Prologue
The Assassin crept noiselessly through the dark streets, clinging to the shadows. The few people who noticed him paid him little attention, since they were more concerned with whether he was a guard or not. Coming, to the targets house, he reviewed the plan in his head. The plan was simple enough, executing it would be just as easy. There were only two others better at killing then he: one was his brother, the other was an elf so of course she was better at everything. The Assassin crept into the house, looking for the store room where the oil was kept. He found a large barrel of the stuff in a dark corner of the room and gathering some of the oil, the Assassin put some of it into ten different water skins. He then put a fuse into each skin with the string hanging out the top. Each of these skins he deposited around the house at the different support beams, outside each room, and in the store room. Creeping upstairs, he quickly found his targets room. Ah, there they were, sleeping side by side in the bed. He quietly drew his sword, the blade glinting for an instant before he drew the blade over his victims throats spilling their blood over the white linen sheets. The Assassin then pulled out two small vials which he used to collect the blood of each of his victims. Creeping downstairs, with just a muttered word he lit the oil skins which ignited the house. The Assassin was out of the house even before the flames started growing. He watched the house burst into flames, ran towards the gate, jumped on his horse, and rode into the night. He felt accomplished for he had just killed the last remaining leader of the resistance.

Chapter 1
From the very beginning the baby elf knew she was different. When the other elf children went out for the Festival of Light, Lauren would stay insider her room where it was unnaturally dark. Her family always tried to get her to come out and play, and occasionally she did, only to run back insider her room, closing the door, plunging it into darkness. Lauren was incredibly shy and it came out most when she was around boys. One day when Lauren was in her room playing with some of the few toys that she owned, a mysterious object flew through the window shattering the glass. Lauren went over to look at the object: it was about the size of an orange, jagged edges, and it was as black as night, though it had an erie pale glow coming from it out. She bent over to pick it up, and as she touched it, she had a vision of a phoenix bursting out of a stone cage, and a blood red serpent devouring a city. As the vision faded, Lauren noticed a new feeling inside her. She lifted her hand as she felt a tingling insider her. Suddenly the room became so black that those outside thought that all of the night had gathered in one place. Lauren though could see perfectly, and even as she started getting a little scared, she thought that the darkness should leave, and it left suddenly gathering inside of her. As she looked around her room she noticed a full set of armor in one corner of her room. As she approached the armor tentatively, she noticed that next to the armor was the hilt of a sword. Lauren went over and picked up the hilt, and the instant she touched it a blade grew out of it. The blade was the size of a small pine tree and glossy black. With a thought, Lauren collapsed the sword back into the hilt. Putting on the armor, she noticed that the armor was black, with large spikes coming out of the shoulders and almost everywhere else on the armor. The armor was inlaid with sliver veins, running over each joint in the armor, so when the wearer moved, it seemed that the armor itself was alive. When all the armor was on, Lauren bent down to examine the helmet. The helmet was rather extraordinary: it was also all black, with a slit across the eyes to maximize sight, and a mane of glossy black hair coming out of the top. As she donned the helmet, Lauren new that she was very special and that she had been granted a very special power. She smiled: she was now in control of her life. No one else, just her. She could do whatever she wanted. But first, she had to get out of her.

Chapter 2
That was ten years ago though. Lauren was now twenty, still considered a child among her own people, when here, outside the Woods, she was considered a woman. To many humans, Lauren looked like any other woman who lived in the castle. Those that saw her thought her so beautiful that she deserved to be queen. Her long black hair, her catlike eyes and reflexes, and her strangely pale skin had seduced many a man. Each man though soon found himself lying in the street with his purse gone, and the lady nowhere to be found. Lauren enjoyed the attention, and would often walk through the market in her favorite dress, just to see the jealous looks the woman gave her, and the lustful looks the men gave her. That is all the men save one. When she would walk through the market, or through the streets, there was always one man who would look at her under his tan cloak. When she saw this man she was struck with the feeling that she knew him. One day when she was traveling the streets, she felt a presence behind her. As she looked behind her, she saw the man exit into a side street. Curious, she followed him into the alley. As she entered the alley, she noticed that no one was in there. As Lauren started to turn around, she brushed up against someone. Looking to whoever she bumped into, she was startled to see the man that had been following her. As she started to fall back, the man caught her arm. "I'm sorry my lady. I didn't mean to startle you" the man said, as he helped her to her feet. His voice was deep, but not so deep as to make him sound gravely. Suddenly, the man stooped down and picked something off the ground. "Here, I believe this belongs to you." The man had his hand out, and in his hand he was holding something. As Lauren looked down at his hand, she saw that what he was holding was her sword hilt. Careful as not to activate it, she grasped the hilt out of his gloved hand. "Thank you sir. Would it be too much to ask the name of the man who has helped me?" Lauren asked with a hint of an edge, for she did not know this man. The man frowned before he answered, saying, "My name is Jack. And if, I might ask, what is your name?" Jack said staring at Lauren. Those eyes. Lauren could almost feel his eyes searching through her mind. His eyes were a dark brown, though it seemed that they shown, much like a wolves in the fading light. Lauren answered, slightly off guard, "Um, my name is Lauren." "Well Lauren, the light is fading, and the city at night is no place for a lady. We had best be on our way." Jack said as he turned around to exit the alley. "Hold on," Lauren said as she grasped his arm to stop him. "How do you know where I live? For all you know, I could live in the palace or in the outskirts." At this, Jack just turned around and smiled under dark hood of his. Lauren almost ran right then, but something inside of her told her that if she did her secret would be uncovered, and she would be forced to flee again. “Well then, uh, lead the way.” Lauren said somewhat apprehensively. Jack turned around and exited the street, Lauren following closely behind him. As they started to walk down the street towards Laurens house, they didn’t notice the two men behind them following them. When they reached Laurens house, which was actually not very far, there were five, big, burly men leaning against the house. Each of the men was clad in leather straps, which crossed to form an X, knee length leather pants, and each had a large two handed sword strapped onto his waist. Jack and Lauren stopped dead in their tracks. Lauren herd Jack whisper, “Berserkers.” Lauren looked at Jack, then back at the berserkers. One of the berserkers stepped forward and looked at Jack and Lauren. Suddenly he smiled and started laughing. The berserker looked at Jack and said, in a calm almost joyful voice, “Well Richard didn’t expect to see you here. In fact, you would be the last person that I would expect to be walking a lady home. Well then you did say that you had changed, but I really didn’t believe you.” Lauren suddenly turned towards Jack. This man was an ex berserker? How was that possible? And why had the berserker called him Richard? Jack just stood there staring at the berserker, silent, until he said in a very flat voice, “Well Aldron, you should have believed me. You also should have believed me when I said that if ever saw you again, I would kill you.” Lauren looked back at the berserker. The berserker suddenly made a motion with his hand and Lauren felt two sets of strong, sweaty hands grab her arms. Before Lauren could react, Jack spun around and nocked the hands off of Lauren. Lauren stumbled to the ground and looked behind her, just as Jack drew two short swords and faced the two berserkers who had grabbed her. The berserkers were probably twice the size of Jack, but he didn’t back down. These berserkers, unlike the others, were armed with large broad swords, and metal helmets. Both berserkers raised their swords to strike down Jack. Lauren looked away, for in her human form, she could not stand the sight of blood. She heard someone grunt, then a noise that sounded like someone snipping a tightly stretched cord, and two other grunts. After a little bit, when Lauren looked up, she saw Jack standing with two short swords in his hands, and the berserkers on the ground unconsciousness, a small pool of blood beneath them. “Is that all you got Aldron?” As Lauren looked at Jack she noticed that his hood had fallen off. Now that she was able to get a good look at him she was surprised: his skin was the color the color of sand, he had a scar running down the side of his head disappearing into the folds of his cloak, and his hair was muddy brown. His eyes were the same as before except for one thing. His eyes had a strange look to them. He looked down at her, and she was able to recognize what that look was: protection. “You still haven’t lost any of your skill Richard I’ll give you that much.” Lauren looked back at Aldron. He was now standing away from the wall. He and the rest of his men had now drawn their swords and grinning. Jack bent down and helped Lauren up, while still keeping his eye on Aldron and his men. Lauren could tell that Jack was scrambling for a way out. There were no alleyways except for the one behind them, and all the buildings around them, were locked. Lauren reached into the folds of her dress and felt the familiar cold steel of her sword. If need be, she would use her power to get herself out of her. Laurens mind was having a war with itself. On one side, her mind was telling her that if she did use her power, she should take Jack with her. The other side was telling her that Jack would just slow her down, and that if he knew, he would try to turn her in. She turned towards Jack. He was looking nervous now. His eyes kept shifting from each of the berserkers. Lauren turned back towards the berserkers. Aldron looked at her. “Here Richard, I’ll make you deal. You give me the lady, and I’ll let you live. What do you say?” Lauren looked at Jack. He wouldn’t do it would he? As far as he knew, she was just another lady in the city. Though, wasn’t he an ex berserker? Jack looked at her. His eyes turned sad and he looked down, and in that moment, Lauren thought that he would give her up. Then Jack looked up, and Lauren saw in his eyes a strong determination. Jack looked back at the Aldron and said, with a voice filled with a controlled anger, “What, so you could just rape her and throw her to the side like a beggar? I changed Aldron. Bring it. By the way, my names not Richard. Sorry about this Laruen.” Lauren looked at Jack. What did he say? Suddenly Jack picked her up, and threw her into a nearby building. Lauren saw him run back out, and draw his two swords again. Lauren staggered to her feet, and went to the door post. She saw all the berserkers charge at Jack at the same time. Lauren wanted to look away, but something kept her watching. The first berserker reached Jack, but when he did, Jack simply spun around and cut the berserkers legs out from under him. While the berserker was falling, Jack backhand slashed the berserkers back. Before Lauren could see anything else, Jack was swallowed up in a flurry of arms, blood, and metal. Before Lauren could go and help him, her vision darkened, and she fell to the ground. Her last thought was that head wound must be worse than it felt. Then everything went black.

Chapter 2
The last thing that Lauren could remember is Jack being swarmed by the berserkers. Laruen knew that she should go out and see if he was okay. The only thing was that it felt like her head had been trampled by the kings marching group. Summoning all her strength, Lauren staggered to her feet and lurched towards the door. As she looked around the room, she noticed that it looked an earthquake had ripped through the place. When she looked outside, it was dark outside. Lauren decided to change back to her Elf form. Sure, it was taking a big risk, but she had to see if Jack was okay or not. As she changed, her vision perfected and she could see perfectly in the darkness. When she could see in the darkness, she wished that she could just forget everything she had seen. Apparently, an earthquake had come through the city. There was rubble everywhere; entire buildings had collapsed in on themselves. Though Lauren could not see them, she could sense that there were many bodies under all of the rubble. She looked where she had last seen Jack. Where she had last seen him, there was what looked like an entire building on top of him. Lauren ran over to the collapsed building and tried to find a way either into it or under it. She finally found the door and, after she had removed the rocks off of it, she opened it and entered the building. Looking around, she saw all of the berserkers that had been charging towards Jack, before the earthquake had come. As she was looking around, she noticed an odd thing: there was a medium sized rock in the middle of the collapsed room. As she approached the rock, she saw that it looked like a statue, a very detailed statue. She reached over to touch the statue, but as she was about to touch it, it started to crack. Lauren jerked her arm back, just as the cracks on the statue spread over the entire thing, and the statue started to crumble. As the stone fell away, Lauren could not believe what she was seeing. Exactly where the statue had been, there was Jack, kneeling there just like the statue. As he started to fall over, Lauren ran over to catch him. As she stared in amazement at Jack, she was struck with the fact that as far as she could tell, he was fine. That was when she felt warmth running down her arms. As she looked down, she saw that there was dark red blood, running down her arms. Stunned, she turned Jack over and saw something very disturbing. His entire back was covered with blood, which looked almost black. With her enhanced vision, Lauren was able to see the wounds running all across his back. From the amount of blood, she knew that the wounds were serious and needed immediate attention. Before she could do anything though, she heard outside, a multitude of voices. Jack would have to hold on for now. Lauren stood up and slung Jacks unconscious form across her shoulder. Using her elfin speed, Lauren sped up out of the building, through the gathering crowd, and out the city gates. Everybody who saw her said that it looked like the night sky streaming past, so fast that a few seconds later, only then was there a dust swirl.
Chapter 3
Lauren stopped and looked up. Healing Jack was taking longer than it should. Usually healings took about 10-20 minutes, but Lauren had already spent two hours trying to heal him. Her strength was wearing thin, and it was getting darker outside. Lauren stood up, and walked over to where she had dumped the supplies earlier that night. She had not yet looked into Jacks supplies, since she wanted to respect his privacy. It was nearing the time though when she would have to look into what supplies he had. Lauren herself hadn’t really brought any food with her, and even though she had a fair amount of gold, they couldn’t risk going into the cities or towns to buy things, for fear of being caught by the guards. Lauren bent down to retrieve her water skin from the ground, when she stumbled down into Jack’s pack. As she picked herself up, Lauren noticed that almost all of the contents of the pack had spilled out onto the cave floor. As she hurried to pick up all of the items, she took stock of what had spilled out: there were three cloaks all tightly wrapped around themselves, four leather pouches full of gold, four books (all rather large), a set of oddly shaped keys, ten foot long daggers, a set of ten throwing knives, a grappling hook, a map of the area with a black circle around the city where she had been, and a small leather pouch. Lauren opened the pouch and looked in. In the dim light, she could just barely make out four different colored stones. Lauren dumped the stones out onto the floor. As she looked at the stones she noticed that they weren’t normal stones you could find just anywhere: one was crimson red, very much like blood. The second looked like inside the stone, a fire raged. The third stone was black as night, with little white spots distributed around it. The fourth stone looked almost like a normal tan rock that you would find on the side of the road. On the stone though, there were what looked like veins of metal, running through the stone. Lauren bent down to pick up the earth colored stone, but as she did, she felt herself transported back to the city at the time when she and Jack had been ambushed by the berserkers. Lauren found herself looking down on her and Jack surrounded by the berserkers. She saw herself get grabbed by the two berserkers from behind, and Jack dispatching them with an inhuman speed. Lauren saw Jack look around, then grab her and throw her into the building. Lauren then found that she could move around in this dream like state, so she moved down so she was to the left of Jack. As the berserkers charged at Jack, Lauren moved back up, above Jack so she could see better what was happening. She saw the one berserker charge in front of the group, straight for Jack, who then dispatched him quickly with his swords. Lauren then saw the rest of the berserkers charge straight into Jack, and surround him. Lauren tried to turn away, but some invisible force held her looking down on the grim spectacle. Jack was killing as many of the berserkers as he could, but there were simply too many of them for one man to take care of, and they kept hitting Jack in the back with their swords and clubs. Suddenly, Jack back slashed two berserkers standing behind him, and as they fell, Jack jumped out of the ring of berserkers. Jack swiftly brought his arm down to his side and five of the berserkers fell, six inch spikes buried into each of their chests. That seemed to cause several berserkers to just stop and look at Jack. The lead berserker shoved two of the berserkers forward, and with that, the rest of the berserkers charged again at Jack. Jack then did something very strange: he stabbed both his swords into the ground, side by side and, crouching down between them. He then jumped up into the air, and when he came back down, he slammed both fists into the earth. Lauren was stunned at this spectacle, and suddenly, something inside her clicked. Looking back down on the scene, she saw a large crack forming down the middle of the street. When it had reached the end of the street, the crack stopped. Suddenly, the ground shook, the buildings started to crumble and shake, and the berserkers had lost their angry faces, replaced by looks of sheer terror. Jack looked up at the berserkers and smiled. Then suddenly, a building started to fall towards Jack. Lauren screamed out, “No!” and reached for Jack. Just then, she found herself back in the cave, falling towards the hard cave floor. She braced herself for the impact, but when she hit the floor, she didn’t hit hard, unforgiving rock. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was lying on a mound of soft dirt. “That’s twice I’ve saved your life now, Elf.” Lauren looked towards the voice. It had come from Jack, who was now standing at the mouth of the cave, giving no sign of the deep cuts that he had received on his back. “Actually,” Lauren said as she got up and brushed dirt off of her armor, “you haven’t saved my life. I’ve actually saved yours, wizard.” “Wizard?” Jack said, raising one eyebrow, and looking quizzically at Lauren. “Oh, I see. You think that I’m a wizard because of the dirt incident. Well, let me ask you this; would any wizard be wandering around with as many weapons as I?” He was right. Wizards never carried around actual weapons, preferring to use only magic to protect themselves. “Well, then what are you? A necromancer?” At this, Jack uttered a low deep laugh, which reverberated through the cave. “A necromancer? Do you really think that if I was a necromancer, do you really think that you would still be alive?” Lauren thought that is was taking too long. She needed answers now, and she thought he was just toying with her. She decided to try and read his mind, to get some solid answers. Lauren reached out with her mind to learn anything from his mind. Suddenly, as she felt his consciousness, she met the strongest mental defenses she had ever seen. She was astonished because the defenses were even stronger than an elf’s. Suddenly, she heard a voice in her head saying, “You know elf, it’s not nice to invade people’s minds.” Lauren suddenly realized that the voice was Jack’s. Lauren opened her eyes, and she saw Jack still standing there, looking at her with a frown on his face. Lauren then felt a presence in her mind, sifting through. Lauren tried to drive it out, but the presence only threw all her defenses back at her. Suddenly, the presence withdrew, and the next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground. Jack was kneeling over her, and she could see that his mouth was moving, but she couldn’t hear anything. Then slowly, like she was coming up out of water, she heard what he was saying, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Lauren tried to get up but as soon as she moved her head, she felt very dizzy and sick. "No, you don't. You just need to lay back and rest." Jack reached over to his pack and brought out a small bottle of a greenish liquid. "Now don't speak, just drink this. It's juice from the bathesda plant, you'll feel better soon, trust me." Jack slowly raised the bottle to Lauren's mouth and she slowly drank. The juice was warm, and tasted of lemons and cherries. Lauren immediately felt warm and drowsy. Lauren looked over at Jack as he took out his cloak and laid it on her. "Now you just lay here and I'll be back before morning. Stay safe." And with that, Jack stood up, grabbed his pack and left the cave into the darkening night. Lauren had the dreadful feeling that this would be the last time that she saw him for awhile.

Chapter 4
Jack looked back into the cave as he left. Lauren was lying there peacefully, her chest slowly rising and falling with her calm breathes. For the second time in two days, he hesitated because of the elf. No doubt when she woke up, she would be furious and come after him. At least, he hoped she would. He couldn't force her to join in this adventure, but he could try to get her to understand. Jack new that Lauren wasn't just another elf, that she held one of the four powers. Right now though he had to get moving before it got dark. Lauren would no doubt wake up once the night fully came. He wondered what would happen once she woke up. He knew though that he needed to be far away by the time she woke up. Raising his hand towards the cave entrance, the entrance was sealed with tons of rock. That should keep her occupied for a bit. With that, Jack walked quickly into the night.

The Assassin watched the man named Jack walk away from the cave. His power was already increasing dramatically as time went on. He would have to be dealt with if this job was too work. His orders were too retrieve the elf and deliver her to the wizard as soon as possible. The Assassin looked down towards what was the cave entrance. The elf should be able to get out of that cave rather easily. Now, it was just a waiting game. Settling back against one of few trees around, the Assassin pulled out his favorite knife and twirled it in his fingers. Once he had the elf, he would wait for Nick, or whatever his name was, too come and try to rescue her. Then he would kill him. The Assassin smiled: he finally would be able to finish what he had started ten years ago. The dream was different this time. In this dream, Lauren saw herself when she was younger, in her elfin town. She could see herself when she had found the armor and the dark power. From where the older Lauren was standing, she could see herself playing with her toys on the floor, in almost pitch blackness, as she always had. Suddenly, the orb flew into the room, breaking her window. She saw herself hesitantly move towards the orb, the pale glow casting an erie glow around the room. Lauren wondered who had thrown the orb, or even if it was someone who had. Lauren walked outside to where she thought the the thrower would have to stand. She did not see anybody in the immediate vicinity, but a little ways away there stood a man, cloaked in shadows, under a tree. The man was so still that he seemed to ban extension of the tree. Lauren walked over to the man and stared at him. Something about him seemed very familiar. Suddenly, the man turned towards Lauren. Lauren stared open mouthed at the man's face: it was Jack. Suddenly a voice came from behind her saying, "You know it's a big risk coming here, especially since the Festival of Lights is near and everybody is more alert." Lauren turned around, and she became more surprised. The speaker was none other than her own father. Jack turned from staring at her window, towards her father and said, as he smiled, "Ah come now Rathbourne. You know I always take risks. Besides, aren't you supposed to be speaking to the council about all of this?" Lauren looked back at her father and for the first time she could remember, her father looked angry. "Well, about that. I did talk to the council about your plan, and they decided that it would be better for your powers to be shared among the populace and not just by one man." And with that, five elfin guards seemed to appear out of the trees. Lauren quickly took them in: they carried shields and long curved swords. They quickly surrounded Jack and readied themselves for a fight. "Now Jack, if you would be so kind as to let me take your powers, we can all leave her unhurt." At this, Rathbourne drew his own sword and stood there looking at Jack. Jack slowly looked around at the elfs. "Rathbourne, it's such a shame that you have to die like this. I would have preferred that you could have lived a long life. But, I'm not going to go quietly." As Jack said this, he was slowly pulling on black, leather gloves. At this, Jack lifted his hands to chest height, and opened his gloved hands. Suddenly, all the elfin guards surrounding him fell into dark holes that had suddenly appeared under them. Her father looked utterly surprised at this, but as he looked up back at Jack, Jack stepped up and stabbed him with one of his knives. Lauren couldn't move. All she could do was stand and stare at the dark blood dripping down Jacks knife, down his hand, and onto that ground. Jack jerked the knife out of Lauren's father, and slowly guided him to lay on the ground. Jack stood up and gazed at her father. Lauren felt such hatred towards Jack that she tried to punch him. As her hand contacted his face, her hand went straight through his face. It was then that Lauren remembered that this was only a dream. Jack reached into his cloak and pulled out a cloth, and with it he wiped his knife free of the blood. Looking back at Lauren's window, he slowly walked back into the shadows of the trees.

Chapter 5
Lauren jolted awake, soaked in sweat. She quickly closed her eyes again, trying to comprehend what she had just seen. So, Jack had thrown that orb into her room, he had been trying to negotiate something with the Council, and he had killed her father! It was almost too much to take in at once. The man that she had saved had murdered her father like this! Lauren opened her eyes and noticed that was pitch black, though Lauren could see almost perfectly in the darkness. She looked over at the cave entrance, or what was once the entrance. Now,it was sealed with tons of rock. Jack had done this, Lauren thought as she stood up. As she strode towards the wall of rock, she could feel the power rise through her, into her hands. When she was only a few feet from the wall, she lifted her hand, palm towards the wall. The wall suddenly exploded outwards, hurling the rocks everywhere. Stepping out, she breathed in the cool night air. Suddenly she felt a presence to her right, someone hiding among the tree's. The Assassin was jolted awake by a loud crash. Looking towards the cave entrance, he saw the tons of rock Jack had placed there flying off in many different directions. Looking back at the cave entrance, The Assassin saw the elf step out of the entrance. The Assassin stared at the elf, for she was different than before. Now, a helmet covered her head and face, leaving her hair to fall down to the middle of her back. Along with the helmet, she wore a full suit of black armor, inlaid with silver veins. Perhaps the most striking feature was her sword: the sword was about as long as a small pine tree is tall and it seemed to glow in the moonlight. Suddenly, the elf looked directly at him, and The Assassin knew he was doomed. Lauren looked right, directly at the man hiding among the trees. Raising her hand towards him, the man flew towards her coming to a stop directly in front of her and a few feet above the ground. Brining her sword up, her sword arm up, her sword slowly went through the mans chest. The blade was so sharp that the man felt no pain, though he was looking directly at the sword and his wound. Once the sword had penetrated the mans back, Lauren quickly twisted her sword. The Assassin fell limp in the air, blood slowly pooling on the dark ground. Flinging the man aside, Lauren smiled: it was time to hunt again.

1 month later
Jack walked through the city streets, finding peace in the chaos of the crowded streets. as the many people shoved and shouldered their way to wherever they felt they needed to go, Jack enjoyed looking into each of their minds, snatching bits of information. Stopping at a building, Jack stopped and looked up at the buildings sign: The Red Serpent. Sounded promising enough. Stepping forward and opening the door, Jack was greeted with almost complete darkness smell of sweaty, stale ale and smoke. Jack smiled: perfect place to get some information and some new friends. As he stepped in, Jack noticed that almost everybody was staring at him threateningly. Walking to the bar, Jack sat down at on one of the many, used stools. As the bartender came over, Jack crept into the man’s mind, changing the mans thoughts about him to be more friendly. At least, he would have, but at that moment he felt a dark presence enter the room. Suddenly, Jack felt a sword point against his back. “Do you know why I’m not running you through right now?” Jack smiled. It had been a month since he had heard that voice. Staying still, Jack calmly said, “No actually I don’t. Please fill me in.” Suddenly, Jack was spun around to face his assailant. His assailant was none other than Lauren. Somehow she looked different. Suddenly, Jack noticed Lauren’s eyes: her eyes were pitch black. “I want you to suffer greatly for what you did to my father. Thats why I think I’ll cut you in half before I kill you.” With this, Lauren moved her sword to Jacks forehead. “Well, can’t have that now can we?” Suddenly, Jack picked up his legs and kicked Lauren away, backflipping over the counter. Standing back up, he looked over to where Lauren was now standing. Jack suddenly felt something warm flowing over his face. Lifting his hand to his face, Jack took his hand away and saw that it was covered in dark blood. Looking back up at Lauren, he noticed that she was smiling. Lauren quickly lifted her hand, and a bolt of dark magic shot out and hit Jacks head, flinging him through the back wall. As he was flung through the wall and into the alleyway beyond, Jack was dimly aware of how the cut on his face was now stinging like it was on fire. Without touching his face, Jack could feel the scar forming, over his right eye, across his cheek, and down the side of his neck. Brushing the rocks and debris off his legs and chest, Jack stood back up and stepped back into the bar, which was now significantly brighter now. The bar was devoid of people, save two. Lauren and a cloaked stranger that Jack had barely noticed on his way in, were standing about eight feet apart, staring each other down. Jack realized that they were dueling each other with their minds. Striding towards the two duelers, Jack drew his sword and strode over to Lauren, ramming the hilt of his sword into her temple. As Lauren quickly crumbled to the ground unconscious, Jack turned around to deal with the cloaked man. As soon as he turned around though, Jack felt a presence quickly overtake his mind and render him unconscious. The last thing Jack saw before his world went black, was the crest of the kingdom on a silver breastplate.

The knight stood over the now unconscious elf and man. These “people”, though they hardly were worth that title, would be sent off to the High City immediately. The night had voiced his concern over using the roads to transport such precious cargo over the roads, what with the increase in rebel activities and reports of increased robberies everywhere, but his concerns were quickly shot down by the High Council. Letting his mind wander for a bit, the knight stared at the elf. She really was a magnificent creature, with the long, glossy black hair, a face that seemed that of an angels, and teardrop eyes. The King most likely wanted the Elf just so that he could make her his own whore, though he had twenty-three others that he spent his lonely nights with. The Knight caught himself: had he really just thought all those things about the King? He was lucky that there were no Readers anywhere near, or he would have had his head on a silver platter before the King before daybreak. Stooping down, the Knight quickly relieved the Elf and the wizard of their weapons and packs. Dragging the unconscious elf and man outside, he quickly manacled them both, and tied them down on the two of the horses waiting outside. Mounting his horse, the Knight looked back at the bar, wondering what stories the villagers were telling about what had happened that day. Turning back around he quickly snapped the rains on his horse and galloped away towards the city gates. If the Knight had paid more attention to his surroundings, he would have noticed a teen girl staring at him out of a small window set in one of the houses bordering the street.


Chapter 6
The bouncing jolted Lauren awake. Quickly looking around, Lauren tried to take stock of where she was: she was surrounded on all sides by solders, she had manacles around her wrists, she was in some sort of cage with iron bars on all sides, and she was being followed by more cages of the same sort, with guards on all sides as well. Beyond the solders was a slight hill, leading up to a thick wood of tall pine trees. Suddenly a solder riding a plain brown horse, rode up right next to Lauren's cage. The solder sat there staring at Lauren while his horse kept pace with the foot solders next to him. The solders face was clean shaven, brown eyes, a hawklike nose, and two light scars coming out from his mouth, looking like he was smiling at all times. Lauren then heard a voice from behind her saying, "I don't think you want to make friends with him Lauren." Lauren spun around. Sitting there on the cage floor, with so many locks and manacles on him he looked like an extension of them, was Jack. Lauren was just about to go for his throat when she noticed something different about Jack: there was a long scar on his face running down onto his neck. The scar wouldn't have caught Lauren's attention, except for the fact that it was glossy black with red veins running through it. "Like what you did with my face? I must admit, that sword of yours is very sharp."

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 02.02.2011

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