you to come out. The girl you killed, she’s been moving in on you for a day now. Oh and to answer your previous question you were out for only 2 hours. I didn’t hit you that hard to knock you out for a day.” He said gazing off into the horizon.

The sun slowly begins to descend making it the between hour, the hour between light and darkness. Anything can happen this hour.

“How many people have you umm. Killed? And do you know who the hunter is?” I ask. It still is hard for me to think that I was capable of killing blue eyes.

“Why do you want to know?” He tilts his head to the side almost as if he is a dog.

“Because, you could have killed me . . . but you didn’t. Why?” It would have been easy to kill me. I had a moment of weakness, I was hallucinating that I was seeing Lil. I know she doesn’t blame me for her death, but this tournament is beginning to get to me. I thought that maybe someone would have killed me before I had to kill someone else. Killing her isn’t me but something came over me, I had a rage that made me want to kill her, a blood thirst. I was raised never to harm a girl and yet I killed a girl. Father told me never to harm a human being and yet; I used my sword to kill her, knowing that I was taking another life.

“I didn’t kill you because me and you could rule this tournament. We could survive, we could kill the hunter, and to answer your previous question, I have no clue as to who the hunter is. For all I know, he could be watching us right now,” he explains to me.

“But I thought only one could survive?” I ask. I remember from the rules, that there are twelve of us; each of us gets a companion that helps us survive in this tournament.

“Well worry about that when the time comes. Anyways we still have to worry about the hunter remember. Now, lets go see how your wolf is doing,” he smiles as he turns around from the edge and heads towards the forest. I follow behind him interested with what the night is going to hold for us.

The trees begin to cluster together giving it the perfect cover for a shelter. The man still continues to go deeper into the forest. After what felt like an hour of working but only was a minute we come to a small clearing. A mountain lion lays on the ground need to a wooden cage. Inside that wooden change is Avari. I run over to the cage; but the lion perks up from its sleeping position and begins to growl at me.

“It’s okay Nari, he’s just checking out his wolf,” he gestures to the lion. Nari backs off and lies back down in the position she was previously in. “Go head, she won’t bite,” he laughs.

“Avari,” I whisper as I creep closer to the cage. Her pure black coat stands out in the white snow that still remains in this part of the forest. I lift the cage off her and throw it to the side. My hand glides through her hair, hoping not to startle her. “Avari, time to wake up,” I repeat softly. Her black head perks up revealing her glistening green eyes. I give her a kiss on top of her head. She stretches her body like she is a cat who had nothing but a lazy day.

“Come on boy, lets get moving,” a raspy voice, says breaking a tender moment.

“Don’t call me boy,” I rebel as I stand up to give him my full height. I stood about two feet taller then him, giving me an advantage if I need it.

“What would you like me to call you then, boy,” he jokes around.

“Call me Chase,” I reply has I extend my right hand in his direction.

“Pri—um just call me Damien,” he states as he also extends his right hand towards me clasping my hand into a shake. “Okay Chase, we should be going.”

Damien walks away from were Avari and I stand and heads off to the north. I whistle at Avari, as I follow behind Damien. He’s not a friend, but an enemy and I have to keep him close if I want to survive in this tournament. Avari follows behind me as we walk into the sunset following Damien, who just maybe will be the death of me.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nine: KEEP YOUR ENEMIES CLOSE

The trees begin to dance as the wind grazes the branches of every leaf bringing them to life. A single brown leaf tumbles down from the branch as if it were a drunken person stumbling home after a long night. The sun disappears behind the arena walls as I follow behind Damien who is able to navigate through the forest.

“So . . .” I say trying to break the tension between us.

“What made you decide to enter the tournament?” I ask. Everyone has their own reasons, mine was to earn money for Lil, now that she’s gone I don’t want to be here any more. But I know I have to make her proud and try to win so that maybe one day. There is no one-day I will never be able to bring her back.

“Um know you the riches, the glory. I want everyone to be able to know my name, what about you, why did you join?” Damien questioned.

“My sister. I joined so I could give her a better life. Once my father passed away I became the man of the house and I wanted to be able to provide for her. Then she passed away, now. I am only here to prove to her that she is still important to me. Plus, once you are chosen its either live or die right?” I start to choke on the last few words.

“Is that what happened back there then? You sort of wanted to die,” he asks. I hadn’t thought of it that way.

“After I killed blue eyes. I sort of had a hallucination. My sister Lil came to me and accused me of murdering her—then I saw the blood on my skin, and well I knew I became a murderous person and I wanted it off me,” I answer his question. “My whole life I was raised to be a gentle person, only to kill for food—not sport. When I entered this tournament I assumed it was sword fighting, that I would be able to defeat one person then move on to the next round. I had no idea that I would actually be killing people. If I would have known I would have never joined.”

“That’s the kingdom for you. They send us to do their dirty work and try to reward us. But hey, I’ll let you in on a little secret,” He says as he stops making my run into him. He turns around and grabs my shoulder, “Me and you can win this thing; if we team up and kill the rest of the opponents.”

“But—“ I try to say.

“Don’t speak,” he interrupts me, “ I know there can only be one winner. But what you do not know is that the King will take the last two winners and bring them back to the kingdom. There he will give them a feast as he clears out all the water and food in the arena. Then he will set them on opposite sides of the arena from one another. After that, you will go hungry within a few days, making you go crazy with hunger or thirst and with that, he will make sure you will kill the other competitor before they kill you. But if you and I go into this together—we can, how can I say it. Give the King a very good show. Granted one of us has to win. But, at least we can give the kingdom a little show before one of us dies. So are you with me or not?” Damien finishes.

I never thought of it that way, if him and me work together I can survive and try and win this for Lil. But, if him and me stay together he will be able to learn my secrets to fight—but I will know his as well. This is such a hard to decision to make. Its life or death pretty much. I can survive longer with him than I probably will be able to by myself. I have a weird feeling that I should trust him, he has given me no reason not to trust him so I won’t give him a reason to not trust me.

“What do you say boy, are you in?” He asks. I look down at Avari open my mouth about to say something, when a raindrop splashes against my face.

“I’m in. Lets try and win this thing, and if we come across the hunter. We shall kill him before he kills us,” I reply to him staring up in the sky. Winter has finally past; it’s the beginning of spring. Which means, the weather is going to get a lot worse around here. If I thought snow was bad enough, the rain will surely make things a lot harder.

Storm clouds stretch across the night sky, lightning ripples through sky lightning around the dark forest around us—thunder shakes the ground making my heart stop for a second. Another strike of lightning lights up the night sky, which sends Avari into a hissy fit., she begins to run in a circle howling.

“Avari, calm down,” I say in a calm voice, but I was drowned out by the thunder. Before I can say another word, she takes off into the forest the lightning lights up for me to see which direction she took off in. Before I knew what I was doing I was chasing after her. The rain began to pour down making it difficult to see where I am going.

“Chase, forget about her! She’s going to get you killed!” Damien yells out after me, but it doesn’t stop me from chasing after my wolf.

I run in the direction where I saw her run, I can still hear Damien behind me—leaving him I know is a bad idea, but I have to save my wolf from getting hurt, knowing me I am probably running towards the hunter, but I don’t care. I have to go after Avari, even if I wanted to leave her I can’t something is drawing me in her direction, a pulse, a magnet is pulling me in her direction. My feet run faster then they have ever gone they pound against the wet snow making it difficult to keep the stead pace I am going at.

“Chase!” Damien shouts again, “At least wait for me.” He howlers.

I slow my pace waiting for him to catch up, when suddenly my foot gets tangled up on an object and my body goes soaring into the air. My legs hoist into the air leaving me dangling head first; my body swaying causing me hit my head on a near by tree. The world changes around me, I no longer see the lightening but see the reflection from the puddles below me. Damien comes running up to where I hang.

“You alright man,” He yells as he cups his mouth trying to project his voice through the crackling thunder.

“Yeah, just get me the hell down!” I shout back but my voice is obscured by the thunder.

“What was that?” He bellows again. I wait for the thunder to settle down before I am drown out by the thunder again.

“Get me down!” I yell again. This time he was able to hear me.

“How am I supposed to do that?” He questions.

“Climb the tree, you have my sword and cut me down!” I reply. My sword, I had completely forgotten my sword.

“Forgot I had it,” He laughs as he walks over to the tree and begins to climb it. He takes his time climbing up the tree, his feet slip a couple of times making him slide down a few feet. “I can’t, why don’t I toss you the sword then you cut yourself down.”

“Yes, because throwing a sharp object will end well,” I say sarcastically.

The rain continues to pour down, making it difficult to see around me, let alone below me. Damien stands about 10 feet below me baffled as to what to do. He looks around for any object that will help. As he looks around a dark figure steps around from behind a tree—his appearance is concealed with mud. He approaches Damien hiding in the shadows, I want to say that this is the hunter, but I just know that there is no way that this could be the hunter.

“LOOK OUT!” I shout, but my efforts are concealed by another crackle of thunder. But before I could say another word the figure jumps on top of Damien jamming a knife into his back.

“Don’t move, or this knife will go right in your shoulder blades,” the unknown figure announces. Damien didn’t say anything, but shakes his head. Nari, Damien’s mountain lion emerges from the shadows growling as it circles the assailant. Suddenly I hear a roar that made my heart stop. I had never heard that sound before, but it can’t be good. My eyes scan the shadows waiting for the noise to be matched with a body. As my eyes flicker back and forth from where Damien lies and where Nari circles; a huge bulky animals charges from the trees and tackles into Nari—it sinks its large fangs into Nari’s back forcing her to let out a cry. The animal begins to stand up on its hind legs, growing before my eyes; it stands about eight feet tall. Its paw’s are as large as my head, it takes it and slams it into Nari’s body sending her into a nearby tree. The animal falls back onto all fours and walks over to Nari; I close my eyes not wanting to see the end of the poor mountain lions death.

“Volamirror!” A voice shouts out. I open my eyes to see the assailant calling back his companion. The creature walks away from the mountain lion and back over to its master, it does not take its eyes of Nari, as it waits for more instructions from its master. The assailant presses the knife into Damien’s back as he pulls him up to his feet. “Who are you?”

Damien looks up from where he stands and gives me a sympathetic look, a look I have yet to see, but never thought it was possible. The look, of staring death in the eye—I can tell that Damien is afraid of dying this instant. He may act tough on the outside, but he is just like the rest of us, scared of death.

“Why do you care who we are?” Damien questions. There’s the Damien I sort of know.

“A wise guy we have here eh,” he whispers as he digs the knife deeper into Damien’s back, “Just answer the question.”

From where I hang, I can see Damien’s face go ghostly white, in between flashes of lightning. “My name is Chase, his is Damien,” I answer the question so Damien doesn’t have to suffer anymore.

“Oh, look whom we caught, didn’t see you up there kid,” he says jokingly as I dangle upside down above them.

“Don’t call me kid,” I say as I bite down on my tongue. “Will you please get me down? All the blood is rushing to my head and it’s giving me a headache.

The assailant pulls a string of rope from his pocket and begins to tie Damien hands behind is back. After he safely secures Damien’s hands he walks over to the tree where I hang and tugs a hidden rope behind the tree. I felt the rope around my legs go slack and my body tumbles through air and slams onto the ground. Before I could make any sudden movements the assailant has grabbed my hands and tied them in the similar fashion as Damien’s.

“Move!” He shouts out as he kicks my body forcing me up to my feet. I push up with little strength I have left, following behind Damien who follows the assailant. I hear a light growl, my head turns to look behind me to figure out where the growl came from. Volamirror is pushing Nari with its head to move forward and follow behind us. Which makes me wonder as to why he had not let his companion kill Damien’s mountain lion, it would make him much less of a threat.

“Where are you taking us?” I ask as we move in a orderly fashion behind the nameless figure.

He does not answer but releases a dark and heavy laugh that makes my skin crawl. The rain continues to pour down on us making it difficult to see, and making me wonder, where Avari is. Some of her behaviors remind me of Lil to be honest.

The rain was pouring down on our house in the middle of the night, father was out on yet another camping trip, and mother was in her room sleeping. The thunder made my room shaking, knocking the lantern by my bed stand fall and shatter on the ground. The floorboards creek as someone puts pressure onto it.

“Chase,” a small delicate voice whispered. Lil peaks her head through my door, “Are you awake?” she whispers not wanting to wake me up.

“What’s wrong Lil?” I ask as she walks through the doorway with her head down.

“I’m ‘fraid, Chase,” she whispers as she crawls into my bed. I pull the blankets back and give her room to sleep.

“Don’t be afraid, it’s just thunder and lightning. Nothing bad will happen too you, remember that okay. If you ever need me I will always be here for you,” I whisper into her ear as she begins to drift off to sleep.

“Chase,” she whispers ever so lightly.

“Yes, Lil?” I ask as I turn my head to look at her. But she doesn’t reply she fell asleep in my arms. I look out the window counting each strike of lightning I am able to see, hoping that sleep will soon take over me.

“Hey boy!” A voice shouts, breaking me from my memory. Damien stands next to me as the assailant stands before us taking in our appearance. “Keep moving,” He bellyaches pushing a stick into my back. Damien walks by my side letting the assailant lead the way.

“Pssst. Chase, how are we going to get out of this situation?” Damien whispers so low that I can barely make out what he has to say.

“I don’t have a plan yet,” I whisper, trying to keep my voice low. “If I can get my hand on his knife maybe I can cut us out.”

“I’m sure that maybe I can try and wrangle it out of him—“ before he could finish his sentence the assailant stops in his tracks hits Damien with the hilt of my sword.

“If you say one more word, I will cut out your tongue,” He shouts as he sticks the sword into my face, making sure I get the point. I nod and take a step back from the sword.

“Good, but I guess it doesn’t matter that much any more since we are here.” He says as he cups his hands around his mouth and makes a bird noise. A second later the same call was received and he walks through the grove of tree, Damien and I follow behind him.

As we cross the opening a camp appears in front of us. A man sits around a fire with a pig with tusks sitting by his side. The man looks no older than twenty-five, his hairs pulled back into a tight braid, his beard loosely tied into a ponytail. His left leg is bandaged up, but blood still leaks through the thin cloth. Our assailant approaches the man with a grin on his face.

“Hey Boris, look what we caught,” he says with a small laughter inside his tone.

“Well, it looks like we caught ourselves a meal here,” Boris states grabbing a knife from his pocket. “I want the skinny one, he looks like he won’t put up much of a fight.”

My head shifts over to Damien, he straights up his back and pushes out his chest, trying to appear more buff then he actually is. I looked down at myself, my wet clothes cling to my body, making it incredible easy to see my small body. I look over at Boris who still sits by the fire; he looks as if he was six feet, making him a few inches taller than me. With his limp leg will make him an easy target, probably why he wants me instead of Damien, but what he does not know—is that I am an excellent fighter.

“So, Alastar, why don’t you tie the kiddes up by the tree over there and we can catch some shut eye,” Boris points at as he grabs a blanket and pulls it over his body. Alastar walks over to Damien and I, grabs are restraints and pulls us over to a near by tree.

“No funny business guys. We don’t want to have to eat you any sooner than we have to,” He says sternly.

After he finishes tying us up he walks over to a man made shelter and crawls into it. Going to bed I presume. The rain finally stops but the thunder and lightning remain. Volamirror comes through the opening that we had previously come from, The creature has Nari in it’s mouth dragging her through camp until it reaches a pit and drops the body in it. Damien looks over at me, his eyes heavy and teary—is she alive, or dead.

I know how Damien feels, not knowing where Avari is killing me. I wish I had some way of contacting her, I want to know if she is save and sound or if she is dead. Hopefully she went back to the cave where we once occupied, but if what Damien said is true, then someone probably has taken that as there knew home as well. She’s alive she has to be. For some reason, it’s as if she holds a piece of Lil inside of her.

I take one last look around me, one last look at Damien for the night before I go to sleep. Hoping that tomorrow will hold better luck with me then today. That maybe we can escape these cannibals. Damien gives me a weak weary smile, before closing his eyes and slipping into sleep. I follow behind his lead and close my eyes, hoping that I can survive.

Chapter Text

Chapter Ten: BATTLE OF THE DEATH

“Pst, Chase, are you awake,” a voice whispers. My eyes begin to peel open preparing to be blinded by daylight, but to my disappointment it was still pitch black.

Damien leans over to where I sit. “Chase, can you get us out of here?”

I try to speak but my throat is dry. “I don’t know if I can get us out,” I whisper. Damien look looks over at me, his eyes sadden and filled with fear.

“Chase, I don’t want to be eaten by these guys. You have no knife in your boot at all do you, anything to cut our bindings?” Damien pleads.

“Wait, I do have a knife in my boot, but I have no way of being able to reach for it without my hands. Any suggestions?” I ask. I had forgotten about my knife, the knife I always kept in my boot for emergencies, but how can I use it? I need my hands to pull it out. If I can just get it into my hands I can try and saw through the bindings and we can make our escape.

The sun begins to rise over the mountains, lighting everything up around us. Damien tries his attempts to figure out how to get the knife from my boot, but each attempt has failed drastically.

“Damien, they’re going to be getting up soon, its now or never!” I whisper loudly. Damien looks me in the eye. His eyes say it all. I turn my head over to where the assailants sleep, to see that they are no longer asleep but standing over us.

“Thinking about leaving eh boys?” Alastar says smugly.

Boris stands on right leg taking all the pressure off his left. Next to him is his pig that seems to be chewing on a bone.

“I think they are, Alastar, what should we do with them?” Boris asks looking over at Alastar.

Alastar walks in front of us and behind taking in our position. He stops behind Damien and grabs his knife from his belt and puts it to Damien’s neck. Alastar is doing this to test how brave Damien is, so far—he’s not very brave. Damien begins to struggle, moving his head trying to get as far away from the knife as possible.

“Little boy scared of a knife eh?” Alastar laughs as he drives the knife into Damien’s arm. Damien bites down on his tongue trying not to give him the pleasure. “Oh that doesn’t hurt eh, what about this then,” Alastar says as he grabs Damien’s forearm and slices it open with the knife.

Damien bites down even further on his tongue but the pain was just to much, as he releases a scream. Alastar smiles and puts a little more pressure into the slicing making Damien struggle trying to get away from Alastar’s grip making it more painful for him.

“Why don’t you pick on someone your own size,” I spit out. Alastar removed the knife from Damien’s arm and points the knife at me while he glides over.

“What you say boy?” He questions me. His eyes darken making it difficult to capture his motives.

“Pick on someone your own size,” I repeat.

Alastar puts the knife to my neck, pressing into my skin making a drop of blood release. He smiles as he begins to torture me.

“Enjoying this eh boy?” he laughs as he puts a little more pressure into my throat.

“Alastar, I’m hungry, when are we going to eat them?” Boris asks as he begins to eye me.

“Hold your horses, Boris. We will eat them soon enough, but first I want to have some fun with our dinner,” he says with a grim smile on his face.

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you, not to play with your food?” I ask. Damien’s face is stricken white, with every mention of food he gets whiter. He acts so tough on the outside but in the inside, it’s as if he is afraid to get hurt. “Why don’t you actually fight me, rather than cower behind your knife.”

“Don’t do it, Alastar, you know as soon as you let him go, he’ll take off,” Boris says in a warning tone. He’s not completely wrong, I would run, just so I could get the advantage of attacking him rather then straight on.

“Come on, you afraid I’ll beat you and kill you?” I taunt him. Alastar thinks about the proposal, debating whether or not I could truly take him in a one on one challenge. I doubt he has seen my skills with a sword, Damien has, and made sure he hid it from me so I wouldn’t use it against him.

“He’s just taunting you, don’t fall for his trickier,” Boris speaks again.

“Shut up! Let me think on my own you twit!” Alastar speaks sternly. He twists the knife in his hand weighing his options.

“Do it you fool, I bet I can beat you with one hand tied behind my back,” I taunt Alastar knowing that I may or may not be able to beat him. Alastar points the tip of the knife to his head twisting it back and forth, calculating the odds.

“Kid, do you think I can beat him in a fight?” He asks looking at Damien.

“Of course, he’s a wimp,” Damien lies, he’s seen the way I fight, he knows I can kill if I have to.

“Then why are you traveling together?” Alastar says with a crooked smile. He has a very good point, if I wasn’t a good fighter why else would I be traveling with Damien. The only reason why I am staying with him is because he will make me live another day, and the day after that.

Damien takes a few seconds to think of an excuse, but before he could say anything Alastar cuts my binds and points the knife at me.

“Boris, get me the kids sword. I want to see how well he can fight,” Alastar laughs. Boris’s face fills with fear, but he does what Alastar says. He goes into the tent in which they slept in only a few hours ago and receives my father’s sword. “Hurry up you slow poke.”

“Coming,” Boris replies as he rushes over and gives the sword to Alastar. “Don’t take it easy on the kid. Remember what that boy and his lion did to me. I thought he was no match for me, but my leg is still suffering,” Boris points out giving Alastar a fair warning. I push myself up from where I was sitting and rub my writs.

“He’s no match, Boris. He doesn’t even have his companion with him. Volamirror and I will be able to destroy him before he can even try and make a move,” He points out.

He’s right; this isn’t going to be a very fair fight. If only Avari was here to help me—without her I may not survive. Alastar spins the sword in a circular pattern, keeping his eye on me while he walks back to the tent. He grabs his weapons, which I am not entirely sure what it is right now, it was so small and tiny. He straps a bow over his shoulder, and takes a few arrows. He tosses my sword to the ground, which lies a few feet away from me.

“Run,” Alastar smiles as he grabs his bow from his shoulder, slides an arrow between the string and food.

“RUN!” Damien shouts. As I stare at Alastar and the sword time slows down, my decision to grab the sword would risk me loosing my life, the only thing I could do is run and try to reach my sword before he catches me. Without hesitating I spin my body forward letting time catch up with me. My legs move as fast as I can weaving through trees trying to get space between Alastar and I.

I glance back to see Alastar running behind me, and Volamirror behind him as well. Don’t look back Chase, all you will do is stumble and make it that much for him to kill him. You are a skilled hunter, double your tracks confuse him—then make your move back to the camp.

I jump over logs and bushes trying to make it difficult for Alastar, but he keeps his pace behind me. An arrow soars by my head, colliding into a tree next to me. I peak behind me and see Alastar perched on a fallen tree aiming another arrow at me.

Think, Chase, what can you do to try and out beat him at his own game. Climb the tree, Chase, climb. The wind whispers as is kisses my neck.

“The tree brilliant, thank you, Lil,” I whisper as I begin to climb the tree next to me. I grab the branches pulling myself up. Another arrow soars next to me but missing its intended target. I climb as fast and as hard as I can, expanding the distance between Alastar and me.

“Why don’t you come down and fight kid,” Alastar shouts down below the tree. I don’t respond to his comment, but continue to climb until I am high enough that I can reach a branch of another tree.

“Chase, will you be able to teach me to climb a tree one day?” Lil asked as I climb the willow over by the lake.

“Of course, it’s not as difficult as it seems,” I say as I look down at small Lil. “But you are only six years old right now, Lil, it will be a while until you will be able to actually climb. And maybe one day I will even teach you how to jump from tree to tree. But right now, you can watch from down there.”

“But, Chase!” Lil tried to demand.

“No buts, father would kill me if he knew I was trying to teach you how to climb a tree at your age,” I try to explain to her.

“What is the worst that can happen Chase? I can’t die,” she laughed as she began to walk back to the house.

Alastar is still below me trying to find a way to reach me and kill me, but what he doesn’t know—is I’m going to disappear. Camp is in the direction I just came in, but I can’t jump to those tree’s they are to far away, the best thing I can do right now is climb up more and jump from the top and circle around, that is the only way I will be able to reach my sword. And hopefully, Avari will find me. I reach for the branch above me pulling myself up trying to reach the top of the tree hoping Alastar isn’t smart enough to understand what I am doing.

“What are you doing kid, do you really thinking climbing higher will get you out of this situation,” Alastar says aiming another arrow at me. I climb as fast as I can to get to the top to lose the arrow that he intent to release on me. I grab the next branch and feel my leg give out from underneath me; I loose my grip and tumble down the tree. My body hits branches as I fall down a hundred foot tree, I stick out my hand and grab onto the nearest branch before I fall all the way to the ground. I bite down on my lip as I look at the damage, an arrow has inflicted on my leg.

“Just give up boy, you ain’t going to win, just face your fate,” Alastar chuckles.

I lace my fingers around the arrow; I bite down on my tongue as I pull the arrow out from my thigh. I release a loud cry that made Alastar below chuckle. Blood oozes from the wound and rushes down my calf. I throw the arrow own at Alastar’s feet letting him know that I will not let him defeat me.

“I’ll give you five seconds to come down, or another arrow will pierce you. This time it won’t be your leg it hits,” he threatens.

I tear a strip of fabric from the hem of my shirt and wrap it around my wound. After securing the wrap I begin to climb the tree again, moving slowly but swiftly. Below Alastar begins to try and climb the tree. He pulls out two knifes and stabs them into the tree helping him climb. With him now climbing the tree it gives me the motivation to climb faster.

Before I know it I reach the top of the tree giving me a huge league on Alastar. I put my weight on to a sturdy branch and climbed to the top of the tree. The view is amazing; the sun has touched down on the entire arena walls, revealing locations of the other competitors, also a view on how the arena is set up. This will help to my advantage later on. To the west I spot a small campfire that is in the direction of where Damien is. Without any preparation I swing my body back and forth and jump to the top of to the next tree. Then I continue to the next one and continue to do this until I have to change directions.

“Where are you boy?” Alastar’s faint voice yells out. With that I know I have a good lead from him, I stop at a tree, which is only a few hundred feet from the campsite, and begin to climb down quickly, my feet landing on branch after branch. As my pace quickens and I am only a few feet from the ground, I lose my grip and hurdle down the extra feet onto my back. Pain rushes through my body making it difficult to bear, but I have to push on. I push myself up, and begin to run knowing that Alastar will double back soon to see if I had headed to the camp.

I hold my leg that is wounded and run as fast as I can. I stumble through the trees seeing the opening to the campsite, I want to stop and breath but I know I have to continue running. I run into the campsite and see Boris sitting by the tent un-expecting me. I dive for the sword that still lies on the ground were Alastar threw it at.

“What are you doing here, did you kill him?” Damien asks.

I grab the sword and spring up from the ground and point the sword in the direction of where I came from, waiting for Alastar to come through any second. Boris gets up from where he was sitting and pulls out a knife and points it at me.

“Don’t move, or I will slice you open,” he threatens me as he limps over to where I stand, but before he could get any closer Alastar busts through the opening.

“That little stunt you pulled is going to cost you,” Alastar blurts out as he catches his breath. I aim my sword in his directions waiting for him to make a move. “Boris, sit your lazy ass down, he’s mine.”

I take a step back trying to place my distance between him and me, but never taking my eye off him. We circle each other not once blinking, waiting for the first person to make a move.

“Think you’re a smarty over here, climbing to the top of the tree and jumping. Well at least this will be a little more interesting. But, what would make it more interesting is if Volamirror gets into the action. VOLAMIRRIOR!” Alastar shouts for his companion, and with that his bulky companion jogs in through the trees and next to Alastar. “Awe, where’s your little companion, dead I bet, good better for me.”

“Avari where are you, I need you now more then ever,” I whisper very softly.

“Praying ain’t going to help you, now lets fight I’m getting a little bored here,” he says as he begins to charge me with a sword he must have gotten from Boris.

I let him come at me first, better to play defense than offense. I get in my fighting stance, my legs spread shoulder length apart and both hands on the hilt of the sword, before Alastar can swing his sword at me I sweep my right leg underneath him, his legs give up from underneath him and he falls onto his back. Before I can thrust my sword into him, he’s up on his feet back in his own fighting stance. I slash my sword at him but his collided with mine, metal scrapping metal. I pull back the sword as Alastar leans into the pull and with one strong push Alastar stumbles backwards.

“Lets make things a little more interesting, why don’t you fight my bear while I watch him shred you to kibble,” he says with a evil smile on his face. Alastar’s mighty bear begins to strut forward, his mouth hanging open revealing its strong teeth.

“COME ON! That’s not fair, he doesn’t even have his companion. How do you expect him to kill a bear? You’re playing dirty,” Damien shouts out, trying to help me out. But he’s not going to achieve anything.

“Who ever said the tournament was a friendly battle? Shut up or you’ll be next!” Alastar states.

My grip tightens on the hilt of my sword; I take a step forward and thrash the sword at the bear. Volamirror lifts its right paw, and swipes it at my sword, but missing. Think Chase, how would you kill this beast that weights ten times as much as you do. It’s hefty, it can’t run as fast, it’s powers are in its paws and teeth, if you can pierce it in . . . And with that I take off to the nearest tree, hoping my idea will work, if not I just killed myself. I run over to where Damien sits and begin to climb the tree, trying to get to a high enough branch where I can attempt my theory.

“Chase, have you LOST your god damn mind!” Damien shouts as I climb over him, “They’re going to kill you, then kill me. I hope you know what you are doing.”

“Don’t worry about me, worry about yourself,” I state as I continue to climb. Alastar sits down next to Boris curious as to what I am contemplating.

Volamirror walks over to the tree and stands on all fours swinging its paws at me as I climb higher in the tree. I get to a spot high enough that will make it a challenge to stab the bear, but at least it is an attempt. I place my sword onto my lap and cup my hands around my mouth, praying this works. I take a breath of air into my lungs and release a deep and loud howl that projects through the trees and hopefully loud enough that Avari will be able to hear the call. I have no time to wait, I walk onto a branch next to me and place all my weigh onto it, I aim the tip of the sword at Volamirror’s body wondering if this will work, if not I will probably die.

I take a deep breath, placing both hands on the sword the aims down at the bear and without thinking I jump off the tree. The bear turns around its eyes stare me down as I plummet twenty feet down straight down onto the bear. With one powerful swipe Volamirror sends me flying into the ground, my sword tumbles out of my hand and lands a few feet away from. I rock my leg back and forth trying to subdue the pain, but all I want to do is scream. My vision becomes blurry from the pain, I try to push through the pain and concentrate the five bears that are walking towards me. I roll over onto my stomach and stretch my hand out trying to reach the sword, my fingers are inches away from it but I can’t seem to get them to extend any further. I look over my shoulder and see that Volamirror is getting closer quicker.

“Get up, Chase, grab the sword. Win, win for me,” The wind whispers as it flows through the trees. I roll over to my back and look up to the sky. I’ll be joining you soon Lil.

I can feel Volamirror’s footsteps as he creeps closer to me; I close my eyes waiting for the end to come and for my soul to disappear. I count the seconds that I have left, thinking of all the memories I have shared with Lil and how I have failed her.

One: I was a worthless brother. Two: I let my father and sister die. Three: I don’t deserve to live without them. Four: I wish I were the one who died, not her. Five: I’m coming for you Lil.

I can feel the bear on top of me ready to sink its teeth into me, ready for it to take away my pain and suffering. I keep my eyes tight shut as I wait.

“Chase, look!” Damien whispers. I open my eyes and lift my head. Damien smiles as he looks past me and into the bushes. I spin my head around to see green eyes illuminating through the dark brush. Avari. She steps through the bushes letting the sunlight shine down on her midnight black coat. She walks slowly towards Volamirror teeth showing and growling, she circles around him not taking her eyes off him, Volamirror steps to the side and swipes a paw at Avari, instead of retreating him the mighty swipe she charges at him and jumps into the air and onto Volamirror’s back. Her teeth sink into his neck making him growl as he thrashes his body back and forth trying to get her off his back. He swings his paw up behind him trying to knock her off him, but her body sinks into his as if they’re one.

I drag my body over to where my sword lies and stretch out of hand trying to reach it. My fingers graze across the hilt of the sword, with one last effort my fingers extend a little more letting me get enough grip to grab the sword into my hand. I use the sword as a cane to help me balance on my feet. I limp my way over to Volamirror who runs backwards into a tree knocking Avari off his back and laying on the floor. Volamirror turns his body around and hunches over Avari, his mouth wide open, and Avari not moving. I swing my sword up into a fighting position and charge at Volamirror with the element of surprise. My body aches, I want to give up but I can’t let Avari die, she came back to help me and I will help her life. When I get close I jump into the air, I float for what feels like hours but what I know is only minutes, I aim the sword down and plunge it into the bears back. Volamirror roars as I land on top of him, I pull the sword out and sink it into another spot on the bears back, I twist it trying to inflict as much damage as I can. I pull out one more time and thrust the sword into the bear one more time before his body goes limp underneath me. I pull my sword from the bear and stumble off it over to where Avari lies.

“You, you, you’re going to die!” Alastar says as he pushes up from the ground and grabs a weapon for the tent. “I should have killed you rather than my animal who appears to be worthless.”

I pet Avari before I push up and head towards Alastar. His eyes are filled hatred and fear. We circle around each other taking in each other’s actions; we don’t want to do another spar like we had done earlier.

“Are you ready to die, Alastar?” I ask as I limp around trying to keep eye contact.

“I won’t be the one dying this time, kid. You may have been able to take down my bear, but I will take you down before you can even limp your way over here,” he says.

“Still think you’ll be able to beat me after I just killed your bear, we have a tough guy over here,” I taunt knowing that his patience is growing weak.

“Of course I’m pissed you killed my uncle,” he explains.

“What do you mean I killed your uncle, that wasn’t your uncle it was just a plain bear—a companion we receive to help us win this tournament,” I reply. He has me utterly confused with what he meant. But before I can ask any more questions he charges at me with his sword, he got the element of surprise, I wasn’t paying attention to know he is charging at me until he was a few feet from me. I turn around and run towards Damien, I slide my hand into my boot quickly pull out my knife, I run behind Damien drop the knife into his hand and double back into the center of the camp.

Alastar changes course and charges at me again, but this time I have the element of surprise. I grip my sword tightly swing it at him, our swords collide once again, but instead of pulling him into a lean I sweep my leg underneath his feet until he falls to the ground, I spin around and straighten my sword until it is level with his heart. I’m about to plunge the sword into his heart, when something pieces me in the side. I briefly turn my head to see Boris standing with a bow in his hand. I look back down at Alastar who lays motionless as my sword rests a few inches away from his heart.

“Goodbye,” I whisper as I thrust my sword straight into his heart, he lets out a sigh and then his eyes sway back into his head, and with that, he dies. I turn around to face Boris who is engaged in a fight with Damien. Damien uses the knife that I gave him, while Boris uses his bow to fence off Damien.

I stagger away from Alastar’s lifeless body over to a fallen log. When I make it to the log I look at the arrow that still resigns in my side. My vision becomes blurred from all the blood I have lost. I wrap my fingers around the arrow, without looking at the arrow I pull it out from my side and toss it to the ground. Damien and Boris still fight but Damien has the upper hand, he has been able to stab Boris a few times with the knife. Avari still lays unconscious by the tree, I get up and walk towards her hoping that I will be able to wake up her. As I approach her body I fall to the ground from dizziness. I roll over onto my back and grab my stomach, the pain is unbearable I feel as if someone has cut me open and left my body wide open. I close my eyes hoping that the pain will go away, and that soon I will be able to join my sister and father—knowing that I tried my hardest to win this tournament even though it wasn’t my hardest.

“Chase, buddy. Stay with me,” Damien shouts as he hovers over my body. I feel pressure to my side as he tries and stop the bleeding. He tears off a piece of his shirt and presses it against my skin. “Don’t worry buddy, you’ll be able to make it to the end. Don’t die on me now, I need you to kill the last few competitors.”

“A-v-a-r-i,” I stutter as wave in and out of consciousness.

“She’s fine. Hold on, Chase, I’ll be back just hold on. I know someone who can help you,” Damien says as he turns away from my body and runs into the forest.

Death, death is upon me. Did Lil suffer the same way that I am suffering right now, now—no she suffered differently. What about father, yes, my death is similar to father’s, he bleed to death just like I am doing right now. But he died a man, a man standing up for his family, if only the king hadn’t killed him. The king, this all goes back to the king; he ruined my life when he took my father away. He had to pick me for this tournament—I wouldn’t have signed up if father was still alive. The king, he is the one to blame, he should be the one to die. If I ever survive, I will kill him with my bare hands, his blood will flow through out of his body and into the earth. He will die mark my word.

My eyes become to heavy too bare, I try to keep them open but I don’t have the strength to keep them open. I can no longer fight the urge, my eyes slowly begin to close letting the darkness swell around me. I hear voices crying out to me but nothing makes sense, I only understand gibberish. My body begins to be tugged into the air as if someone is lifting me up, I force my eyes to open I am only able to see blurs of movement but no actual detail.

“Chase, stay with me,” Damien’s voice shouts.

I try to open my mouth but no words come out, I fight to keep my eyes open but they won the battle. Darkness surrounds me and I lose consciousness.

Chapter Text

Chapter Eleven: RECLAIMING WHAT IS LOST

A brilliant white light shines through the cracks of my eyelids. I peel open my eyes slowly not wanting to be blinded by the light. As my eyes adjust to the lighting I notice the entire space is nothing but a white light. I pull my body up to a standing position when I notice; there is no pain in my entire body. Its as if I have not been injured at all. A white orb floats towards me, I take a step back afraid.

“Don’t fear me, Chase. I’m only here to help you,” a voice materializes. Within a second the orb floats into the air altering its appearance, two arms explode out of the orb, two legs seep out from the bottom of orb, and finally a head appears. The orb, or person floats down to the floor and walks towards me, the light shining inside its heart. “Don’t fear me, Chase, I am only here to help you.”

“What are you?” I ask. The orb creature is beautiful, it has long blonde hair that seems to glow brighter then the light around us, its deep brown eyes melt into your heart. I don’t know whether it is a man or woman.

“I, well I can be many different things. I can be a dog if you asked me to, or a bird, I have many different appearances, but this one I appear for those who are lost,” it explains to me.

“What do you mean lost? I’m not lost I know exactly where I am,” I explain, even though it wasn’t hundred percent true.

“If you weren’t lost, Chase, then you wouldn’t be here. I am here to help guide you back to the land of the living, or if you would like to the heaven of souls. But preferably the land of the living it would make my life more easy,” it jokes around with me.

“What is your name?” I ask.

“My name is, Mercia, I am the keeper of the in-between. I am here to help you reclaim what is lost.” It explains to me.

“I haven’t lost anything though, I fear you are mistaken,” I reply.

“You do not realize what is right in front of you. Come with me, Chase and I will show you what you have lost and I’ll show you your way back to the land of the living. That’s if, you want to return to the land of the living.” Mercia explains as it extends its right hand out towards me. “I don’t bite.”

I take a step forward and place my right hand into Mercia’s palm. I take in a deep breath and look up at its smile, and within a second I could feel my body being jerked in different directions.

“Chase, don’t give up on me,” Damien shouts as he shakes my body awake. My eyes burst open to see Damien hovering over me and a girl next to him, but before I could say anything everything blacks outs.

“Sorry about that, Chase, that won’t happen again. Your time isn’t done with my yet until you reclaim what is lost,” Mercia reinsures me.

“What happened?” I ask as I grasp onto what is happening now and what just happened to me.

“Your pal, Damien, is trying to revive your life. Don’t know why he is doing it, but he is. Your time isn’t done with me, before I return you—you must learn your purpose as to why you are here,” Mercia repeats. “Now if you would go with me, I will be more than happy to have you return quicker to the land.”

“Okay, but lets make it snappy,” I reply. Mercia smiles and with a wave of its hand, a veil of darkness opens up in front of us. It takes a step in towards the veil and pulls me along, but I skid my foot not willing to go in.

“Oh, Chase. It’s just a portal, stop fighting me or I will cast a spell on you,” Mercia explains to me once again.

I nod once and let it pull me into the portal. I take a look behind me and see the brilliant room disappear behind us and the doorway closes behind us. Mercia keeps pulling me further into darkness.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“Don’t worry about where we are going, but worry as to why we are here,” Mercia says with a smile on its face.

“Why must you never give me direct answers?” I question.

“You must be the one to answer these questions, not I. You are the one that is lost not me, otherwise I wouldn’t be doing my job very well not would I,” Mercia laughs.

The darkness around us slowly begins to dissolve into trees, a light begins to shine through as we walk more into the trees.

“I know these woods, its home,” I state.

“Yes, Chase. I have taken you back to your birth land. This is where it all began, where you first became lost,” it says.

The trees begin to thicken as we walk through the woods; the moonlight begins to seep in through the gaps of the trees. My house comes into view as we walk through the opening of the woods. The pigs are locked in their cages, the chickens are in their coops and Storm is in the barn eating the fresh hay laid out for him. Mercia drags me closer to the house, when I hear a low growl come from behind me. I spin my head around I see the wolves emerge from the woods.

“But I killed them, why are they still alive?” I ask as the wolves creep closer to the house. Mercia’s face goes grim and walks to the house, I follow behind wondering as to what is happening. As we get closer I notice the door is open to the front of the house, I turn around to see the wolves are getting closer to us. “Can they not see us?”

“No, Chase. We are in the past, they cannot see us, and we cannot change the past. Remember that for what you are about to see,” Mercia states as we enter my home.

Everything looks as if nothing has ever happened. I can hear Lil singing in her bed room, mother locked away in her room as usual. I see the wolves get closer to the door, I run over to try to close the door but my body falls through the door as I attempt to close it.

“You can’t change the past, Chase.”

“I can sure as hell try, why the hell did you bring me here to watch my sister die!” I shout as I try to close the door. After my second attempt of falling through the door and seeing the wolves emerging through the doorway, I realize my attempts have failed. I run past Mercia straight to Lil’s room who sits innocent in her bed singing father’s lullaby. I stand by the doorway as I hear the wolves growling. Lil springs up from her bed and runs past me into the hallway. She lets out a scream and attempts to run into the kitchen where our gun is stored.

“Lilith, what is wrong—“ Mother mutters as she emerges from her bed room and lets out a terrifying scream. The wolves lunge for my mother but she grabs a lamp and swings it at a wolf, the wolf yelped and fall to the ground—mother ran out of the house.

I walk into the living room and see Lil running around trying to get away from the wolves, but one grabs her legs and drags her into the living room. With one swift kick Lil hits the wolf in the jaw and runs into her room limping.

I begin to tear up as I see Lil fighting for her life, but failing. I walk back into her room to see her swinging her lamp at the wolf but it does nothing.

“CHASE! HELP ME!” Lil screams out, screaming for me to help her. But I’m back at blacksmith shop, so close but so far away to help her.

The wolf licks its lips then sinks its teeth into Lil’s neck. Her vivid green eyes go lifeless in front of me; she takes one last breath before her body stops moving. The wolf stands over her, claiming its prize as if it had defeated me. I back myself up to a wall and slide to the floor cradling my knees. Tears begin to flow down my cheeks splashing against the blood stained floor.

I look over my shoulder to see my past self-run in the room. I shot the wolf with my arrow and cradle Lil in my arms.

“Lil, please wake up.” My past self spoke. I cried as she did not answer I pick up her body and take her out of her room, and into the front yard where mother and the rest of the villages have gathered around.

I push myself up from the wall and follow behind myself. Mercia waits outside with the rest of the villagers its eyes filled with sadness. I go and stand by Mercia as I place Lil on the ground and confront mother about her death. I wipe the tears from my eyes when I notice Burke grabbing my past self into his arms. Mercia places its hand on top of my shoulder and suddenly everything around us begins to fade away.

“I’m sorry about your sister, Chase. You did need to see that though,” Mercia explains to me.

“Why did I need to see my sisters last moments of life? I was perfectly content in knowing how she died, but not seeing it,” I explain as I wipe a tear rolling down my cheek.

“I brought you back to show you what you lost that day, Chase,” it states.

“I am aware that I lost my sister that day. How can I reclaim what is lost, when she is lost forever. She is with the heaven of souls, I can never have her back,” I clarify.

Lil’s empty green eyes are still fresh in my mind, knowing that she cried my name out in her last moment will haunt me for the rest of my life.

“Okay, since you still do not understand what you have lost I will have to show you other examples then,” Mercia announces too me.

“Please do not tell me, I have to witness someone else’s death?” I question Mercia.

“That all depends,” Mercia says walking away from me. I follow behind Mercia as she walks through the woods and into the night. As we walk in silence through the wintery night my mind begins to process Lil’s death, how could I could not stay home with her. I wish I was the one dead not her, everything would have worked out better if Lil could have survived.

We walk deeper into the woods when I hear the growl of wolves and see my past self-chasing after one of the wolves. I run up a tree as a wolf jumps up trying to get my leg. I grab my bow from my back, slide an arrow in between the string and the wood. The wolves below, growling and snarling at me, the Alpha wolfs muzzle stained with my blood. My leg pulsing from the bite, blood seeping from the wound I release the arrow, as it drives through the air into the Alpha wolfs skull, it’s body collapses to the ground as it lets out a sigh. I jump from the tree landing lightly on the ground. I grab my knife from my boot, the last remaining wolf charges at me, teeth ready to sink into my skin. It soars into the air, I stumble to the ground, striking the wolf with my knife, blood sprays from the wound saturating my face, the wolf yelps as it collides with the ground. I drag my body over to the wolf; it lifts its head at me, its yellow eyes blister into my heart. I take my knife, and slit the wolfs neck, its eyes sway lifeless into its skull. I turn to Mercia to ask a question.

“No more questions, just follow me and you will get your answers, hopefully.”

I do as Mercia asks and follow behind as we walk towards the lake where I limp over to a black wolf, unsure if it was Avari or not. As I follow behind my past self I turn to see how I am slowly giving up but still push my way to the wolfs dead body, in which I know now is not Avari.

A dark figure steps through the trees and approaches my body; by the figure is a wolf, not just any wolf—my wolf. The figure steps closer to my unconscious body and into the sunlight, I notice the figure was Burke.

“Oh, Chase, I thought I told you not to go after those god damn wolves. If only you listened to me and maybe you wouldn’t be in the mess,” Burke mutters as he picks up my body and disappears into the woods.

“So I lost myself, I am no longer the person that I use to be. Once Lil died I began to turn into a monster,” I admit to Mercia. It is true, I lost myself once Lil died because I failed as a big brother to protect her, I let her die because I was work.

“You aren’t getting the bigger picture, Chase. I am running out of expamples for you to understand what I mean. I have one more and if you don’t understand this time. I am afraid there is no hope left for you,” Mercia states as it opens another portal with its hand.

“What do you mean, there is no hope left for me?” I demand.

“You will see, I hope,” it sighs.

“No! Stop right there. I am tired of you not answering my questions. I will not go through the portal with you unless you answer my god damn questions!” I shout.

“It is not my job to answer your questions. I am only here to help guide you to the answers, you have to answer them not me. If that were the case I would have answered your questions a long time ago. Now please, just go through the portal this one last time, I promise you—everything will be answered.” Mercia elaborates.
I give Mercia one last look before entering the portal, not sure what I will expect in this upcoming adventure. Mercia follows behind me as we walk back into darkness. The portal closes behind us as we make are way through the portal. Just like before the darkness begins to disappear trees begin to materialize around us. The sun shines bright in the sky making everything crystal clear to see.

Mercia looks around the area and begins to walk into the forest, I follow behind hoping that I can go back to reality soon enough. Birds chirp around us as they are perched up in their homes. As we walk I begin to hear voices, we break through an opening to see Damien fighting Boris, and me hovering over Alastar with my sword in my hand. Damien and Boris are locked in a deep fight. Me on the other hand, I have an arrow stick out of my side, my face is battered and bruised, my hands are stained blood I look weaker then I ever have. My blue eyes show rage and despair, my blonde hair is matted with mud.

“Goodbye,” My past self mutters I thrust my sword into Alastar’s cold heart. I take in the whole picture with what is happening, remembering what Mercia has showed me. First I saw Lil’s death, I felt guilty for not being able to save her as she breathed in her last moments. Second I watched myself kill those wolves, taking revenge on them for taking my beloved sisters life. And now I am here watching me fight for my life, if I didn’t lose myself, what did I lose then?

I look back to the scene that is unfolding in front of me. I am passed out on the ground blood seeping out of my side and out of my leg still; Damien has wounded Boris which makes him fall to the ground, he walks over to him and slits his throat then rushes over to where I lay.

“Chase, buddy hold on,” he states as he puts pressure to my wound. “Hold on, I’ll be back I know someone that can help you.” he runs off into the dense forest. Avari pushes herself up from the tree in which Volamirror had knocked her unconscious and walks over to my body and places her head on my chest.

“I still don’t understand, if its not me losing myself, then what did I lose?” I turn and look at Mercia.

“Just wait,” Mercia says shaking it’s head back and forth at me.

Without asking any more questions I turn and walk over to a tree and sit down, waiting for what will happen next. The birds above me continue to chirp as they mind their own business. The sun beats down on my skin, the heat begins to rise. It must be close to noon with the heat of the hour sinking in. I close my eyes for a few minutes waiting, for Damien’s return.

Minutes turn into hours, and hours feel like days. Damien finally runs through the trees and next to my side, behind him is followed by a beautiful girl. She has short dull red hair that flows in the breeze, she has big dull hazel eyes that suite her perfectly.

“Lucinda, can you save him?” Damien asks the girl. Lucinda what a beautiful name.

She takes a step closer to my body and begins to exam my wounds. Avari opens her eyes and begins to growl at Lucinda.

“No, Avari. She’s only trying to help him,” Damien states. Avari doesn’t take that as an answer though, she pushes her body up, she trembles than falls back to the ground. “Shh, go back to sleep, we’ll try and save him girl,” Damien repeats as he rubs Avari’s head. Avari looks Damien in the eyes then falls back asleep.

“Damien, I don’t know if I can save him. He is bleeding a lot, but I will try. I do owe you that much,” Lucinda says. Her voice is like an angelic song.

“Thank you, now I will go and retrieve your pal Brian. I just hope he won’t try and kill me,” Damien jokes as he walks back into the forest.

“Damien, wait!” Lucinda says running over to where Damien is left standing, “You’ll need this, Brian will know what this means and will trust you,” She says taking off her necklace and handing it to Damien. He smiles and walks away—Lucinda walks back over to my body. “Don’t give up on me, Chase. Damien see’s something in you and I sure as hell well try and save your life. Don’t give up, fight for your life. You did an amazing job killing that bear and Alastar I hear. You don’t die this way, not now.”

I look at Mercia who has a smile on its face. I push up from my tree and walk over to where Lucinda kneels trying to bandage me up. I sit by Lucinda, wanting to put a hand on her but knowing my hand would go straight through her body.

“Thank you,” I whisper, knowing that she can’t hear me, but still it’s the graduate that counts. “Mercia I finally know what I have lost.”

“You do, Chase. What might that be?” Mercia asks me.

“When I lost, Lil that day. I wanted to give up on life I didn’t want to live if I couldn’t have my sister in it. When I received Avari for a wolf I was fierce it made me so angry that I had received the same creature that had killed my sister, I wanted to take revenge on the wolves. So when I went to go kill them I nearly lost my life in the process. I gave up fighting to save my life, I knew I could have made it back to Burkes place, but instead I just gave up. The same thing happened here, I killed Alastar and his bear, but I didn’t want to fight to survive. Every time I am near death I give up, knowing that if I do—I can be with my sister. I lost the will the live, and I think it is time to reclaim what is lost. I want to show my sister, that even though she is gone, I can still try and live without her. She is the inspiration for me to win this tournament, even though the money I win won’t bring her back. I can at least show her, I still love her and she will always be part me. Sometimes I feel as if she is still around me, helping me through this tournament,” I explain to Mercia.

“Well, Chase. I am glad that you have finally reclaimed what you have lost. If you didn’t get the bigger picture this time, I was afraid of what might happen to you,” Mercia states.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“With all the cases I have worked, I have not met one person who did not know what they lost, so I do not know what would have happened if you did not understand the past events I was telling you.” Mercia states.

“So what happens now?” I ask

“Well, I will send you back to the land of living, where you will go on and compete in the tournament and hopes of winning. This is your last chance, Chase. If you give up one more time, I am afraid you will not be able to continue on—you will go to the heaven of souls.” Mercia explains.

“Thank you. I don’t know what else to say but thank you,” I say. Mercia nods and opens up another portal.

“Enter through this portal and it will take you back to the present.” Mercia says then turns around and begins to walk away. “Oh and, Chase. Your sister is closer than you might think. Take care, and protect Avari she may be a wolf, but she still needs protection as do you,” Mercia than turns back into an orb and floats into the sky. Without any hesitation I walk into the portal, and back into reality.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twelve: SECOND CHANCES

My eyes burst open as if it were an explosion; the sun burns my eyes making me blind for a few seconds. A white figure hovers over me, the light begins to dull down when I see Lucinda standing over me like the angel she is. She has a huge smile on her face as if she just won first prize at the courtship fair.

“Welcome back, Chase. You gave us a little scare,” she almost sings. I want to say something but I don’t want to make a fool of myself. “Just take it easy, I just stitched up your wounds and you need rest for a while.”

“How long have I been out?” I ask, not know what else to ask.

“Almost four days. But you will be okay; your wolf is doing just fine. She’s also bandaged up healing her wounds,” she says.

“Thank you,” is all I say.

“Your welcome. If Damien didn’t come get me when he did, you might not have survived, Damien is the one you should truly thank.” Lucinda states.

“Where is Damien?” I ask.

“He went to go fetch my pal Brian. He should be back sometime he left over a few hours ago,” she explains to me.

I don’t say anything back but look into her eyes, those eyes in which she’s probably seen so much, a story of there own to tell. I look away not wanting to see like a creepier but she is the most beautiful girl I have ever laid my eyes upon. I close my eyes hoping to fall asleep for a bit, but knowing that she is here next to me, I won’t be able too.

“Get some sleep, Chase. God knows you need it,” she whispers than walks out of sight.

I turn my head over to see if I can catch one last glimpse of her, but she disappears into the trees. With that I close my eyes and welcome sleep for once during this tournament, knowing that I do not have to worry about someone killing me. For once I have friends that I can rely upon knowing they have my back and I got theirs. Although, I do not know how long this alliance will last since we are supposed to kill one another, eventually someone will turn their back on the others—but today isn’t that day. I begin to drift asleep curious as to what dreams I will experience today, it feels like ages since I’ve had a dream, lets hope this one is a good one.

I was sitting in my desk at school staring out the window daydreaming. I couldn’t wait to get out of school and be able to ride Storm. I haven’t ridden him for weeks and it’s about time for him to stretch his legs. I want to ride up to the lake then maybe to the base of the mountains, just enough for him to get the amount of exercise he needs but also for me to feel free again. Mother has been suffocating me with chores around the house, “Chase clean this, Chase do that, Chase you did it wrong.” The woman is about to kill me. If I have to do one more thing while her lazy butt sits in bed I might just murder the lady.

“Chase Wentworth, do you happen to have the answer to the equation on the board.” Mrs. Sanely asks. Everyone in the classroom turns their heads towards me waiting for the answer.

I look up the board to see an equation and see if I can figure out the answer. A farmer was going to town with a fox, a goose and a sack of corn. When he came to a stream, he had to cross in a tiny boat, and could only take across one thing at a time. However, if he left the fox alone with the goose, the fox would eat the goose, and if he left the goose alone with the corn, the goose would eat the corn. How does he get them all safely over the stream? I look over at the teacher who seems to be loosing her patients. I scratch my head and take in a breath of air about to give what I think is the answer.

“Well, you see Mrs. Sanely. He takes the goose across first, then comes back. Then he takes the fox across and brings the goose back. Then he takes the corn over.

Finally he comes back alone and takes the goose across.” I answer the question and wait for the response giving me the okay if the answer is correct.

“Very good, Chase. Now pay attention for the rest of the class period, you may have gotten that one correct but next time you might not be so lucky,” Mrs. Sanely admits.

Everyone in class turn their attention back to the front of the class and I go back to daydreaming, waiting for the class bell to ring and dismiss us for the weekend.

The birds fly by the window, mother bird, father bird and two baby birds. They fly in circles for a few seconds then land on the tree next to the window. The two baby birds fly to the next tree while mother bird and father bird cuddle next to each other.

The bell finally rings and dismisses the class. Everyone pushes out of their desks at the same time and scurry out of the classroom. Trisha and I are the last ones to leave the room. I follow behind her into the grassy field. She stops in the middle of the field and I walk past her.

“Chase!” She calls after me. I stop in my tracks and turn around to see her approaching me.

“Yes, Trisha?” I ask. Her faces lights up as bright as the sun.

“Um, I don’t know how to ask this. But would you like to go riding with me and Fire, then maybe take a dip at the lake later today?” She asks biting the inside of her lip. Trisha was a nice girl, but I have no interest in her, but how can I say no to her.

“Sure, Trisha, I’ll meet you by Mr. Patterson’s gate in about two hours.” I reply as I turn away from her and walk to my house.

“Bye, Chase! See you then!” She shouts.

I saddle Storm getting ready for the ride with Trisha. The sun has begun to disappear behind the mountains, night has come early tonight, which makes it all the more dangerous for me going out. Lil comes running out of the house towards me.

“Chase, please don’t tell me you are still going out riding. The wolves will be out tonight, please stay home with us.” Lil pleads with her big doll green eyes.

“I’m sorry, Lil. I promised Trisha I’d go riding with her tonight, and I can’t leave her there waiting for me, it would be rude and ungentlemanly of me,” I answer as I slide onto Storms back.

“But, Chase!” Lil tries to plead.

“No, Lil. I will be back in an a hour. Now run back inside and lock the door before the wolves come out. I will be back soon, don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself,” I say as Lil turns away. I slide of Storm and run up to her and give her a tight hug. “I love you, Lil.”

“I love you too. Please be save,” she answers then runs back inside the house. I turn back to Storm and slide onto his back once again.

“Let’s ride!” I whisper. Storm and I take off into the sunset towards Mr. Patterson’s house. We gallop until we see Trisha and Fire waiting for us.

“I thought you might have stood me up,” Trisha giggles.

“No sorry, Lil was worried about me was all. I had to comfort her before I left. Lets get to the lake before it gets any later,” I say. Storm and I begin to walk in the direction of the lake with Trisha following behind.

“You are so good with your sister, Chase. I don’t understand how you manage too do it.” Trisha states. But I don’t answer I ride in silence hoping to get to the lake quick enough so I can make it back home before it gets to late and the wolves get hungrier.

The moon begins to rise in the sky making a path of light for Trisha and I. We follow the light to the lake; the moonlight shines down on it making it irresistible not to take a dip in it. I slide off Storm and slide off my shirt and run and jump into the lake. Trisha stands next to Fire unsure as what to do. She looks at me with a smile and strips her shirt off and comes running into the lake making a giant splash, she swims over to me and smiles.

“Thank you for coming with me,” she says.

“Of course, Storm and I were going to come out tonight anyways.”

“Chase, can I ask you something.” She asks me

“Of course, anything.” I reply.

She swims closer to me she presses her lips to my ear. “It’s a secret though, do you think you can keep it?”

“I’m pretty sure I can keep the secret,” I laugh. I can hear her lips curl into a smile, she pulls her head back so I can see her full face. Before I can say another thing her lips are upon mine, are lips moving in similar motions as if they are sure as to what is supposed to happen. She pulls back and smiles at me, then swims back to shore.

“Thanks for keeping my secret, Chase.” She giggles then puts her shirt back on and climbs on to Fires back and rides away.

I smile and sink into the water left wondering, Trisha Matthews had just kissed me, my first kiss and I don’t even like the girl. That was the day I truly became a man, I had my first interaction with a female. I close my eyes and let the water consume me, wondering what have I gotten myself into with this girl.

I feel my body being shaken awake; I slowly open my eyes to see Damien hovering over me with a huge grin on his face. Next to him is Lucinda, a beautiful angel she still is. I try to push my body to a sitting position, Lucinda rushes over and helps me up to a sitting position. My body aches, I feel as if someone has shot me with an arrow, oh wait that actually did happen.

“How are you feeling buddy?” Damien asks.

“How do you think I feel, I was shot twice with an arrow, I am doing perfect I feel like I can run, do jumping jacks,” I say sarcastically. Lucinda giggles at my remark.

“I was just asking man, geez don’t get your undies in a bunch,” Damien laughs. I smell a delicious aroma that makes my stomach growl for hunger. I cannot remember the last time I ate something.

“What are you cooking?” I ask hoping it has something to do with food, and not that my mind is just playing tricks on me.

“Were cooking deer, one of Alastar’s traps was able to catch a deer. To bad he won’t be able to enjoy this fine meal he caught for us,” Damien chuckles. Lucinda rolls her eyes and sits next to me.

“Are you thirsty?” she asks. I nod my head and she runs over to the fire and grab a bowl that appears to be carved out of wood and dips it into a body. She comes back and hands me the bowl with water in it, “Don’t worry it’s from the stream over the hill.”

I take a sip of the water; it runs down my throat crunching my thirst. I hand her the bowl and stare off into space. Night had fallen and it was getting chilly, the fire sits a few feet in front of me roasting a deer. The only light that we have is from the moon, which touches down on the campsite.

“So, how do you and Damien know each other Lucinda?” I ask. She looks up at me with a confused look on her face.

“How do you know my name? I never told you,” she says unsure if she should sit down next to me or take off into the forest.

“I could still hear you and Damien talk,” I lie. If it hadn’t been for Mercia I may not know her name, but I would have eventually have found out what her name was. Lucinda slides down next to me and wraps her warms around her knees.

“Damien and I, well we sort of have a history. He’s from the inner kingdom and I live outside the kingdom, we’ve run into each other quite a few times. I would come and work in the kingdom sometimes helping to save those who were lost in the in-between. One time Damien was injured badly, and they called upon me to save his life. I rushed from my village Fort-Loth and attended his side. They said he had gotten into a fight with a guard inside the kingdom and the guard had nearly killed him. His injures were severe, he had a gash in his right arm, he had a gaping hole in his abdomen, I didn’t think he might survive through the night. But someone extraordinary happened, the next day his wounds were healed, as if it were magic. Damien had not way of explaining his astonishing recover but said it was all thanks too me, he owed me a huge favor to repay me,” she explains to me.

I look over at Damien who sits by the fire with a boy I assume to be Brian. They laugh at each other’s jokes as if they have been friends for a long time. I laugh as I watch the two interact with one another, Lucinda looks and smiles at me.

“Why are you and Brian is that his name?” I ask. Lucinda nods at me. “Why are you two working with each other?”

“You sure do ask a lot of questions.” She laughs. “Brian and I grew up in the same village actually, he’s the fighter and I’m the healer.”

“But why join together when you might have to kill each other in the end?” I ask.

“We thought about that, but we figured, if I heal him and he fights to keep us alive then maybe when time came some other competitor might kill one of us before the other had too. We’ve been life long friends and both are families are poor, we figured if one of us could win the tournament than we’d supply money to the others family. So far the time has not come, but sooner or later one of us will die. I hope it is me, since I cannot fight I won’t be able to try and save myself, Brian’s death would just be a waste if I couldn’t win,” Lucinda says with a grim look on her face.

“Well, when I’m feeling better I will teach you how to fight with a knife. Its not much, but it can do a lot of damage if you will it too,” I state with a smile on my face.

“Really, you’d teach me how to fight. That’s so nice of you, Chase.” She says while leaning over and kisses me on the cheek. Once she realized what she’s done she pulls back and looks away, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to cross the line.”

“It’s fine, happens all the time.” I joke around. Her eyes light up with joy.

“So, why are you here, Chase. Everyone seems to have some reason as to why they are fighting in the tournament. What is yours?” She asks. I turn my head away and look up to the sky, as I get ready to tell my story, a story that haunts me each day.

“Are you sure you want to hear my story? It’s kind of long,” I state. Lucinda nods and gives me her full attention as if I was reading a book to her. “Well, it all began with my father past away . . .” I tell her the story of when my father was murdered and how my sister was killed by the wolves; we sat there and talked for what seems like hours until we both agree it is time for bed. Lucinda walks over to the campfire and curls up into a ball.

“Hey guys, I’ll be right back. I’m going to go get more firewood to keep the fire lit,” Lucinda’s friend Brain says walking into the dense trees. Damien gets up from the campfire and sits next to me.

“You and Lucinda seem to be hitting it off pretty well, don’t you think,” he jokes hitting me with his shoulder.

“What are you getting at?” I ask Damien.

“Come on, there aren’t that many girls in the tournament I know you want to get hot and heavy with her,” Damien says winking at me.

“What! No! We are just friends, nothing more nothing less,” I say in a low voice.

“Yeah, yeah. Well catch your beauty sleep, sleeping beauty, I have to go take a piss.” Damien laughs as he gets up from where I sit and heads off into the dense trees.
I close my eyes letting sleep consume me this time, wanting sunlight to come in the morning to let me talk to Lucinda once again. I picture her face as I begin to slip into sleep. As I am about to drift off I hear what sounds like a scream but I shrug it off, thinking nothing of it and let sleep consume me.

I open my eyes to see Avari hovering over me, her tongue licking every portion of my face. I sit up and run my fingers through her black coat. She pounces on my body in excitement that I am alive and well.

“Its good to see you too girl,” I laugh as to play around with her. I push her off and get up to walk to the campfire to see if there is any food. Damien lies next to the fire on one side and Lucinda lies on the opposite side, I look around and don’t see Brian. “Hey you guys, where’s Brian?” I call out as I shake Lucinda awake; Damien pushes his body to a standing position.

“What do you mean where’s Brian. He’s sleeping right—“ as Damien turns and looks he see’s Brian’s sleeping spot is used. “I swear he was there before I went to bed.”

“God damn Brian. He did it once again,” Lucinda says as she gets up from her spot and walks over to his unused bed.

“Did what again?” I ask.

“He sleep walks and probably wondered out last night,” she says as she grabs a bag and heads into the dense trees.

“She’s not going to find him,” Damien laughs when he knows Lucinda is far enough out of hearing range.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“Brian, well he sort of had an accident last night.” Damien states.

“Don’t tell me, you killed him?” I question. Damien straightens himself up and gives me a stern look.

“Oh, don’t give me a pity party! You know eventually him and your little girlfriend won’t be able to live. Plus he pulled a knife on my last night when I was taking a piss. I did what I do best—I killed him. Now don’t tell Lucinda I will lose her trust,” Damien explains to me.

“What does it matter, we’re all dead anyways right?” I respond back as I take off after Lucinda.

“Some more than others,” Damien mutters. I whistle for Avari as I take off after Lucinda following what appear to be her tracks.

“Lucinda!” I call out as her tracks disappear. Avari catches up to where I stand, waiting for a reply, but also to hear any noise that will give away her position. I take a step forward and hear sniffling. “Lucinda,” I whisper as I turn my head over to a tree next to me and see sitting with her back to the tree, tears run down her face.

“Leave me alone, Chase,” she says turning her head towards me. I walk in front of her and kneel; I place my hand on her cheek and wipe away a tear.

“It’s okay to show that you are in pain,” I whisper as I wipe another tear away. “We’re all human we are made to feel pain, some more than others.”

“I know that one of us wasn’t going to make it, but I thought it would be me not him. He was right there, I was so close to him and I couldn’t even help him, I know Damien killed him, he doesn’t have to hide it. This is all a game to him, Chase. He’s been through this tournament a few times, he always wins no one can beat him,” Lucinda says looking me deep in the eyes.

“Well, that will change he knows how skilled I am with my sword. He won’t be able to beat me, because I was granted a second chance and I will survive and kill him,” I explain to Lucinda.

“How are you so sure? I mean he is good I’ve seen him fight in the kingdom there is a reason why he has survived so many times before, what makes you so sure that you can win this one?” She asks me.

“My sister. She is here to help me through this tournament, she is the reason why I joined and I don’t want to disappoint her. I wasn’t there to save her from the wolves but I can prove to her that I am able to win this, even if it means that I come close to losing my life once again. I will defeat Damien at his own game, I know something that he doesn’t know that I know,” I say as I look behind me.

“What’s that?” Lucinda asks. I lean closer to her so that only she can hear what I am about to say.

“When he doesn’t have control, he’s a coward. If I make sure I have control over the situation he is an easy target to beat, but if he controls me he is a lethal person. I have already seen that with Alastar and Boris,” I whisper into her ear.

“I hope you all the luck to beating Damien.” She replies. I pull away and stand up, giving her time to grieve, Avari follows behind me. “Chase, you would mind staying and keeping my company?”

“Sure if that’s what you want,” I say as I take a seat next to hear. Avari sits down and puts her head on my lap. I don’t say anything to Lucinda as she looks down at her hands and continues to cry. I look into the forest wondering how many people are left to me killed, and how many of them will die at my hands.

“I miss him. I wish I were able to say goodbye. He was my best friend, he was my only friend,” she mutters wiping another tear from her cheek.

“I know how you feel.” is all I was able to muster out.

“We told each other everything, from the times where we got into trouble to the times where we first started to fall in love. Like I said he was my best friend, a friend that I was deeply in love with but didn’t know I existed. We did everything together, we would go swimming in my neighbors pond at night when we weren’t supposed to. I made him climb the biggest tree in our village just to show me, that he was strong enough. I was a guy pal to him nothing more. He broke his arm one time fighting some of the boys after class because they were making fun of me. He took this girl Melinda to our place for a picnic, I was fierce with him because that was our place not theirs. I wish I mustered up the courage to tell him that I was madly in love with him,” Lucinda says wiping more tears from her cheek.

“I’m sorry, I truly am.” I reply.

“It’s not your fault, its mine for not following through with actions. I always thought it was obvious with how I was wanted to be with him, I’d even take over some of his workload at the butchers shop even though I had work of my own to do. I am such an idiot to fall for a guy who was handsome that all the girls also wanted to be with him, you’re such a fool Lucinda,” she cries out hitting her leg. I place my hand on her arm hoping to stop her outrage.

“No, you’re just a girl whose hurting over a lose of a best friend. You are beautiful, Lucinda. I’m not going to lie, but you may not make it out of this tournament,” I try to say.

“Well geez, thanks for the comfort,” she interrupts me.

“No, you didn’t let me finish. You don’t have the fighting skills like Damien and I have. But I will train you so that you have some sort of experience that can give you a fighting chance in winning. I’ll make a pack with you right now. I won’t kill you if you don’t kill me. But I can’t help you if you leave Damien and I,” I finish.

“I’m not worried about you, I’m more worried about Damien. He’s ruthless and will do whatever it takes to make sure it’s you two in the very end,” Lucinda explains.

“Do you know why he wants it to be us?” I ask.

“He wants a challenge, and he knows you will make it difficult for him and it won’t be an easy victory. But once he has killed you, he can gloat as to how he is more victorious then all of us,” she states. I take in a deep breath and look around.

“This might just be random, but can I ask you a question?” I ask.

“Of course, what is it?”

“Where’s your companion?” I ask. Lucinda smiles and gets up from her sitting spot, she puts out her hand towards me.

“I can show you, better then I can tell you,” she laughs as she waits for me to take her hand. “Come on I don’t bite.” I place my hand into hers; she helps pull me up and tugs me along, Avari follows behind as but keeping her distance.

Clouds begin to cover the morning sky; looks like it might rain soon. We continue to walk until we come to a big oak three with large branches. Avari stops and starts to growl when we get to the tree. Lucinda lets go of my hand and cups her hands over her mouth in a similar fashion as I do. With one breath she lets out a whistle, I swing my body around expecting to see some sort of animal to come running from the trees but instead I hear a growl come from above. I look up to see a huge cat come climbing down the oak tree. The cat reaches the bottom and walks over to Lucinda and glides its body behind Lucinda’s legs. I take a step back not wanting the mighty cat to attack me. It comes up to about Lucinda’s stomach; it has large yellow eyes, orange with black stripes.

“Don’t worry, Chase. Erna won’t hurt you, not unless I command her too,” Lucinda says trying to reach for my hand. “Just pet her, she’s very soft.” I left Lucinda take my hand and pull my closer to her cat.

“What, what is she?” I ask as my hand grazes across her fur. Avari approaches me growling at the cat, claiming that she belongs to me.

“Erna is a tiger, Chase. One of the most dangerous felines alive, and the creature that invades my homeland—but I’m sure you know all about where our companions come from,” Lucinda states as she pets Avari.

Avari enjoys Lucinda’s gesture and stops growling at Erna knowing that my love will go nowhere but to her. Lucinda looks at me with a confused look on her face when I do not answer the question. I call Avari over to me and begin to pet her stomach.

“You do know why we get the animals we do, don’t you?” Lucinda asks me again.

“It never quite occurred to me, I just thought that they were random animals,” I explain.

“Oh, Chase. Didn’t you learn anything about the tournament and how the kingdom works?”

“No, my village doesn’t associate with the kingdom very much. Most of the kingdom doesn’t even know we exist outside their land. The only reason I knew about the tournament was because a traveler who past through our village was raving on about how the next tournament was coming, I assumed it was sword fighting not a fight for survival,” I admit to her. She walks over to the big oak and takes a seat, her tiger follows behind her and stretches its body before collapsing to the ground and following asleep. Stupid cats, they always sleep no matter what the situation is. I follow suit and sit in front of Lucinda getting ready for the story she is about to tell me, Avari sits on her hind legs and awaits the story for herself.

“I am going to give you a history lesson here, one you should have learned a long time ago,” Lucinda says.

“But how will this be important to me?” I ask.

“Why that is a stupid question, Chase. You need to know the history because it is life and death, if you do not know any of this you might as well stab your own sword through your heart. Now listen, because I will not repeat myself again,” Lucinda says firmly. I lean forward and prepare myself for the story.

Chapter Text

Chapter Thirteen: BRIEF LESSON

Lucinda moves her body around trying to get into a comfortable position before she begins her story. She pushes back her hair that keeps falling into her face. I look up to the sky to see that the clouds have become darker letting us know the rain will becoming soon. “Remember this is the history, some of the facts are and are not true—we just don’t know which they are. King Than, has been ruling over the twelve kingdoms for the last forty-five years, he has two sons. Every few years a arena is built for the chosen ones to fight for survival while the king gets his laughs in knowing that only a few people are strong enough, he then takes the winners in as his own guards knowing that only a few will be strong enough to fight against other kingdoms. He says that riches are provided for the winners encouraging those who are poor to join; he does give riches but not what you would truly expect from a king of his wealth. For him to chose the people to compete he uses his wizards to spy on them and see their skills and see if they are strong enough, knowing some aren’t and some are. He then takes the majority of the strong and sends his messengers to give them the egg letting them know they have been chosen from the tournament and must prepare. The wizards have enchanted the eggs with a creature that invades that land of the contestant. The Village of Fort-Loth receives Tigers, Village of Irion: Falcons, Village of Saxon: Phoenixes, Village of Domis: Bears, Village of Myth: Wolves, Village of Lykens: Boars, Village of Triy: Lions, Village of Nork: Eagles, Village of Dorthy: Hyenas, Village of Ballimor: Jaguars, Village of Maliro: Jackals and then Inner Kingdom: The Mountain Lion.

Each village has a sort of a mascot that will help the competitor try and win the tournament, but everyone knows that we never have all twelve of these competitors in the tournament. I think the most is about six, knowing that not everyone will sign up to kill their lives or simply move before the tournament starts changing their mind and not wanting to be involved. He then enchants the eggs with the animal of your village so they can help you out with keeping you alive, but if you die your animal also disappears it helps keep food population up, so that they are not hungry and gives them enough strength to kill each other, and show their true strength. Once everyone has mostly killed each other and hopefully all the companions are dead themselves, if both competitors have their companions the king will allow them to keep them for the final battle, if not—he will kill the remaining companion to keep things fair. The king will then ask his wizards to bring the last two remaining competitors and bring them back to the kingdom where he will give them food, water and will even let them walk the grounds with a guard of course.

Once he has the final two competitors in his kingdom, he then goes and clears out the arena of all food and water, making it difficult for the final two to live. He does this so he can speed up the process of them wanting to kill each other, no food and water can drive a person insane. After being in the kingdom for a few days and enjoying the luxuries he then releases them back into the tournament, this time—everything is different. He uses his wizards to completely change the arena to something different. If its desert it may be forest or whatever he wants that might be challenging to them, by using an environment they are not familiar with. He always has an idea who might win and may help them out in surviving so that they can be made his next guard. There is one man, who is to be legend that won the tournament but did not become a guard for the king. The king idolized this man and granted him his wishes as to not become his guard, he had a pregnant wife back at home and he could not bare to be apart from her. The king likes men who are brave enough to turn him down, but once word got out that the winner’s wife tragically lost her life giving birth to the child, the king sent his wizards to go looking for the man to have him rejoin his army. The man disappeared from the face of the earth; the wizards could not track him down with all their mighty powers. Rumor has it that the king purposely killed his wife so that he could have him on his guards, but that’s just rumors.

See, Chase, this is the history of the Kingdom, a brief history, but the history nonetheless. We don’t know the true facts of history, some of this could be rumors or true, but it is al we have to go on.” Lucinda finishes taking a deep breath. I feel a droplet touch my skin; I look up to the sky to see rain beginning to fall from the clouds above.

“The only thing I’m confused about, is where does Damien fit in this? If the king wants members to be in his guards why does Damien keep entering?” I ask confused as to see how Damien can win each time if the king wants guards.

“Well, you see. Rumor has it that Damien’s actually a—“

“There you two are, I’ve been looking for you forever.” Damien shouts as he comes running through the trees and into our sights. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Oh, I was just giving Chase a brief history of the tournament. Sorry we took so long didn’t mean to worry you,” Lucinda apologizes.

“You didn’t have me worried, I just figured you and Chase over here got your hanky panky on, if you know what I mean,” Damien winks.

“Ha, what is he talking about, Chase?” Lucinda asks.

“Nothing, he’s just begin a perv is all,” I say walking over to Damien and grabbing him by the arm and leading him away from Lucinda. “What the hell is your problem?”

“Nothing, I just thought that maybe you guys were doing the dirty deed. Did I ruin it, want to me go back and hide in the bush and watch,” he laughs as he glances back at Lucinda. Her hair is soaking in wet along with the rest of her clothes. “So tell me, what did she exactly tell you about the history of the tournament?”

“Just why we get the animals that we do, that the King wants the winner to join his guards, just the basic,” I explain.

“Did she say anything about me?” He asks.

“Um, why do you ask?” I question Damien not liking where he is going with this.

“Nothing, just curious as to what she had to say. Because she knows that I have entered in this tournament a few times before,” Damien admits.

“Oh, well that is pretty much all she told me, she was going to say something else. But you interrupted her; anyways I don’t think it is important. Why have you entered this tournament more than once? I thought the King might want you in his guards and not risking your life anymore then needed?” I ask, as more questions are being told than answered.

“Kay well lets head back to camp. A storms rolling in and it’s not safe here, we have to take shelter and I have one made up back at camp,” Damien says while walking in the direction of camp. I walk back over to Lucinda and help her to a standing position.

“Your freezing. Lets get you back to camp and light a fire,” I say wrapping my arm around her trying to warm her body back you.

“Thank you,” she says as she allows me to warm her up.

“Avari, come on girl lets head back,” I state as we continue on in the direction. Lucinda calls for Erna. Lucinda puts her head on my shoulder its awkward for me, since she’s a few feet shorter then me, but I keep her head there, wanting her to be closer to me.

“Chase, why are you so nice to me?” Lucinda asks as we walk to the camp.

“Why, can’t I be nice? I mean you are beautiful and amazing, I am glad that I met you, under the wrong circumstances of course but still.” I laugh it off. My hands become sweaty, I feel awkward talking to her about this, I have never felt so awkward talking to a girl before in my life, why is she different.

“Me too, me too.” She whispers.

The rain continues to pour down on us as we walk back to camp; we get closer when I smell something cooking on the fire, Damien must have found another animal caught in Alastar’s traps. As we walk through the opening to the camp I can feel the heat of the fire touch my skin, a tarp hangs above the fire which is tied to a few trees to keep it suspended in the air to keep the fire lit.

“Finally, the love birds have finally returned,” Damien jokes as he grabs my arm and pulls me away from Lucinda, he rubs his hand through my hair messing it up,

“I’m just kidding are you two hungry?”

“Starving,” Lucinda says taking a seat next to the fire. I sit across from her and petting Avari. Damien hands me a piece of wood with meat on it.

“What is it?” I ask sinking my teeth into the unknown substance.

“Oh, it’s Alastar,” Damien laughs, “I’m kidding, its a rabbit. Alastar’s traps are really handy you know, I wonder how many animals he’s actually caught and how many are still left.” Damien explains handing a similar piece of wood over to Lucinda.

“Thanks, it looks good, Damien,” Lucinda says as she begins to eat her rabbit. Erna lies next to Lucinda licking her paws. Lucinda leans over and gives Erna a piece of rabbit which she more than happily consumes.

“Okay boys, it’s getting late, I’ll see you two in the morning. Oh and no funny business between the two of you, I don’t want to wake up and seeing you doing the hanky panky,” she says with a smile on her face. Damien looks at me with disgust in his eyes.

“Chase isn’t my time, I’m sorry to disappoint,” he laughs. I just shrug off his comment and give Avari the last of my rabbit. She swallows it in one gallop.

“Goodnight, Lucinda,” I say as she rolls over. I sit by the fire watching the flames dance; it reminds me of my first night here when I was in the cave. I was waiting for Avari to return with food that I almost lost track of the time. Everything has changed since that last moment, I killed blue eyes, I went insane from envisioning Lil saying I killed her. Then I was begin knocked out by Damien who later on captures me, just so me and him can team up and eliminate everyone that still remains. Then I get stuck in a tree chasing after Avari who runs off because of a thunderstorm. I out trick Alastar into setting me free so that I can battle him in a one on one fight; I kill his bear and kill him, and to top it all off I almost died and met a crazy orb thing who is the keep of the in-between. I would say, this has been a crazy couple of weeks, and to top it all off its not even close to being over. There are still three other people out there maybe more, not counting Lucinda, Damien and I. Oh boy this is going to get bad.

I lie down next to the fire, still watching the flames dance. Damien curls into a ball and falls asleep next to the fire as well. I curl up to Avari and press my face into her fur; my face moves with her chest as she breathes in and out. I count each breath and slowly begin to fall asleep, letting it take me wherever it pleases, but wanting to wake up and Lucinda still be here. Knowing tomorrow she may not, I still don’t fully trust Damien; today proves he is capable of anything. I’d rather stay on his good side, but I also don’t want to lose Lucinda, even though I already know, she cannot live I have to keep that in mind, knowing that everything will change and I cannot go into the past and change it, this is what is written—even though I hate it so much. Tomorrow I will teach her how to defend herself at least giving her a fighting chance to survive—I just hope I won’t have to be the one to kill her, or at least see her death. I take one last look at Lucinda sleeping, knowing she may not be there tomorrow. I close my eyes and pray that she will still be alive in the morning.

Thunder ripples through the sky, making impossible to try and get a good nights sleep. Avari digs her head under my arm, as the thunder gets louder. I open my eyes to see the darkness is still upon us. Lucinda sits up next to the fire warming her hands as if she was cold.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I ask as I move over to where Lucinda sits.

“What gave it away,” she laughs.

“I don’t know, the thunder is pretty loud, oh and Avari’s whining can be pretty annoying,” I laugh as Avari tries to cuddle next to me.

“She’s not that loud,” she laughs as thunder explodes in the sky. Her body jumps up startled from the thunder.

“Scared?” I ask.

“Just a little, I’ve never liked thunder storms,” she states.

“Why? It’s not like the storm is going to kill you,” I reply. She closes her eyes and puts her head on my shoulder.

“No, it’s just, my brother was lost in a storm kind of like this.”

“What do you mean lost?” I ask.

“Two years ago he was out with his horse on his was back from the kingdom. A storm came through and the horse bucked him off and took off running. The horse returned back to our village but my brother was never to be seen again. I have nightmares sometimes, and its always the same nightmares. I’m lying in bed under the covers, a figure breaks down the door, one arms missing and he has a missing eye. He steps forward mumbling how we never saved him that the water washed him away. When there’s a thunderstorm I never sleep, I stay up till the next day waiting it out, not wanting to have that nightmare,” she explains.

“It’s just a dream though, nothing bad can happen to you.”

“I know, but it feels so real. I always fight to wake up, but it’s like I am stuck in the dream,” she begins to cry. I brush my hand through her hair, trying to comfort her.

“Shh, everything will be okay. I won’t let anything happen to you,” I whisper trying to sooth her.

“I’m tired, Chase, but I don’t want to go to sleep,” she says smothering her face into my shirt.

“I’ll protect you, go to sleep and I’ll stay up watching to make sure nothing happens,” I whisper.

“You would do that for me?” She asks.

“Of course, now lie down and go to sleep.” I say pulling by body to a laying position. She adjusts her body and puts her head on my chest; I continue to run my hand through her hair.

“Chase, do you think we could win the tournament, just me and you?” she asks.

“Maybe, just maybe. But we don’t want to kill each other,” I state.

“Your right, I’d never be able too kill—“ she trails off into gibberish and falls asleep in my arms.

My eyes become heavy as they fight to stay open; I can’t fall asleep I promised Lucinda that I would stay up and protect her. I close my eyes counting the blows of thunder, each one gets smaller as the storm is passing. The rain stops pouring down making everything crystal clear in between clashes of thunder. I try to open my eyes but sleep is overcoming and has won this time, I let the darkness swell around me, and wait till morning arrives.

“Chase, wake up buddy,” Damien whispers as he shakes my body awake. I slap his hand away.

“Go away, can’t you see I’m sleeping!” I state

“Oh yeah, I can tell.” He laughs. My eyes explode open; Lucinda is still laying next to me, her arm wrapped around my stomach, her head resting on my chest. “I can tell you guys were sleeping last night.”

“We were, now what is so important that you had to wake me up?” I ask.

“Come, I can show you better then I can tell you,” he states as he waits for me to get up.

I pull away from Lucinda’s body not wanting to wake her. She stirs but does not open her eyes. Damien grabs my arm and pulls me up, he drags me into the bushes and away from Lucinda. After we put some distance between the camp and us he lets go of my arm and goes further; water comes up to about my knee making it difficult to walk.

“Hurry,” Damien says as he pushes through. I follow him as fast as I can but the water is getting in my way. I finally make it too him he points his finger up to a tree. There a boy no more than fifteen is holding onto the tree.

“Do you think he’s dead?” I ask.

“What a stupid question to ask, of course not. He’s a live you twit.” He laughs.

“Then why did you bring me here, why don’t you kill him. I don’t want a fifteen year olds blood on my hands,” I say turning back.

“I didn’t bring you hear because of him, I brought you here because of that,” he says pointing above the boy. Above the boy is an arrow and tied to that is a parchment of some sorts.

“What do you think it is?” I ask.

“One of two things, either the King wants us to hurry up and kill each other, or he’s offering us a meal. Wouldn’t you like to find out?” Damien asks as he begins to climb up the tree.

“Please, help me,” a girlish voice stutters. The boy that hangs in the tree reaches out a hand to Damien thinking that he might help him. Damien reaches for a branch that is closest to the boy.

“Don’t worry boy, I’m here to help,” he says. He grabs the boy, reaching down his belt and pulls out a knife. Before I can turn around Damien slits the boys throat then pushes the boys body away, it tumbles down the tree hitting branches and hits the ground with a splash. Damien wipes the blood of his face and reaches for the arrow and climbs down. The boy’s body floats past me, his eyes vacant and lifeless; Damien pushes to me and pushes the boys lifeless body away from us.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know right?” I say.

“Do what? Kill him, yeah I did, everyone’s going to die. I was just, speeding up the process,” he jokes. I try to shrug off his words, but they slice deep in me.

“What does the parchment say?” I ask.

“Hold your horses, let’s go back to camp first. Lucinda might want to hear this also.” He says.

Without saying another word I turn and walk back in the direction of camp. I just want to get back to her before anything happens to her. My mind continues to think about what Damien meant earlier, that we all are going to die, but something seems off with him and Lucinda knows the answers. I have to ask her what she was going to say the other day but we have to be alone, if Damien doesn’t want me to know, he might kill her. I have to make sure she is prepared to protect herself.

“Chase!” A girls voice cries out. I start running in the direction of camp when Lucinda comes running through and runs into me. “Where did you go? Why didn’t you tell me where you were going?” She throws her arms around me.

“I’m sorry, Damien needed to show me something. I thought you would still be asleep when we got back,” I state. I rub my hand down her head trying to calm her down.

“Don’t ever leave me, please!” she cries. Damien walks past me and gives me a stern look, a look I was afraid to see. She is next to die.

“Never!” I say with a tremble in my voice. “Damien and I found something, lets go see what it says.” I pull away from Lucinda and walk into camp; she slides with fingers into my hand and follows behind us. What have I gotten myself into?

Damien sits by the fire and unwraps the parchment and exams the contents. Lucinda and I sit next to each other waiting for Damien to read what it says but he takes his time, he clears out his throat and smiles at us.

“I thought you weren’t doing the hanky panky?” he asks looking at our hands. I pull mine away and rub it as if it hurt.

“We’re not, now just read what is has to say,” Lucinda demands.

“Feisty, better control your lady,” he jokes as he winks at her. “Okay this is what the parchment says: Congratulations on being the final six in keeping alive, but things have become, relatively slow and I think it’s time to change the game up. Its time to change the rules a little instead of the final two coming to the kingdom, I decided it will be the final three. I’m giving you till tomorrow to kill the remaining three members, if the job is not done then one of you will die, it will be a random kill so better get to tracking the remaining players.” Damien finishes.

“We have to find and kill two more people so we can become the finalist?” Lucinda asks.

“Actually, its only one more, we found the parchment above a boy and I killed him, and Brian is already dead,” Damien admits.

“How are we going to find one person by tomorrow?” Lucinda asks. She glares at Damien knowing that he killed one of her friends.

“We? Who said anything about you coming with us?” Damien says sternly

“Why not we, we already are together and we can hunt down the other person that way we can be the finalist?” Lucinda explains.

“Why not just kill you and save us all the trouble of finding the last person?” Damien says.

“We can’t just kill her! She’s done so much for us, plus if you wanted her dead you would have done it a long time ago Damien. Just stop joking around and lets pack up camp. The person can’t be to far.” I state.

“She can’t even defend herself, Chase! She’s a weakling!” he shouts. I walk over to him and grab his shoulder and pull him away from her, where she can’t hear me.

“What!”

“If we keep her, she’ll be a easy picking. She’s already told me that she can’t fight; the other person has been hiding for what weeks now? She’s are better chance, lets keep her to the end. Plus she can help us if we get injured,” I explain to him. He scratches his chin thinking about my suggestion.

“Fine! But she’s your responsibility, not like you aren’t already taking excellent care of her. But when the time comes I won’t hesitate to kill her, remember me and you! You are my biggest threat and I can’t wait to have you on a one and one battle,” Damien says turning away and smiling at Lucinda.

“What was that about?” She asks walking over to me.

“Nothing, just saved your life is all,” I explain.

“I don’t need you trying to be my knight and shining armor. I’m strong enough to take care of myself, I was doing a good job back there,” she argues.

“Yes, and that’s why he threated to kill you. You were doing an amazing job. Do you still want to learn how to fight or not?” I ask.

“Yes, but—“

“No buts, here’s my knife learn the weight learn how it works, it may save your life.” I say handing her my knife. “Damien, we’ll leave in twenty minutes.” I grab Lucinda by the arm and drag her with me, its time to give her a brief lesson on fighting, we don’t have much time and Damien is serious about killing her. I need to give her a fighting chance.

“Hurry up love birds!” Damien shouts from the camp.

“Avari!” I shout as I walk further into the forest trying to fight a nice tree for Lucinda to practice on. Avari comes running and stops next to me. “Okay, Lucinda throw the knife at this tree.”

“How is this going to help me?” She asks.

“Don’t question my methods and just throw the knife at the tree, just do it then I will explain why this is important,” I state. Lucinda rolls her eyes and throws the knife at the tree, it hits the tree and bounces off and falls to the ground.

“Okay so what’s the point?” she asks.

“Pick up the knife,” I point out. She walks over to the tree and picks up the knife and walks back to me. I spin her body so that she’s facing the tree; I run my hands down her arm as I position her arm in level of the tree. “Now just rock your hand back and forth with the knife in your hand,” I say as I help her with the motions,

“Then in one quick whip release the knife,” I let go of her hand, the knife goes soaring through the air and straight into the tree.

“Chase I did it!” She shouts as she jumps up and down with joy.

“Now go get the knife and try it by yourself,” I laugh as she runs straight to the tree and grabs the knife. I take a step back as she tries the knife throwing on her own. She snaps her wrist and the knife goes straight into the bark of the tree.

“Very good, now. This is difficult to say, but you can keep my knife so you can defend yourself against Damien and I. If you have a clear shot and they aren’t going nowhere use that method, if they are coming at you stab them with the knife with as much power as you can give, understand?” I ask.

“Yes, but I won’t use it against you. I promise you that much,” she says looking me in the eyes. "You won’t have to use it on me, but Damien you will—and you’ll lose. I wish we met on different circumstances."

“I know you wont,” I smile weakly. I pull Lucinda into a hug and saver this moment.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fourteen: TIME IS TICKING

By the time Lucinda and I got back to camp Damien had striped the tarps put out the fire and packed all our belongings. I grab my sword and strap it to my belt hoping to keep it that way. Damien takes Alastar’s bow and slides it on to his arm. Avari joins my side while Erna joins Lucinda’s, Damien however no longer has a companion not after Volamirror got a hold of her trying to defend him, I don’t know what I would do if I lost Avari that day, Damien seems to not mind.

“The love birds are back, please tell me you two where actually doing the hanky panky? Because if you weren’t I’m going to be extremely mad at you two for making me pack up the entire camp all by my lonesome self,” Alastar jokes around as usual.

“Nope sorry to disappoint,” I state.

“Oh well, I can always imagine you know,” he winks grabbing a back and strapping it over his shoulder.

“Where should we start? We have no idea where this person is located, they could be anywhere,” I say.

“Well thank you captain obvious! They are probably up in a tree or maybe even at your cave you use to occupy. I don’t know, but we have to start going. Wait, why don’t you use Avari to track down unfamiliar scents as we come across, that’s what she was made for after all, she’s a born tracker,” Damien states. Its true it hasn’t dawned on me to use Avari as a weapon to track down other competitors, but I guess now is better then never. I bend down next to Avari and stroke her fur; her green eyes look into mine.

“Hey girl, will do something for me. It would help us out a lot,” I whisper into her ear. Avari perks up head up and licks my face. “Will you smell out the last competitor for us, will you? It would help us out a lot in the general direction.” She licks my face one last time and begins to sniff the ground, trying to pick up any unknown scent that is human.

“Lets hope this works, if not, well one of us is as good as dead,” Damien laughs. Avari circles around a few times trying to pick up any scent from the last competitor.

“Just face it, Chase. We’re screwed, lets just start going and maybe we can pick up some sort of trail.”

“I agree with Damien. Lets just start going and maybe she’ll pick something up,” Lucinda states as she waits for my answer. Damien heads off into the forest, Lucinda and Erna follow behind, I take a step forward ready to follow when Avari tilts her head back and releases a howl.

“What is it girl, did you catch a smell?” I ask as Avari spins in circles as if trying to not lose the scent; Damien and Lucinda come running back. “She’s caught a scent lets go.”

“Well I’ll be damned, didn’t think she’d actually do it,” Damien admits. Avari takes off into the forest leaving Damien, Lucinda and I left standing in her dust. Before any of us could say anything we begin to follow behind her not wanting to lose her in the process. As we break through the forest she waits for me to come into sight then takes back off into a run.

My heart beats in overdrive as I chase after my wolf, she’s on a mission and its to find this last remaining person. Lucinda and Erna stay close behind me and Damien falls back. I fall back a little bit as Lucinda passes me.

“Go head I’ll catch up,” I say as she passes. I fall behind Damien and help push his body along. “Come on, big champion you act like you’ve never ran a day in your life before,” I joke around.

“Oh, shut up I’m not in shape like I use to be,” he laughs.

“You’re only what, nineteen and you’re out of shape. I don’t buy that! Now hurry up or we’ll lose Lucinda and won’t be able to find them,” I say as I begin to push him even faster. He stumbles forward then without my help he is able to run fast. I run past him and catch up to Lucinda who is out of breath also but is able to keep up with Avari’s pace.

“Is . . . he . . . alright?” She asks trying to catch her breath?

“He’s fine, let’s just catch up to Avari,” I reply.

I take my legs into overdrive and sprint past Lucinda and catch up to Avari. The trees begin to thin out as we approach a grassy opening, once out Avari stops and begins to circle for the smell again. Damien and Lucinda come running through, the hunch over and begin to catch their breath. I take in a breath of air; my lungs expand and gasp for more. I sit down and wait for Avari to track the smell again.

“What . . . happened?” Damien asks in between breaths.

“She lost the scent, she’ll pick it back up soon. I hope,” I say as I lay back into the grass taking in every last moment we have here. The sun beats down on my skin as it radiates on the grassy opening. Lucinda sits down next to me and pokes me.

“What are you thinking about?” She asks. I look at her, the sun makes her look like an angel floating down from the heavens. But I couldn’t tell her that.

“Just about my sister,” I lie.

“What was she like?” she asks me.

“Well, she was a brat sometimes, but she was my little sister I love . . . loved her. She was a pain in the ass sometimes, but she always knew how to make me feel better on a rough day. One time I was coming home from work and she comes running out, her face is smeared with mud, she began to cry because the pigs dragged her into their mud pit. She was in hysterics I guess she had tried to ride one; they didn’t like it so they flung her off into their mud. She was covered in mud! I couldn’t stop laughing, oh she was so mad she chased me around the yard trying to get mud on me,” I say with a tear glimmering in my eye.

“How old was she?” Lucinda asks.

“She had to have been about seven, she knew better trying to ride one but you know how little siblings are,” I explain.

“No, no I don’t I was the baby in the family, although I did have a little brother, but he passed away when he was born.” Lucinda says looking away, a tear rolls down her face as if she is assumed of showing her true emotions.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say as I look away. Damien takes a seat next to us.

“What’s going on here, a cry feast I see.” He laughs.

“Nope, we’re just talking about our siblings. What about you, Damien, do you have any siblings?” I ask.

“Yeah, I have a brother. He’s a few years younger than me—but father doesn’t knowledge him no more, not after that one incident.” He explains.

“What incident?” I ask.

“Umm, he got in a fight one time and lost his pretty face. Father called him a coward and disowned him as part of our family. Now he serves the King, I hardly ever see him. I miss him sometimes though; he was the only one I could truly talk to. He understood how harsh our father treated us and now it’s as if I’m all alone. Its why I join the tournament every so often, I want to show him that I am not a coward that I can provide for my own. But it’s never good enough, sometimes I wonder if I ever can live up to his own standards for me,” Damien explains. It’s nice to see that even Damien has a soft side and only wants to please father.

“Your father sounds like a harsh man, what does he do that makes you push yourself so hard?” I ask. Damien looks at me then gets up and looks into the distance.

“He’s a umm, weapons master within the Kingdom. He trains the King’s guards.”

“Ah, that would make sense if he wants to succeed.” I state. Damien looks at me and gives me an evil glare.

“We better be moving if we want to beat the clock,” he states then walks off.

“But Avari hasn’t found the scent again?” I whine.

“We’ll go without the scent, we better at least keep looking or one of us is dead. And I know exactly which one it will be.” He says eyeing Lucinda. Lucinda jumps up from her position, grabs the knife and charges at Damien. With one swift movement Damien grabs her by the wrist knocks the knife out of her hand and kicks her in the stomach. Lucinda lands five feet away from where Damien stands. Lucinda pushes herself up and pounces at Damien again, Damien grabs her by the arms and throws her over his head and lands a few feet behind him. Damien runs over to her and puts the knife to her neck.

“Stop it you two, we’re just wasting time here. You said it yourself Damien, we have to go find the last competitor. I’m not going to let you two kill each other, and Lucinda; you know Damien can kill you if he wants too. So stop provoking him and lets just go find the last person so we can get to the Kingdom and finish this god damn tournament,” I shout as Lucinda hits Damien with her knee, he stumbles backwards giving her time to jump back onto her feet and go after Damien again. “Or, don’t listen to me.” I sit back out and look at the two as the fight. Avari sits next to me and watches the two gazed in the fight. Damien blocks each move Lucinda tries to inflict upon him, her face tightens red as she begins to lose her energy.

“Are you done?” Damien asks. Lucinda hunches over breathing extremely hard then with one swift move she kicks her leg up and hits Damien in the jaw. He tumbles backwards as if he wasn’t expecting that last kick to come through; he rubs his jaw as he tried to over come the surprise attack.

“Now I’m done!” Lucinda says with a little hint of victory in her voice.

“Cheap shot!” Damien states.

“Never let your guard down,” she laughs.

“Learn how to actually fight then,” Damien taunts. “Then maybe you will actually inflict some damage.”

“I think I did plenty of damage right now,” she laughs again. “You let yourself get beaten up by a girl.”

“Correction, you did not beat me, you just so happen to get a cheap shot in. Now if we could please just move on, or do you not care about dying? I have a feeling you will be the one to die before we find the last competitor to secure your life,” Damien points out.

“Why are you so sure about that?” Lucinda asks.

“Because you can’t even through a punch, also we are just wasting time that will help us find and kill the last competitor that will make us that much closer to the end,” Damien explains. Lucinda’s eyes begin to tear up and she storms off back into the trees.

“Did you really have to go that far?” I ask, as I push up and walk over to where she ran off.

“She needs to learn the truth, and the truth is she’s going to die no matter what. Why are you so soft on her? Its not like you two will ever be together!” Damien says.

Its true, but for some reason I am drawn to this girl, even if I don’t want to be I feel as if I have a duty to protect her.

“It doesn’t matter, how would you feel if you were going to die anytime and there was no way of stopping it!” I shout as I disappear into to the trees.

“THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!” Damien shouts at the top of his lungs. I shrug off what he just said and force on trying to catch up to Lucinda. I stop and listen to the surroundings.

“Was wondering when you might find me,” a voice says lightly. I look up and Lucinda is perched in a tree with a smile on her face.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Perfectly fine, was trying to psychic Damien out. He thinks I’m not strong, but he’s wrong.”

“But why?” I ask.

“He thinks he owns the tournament, but he doesn’t I have a feeling you will be able to beat him. If he was smart he would have killed you by now, but I think he’s starting to go soft right now. I mean he should have killed me when he got the chance, but he didn’t. I want to know his angle in this game, but every time I try and look I can’t seem to find one.” Lucinda states.

“Maybe he doesn’t have an angle.” I say.

“Everyone has an angle, it’s just plan and simple. We all have reasons for our actions and behaviors.” She explains.

“Then what are mine and yours?” I question her.

“Mine is simple. I’m playing a weak girl who can’t defend herself so that others can protect me while I sit and play the sweet innocent girl. And yours, well you are trying to make friends with people who will never be your friends. Your hoping that Damien will spare your life so that you can try and win, but what you don’t know is that you have already won. Damien is terrified of being injured in which you already knew that part, for him to win he will use his bow that way he doesn’t get close too you, he will have the distance but you have the skills to win. All you have to do is get close enough to him to pierce your sword through his heart and you will win. And I will make sure you win,” Lucinda says with a smile on her face. She jumps off the tree and walks over to me; she places a hand under my chin and brings her face closer to mine. “Pity, you were just starting to grow on me,” she laughs and pushes my face away and walks back to the clearing. I stand there staring at the girl who I have feelings for, but never will be able to have. I take in a minute in to gather my thoughts and follow behind her back to the opening, Damien continues to taunt her and they begin to rough house again.

“Come on you guys lets go find some water before we run out,” I say as I move past the two. “Come, Avari.” Avari follows behind me as we leave the two there and move across the open field back into the trees.

“No. Shut up. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lucinda’s voice projects as they follow behind me. They’re arguing again, why am I not surprised.

“Come on, you know you like him,” Damien’s rough voice says. I try and block out their conversation, but only certain only seem to seep through.

“Cute. Awesome. No. Maybe. Death.” Lucinda says. If only I was truly paying attention then maybe I would be able to decipher the code. I wonder, does she like me like I like her? No how could she ever like anyone like me, anyways we both are probably going to die, if only we had met before the tournament, if only we had a second chance.

The sun seeps through the cracks of the trees as we walk underneath them. The heat of the sun beats down on my skin making it miserable to bare. Beads of sweat drip down my brow, the heat of the day has arrived. Lucinda and Damien both are feeling the affects of the heat; Avari and Erna are sluggish and fall behind the group. We’ve been walking for hours and our bodies are drained.

“Damien, do you have the last of the water?” I ask as I look back at Damien.

“No, I thought you had it?” Damien asks.

“No, you were the one that was supposed to pack it,” I state.

“So no one packed the water? Oh this is great, just great! Now what are we going to do?” Damien asks.

“Well, we’ll just keep on searching for water, well find some eventually. Lets just keep looking and maybe we will find some.”

“Wait, stop!” Lucinda speaks loudly. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” I ask. Lucinda turns and heads east, in the direction she hears the noise.

“Where are you going?” I yell out as I follow behind her.

As we follow behind I begin to hear roar of water. Lucinda smiles and pulls back a bush revealing a waterfall. The sun beats down on the water making it gorgeous looking; the waterfall is about ten feet tall; the water falls down into a small pool. Flowers, berries, and mushrooms all natural foods surround the waterfall making it more beautiful then imagine.

“That is what I heard,” Lucinda points at the waterfall. “Isn’t it beautiful?”

“First one in is a rotten egg,” Damien shouts running past us. Before I can say anything else Lucinda runs after Damien and jumps into the pool of water. I unstrap my sword and run after them, I throw my sword close to the edge and jump into the water after them.

The water rejuvenates my skin as I sink to the bottom of the pool. My feet touch the water floor; I sink my feet into the rocky bottom and push up, my body soars through the water breaking the surface. I swim over to the edge of the pool and pull myself up; Damien and Lucinda continue to play in the water. Avari walks up to me and licks my face, she then walks over and takes a drink from the pool. I lie on my back and soak in the sunshine. Lucinda appears next to me and lies down on her side.

“What are you thinking about?” she asks.

“Nothing just enjoying the sun,” I say. For once nothing is on my mind. Lucinda raises an eyebrow at me as if question my answer.

“Isn’t this place beautiful?” she asks.

“Not so quite,” I laugh.

“What do you mean?” she asks me again.

“Well, you’re more beautiful then this place, is what I mean.” I say while looking always from her. My face turns red with the statement I just said.

“You’re very sweet, Chase,” she says. I feel her hand touch my chin as she turns it towards her. “If only we weren’t in this mess.”

“I know how you feel,” I reply.

“Give it a rest you two lovebirds, you’re making me sick,” Damien laughs as he joins us.

“Oh shut up, Damien. Why don’t you go make yourself useful,” I state.

“And how can I do that?” He asks.

“Well, why not go pick some food for us, or better yet, go find us some meat,” I explain.

“Ah, I get it. You two want to be alone,” he laughs.

“No, we have no more food and frankly, I’m getting hungry I don’t know about you guys, but I could use something to eat.” I explain.

“Okay, I get it. I’ll go looking for meat. Lucinda why don’t you start a fire for me.”

“Fine,” Lucinda sighs. She gets up from her spot and heads over into the forest to gather wood.

Damien looks at me then wonders off with his bow and arrow to find us some food. I let out a puff of air then decide to go pick some berries and other vegetation. Back at home we use to eat mushrooms and berries all the time; we couldn’t afford meat after father past. I miss home, as much as I hate mother I do miss having a family, mother, father, Lil everything used to be great but then it all came crashing down when the King raided our village and killed father. I will get my revenge mark my word I will.

I pick berries around the waterfall along with wild mushrooms, and a few unknown plants that are edible, I think. I take them back to where Lucinda sets up a fire. She tries to start the fire but fails a few times. I snicker at her failing attempts until she finally gets the fire going.

“Don’t laugh, I was finally able to start the fire,” she says.

“Yes you did,” I say with a smile on my face.

“What do you have here? Did you gather some berries?” she asks.

“Yeah, they are delicious by the way if you would like some,” I state.

Lucinda grabs a handful of berries and throws them into her mouth. I reach over and grab a mushroom and pop it into my mouth. Damien comes trudging into the camp with a few fish on his bow and holding a squirrel in one hand. He wears a proud smile on his face like we would reward him for his efforts. He throws the squirrel next to me and sticks the fish in the fire to cook them. I reach for the squirrel and begin to cut the insides out and cut the meat out. I place the meat on a leaf, and pass it around.

“What you’re not going to cook it?” Damien asks.

“It takes better cold then it does warm, trust me. Back at home I use to live off squirrel, any other type of meat was a luxury that we could not afford.” I explain. Damien takes the leaf and pops a piece of squirrel into his mouth.

“Bleh! That is gross, it needs to be warmed up,” Damien says as he scrapes the meat out of his mouth and into the fire.

“What never ate cold squirrel before? Chase is right, cooked squirrel is chewy and does not settle well with the stomach,” Lucinda explains.

“I’ve eaten it before, always cooked though,” he states.

“And let me guess, you always got sick right? Throwing up, diarrhea, the shakes and a fever correct?” Lucinda questions.

“Perhaps,” Damien admits.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. Now shut up and either eat the squirrel or eat some mushroom and berries, Chase picked,” Lucinda clarifies. Damien says nothing else and grabs a mushroom and chews on it. I finish up the squirrel and fall back onto my back staring up at the sun as my eyes begin to drift up.

“I’m sleepy now,” Lucinda yawns.

“Me too,” Damien yawns to,

“Same, I think its nap time. Avari,” I whisper as my eyes close.

The moon swims around me, the stars face’s glisten in the moonlight; they sing in the sky as if they are singing to one another. I cannot stop laughing or smiling as I gaze into the sky. Lucinda swings upside down in a tree while juggling squirrels. Damien sits by the pool singing with the frogs conducting their entrances. The world around spins as if I’m a puppet it is controlling. Erna catches fireflies with her paws, trying to scope them into her mouth.

“Hi, Chase, I miss you,” Lil’s voice projects from thin air. I turn my head to see Avari sitting next to me.

“Oh, Avari. It sounded as if you were talking to me,” I laugh.

“But I was, Chase,” Avari’s mouth moves with Lil’s voice.

“Cut it out, wolves can’t talk,” I say.

“Chase, my soul is trapped inside this wolves body. I’m truly Lil,” Avari says.

“This just a dream, a dream this isn’t real,” I mumble.

“It is real. You ate wild mushrooms remember that, wild mushroom makes you hallucinate. It’s allowing you to see what your mind rejects to see,” Avari explains.

“No, this isn’t real! Your just a wolf, you can’t talk. This is just a very bazar dream,” I state as I shrug off the idea.

“How can I get you to believe me, Chase?” Avari asks. I ignore her last comment and get up from the ground. Lucinda is no longer swinging on the tree, but sitting on her head.

“Whoa! How are you doing that?” I ask as I scurry over to where Lucinda stands.

“Why are you green, Chase?” Lucinda asks. I look at my hands to see that they are indeed green.

“No clue,” I laugh, “Why are you purple, and why is Damien blue.” Damien grabs a frog that he was conducting and sticks it in his mouth.

“Mm, nothing like pickled frog,” Damien mumbles with the frog in his mouth. Lucinda begins to spin on her head. I stumble over to the pool and begin to scrub it on my arms hoping to get off the green of my hands.

“It’s not going to come off, Chase. Remember this is a hallucination, everything you see isn’t real,” Avari states coming to sit by me.

“Whoa, she can talk?” Damien asks.

“Don’t act surprised, Damien. You already knew the answer to that, and keeping it from him was a smart move of you. But mark my word, when he wins this tournament you will regret not telling him,” Avari says showing her teeth at Damien.

“Chase, you have to snap out of this. You have to go back to reality; you are running out of time, Chase. You only have a few hours left before the King sends his wizards to kill the last competitor. There is a risk that it maybe you, do you want to risk your own life because you’re high on mushrooms right now. Do this for me, do this for your sister, Chase. I love you and miss you and one day we will be together again, but today just isn’t that day!” Avari says.

“Avari, why is your face so big?” I laugh.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, you’ve really lost it haven’t you?” Avari asks.

“You’re funny!” I giggle.

“Oh, Chase! Why don’t you come over here and dance with me,” Lucinda shouts.

“Lucinda, snap out of this. You’re strong, I’ve seen the way you fight for survival and if you don’t break out of this hallucination you will lose. Fight, you may not win the tournament but give it a fighting chance; and right now you are losing that time. You only have an hour left until the King makes the decision of who lives and who dies,” Avari explains. Lucinda looks Avari in the eyes.

“You’re a beautiful wolf, have I ever told you that?” Lucinda asks Avari.

“All of you are crazy! You are going to die! Why won’t anyone listen to me?” Avari barks out.

I collapse onto the ground and stare back up to the sky. The moon touches down next to me then floats back up the sky. The stars swirl around me over and over again, making me feel sleepy. I close my eyes for a second letting sleep welcome me; I hear Damien and Lucinda as they enjoy their fun. I force my eyes open and look at Damien who has Lucinda in hand and twirls her around. I smile as they enjoy their time and I enjoy my sleep, but before I could drift off to sleep I hear a blood curdle scream that makes my bones shiver.

Everyone begins to fade around me; the mushrooms have finally begun to were off. I jump from my position to remember the blood curdle scream that woke up me, I look around to see where it came from, and in that instant everything stops. Damien sits by the water a few feet away from me, then there is Lucinda with an knife in her back. She stumbles a few steps forward and falls to the ground; blood seeps from her mouth and a knife falls to the ground as she pulls it from her side. I run over to her and cradle her in my arms; Damien gets up from his spot and rushes over.

“Lucinda, are you okay?” I ask with tears running down my face.

“I’m sorry, how did this happen,” Damien asks.

“Chase,” she whispers.

“Don’t’ die, please don’t die,” I cry. Lucinda begins to mumble nonsense making it difficult to understand her.

“I’m sorry, Chase. I tried,” she mumbles.

“Its not your fault. I’m sorry, I truly am!” I say. Tears continue to roll down my face as I hold Lucinda in my arms. She begins to get cold as her body slowly dies. I wipe the blood off her face and smooth her hair.

“Win for me, Chase. Win,” she says. Her head turns away and her breathing stops. I look over at her tiger who lies by the tree, disappear in front of my eyes.

“NO!” I yell. I press her body into my chest cradling her. I don’t want to let her go but I know that I have to, she wouldn’t want me mourning her lose until the end. I kiss her forehead then place her body to the ground. I run my hand over her face and close her eyelids.

“I’m so sorry, Chase! I was going to keep my promise. But you have to admit; it was perfect timing, its night now and daylight is coming. Time was running out, we were never going to find that last person. She had to go, but I didn’t mean to kill her on purpose,” Damien states.

“You killed her!” I say sternly. I walk towards Damien never taking my eyes off him, Avari follows behind me, she shows her teeth and growls at him.

“Your going to have to get over it, she’s dead and you’re still alive,” Damien points out. I bite down on my cheek making it bleed as I determine what to do. “The portal will open soon, Chase. We are the final the final three, you better think about what you are going to do before you regret it.”

I walk slowly over to where Damien stands, in hope that I can attempt to kill him before the portal indeed opens. Damien takes a step back as I take a step forward, its almost as if we are dancing. I want to grab my sword but its slow and I won’t be able to attack him with his agility, but what other weapons do I have. I gave Lucinda my knife and I have no idea where that is, Avari will be able to help me but that can only go so far—ill use my bare hands, he won’t see that coming.

“Okay, I believe you. Lets shake,” I lie as I extend my right hand, I push a smile through hoping he’ll believe me.

“No funny tricks?” He asks.

“No funny tricks. Just want to wish you the best of luck when it comes to the final three,” I lie again. Damien walks over to me and extends his right hand also. I grab his hand and pull him a little closer. I take in a deep breath and with one swift movement I hook my left elbow around his neck and tighten my arm around it trying to cut off his air supply. Damien thrashes his body around swinging his arms around trying to hit me. I take my right wrist and punch it into Damien’s stomach.

“Let . . . Go,” Damien says gasping for air. He swings his arm around and hits me in the stomach. I stumble backwards as he makes contact with my body but I don’t let go of my grip. Damien swings his arm again but this time it collides with my head, I let go of his head—just enough time for him to turn and pull a knife out. I charge at him and kick his hand to knock the knife out of his hand. A black veil opens up behind us, the portal connecting us to the kingdom has opened, and it is time to enter. I charge at Damien again I sweep my leg underneath his leg sending him on his back. I pounce on top of him and begin to strangle him with my bare hands. Damien kicks me in the stomach and sends me stumbling a few steps. He turns to run into the portal but I jump on top of him preventing him from entering.

“Avari, help me!” I shout. Avari runs over to assists me; she grabs a hold of Damien’s leg and pulls him away from the portal.

“No! You are not going to win, give up now, Chase!” Damien shouts as he pleads for his life. “Fine, you left me no chose, Chase.”

Damien moves his hand into his pants pocket and pulls out a knife. Not just any knife—my knife. He shifts his hand and drives the knife into my leg. I yell and roll off him and cradle my leg, the pain is unbearable but not like the pain inside my chest. I take a deep breath and try to pull the knife out, but it won’t budge, its to deep in me. Damien rolls over and begins to hop to the portal. Avari is still biting his leg and won’t let go unless I command her. I push my way up from the ground and charge after Damien, he is almost to the portal but that’s not going to stop me for trying to beat him there. With one leap on my good leg I spring on top of Damien. Our bodies tumble, Avari yelps, Damien shouts and I bite down on my tongue trying to hold the pain inside me. We continue to tumble and roll until we fall into the portal, we don’t stop fighting each other until we hear a roaring crowd screaming and a bright light surfaces around us.

Chapter Text

Chapter Fifteen: MEMORIES

The light begins to fade around us and a crowd appears. Damien and I lie on the ground wrestling each other not paying attention to our surrounds. In front of us stands a man with a crown on his head and a smile on his face—the King. Around the King are a few of his guards one of which I recognize, Mitt. I jump on top of Damien and begin to strangle him with my bare hands again, but instead of putting up a fight he smiles at me.

“I trusted you!” I yell as I cut off his air supply. I feel someone grab my arm and pull me off Damien. “Let me go I have to kill him!”

“Calm down, Chase. You will have your time in stage two,” a voice whispers into my ear.

“SILENCE!” The King commands out. The crowd silences and listens to the King as he approaches Damien and I. Damien pushes up from the ground and dusts himself up. Avari walks over and sits next to my feet as we wait for further explanation of what will happen. The King scratches his face and smiles at us; he paces around us and sizes us. “Well this is very interesting group of competitors we have here. We have the cunning, the brave and the wise, each of you have a different element that the other may have but has not found that what t truly means yet, this last stage you will learn what it takes to become a real killer or you may just perish trying to find that out. For now it is time for you to go back to your rooms, you will stay here for a few days, get rested, medical care and food, but that is it. You can wonder the grounds IF you have your guard with you at all times. I will not permit fighting between the competitors save it for the last stage, you will have plenty of time to kill each other then but not just enjoy the time you have,” The King explains to us.

I take a look to see who the other competitor is. A man stands next to Damien, no older than twenty-five, he has short brown hair, brown eyes and a long gash across his face that stretches from his eye to his chin. A beautiful hawk lands on his right shoulder and he begins to stroke it, it must be his companion. I’m surprised it’s still alive, it seems like not many people had their companions left, but then again, Alastar, Boris, Lucinda and I had our companions, Damien did have his until Volamirror killed it. I’m glad I have Avari left, I don’t know what I would do if she was killed. I push my body away from Mitt and sit down next to Avari and begin to pet her, she licks my face and places her front legs on my lap and continue to lick my face.

“Give around of applause for our survivors, and lets wish them luck and let them get on their way to their chambers. You will need to rest, I will see you at dinner tonight and remember, there will be no fighting permitted between you guys,” The King says as he begins to walk away.

“Um, your highness,” a guard whispers as he steps out of line.

“Yes, what is Vermoth?” The King asks.

“Um, since there is three competitors, rather then our usual two. And these two still have their companions, do you still want us to execute them to make it fair?” Vermoth asks.

My eyes widen at the word execute, I remember Lucinda telling me that the King kills the companions to make the fight fair, but it never really dawned on me that they might actually kill them, they can’t, she’s mine and I won’t allow them to lay a hand on her. The King turns around and looks at Avari and me, then the man and his hawk then at Damien who is companionless; he frowns his face then lets out a sigh.

“Yes, it is unfair if they get to keep their companions, execute them here and let them watch. It will fuel their fire and save it for the final stage,” The King says. He looks at me and smiles, “Let the wolf go first, maybe it will show, Chase, here some obedience and forgiveness.”

My heart stops as I listen to every word he has to say, how can he kill my wolf, I never did anything too—wait. I remember I almost killed him when I found out that he had killed my father, I wanted to take my revenge out on him but his wizards stopped me. I grab onto Avari as the guards begin to approach me, tears full my eyes and begin to roll down my face.

“You can’t kill her, please!” I cry as the guard tries to tear Avari from my hands. I love her, even though she is the same creature that had killed my sister, she reminds me of her in away. I was the first one to hold her, she is everything to me I can’t just let them take her, she was a miracle from a hopeless situation I never thought I could grow so attached to a wolf but she is everything to me and I won’t let them take her away from me.

I stare the man in the eyes as he tries to pry Avari from my grip, my eyes harden with hatred and fear, no one will ever take her, I’d rather die then let her go. I grab the guard’s neck with my free hand and begin to strangle him, as soon as he lets go of Avari I push him back and grab my sword and point it at him.

“If you kill her, you will have to kill me!” I say very sternly never taking my eye of the guard. Tears continue to roll down my face as I defend my only friend left in this world. The King has taken everything away from me and I won’t let him take this very last thing that brings me hope, if he does I will win and come back and kill him before he ruins someone else’s life.

“Don’t do this, Chase,” a voice breaks the silence. “Just let her go, your sister wouldn’t have wanted you to die this way. Honor her death; remember all the good times with your companion and not the bad. I don’t want to see you die this way. One day everything will be all right but right now you will go through struggles but eventually everything will even out. Let her go, Chase.”

I drop my sword and collapse to the ground as I begin to cry. Avari walks over to me and begins to lick my face. She whines as she snuggles up to me. I feel like I’ve failed her, but I have to let her go, I will never have another companion like her, I wish Damien had his mountain lion, if he did then maybe we would have a chance to live happily ever after rather then witness her own execution. I give her a hug goodbye and close my eyes.

“I love you,” is all I manage to say. I have no idea what else to say to her, she is my best friend and no one will ever be able to replace that and I don’t want anyone too. The guard walks over and grabs Avari by the neck and begins to pull her away from me.

“AVARI!” I shout as I try to run over to her, but someone grabs me by the waist and begins to drag me away from her. “No, let me go!”

“It’s best if you don’t watch, Chase. Remember how she was before they execute her,” a familiar voice says. I look behind me to see Avari tied up and awaiting her death. The executioner walks over to her body and aligns their sword with her neck. She lifts her head and stares me into the eyes; her green eyes burn into my soul making me feel guiltier. My eyes burn with tears as I watch her death, she tilts her head back and releases one last howl, it crescendos up the musical scale, she holds the highest note for a few seconds then lets it decrescendo back to a whimper. The executioner brings his sword up into the air then with one quick motion brings the sword down and slices her head. I let the tears roll down my face; I wipe away the tears then let my body collapse to the ground. I look around at the crowd to see children’s faces buried in their mother’s stomach, women crying and men with sadden faces. The world around begins to spin as I take in what just happened, I look up at the face who tried to help me to see that it was a friendly familiar face, I try to get myself up but my body collapses to the ground—everything goes black.

“Have you seen my egg?” I question him. Burke smiles and points to a fur ball creature lying in a bed made up of blankets. “When did you get a dog?” I quietly ask not wanting to wake the black creature.

“It’s not mine, it’s your companion” he smiles at me. I smile and bend down petting the fur ball. It lefts it’s head up at me, its bright yellow eyes . . . except they’re not yellow but an unusual green that stare right into me. Green eyes that remind me of Lil’s.

“It’s a wolf,” I whisper, taking a few steps back. Was this some kind of joke, Burke must be pulling a joke. This cannot possible be real.

“This is no accident that a wolf killed your sister, and you received a wolf for a companion. Give the pup a chance you may be surprised.” Burke smiles at me and picks the wolf pup up. He opens its mouth shows its pearly white teeth, then lefts up the pup’s leg. “It’s a girl” Burke laughs, the pup winces her eyes, a drizzling sound echoes through the kitchen. “What the hell, she peed on me” Burke yells out than sets the pup down, she rushes over to me and curls behind my legs quivering. I bend down and look at her; her ears pulled back, her eyes big and watery. I stroke her head and whisper “it will be alright” she licks my face and begins to whine.

The wolf pup is just sitting there, staring at me.

“I guess I should come up with a name for you.” I begin to question names Artemis, Ebony, Hina, Layla, Than, Aiyana or Avari These all seem to be good names for her, but what would be the best that suits her. She still continues to sit there, nameless, motionless as if waiting for a name herself. I take a seat at the kitchen table, I wave my hand at her. She slowly walks over, one paw in front of the other elegantly, her tail sweeping the floor when she sits down, she places her head on my knee looking up at me.

“Avari” I whisper. She looks at me then drags her ears and head back releasing a squeaky howl that crescendos up the musically scale holding her highest note for a few seconds, than decrescendos down to a faint whimper. “I take it you like the name?” Without a hesitation she jumps up and licks my face giving me a sure answer.

“I guess it fits, you are after all a gift from the heavens, despite a blasted curse.”

I stop at the end of the woods, peering at the wolves drinking the water. Avari hides in the shadows off the other edge of the woods, her green eyes illuminate in the veil of darkness. I pull my bow out from my arm, grabbing an arrow sliding it between the string and the wood. Two wolves lay in the snow, the Alpha wolf perched on a rock, eating a stray deer it had captured earlier that day, one wolf drinking from the lake. I aim my arrow at the wolf lying on the ground; I pull the arrow back releasing it from my grasp. The arrow flutters like a bird through the air directly into the skull of a wolf. The pack member’s heads spring up, searching for where the arrow came from. I slither back into the veil of darkness; my bow snags on a tree. The eyes of the wolves lock on to me, as I fight to free my bow.

The wolves explode from the ground launching like rockets in my direction, first the hunter now the hunted. I tug my bow from the tree freeing it from its grip. I grab an arrow sliding it into the bow releasing at one of the wolves, as the arrow soars through the air Avari dives from the bushes, holding her position between me and the wolves. The arrow pierces a wolf in the eye blood oozing out of the eye; the wolf plummets to the ground with a low whimper staining the snow red with blood. Only 3 wolves remain, as they grew closer, only a few feet away from where I stand. Panic strikes my face, I reach to grab another arrow, but the wolves are too close to penetrate with one. I strap my bow on my back and run into the woods, searching for a tree to climb. I peer over my shoulder as I see the wolves on my heel, Avari has taken down one of the wolves, the Alpha wolf grows closer. I spot a tree straight ahead of me, I sprint to the tree leaping from the ground grabbing a hold of a branch, just when the Alpha wolf leaps up from the ground sinking its teeth into my left leg. He tries to pull me off the branch but my grip is too tight, I kick the wolf with my foot, just as he lets go I swing my legs on to the branch, climbing to a higher branch. I peer around for Avari, but she is nowhere to be found.

“Avari!” I yell, quietly listening for any sign of life. I walk quietly through the woods, my feet compressing the soil into the earth. “Avari” I whisper as I push through twigs and leaves. I continue stumbling my way through the woods towards the lake. I pause for a second, listen to the low breeze that wisps by my ear, confined inside the breeze is a muffled whine that guides me towards the lake. I pick my pace from a sluggish walk to a brisk run, jumping fallen trees running through bushes until the lake comes into sight. I emerge from the brushes into the opening where the lake rests. A black body lies just on the edge of the lake, I am not sure if it is Avari’s body or the wolf that she had taken down. I approach the body slowly, blood seeps out of the body and soaks into the snow. I steady my breath, hoping it is not Avari’s body.

I drop to my knees when I reach the dead body of the wolf. I close my eyes and hope it is not her, without her I will not be able to complete the battle. There is a reason the King gives each contestant a companion, it will be a grueling journey and will be difficult to do without one. I rest my hand on the dead wolfs body, readying myself for it to be Avari’s body. My head begins to spin around, my leg still pulsing after the bite I inflicted from the wolf. The trees around me begin to spin, the world I knew it was slowly begin to slip away from me, I was losing to much blood and quick to. Before I pass out I have to discover to see if this wolf was indeed my wolf or not.

I counted to three, and turned over the wolf to face me. I lost my breath for a second, but regained it when I saw that it was not Avari. But if it wasn’t her, then where did she run off too. I pushed away from the wolf, forcing my legs to a stand, but my left leg gave away and I tumbled into the snow. Everything began to go hazy, I was slowly losing grip on reality, I knew this was the end. No one knew where I was and my wolf was nowhere to be found I sight, I was going to die for taking revenge on the wolves that had destroyed my life. Darkness began to swell around me, then everything just went out like a light bulb.

“Go find food and bring it back here” I whisper to her, before I could say another word she takes off into the trees disappearing from my eyesight. I hope she’ll be okay. I push my thoughts to the side and decide it is best to make a fire before the light vanishes for the night. I search around the area hiding behind trees and bushes hoping that I do not get spotted. I find two stones that are perfect to try and start a spark; I stuff them in my pocket and grab a handful of leaves stuffing it next to the rocks. On the way back to cave I harvest a load of sticks and carry them to the cave. I squeeze my way through the brush that conceals the cave. I throw pile the sticks in a corner, then I pull out the stones and leaves I collected. I build a nice fire, just waiting to start it whenever Avari will return with food, if she caught anything, or if she is still alive.

Of course she’s alive; she can outrun any human and predator that crosses her path. She will return with food for her and I to eat, she has to. I can’t think negative, she is a wolf of course she’ll return she has survival instincts like any other wolf. She saved my life, she knew I was injured and went and fetched Burke, she’ll be able to find me with her nose. But, if she can find me, then if anyone else has a pet they can smell my scent and come across it as an unknown scent, what if they decide to hunt me down. Okay, I need to calm down and start thinking logically and take one step at a time. If she does not return anytime soon I will go out and find her, I need her.

“You should have killed me.” She yells. Before I can command Avari to attack; she leaps from her position and charges at the girl.

I reach for my bow; realizing all I brought is my sword. I grab the hilt of the sword pulling it from its sheath. I sprint towards the girl, she has already reloaded another arrow aiming it at me—but it misses me by a mile. Avari reaches her before me her teeth exposed and a fierce growl rippling through the air.

She latches on to the girls left leg thrashing her like a dead prey. The girl lets out a scream and starts to hit Avari with her bow—she falls to the ground, screaming at Avari as she tries to rip off her left, I run up to the girl and see blood everywhere. Avari keeps thrashing the girl’s body around like a rag doll, her teeth gnawing deeper into the girl’s leg.

Storm clouds stretch across the night sky, lightning ripples through sky lightning around the dark forest around us—thunder shakes the ground making my heart stop for a second. Another strike of lightning lights up the night sky, which sends Avari into a hissy fit., she begins to run in a circle howling.

“Avari, calm down,” I say in a calm voice, but I was drowned out by the thunder. Before I can say another word, she takes off into the forest the lightning lights up for me to see which direction she took off in. Before I knew what I was doing I was chasing after her. The rain began to pour down making it difficult to see where I am going.

“Chase, forget about her! She’s going to get you killed!” Damien yells out after me, but it doesn’t stop me from chasing after my wolf.

I run in the direction where I saw her run, I can still hear Damien behind me—leaving him I know is a bad idea, but I have to save my wolf from getting hurt. My feet run faster then they have ever gone, they pound against the wet snow making it difficult to keep the stead pace I am going at.

I can feel the bear on top of me ready to sink its teeth into me, ready for it to take away my pain and suffering. I keep my eyes tight shut as I wait.

“Chase, look!” Damien whispers. I open my eyes and lift my head. Damien smiles as he looks past me and into the bushes. I spin my head around to see green eyes illuminating through the dark brush. Avari. She steps through the bushes letting the sunlight shine down on her midnight black coat. She walks slowly towards Volamirror teeth showing and growling, she circles around him not taking her eyes off him, Volamirror steps to the side and swipes a paw at Avari, instead of retreating him the mighty swipe she charges at him and jumps into the air and onto Volamirror’s back. Her teeth sink into his neck making him growl as he thrashes his body back and forth trying to get her off his back. He swings his paw up behind him trying to knock her off him, but her body sinks into his as if they’re one.
I drag my body over to where my sword lies and stretch out of hand trying to reach it. My fingers graze across the hilt of the sword, with one last effort my fingers extend a little more letting me get enough grip to grab the sword into my hand. I use the sword as a cane to help me balance on my feet. I limp my way over to Volamirror who runs backwards into a tree knocking Avari off his back and laying on the floor. Volamirror turns his body around and hunches over Avari, his mouth wide open, and Avari not moving. I swing my sword up into a fighting position and charge at Volamirror with the element of surprise. My body aches, I want to give up but I can’t let Avari die, she came back to help me and I will help her life. When I get close I jump into the air, I float for what feels like hours but what I know is only minutes, I aim the sword down and plunge it into the bears back. Volamirror roars as I land on top of him, I pull the sword out and sink it into another spot on the bears back, I twist it trying to inflict as much damage as I can. I pull out one more time and thrust the sword into the bear one more time before his body goes limp underneath me. I pull my sword from the bear and stumble off it over to where Avari lies.

“You, you, you’re going to die!” Alastar says as he pushes up from the ground and grabs a weapon for the tent. “I should have killed you rather than my animal who appears to be worthless.”

I pet Avari before I push up and head towards Alastar. His eyes are filled hatred and fear. We circle around each other taking in each other’s actions, we don’t want to do another spar like we had done earlier.

“Avari, why is your face so big?” I laugh.

“You’ve got to be kidding me, you’ve really lost it haven’t you?” Avari asks.

“You’re funny!” I giggle.

“Oh, Chase! Why don’t you come over here and dance with me,” Lucinda shouts.

“Lucinda, snap out of this. You’re strong, I’ve seen the way you fight for survival and if you don’t break out of this hallucination you will lose. Fight, you may not win the tournament but give it a fighting chance; and right now you are losing that time. You only have an hour left until the King makes the decision of who lives and who dies,” Avari explains. Lucinda looks Avari in the eyes.

“You’re a beautiful wolf, have I ever told you that?” Lucinda asks Avari.

“All of you are crazy! You are going to die! Why won’t anyone listen to me?” Avari barks out.

I look behind me to see Avari tied up and awaiting her death. The executioner walks over to her body and aligns their sword with her neck. She lifts her head and stares me into the eyes; her green eyes burn into my soul making me feel guiltier. My eyes burn with tears as I watch her death, she tilts her head back and released one last howl, it crescendos up the musical scale, she holds the highest note for a few seconds then lets it decrescendo back to a whimper. The executioner brings his sword up into the air then with one quick motion brings the sword down and slices her head. I let the tears roll down my face; I wipe away the tears then let my body collapse to the ground.

All of Avari’s memories play back in my mind, it doesn’t feel like she’s gone, but I know she is. I’ve always worried about her, I never knew where she went when we ran off or how she was able to survive. She was a strong wolf who was amazingly smart; she knew how to take care of herself and me, but I was never really able to take care of her. When I was bleeding to death after killing the wolves, she went off to find Burke and saved my life. When the girl with brilliant blue eyes tried to kill me, she attacked her and weakened her; I just delivered the final blow. When Volamirror tried to kill me, she appeared and was able to help me defeat him, she’s the real hero here not me, I should have been the one to die not her.

“Chase, wake up,” a voice whispers. I open my eyes to see I’m in a room similar to the first room I was in when I came to the Kingdom. Burke sits on my bed staring at me; he looks older then when I left him, his eyes give it away. I push myself up on the bed and look around the room to see if it was just a dream, hoping that Avari would still be alive, but she is no where it be found. Tears fill my eyes as I stare at an empty room that will never fill my heart with hope and happiness.

“Avari,” I whisper as I begin to cry reliving the last moment I had with her.

“She’s gone, Chase. I’m sorry but it’s best if you move on from her death and get your head back in the game for the last round,” Burke says. I lean forward and punch him in the face then curl into a ball.

“You don’t understand!” I shout, “She was my best friend, you out of all people should understand.”

“Yes, I understand what you are going through, but I also know what it takes to win,” he explains to me.

“No, you didn’t have the King take away your family like he did mine,” I sob.

“What do you mean?” he asks.

“The King, he was the one who killed my father, he shot in arrow into his side. I watched my father die that night; if my father hadn’t died then I wouldn’t have entered the tournament to earn money for my sister. My sister wouldn’t have died from the wolves because father would have been there, don’t you see Burke—the King killed my family. Then he gives me a companion and kills her off to, what will he do next kill me? I’m as good as dead,” I explain to him.

“I understand where you are coming from, Chase. The reason why he kills the other competitors companion is to weaken them, some don’t need theirs, while others rely on them to win and you relied on Avari, now its far game and it will show if you are worthy enough to win,” Burke explains

“Burke, why aren’t you a guard for the King? A girl,” I say but stop choking on her name, “Lucinda explained the history of the tournament to me and told me that all winners become a guard for the King, but you didn’t why not?”

“I had a family, Chase. I couldn’t waste my life becoming a guard for the King. He understood and let me leave,” he says.

“You don’t have a wife though, what happened to her?” I ask. Burke turns away from me.

“She died giving birth to our child,” he states.

“Your not from Myth are you? You had a phoenix, not a wolf you’re from a different village aren’t you?” I ask.

“You’re sure asking a lot of questions,” he laughs, “but yes, I’m not from Myth. Once Melina died I left to start a new life and maybe one day a new family. I loved her dearly I was not able to start a new life because she was my one true love, I will never love anyone again.”

“I miss her,” I state.

“You’ll get over her soon enough, but for now focus on winning, that is what counts the most,” he says.

“I can’t win, Burke. Damien is just to good, he’s won this tournament a few times before, I don’t think I can beat him,” I say.

“If you continue to think like that, then you won’t win! Keep that in mind, I have to go,” he says walking towards the door.

“Why did you come?” I ask.

“I came to see if you were alive, and you are. Now win for Lil and your father, make them proud, Chase. I believe in you, the whole town does,” he says with a smile on his face. I close my eyes for a second and when I open them he’s gone.

I roll over on my back and stare up at the celling, thinking about Avari. Life just isn’t going to be the same without her, how can I win this last stage without her. I barely survived with her, now its going to be more difficult knowing that she won’t be there to save me when I need her the most. I try to withhold the tears, but they’re impossible to hold back, I roll my face into the pillow hoping to mute the crying. I try to listen to what Burke has to say, but the pain is just unbearable. I close my eyes hoping the pain will soon go away, but I know that I am truly broke, I don’t want to win this tournament, I just want to be with my father, Lil and Avari. But I know they would want me to try and win, and not even give up, but giving up is the easiest thing to do.

Chapter Text

Chapter Sixteen: DINNER AND A SHOW

The sun leaks in through the cracks of the curtains. Sweat trickles down my forehead and drips onto my chest. I pull back my sheets and sprawl on top of the covers; the heat is beginning to drain me. I stare into space when I hear a knock on the door; I slide off the bed and head to the door and open it slightly. A man stands at the door a familiar man that I’ve met before—Mitt.

“Good morning, Chase. May I come in?” he asks. I nod and pull the door open and walk back to my bed and lie back down. “The King has advised me that dinner will be in thirty minutes and that you have to attend.”

“Tell the King, that I decline his invitation and that I will stay here until the second round begins,” I inform Mitt.

“It wasn’t an invitation, but a command. I will be back in twenty-five minutes, and if you are not ready I will drag you to the dining hall. Please, Chase, don’t make me do that, be ready in twenty-five minutes,” Mitt says backing out of the room. “Oh, and here are some clean fresh clothes, your other ones are dirty and need to be tossed. You will receive new fighting clothes before you begin the final round.”

Mitt places the clean clothes on the dresser then walks out of the room and closes the door behind him. I fall back onto my bed and try to fall back asleep, but Mitt’s words repeat in my head. I pull off my shirt and toss it on the floor; my skin is covered in mud, blood and scars. I walk over to the dresser and pour some water into a bowl and begin to clean my body, on my side is a scar from where Alastar’s arrow penetrated me. The blood is difficult to get off; as I scrub to get it off I begin to wonder as to whose blood it may belong to. There are a number of people the blood may belong to; most likely each splatter belongs to each of their deaths. I scrub harder wanting the blood to get off me quicker, I don’t want their deaths on me no more. I continue to scrub till my skin turns pink and is raw; I throw the washrag back into the bowl and walk over to the mirror. My bodies slimmed down quite a bit; you can now see my ribs. My blonde hair now begins to fall into my face; my eyes are filled with stories in which no one would want to hear.

I close my eyes and begin to breath, my hands ball into a fist I bring them up and slam them into the mirror, shattering it in hundreds of pieces. I open my eyes and no longer see myself; I walk on top of the glass and grab the clothes Mitt left me. The clothes that were given to me where a gray muscle shirt and blue jeans, which surprises me, I thought the King would have given me something silk or fancy. I slide the shirt over my body, its nice and warm as it clings to my skin, I take off my pants and throw them on top of the dirty shirt, and I slide them on and fall back onto my bed. I close my eyes for a second and drift into a sleep.

The portal opens in front of me, I take a step through expecting to see a different environment in front of me, but instead round two still is in a forest. I look around and see Damien to my right and the other competitor to my left. Damien raises the bow and slides an arrow through it. I take off running before the arrow can pierce me; I hear a cry as I continue running. Damien must have struck the other guy with the arrow. I trip over a tree and fall to the ground, my face falls into a pile of mud blurring my vision. I roll over to my back and begin to scrap off the mud, but my hands are also covered making it impossible to get rid of this mud. I hear footsteps coming close to me, I begin to scramble away but I am just to slow. The footsteps stop right next to my feet.

“Tick, tick. I thought you would be much harder to kill, Chase,” Damien says, I can hear his lips crack into a smile. I rub the mud on my face making it a little easier to see but not much. Damien stands over me a bow in his hand and an arrow ready to strike. I scoot back a little as he puts the arrow between the wood and string.

“Say goodbye, Chase.”

“Chase, are you up and ready,” Mitt says pounding on the door waking me from my dream. I rub my eyes and walk over and open the door. Mitt stands outside with his hands behind his back. “You look terrible kid, what did you do in the last twenty-five minutes?”

“Sorry, I uh, fell back asleep,” I say rubbing the back of my head.

“Its fine, sir. The King is waiting for you, lets get you to the dinning hall,” Mitt explains as he opens the door for me. I walk out of the door and let Mitt show me the way to the dining hall.

“How long will we be in the Kingdom this time, Mitt?” I ask as we take many different turns.

“Not for long only a few days, I think. You can ask the King when you see him right now; he will explain what will happen in the days to come like before. But everything is self explanatory,” Mitt explains as we take another turn. We continue walking in silence until we reach a huge oak door. “I will take your sword. It will be waiting for you in the chamber.”

“Oh,” I say as I unstrap my sword and give it to Mitt. I remember the last time I met with the King, I attacked him because he killed my father. I understand as to why they want to take away my weapon, I’m curious if they took away Damien’s and the other guys weapons or if it’s just mine. Mitt pushes open the door and steps aside for me to enter, I walk past the door to see a small wooden table sits in the middle of the room, there’s only four chairs placed at the same table along with four plates.

“I present Chase Wentworth,” Mitt says bowing then exits the room.

“Please have a seat, Chase,” The King says waving his hand over to an empty seat. Damien sits on the left and the other guys sits on the right side; the King sits at the end of table and I sit across from him, seeing it is the only spot left open. “Sleep well?”

“You can say that,” I say flatly. There has been so much history between us in this short amount of time, but I cannot forgive the man.

“As you may all know, this year I have decided to change the rules a bit. Instead of the final two I have decided to do the final three. This is just to enhance the entertainment and make each person work harder for the winnings; I do not favor anyone so it’s a win or die-trying situation. That is why you two lost your companions, because Damien here did not have one for himself it was only fair,” The King explains.

“How is it fair? There was two of us who had a companion left, couldn’t you have just given him another one,” a voice speaks up. I look over to see the guy whom I have yet to learn his name speak up. He took the words right out of my mouth.

“It is not easy as you make think it is, it was easiest to eliminate your two companions then it was to create another one. The creating process takes months to complete, that is why you do not find out if you have been chosen or not,” The King states.

“You act as if they are not living animals, they are. How can you be so cruel when it comes to an animal? You gave them to us for a reason and just to kill them off like that is just unnatural. Plus it is not are faults that he let his die, we kept ours alive you should have let us keep them, Damien over here does just fine keeping alive without one. I’m sure he didn’t even care about his companion unlike, Chase and I did,” the man speaks again.

“Calm your voice, Ironton. There is nothing you can do about it now, so enjoy your dinner,” The King says.

Ironton falls back into his seat keeping his mouth shut. I play around with my butter-knife as the King leans over and speaks to Damien. All I can think about right now is what Ironton had to say, and he was correct if it was two to three, then wouldn’t the odds be in our favor? But I guess that does not matter, the King probably favors Damien since he has won so many times, just the one thing I do not understand is why he lets him enter still. There is a secret between them and I will find out sooner or later what the secret is.

“My liege, your dinner is served,” a man says bowing his head. A few people walk in behind him holding silver platters and set them on in front of each of us. A servant opens the top a delicious aroma rises up from the plate and seeps into my nose. “Roasted duck, I hope it is to your liking.”

“Thank you, Runlet. You may go back to the kitchen until the next meal is ready,” The King says as he waves his hand at the servant. Runlet walks out backwards bowing his head at the King. Damien and Ironton dig into their roasted duck before I could even grab a fork to eat with.

I grab a fork and begin to take bites out of the duck. I’ve never ate duck before, it was rare to come across this in our little village, deer is considered a luxury even though we are surrounded by woods it is still hard to get it for food, only the rich can truly afford it. The duck is truly amazing; I take slow bites as it melts in my mouth.

“What do you think of the food, Chase?” The King asks.

“Its really good,” is all I say.

“Its amazing,” Damien says in between bites. “So f—King Than, what do you have in store of us in the next upcoming stage?”

“You know I cannot tell you, why must you always ask?” he asks.

“Well one day I hope you will be able to actually tell me for once. But I guess I am wrong, is it going to be like the Rocky Mountains again? I hope so that was a good arena, lots of challenges for people who do not know how to climb,” Damien explains.

“Nope, it is something different. I do not think we have seen this type yet; it will be a challenge to all of you. Especially you Damien,” he says.

“I like a good challenge, there is nothing that I cannot do. I still will be able to beat all you two,” Damien laughs.

“We shall see,” Ironton speaks up from his meal.

“And why is that?” Damien asks.

“I don’t know about Chase, but I am a fantastic fighter, why do you think you could not find me when it came down to the final three. You panicked and took the easy way by killing your friend Lucinda,” Ironton says.

“How do you know about that?” Damien asks.

“Easy, I was near you the entire time. I was in the trees, I could see and hear everything, you guys acted as if you were alone but I was always able to keep you in my sight without being detected,” Ironton says.

“But now? Avari was tracking your scent, if you were near she should have been able to catch on and track you down, either you are telling the truth or lying,” Damien states.

“It’s easy to fool a wolf. You are correct she was tracking my scent and when I realized it, I made sure I was able to cover it. I rolled around in animal feces, which disguised my scent. You see the wolf got confused with different scents and was unable to decipher what was my scent from another animals,” Ironton explains.

“That is pretty genius of you, but that wont keep you alive in this last stage,” Damien explains.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of yourself, you may have won a few times before. But your winning streak is over; it is time for someone to take over the winnings. You might want to say your prayers because I will be winning this tournament for my family,” Ironton says. He grabs his fork and stabs it into the table. “I need this money more then you do.”

“You are correct, I do not need the money, but I cherish my title,” Damien states.

“ENOUGH!” The King shouts. “Leave it to the arena. You will be able to duke it out there.”

“Come on, its just a little rivalry its health its not like I’m going to jab this knife into his throat,” Damien laughs.

“I don’t care, this is supposed to be the time to relax and rejuvenate. I do not see you two relaxing now look at Chase over here. He’s not getting into any arguments he is minding his own business,” The King says.

“Huh?” I mutter. I haven’t been paying attention to anything they have to say. The King scratches his face and smiles at me like I just proved something to him.

“My point exactly,” he laughs.

“I’m sorry, did I miss something I was lost in my thoughts,” I say. I look around more confused then I was a second again. Damien leans back in his chair with a huge grin on his face.

“King Than was just telling Ironton and me to stop fighting about who is going to win in the tournament. Oh yeah, he also explained as to how he was following us,” he laughs.

“Wait, you were following us? How come Avari could not track down your scent then?” I ask.

“Man you really weren’t paying attention were you?” Damien asks.

“I covered myself in animals feces it covered my scent,” Ironton explains.

I look around the room hoping to get more answers to my unasked questions, but no one answers them. I don’t want to be asking these questions because I know everyone will give me the same pathetic look as they just did. I need to get out of my own thoughts and start paying attention to what is going on around me. If I listen or watch them I will be able gather some details that will help me win.

The room begins to spin around me; my head aches almost as if someone is slamming it into the ground. My stomach growls as if there is a creature inside trying to fight its way out; I grab onto my stomach trying to stop the creature from breaking through. Something doesn’t feel right, beads of sweat drop of forehead onto my plate. No one notices what is happening to me. I place my hand on my head and rock back and forth.

“May I be excused? I do not feel so well and would like to go back to my chambers,” I ask as I look at the King. The King looks at me as if he sees nothing wrong with me.

“No, you may stay here and enjoy your dinner,” he says taking a sip of wine.

“Please, Sir. I do not feel good,” I explain to him. Damien pushes up from his chair and walks over to me. He places his hand over my head and pulls it back immediately.

“He’s burning up. Come with me, Chase. I’ll take you back to your chambers,” Damien says helping me up from my seat.

“NO YOU WILL NOT! Leave him there, sit down Damien and enjoy your dinner,” King Than shouts. Damien looks at the man and back at me, he lets out a sigh and stands there almost in conflict.

“It’s fine, sit down, Damien. I’ll be fine,” I say grabbing onto my stomach. Damien grabs ahold of my arm and pulls my up, he slings my right arm over his shoulder and supports me up.

“Damien don’t you dare!” King Than shouts as he begins to get out of his seat.

“Or what father, you going to ground me and send me to my chambers! Chase here is sick and I am going to help him get to his chamber! Now if you will let me, I will be on my way,” Damien says as he begins to walk me towards the door.

“DAMIEN! STOP RIGHT THERE!” King Than shouts.

“Father?” I whisper. Damien is a prince this doesn’t make sense.

“Mitt will you please come in here,” Damien says very loudly. Mitt walks in from the corridors and bows his head.

“Yes Prince Damien, how may I assist you?” he asks.

“Will you please take Chase to his chambers. He has come down with something and is not feeling very good,” Damien explains.

“Yes Prince Damien,” Mitt says walking over to where we stand. Mitt takes over the position Damien was in and begins walking me to the door.

“Mitt, will you please let me listen in on this?” I ask. Mitt closes the door and pulls a chair up to the door.

“Not for long sir. You are not looking very well I would like to get you up to your chambers quickly to get some rest. I will allow you five minutes, but that is it,” Mitt explains stepping away from me. I sit on the chair he gave me and press my ear to the door. I grab onto my stomach and try to breath threw the pain, I need to hear what is about to happen. This is very important if Damien out himself to Ironton and me.

“Why would you out yourself, Damien? Are you that stupid?” King Than shouts.

“I didn’t mean to do it on purpose, father. It just happened I’m sorry, you just weren’t listening to me, couldn’t you see that he was in pain,” Damien replies.

“I did, but it does not matter, when I say something you listen to me. Now he knows that you are my son he was not supposed to know, you’ve seen how of a hot head he is. I’m surprised he didn’t attack you when you tried to help him,” King Than says. Why is he so concerned for me knowing Damien is his son, yes it does change the game to me, because I can’t kill a prince. If I do, I will be executed as soon as I return, this is a lose lose situation now.

“I know father, but it still will just be Ironton and I in the end. Chase will not win the tournament I will make sure of that, but father if I may ask. Why is it so important that Chase does not win?” Damien asks.

“He is to hot headed and I want revenge on him,” King Than states.

“Revenge on what?” Damien asks.

“For his fathers treachery,” he says.

“And what might his father have done, come on father. You have to give me the answers rather then just stop in midsentence,” Damien says.

“You might as well know Robert Wentworth was sleeping with your mother. He would travel from his village to visit your mother in her cottage inside the Kingdom. She kept it secret from me until she ended up pregnant; I knew it was not mine since I haven’t been with your mother for a year. When we were traveling back to the Kingdom and got strained in that village where your brother lost his pretty face, I came across Robert and shot an arrow into his side knowing it will be a fatal kill. When we returned home I marched straight to your mother’s chambers to see she had given birth to his child a few days ago, she smiled at me and handed it as if I did not know that that child did not belong to me. I refused the child but she insisted that it was my own child; I took the child from her grip and walked out of her cottage with it. I walked to the water pale and drowned the bastard child, when I walked back in I placed the dead body next to your mother and told her that her lover was dead that I had killed him with my bare hands. Then I took my sword and killed your mother.

You were to young to understand what your mother had done, but now you are a man now and can understand when I say, Chase Wentworth cannot win this tournament. That is why I allowed you to enter this time unlike the previous times, I fear your mother had other children with that man but I am not sure and I want Chase out of the way. Promise me, you will eliminate him when the time comes,” King Than explains.

“You killed mother?” Damien says.

“Your mother was a whore, I wouldn’t doubt if you weren’t my child. Now promise me, when the time comes in the second stage, you will eliminate Chase Wentworth, promise me!” he says raising his voice.

“But why Chase? He hasn’t done anything wrong, it was his fathers fault not his?” Damien says.

“Because, your mother was pregnant many times, I’m not taking any risks with this boy, now promise me!” King Than says sternly once again.

“I promise,” Damien says in a low voice.

“Chase, we have to go now,” Mitt says pulling me from the chair. I get up from the chair and allow him to take my back to my chambers. I try to process the information that King Than spilled right now, it couldn’t be true, it just couldn’t. Father never cheated on my mother, but it also would explain why he would always come home from his hunting trips with more money, was she paying him to support us? None of this makes sense to me; this can’t be true none of this can be true.
Mitt and I stumble up the stairs and he opens the door to my chamber, I walk into the room and fall onto my bed. I wrap my arms around my stomach and cradle myself back and forth.

“Mitt, how did the Queen die?” I ask hoping the answer is not the same.

“I think you already know the answer to that, Chase. Get some rest, you look awful right now,” Mitt says backing out the door.

“Will you please just tell me how she died,” I say one more time.

“The King killed her because she was sleeping around, I never knew the mans name but I knew of him. He had been coming around here for years,” Mitt says walking through the door and closing it behind him.

None of this can be true, I can’t be brothers with Damien, father never cheated on my mother King Than is lying. He’s just making excuses up as to why he took my fathers life and why he took away Damien’s mothers life. This is just an awful dream; I have to wake up sometime soon. I wish everything would go back to normal, is has to I can’t take this much longer I feel like the King has just stabbed me in the heart and has left me bleeding on the side of the road.

Father, queen, death, brother? All these words play back in my mind as I try to push them back in my mind, imagines of my father running off in the middle of the night not returning for weeks at a time, could it all be true? Nothing makes sense, but then it does at the same time. It would explain why he was gone all these times and how he came home with loads of money saying we could finally move into the village. I don’t know what to believe any more.

Chapter Text

Chapter Seventeen: FEVERISH DREAMS

After lying in bed for hours my forehead begins to burn hotter then before, beads of sweat drip from my head onto the sheets. I toss and turn trying to rid of this fever but nothing can shake it off. I peel off my shirt and throw it onto the floor hoping it would cool me, but all it seems to do is make it worse. Someone knocks on the door, probably Mitt with something to drink, I try to say something but my mouth is to dry to say a word. The door opens and Damien walks in with a bowl in his hand, he sets the bowl on the table and sits down on the bed. I push away trying to get away from him, after everything I heard I want nothing to do with him.

“Calm down, Chase. I won’t harm you I brought you cold water,” he says keeping his voice low. He grabs a cloth and dips it into the water and brings it over to my forehead, I grab his hand and look him in the eye. We don’t say anything but stare at each as if he is reading my own thoughts. He drops the cloth and turns his head away and gets up from the bed. “You know don’t you. You didn’t go back to your chambers, you lingered by the door and overheard the entire conversation.”

I don’t say anything instead I grab the washcloth and place it on my head. The cool damp cloth hits my head and sends chills up my spine but begins to relieve the hot smoldering pain that rushes through my body. I let my body relax and stare at Damien as he stares back at me.

“Why?” is all I am able to say. That one word can mean anything in the world, but to me it means everything he has done for me.

“I don’t know, I was just drawn to helping you and my father told me to keep an eye on you throughout the first stage. When I first came to you, you just had killed that girl and went crazy doing so. I sat near by watching you as you began to talk to yourself then after a few minutes you began to scratch your eyes, I had to stop you; from that day I felt like there was a connection between us, something inside you that reminded you of me,” he says as takes a seat back down. “I only came to see how you were feeling, if you don’t feel better by tomorrow I’ll have Arlene come up and see if he can heal you, now get some sleep. I won’t take your life easily when it comes to the second stage. I will give you a fighting chance, but when it comes down to it—I will win.”

Damien gets up from the bed and walks out of the door closing it behind him. I roll over and press the washcloth deeper into my skin but its already dried out. I throw the washcloth away from me and press my face into the pillow, my eyes become very heavy and I begin to drift off to sleep.

“Chase, wake up,” a mans voice whispers into my ear. I roll over on my side to see my father standing over me.

“Father?” I whisper as I rub my eyes.

“Are you okay Chase?” father asks me. I push myself to a sitting position. Fathers face is pale white, his brown hair is pale, his green eyes no longer glow its as if he is not real.

“What are you?” I ask.

“I think you already know the answer son. Now why don’t you tell me what is wrong,” he says.

“I overheard what King Than said about you, I don’t want to believe it if it is true, but I want to know the truth. Did you have an affair with the Kings wife?” I ask straight into my father’s eyes.

“Yes, I was in love with the queen,” he says.

“Why? Didn’t you love mother or even us?” I ask as I grab my hands and slide it into the sheet.

“I did, its just I have always loved Jezebel more. We grew up in the same village and were always friends until she was married off to Than. I went to visit her one-day and something sparked inside both of us; we couldn’t get enough of each other. I told her to leave Than and I would leave your mother, we’d take the kids and make a home for ourselves. She could not do it though even she did not love Than, she knew she had a better life here with him then she ever would with me. That is why I went away for weeks at a time; I went to go visit Jezebel.” Father says avoiding eye contact with me.

“Did, did you have any children with her?” I ask.

“Chase, what a silly thing to ask,” he laughs.

“Don’t you call me silly,” I shout as I get up from the bed and wrap my hand around my father’s throat. “Now give me answers, or I will kill you.”

“You can’t kill what is already dead my son. When did you get so violent anyways?” He asks as I push him into the dresser.

“When I was forced to kill people, that is when,” I say through my teeth.

“Okay let me go and I will answer your foolish questions,” he says. I let go of him and walk back over to the bed and await the answers.

“Jezebel and I did indeed have children together, but that does not matter you are my son,” he says.

“It matters to me, how could you have cheated on mother?” I ask again.

“She wasn’t really your mother, Chase. Jezebel gave birth to you, she was your true mother,” he says. I look at him and process the word he had just said. How can Jezebel me my mother? None of this makes sense to me.

“How is that possible?” I ask as I tighten my fists.

“You see Jezebel gave birth about the same time your mother did, both a boy. But your mothers son was a sickling, it wasn’t going to last more then a few days. Jezebel then gave you to me to take back to your mother to swap the children knowing Than will have you killed if he ever found out the truth, that is when I brought back your mothers child to give to Jezebel. The King then indeed killed that child not knowing it was going to die anyways,” he explains to me.

“No, this is not real,” I say as I get up again and point a finger at him. “You’re lying to me, this is just not possible.”

“Oh, but it is real, Chase. Believe what you want to believe; now I have to go,” he says as he heads to the door.

“Father, is this real or is it just a dream?” I ask.

“It’s a real as you want it to be,” he says as he disappears through the door.

I spring up in my bed and look around, I put my hand to my head my fever still lingers like a lion stalking its prey. I fall back into bed and close my eyes. It was just a dream, none of it was real, but why does it feel so real. I knew of Queen Jezebel but why did everything father say to me feel as if it was true. I have only heard the Kings story, and I can’t truly ask my father if it was real because he’s dead. The fever must be getting to me and making me have these insane dreams. My stomach growls as if it is hungry but I know it’s just the pain punching me from inside. I roll over and grab my stomach, I want this pain to go away I want everything to disappear but that does not seem like that will happen for a very long time.

“Mitt,” I call out weakly. Mitt opens the door and peaks his head in as if he is afraid to wake me.

“You called sir?” he asks not taking a step further into the room.

“Yes, how long have I been asleep for?” I ask unsure of the time.

“Only a few hours sir, are you feeling any better?” he asks. Before I can answer I jump off the bed and rush over to a bowl and begin to throw up in to it. My throat burns as the duck violently fights its way through my stomach out of my mouth and into the bowl. I can hear Mitts footsteps come near; he places his hand on my back and rubs my back. “I take it your not feeling better.”

I fall to the ground and cradle the bowl by my stomach. Mitt stands in front of me, but its not just Mitt there is two of him. I try to say something but more duck surfaces and spews from my mouth into the bowl, the taste is so disgusting that it makes it hard to try and keep anything down. It stops for a second and I pull my head back until it hits a wall, I place the bowl down and grab my stomach.

“I’ll go get Arlene maybe he can try and get you feeling better,” Mitt says as he rushes out of the room. I try to say no, but nothing surfaces my throat but more duck. I grab onto the bowl and continue chucking up duck until my stomach contains no more remains of any food substances. I close my eyes and pray no more duck or food will try to surface again, I count and wait for Mitt to return but my fever takes over and drifts me back off into a sleep.

I walk through the snow heading back to my house; the snow has come down in the last few hours making it difficult to track through. The sun is high in the sky making it easy to see in front of me. Kids run around throwing snowballs at each other, Lil is amongst those kids; she stands out like a sore thumb with her red hair. I continue walking when I feel a snowball collide with my head, Lil stands a few feet away with a huge grin on her face.

“Come play with us, Chase,” she yells out preparing another snowball.

“I’m sorry, Lil. I told father I would be home early to help fix the house,” I call out.

“Please, Chase! We never play anymore,” she says with a pouty look.

“Sorry,” is all I say walking away from her. I take a glance back to see her chasing the other kids around. I continue walking through the snow until I see my home on the hill. I let out a sigh and walk up the hill and open the door to the house. The house was in tact, nothing was out of place; I walk through the house looking in between rooms.

“Father, are you home?” I yell out. He does not answer, I continue walking through the house until I stop in front of mothers and fathers room. I knock on the door and wait for someone to open the door, but no one does. I knock again. “Father?”

I open the door slowly and peak my head inside, a chair is tipped over on the floor. I open the door further and step inside. I step quietly not wanting to wake anybody, the pictures hanging on the wall are crooked, everything it not where it should be. Drops of red of are scattered across the room; I walk around the drops trying not to step into them. The bed finally comes into sight, blood covers the entire floor of the bed, my feet slosh against the blood as I approach the bed.

“Father?” I ask again. The bed does not stir, so I creep closer wanting to get a closer look. I stop at the foot of the bed two lumps lay underneath the blanket; I take in a breath then pull the covers back. I turn away gagging and wanting to throw up, a pig, a calf and a pup are lying decapitated in my parents bed. I back out of the room and slip on the blood and fall to the ground, the blood covers my entire body. I try to get up but I fall back into the blood, I crawl my way through into the living room; once I am out of the room I curl up into a ball. Footsteps echo through the house.

“Chase, are you okay? Is that blood?” Mothers voice whispers. I turn my head to see her cover her mouth in horror. “It’s not your blood is it?” I don’t say anything but point to her bedroom; she puts her head through the door and takes a step back. “ROBERT!”

Father comes running in from outside, he has a panicked look on his face. He stops next to me and looks down, his face goes white; he picks me up and exams my body. I don’t say a word but point to his bedroom. He sets me down and walks into the bedroom, he walks out of the room with all three animals in his hand, he rushes outside and tosses them into the woods. I can hear the growls of the wolves as they approach the free meal. I get up from the floor and walk over to the bathroom, I close the door before mother and father can ask me any questions. I spin and look into the mirror; a dead man stands behind me his eyes gouged out blood oozing out of his mouth and nose. I turn around to see him staring at me, a person crawls through the window above the toilet. I back into the sink trying to get away from the dead people, I turn towards the door to see someone hanging on the back of it, a young woman hangs from the door, her eyes ripped from her sockets, blood coming from every since of her face. All the dead bodies begin to approach me.

“You killed us, time for us to kill you,” they mumble in unison. I cover my face trying not to let me fear show. Their hands touch my body and they begin to rip my body apart, one grabs my arms tugging it back and forth the other grabs my legs. I try to scream but the other person covers my mouth. I thrash my body around but they ignore my attempts to get out of their grasp. The man that holds my legs drops them and pulls out a knife from his pants, he licks the blade and smiles at me, his teeth are missing his tongue is split in half. He tilts his head and looks into my eyes; he twirls the knife in his hand then grabs it and plunges it into my chest. I scream as loud as a can but the girl stuffs something in my mouth and grabs my other arm to prevent me from wiggling around. The man drives the knife deeper into my chest, pain rushes through my body tears fill my eyes as the pain rushes through my body. The man leaves the knife in my chest and grabs my arm as the woman takes his place. I close my eyes not wanting to see what pain she will inflict upon me.

“Goodbye, Chase,” the woman says in a low monotone voice. Something slices through my stomach; I can feel my blood seeping from the gash out onto my body. The pain is unbearable it feels like someone took a long large knife and cut me from my chest to my belly button. My body quivers from the pain it is enduring; I shut my eyes tighter not wanting to see what truly happened. I hear moans and groans coming from the dead people next to me, a sharp pain surfaces through my body, my eyes explode open to see the dead people hovering over me with blood smeared across their faces. They pull their heads back and stare at me, a girl holds a kidney in her hand, the man holds my liver and the other man holds my intestines in his hand. My eyes widen as they begin to eat my body parts; I scream as loud as I can try to get them away from me but they continue to eat me from the inside. Everything around me begins to spin as I stare at them; the girl grabs the knife and cuts out something to my left, I can no longer feel any pain from their incisions. She pulls out my heart and stares at me, with one last gasp of air my head collides against a hard surface and everything goes out like a light bulb.

“Stop eating my insides!” I shout as somebody shakes me awake. I spring from my bed and head-butt Mitt. I grab my head trying to stop the pain; Mitt looks at me and raises an eyebrow.

“What were you dreaming of?” he asks. I look around the room to see Mitt, Damien and Arlene are in my presence.

“What, what’s going on?” I ask as I stare around the room.

“It appears you were poisoned the other night, Chase,” Mitt says as he takes a seat on the bed. Damien tilts his head down trying to avoid eye contact with me.

“But, why?” I ask. A foolish question, it was the Kings dinner he must have poisoned it; there is no other explanations.

“You know the answer. Father doesn’t believe I will be able to kill you in the end, he wanted to make sure the job was done properly,” Damien says lowly.

“He can’t get away with this, I am tired of living under his rule,” Mitt says angrily.

“Calm down, Mitt, the time will come when a new ruler will take over the Kingdom and King Than will no longer rule. Just give it sometime, everything will work out in the end,” Arlene says with a smile on his face.

“How can you be so coy about talking about my fathers own death? I know he’s not the perfect King, but without him we would not be able to keep order throughout the Kingdom. Anyways if he passes no one would be able to rule over the land,” Damien says sternly.

“Ah, such a silly boy you are Prince Damien. You forget if your father passes you will be able to take over the land. But like I said before everything will work out in the end,” Arlene states again.

“How long have I been out?” I ask as I sit up in the bed.

“Well, when I went to go get Arlene you drifted back to sleep. He then began to search for the cause as to what was making you sick,” Mitt says.

“Oh, for god sakes, you were out for nearly three days, Chase,” Damien says interrupting Mitt.

“I’ve been out for three days, but what about the last stage, isn’t it in a day?” I ask.

“More or less, but father thinks you are going to die before the last stage begins. So our plan is to keep you away from him until the time comes, then Arlene here will open you a portal for you to enter. He’ll think you are to weak to compete inside and will eventually die of the poison,” Damien explains.

“But I won’t die from the poison, will I?” I ask looking at Mitt.

“No, Arlene got to you just in time the poison hadn’t run its course through your entire system. If it had your heart would have stopped and well, you wouldn’t be sitting here talking to us now would you,” Mitt says jokingly.

“I can’t believe the King wants me dead for my fathers own doings, I just don’t understand what I had anything to do about it,” I say.

“You heard the full story didn’t you, Chase?” Damien says.

“I heard everything he said to you, but that is all,” I say to Damien.

“And you still do not know why he wants you dead, are you that stupid?” Damien says throwing a dish into the wall making it shatter into tiny pieces.

“Prince Damien, please take a step outside the room, Mitt and I will explain what it all means,” Arlene says opening the door for Damien to leave. Damien gives me one last look then walks out the door, Arlene closes it behind him and walks over and takes a seat on the bed and gives me a strange look.

“Okay, Chase. Everything Mitt and I are about to tell you can’t leave this room what so ever and may never be repeated! Do you understand?” Arlene asks me. I look at Mitt who nods his head at me.

“I promise not to tell a living soul, not like I will leave much longer anyways,” I say jokingly. Even thought it is the truth, I feel as if I still have to joke about my own upcoming death.

“Well you already know the truth that your father was sleeping with Queen Jezebel, but what you do not know is that your whole life was a lie. Your mother—“ Arlene says.

“Wait, you’re not going to tell me that Jezebel is my actual mother, and my father took me as a baby from her and gave me to my mother?” I say as I interrupt Arlene. Remembering the dream I had, none of that was true it was just my imagination.

“What? Oh no, you are not Jezebel’s child, but someone else is your brother. You see, King Than assumes Damien and his younger brother Lamont are his true sons, but one of them is not. Queen Jezebel has been able to keep this a secret from him and so have we; we have been protecting the Prince is their entire life so that one day he can become King. If King Than finds out one of them is not his own heir he will have him executed.” Mitt says.

“Does he know that he may not the Kings son?” I ask.

“He assumes, but he does not truly know. I am the only one that is entirely sure that he may or may not be,” Arlene says.

“Is Damien my brother?” I ask. I can only assume he was so upset right now that I am not entirely so sure.

“I cannot discuss the true answer right now, it may be Damien or it may be Lamont. You have already met Lamont before and have seen his fate, but what the King does not know is Mitt and I take care of him. He is an outcast to his father, but Damien, Mitt and I look after him and make sure that when King Than time comes, that one of the boys will be able to take his rightful place on the throne,” Arlene says.

“How have I meet Lamont before?” I ask. I’ve been in my chambers the entire time I’ve been in the kingdom.

“He was the one that rode you into the arena, he has a scar under his eye,” Mitt replies.

“That’s Lamont? My father did that to him didn’t he?” I ask again.

“I’m not to sure about that, I’ve always just assumed it was the King. King Than does not favor Lamont because he is the youngest, that is why Damien has been in the tournament a few times to keep the family riches in their name. But he does not want to risk his life so much that is why he doesn’t let him enter every tournament just only every few years,” Mitt explains.

“Don’t worry about everything, Chase. Everything will find a way to correct it’s self, even if it needs a little kick,” Arlene says.

“What do you guys want from me?” I ask again.

“Just, just win the tournament and we’ll handle everything else,” Mitt says eyeing Arlene.

“Get some sleep, tomorrow I will come open a portal for you. Remember, you have to win this stage no matter what, we are all counting on it. Here are your clothes for tomorrow I will be in your room around nine, Mitt will come in around eight-thirty to give you some food,” Arlene says walking towards the door. “Oh, and Chase. I’m sorry about your wolf, she was my finest creation.” Arlene opens the door and closes it behind him.

“He’s right, get some sleep you’ll be needing it,” Mitt says patting the sheets of the bed then getting up.

“Mitt, why are you guys telling me all of this?”

“Because it’s time for a change,” he says walking to the door and opening it, “and you’re the only one that can make it happen.” He walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.

I roll over to my side and close my eyes, I want to get everything that has happened off my mind, but I know none of that will be possible. Damien or even his brother Lamont could possibly be my brother, how is any of this possible its like a bad dream that never seems to end. But everyone is right, I have to get my head back into this tournament or I will surely lose my life and I guess that is not in the cards for Mitt and Arlene.

I miss Avari; I wish she were here with me right now. Everything seemed a lot easier when she was with me, we knew how to fight together and even though she took off a few times, she never let me die. She was the perfect companion and I will win this for her, Lil and Father. Even though I do not believe what my father did is right, he is still my father and I want to show him that I am a strong and am brave enough that I can take another persons life. A knock comes from the door; I don’t get up to answer it because the door opens right after the knock. Damien comes in and brings a tray of food with him; he sets it down on the bed and stands there.

“I made you some food, my father or the servants have not touched it so you don’t have to worry about poison being in it,” he says. I roll and look at him.

“Why are you so nice to me? I’m the enemy,” I say as push up and begin to eat the food.

“I’m not like my father at all, I was practically raised by Mitt and Arlene. Don’t think when the time comes I won’t kill you, because I will,” Damien says.

“Thanks,” I reply in between bites.

“I’ll see you in the arena, I’ll be the one killing you,” he laughs as he walks out of the room.

“Don’t worry, I won’t go easy on you either,” I say with a smile on my face.

Chapter Text

Chapter Eighteen: STAGE TWO

After Damien closes the door I put the food on the desk and lie comfortably in my bed, knowing it will be the last time I can sleep in a bed for a long time. My eyes begin to drift off into nothingness as my brain wonders around wondering what will happen tomorrow and what surroundings I will face. After a second my eyes close and surround me with darkness knowing that the next time I will wake up, everything will change once again.

Rain begins to pour down on my house, the baby cries as thunder explodes in the sky shaking the house. I sit down by the fireplace cradling the baby. Lightning lights up the night sky as I gaze out of the window. A hand touches my chest and moves to the back of my neck; I move my head to see a woman standing over me, her face is blurred out not letting me see her features.

“Its time for bed, Chase,” she says almost as a song. “Lets go put the baby to bed, she’ll eventually go to sleep.”

“What’s her name?” I ask.

“How can you forget your own daughters name, you’re the one to name her silly,” she says. My daughter, I pull the blanket from her face to see a green-eyed chubby cheeks girl staring at me. She looks so much like Lil it is uncanny. I get up from the fireplace and follow the women through the house into a room filled with toys, pictures and a crib. I place the baby in the crib and kiss her on top of her head. The women entwines her fingers through mine then pulls me away from the crib. I look one last time at the baby my baby, my daughter, my beautiful Lil Avari.

“Wake up, wake up!” Lil Avari yells as she jumps on top of me. I wrap my arms around her and roll on top of me. “Get off me daddy, you to heavy.”

“I’m sorry,” I say as I roll off the bed and pull her with me.

“Let go daddy, let go,” she wines. I place her onto the floor as she patters off into the kitchen where my wife cooks breakfast.
“Well there you are, I thought you’d never wake up,” my wife laughs. I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her waist. I can’t see her features still, its as if my wife does not exist because I have not meet her yet, but my child does because I want her to be like Lil.

“Daddy, come play with me,” Lil Avari says pulling my hand and dragging me out of the house.

“Chase, time to wake up,” Mitt whispers lightly shaking my body, I sluggishly wake up. I rub my eyes and pull myself out of bed. Mitt hands me a plate of food. “Now eat.”

I take the plate and scarf down what every substance lies on the plate. I grab the clothes that Arlene gave me and slide it onto my body, shorts and a tank top it must be somewhere with heat if it has less fabric. Mitt stands by the door waiting for Arlene to come into the room, I sit back down and think about the dream I had, for once it was a good dream. I want to make that dream come true, I want a family someone I can protect, the only way that this can happen is if I win. As much as I don’t want to, when the time comes I have to take one more persons life even if I don’t want too.

“Chase, Arlene’s here,” Mitt says breaking through my train of thoughts. I nod at him as he opens the door. Arlene walks in smiles at me; Mitt closes the door and walks over to my dresser. He pulls out my sword and hands it to me. “You’ll be needing this if you want to survive.”

“Thank you, thank you both for helping me, I don’t know what I would do without the both of you,” I say taking the sword from Mitt and tying it to my stomach.

“Well for one thing you wouldn’t be alive,” Arlene laughs. I join in the laughter until I can’t breath. I haven’t laughed in so long it feels nice to be able to release this type of energy. I clench my stomach and fall to the floor laughing. “Okay, pull yourself together I will be opening the portal in the next few minutes.”

“But . . . I . . . Can’t . . . Stop . . . Laughing,” I try to say but it seems impossible for it too come out right. I signed my life away to win money for my sister, who dies from the wolves in my village, and then I get a wolf for a companion. Oh then I find out the King killed my father; I killed a girl who I didn’t even know. I feel in love with a girl who I was never going to be with, then the King kills my wolf, tried to poison me and to top everything off I may have a brother in which I have never known about. All of this is just so funny that it makes my insides hurt. Everything is just to overwhelming because I have said goodbye to too many people, in which every death has been with blood, there has been no natural deaths this is my life? Why would anyone want this for a life, I certainly didn’t sign up for this? If I had a choice, I would change the outcome for everything. Tears build up in my eyes as I clench on the ground trying to regain myself.

“Chase, get yourself together man,” Mitt says as he pulls me up from the ground.

“I . . .Can’t,” I say in between breaths. My stomach aches from laughter; Mitt and Arlene look at me and throw me onto the bed.

“What’s wrong with him?” Mitt asks.

“I think everything just became too much for him, you know he’s been through a lot,” Arlene says.

“Can we rely on him? Or should we put are fate on Ironton?” Mitt asks.

“NO! Chase is the only one who can do this, plus it is to late to get Ironton in on any of this plan,” Arlene says. I roll onto the bed laughing still tears rolling down my cheek. Arlene walks over to my and slaps me in the face. “Get ahold of yourself.”

I stop laughing for a second, and then I begin to laugh again. I roll off the bed and onto the floor trying to gasp for air, I feel like my lungs are going to burst if I don’t stop laughing. I try to calm myself down but nothing seems to work. Arlene walks over to me and gives me one look and kicks me in the stomach, instantly my laughter stops and I roll onto my side in pain. I want to punch him in the stomach to see if he likes it. Mitt grabs me and pulls me up to a standing position.

“Feel better?” he asks. I rub my side to feel if Arlene cracked a rib, but what from I can tell he didn’t.

“Yeah, but now my sides going to be sore for a while,” I reply back. Arlene gives me cocky smile and walks over and touches my rib.

“You’ll be just fine, you’ve been through worse. The worst thing that you’ll get will be a bruise. Sorry but I had to do because it is almost time,” Arlene says.

“How different will this stage be compared to the other one?” I ask knowing that Arlene helped created this arena.

“Very different from what you are use too,” Arlene replies.

“Is there anything else you would like too tell me?” I say jokingly, hoping that he would say more as to what this arena maybe.

“Nope, that is all you are going to get for information,” Arlene laughs. Mitt walks over to me and places his hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t do anything foolish, Chase. Let them come to you don’t go to them. Damien wants a one on one with you so he’ll go after Ironton first, which is good for you because it gives you the upper hand. By the time he is finished with Ironton, he will be so weak and tired that he won’t have the full energy to take you head on. He’ll have his bow and a knife, you will have your sword is there any other weapon you would like to have, that may help you win? Because you will need it, Damien will use his bow any chance he can get, would you like any long distance weapons?” Mitt asks.

I get off the bed and walk towards the window and look outside. Damien has a distance advantage, I have close range, but I will need a long distance weapon also, what can I use that is not a bow, I can kill with it, but I am not so good with it. But I can’t think of anything other then a javelin, maybe that will work, its light and sharp and can inflict damage but I can only use it at the right moment. I turn towards Mitt and walk back to him.

“How well is a javelin for this design of arena?” I ask directing my question at Arlene.

“I would stick to a bow and arrow but even that can fail at some point, I wouldn’t use a javelin if I were you,” Arlene says.

“What do you think, Mitt?”

“He’s right, stick with a bow and arrow, other than that your sword will probably save your life one more time,” Mitt explains.

“Okay, I’ll use a bow along with me sword,” I say. Mitt nods and walks out of the room. I stand there next to Arlene taking everything in and praying that I will be able to make it one last time through this thing. I just have to kill two people and everything will be over and I can live. This is for Lil, Father and Avari, I have to win this for them, to take away the Kings sons life like he took away my fathers. As much as I hate revenge, when I make it out I will try and kill the King, I know I won’t be able to get an inch to his face but I can sure as hell die trying. Mitt walks back in with a bow and a quiver full of arrows and hands them to me.

“Use them wisely,” he says. I strap the quiver of my shoulder and slide the bow over as well. I take a look at both of them and nod letting them know that I am ready. Arlene nods and waves his hand muttering words then with one hand he pulls his hand through the air and stretches the surrounds creating a black hole, the portal. He takes a step back then smiles at me, I take in a breath and approach the portal; Arlene lays a hand on my shoulder.

“Be brave and remember you can win this,” he says taking a step back from me. Mitt puts out his hand and I stretch mine out and shake it.

“See you in victory lane,” he smiles then stepping away.

“Oh, and Chase. Don’t believe what you may see inside there, not all of it is real and it will drive you to madness,” Arlene says with a serious look on his face. I stop for a second to process what he means by that. But I know it’s not a good thing if he is telling me it, I must keep that in mind.

I take in a step breath and look around one last time, knowing this maybe the last time I see the inside of the chambers or even in the kingdom. With one last glance I take a step into the portal and take one last look behind me Mitt and Arlene give one last wave and Arlene closes the portal behind him. I continue walking until everything around me changes, darkness begins to fade and sun begins to shine. I see brown, lots and lots of brown; the floor becomes sandy, the temperature around me begins to change, it gets hotter and my clothes begin to stick to my body. I take one more step and I am out of the portal, I look behind me as the portal begins to shrink and leaves me standing on top of a hill.

Sand, the entire arena is sand, miles and miles of sand, the sun shines high in the sky making it almost blinding to stare directly at it. I look into the distance to see a portal open and a figure steps out of it, it’s impossible to make out who it is, but I can just tell that it is Damien. To my right in the far distance another portal opens, Ironton steps out and examines the arena. There is no shelter and I don’t know how far away Ironton or Damien is from me, it looks like a long walk, maybe I can have them come to me.

The sun is high in the sky and I’ve only been out here for a few minutes and my body is beginning to drain of any energy I have accumulated from the last few nights of sleep. I look over at Damien who seems to be sizing up the arena, I also look around but I cannot see the arena walls, I wonder how they can see us?

“Hey Chase! How you doing over there?” Damien yells out. I laugh at his small gesture knowing all he wants to do is kill me right now.

“Oh just fine, got sand up my butt though,” I call back laughing.

“Don’t worry, pretty soon my arrow will replace the sand. See you on the other side,” he laughs as he begins to move across the sand dunes. I look over to see where Ironton is, but he is nowhere insight. The hills are huge he could be trying to hide behind, smart, but the best way to keep away from Damien, is avoiding his path. Damien moves in the direction where Ironton was, not a surprise he wants to save me for last. I slide down the sand hill and begin to walk in the opposite direction of the two. It will be a while till Damien comes looking for me might as well try and put some distance between us so I can device a place of how I am going to win.

The sun beats down on me as I travel deeper into the dunes; the hills are huge that I feel like I will never be able to climb them. Sand wedges its way in my shoes making it difficult to walk as it rubs against my feet and getting in between my toes. The heat beats down on me, sweat drips from my forehead, I can already tell this is going to be on difficult stage. I begin to climb a hill to see if there is anything on top of it or any way for me to see if water maybe close by. Every step I take my foot sinks a few inches, I lose my grip and begin to slide down I throw my hands into the sand and slow myself down. I try crawling up the hill, to my surprise it works; I get half way up the hill when my hands begin to burn from the heat beating down on it. I pull my hands out and begin to blow on them, I lose my grip and fall down the hill I sway my hands forward hoping to regain my balance but I follow over backwards and tumble down flipping backwards, my face graces the sand getting sand in my mouth. I spit all the sand out of my mouth and shake it from my hair. I stop at the base of the hill and land straight on my back, my hands begin to throb I take a quick look at them to see that the sand has burned them a little. I blow on them trying to ease the pain but it only makes matters worse. This is just great, I’ve already injured the one thing that would safe my life how will I be able to hold a sword now?

I tear off a piece of my shirt and tie it around my hands. This isn’t going to work, traveling by day is going to be exhausting and the sun will only drain me, if I want to make any sort of progress I will have to travel by night. Hopefully no one else will realize this and will be sleeping at night. Now how can I make shelter for the day so that I can travel at night, I look around to see that there literally is nothing but sand, what if I make a shelter inside the sand. Will it be stable enough, or will it just fill any type of hole I try to make? I guess the only way to find out is if I attempt it. I take in a deep breath and begin to dig into the sand, I scope the sand in my hand and toss it over my head, the sand trickles in, but it begins to make a dent inside the hill. I continue to dig, hoping to get out of the sun before it completely drains me.

After an hour of digging I’ve been made a whole deep enough where I can crawl into the hill and begin to relax as I get out of the suns heat. In a few hours the sun should disappear and the moon will shine, this is the perfect time to get some rest. I take off my bow and place it next to my head; I place the arrows next to it. I tuck my hands under my head and close my eyes opening to get a good nights sleep before I have to travel and find water, if there is even water.

I walk the empty streets of Myth, not a human soul can be found. The houses have been burned down, windows broken, doors broken down the village has been stripped clean. I walk down the street to Burkes blacksmith shop, I stand in front of the door and take in its contents, the windows have been smashed, and the door broken down the whole place was scorched from the inside out. King Than burned down the village when I was away in the second stage, he wanted to rid of Myth forever because it was a tainted village, he thought the citizens were beginning to plot an overthrow of his kingship.

I hear a low bark coming from behind me; I turn my body around to see a small dog sitting behind me wagging his tail at me. The dog is very cute, it has long floppy ears, a short snot, he’s completely brown expect with a black patch over his right eye. He looks like one of Mr. Cots puppies, similar to the one I had to sacrifice to the wolves. My spine shivers just the thought of what had happened to that puppy.

“Come here boy,” I say while whistling trying to get the dog closer to me. The dog barks and springs to a standing position. He walks over to me licks my face and begins to tug on my pant leg, I begin to follow him wondering where he is going to lead me. I take one last look at Burkes shop and imagine how everything happened that one day. King Than raiding the village breaking down the door throwing a torch into the shop lighting the entire village in flames. The villagers running around trying to put out the fire, but the attempts fail, finally the fire just spreads and everyone runs away looking for homes to stay in.

The dog barks at me stealing my attention away from the burned houses; I follow behind him as he walks me through the rest of the village. Most of the buildings are burnt down to rubbish but others still are standing. Angry builds up in my system, I want to punish the King for what he did to my village. I continue following the dog until he brings me up to a barn just on the out skirt of the village, he walks up to the door and scratches on it. Hushes and shhs come from within. I place my hand on my sword ready to use it if needed. A loud screeching sound rings in my ears as the barn door opens in front of me; no one on comes out, but leaves open enough space for someone to walk in or out.

“Who’s there?” A man voices says.

“Chase Wentworth,” I reply inching my body closer to the door.

“Chase, Is that really you?” the man says again.

“Yes, and who might you be?” I ask. The man walks out of the barn, his face half burned his hair completely gone. I gasp in horror and take a step back, not knowing whom this man is.

“How do you not recognize me, Chase?” The man asks, then he places his hand on his face. “Oh, it’s me, Chase. Burke.”

“Burke? What happened?” I ask trying not to look at his awful face. The flesh is still peeling off.

“I tried to put out the fire in the shop, and well lets just say the fire won,” he says putting a hand on my shoulder. “Come inside, you can see the survivors.”

“People died? I thought everyone ran to nearby villages for refuge,” I say looking Burke in the eye.

“No, no one was able to leave at the time, all that is left is here in the barn. Those who aren’t perished in the fire, it was just too strong to control the flames,” he says.

“I’m sorry, why don’t we go inside and I will tell you the story. I bet you’re hungry, we’ll get some food into your stomach,” he says. I give a weak smile as we walk inside the barn. Cots spread across the entire barn; women, children and men take every single cot. I look around to see everyone with burnt clothes and black faces, there must be at least twenty people in here, if that. Burke walks me to the back where they have a pot on top of a fire stewing food. He dips a ladle into the pot grabs a bowl and pours the stew into the bowl and hands it to me. I blow trying to keep it down from burning my throat when it makes its way down.

“Chase, will you tell us how it all happened in the arena?” A boy says inside the crowd.

“No, it’s not something you would like to relive again,” I say not wanting to make eye contact with the boy.

“Come on, Chase. Tell us the story, we would all like to hear it,” another person says.

“Don’t hound the boy, if he doesn’t want to share what happened inside there, he doesn’t have too tell us,” Burke says speaking up. I give him a thank you nod. The crowd begins to raise their voices in disapproval of what Burke has to say.

“What was it like? What happened, will you please tell us,” the little boy says again. I look around the room to see all eyes were on me. As much as I don’t want to tell the story of what happened, I feel like I owe these people that much. They need hope that they can beat the odds and restore our village back to the way it was, now if only I didn’t feel sick to my stomach telling these people what an awful person I am; but I had to do what I had to do to survive and out of all these people they should be the ones to understand. I take in a deep breath and set aside my bowl of stew knowing that once I begin I wont be able to stop myself from spilling everything.

“In the first stage, I was in the forest it felt as close to home as possible. But I felt all alone even though I had my companion Avari with me. Right when we entered the arena someone had already taken someone’s life. I knew I would have to hide so that I could survive, snow covered the ground, which made everything even more difficult because they could see our tracks, I wanted to hide in a tree but Avari’s black coat would be easy for them to spot in the snow. So we found a cave knowing that no one could get the element of surprise on me that I was completely in control of what would happen inside this cave. Avari and I spent nights sleeping waiting for someone to make the first move on me, we kept warm with a fire inside it never let off a signal so I never worried about killing the fire. One day without expecting it, I heard someone move in front of the cave, I waited for them to come in, but they didn’t so I went out to them. A girl with long blonde hair and gorgeous brilliant blue eyes looked at me, I turned around and let her leave not wanting to take her life. She pulled and arrow on me and missed me, I looked her directly in the eye and she said, “You should have killed me.” The blood chase was on, Avari took off after her knowing she nearly killed me. I ran after the both of them, by the time I reached them Avari was shredding her left leg into pieces, I commanded her to stop and she did. I looked the girl in the eye and reminded her that she made the mistake not me,” I stop for a second and looked around the room to everyone fully engaged in the story. I close my eyes “Then I plunged my sword into her heart.”

Everyone in the room gasps, I stop my story and stare around the room. People lean over to their neighbors and begin to mutter “murder” into everyone’s ears. I slowly begin to reach for my sword when Burke grabs my hand and stops my further movement.

“Don’t,” he whispers into my ear. I pull my hand away from my sword and wait for someone to make a move.

“Why did you kill her? You never hit or kill a girl,” someone speaks up from the crowd.

“I had to do what I had to do to stay alive,” I speak up.

“You didn’t have to kill the girl, you should have let her live, left her injured and have been on your way,” another voice says.

“You don’t know what it was like in there, none of you do!” I shout.

“You’re just a murder, and murders aren’t not welcomed in our village. I suggest you leave, now,” a voice says.

“But I am one of you, how can you kick me out?” I ask.

“We would never have killed someone, you are just like the King. And we will not tolerate that type of behavior in our village, now please leave or we will force you to leave,” the voice says again. I get up from where I sat, Burke puts his hand on my shoulder and pulls me back down.

“No, Chase did nothing wrong and I don’t think he should be victimized for something that he was forced to do,” Burke speaks up.

“Did anyone make him plunge the sword into that girls heart, no. No one made him it’s his own fault, don’t say he was forced to do it,” the voice says again.

“But he was forced to kill her, it was either his life or hers. He had to do to stay alive I would have done the same thing,” Burke says loudly.

“Then you’re not welcomed here either, now both of you please leave at once,” the voice says.

“Why don’t you show yourself instead of hiding in a crowd, you coward,” I say sternly. As I wait I see this bulky man stand up, his face covered by a hood. “Reveal yourself.” The man pulls back his hood off and looks me straight in the eye. The guys face is entirely burnt off, it’s a lot worse then Burkes but you can see some of the muscles on his face.

“This is what the King did to me, he killed my family. Now if you would leave before I kill you on my own terms,” he says sternly. When he talks you can see the jaw muscles move, chills run up my spine making me feel sick. I get up from where I sit and leave the barn; people hiss and push at me as I walk by like I am a criminal.

Chapter Text

Chapter Nineteen: MIDNIGHT TERROR

I slowly wake myself up as some of the sand comes down on me, it gets in my mouth making it hard to breath I spit out the sand while scratching at the inside of my mouth. I crawl my way out of the hill and take a look around me; the moon hangs high in the sky making the entire arena visible to me. If anyone tries to approach me I will be able to see them coming. I dust the sand off my body and begin to walk, I need to find some water my mouth is entirely dry.

I walk through the sand keeping an eye out for any moment; I keep my hand on my sword waiting for something to happen I pat my hand on my back realizing I left my bow and arrow back in my shelter. I look around to see if I can find the shelter but it to late to turn around and go back, I shrug it off knowing that I’m better with a sword anyways. I wonder if Damien has killed Ironton yet, if he hasn’t that buys me more time but then again, the longer he takes killing Ironton the more slow and painful death I will surely have to endure. I would rather die by Damien’s hand then by starvation or dehydration that could take days or weeks. The heat still lingers from the day but it’s tolerable and doesn’t drain me as quickly as the sun did. I take a look at the moon and wonder how long I will I be stuck inside this miserable arena, the only way out is to kill Damien then I will be free, maybe.

I stop for a second and dig my hands through the sand until I feel them hit a hard bumpy surface; I pull out a rock from the sand and dust it off. I examine it noticing it has a sharp enough tip, then with that I press it deep into my skin making one tally mark, blood begins to drip from the cut that I made. I take a look at the cut seeing that it is deep enough I throw the rock as far as I can into the dunes and wipe off the blood with me shirt. One tally mark for the one night I’m in here, not letting me lose track of time and knowing how long I have been in here.

I walk for what feels like miles, not a soul in sight. I’m beginning to think that I am the only one left in here and the King has sentenced me to my death. I know it is not true I saw Ironton and Damien, which means that they are probably asleep. Giving me an advantage if they are, now I just have to find some trace of their footprints then I will be able to follow them to where they are located. I continue on not knowing what I am exactly looking for; I stop and take a breath of air. Dense fog drifts by my feet; I spin in a circle to see fog rolling over the hills covering every grain of sand with fog. I stop spinning and continue to walk; curious as to why the fog randomly showed up. The fog begins to rise around me making it difficult too see, I stumble in the sand and fall to the ground. I can faintly see where the moon stays in the sky, sheading a tiny bit of moonlight through the fog; I get up from where I fell and look around me. Everything around me begins to shift, trees sprout from the sand, the sand dissolves and grass appears. In an instant the sand dunes have formed into a murky creepy woods.

The fog still thickens around me; I keep a hand on my sword waiting for anything to happen. I slowly walk threw the newly transformed woods, an owl hoots from within a tree next to me, I turn around to face it, its bright yellow eyes stare at me then he hops off the tree and flies through the air. My heart begins to beat quicker then it should, I take a few deep breaths trying to calm myself. I begin to turn around when a swift movement catches my eye, I quickly pull out my sword and point it in the direction I saw the movement. From the corner of my eye I see it on my right side; I swiftly turn my body in that direction.

“Show yourself,” I say sternly. A deep creepy evil giggle comes from within the fog; it sends a shiver through my spine. I spin in a circle trying to keep my eyes open for the figure. Another giggle comes from within the fog, this time a little louder and creepier. I begin to be come dizzy so I stop spinning I sway a little but keep my balance. I feel something tap my shoulder; I spin around to see a little girl staring at me; she has long strawberry blonde hair, dull green eyes, she smiles at me.

“Have you seen my daddy?” The girl asks.

“No, where did you see him last?” I ask. I put my sword back and kneel down so I can be at eye level with her.

“I no remember, last time I saw him he was in a tree,” she says in a low voice.

“Why was he in a tree?” I ask. She flexes her finger informing me to come closer to her, I lean in until I am only a few inches from her face.

“I put him there,” she says in a creepy voice then giggles.

“What?” I say.

“I’ll show you,” she says grabbing my hand pulling me from my position. I go along with her stumbling to get back to my feet; she walks slowly through the thick fog like she knows where she is taking me. A howl pierces through the silence of the woods, a howl that sounds so much like Avari’s, I turn my head to see yellow eye glowing from the fog. The girl lets go of my hand and wonders off in front of me, she wears a white dress with roses on it. She walks up to a tree and turns around and smiles at me, raindrops fall from the sky and onto her dress, but they aren’t raindrops—its blood. Raindrops of blood fall from the sky, splattering onto my skin and staining the girls dress red. “Hi, daddy.”

“Where is he?” I ask. She points to the tree she stands next to. I turn my head to see a man with a branch through his stomach; I take a step back when the girl grabs my hand.

“He made me mad, so I threw him in the tree,” she giggles. I pull my hand way from the girl and rest it on my sword.

“What are you?” I ask, backing away from the girl easily. The blood rain continues to fall from the sky making it nearly impossible to see. I wipe the blood off my face but it smears across my face, I squint my eyes to see but I only see blood.

“What are you?” She giggles. I grab the hem of my shirt and wipe the blood off my face; I tilt my head back to see hundreds of bodies in the trees, blood pouring out from their bodies. I take a step backwards and trip over a root; I stumble backwards until my hand finds something squishy and wet to balance on. I slowly turn my head to see what I am touching; I pull my hand away and walk away gagging wanting to throw up but can’t. A body is pinned to a tree its body exposed letting the world see its insides; my hand was touching its heart. The girl grabs my hand and pulls me away from the tree. “Lets go get you cleaned up.”

I take my hand from her and draw my sword and point it at her. The girl giggles then pulls out a large axe and begins to swing it at me. She cannot be real; Arlene told me something about this, what did he say. I stop and think as the girl continues to swing the axe at me, why hadn’t I paid attention to what he said. I walk backwards keeping my eye on her, she opens her mouth as if she is about to say something, but instead of words coming out cockroaches spew from her mouth, her eyes pop out of their socket and more cockroaches crawl there way out. The girl drops her axe and falls to the ground, a low growl comes from behind me; my heart stops beating as I tilt my head over my shoulder to get a better look of what growled. Two large skeleton wolves walk by staring at me, they walk past me and over to the girl. They open their bone jaws and grab her by her leg and drag her through the woods.

I keep my sword out and follow in the direction the wolves went. Everything around me is still, not a creature moves or any sound echoes through the woods, it’s as if nothing is alive out here. I lose track of the wolves and begin to just wonder the woods by myself, blood rain continues to fall, my feet splash in the puddles straining my shoes red. I continue walking until the fog reveals a house standing in the middle of the trees. I get closer to the house until I see a light flicks on, a women comes running out of the house, she looks at me and comes running up to me and hugs me. I push her way and point my sword at her, she takes a step back and puts her hands in the air.

“Don’t kill me, Chase,” the women says. Her hair falls into her face making it difficult to see what she truly looks like.

“Who are you?” I ask keeping my sword in eye level.

“How do you not recognize me, Chase,” she says. She wipes her hand through her hair and ties it back. She lifts her head reveling her identity.

“Lil?” I whisper, I drop my sword and crumble to my knees. She comes running over to me and helps me up. I push her away and grab my sword and point it at her. Her green eyes sadden at me like I just disappointed her in some way.

“It’s me, Chase. Please believe me,” she whispers trying to take a step closer.

“No, you are dead. I held your lifeless body. You’re dead you cannot be here!” I shout. My whole body begins to take, tears tremble down face. She’s not real, she can’t be.

“But I am, Chase. Please come inside and we shall talk about this,” she whispers holding out a hand for me to take. I begin to place my hand in hers but quickly pull back not wanting to touch her. She bows her head and begins to walk inside; I follow behind her but keep my distance. We cross a small bridge that crosses over a small mote, I look down to see blood fills the mote, a skeleton fish jumps out of the mote and onto the bridge I quickly kick it back into the blood water before it bites me. I follow her into the house but I do not close the door, she sits by a fire and smiles at me. “Join me.”

I take a seat in a chair a few feet away from not wanting to be any closer then I have to. I place my sword in my lap and keep a hand on it for any sudden movements. She sees my intentions and shakes her head at me. A small bark breaks out and a skeleton dog jumps into her lap. She strokes the dog and smiles at me then sets him down. I raise an eyebrow at her.

“What happened to you, Chase? You’re no longer the happy brother that I use to know,” she says with a frown on her face.

“You died, that is what happened,” I say looking into her eyes. I can’t tell if she is real or dead. Nothing makes sense, every since the fog rolled in everything has changed its like everything here is dead.

“I didn’t die, I just moved on to a better place, this place in fact,” she says with a smile on her face.

“What is this place?” I ask as I look at her skeleton dog who’s asleep by her feet.

“It’s the Wasteland, Chase. Its where everyone goes after they see the light,” she says.

“So you just waste away here while everyone else enjoys life. That sounds like a horrible life,” I state.

“My life has got to be better then yours. What are you even doing here, your running around killing people for the fun of it,” she spits out.

“You have no idea what I’ve been through, you have no right to talk!” I yell.

“Calm down,” she says as she gets out of her seat.

“I better get going,” I say. I get out of my seat and approach the door. Lil gets in my way and stops me.

“You aren’t going anywhere, brother,” she says with a smile on her face.

“Get out of my way,” I say as I take a step back and point my sword at her.

“Or what, you going to kill me like the rest of them, you don’t have the guts to kill your own sister. Do you Chase?” She says as taunt. I lower my sword and take a step back, she’s right I don’t have the strength to kill my own sister. “That’s what I thought.”

Lil stretches out her arm and closes the door behind her. The door clicks as it is being locked. I scan the room for an exit when I look around I see a staircase, without a double thought I take off running to the staircase, I hear a laugh behind me but I ignore it. I run up the stairs but trip on a step to see Lil peeling off her face, underneath her face is nothing but bones. I gag in my mouth and push myself up crawling the stairs; I look around for a door. I run all the way down the hall and see a door to my right; I turn the knob but it won’t open. I slam my shoulder into the door breaking the door down. I take a look behind me to see Lil isn’t climbing the stairs. I walk into the room, it’s dark I don’t see anything, but something smells foul. I run my hand on a wall searching for a light; my fingers graze a switch and I flick it up.

The light blinds me for a second, but once my eyes adjust I can see that the room is filled with dead bodies hanging from the celling. I move forward to examine the bodies, I move past each one until I come face to face with one I recognize—Burke’s. I stop and stumble backwards; it can’t possibly be his body he’s back in Myth safe and away from this madness. Tears roll down my face as I cry for a friend, when I wipe the tears with my arm I notice a red smear. I wipe away another tear more blood accumulates on my arm. I let out a yell and push through the bodies to the other side when I run into a window. I push the window open and begin to climb out of it when a hand grabs my arm.

“Where do you think your are going, brother,” a haunting voice says. I look over my shoulder to see a human skeleton pulling me from the ledge back inside.

“Let me go,” I say pulling my arm from her grasp. With one swift movement her grip lets go and I fall off the ledge and on to the roof. I look up to the sky too see the moon high in the sky. I jump from the roof onto the ground, I run into the woods.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night, brother! You can’t run away from me forever, you will eventually join those bodies! You will make a nice collection don’t you think,” she says with an evil giggle. I continue running not looking back at the house. The owl hoots above me in the tree as I stop to take a short breath, I lie back against the tree and put my head between my legs. What kind of place am I in where everything and everyone is dead or trying to kill me; Lil had called this the Wasteland. Is this where everyone goes after they die, but what had Burke’s body been doing in that house he isn’t dead, not that I think. The little girl, she looked familiar to me, where do I know her. I scratch my head as I think about all the girls in our village that had died a few years ago. For now nothing comes to me, I let my mind forget about the girl in the white dress, the bodies in the house and my sister trying to kill me. Right now I just have to worry about surviving and get out of this wasteland.

I stare into the darkness waiting for something to happen, something or someone is out there watching me, waiting to make its move. Anything can happen in a matter of time, in an instant the world changed around me and now and who’s to say it won’t change again. I just have to be patient and wait, everything will go back to as normal as possible soon. A howl pierces through silences, making my whole body jump. I look around for the source of the howl but nothing steps forward. A scream follows seconds behind the howl putting me on edge, I point my sword in the direction where I heard it come from, I circle around keeping an eye out for the victim. The fog begins to thicken around me making it more difficult to see.

“It’s got my foot,” a voice screams. I tighten my hands around the hilt of the sword and concentrate on the voice. “Someone help me!”

“Hello, is anyone there?” I yell out. I take a few steps forward not knowing what is out there.

“Someone help me!” the voice screams again.

“Hello?” I ask again. The moonlight shines down on the fog, a dark shadow appears within the fog; I hold my sword tighter as the shadow gets closer.

“I can’t feel my arm, do I have an arm?” The voice yells. The shadow is getting closer quicker; I start to run keeping my hand on my sword. “I’m bleeding to death!”
I run at full charge and stab my sword into the shadow; the fog lessens up revealing who the shadow is. I feel warm liquid spill onto my hand, I pull my sword out and take a step back. The body falls to the ground and I kneel beside it putting my sword down and wiping my face off.

“You stabbed me,” the voice says.

“I’m so sorry Ironton, I thought you might be another undead person,” I say taking a step back.

“Its fine, I’d rather die on your hand then Damien’s,” he says.

“I thought you would have been dead already,” I state.

“I’m tougher then I look kid, it will take a lot to kill me,” he says with a chuckle.

“It didn’t take much to kill you to be honest, otherwise you wouldn’t be on the ground bleeding to death now would you?” I ask.

“You’re a smart ass, but you are right you got the best of me and have won,” he says. I look up to the sun beginning to rise, the fog around me begins to lighten up, the trees to begin to slowly disappear.

“The wasteland is disappearing,” I say as I grab my sword.

“This place is where we live are greatest fears, and now it is time for it to disappear into the daylight,” he says. He begins to cough up blood; I pat him on the back.

The grass begins to disappear and in its place sand fills around us.

“I’m sorry I did this to you,” I tell him.

“We all had to die at some point, the wasteland just beat everyone to the punch. Now go, Damien was tracking me down and if he finds you with my body my death would have been for nothing,” he says pushing me away.

“Thank you,” is all I say. I get up and begin to walk towards the light, walking away from Ironton and away from the wasteland where I experienced my greatest fears. I stop and take one last look at Ironton’s dying body, the fog has completely disappeared the trees go back into the earth, and Ironton body dissolves into the sand as if he never existed.

The Wasteland disappears as if it never existed; the sand dunes come to life as the sun rises high into the sky. I continue walking towards the sun not looking back and not looking for Damien who is on the prowl for me. The heat begins to rise as quickly as the sun has. I look at my shirt to see bloodstains in every place; I wipe a bead of sweat off my brow and look around.

“I see your still alive buddy!” A voice calls out. I stop in my tracks and slowly turn my head. Damien stands on a pile of stand with his bow in hand. His face is smeared in blood, his hair tousled he has black circles under his eyes, its as if he hasn’t slept since we begun. He must be a good five miles away from me, it will take him hours to catch up to me.

“Nothing can kill me,” I call back.

“I’ll be coming for you, don’t you worry I haven’t forgotten about you,” he yells back.

“I know, oh and by the way, Ironton’s dead,” I reply back with a small smile on my face.

“How do you know?” He asks. I turn around and look into the sun.

“I killed him,” I say without looking at Damien. I begin to run wanting to keep the distance from Damien and me.

“How? Chase get back here, lets end this thing here and now!” Damien yells after me. I don’t turn around and I don’t look back I just keep running. I have no idea where I am running to, I just know that I have to keep running if I want to wear down Damien. If he hasn’t slept since we entered that means he’ll be less likely to hold up in a fight with me. After all it was easy to kill Ironton, but that was an accident he basically just walked into my sword. I take a glance behind me to see Damien running after me, he won’t be able to catch up.

I run up a sand dune and slide down the bottom; a slight breeze touches down on the sand erasing my footsteps. I run to the nearest sand dune and begin to dig another shelter to sleep in. I wipe the sweat off my forehead as I dig, the sun begins to drain me; the running didn’t help me of course but at least I made some distance between Damien and I. The next time I see him it will be the battle to the death and only one of us will walk out alive. That person will be me no matter at what cost it takes, I will win.

I crawl into my sand shelter and place my sword in arms distance. I put my arm under my head and begin to drift off to sleep. Damien is a few hours away from me he won’t be able to find me any time soon, and I really need the sleep.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty: DAY DREAMS

“Chase, darling its time for you to get up,” a voice whispers into my ear. I roll over to my side to see a women standing over me with a smile on her face. “You better get up or you’ll be late.”

“Be late for what?” I yawn. I slide out of the bed and scratch my head.

“Late for work, oh and Avaria wants to see you,” she says as she walks out of the room. I walk over to the dresser and pull out a black shirt and blue jeans; I slide them onto my body and walk out of the room. Pictures hang on the hallway wall, I stop and look at one, a girl who looks like Lil sits on my lap while a women (the same women that woke me up) hugs me and this little girl. I shake off the picture and walk into the kitchen where Avaria sits at the table eating eggs and the women stands over the stove.

“Daddy,” Avaria says jumping out of the chair running over to me. I bend down and wrap my arms around her. She has long blonde hair like me, but bright green eyes like Lil. I kiss her on top of her head and smile. Avaria, what a beautiful name its so close to Lil’s middle name but not quite. “Come sit daddy.”

I sit down next to Avaria and stare at her. I gaze outside to see wildflowers growing in the backyard. I get up and open the sliding door and walk outside into the backyard its surrounded by trees, a fence separates the outside world from the house. I must have thought of this.

“Darling your breakfast is ready,” she says. She puts down a plate of bacon and eggs next to Avaria. I take a seat and begin to eat the food, the bacon is delicious; I can’t remember the last time I had bacon. I eat the entire plate within a few minutes and walk over and put it in the sink. I lean over and kiss the women on the cheek and walks over to Avaria.

“Are you leaving already daddy?” She asks me as she looks up from her own plate.

“Yes, daddy’s got to go to work, where do I work at again?” I ask.

“Have you forgotten everything over night silly?” She laughs.

“Everything is just a little fuzzy is all,” I say.

“Darling you work at the academy remember, you teach young boys how to fight,” she says cleaning the dishes.

“Why would I ever teach boys how to fight? Its one of the things I don’t believe in the most,” I say.

“Honey, you must have really hit your head last night,” she says.

“What do you mean hit my head?” I ask. I sit back down and look at her. Everything is blurry to me, it would make sense if I hit my head but why would I be training young boys to fight. After joining the tournament I would teach other people how to kill.

“You don’t remember that either? Geez, you really took a spill last night,” she says.

“Well tell me, what the hell happened?” I ask. She keeps telling me how I hit my head but never how it actually happened. I need to know, it is key, I don’t know why it is key but it is important to me.

“Watch your language around Avaria!” She yells.

“I’m sorry, but you aren’t telling me how I hit my head,” I say quietly.

“Sit down honey,” she says as she takes a seat at the table. I follow behind her and sit next to Avaria.

“Okay, now tell me what happened,” I say to her.

“Well, a few days ago we had a bad storm and the water was leaking through the roof. You went onto the roof yesterday to repair it before another storm blew in, and it was still slippery up there. On your way down you slipped and fell, you grabbed the ladder and regained your balance, but you lost your grip and fell to the ground. You said you were fine and acted fine, but now I’m not so sure if you are okay. Do you want to go talk to the doctor?” She asks.

I rub the back of my head and feel a bump, is it true that I fell and hit my head but how can I not remember anything. I lean back in the chair and look at her as she raises an eyebrow at me. I know exactly what she is thinking; she wants to know what is running through my brain right now. I open my mouth to say something but close it as soon as nothing comes to words; instead I push out of the chair and begin to walk out of the room.

“Chase will you please say something to me,” she says. I turn around and look at her.

“What do you expect me to say, I have nothing to say. I don’t know where we live, I don’t know what we do and I don’t know your name. There is nothing to say,” I reply turning back towards the door.

“My name is Lucy, how can you possible forget my name,” she says.

“That is my point, I don’t remember anything. How can I not remember anything, its as if I do not exist, this has to be some bad dream or something,” I respond.

“That’s because it is a dream, Chase. Do you remember where you are,” she says. I slowly turn and look at her. She’s right, this is all but a dream, I’m lying in the sand inside a sand dune, waiting for nighttime to come around. I am one of the final two left, wanting to live another day, waiting to make my move on Damien.

I wake up to the sand falling on top of me; the sand dune is beginning to collapse. I grab my sword and dash out the opening before it entirely collapses on me. I stand in the middle of the dunes staring up at the sun, my throat is completely dry, my lips are crusted with sand, I need water or I won’t last long. My body is drained, I haven’t gotten enough sleep but I know I should continue to move, I have to make the distance between Damien and I bigger or he could kill me in my sleep. I need food and water, I have to get them in the next few days or I won’t have the strength I need. I’ll just walk for an hour then I’ll make another shelter in another dune.

I begin to walk towards the sun, sweat already beating down my face. It must be close to noon, the heat of the day at its high. I take off my shirt and wrap it around my head but all it does it make me feel lightheaded. I sway as I walk almost like a drunk person trying to walk down the street. My body feels like its hundred degrees itself; the arena feels almost like two hundred degrees. Why must it be so hot, I can deal with the cold but the heat? It just kills you from the inside out, rather with the cold you slowly freeze, at least if it was cold there might be a chance to get water or food, in the heat there is no chance, there is no living form whatsoever, nothing can live out here by itself. This is why he made it a dry heat barren arena; so that we would kill each other quicker. He’s not going to get that satisfaction from me, no way, I will not stoop to his level I will try and hold out for as long as I can.

After an hour of walking the heat has finally gotten to me, my body aches and I can no longer stand. I fall to the ground; I lie on my back staring up at the sun. I put my arm over my face to block the sun out. My throat is so dry that I can’t remember what water tastes like. I forgot what anything tastes or feels like, what I wouldn’t give to be back in the Kingdom right now. My eyes begin to get heavy as I stare at the sun; I force myself to now fall asleep, not here at least. I can’t fall asleep in the open I have to make another shelter; I need more time to sleep.

“Get up, Chase,” a voice says. I roll my head to the side to see a shadowy figure standing over me. I cup my hand to block the sun from my eyesight to see who is standing over me, “I said get up, Chase.”

I push up from the sand to a standing position to see who is talking to me; I keep my hand on my sword. The sun faces behind me letting me see who is in front of me, Lil. Her hair sets fire to the sky, her green eyes shine brightly at me as she stands next to me with a smile on her face. Next to her is Lucinda her hair isn’t as red as Lil’s but just as bright, next to her is the girl with brilliant blue eyes that seems to shine brighter than before.

“Yes get up son,” another face says. I turn behind me to see father standing amongst everyone.

“I didn’t die for nothing, Chase. I died so that you can win and end the reign of King Than,” Ironton says as he steps next to my father.

“What are you all doing here?” I ask. This has to be some dream or hallucination; they’re all dead they can’t be here right now.

“Where here because you’re giving up, Chase. We all didn’t die for nothing,” Lil says.

“I’m not giving up, I’m just drained and tired. I need water, now if you’ll excuse me I would like to go looking for water,” I say. I push past them and continue walking  towards the sun. Everyone pops up in front of me, I stagger backwards to avoid hitting them.

“There is no water, Chase. You have to kill him soon or you will die, and we would all have died for nothing,” Lucinda says.

“You don’t know that, there could be water over that hill,” I reply. I walk around them and begin to walk towards the hill.

“Chase, you need sleep your loosing it. If you get some sleep then you’ll be at your strongest to be able to defeat Damien,” Ironton says.

“No, I won’t be able to defeat him. Even by the slightest chance that I can, the King will have me executed before I even have a chance to register what happened,” I say as I stagger up the hill.

“The King can’t have you executed, not yet anyway. It was his own fault for letting Damien enter, he knew he might risk his own life for the well being of others,” Lucinda says.

“I need to find water, I’m so thirsty,” I state. I try to lick my lips but they are so dry it hurts my tongue. I look at my hands to see that I still have my hands wrapped with my shirt and begin to crawl up the hill.

“Chase, trust us there is no water on the other side,” father says. I don’t believe them I have to see if water is there, there just has to be water.

“You don’t know, there could be,” I reply back. They can’t give me false hope, there just has to be water, I need water or I will die. I hope there is water on the other side of this hill, it will give me so much energy and revive what is dying inside of me. I get to the top of the hill and stand up, on the bottom of the hill is a big pool of water. Everyone stands next to me, I smile at them and begin to run down to reach the pool of water. “I told you there was water.”

“Chase, that’s not water,” Lucinda says. I ignore her comment and continue running all the way down, I reach the bottom and jump into the pool of water, I make a cup with my hand and take a huge gallop of water.

“Are you okay, Chase?” Ironton asks me. I get up from the ground and look around me, the pool of water that was in front of me, is overtaken by sand. I begin to spit out the sand from my mouth scrapping any remaining sand from my tongue.

“Where did the water go?” I ask as I spin in a circle looking for any signs of water.

“There was no water, it was a mirage,” Lucinda explains to me.

“Now that we have this all settled, come with us, Chase. We will take you away from the darkness,” Ironton says.

“Why don’t you just leave me alone, I can do this myself,” I state. I turn away from them and walk towards the hill and begin to dig another hole.

“You need to go find Damien, Chase. You won’t last another day here, you have to go find him,” Lil says.

“No, you guys said yourselves that I am to weak. I am going to go to sleep and wake up at night time then I will go find Damien,” I reply.

“What about the Wasteland, Chase? At night is when the Wasteland comes out; you won’t be able to find him in that. Maybe when nightfall begins to fall and daylight begins to rise you will be able to find him, but you’ll be just as tired after the Wasteland,” Lucinda says.

“I can do it, I don’t care what you guys think I can do it. Now leave me alone, I want to get some sleep so I can kill Damien and get out of this hell hole,” I state.

“There is no escaping anything, you have to realize your fate,” Father says.

“What the hell is that supposed to me?” I ask.

“No matter what happens, if you win or die, your fate has already been decided. You have to make rational decisions, don’t go by what your heart tells you, but your brain,” father explains to me.

“But how will I know what is the right choice and what is the wrong?” I ask.

“You’ll just know my son, now go get some rest, tonight is going to be a very long and eventful night,” he says. He begins to walk away.

“Remember, Chase. What you see inside the Wasteland isn’t real at all,” Lucinda says.

“Goodbye, Chase. I love you,” Lil say following the others.

“Lil, did you suffer at all?” I ask before they completely disappear.

“I hardly felt anything, Chase,” she says with a weak smile on her face.

“I miss you, Lil. You don’t know how many times I wish it was me and not you,” I say. A tear rolls down my cheek and splatters onto the ground, I look towards the ground not wanting to show that I am crying.

“I know, Chase. But one day, you and me will be together again; but till then, will you win this for me, please?” she asks.

“I’ll try, I promise you that I will try to win for you,” I say. I look up to see that they all have vanished. I circle around to see their footprints but its like they were ghosts, no sign or evidence show they ever existed.

A breeze of wind touches down on the sand dune, kissing the back of neck. The cool air gives me some relief from the sun but not enough. I take one last look around to see if they will be returning, but I know that they are gone for good. I crawl into the shelter and think about what they had to say, about my fate already being decided. I take off my sword and place it on my stomach, I’ll only sleep for a few more hours then I’ll begin to look for Damien. One thing they said was right, I won’t last much longer out there, I have to kill Damien. As much as I like the guy, I didn’t come here to make a friend I came here to survive and win for my sister and that is what I am going to do.

I close my eyes and begin to drift off to sleep, wondering what my dreams will hold for me this time. Each time I’ve been having different dreams, both good and bad; I can see a family in my future but whether it is true or not I want that life. If only I can see my wife’s face or know her name, maybe its because I haven’t met her yet, either way; I want that life for myself. Maybe one day I will be able to get it. With that in mind I begin to fall asleep knowing that one day, everything will be different. I will never get to see my sister again, but she’ll never leave my heart, she’ll always be close by and I have to remember that.

I stand over Damien’s body, my hands stained red, red with all the blood of every victim I have killed. The portal opens next to me, I take in a deep breath pull my sword from Damien’s heart and walk into the portal. The sand dune disappears behind me, roaring cheers from the crowd draws me to the Kingdom; daylight blinds me as I step out of the portal and onto the platform.

“Congratulations to our winner—“ The King says but stops as he see its me and not Damien. The crowd still roars with excitement, King Than looks at me with an evil eye. “Congratulations to our winner, Chase Wentworth. Guards may you take our victor to his special chambers, I will be down shortly.”

The guards wrap their hands around my bicep and pull me from the platform and into the castle. The children run along side of me touching my arm then running away, or saying their glad that I won. But they don’t know exactly what is happening, but I do. The King has sentenced me to my death. I look back as the King leans into one of the guards points at his sword then back at me. Yes, sentenced to my death and there is nothing I can do about it. The guards take me inside and down the staircase into a dark room, which I assume is the dungeon. They open the door and throw me into the room.

“Good luck getting yourself out of this one, victor,” one of the guards says with a laugh. They shut the door behind them and walk away.

“Oh, I can’t wait for the King to kill him,” the other guard says. I look around the room to see what is inside it; there is only a bed and a sink inside the room. I rush over to the sink and turn it on, brown water comes out from it, I take a look at it and turn it off. My lips are still crusted with sand, my mouth still dry from the arena. I turn the water back on and cup my hand underneath and begin to drink from the water, At first it has a bit of an after taste, but after a few sips it goes down smooth and tastes refreshing. I chug down so much water that my stomach begins to ache; I walk over to the bed and lie down clenching onto my stomach. I close my eyes and drift off to sleep.

“Wake up,” a voice calls through the darkness. I roll over onto my side to see the King standing in a small shred of light. “I said get up.”

“No you didn’t you said wake up, and I did wake up,” I state.

“Don’t make me cut out your tongue,” he says.

“What does it matter to you, you’re here to kill me anyway,” I say.

“That maybe true, but not right now anyway. Right now I came here to ask you about my son,” he states.

“What about him?” I ask.

“You were the one to take his life, did he suffer much?” He asks me. I move from a laying position to a sitting and look at him, his face is sadden he won’t look me in the eye.

“No, it was quick,” I reply.

“Thank you, now guards!” He yells. Guards come running down and appear at his side. “Will you take Chase to the execution room and do what you do best.”

“Yes, my liege,” a guard says opening the door. King Than walks away from the door and out of the room, “Come with us.”

I get up from the bed and walk over to the guards they take me by the arm and walk me out of the cell and into the empty corridor. We walk down the hall and run into various people greeting me and congratulating me, I give them a fake smile as if I am happy that I won and give them the reaction that they wanted. The guards take me into an isolated part of the Kingdom and throw me into a large open room.

“What is this place?” I ask as I look around the room. There is only one weapon, a sword with a large table with straps on it.

“You must really be dumb,” a guard says.

“No, I just want to know exactly what this place is, is all,” I state.

“It’s where you are going to die, is that enough for you?” he asks. I nod my head inch away from the guards.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asks.

“Where can I go? No where I‘m just, taking a closer look around the room,” I say.

“I know what you’re doing, and your not going to get away with it,” he states.

“And what might that be?” I ask.

“Trying to get ahold of that sword,” he says. The guard walks over to me and grabs my arm and walks me over to the table. “Lie down.”

“Make me,” I laugh. The guard walks over to me and hits me in the back of the head with a hilt of a sword. I collapse to the ground; they pick up my body and place it on the table.

“Just did,” he laughs.

“If I get out of here, I will kill you,” I state clearly.

“Good luck with that, kid. You’ll never be getting out, okay the only way you’ll be getting out of here is in a trash bag, does that sound better for you?” he laughs.

“Oh yes, I like that better,” I say sarcastically. They strap me down to the table so that I can’t move. I try to move my arms but the straps are tightly bond.

“Told you, you won’t be getting out alive,” he says. I look up to the ceiling hoping that someone will come rescue me from my untimely death, but I know no one will come save me. “Are you ready?”

I don’t say a word knowing that my voice will be shaky; I just shake my head and close my eyes. I can hear the guard sharpening the sword; the sound of metal scratching stone sends chills up my spine. The guard puts down the stone and walks over to where I lie vulnerable. The guards footsteps echo through the empty and silent room; I can feel his breathing on top of me as he raises the sword at me. I wonder what death truly feels like, I’ve never truly experienced death I’ve only been close but have not actually felt it. Will it be quick or slow, will it be a long painful one or short? There is only way to find out, to truly die.

“Are you ready?” he asks.

“Just get it over with,” I reply. I turn my head to the side so he won’t get any reaction out of me. A small tear squeezes its way from my eye and runs down my cheek onto the table. The guard lets out a quick sigh; I can hear the blade touching air as it comes slicing down from the air onto my neck. I feel a slight pinch then everything goes black. That was it, death.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-one: THE WASTELAND

The sand shifts underneath me, stirring me from my sleep. I open my eyes to see the sand disappearing underneath me the grass taking its place gracing my fingers; trees sprout from the ground around me, and the Wasteland comes to live in front of my eyes. I bounce to my feet and stretch my body; I grab my sword and look around. The sun has disappeared and the moon is high in the sky lighting up the Wasteland. I take a few steps forward not knowing what to expect this time. A breeze of wind creases the back of my neck as it flows through the land, touching the trees branches. The owls hoot from the trees and stare at me with their big yellow eyes as I pass by. I tighten my hand around the sword waiting, just waiting for something to happen. The Wasteland is mostly quiet; the only noise I hear besides the owls is my footsteps.

I look up to the trees to see if there are any bodies in the trees this time, to my relief there are no bodies. I continue walking keeping my guard up for any sudden movements or noises, but so far the Wasteland is quiet as can be. I walk through bushes trying to cross the Wasteland when my pants get caught on a branch; I try to tug it free but it doesn’t appear to be affective, I grab my sword and cut through with the blade. The branch releases my pants but pulls back and slaps me in my stomach scratching my bare skin; blood begins to spill from the cuts, not much just a little. I wipe the blood away and continue my way through the Wasteland. I look over my shoulder to see if anyone is following me, but no one is behind me.

I get the feeling someone is watching me; I keep turning my head slightly to see if I can catch a glimpse of them or their movement. A soft melody plays driving me in a certain direction I reach a set of bushes and walk through it to see the moon shining its light on a small little pond, I lick my lips and look around to see if anyone is watching then I begin walking towards the pond as if it is calling me to it. I touch the edge of the pond and bend over and dip my hand into it. I’m not sure if it is real or just another mirage, the water glides over my hand, it’s real all right. I get down on my knees and cup my hand and put it into the water and take a sip. The water slides down my throat washing all the sand away.

“Come into the water,” a voice whispers.

I put my sword down on the ground and take off my shoes, sand pours from every end and never seems to stop. I place my sword next to my shoes; I take off my shirt from my head and put it on top of my shoes and sword. A little swim can’t hurt. I begin to walk into the pond, the water graces my skin washing all the sand and blood from my skin, giving me a clean slate. I dive under the water and swim around, something touches my skin; I open my eyes to see what is was, only to see big yellow eyes staring at me. I let out a scream loosing my breath of air. I kick to the surface when the creature wraps his fingers around me and pulls me deeper into the water.

“Come and play with me,” the voice whispers again.

I kick and squirm trying to get out of the creatures grip but nothing seems to work. My lungs begin to burn from having no air, everything begins to go blurry; I give one finally kick as the creature lets go and I swim back to the surface. I touch the surface and take a breath of air as I swim over to the edge of the pond to reach my sword; the creature surfaces and stretches its arm and grabs ahold of my leg and pulls me back under the water. I open my eyes to see the creature has a tail like a fish but a body like a human it has longwinded hair that flows in the water, sharp teeth and two arms.

“Come to the water and play with me, come be with me forever,” the creature whispers. The creature smiles at me making me melt, it begins to sing to me making me feel relaxed and confortable; I begin to swim towards the beautiful creature until I begin to run out of air breaking me from its trance. I kick the creature in the stomach until it releases me; I swim hard to the surface; once I break the surface I swim to the edge of the pond and grab my sword ready for the creature to attack me again. It surfaces and shows it razor sharp teeth at me; its yellow eyes stare into me.

“Come to the water,” the creature whispers into a song. I take a step forward, being drawn back to the beautiful creature, “that’s right come towards the water.”

“Don’t go to the water,” a voice whispers through the wind as it creases the back of my neck. I stop moving and stare at the creature; I draw my sword and take a step towards it.

“That’s right, come this way,” it says with a victory grin on its face. I stop at the edge of pond and let the creature come towards me, “Wise choice young boy.”

I take one more step towards the creature, tighten my hand around the hilt, then with one quick movement I jump into the air and slice the creature. It stumbles backwards opens its mouth, but retreats back into the water; the water turns crimson then disappears in front of me like it never existed. I sit down on the ground staring at what use to be a pond but all that exists is a few leaves. I close my eyes and let out a scream and rock back and forth, I don’t know how much more I can take of this, I need to finish this once and for all; its time to go looking for Damien. I get up from the ground walk over and put my shoes on and slide my shirt over my body.

“DAMIEN LETS END THIS HERE AND NOW!” I yell and wait for a reply. Not even the owls hoot, the Wasteland is completely silent. I stand there for a second to hear a reply but nothing, I grab the ends of my hair and let out a scream then I take off running. I don’t know where I’m going, just know that I have to get out of here. I run through bushes jump over logs, I just keep running until I can’t breath no more. I collapse to the ground gasping for air; I roll onto my back and look up at the trees and moon. I can feel the ground vibrate underneath me as someone approaches; I place my hand on my sword ready to make a move. I look backwards to see a figure standing over me, I pull my sword towards me but they step on the blade.

“I told you I would be back,” the voice whispers. I get up from the ground to see Lil standing over me. Now that I know this isn’t the real Lil, it’s just a figment of my imagination a fear I have. She’s not the same Lil I know, she’s more of an evil Lil only here to kill me. “Come with me, brother.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I state. I bend down to pick up my sword and punch her in the stomach; she stumbles backwards and off my sword. I pick it up swiftly before she can process the action. I point the sword at her and take a step towards her, “Like I said, I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Now, lets not do anything irrational, you don’t want to mistakenly kill your own sister, now do you?” she says. I take another step towards her.

“Your not my sister,” I say through my teeth.

“Just come with me, Chase and I will show you the truth,” she says stretching out her hand towards me.

“Truth about what?” I ask with curiosity.

“Everything,” she says with a crooked smile on her face.

“You have to be a little more specific,” I state. She begins to take a few steps, but not towards me around me. I follow her with my sword not taking an eye off her.

“Oh, you silly boy why don’t you just come with me and find out yourself,” she says again as she continues to circle around me.

“I would like to know what truth you are speaking of, but since you are not going to tell me, I guess all that is left is to kill you,” I state.

“Now lets not make an irrational decision. Come with me and you will have all the answers you want. As to why you were chosen, why your sister and father was killed and why your wolf was killed,” she says with a hint of victory in her tone, like she knows I will go with her.

“I already know the truth, and everything you will tell me will just be a lie, now get out of my way or I will stab you,” I say while grinding my teeth.

“Okay, I’ll show you where Damien is then,” she states. I lower my sword an inch at what she had just said. “Now that got your attention.”

“You don’t know where Damien is. You’re lying,” I reply.

“Am I? Why don’t you come with me and find out yourself? I promise you I won’t disappoint,” she replies. I take a step back and think about what she has to say. If she knows where Damien is I could end it here and now, but I don’t know if I can trust her, after all she doesn’t exist but I need to find Damien.

“Alright, take me to Damien, but don’t do anything foolish,” I say.

“Excellent,” she says. I point my sword at her gesturing her to move forward. “Don’t be so hostile brother, I’m moving.”

“Less talking more walking,” I state. She looks at me with an evil smile on her face then proceeds to move forward. She occasionally looks back at me to see if I’m following. We walk over broken trees, cross a blood river and begin to climb a hill. The wolves’ prowl around us there yellow eyes bearing into me as I stare at them as we walk by.

“There not going to attack unless I tell them to,” she says.

“Do you control everything inside here?” I ask. She turns her head over her shoulder and smiles at me.

“Not everything, but you shall see,” she replies.

“You better not be pulling anything, or I will kill you,” I state clearly.

“Oh brother, when will you learn, you can’t kill what is already dead,” she says with an evil laugh that feels like spiders are crawling up by body.

“What about that little girl, she died? Those wolves took her away,” I state.

“You didn’t kill her, she was just—defective and I went and fixed her. Would you like to meet her again?” She says with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

“I think I will pass on that. How much further until we reach Damien?” I ask.

“Oh, we have a long ways to go, I thought we could take a little detour first,” she says. I stop in my tracks and stare at her. She turns around and smiles at me. “What is it brother?”

“You were supposed to take me to Damien, but instead you are taking me on a detour? Why I just want to get out of here and you aren’t make that happen,” I state clearly. Lil begins to walk over to me but I take a step forward not letting her get any closer to me.

“I am taking you to him, its just we have to cross a certain plane before we can reach where Damien is. I don’t want to cross that plane though because it is dangerous, and well—you’ll die,” she explains to me.

“What kind of plane is it?” I ask.

“You don’t want to know, now just follow me and we’ll reach him by morning,” she says.

“How much quicker is taking the plane?” I ask.

“To reach Damien going through the plane we’d be there in like, twenty minutes,” she says.

“Then take my through the plane,” I say pointing my sword at her.

“It’s your death wish,” she says as she turns left and continues walking. I follow behind her, taking steeps over fallen logs. We walk through a thick brush and onto a wooden bridge; underneath the bridge flows blood with bones sticking out, skulls surface staring at me, some flesh still lingers on the cheekbones. I hear a sudden cracking noise when I take a step, I look down to see that I had stepped on a hand; I lift up my foot to see it shatter to hundreds of small pieces. I kick the pieces into the blood and continue following behind Lil.

“How much longer till we reach the plane?” I ask.

“Oh, were almost there,” she says without looking behind her. We turn a corner and begin to ascend a hill; Lil seems to just float up the mountain while I stagger tripping over broken branches and small pebbles of rocks. She lets out a small giggle as I curse going up the hill behind her; she stops a few feet a head of me; I climb up next to her to see what she is staring at. In front of me lies a large plane with molting lava and fire, then beyond that is a stretch of woods.

“That is the plane?” I ask her.

“ Yes, I told you that you might want to take the longer way,” she states.

“Oh yes because I knew exactly what the plane was. Well there is no turning back now, we must go through with it,” I say. I begin to walk down the hill towards the plane; Lil stands on the hill not moving in inch. “Aren’t you coming?”

“Yes, of course,” she says taking a few steps forward. I continue walking down the hill wanting to make up sometime; I look up to the sky to see the moon is still high; daylight won’t be coming around for a few hours. I reach the bottom of the hill and the shore of the plane, molting lava covers most of the land I look around to see if there is any sort of a bridge to cross but the only way to cross the lava is a path of stones that moves with the lava.

“Is there a safer way to cross then those?” I ask pointing at the stones.

“Afraid not,” she says. As much as this girl reminds me of Lil, I have to keep in mind she is not the Lil I grew up with. I have a bad feeling something is going to happen a long this way, she hasn’t pulled any stunts like she did the other night, she has to have something in store for me, now what can it possible be? I can’t trust her, but I can hope that she is showing me how to get to Damien and isn’t lying and showing me to my death.

“Why don’t you cross first then?” I say. I’m not going to be the first one to cross then have her push me into the lava and die. I have to stay forced, I am here to find Damien and I will kill him so that I can go home and try and live a normal life.

“Oh, no you go first,” she says. I look her straight in the eye and can even she is afraid of the plane. I take on breath and point my sword at her.

“Move, I don’t trust you,” I explain.

“You should trust me, brother,” she says.

“I am not your brother, you tried to kill me the other night. What have you done for me to trust you? Now move, or I will just kill you here and now and I will go by myself,” I state.

“I didn’t try and kill you, you took off running before I could explain anything. And you need me to show you where Damien is,” she explains.

“Yeah right, you would have tried to kill me if you got the chance. Now move, I don’t need you to find him but it would sure speed up the process,” I explain.

“Okay, don’t have to be so hostile,” she laughs. I point my sword back at her and she advances onto a stone. “Don’t loose your balance or you’ll fall in.”

“You don’t think I don’t know that,” I reply. I put my sword away that way I can have my hands free to keep my balance steady. Lil moves onto the next stone and I take her place on the old one. As I put my weight on the stone I can feel it sink a little into the lava, the stone weaves back and forth as it tries and lines back up with the path. Lil moves to the next stone leaving one vacant for me, I place my foot on the empty one but the stone moves away from mine. I stumble back onto my stone; I flap my arms in the air to regain my balance. Lil looks back and laughs at me. I regain my balance and wait for the stone to fall back into sync, I quickly leave my stone behind and take the next stone before it moves out of place again.

“Be careful or you will fall in,” Lil states as she moves to the next stone. I look behind me to see that we haven’t made any distance, we may have made at least twenty feet from the shoreline, and we still have another hundred feet to go before we are safe out of harms way. I wait for the next stone to line up with mine then I walk onto it, Lil still hasn’t moved to the next one she waits for it to line up.

“Can we move a little faster please? I’m starting to sweat over here,” I state. I wipe the sweat off my brow; I look behind to see the lava begins to eat the stones we have already used. Move a little faster please, the stones are disappearing.”

“Shut up, I’m going as fast as I can,” she says sternly. The stone I stand on sways next to hers the bottom of my stone begins to sink into the lava a little, the lava runs up the stone beginning to touch my feet. I jump from my stone to hers knocking her off balance. “I told you not too—“

“MOVE!” I yell at her as her eyes widen seeing the stones begin to disappear underneath the molting lava. She takes on step back and jumps to the next stone, I take one breath and follow behind her. “You’re still going to have to move faster then that, or do you want to be killed?”
 “If I try and jump I will be killed anyways, I’m waiting for the stones to line up, be patient,” she says as she jumps to the next stone. I look behind me to see that the stone I’m on begins to sink, Lil’s stone is to far me to jump but the stone is beginning to sink quickly. I take one breath then jump to Lil’s stone hoping it’s enough for me to make it. I hover over the lava for what feels like hours knowing that I won’t make it to Lil’s stone that I will just fall to my death straight into the lava. I close my eyes hoping the pain won’t be as awful as what it may feel like, I feel a hand wrap around my wrist; I open my eyes to see Lil has stretched her arm out of to grab me and pull me onto the stone. Her arm shrinks back to normal size, I lose my balance and bump Lil; she begins to stumble and looses her balances and falls into the lava.

I cringe as her body slowly begins to burn as she sinks into the lava. Her flesh begins to melt off her and dissolving into the lava. I look away from the awful sight and notice my stone is beginning to sink, with not enough time to think I jump to the next stone. As soon as my feet left the stone it sank into the lava, I take in a deep breath and jump to the next stone as soon as it lines up with mine, the next one lines up almost immediately I jump without hesitation. I only have a few more stones to jump; I am almost there, but not knowing where Damien is going to be the tricky part—which I will have to do on my own.

I take another deep breath and jump to the next stone that lines up with mine, I land safely on my feet but I lose my balance a little and flare my arms in the air like a chicken. I catch my balance and jump to the next stone, only three more to go, I can do this. The lava begins to rise around me making me feel like I am surfing the stone. It begins to weave going a little faster making it harder to jump to the next stone without falling into the lava. I stop and take a breath and wait for the right moment, I have to jump before it is even in line with my stone, jump to soon and I burn to a crisp and jump to late and I still burn to a crisp. I only have a one and three chance of getting this right so I must be absolutely sure that it is the precise moment. I close my eyes and feel the way the stone moves under me how it’s a beat following a musical rhythm. I have to jump now; I jump off my stone and float in the air until my feet graze a smooth surface. I open my eyes and look behind me to see the stone being swallowed by the lava; without hesitation I listen to the beat and jump to the next stone. One last stone then solid ground, you can do this, I see the stone weaving towards me and jump onto it; my feet land softy on it then I jump to solid ground instantly. I follow to the ground and is it as if it were a girl I was in love with.

I follow onto my back and begin to cry, I have never been so happy to see solid ground before or be out of harms away. Everything begins to build and I can’t take it much more, its like that day when I kept laughing, it just becomes too much. Everything that possible can happen has happened to me and I don’t know why I deserved it. Tears stream down my cheek as I try and gasp for air, it feels like I am drowning from my own tears, I have to pull myself together, I made it across the plane I have to go and find Damien now. I wipe away my tears and get up and stare at the stone path that is no longer there, and with one last look I turn and begin to walk away.

“You bastard,” a voice calls out. I stop in my balance. “How could you have let me fall into the lava?”

“I didn’t, I mean I didn’t mean to,” I say as Lil beings to crawl out of the lava. Her face is completely gone all that remains is her skull. She picks herself up when she gets out from the lava and begins to head over to me.

“Do I disgust you?” she asks. I begin to gag when she gets closer to me; the smell of bunt flesh still clings to her body.

“Stay away from me,” I state as I pull my sword out and point it at her. She cocks her head at me like a lost puppy.

“Why, don’t you want me to find Damien for you?” She asks at my hostile gesture.

“I’ll find Damien myself, now please leave!” I ask again taking a few steps back from her.

“But Chase, I am only here to help you,” she says.

“I highly doubt you are trying to help me in any way. I’m going to back away slowly now, if you try and follow me I will kill you with my sword,” I explain as I back away from her.

“But brother, how can you be this mean to me?” she asks.

“I’m not your brother,” I say. Lil stands there with no eyes no flesh, nothing clinging to her body she’s just a pile of bones. I turn and run away, running into the woods away from the planes and away from the crazy dead girl who claims to be my sister. I turn my head to see that she is still standing there in disbelief, I continue running until the planes go out of sight and the woods completely surround me. I can sense that she’s still staring at my body that is now out of sight but I don’t dare look back to see if she’s following behind me or not.

I stop running and begin to do a steady walk wanting to take in my surroundings. Something wet begins to drip onto of my head, I wipe my hand on top to see its red—blood again. I look up to see what is hanging from the trees this time, bodies heads what. When I gaze up I don’t see anything-large hanging in the tree but I do see something dangling from it. I put my sword away and walk over to the nearest tree and begin to climb it, I climb to the closest branch and crawl onto it. A string is tied to a tree and something is attached to it, I wrap my legs around the branch to keep me from falling off. I reach for the string and pull it up, its heavy but not that heavy, I pull it up all the way to the branch and set it down. My heart stops for a second, why are there hearts dangling from trees? This place is just beginning to creep me out more and more. I push the heart off the branch and sit there for a few seconds, this place is just becoming too much for me, I have to find Damien and find a way out of here. I begin to back off the branch when I hear the brush moving, I stop and pull up my feet from the tree, I lie down on the tree my stomach on the branch. I wait for the creature or person to emerge; I place my hand on my sword waiting for when I have to use it.

I stop breathing, not wanting anyone to know that I am up here. The brush moves again, but nothing comes out from it. I grab my sword and slowly bring it to my right hand, I shift my position and grab the string that holds the heart, I slowly begin to cut the string. Once I feel the line go slack I bring the heart up to hold while I put my sword away. I let the string run down my fingers until I feel the end, I swing it back and forth then I throw it close to the brush as possible. It thumps on the ground and rolls around; I lie back in the position I was in earlier and wait for the creature to come out. I hold my breath as a hand appears from the brush, then another hand. It pats around for the heart, but its out of reach. Finally the creature emerges from brush, its face is half gown, it has brown fur but its not a wolf, or any creature I haven seen before I don’t know exactly what it is. It looks human but its hunched over and walks on all fours, its ears are shaped like a wolf but pulled back, it has human feet and hands but is larger than normal.

The creature walks over to the heart grabs it with its hands and falls onto its butt and begins to eat it. I begin to gag in my throat as it eats it; blood begins to splatter from its mouth, the creature looks at me as I make vial sounds, its glares at me as I lay on the branch still not wanting to make any movements. It springs to hits hind legs and jumps into the air grabbing the branch that I am perched on. It wraps its arms around the branch and pulls it up until it is eye level with me; it licks its lips at as if I am food to him. I push up and back up away from the creature. I place one foot in front of the other and begin to climb down the tree, the creature walks over to me its vacant eyes staring straight at me like its about to eat me for dinner or something. It sticks its tongue at me like a frog stretching it extremely long; it wraps it around my wrist and pulls me to it. I dangle from the tree with its tongue around me; it begins to retract its tongue back pulling me with it. I pull my arm back trying to pull the creature to me but its to strong; I grab my sword from the side and slice the creatures tongue off. I fall to the ground and land in a crotch like a cat does. The creature’s tongue releases my wrist and jumps to the ground squirming like a worm; it stares at me from the tree above holding its mouth. I tighten my hand around the hilt of my sword and begin to run away from the creature.

It springs from the tree and pursues me; I jump over trees, bushes and continue running. I turn around to see it jumping the bush and coming after me; I stop in my place and turn to face the creature. It stops a few feet away from me and opens its mouth; the tongue begins to grow back in front of my eyes. It flings its tongue at me but I cut it off in one swift moment, the tongue falls to the ground the creature looks me dead in the eye and jumps into the air. I grab my sword swinging it at the creature, it lands a few feet behind me, I turn around to see it open its mouth and lets out a high-pitch screech that makes me fall to my knees. I collapse to the ground grabbing my ears trying to keep the sound out; it sounds like someone is scratching their nails on a chalkboard but a hundred times worse. A warm substance oozes from hears; it stops screeching and stands there looking at me, I push up to a standing position. I sway like a drunken person, I bend down and grab my sword, I wipe the substance off my ears to see that its blood. The creature continues to stand there watching me.

“JUST KILL ME!” I shout at it. It cocks his head at me like a puppy then walks over to me. I tighten my hand on my sword as it approaches me, thinking it’s going to take me up on that offer. It stops just a foot away from then sticks out its tongue and licks my face. I nudge my head on my shoulder trying to wipe off the saliva. It gets closer and rubs its head on my knee, gesturing like a dog for attention. I pat it on the head scratching it by its ear, its right foot begins to twitch as I scratch behind its ear; it licks my face again. “Your not dangerous are you?”

The creature falls onto his back wanting me to pet it more. I scratch its stomach as it flares its tongue like an excited puppy. I sit down next to it continuing to scratch as my mind begins to wonder. The moon begins to fall which means daylight is on its way and the wasteland will vanish in a bit, I’ll have to find Damien before the sun rises or it maybe impossible. Last time the Wasteland was about to vanish I ran into Ironton well Ironton ran into me, maybe that will happen again this time. I push up from the ground grabbing my sword, the creature rolls over onto his paws and stands there staring at me.

“Do you know where Damien is?” I ask the creature. It lifts its head into the air and begins to sniff around like what Avari use to do. “Did you find a scent boy?”

He puts his head down and looks at me then points his head to his back. I climb onto his back I look for something to hold onto when a rope appears around his neck letting me hold onto it. Before I can gesture anything the creature takes off, my hair flows through the wind as it begins to pick up speed, jumping over trees, rivers of blood and other obstacles that are in our way. The sun begins to raise right in front of us, knowing that we won’t have enough time to make it to Damien unless we run into him in the next thirty minutes. The creature keeps running as fast as it can, heading where I cannot be to sure.

“Please tell me, we are heading towards Damien?” I ask. The creature looks back at me and almost smiles at me. I lift my head in the air and smell a familiar scent, lava. Its taking me straight to the planes, we run up a hill and it stops at the peak and lies down. The plane lies in front of me, the stone path has aligned itself back together for a person to pass. Damien sits on a stone in the middle of the lava; his bow strapped over his shoulder and is hand burned to a crisp. I climb off the creature and begin to run down the hill. Damien looks up and jumps onto the stone.

“You here to help me kid? Or just kill me so you can go home?” Damien asks. I reach the store of the lava and look at Damien.

“I’m here to help you, I won’t kill you until its fair game,” I state.

“Why do you care? I’m going to die no matter what, why not just kill me and get it over with already?” Damien asks as he examines his surroundings.

“Because I believe in a fair fight, and right now letting you die this way isn’t really a fair fight now is it?” I ask him.

“I guess you are right, now tell me how to get out of this. I don’t want to die this way, I’d rather die by your sword then anything else,” Damien says. I laugh and examine the stones, they still move in the similar pattern as it did for me. Damien has about five stones until he reaches the shoreline.

“You’ll have to time it just right to jump to the next stone, soon they will begin to disappear into the lava. You have to hurry,” I state. Damien looks at me then stares at the stone, he rocks back and forth as if he’s about to jump then he sits back down on the stone.

“I can’t do it, I’ll just sit here,” he says.

“No, you can and you will do this. I will help you through this,” I say.

“How are you going to help me? You going to walk through the lava or something, other than that you can’t help me,” he says sternly.

“I’ve done this before, now just listen to me and you’ll be able to make it to the shore safely,” I state.

“Then what are you going to do, kill me on sight? I’d rather wait here for the sun to go down then to have you help me and kill me right after,” he states.

“Stop being so stubborn and let me help you. I promise that I won’t kill you right when you make it to shore, I never break a promise and I’m not going to stop now.

Now let me help you or I will just leave you here and we’ll never be able to finish this once and for all, because once the Wasteland disappears the dunes comes back and I highly doubt we will be able to find each other. Now do as I say,” I explain to Damien. He stands back up and stares at me.

“Okay. I trust you, please explain to me what I have to do,” he replies.

“When I tell you to jump, jump. If you don’t you will perish in the lava and well, that will be your own fault,” I explain.

“Okay,” he replies. I watch the stones as they move back and forth. The stones separate from one another, the stone he stands on is about to align with the one next to him.

“Jump now!” I shout. Damien doesn’t hesitate and jumps to the next stone, perfectly in the middle and didn’t even loose his balance. I look at the lava to see it is beginning to shallow the stones. “Okay, you are going to have to hurry, the lava is going to start taking over the stones and if you don’t hurry you will suffer a painful death.”

“Okay, just tell me when to jump then, kid,” he says. I look at the stones trying to feel the beat from the shoreline; they sway in the musical movement waiting for their entrance.

“Jump!” I shout again. Damien jumps and lands on the next stone “Jump again.”

He jumps to the next stone and then finally to the shoreline; he falls back onto his back and lies there catching his breath. I stand there not knowing what to do, finally after everything he is right in front of me; it will be easy to kill him but I just don’t know if I can kill him right away, but I may not get the chance again. I sit next to him and lie down also. The sun begins to rise and the moon begins to fall, I look around to see the Wasteland begins to dematerialize around us. The trees begin to disappear; the grass underneath sinks back into the earth and the sand begins to fill around us getting into my clothes. I watch as the world of the wasteland disappears around Damien and I, which means that we will have to start killing each but right now we just don’t have the energy to move or do anything, we just lie there looking at the sun waiting for someone to make the first move.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Two: GOODBYES END IN BLOOD

Neither of us moves or say a word, we both know that in a few moments someone will have to die. The portal will open in front of the winner letting us enter back into the Kingdom and see everyone and show the crowd who the winner is. I know how it will end for me if I win, death no matter what truly happens I will have to face death. I will end up in a small jail for killing the Kings son, but truth be honest it is the Kings fault for endangering his sons life to get back at me for something I had no control of—my father. This all goes back to a grudge between him and my father.

The sun beats down on us draining all my energy and I can only imagine how much it is taking away from Damien. The heat beats down on me making me begin to sweat; I wipe away the beads and roll over to my side to see Damien sleeping. He must have not slept this entire time; I put my hand to my sword thinking this will be the best way to kill him. He stirs and rolls over to his side, I move my hand from my sword and get up and walk a few feet away from him and stare at his sleeping body. I won’t kill him this way, but I won’t let him get the jump on me. We will have a fair fight, sword against bow, maybe even just hands. I’ll let Damien sleep for a little longer then I will wake up him so we can finish this once and for all.

My eyes begin to drift asleep as I watch Damien’s sleeping body. I force myself to stay awake not wanting to give Damien the satisfaction of killing me in my sleep. Would Damien kill me in my sleep? There’s just something about him that makes me think he would, just because he knows that I am strong when it comes to my sword, but everything that we have done for each other makes me think that he wouldn’t. I’m not to sure when it comes to him, we’ve been through a lot together in this short time, he’s grown on me and I don’t think that I can kill him in cold blood without him trying to kill me.

No matter what happens out here, I did all I could to win for Lil. I will get to see her soon enough, father better be taking good care of her in Heaven. Heaven that sounds like a wonderful place right now I bet it has water, water how much I would love to drink it and cool off my throat. I won’t miss this place at all, I can’t wait to leave and show Burke that I was able to win this thing after all. Everything has changed, I’ve changed; I’m no longer the person that signed up for the tournament, I entered to win money for my sister not knowing what I was getting myself into. I became a blood thirst person wanting to take revenge on the person who ruined my family; I killed a girl because she was trying to kill me. In the past I would have never done that, but this tournament changes people, it changes you to what they want you to be. I’ve nearly lost my mind because of the things I have done, I still don’t know if half the stuff was real or a hallucination I guess I will never know the true answer to that.

Damien continues to stir again; he rolls around in the sand until he opens his eyes and stares right at me. He jumps into the air and grabs his bow and an arrow and points it right at me. I don’t flinch; I just sit here looking at him waiting for him to realize that I am not going to attack him first. He shakes his head making all the sand fly into the air. I shift my hand to my sword not much it will do when he has a long distance weapon; if only I didn’t forget my bow back in the damn shelter.

“Calm down, I won’t kill you,” I say. Damien continues to stare me down with his bow waiting for me to make the first move.

“How can I be so sure?” he asks.

“For one thing, you have a bow I have a sword. You can shot me before I can even get up and charge after you. Now who do you really think has a chance here?” I ask. Damien shifts his weight to his other leg then lowers his weapon. He walks over and sits next to me; he puts the arrow back but holds onto the bow.

“You have a point, ha. Why don’t you have a ranged weapon you idiot?” he asks.

“Believe it or not, I actually forgot it back in one of my home made shelters,” I state.

“Home made shelter? How did you make a shelter out here?” he asks me scratching the top of his head.

“It wasn’t hard at all, I just dug a hole in the side of one of these hills, did you not sleep at all?” I ask. He has black rings under his eyes from lack of sleep.

“No, I was looking for Ironton most of the time, and to find out you killed him kind of makes me a little jealous,” he replies.

“Why are you jealous?” I ask.

“Because, I wanted to be the one to kill him I don’t know why but I just do,” he replies.

“So, how are we going to do this?” I state.

“Do what,” he says.

“How are we going to start killing one another, I mean its going to be really awkward if I just pull my sword out right now and kill you. How should we start this, because I kind of want to get out of here already. I have sand in places where you never want sand at,” I state.

“No matter what its unfair, you have a sword and I don’t, then I have a bow and you don’t. Maybe we should go without weapons?” he asks.

“Okay no weapons, but how to we start?” I ask again. Damien looks at me then looks into the sky.

“I’ve always liked you, kid. There has been something about you that just makes me like you. I really hate for you to be the one to die, but I promised my father that I would kill you. He tried to kill you but he failed on himself,” he says. I look at him seeing what he is doing; he’s trying to make me throw the first punch, starting the fight.

“Your father is a jackass for trying to kill me, you know he pretty much destroyed my life by killing my father. He should be the one to have died not my father,” I reply back. Damien pushes himself from a sitting position to a standing and stares at me.

“Your father was a piece of shit for cheating with my mom,” he says. I jump up after him, my hands tightened into a ball ready to hit him across the face if he says on more word.

“Well you’re a bastard child, did you know that. You might be my bro—“ I say when Damien slams his fist into my cheek. I stumble backwards as I touch my hand to my face; I take in a deep breath and charge at Damien. I throw my shoulders into his stomach sending both of us into the sand; I press my knee into his stomach as I slam my fists into his face. He tries to grab my wrists but fails to control me. I press my knee harder into his stomach until he can finally land a punch into my head making me slide off him. He begins to kick me in the side of my stomach, his foot slamming into my ribs; it feels like they are about to crack with every blow he lands.

I grab his leg and pull him into the sand with me; I climb back on top of him and slam another blow into his mouth. Blood begins to trickle down a corner of his mouth where my fist collided against it. He puts his hand up to his face for protection; I press my forearm into his throat cutting off his airway. Damien begins to hit me on the side of the head to get away from me, finally after three blows I let go and spring up and begin to kick him in the side seeing how he likes being kicked in the ribs. Damien reaches his hand into the sand and throws it at me; I cover my face before it can burn my eyes, he chargers at me sending me on my ass. I push him away and roll onto my side and get up.

“This isn’t going to work,” I say trying to catch my breath. Damien hunches over and grabs his knee taking in deep breaths.

“I was thinking the same thing,” he says. I grab my sword pull it out and charge after him, he throws sand at me making me stumble back and unable to see. “I thought we said no weapons?”

“How else are we supposed to kill each other then?” I state.

“True,” he says pulling out a knife from his boot. He holds it out like it’s the size of my sword.

“How’s that little thing going to protect you,” I laugh. He puts on a serious face as he begins to charge after me. I hold out my sword ready for him to come at me, but he runs behind me and jumps into the air. His knife sinks into my back; I kick him in the stomach sending him a few feet away from me. Blood begins to ooze out of the back, I reach one hand behind my back; I bite down on my tongue as I pull the knife out and throw it on the ground.

“Hurt didn’t it?” Damien laughs. I wrap both hands around the hilt of my sword and charge after Damien. He looks around and see’s his bow a few feet away from him, he shifts left and chargers to the bow. He does a summersault and grabs his bow; I change directions and rush after him again. He puts an arrow between the wood and string of the bow and lets it release, I dodge the arrow and gain more speed. I spring into the air and line my sword up against Damien but he releases another arrow at me. It sticks me in the stomach, Damien moves and my sword collides with sand. I fall to the ground with an arrow sticking out of my stomach, I pull it out and throw it at Damien; then I begin to crawl to my sword. I wrap my fingers around the hilt as I wait for Damien to come over to me. I look at the sand to see blood turning the brown sand to a bright red; I wrap my free hand around the wound trying to stop it from bleeding. Damien walks over to where I lay and kicks me in the stomach. I close my eyes acting like I am dead to get him to come closer to me. My hand tightens around the hilt of the sword ready to place this right into his stomach.

“I know your not dead, the portal would have opened already if you were,” Damien says. I can hear him pull another arrow out placing it between the wood and the string.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper as I grab my sword and jab it straight into Damien’s stomach. He lets out a sigh as he stumbles backwards; I pull the sword out and get up.

Damien grabs his stomach and falls onto his back. I walk over to him with my sword in my hand; blood leaks out of his nose and mouth, his breathing becomes shallow as he tries to steady his heartbeat.

“I’m sorry.”


“I’m not, you did what you had to do. But I am sorry for your fate though,” he says. He takes in a deep breath then lets it out. “You know my father is going to have you killed as soon as you exit the portal.”


“I know, but I think Arlene and Mitt have something planned to save me from your father’s fate, I hope,” I reply back. I kneel next to Damien and put pressure on his wound that I made.

“I’m glad that I died by your hand and no one else’s,” he says. “There is something you should know, I want you to ask Arlene about this when you see him.”

“What is it?” I ask. He takes in another deep breath and looks me in the eyes.

“Our companions that we get, they have a living soul inside them. A piece of someone’s soul that we love gets attached to our companion as they are growing; and I believe that your sister Lil’s soul was attached—to your wolf,” Damien says. I cock my head to the side and look at him lost. “I know what you must be thinking, but its true. It makes us try and keep them alive longer. Just ask Arlene and he will give you the full detail of it.”

It doesn’t make sense, but then at the same time it does. The green eyes that were as bright as Lil, Lil was always told if I was hurt to go running for help, Avari did that when I went after the pack of wolves. Everything is beginning to make sense now, that is why Avari never stayed with me often—it was Lil. I look at Damien with tears beginning to fall from my face onto his wound. I rub my face on my shoulder trying to hide my weakness in front of him.

“I’m sorry, I know my father killed your entire family,” he says with a glisten of a tear in his eye.

“I will kill your father and avenge my family, and I will also avenge your mothers death,” I say. Damien gives me a weak smile and reaches his hand out towards me. I grab his hand and hold it.

“I loved my mother and despise my father. Please make him suffer the way he made her,” he says. “Promise me?”

“I promise you,” I reply. Tears continue to flow down my cheek splattering onto to Damien.

“You were the best friend that I never had,” he says as a tear tumbles down his cheek.

“I’m sorry I wish it didn’t have to end this way, I wish none of this had to end this way. You and Lucinda, I never thought I would make friends in this god awful places, but you know what people say; you make friends under the worst circumstances,” I state.

“To be honest, you would have had a chance with her if we weren’t in this situation I think you would have a real chance being with her, but that doesn’t matter right now, what matters is you finishing me once and for all,” he says.

“You want me to finish you off?” I ask.

“Yes, I’m going to die no matter what why don’t you just end it quicker so you can go back quicker. Just finish me please,” he begs.

“No! I have already inflicted enough damage I’m not going to speed up the process. I’m going to sit right here until you die,” I say.

“Why?” He asks.

“Because that’s what friends do, but in reality friends don’t kill friends,” I explain.

“So you’re calling me a friend?” he says with a smile on his face.

“Yes, you are my friend. Like I said earlier I never thought I would make friends here. I think the loose of blood is getting to you,” I state.

“No not at all, I’m perfectly fine. You know you look so beautiful,” Damien says.

“Yeah, you have lost a lot of blood if you’re calling me beautiful,” I laugh. Damien sits up and puts a hand on my cheek. I jump up and back away from him. “Little creepy there man.” I wipe my cheek where he put his hand at, smearing blood all over my face.

“I can see the light, kid,” he says as he falls back onto his back. I walk over to him and kneel by his side.

“Go towards the light, your mother is waiting for you, Damien,” I reply.

“Kid, my mother is calling for me. I should go towards her,” he says. His skin begins to go pale from the loose of blood. Tears continue to run down my face falling onto the sand.

“Yes, go to your mother. Tell my father that I will be joining them soon, tell him I love him,” I say wiping my face. I fall onto my butt and lean over onto Damien’s body. “Tell him, that I did everything I could.”

“He says, he loves you and is proud of you. Your sister is here to,” he says as he stares into nothingness. “She loves you too.”

“You see Lil, you see my sister?” I ask.

“Bye, kid. It is time for me to go,” he says. I continue to cry as Damien’s soul begins to leave his body leaving an empty shell right in front of me. His chest stops moving as his breathing stops.

“See you in a bit, buddy,” I say as I run my hand over his eyes closing them. “Rest in peace.”

I collapse onto of his body crying, so much has happened to me that I can’t control anything right now. I just killed my best friend, the girl that I could have possible have loved; I have nothing left. I wipe my hand across my face smearing it more with Damien’s blood. I look at my hands then begin to rub my face trying to get his blood off. I grab some sand to rub it on my skin but it doesn’t work. I sit back down and watch as the portal opens in front of me.

I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long, but yet I can’t get myself to get up and walk through. I sit and wait, waiting for a motivation for me to get up. I should have let Damien live instead of me; I will have no future once I enter through the portal. I will be caged like animal; I won’t be on display but I’ll be locked away from the rest of the world; waiting for the King to decide what to do with me. But I promised Damien that I will avenge his mother and my family and that is what I am going to do. Or at least try. I see Damien’s knife laying a few feet away from me, I crawl over and pick it up and examining it. It’s the same knife I gave Lucinda when I was teaching her how to protect herself. Funny how the universe works, I never thought I would ever see this knife again. I stand up putting the knife in my pocket, easy access for me to pull out at any time.

I look back over at Damien’s body to see transparent figures standing next to him, pulling his soul from his body. Blue eyes, Lil, Lucinda, Father, Ironton, Brian everything I have ever killed or lost stands next to Damien’s body. Every one of them died with blood being spilled, all my goodbyes end in blood, goodbyes will always end in blood with me. I watch as Damien joins them and stares at me; they wave at me and smile. In a blink of an eye they vanish in front of me leaving me alone in this place where death is all around me. I turn towards the portal with my hand on the sword ready to use it any moment. I take one last deep breath and look around this place.

“The blood will never stop flowing, will it,” I say as I walk into the portal and to my death. The sand dunes disappear behind me as I walk towards the light in the Kingdom, cheers and whoops fill the portal, as I get closer to the Kingdom. I feel the transition from sand to solid ground as I step onto Kingdom land. Every one has come to join in the celebration, King Than has his back turned away from me. He spins around with a smile on his face till he see’s its me; his smile turns into a frown.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Three: THE BEGINNING TO THE END

King Than glides over to me and puts on a fake smile, he places his hand on my shoulder and spins me around for the crowd to see me. The crowd goes crazy and begins to scream yelling my name; it fills me with a little joy but at the same time a little guilt knowing that I had to kill the prince to get here. I put on a fake smile just as the King does and begin to please the crowd; I spin around to see Arlene standing behind the Kings guards giving me a huge smile. I bow my head at him thanking him for everything, and letting him know that he better have a plan to get me out of this mess.

“Congratulations, Chase Wentworth you’re are new victor. How does it feel to be the winner of this tournament?” King Than asks me. I look him in the eye and see hatred in his eyes.

“What is it supposed to feel like? I had to kill people to just survive, it’s not an honor it’s a guilt that I have to live with for the rest of my life. There blood is on me and never will leave me,” I state as I take a step back from him. I place my hand on my pocket getting ready to pull out the knife when he turns towards me.

“But now you will get all the riches you want, you can live a better life then you were ever able to have before,” he states.

“Stop putting on a show and tell everyone why I am here to begin with,” I say clearly. He places his hand on my shoulder and squeezes it very tightly letting me know I am crossing a very thin line.

“Oh, silly boy you know why you are here. You are here because you won, you out witted everyone else and made it to the top,” he says with laughter behind it. I tuck my hand into my pocket and wrap my fingers around the hilt of the knife.

“I promised your son something, do you want to know what it was?” I ask. My lips begin to curl into a smile as he turns his head to answer.

“And what might that be?” He asks.

“To avenge his mothers death, and I am here to honor that,” I say. Before he has time to react I pull the knife out of my pocket and stab him in the chest. I pull the knife back out and stab him in the chest again. He stumbles backwards; I kick him in the stomach sending him to fall on the ground. The entire Kingdom goes quiet as they witness the murder of their King. I spring on top of King Than stabbing him in the stomach. The guards scramble over and pull me off him, but I fight back; I stab one of the guards in the stomach and pull out, I drop the knife and pull out my sword and swing it around at the guards. They all appear in completely astonishment as I twirl the sword in my hand. They don’t know what to do, because nothing like this has ever happened to them before. They begin to advance on me; I take a step back and look at the King who lies on the floor blood seeping from the wounds that I inflicted upon him. I look behind me to see Arlene shaking his head at me, like I just made a big mistake.

I look at the guards as they drive me into a corner, then back at the citizens who are upset and awed at the incident. I look at my hands to see them stained with his blood and the blood of his son. This isn’t how I wanted things to end; I drop my sword and place my hands in the air letting the guards put my under arrest and take me to my chamber. One guard points the sword at me another walks behind me putting my arms together and tying them with a piece of rope.

“You are under arrest for the attempted assassination of the King,” the guard behind me says. He pushes me forward telling me to move, I begin to take my steps forward. They weave me through the still crowd and to my new home until something is decided. I look behind me to see Arlene assisting the King trying to heal his wounds. I let out a poof of air and close my eyes as I continue to get pushed through the crowd until we come to a door. One of the guards opens it and walks to me down some staircases; the light begins to fade the deeper we go into the building, I can smell mold as if this place hasn’t been cleaned at all since it was build. The guard opens a cell door that squeaks, as it is begin open; they untie my wrists and push me into the cell.

“A chamber fit for a killer,” the guard says slamming the door and locking me away. I look around and see there is a bed, a sink and a toilet that has feces covering the seat. I walk over and take a seat on top of the bed.

Not a shred of light breaks through the darkness, making it impossible to see what is around me. Droplets of water echo through the room, distracting me from this awful place; harsh voices yell at each other from the next room over. I lie on top of my bed waiting for Arlene or Mitt to come and save me from this awful place, but I think it is to late, I did the unthinkable—I tried to kill the King. I roll over onto my side wanting sleep to take me, but knowing sleep won’t come when I want it the most.

“Why don’t you go to hell,” a males voice yells.

“I’m already in hell,” another males voice yells out.

“Why did you do this to me man, why did you have to steal that piece of bread,” the male yells.

“I was hungry, weren’t you hungry? You must have been hungry you are only skin and bones you have no meat on you,” the other males voice replies. I try to cover my ears with a pillow when I feel something crawl on me; I throw the pillow to the ground and stand up. I walk over to the sink and turn the knobs on the facet but they don’t budge.

“Seriously, you got to freaking kidding me!” I shout as I slam my fists into the sink. Tears build up around my eyes forcing their way out; they break down the barrier and slide down my cheek. This place is hell, I am literally in hell; I would rather be in the sand dunes right now more then anything at least there I had control over what I did, here I am in utter darkness listening to two idiots talk about bread.

“Is someone there?” one of the male voices asks. I try to ignore the man, but everything tells me to try and talk to him, to find something out.

“Yes, I’m here,” I reply as I walk back over to the bed and sit at the edge. I bury my head into my knees and continue to cry.

“Why are you here?” he asks. I wipe away a tear and lift my head up.

“I tried to kill the King,” I reply. It would have worked until Arlene and the other wizards began to heal him. That was such a stupid move on my part; I should have known better that the wizards would be able to heal him.

“Why did you do that?” he asks again.

“Because, he killed my entire family and I have nothing else to live for,” I state as I slide onto the bed and place my back on the wall. I bring my knees to my face and wrap my arms around them.

“He killed my family too, my wife and my son. Does he not stop at anything that he has to kill a family? What would happen if someone decided to kill his own family,” the man replies.

“I killed his son,” I say lowly.

“You killed Prince Damien, how?” He questions me again.

“I killed him in the tournament, during the last stage,” I reply. I try to stop crying but it is near impossible to stop at this point.

“Oh, you must be the infinite Chase Wentworth then. The people in my village idolize you,” the man says.

“Why? I’m just a murder who kills people to survive,” I explain.

“Its not what you do, its why you do it. You were forced to join the tournament by the King, we know you joined for your sister and after she died you still went through with it to win for her. You only killed when you needed to, how many people did you truly kill inside the tournament?” The man asks me.

“Four, and one was an accident,” I reply. Ironton ran into my sword, I didn’t actually attempt to kill him it was pure accident on both our parts.

“That is less than anyone else that had entered,” he says.

“No, I met a girl who never killed anyone. She was partnered with someone letting him do the entire killing. She was an angel,” I say. I picture Lucinda in my mind, as Damien killed her; as she drew her last breath making the portal open in front of us. But if it wasn’t Ironton then I would have had to kill her with my own hands and I don’t think I could have actually done that.

“I’m sorry, boy,” he says. I curl up into a ball and lay there staring at the celling wondering what will happen to me. How will I die, will it be quick and painless or will he torture me. If I was the King I would torture me for what I did to him, he never liked me to begin with he’ll inflict as much pain on me as possible.

I stop talking to the man in the cell next to me and just stare into darkness. The two men continue to bicker at one another; its nice to hear them talking it lets me know that I am not going completely insane. I can still feel the blood on my hands, it still feels warm as if it is flesh blood on me but I know its not. I pick at my arms trying to scratch some of the blood off but all I’m doing is making myself bleed. A shred of light fills the outside of my cell as the door opens and someone walks into the dungeon. I sit up squinting my eyes trying to picture who it might be. Footsteps echo through the dungeon as everyone goes quiet trying to figure out who this mysterious person is.

“What have you done, Chase,” the voice whispers. I get up from the bed and walk over to the cell door to see who it truly is. Arlene stands there with a smile on his face.

“I thought you were never coming, are you going to bust me out of this cell?” I ask. Arlene laughs at my question.

“No, I can’t do that, but I can do something better,” he says.

“What might that be?” I ask as I scratch the back of my head.

“I can’t tell you, you will have to see for yourself,” he says.

“When will I know? I don’t know if I can stay a few more hours in this god-awful cell Arlene. I feel like I am going to loose my mind worse then I did in the tournament,” I state.

“By morning you will see what I mean,” he says.

“Damien wanted me to ask you this before he passed away. Was my sisters soul part of my wolf?” I ask. I had almost forgotten that Damien told me to ask Arlene about this. I still don’t believe how her soul could be inside a wolf, there were similarities that I saw but nothing clicked inside my brain to be completely true.

“Yes, your companions need a living or dying soul to attach to them to make it come to life. And in your case, you had the egg in your apron when your sister died, it attached onto the egg and that is why the next few days it hatched with green eyes. Avari did have a piece of your sister’s soul inside of it. There have been cases where the owners own soul has attached to their companion, it doesn’t happen often but it does happen,” he explains to me.

“But why? Why does it need a soul?” I ask.

“Because the creature is not alive yet, it has a heartbeat inside the egg but has no essence, it needs a piece of a living soul to become alive. You have to remember they’re artificially made, they aren’t made naturally and by having a soul attach onto the egg it brings the creatures to live, do you understand, Chase?” Arlene asks me.

“I think so, but you said some of the owners soul can attach to the egg instead, how does that happen?” I ask.

“Well you see, there are times when the owner has no loved ones it creates a bond with the egg willing the egg to take a piece of their own soul in exchange for a new life to be created. There has also been cases where they have loved ones, but there bond with the egg is so strong they are still willing to give them their own soul,” he explains to me.

“So I loved my sister so much and her soul was the nearest to attach to my egg, that is why Avari seemed so much like her?” I ask.

“Yes that is correct, Chase,” he says.

“So, the King really did kill my entire family,” I say lowly.

“I’m sorry, but yes. King Than killed your father and technically killed your own sister,” he says with sadness in his voice.

“Then why did you heal him, he’s a murder you should have let him die!” I shout.

“Because, King Than needs to live, but you are right. It is time for a new King,” he says turning his back to me.

“Don’t go Arlene! Please!” I beg.

“Don’t worry, tomorrow everything will be fine. Go to sleep, Chase. Everything will correct it’s self tomorrow,” he replies leaving me alone in this dark cell.

“Arlene!” I shout, but he doesn’t come back. He closes the door behind him taking the light he brought with him. As I am about to close my eyes and go to sleep the door opens bringing the light with it.

Chapter Text

Chapter Twenty-Four: Truth

Footsteps echo in the cell as a figure appears in front of me. I look up to see King Than standing in front of me a grim smirk on his face, blood stained on his clothes. He sticks his hand through the bars and grabs my throat, his grip is tight around me making it difficult to breath, he draws me closer to him. He licks his lips and smiles at me.

“Did you really think I would die that easily? You must be a fool,” he says slyly. His grip tightens around me, I slowly begin to lose air. I grab ahold of his arm hitting it trying to breath but it is impossible, my head begins to feel light headed as I am about to black out. He lets go of me and pushes me away from the bars.

“It was worth a try,” I say chocking on my words. I rub my throat trying to make the sting go away.

“I’ve been lying to you all this time Chase, I did want you in this tournament because I wanted to see you suffer, but what you do not know is that you were a pawn in this entire tournament,” he says.

“What do you mean a pawn? And what have you been lying about?” I dare ask. I take a step closer to him but keeping my distance.

“You see, I wanted to change the rules to this years tournament. I wanted more fun, more control and you were the perfect person to test it on. At the beginning of the tournament I mentioned that there was a hunter set lose and they you were the prey, but in matter of fact you were the hunter. You may not have realized but after you tried to kill me with my own weapons you blacked out, during that chance I implanted a chip that was used to control you. When you did something that I did not approve of I changed your thoughts making you think that is what you really wanted. For example, remember your first victim, blue eyes? Yes you see you turned away not wanting to kill her but I made you kill her. Your thoughts became my own, you were a pawn in my chess game.

Everything that happened to you was because I wanted it to happen. I wanted you to meet my son Damien, knowing he would watch after you and make sure no harm came your way until I wanted you dead. I played the fight you had with Alastar, I made your wolf run during the lightning storm knowing that he had a trap set near by, knowing you’d go after your beloved wolf. I made you kill them, I made you do everything, climb the tree, jump from limp to limp trying to get back to camp. You thought it was your sister telling you to climb the tree, but it was all me. Everything you felt, everything did was by me! I made sure that Damien went to go get your beloved Lucinda to save you, I would have stepped in on that, but she was close by and is a famous healer so I knew you were safe. So I went along with everything, let you and Lucinda cozy together but I knew that wouldn’t last when she found out you killed her best friend, Brain remember him?”

“I didn’t kill Brain, Damien killed him. Brian went to get firewood and Damien followed after him? So how could I have killed him?” I ask. He smiles and rubs his beard.

“Think real hard Chase, you will remember all the little details,” he says.

Damien returned and curled up in a ball next to the fire, Lucinda slept a few feet away. I saw a silhouette coming from the trees. I grabbed my sword from the ground and walked towards the figure. Brian had firewood in his hand and smiled at me like he did a job well done. I walk past him as if I was going the bathroom, when he was a few feet away from me I dropped my sword grabbed him by the head and twisted his neck until his body went limp. I looked down at his limp and lifeless body knowing he was defiantly dead, I grabbed his arm and began to drag him into the woods, his body kept getting stuck on broke trees.

I ran back to grab my sword and stood over his body, I took the sword and began to amputate his limps starting with his head, blood splattered my face and clothes, I cut off his left then right arm, the finished with his legs. I took his head and kicked it away from me and away from Lucinda. I flung his arms as if it was a boomerang except they would never return, I grabbed his legs and placed it in the tree, and his torso I left it for the animals to feed on.

I take a step back away from him knowing that everything he is saying is true, I did kill Brian, I had no idea what I was doing, I knew that wasn’t me yet I killed him. I look up to him to show him my rage but I know that is exactly what he wants from me, I take in a deep breath and walk towards my bed and take a seat.

“Want to know more?” he asks. “I’m sure you want to know anyways. Where was I? Oh yes you had just killed Brian, well after that you were on your way to finding the remainder people to kill in which Damien took care of the boy in the tree. But after that what happened? I can’t quite remember. Hmm, oh yes, you stumbled upon berries and mushroom. Well you see, you and I both knew that those mushrooms caused hallucinations yet you still ate them. That was because I wanted you to eat them, it would make you see Damien killing her but in reality once again it was you. Do you need a minute to remember how you killed the girl you were hopelessly in love with, yet you were never going to be able to be with?”

I remember Avari was talking to me, a wolf was talking to me. Lucinda and Damien were dancing, except it wasn’t Lucinda and Damien, it was Lucinda and I. I held her by the waist as she rested her head on my shoulder, she was beautiful, but something inside me began to darken as we moved as one. A hatred for her, and her perfect life back at home. I moved my hand down her leg, she moaned a little thinking I was making a move, she kissed my neck. My hand came up to her thigh as I felt the edge of my knife that I gave her; I slid it away from her body and pushed it deeper into my hand. My hand begins to tremble knowing that this knife would go straight into her back any second; she continued to kiss my neck and had advanced to my mouth. Our mouths moved in sync, her breath tasted good like blue berries, she wrapped her hands around my neck deepening the kiss. I took in a deep breath and plunged the knife straight into her back, she bit my bottom lip making blood spill. I twisted the knife deeper into her back and stepped away from her, her eyes widen as she pulled the knife from her back and looked at me with disgust and hunt. Her body fell to the ground, that’s when I snapped out of the anger and rushed to her aid.

I bite down on my lip drawing blood thinking of how I had killed the girl that I loved, killed someone that mattered and promised that I would never kill. Knowing that I am a murder, a killer who deservers to be killed because I took the lives of other people. I stand up and rush towards the King wanting to wrap my hands around his royal neck and kill him.

“I haven’t even reached the best part yet Chase. The best part is, you were supposed to die! The poison in your food was supposed to kill you, that is why I wouldn’t let you leave the table, I wanted to see you die in front of my eyes. But my son wanted you to live, you grew on him; so when you were brought back to your room Arlene healed you, but also did something that I was unaware of. He took out your chip that let me control you, so little did I know when you entered stage two, I was unable to kill control you.

So I created a little thing known as the wasteland in which you were experiencing the most terrifying nightmares that was supposed to drive you insane and kill yourself. But that didn’t happen did it? Well not with you at least, it did happen to someone but not the person who I wanted dead actually he was supposed to be the victor instead you were. You just wouldn’t die, you’re like a fly that no matter how hard you try it just can’t die. No matter how hard or fast you try and hit it, it will just come back to annoy you. Not no more though Chase, you are in my cell you will be killed tomorrow morning, you will no longer be an annoying fly. For once and for all the Wentworth line will be dead, and I will no longer have to deal with the likes of you and your entire family.”

“Other then the fact of my father, what did I ever do to you?” I ask stupidly.

“What does it matter now, you’re dead,” he says with a deep laugh. He turns away from me and walks back to the door, his footsteps fade away as he slams the door vanishing the light instantly. I take in a deep breath and walk towards my bed and sit down on the edge. My head hurts with information, why had Arlene not explain what had happened to me, why did he not tell me I was a killer that I was being controlled? He is letting me die here.

What had my family done to the King if he wants my entire family line dead? There is something he isn’t telling me, if only I had time to find out what it is, but now I don’t have time I will be killed in the morning, might as well get some rest before my big day tomorrow. I curl into a ball closing my eyes welcoming sleep, knowing my body needs it more then anything else. I count the droplets of water as it splashes against the bottom of the facet, my eyes become heavy sleep will come in the next few minutes. Everything will correct itself tomorrow, those words continue to play in the back of my mind. In a matter of minutes by mind goes blank and sleep welcomes my body.

“I can’t believe you killed her, Chase. You killed the girl with the brilliant blue eyes,” a voice whispers into the back of mind.

“You know, you were the best friend I never had,” Damien’s voice whispers into the back of my mind.

“I could have loved you, Chase. If only we weren’t in this situation together, I could have loved you,” Lucinda’s voice whispers.

“I’m proud of you son,” Father’s voice whispers.

“You killed me Chase, not Damien you, you’re a murder,” Lucinda’s voice whispers.

“Why did you kill me Chase? I was only out to get firewood,” Brian’s voice whispers.

“Everything will correct itself tomorrow,” Arlene says.
“Everything will correct itself tomorrow.”
“Everything will correct itself tomorrow.”
“Everything will-”

I roll over and fall off the bed; I hit my head on the floor. I open my eyes to see sunlight trickling through the broken window not just any broken window—my broken window. I jump up and spin around in a circle; I begin to pinch my skin as if I’m dreaming.

“Chase, will you go feed the pigs they’re getting into the trash again!” Mother yells out. My heart stops for a second at her words. I’m home, how can I possible be home. Without thinking I take off running out my bedroom door to see if Lil is still here. I run through the living room and stop at the front door. I place my hand on the doorknob and take a deep breath then I swing the door open. Lil stands in the snow folding clothes, her fiery red hair burning brighter then ever. Tears begin to tremble down my face as I stand there looking at my beautiful baby sister.

“Lil,” I whisper. I run out the front door and run over and scoop her into my arms. I squeeze her until she can’t breath. I pull her back and begin to kiss the top of her head. She’s alive, it was all a dream my sister is still alive none of that was real, but why did it feel all so real.

“Chase, what has gotten into you,” she says. I set her down and kneel holding her hands. I take in every feature she has, her brilliant green eyes, her red hair, her freckles on her cheeks. She’s here in front of me, alive and not dead.

“Your real, your really real,” I say as I pull her back into my arms.

“Did you hit your head?” she asks.

“Yes, but that’s beside the point. The point is your not dead, the wolves haven’t killed you,” I reply. Lil cocks her head at me like I’ve gone crazy.

“I think you should go to the doctor, your not looking okay,” she says.

“That’s just it, I’m fine. I am perfectly fine. Come inside go pack your things! I promised you a long time ago that I would take you for a trip and that is what I am going to do,” I say. Lil’s face begins to grow as she smiles at me.

“Really! Where are we going?” She asks.

“I don’t know anywhere, its time we get out of this place now go pack your things!” I reply. Before I can say another word she takes off inside to pack her belongings. I tilt my head up to the sky as if god had heard my preys earlier, “Thank you.”

I run inside after Lil and into my room to pack my things. I grab a bag from behind my door and rush over to my dresser throwing pants and shirts into my bag. I look over and on my bed lies a black egg with a note attached to it. I place the bag on my bed and grab the egg and rub it with my hand. This can’t be what I think it is, I won’t go into the tournament again, I just can’t. I take one last breath and look at the note.

I told you, Chase that everything will correct itself out tomorrow. I have given you a second chance at life. Now all you have to do is one thing for me. The time has come to end the reign of King Than, There is a secret you must find out first, something that has to do with your family line, I have given you your wolf to complete this task, now go do what you were born to do. You can’t do this on your own, go make some friends to bring along with you on this journey, it is not going to be easy but it can be done. I will keep in contact with you, but other then that you are mostly on your own. Good luck and speak to you soon.

Arlene

I put the note back down and pick up the egg. Everyone that I lost is still alive; I can finally have the life that I once had. I have my baby sister back; my wolf that I love and I can finally go get Lucinda. Everything has finally corrected itself. Lil comes running into the room with a smile on her face, she sets her bag next to mine and looks at the egg in my hand.

“What’s that Chase?” She asks. I turn and look at her with a smile on my face.

“It’s a wolf, its my wolf,” I reply. The egg begins hatch in my hand; I set it down on the bed, the first thing that appears is a paw then the head pops through. I pull it out from the shell and begin to stroke it with my hand. It begins to move around wanting to be put down. I set it back down on the bed as it shakes its body.

“Is it okay?” she asks.

“Yes, its perfectly fine,” I say. I watch as it falls onto his back.

“Where are we going to go?” Lil asks me.

“We’re going to go see an old friend, that lives in Village of Fort-Loth,” I reply. I look at my wolf as she tries to open her eyes. Lil looks in awes as my wolf begins to take a few steps; I do the same knowing that I was asleep the last time she hatched from her egg. She opens her eyes, her big doe eyes, I smile when she turns towards me. My heart stops for a second, she no longer has green eyes, but brilliant blue eyes.

My eyes.

Chapter Text

EPILOGUE

King Than sits at his throne with guards around him; the door opens in front of him as Arlene glides in and towards the King; Than taps his fingers on his arm rest as Arlene approaches him. Sweat drips down his face, as he gets closer to the King; he stops a few feet away from him and bows his head in respect.

“Do you know why you are here, Arlene?” King Than asks.

“No my liege,” he replies. King Than twists a ring on his index finger.

“You are here, because of something you have done,” King Than replies.

“And what might that have been?” he asks.

“You changed the course of events. Chase Wentworth was supposed to be executed today, but instead he’s back at home. How do you suppose that happened?” King Than asks.

“A simple reverse in time,” he says not looking the King in the eye. “How are you aware of this?”

“I have my sources, now why did you change the course of events and reverse time?” King Than says raising his voice.

“No particular reason,” he lies.

“I am very disappointed in you Arlene, you were one of my finest wizards, but all you have down lately is betray me. First you saved Chase from my poisoned dinner, then you took out his chip in which I was going to kill him once he entered Stage two. Then to top it off, when I asked you to kill him inside the Wasteland you didn’t let that happen and you had my own son killed. Why should I keep you around if all you’re going to do is betray me?” King Than asks. Arlene takes a step forward and looks the King in the eye.

“Because, I know the truth as to what happened to King Aton and Queen Belaya, and I know for a fact that you don’t want the truth to be revealed, now do you?” He states, King Than takes in a deep breath and looks at Arlene.

“You’re right, the truth shall never be revealed. That is why you must be dealt with immediately. Guards!” King Than shouts, Arlene looks around as the guards fill the room and advance on Arlene. Arlene covers his mouth and sneezes, black powder cover the room making it difficult to see. The guards charge and collide with one another; when the room clears Arlene is no longer in sight.

“What do we do now?” A guard asks.

“FIND HIM!” King Than shouts as he slams his fist into his armrest. “Stop at nothing until Arlene and Chase Wentworth are back in my grasp. And if any of you come back empty handed, you will suffer the same fate as them.”

The guards look at one another and run out the door not looking back at the King. King Than leans back in his chair and strokes his beard. Mitt walks into the room and bows before King Than.

“Sir, what do you want me to do?” he asks.

“I want you to go back to where all this started, back to where you took that child that one day. The day I made the biggest mistake, go back to the village of Myth and kill Chase for good. The blood line needs to be destroyed once and for all!”