

Forgotten Memories

Elizabeth Smith

Copyright 2011 by Elizabeth Smith

Smashwords Edition

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Dedication:

Thank you to Mandy who allowed me to use her work to make the cover:

http://lilsweetmandee.deviantart.com/

This Book is dedicated to a number of people I hold dear to my heart. To my father and mother for never giving up on me and my outrageous goals; to Ethan who introduced me to Etrius, and who in a way will always be the Etrius I originally dream of; and to Tim for putting up with my silly goofy ways and pushing me to finish. I love you all!

CHAPTER 1

Pain danced through his skull, causing him to moan, as he gained consciousness. The sharpness of the pain grew as he attempted to sit up, turning into a throbbing nuisance. He opened his eyes. The world around him came into focus slowly; he blinked, taking in his surroundings.

The room was dim and bare; the only hint of life was the small squeaks and patter of rodents and insects behind the stone walls that surrounded him. The flickering of a single candle, which sat upon a small stool in the far corner, cast menacing shadows along the limestone. He rose cautiously clinging to his precarious balance as his head began to whirl. The unfamiliar surroundings left a cold sweat on his bare chest while his cloudy mind fought against him as he tried to remember what had happened and how he had ended up here.

Confusion swept through him as the image of a very short woman filled his thoughts: She was stoat for her height , the skin of her bare forearms were a dark auburn; as if she had spent too many days out in the hot sun. The hood of her cloak was dusty and hid most of her features. She was so familiar, and yet he couldn't place where he knew her from, or even her name. As he focused on her, her image began to become fuzzy. Her lips pursed into a frown as she drew her weapons and faced off with him. His heart sank with sorrow as he watched the scene unfold. Confusion began mix with a multitude of emotions; as the image dissolved and was replaced with another.

She stared down at him, her blue eyes drowsy, and her blond braid falling on his chest. His chest swelled at the sight; she was beautiful in a rough kind of way. Her mouth tilted upwards in a sly smile as she leaned in for another kiss. His heart began to pound as he leaned in as well. But before their lips connected the image once again faded.

She stood with a knife to his throat. He could see her yelling something at him, but the image was soundless. She was shaking as she held the blade to his jugular, which was unlike the cocky confident woman he knew. Tears began rolling down her cheeks, shocking him. He could not remember who this woman was but he was sure that he had never seen her cry. The sight hurt him worse than the words he could not hear. His desolation deepened as the image disappeared.

This time horror struck him before the image itself. Her scream came first, filling his thoughts, sending chills down his spine. The gravely sound was full of terror. Then she was there in his arms staring unseeingly forward. Blood stained her lips as she gasped for air. His only thought was to stop the bleeding, that he could do something, anything to save her. He looked down at his hands; they were pressed together over a large gaping hole in her chest. Blood was pouring from her, he couldn't stop it, she was going to die; and it was his fault. His chest constricted as he began to sob. He began talking to her, trying to comfort her. Her eyes moved to his face as her lips pulled back into a gentle smile. He tucked a small blonde strand that had worked its way loose, behind her ear, leaving behind red trail. He felt her hand on his cheek as she struggled to continue breathing.

"Etrius..." the weak sound of her voice drifted to his ears. Was that his name? Etrius? She had said it so lovingly as if it were a caress of its own. Her mouth moved as if she wanted to say more but the only thing to make it past her lips were the red liquid that filled her lungs, suffocating her. Her hand slipped from his face as her eyes became glazed and her body limp. The image vanished as the emotions struck him full force. He braced himself against the nearest wall as he was overcome. Tears soaked his face as he was left gasping for air. His body shook uncontrollably as he slid to the floor.

He knew nothing of his life: who he was, where he was from; nothing. He didn't even really know who this woman was. Only that he had loved her; more so than he could have imagined possible. He had watched her die, and he could do nothing about it. He let out an angry scream as he pounded his fists against the limestone, until they began to bleed. His body sagged with exhaustion. He sat for what seemed like an eternity waiting for sleep to take him and all the pain away.

The pounding in his head began to subside as he sat motionlessly against the stone. He began to contemplate his lack of memory: He may not have any recollection of who he was or his past, but that all seemed irrelevant to him now. Only two things mattered to him: He loved a beautiful woman who had been killed, and he was going to find whoever was responsible and make him suffer.

Slowly the pulsing in his head became almost unnoticeable as his mind drifted to the woman's last words: Etrius... The name brought with it the feeling of resentment, of sadness, of pain, and yet it felt so familiar. He was sure it was his own. He spoke the name aloud, causing himself to jump at the sound. It felt a bit strange on his lips, but it would do: the name that was spoken through pain and fear, and summoned such hatred in him.

He sighed accepting his decision. His name would be a constant reminder of his purpose in his new life. Without a past and with a violent future ahead Etrius would need it. Slowly the numbing darkness came and he slept unaware and unafraid of his surroundings.
Chapter 2

The candle had burned itself out by the time Etrius awoke. He wasn't sure how much time had passed as he slept, and didn't really care. His eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness as he sat for a few moments in silence. The pain in his head had eased immensely overnight, but his outburst left his hands swollen and caked with dry blood.

The thought of his anger brought the images of the woman back in full force. He moaned as the waves of emotion washed over him once again. He sat against the wall for a few more seconds wishing he knew the woman's name. But now was not the time to wallow in his too few memories. He stood, careful not to use his hands for support. A wave of dizziness struck him, causing him to lean on the wall.

His stomach churned as he wondered how long it had been since he last ate. His mouth began to water at the thought of food. He licked his lips, which had been dry and cracked from lack of water. Staggering forward still using the wall for support as he ignored the painful cramps of his empty stomach, and tried to focus on figuring out where he was and how to escape.

The stone was rough against his bare skin as he dragged his shoulder against it. The darkness of the room was almost blinding, the only shapes he could make out were the glowing eyes of rats that scurried across his path. Suddenly, the texture of the wall changed from the coarse texture of stone to the smoothness of sanded wood. Etrius stopped and turned, running his injured hands along the surface of what he perceived as a door.

The wood was old and rotted, in place of the door knob was a rough slab of what he guessed was iron; perhaps a lock. He took a few steps back before throwing his muscular form against the frame. The wood creaked under the force but didn't give way. He paused catching his breath before trying again, to no avail. The pounding in his head had returned, full force as he paused again. As he stood leaning against the door he almost didn't notice the faint sound of footsteps over his heavy breathing. He stiffened, not knowing what to do. Moving to one side of the door he began to assess his situation.

He had no weapon, no armor; the only thing he possessed was the rags that covered the lower half of his body, even his feet were bare. He could barely stand on his own, between the dizziness and his body's malnourished state. The footsteps were growing louder by the second. He needed a weapon, but what? His eyes scanned the impenetrable darkness of the room; there had to be something here he could use. The only thing he knew that was in the room was the candle... and the stool it sat on!

He scrambled over to the corner where the stool sat; feeling along with his throbbing hands until he found it. He paused listening for a few moments. The footsteps were closer but they paused, his heart pounded in his chest, a loud crack reverberated from the walls making him jump. The footsteps sounded a few paces then paused once more followed by another crack; this time closer. He rushed back to the door holding the stool above his head, ready for anything that might show itself.

A few more steps and another crack; his breath began to catch. Again: step. Step. Step. Pause. CRACK! As he stood listening he began to hear the murmur of a voice every time the footsteps paused. Step. Step. Step. Murmur. CRACK! Step. Step. Step. Murmur. CRACK! The last one was close; too close. He could hear bare feet hitting the stone floor just outside his door. His heart was pounding against his ribs.

"If there's anyone there let yourself be known. Friend or for?" A woman's whisper came. He paused. "Very well."

"WAIT!" He panicked, realizing that he had answered.

"Friend or Foe?!" The woman demanded sounded sterner than before. His thoughts became jumbled as they all raced forward at once, leaving him speechless. "Answer or I shall leave you hear to rot!" He breathed deeply before answering.

"Friend... I hope."

"Move to the far wall." There had been a pause before she spoke he was sure of it; but he was in no state to cause trouble. He did as she instructed, a bit shakily, but continued to hold tightly to the stool. "Ready?"

"Ready... as I'll ever be..." He said to himself more than to her. The door splintered away from its hinges as the sound of cracking wood filled the air. Dim light began to seep into the room forcing Etrius to blink back the darkness. The first thing he noticed about the woman in front of him was her lack of clothing: A crude clothe in a single strip was barely covering her bare chest and the remnants of what he supposed use to be a pair of trousers hung in rags at her waist; forming a makeshift skirt. Her dark hair, a mass of tangles, swayed with her every movement. Blood was smeared all over the tan skin of her curvy figure. She was very menacing standing in the midst of shattered wood holding a dagger at the ready.

"Step forward, so I can see you!" She demanded. He detected a hint of some foreign accident but he couldn't tell what it was; probably wouldn't even remember if he had. He did as he was told; stepping into the light, still clutching his makeshift weapon. She looked him over a few seconds before relaxing, a small smile seeping into her lips. "Hey! It's you! I thought for sure you were dead with how much blood you were covered in. Looks like you're alright. Good on ya!" She stepped forward to give his shoulder a gentle punch. He swayed on his precarious footing, before catching himself.

"You... you know me?" He asked fighting a wave of dizziness. She caught him by the arm to help steady him.

"Wow, you're in pretty bad shape. I'll answer your questions later; right now we just need to get out of here." She threw his arm over her shoulders; dagger still palmed, and tried to carry a bit of his weight. He thankful accepted her help as he shifted his weight of his exhausted feet. His whole body felt heavy from his weakness, it was a wonder he was still alive. The woman was a few inches shorter than he was but she seemed to be able to carry the burden of his weight quite well.

They staggered forward into a small hall, light by a large crack in the ceiling that allowed sunlight to seep through. The temperature was a bit higher in the hall than the cell but neither of them seemed to pay much attention to it. One side of the hall was littered with the splinters of broken doors, while the other was covered with chains bared to the wall. Slowly, Etrius and his savior made their way back up the hall, following the path of shattered wood, until they came across a "T." She paused as she looked both ways. She was beautiful, but Etrius didn't much care for her looks; she had a too pure look to her beauty that didn't really sit right with him. Her brown eyes were shallow; as if she hid everything from the world. The thought mad him pity her a little. Blondie – for that was what he decided to call his woman—had deep eyes that always gave her away. The thought made his chest ache a bit but he couldn't keep the smile from his mouth, though he wasn't quite sure why he was smiling.

The woman moved him to the far wall and sat him down against the stone. She raised her eyebrow at the small grin on his face, but shrugged it off. "What's your name big guy?" She asked, lifting her makeshift skirt a little; revealing a large pouch.

"I thought you knew me?" He replied confused. She gave him a look that mirrored his confusion, but turned back to the pouch, which she began to rummage through.

"I saw the slavers bring you in about a week ago, figured you were dead or soon to be." She pulled a bottle from the bag before continuing. "Looks like you're a little stronger than I gave you credit for. At least you had a nicer stay than I did."

"Slavers?"

"Uh, yeah. You know: big guys lots of chains?" She uncorked the bottle and held it out to him. The sound of sloshing liquid drifted to his ear, before he grabbed it up greedily. "I'm Aurora by the way; I'll be your rescuer this evening." She smiled as he began chugging the contents of the jug.

The water had a dirty copper taste to it and burned his throat as it went down, but it felt so sweet against his lips that he couldn't contain himself. Too soon the bottle became empty. She laughed as she took the empty bottle away and replaced it with a small chunk of bread. "I'd let you have more but we'll need it later. Now are you going to tell me your name or am I going to have to continue with the pet names?" The bread chaffed his raw throat but he didn't complain; it was heaven in food form.

"Etrius." He choked out. The name still seemed a bit strange but he didn't pay much attention to it. Aurora placed the bottle back into the bag and secured it back under her skirt, before standing and looking down both halls ounce more.

"Well Etrius, I'm going to have to leave you here while I scout ahead but I'll be back as soon as I can ok?" He nodded before he watched her curved figure make its way down the hall to his right. He was exhausted; both mentally and physically, he was surprised he had made it thus far. Leaning his head back against the cool stone he began to drift into unconsciousness.

The next thing he knew Aurora was shaking him awake. He wasn't sure how long he had been out; the light was still shining through the cracks in the ceiling so it mustn't have been that long. "Come on, this way is clear; and I think I've found a way out." She helped him to his feet with a small grunt before leading him down the hall. He was so tired; the thought of his next step left him wearier by the second. His eye lids felt heavy. Aurora stumbled and cursed "Hey now!" She barked at him. "I don't mind helping you walk, but I'll be damned if I have to carried your large rump out of here! Now wake up!" She jostled him with her shoulder as he pried his eyes back open.

Etrius tried to focus on his feet; stepping with his left and then his right. His surrounding became a blur as he fell into a rhythm; he almost didn't even realize when he began walking up a flight of stairs. Distantly he realized that the more steps he took the hotter and drier the air around him became. Finally Aurora stopped him. "Here, lean against this wall." He voice was chopped with heavy breathing as she helped him stay upright. Bracing himself against the stone, Etrius looked up at his surroundings: the stairway was dark and crowded with the two of them side by side.

His gaze found the woman's outline as she took a few more steps, her bare feet making noise against the stone. She reached for something; the sound of a chain scraping stone filled the air. Slowly a wooden panel at the top of the passage way lifted causing bright rays of sunlight to pierce the gloom. Etrius blinked back tears from his stinging eyes as he tried to make them adjust to the sudden change. Aurora grunted as she pulled the chain again; with every yank the panel opened a few inches until it was just wide enough for her to squeeze through. She wrapped the chain around the metal latch protruding from the wall adjacent to her, before turning back to him. "Don't fall asleep. I'll be right back!" She commanded. If Etrius wasn't so tired he'd be getting fairly annoyed at all of her commands.

His body sagged against the limestone; he was so exhausted. His head began to nod as he fought sleep. Slowly he looked up through the opening to the sky. There were no clouds against the pale blankness just a never ending yellow with a blue tint. He sighed taking in the scratchy air.

As he watched a small lizard scurried into the passage way to take advantage of the protection from the sun's rays. Etrius studied the creature trying to keep from dozing. Its skin was lump and covered with cracks; three yellowish splots took refuge on its back. It froze as if sensing some form of danger before scuttling into a small crack above the second step.

He envied the lizard: he'd give almost anything to just crawl into a hole and just sit there and finally get some sleep. "It's clear. Come on." He hadn't noticed when Aurora appeared again but her voice made his heart sink. She hoisted him up and helped him through the opening. The sun beat down on him fiercely, causing sweat to seep from every pore. The sand beneath his feet burned his skin as he took in the desert plain that surrounded them.

"How far does it go?" he asked weakly as he attempted to shield his eyes as he squinted to see further. The hatch slammed shut as she kicked the metal bar, which held it open, on her way out, before turning to see what caught his attention.

"Don't know." She shrugged. "I don't care to find out either." She took her position under his arm once more, before nodding in the opposite direction. "I found some tracks a few yards that way. For whatever reason most of the slavers left in a hurry. If we're lucky those tracks will lead us to a town or village; at least some food and water." She dragged him in the direction she had indicated. Etrius was dumbfounded.

"You want to follow the men that did this to us in the first place?! What if we catch up to them?" he demanded. She glared up at him not pausing in her march.

"Now listen here! I've got a hell of a lot more to hate them for than you but it doesn't matter: I've got enough food to last me a whole week sparingly and water a little less than that, if I'm lucky, and that's without sharing with you! Now I could have left you in that cell to rot; but I didn't. I could have horded my food and water, but I won't. We're going to follow those tracks because they are our only hope of survival." She paused, waiting for a response; but when none came besides his wary gaze she continued with a shrug. "Besides, it might not be the slavers; it could just be the bandits from earlier."

"Bandits?" He asked a bit surprised. She sighed before replying.

"Are you sure you're not dead; because you'd have to be to be as dense as you seem." She continued to drag him forward. "Bandits. They came this morning; after the slavers disappeared a few days ago, they must have thought the place was an easy target. Too bad for them I'm a lot stronger than I look: I got a number of those bastards before the rest got away; I only wish I had killed more." An evil grin slid across her face as he watched through heavy lids. "I figured they might come back so it'd be best to move on as fast as I could; of course I searched for survivors. You're the only one I found alive: it seems most died of thirst after the slavers abandoned us; I'm actually pretty surprised you're still standing.... sort of." She looked up at the sky: the sun was beginning to drop low. "Come on." She urged him on picking up their pace a little.
Chapter 3

His feet were covered in Blisters from the hot sand, but the pain just added to that of the rest of his body. His head still pounded, along with his wounded hands and his cramping stomach, but he had no choice but to carry on. They continued for what seemed like forever, only stopping every so often for small, rare, sips of water. Their pace was steady but it wasn't soon after that the sun began to dip beyond the horizon and the sky began to darken.

Aurora stopped just before full darkness began to envelope them. A chill began to seep into the air as she helped Etrius to the ground. "We'll stop here for the night. I'll see what I can gather for a small fire, it'll bring a little warmth but not enough; we may have to huddle to keep warm." Her voice was a bit harsh as the words formed. Etrius shot her a glance. "It's not ideal and if I find any of your appendages in a place I don't like I'll remove your manhood. Understood?" She said with a glare. Etrius scoffed; as if he'd do such a thing.

"Don't flatter yourself woman." He remarked. She was attractive but he didn't much care for her; she was bossy and egotistical. The thought of Blondie filled his head. What a sight they must have been, he mused; compared to him she was the height of a child no older than ten or eleven. How old was she? He wondered. He slouched forward lost in his own thoughts; he hadn't even heard Aurora's respond or departure. She looked to be in her mid-twenties but he didn't believe she was human; she was too short and stout for that. A dwarf maybe? From what he could recall of the dwarven race it made sense. But something nagged at the back of his mind. He was sure she was dwarvish but her mannerisms, at least the ones he could recall, didn't fit. Etrius was so caught up in his train of thought, that he hadn't noticed Aurora or the fire until she was kneeling next to him in the dim light.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, taking one of his injured hands and examining it. Etrius just grunted in response. Ripping a strip from her skirt of rags, she held the cloth to his lips. "Spit, we can't waste any water on minor injuries." It took him a moment to gather saliva in his dry mouth, but he did as she asked. After a sigh of impatience she ran the now damp cloth across the dirt and blood encrusted palm of his hand. The friction burned causing in to inhale sharply but he sat still as she cleaned the wound. After the task was complete she retrieved the pouch from beneath her skin and began to rummage through it. "So... Etrius, right? Where are you from?"

Her attempt at small talk was comforting but the knowledge of his hometown evaded him, leaving desolation in its wake. "I.... don't know." He mumbled. She glanced at him with a confused look as she pulled a small tin from her bag.

"What do you mean you don't know? Are you an orphan or something?" She replied, as she opened the tin revealing a slimy green paste.

"I don't know." He sighed, a little angry. He flinched as she applied the paste to his wound causing it to sting badly. "I can't remember anything; not who I am or where I'm from; it's like it all just doesn't exist." Aurora never paused in her application of the salve as she listened, though she waited a few seconds before she responded.

"Well there has to be something; otherwise how would you know your name?" He glanced away, not wanting to talk about the dwarven woman. He heard her sigh as she began wrapping his hand with the same strip of cloth. "You don't have to tell me; if it's really that bad."

"How do you know it's something bad?" He glanced up at her as she moved to his other hand; this time ripping off a strip from his own trousers and repeating the process.

"Are you kidding? You have the most depressing look I've ever seen, dripping from your face. It's pretty obvious."

"What about you? What's your story?" He asked, desperate to change the subject. She sighed, without looking up from her task.

"I'm just a nobody. I grew up in a clan of barbarians out in the red frog jungle; that is... until slavers came and captured the one's that could work and slaughtered the rest. They meant to sell me right away, but I was too spirited so they broke me; of course it took a few years." She looked up to give him a small wink. "Anyways, I was eventually sold to an old woman who owned an herbalist shop and did a bit of sorcery. After a few years of beatings and experimentations, I was fed up. Killed her in her sleep." She shrugged her statement off as if it meant nothing. "Was free for a while; wondered the world, learned to live off the land; but every now and again a band of slavers or soldiers with catch me by surprise, but I always manage to escape. This times no different." As she spoke her voice became more and more saddened. "How's your feet?" she asked without pausing for an answer, she moved to care for them; applying the salve before wrapping them in more strips of his trousers.

"Sounds like you've lived a hard life."

"I've lived. I guess that's what really matters." She shrugged. The sat in silence as she finished wrapping his feet before moving to her own. When she finished she began to return her items to the bag. Pausing she looked back up at him. "I do have one question. What little you remember... does it explain that scare?" She nodded towards his chest.

"What—" Etrius looked down for the first time taking in his physic. His body was toned though excessively thin from lack of nourishment. Sand and sweat covered his tan skin, leaving behind chunks of dried mud. A burn mark lay on the left side of his chest, just above his heart; the scar was shaped like a cross: the four arms were equal in length, at the center was a dark circle, as if a jewel had been set there. Two circles, one within the other, surrounded the cross so that the larger one just touched the ends of each of the cross's arms. Dark spots lay were the arms and circle met, perhaps places where gems had lain. The symbol pulled at his mind; dragging something familiar from his memories, but the more he tried to focus on it the further away it seemed.

"It doesn't." He answered flatly, tracing the tissue with his fingers. He pondered the meaning of it: Was it some kind of spell; maybe a curse? Perhaps it was the symbol of a cult. Was he religious? He turned the questions over in his head repeatedly as he watched the pathetic excuse for a fire. Aurora broke his concentration every so often, adding small twigs she found under some brush here and there or handing him a small chunk of bread or a sip of water. The cold had set in and soon, despite the little heat given off by the flames, Etrius began to shiver.

Soon, Aurora was huddled close to him shivering just as badly; her body heat was welcome as she scooted closer. The shivering subsided a bit but remained ever present. "Again, don't get any ideas big guy." She stuttered flashing the blade still in her hands. After what seemed like only a few minutes they we're both fast asleep using each other to lean on.

The heat woke them just after dawn. Aurora was the first to stir, kicking the long dead embers of their fire into the sand. Etrius began to topple backward from lack of support, before he managed to catch himself with a grunt. "Morning sunshine." Aurora teased her voice a bit scratchy. "We'll have to get underway soon: the heat won't really be on us for another few hours. Can you walk on your own?" Etrius tried to stand, becoming lightheaded halfway up. He plopped back down in the sand. With a sigh Aurora helped him up. He waited for the dizziness to pass before he tried to let his legs bare his weight.

They felt stronger today; the small bits of food and water must have done him good. He took a step forward; the lightness in his head struck again causing him to sway, before he was able to catch himself. Aurora moved to catch him but heeded his wave as he shrugged her off. Another step; this time the dizziness was less. "I'm fine. I think I can handle it."

"Good, I was contemplating letting you crawl your way on." She poked. He wasn't sure whether or not to take her seriously; but for the rest of the day she never strayed out of arms reach.

The day dragged on, with only a few food and water breaks to break the monotonous march. When dusk came; the two made camp. Though they found little to make a fire with, the cold bothered them little compared to their exhaustion and soon they both were asleep.

The next few days went without incident, each day Aurora would announce that they were gaining ground on the wagon, but Etrius never saw any discernible change in the tracks. A few times Aurora called for a break, she refused to rest; claiming that she wasn't tired or that she was only taking his "fragile state" into account, but Etrius could tell that she had lost the trail and decided to just play along. With every passing day he seemed to regain more and more of his strength and he was sure she had noticed as well. Eventually she would find the trail again and they'd be on their way.

On the third day, just at dusk, Aurora explained that they only had a little more than a day's water. "We're close enough to the wagon to make it there tonight if you're up for it. We may be able to steal some food..." she paused, a sly smile on her face. "Or maybe the whole wagon, wouldn't that be grand. No more walking!" Etrius held back a chuckle as he just nodded along. Over the past few days they had said little; not having much to talk about.

"I'm up for it." he paused considering the outcome the night might hold. If they were caught there would be a fight to ensue; he wasn't sure how well he'd be in a fight. Had he ever been in one; or were his muscles the result of a hardworking life on a farm? "Which do you think it'll be: slavers or bandits?"

"I'd put my money on bandits." her grin widened evilly. "In fact I'm sure it. Most of the slavers have been long gone for a while now; it only makes sense that it'd be the bandits. I'm hoping that it is." Etrius watched her as she spoke.

"Oh? Why is that?" He asked. The bloodthirsty smile on her face evaporated as it was replaced by a somber glare.

"I'd just hate to let the one that managed to evade me, escape." He was sure that she was lying through her teeth, but he didn't press; she obviously didn't want to talk about it and she hadn't pushed the issue of his memories of the blonde woman; it was only fair that he let the subject lie.

The sun set soon after their conversation; plunging them into cold darkness. The cold was lessened by the continuous exertion of their march; it was still not enough to keep them from shivering every time a breeze picked up. The chill burned Etrius' lungs with every breath, rubbing him raw. About midway through the night Etrius spotted the glow of a fire in the distance; after pointing it out to Aurora she nodded.

"That must be them, we'll move a little closer and sneak up behind. We'll have to keep quiet and stay low. There shouldn't be more than four or five of them but we'll take count and regroup; come up with a plan ok?" Determination dripped from her every word. He nodded signaling his agreement.

It didn't take long before they were close enough for the sounds of laughter and soft music drifting toward them. Aurora held a finger to her lips before motioning for him to get down. "Keep close big guy." He barely heard her whisper before she was ahead of him. Mimicking the way she lay on her stomach and used her arms and legs to propel herself forward he made his way forward.

Soon the mumbling of words became coherent and Aurora stopped just outside the circle of light cast by the men's large fire. There were there of them; two sat leaning against the large wagon, as the horses stood dosing still latched to the harness, the third lay off to the left of the fire blowing softly on a lute. "—get there?" The one sitting against the right side of the wagon finished.

"Another day, maybe two." The man next to him answered. The three were dressed darkly in fairly nice tunics and trousers that made them appear a bit bigger than their actual size. The first man took a swig from a small flask before getting up to walk to the fire.

"I could really use a wench to chase away this cold." He sighed.

"You mean like the one that had your member at knife point back at the jail?" The man with the lute laughed causing the second man to join in. The first glared at them both.

"If Sam hadn't of been so rough with her, I'm sure she would have bent over and taken it like the nice little piece she is." A small movement caught Etrius' eye as Aurora's fist tightened around her dagger with so much force her knuckles became pale. "Ugh," the man moaned pulling Etrius' attention back to him. "But she had the greatest body I've ever seen." He waved his hands in the air outlining the curves of a woman.

"Yeah... one that could rip your throat out before you had time to undo your trousers; just like Sam." The lute player sighed. The first man continued ignoring the remark.

"If I could just have those gorgeous legs wrapped around me..." Etrius looked at Aurora once more; her lips were pulled back in a snarl as rage filled her eyes. She looked menacing in the dim light as she lay there blade in hand, ready to pounce. That same angry began to burn at the bottom of his stomach as he realized why Aurora had been so blood thirsty; what these men had done to her. He glanced back up at the three of them. He would make them pay for their actions; he would give Aurora her retribution: though he had no idea how. "I'd make her scream for more." He finished. That was the last straw for Aurora; he control snapped. In an instant she was on her feet racing forward. Etrius had barely any time to think before he jumped up after her.

The men had just enough time to jump to their feet as she lunged over the fire, with a head splitting scream, at the standing man. She hit him legs first, sending him sprawling backwards. Still crouching, as he landed, she plunged her dagger into his throat and twisted. The sound of snapping bone filled the still air, followed by the gurgling of blood as the man's scream was drowned by the red liquid.

Etrius threw himself at the second man knocking him to the ground, before he had a chance to advance on Aurora. The man's fist connected with Etrius' chin, before he could throw the first punch. The lute player's arm wrapped around Etrius' neck and dragged him off the second man. Etrius lungs began to expand, begging for air as he clawed at his attacker's grip. The second man rushed forward for a second attack. He threw his right arm out for protection against the onslaught.

Blue light flared in front of him, blindingly as his palm extended. The light jumped from his hand and slammed into the man's chest. The lute player released Etrius; sending him sputtering and coughing to the ground.

Aurora slid the blade from the man's spine, still blinded by rage. She stood panting, searching for her next opponent. Slowly, when none came, her blinding fury eased. Etrius kneeled, rubbing his throat as she made her way to the unconscious man.

A hole lay burned through his tunic, to his chest filling the air with the putrid smell of smoldering flesh. His body shuddered slightly with each breath he drew. Aurora leaned close and whispered a few words before snapping his neck. She stood and slowly made her way back to Etrius; landing a kick to the dead man's ribs as she went.

Etrius knelt staring at his bandaged hand in awe; nothing was different; the filthy clothe lay the same as before. Aurora drifted past him heading for the lute player. "You never told me you were a spell caster." She accused tauntingly as she studied the man at her feet then stared at Etrius and back again deep in thought. Etrius looked up at being addressed.

"A sp... spell caster?" He stammered. "I... I didn't know." He was dumbfounded by the realization of what had just happened. She nodded to herself before pulling the body into sitting position.

"Well it's nothing to be ashamed about, maybe a little frightened," she laughed throwing him a wink, "but not ashamed; some of my best friends are..." She paused. "Use to be, spell casters."

"Use to be?" he asked. "Well that's comforting."

"I've lived a hard life; some people can't keep up: It's sad, and not really their fault." She tried to pull the blood stained tunic off the musician but failed, as he began to slide back down. "Are you going help me undress this guy or just sit there like a toddler with a new toy?" she asked with a huff. Slowly Etrius stood; his body seemed a bit more tired than before, but it seemed understandable after all the excitement.

"Why are we undressing him?" He asked as he made his way to join her. She looked up at him as if he were stupid.

"You don't want to walk into town in rags do you? Someone might get the wrong impression." She teased. "The rest might fetch a little coin."

"But stealing from a dead man?" Etrius argued. She rolled her eyes.

"It's not like he's going to use them." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, by dawn coyotes will have dragged the bodies away for their meal; it'd be a waste to see these clothes dragged off with them." Etrius turned her over quickly, before agreeing with a sigh. They stripped each man individually before carrying their bodies a few yards down wind and dumping them.

Returning to camp, they began to sort through the clothes: Etrius was built a bit bigger than the men but was able to find a tunic that would do; though be it a little small, as for trousers The first man was tall and had a bit of a belly, giving Etrius just enough space to squeeze into. Aurora had no problem picking out clothes for herself; though Etrius was forced to turn away as she began to strip before his eyes, with no regard to self-preservation or decency that Etrius was accustomed to. Aurora gave a small chuckle at his chivalry as she began to dress. "If you're so bashful go behind the cart to dress; though I'm sure it's nothing I haven't seen before." She teased. Etrius, offended, left abruptly without gracing her with a reply.

After a time he deemed appropriate, Etrius returned. Aurora stood leaning against the end of the cart taking a swig of the flask she took from the second man. Her hair, still a mess of tangled black, at least looked as if she had attempted to run her fingers through it. Her eyes, so filled with hate no less than an hour ago, were now a blank mass of brown. Aurora's swig of the flask's content drew attention to her heart shaped face. The dark tunic bagged a bit but still fit enough to hint at her womanly figure. The trousers were also a bit too large for her but they covered her legs neatly, with the ends tucked neatly into her boots.

She extended her muscular arm; offering the flask to Etrius. The smell of warm liquor steamed from it causing him turn up his nose. "No thanks." She shrugged him off before climbing into the wagon.

"Found food while you were making yourself pretty." She called. "And water; plenty of it. What do you say to a feast?" She lifted a large sack that bulged with weight and carried it to the edge before plopping down, legs dangling just inches off the ground. After digging for a few moments she pulled out a water skin and passed it to Etrius; who took it, greedily downing half its contents. When he offered the rest to Aurora, she explained she had already had her share. "There more where that one came from too; they have enough stashed here to last the four of them a week." She boasted.

Next she handed him a large bundle wrapped in cloth. Unwrapping it, he found half a loaf of bread, a large chunk of cheese and small strips of dried meat. His mouth began to water as he examined the food. Aurora had already unwrapped her own and was chewing over her jerky when she looked up at him. "It's not poisoned and actually tastes pretty good. Go on, eat." He didn't need to be told twice and soon most of his share was gone; his stomach distended. Soon they both fell silent, focused intently on their meal.

"Why didn't you tell me about... what they did to you?" He said, breaking the quiet. The question had been plaguing him since the initial attack. She didn't look up from her bread to acknowledge his question, and soon Etrius started to believe she was never going to answer his question.

"I don't see how it would matter; or what you could have done about it." She replied. "Besides, what'd you expect; it's not like it's your problem." He sighed, she had a very good point; he couldn't have done anything to change what had happened, if anything it would just make him pity her.

"Perhaps you're right; at least they got what they deserved." He murmured; she gave a cynical laugh.

"You're only half right; I am right but they deserved so much more." The rage from earlier flashed in her eyes before disappearing just as quickly. "Come on; let's get some sleep. You'll have to sleep under the wagon if you don't want the sun to wake you." She tossed her bundle back into the bag, before grabbing a nearby bed roll and jumping of the wagon. Etrius nodded, following her lead.
Chapter 4

Two more days past without any sign of civilization; the horses and wagon allowed their traveling to move a bit faster; and much more comfortable. The small village lay just on the outskirts of a small oasis; giving it the resources needed to survive. A few huts were scattered between the trees; allowing the shade to keep them a bit cooler than the surround atmosphere. The only well-constructed building seemed to be a small in on the edge of the pond at the center of the village. The few people they passed eyed the warily as they went one: Aurora ignoring their glares smiled down at them and even waved here and there.

"What are you planning to do once we're out of this blasted desert?" she asked, not looking up from her showy greetings. Etrius had often wondering about the subject himself during the past few days. The subject left him a bit uncertain; but he only had one lead.

"I need to find someone," he started but was interrupted by an elbow to his ribs.

"AH, got a girl I see!" She winked up at him. His face dropped at the subject, leaving her to reassess her statement. "Or a guy; hey that's cool too." She shrugged as if it were normal.

"Oh, no! I mean it's not a guy," Etrius stammered a bit shocked at the accusation. "That is to say it is a woman.... Or was..." His face was a mask of sorrow once more.

"Oh.... I'm sorry... I didn't know." Her face was sincere as she apologized.

"It's fine, but that's where I'm headed; to find who did it..." The images returned along with the pain in his chest. "She's all I can remember..."

"That's terrible, but how do you expect to find them if you don't have any clue to who you are?"

"I'll just have to figure out what this symbol means," He answered rubbing the place where his scar lay, through his tunic. "Hopefully, it'll help me figure out who I am; maybe where I'm from."

They pulled up to the end and called for the stable boy. Before he could run off with the horses and wagon; Aurora collected all the bags, loading half of them into Etrius' arms. "I wouldn't trust these villagers; they seem a bit shifty." She whispered as they headed towards the doors.

The Inn was small and empty as they entered; the tables where spread apart leaving plenty of room to walk by them with ease. An old man was hunched forward on the bar snoring into his mug of ale. "Excuse me?" Aurora called, catching a raised eyebrow from Etrius. "What? I have manners.... Sometimes." A middle aged woman stuck her head out from, what they assumed to be the kitchen.

"If you ain't got coin, I can't help ya; too many people come in and expect charity: I gotta live ya know!" She said as she took a step into the room; wiping her hands on her apron. Aurora nodded along as the woman spoke; while Etrius stood next to her silently.

"Yes ma'am, we have coin." She answered; which was news to him. She produced a large purse from one of the bags, causing it to jingle from the movement. The woman's face brightened with a smile.

"What'll it be then?" she asked.

"Two rooms, a hot and hearty meal, 2 pints of ale... and two baths," Aurora demanded. With a nudge from Etrius and a roll of her eyes she added 'please' to her sentence as well.

"Three gold and a two silver; it'd be cheaper but water is expensive out here, and I don't expect you'll be wantin' to take a sponge bath." The woman replied.

"I'll make it an even five; if you make sure we have locks on our doors and see that our horses are taken care of; six if you can find us a map." Aurora offered.

"You got it." The woman's smile became genuine as the number grew. "Your rooms will be at the top of the stairs, end of the hall on either side: the beds aren't the greatest, but it beats sleeping in the cold or on hay. I'll be up to draw your baths as soon as I can manage; Dinner will be in about an hour and I'll have the boy find you a map and care for the horses." With a nod and a few of the coins promised; they received their keys and made their way up the stairs.

The hall was dark with no windows to allow in any sunlight, but it was simple enough to find their rooms. The doors lay at the end of the hall, just as the innkeeper had said; exactly across from each other. With one last glance at each other and a nod, they entered the rooms.

Light flowed through a small round window, adjacent to the door, lighting the sparsely furnished space. A loosely feathered bed lay in the far corner on a shaky frame next to a small in table, while a chair sat next to the window collecting dust. Etrius dropped the bags of supplies into the chair before plopping down on the lumpy bed; causing a precision of squeaks. He didn't mind much though; the dusty mattress was a step up from a sandy bed roll.

Lying down, he stared up at the ceiling pondering Aurora's earlier question; what was he going to do next? If he couldn't figure out what his scar meant, where would he go? It was his only chance; unless he could remember something else about his past.

He tried to concentrate as he studied the boards above him. He brushed through the memories of Blondie with as much haste as he could manage; only pausing to study the face of a truly happy woman only once. With a sigh he continued shifting through the black for what must have been half an hour, before a soft knock at his door stirred him. Getting up, he made his way to the door. The Inn keeper stood holding a stack of folded clothes and a pair of boots; which she placed in his arms.

"Your bath is ready. Your companion invested in some new clothes; it seems like you could use them." She informed him. "Bathes are in the house out back; I assumed you wanted a separate tub; unless I was wrong?" She winked.

"No." he answered flatly; in no mood for jokes. "Thank you, I'm sure I can find my way." She shrugged before nodding and walking away.

"Dinner in half an hour." She called before disappearing around the corner. He inhaled deeply before shutting the door behind him and locking it and making his way to the bath house.

The waiting room was just a small area with a mass of benches. Two doors sat side by side; both identical, except for a small sign that hung from the latch of the left's that read 'occupied'. The humid atmosphere inside the structure was a nice change to the dry heat outside; leaving him a bit more refreshed already.

Taking the door on the right he entered his chamber: a large room filled with the smell of scented soaps. A large metal tub sat in the center of the room, filled with clear crystalline water; a small bench lay against the far wall and a full length mirror sat in the corner; only separated by a few hooks to hang clothing. Etrius pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it to the floor before unwrapping his hands and feet and making his way to the mirror. For the first time since he awoke in his cell he looked upon his reflection.

He stood tall; shoulders squared as if maybe he had been a part of some form of military. His hair was short enough to stand on its own; gray dusted the sides, interrupting the flow of auburn. How old was he? It was the first time the question had entered his mind. The gray in his hair made the number higher than he expected, and yet he didn't feel older than his mid-twenties. He ran his hand through the week old stubble on his chin before continuing his inspection. His eyes were a green-hazel that seemed filled with pain; the square of his chin seemed to emanate dignity. His abdomen was a mass of muscles; though he was still rather thin. His scar stared up at him almost mockingly from its place on his chest. He studied it for the thousandth time; tracing it with his fingers. The wounds on his hands were nothing but a small scab that had begun healing over. He turned from the mirror and continued to undress before stepping into the warm liquid of his bath. Slowly he submerged himself; lost in the comforting thought of cleanliness.

A soft knock came from the door, stirring him from his relaxation. "I'm sorry to disturb you good sir..." A boy's voice came. "But the mistress sent me to attend to any of your necessities; I've brought your soaps and towels." He sounded nervous; stuttering here and there.

"Come in." Etrius answered, waving a hand without realizing it. The door swung gently open as the boy slipped in, and shut quickly behind him. He was a messy looking child, in his teen; but he seemed fairly well built, as if he were akin to hard labor. Baring a tray full of linen and a variety of soaps in one hand and a small stool in the other, he continued to Etrius' side; setting down the stool and with the tray on top of it.

"Is there anything you need?" He asked softly before remembering his manners with a bow "Good sir!" he hurried. Etrius gave a small chuckle at the rough manners, rubbing the progressing beard on his chin.

"Are you good with a razor boy?" He asked, eyeing him. The boy gave a bit of a startled look before answering.

"Well... no sir... I can't say I am... I'm not old enough to shave just yet..." He admitted as he began to scramble about the room; picking up Etrius' discarded clothes. His reply made Etrius laugh a bit harder. "I'll ask the mistress if she can find you someone who can be of assistance." He said bowing repeatedly as he rushed from the room without a dismissal. Something pulled at Etrius; the boy's easily excited mannerisms reminded him of someone; but he couldn't put his finger on whom. He sighed, sinking lower into the water.

He was hopeless; his mind would hint that he knew someone or something, but would continue to evade him. His thoughts shifted toward the incident with the bandit a few days earlier. Aurora had claimed it was some form of spell casting; she did know better than him after all, at least at the moment. Could he really be a spell caster? There wasn't really any other explanation for the light. Perhaps, if he couldn't find a lead on the symbol, he could find a trainer; maybe learning to use magic would help him remember what had happened. He finished his bath quickly; hungry for a hot meal.

The new clothes fit fairly well and were nicely tailored. The set included a green tunic, brown trousers, a belt, and a pair of leather boots; which felt heavenly on his sore feet. Just as he was pulling his shirt over the mop he called his hair another knock sounded at the door. "It's open." He called without hesitation.

A woman stepped inside, holding a bundle of cloth. She looked as if she were in her late twenties; dressed in a simple dress with her hair braided and in a bun. She smiled up at him confidently. "Evening," She greeted. "My names Emily." She curtsied "The Mistress sent me to help you with a shave." Her smile never lessened but he saw her uneasiness shine in her eyes. Etrius nodded in response.

"You'll have to thank the mistress for me." He replied collecting the stool that the young servant had brought in earlier and set it in front of the mirror before sitting down. She hesitated a moment before following him. She spread her tools across the bench next to him before preparing the lather. "Tell me; are all the villagers here afraid of travelers?" His question caused her to stiffen; it was another moment before she replied.

"We have nothing but trouble from passers; it seems they are all bandits, slavers, or mercenaries." She almost whispered as if not wanting to offend if he were one of the three. "The men of the village try to protect us but it seems it just gets them killed." Her voice dripped with sorrow as she laid one of the damp linens across his shoulders.

"Widowed?" He asked her, generally curious. She nodded solemnly; it was no wondered this woman was uneasy. Her husband was killed by travelers, and now she stood alone in a room with one. "I..." He started not sure what to say. Apologies would do no good; if someone tried to sympathize with him over Blondie he would just be annoyed. His chest ached with the thought. "Understand your pain." His remark caused the woman to glace up from her work in surprise. A sympathetic smile touched her face.

"Thank you." She replied; her uncomfortableness eased a bit as she lifted his chin with a finger and placed the blade to his neck. The sound of metal scrapping against skin filled the silence as she worked to perfection. When she was finished she wiped the excess lather from his face and stood back. Etrius examined himself in the mirror; his chin was much more pronounced than before, taking off a few years.

"I'm sorry I have no coin at the moment but I'll be sure to give Mistress Innkeeper a few extra to give to you for your charity." He smiled at her. She bowed before collecting her things and leaving. Etrius was soon to follow; heading into the inn to check on dinner.

The commons area was still empty except for the old man, still asleep at the bar and Aurora, who sat at the far table leaning over a large piece of paper. Her hair was still damp but looked as if it had been brushed repeatedly until every tangle had been vanquished. Etrius moved to take the seat across from her without a word. "The Innkeeper says this town is called Outterbarrens." She told him not looking up from the map. "Which means that," she slammed her finger down; pointing at a large shaded area labeled Selara. "Is the closest major city!" She looked up at him and paused, a smile spreading across her face. "HEY! You finally got that thorn bush off your face!" She laughed. "I kinda liked it." She teased.

"How many days travel?" He asked ignoring her remark.

"You're always so serious." She pouted. "A few days, perhaps a week." The innkeeper entered with their food in tow, followed by Emily who carried two large mugs, filled to the brim. After setting them in front of their guests and asking if there was anything else they departed. Roast sat upon a pallet of vegetables making his mouth water; some form of roll sat next to it soaking up the juices that pooled at the bottom of the plate. Etrius didn't hesitate before digging in.

"What do you plan to do when we get there?" He asked between bites. She shrugged without pausing to consider it.

"I guess what I've always done: find someone looking to hire; maybe travel some more." She answered. He nodded absently. "We'll of course sell the goods we stole and split the money down the middle. Which reminds me," She dug into her pockets and brought out a hand full of gold, passing it to him. "That's your share of what's left. I figured we'd do a little shopping before we head out. Maybe we can pick up some weapons from the blacksmith tomorrow; who knows, it might give us a clue to what kind of spell caster you are."

"What do you mean; type of spell caster?"

"Well," She sighed at his ignorance. "There are a lot of different types of spell casters; some can't even use weapons or armor. Which I think is useless; if they're so weak they shouldn't be in combat in the first place!" She rambled, receiving a look of impatience from Etrius. "Right, anyways; a few of them can use weapons like the rest of us; so If we find you can swing a sword or hold your own in chainmail then it narrows down the field." He drank his ale slowly contemplating the new information; perhaps she was right but how would he know if he could use a weapon? Before he had a chance to voice his question the door to the inn flew open with an audible bang and a large group of men stepped into the commons area.

The group seemed to be a small band of middle aged villages; the largest of which was dressed in a blacksmith's apron and carried a large hammer. All the faces were unfamiliar except that of the young boy from the bath house; who stood behind the blacksmith. For a moment the only movement was that of the old man waking from his sleep.

The blacksmith scanned the room quickly; his eyes falling on the pair of travelers. The man looked angry as he advanced; while the others seemed a bit more cautious; staying back a few paces. Aurora stood intercepting the mob.

"What seems to be the problem good sir?" She asked. By the time she had finished speaking Etrius was by her side. The man towered of her, causing her to look up to make eye contact.

"Step aside woman!" He demanded. "You're traveling with a wanted criminal." His eyes shifted towards Etrius as he spoke the last two words. Etrius' heart dropped. Him, a wanted criminal; there had to be a misunderstanding. Aurora gave no reaction to his claim, instead she crossed her arms behind her back and stood on her toes; giving her a few more inches.

"And?" She asked. Etrius' jaw dropped, did she know about this; did that mean that what they claimed was true? The blacksmith seemed to be taken aback as well, as he took a moment to compose himself.

"And... We're here to turn him in and claim the fifteen hundred gold reward." He stated his chest puffing with pride. Aurora's lips twitched with a smile.

"And who's to say that wasn't my intention?" Fury swelled in Etrius; could it be that this woman knew who he was all along; and was just using him for some reward? The man looked dumbfounded, though the booming of his laughed soon echoed from the walls.

"You?!" He chuckled. "You're just a simple woman." Etrius saw his anger mirrored in her eyes as her hand gripped the handle of her dagger; loosely tucked in the back of her belt. "The only use to him, you are, is a nice bed warmer. Now run along and go sue something before you get yourself hurt." That was it; her last straw broke. It only took an instant, before the man was on the floor a knife to his throat. The group of villagers that surrounded them seemed in awe and frightened at the same time; no one taking a step to help the large man.

"Now," She forced through her clenched teeth. "What exactly is this man wanted for?!" She dug the dagger into his skin, slightly, causing a small trickle of blood.

"H-his name is Etrius Kummel; he's wanted for murdering a large family, somewhere up north." The man winced.

"Where?!"

"I-I don't know!" He whimpered. The servant boy stepped forward, his eyes pleading.

"Nevelair!" He called, causing Aurora to switch her focus. "P-p-please milady..." He pleaded. "Let my father be; he doesn't mean to cause trouble. He's only trying to help our village!" Etrius watched as slowly the woman's face softened, but she continued to hold her blade steady.

"This man has no memory of what he's done; if what you say is true. Would you send an innocent man to his death just for some coin?" She asked the group. Mumbles spread through the crowd. Etrius stood, watching the scene, unsure of what to do. That name: Nevelair; it sounded so familiar. He was sure he had been there before; with her.

His thoughts turned toward her; the blonde of her had swaying in front of them as they made their way through the market crowd. She smiled back at him as he pretended not to notice the gold she pocketed from the pompous man who had called her some name he couldn't remember. The Image began to shift: She sat at the end of a large table covered in different types of food. Several people sat with her; familiar people that he couldn't place. They were all laughing and patting him on the shoulder as he raised his glace in a toast. That was it; Nevelair: His home town.

"Wait!" He called, grabbing everyone's attention. He laid a hand on Aurora's shoulder before continuing. "What was the name of the family?" He pleaded, despite for information. The group stared at him in confusion. "Please?"

"We don't know," The blacksmith grunted, still pinned beneath Aurora's blade. "All we know is that the reward was placed by some lord from the same town. Please, just call her off." Aurora dug her knee into his gut.

"I don't belong to anyone!" She growled.

"Of course, of course! I'm terribly sorry my good woman!" He pleaded.

Etrius couldn't ignore this; if the rumor was true he must pay for his crime. But, was it? He had been to Nevelair; but why would he kill someone? The thought plagued him; he didn't know who he was; who's to say he wasn't a murderer? At least now he knew his full name and his home town.

"I don't know if I did what the bounty claims; but I can't allow you to send me to prison. There is a woman I have a debt to, and I can't let you interfere..." Etrius spoke, sounding more confident than he felt, and for that he was grateful. "We have about seven hundred gold and a wagon full of supplies in the stable. Let us go in peace and we will let you have both, minus the horses and enough food and water to get us to the next village." He offered. Aurora shot him a glare, winning one from him as well, before standing.

The villagers looked skeptical as the discussed the proposal among themselves, as the blacksmith slowly got to his feet before scrambling backwards. "We don't want any trouble; we just need supplies and we'll be on our way tonight. Besides; with the cost of supplies it would take to take me and four guards, which are the least you'd need, from her to Selara and back again your fifteen hundred would be a little less than what my offer is worth." He continued. After a few more long moments the villagers came upon an agreement.

"Very well," A man with more gray in his hair than black stepped forward. "But you leave in no more than an hour and only do trading through the Innkeeper; understood?" He asked his eyes betraying the confidence in his voice. Etrius nodded in agreement.
Chapter 5

The two were gone within the hour, as promised. They had gathered enough food and water to last them, and their horses, until they reached the next village. The precision went fairly smoothly as the hour had drifted by; full of apologies from Etrius and subtle glares from passing villagers. By the time they made it out of town dusk was beginning to settle. For a while they rode in silence.

Etrius was curious about some of the things Aurora had said earlier: had she really known about the bounty or was she just playing the part. He sighed frustrated; he could ask her, but he had the feeling she was still angry. If she did know, then she could turn him in whenever she pleased; collecting her reward and leaving him to rot. Why else would she have stuck with him so long?

"I can't believe you!" she yelled, making him jump. He glanced her way with a confused look; she sat upon her horse glaring at him with annoyance.

"What?" He questioned. She threw her arms up in exasperation.

"I can't believe you gave away all our gold and equipment?! What are we going to do when we make it to the next town? We have nothing to trade for supplies! And what do you think those villagers will do when they realize we had less than five hundred gold?!" She continued to yell. He had been so focused on her alliances he hadn't even begun to think about these things. "I should have left you in that cell." she mumbled.

"We'll have to worry about what to do at the next village when we get there. As for the villagers; the only thing they can do is come after us, but we'll hopefully already be a few days ahead of them by then." He answered after some contemplation.

"Which means we'll have to travel throughout the night." she grumbled, pulling her new traveling cloak tighter around her, to fend off the chill.

"At least they were kind enough to allow us food and clothing."

"You'd defend the people who wanted to imprison you?" She asked a little dumbfounded. Etrius sighed; she apparently was not the type to understand his situation; and it was still a possibility that she was one of those people.

"They were only trying to protect their village." He explained. She shook her head slowly, not really understanding how he could be so naïve. The night continued slowly, with no notable interruptions to speak of. Eventually the slow rhythm of the horse's hoof beats against the sand was too much to bear; so they stopped for an hour's break. The gathering of twigs for a fire seemed a bit easier in this part of the desert; and soon they had a small flame to warm themselves on. They sat in silence for a good while; neither knowing what to say to the other.

"It seems that we're getting closer to a green area." Aurora sighed after having enough of the heavy quiet. Etrius nodded in response, causing the conversation to die before it had begun. Finally after long moments of awkwardness Etrius spoke up.

"You knew about the bounty." He accused. He had thought hard about what had transpired and he was almost positive he was right; she had known and hadn't told him. She hadn't given any sign that she had heard him, but soon after he was sure she wouldn't answer him she sighed before replying.

"I didn't.... at first." Her voice had no malice toward him; but he felt as if she was prepared to slit his throat, just like she had done the bandit. She picked up one of the twigs and began poking at the fire. "When we met in the cell; your name sounded familiar but I wasn't sure where I had heard it from." Etrius watched her intently prepared for the unpredictable. "To be honest; I wasn't even sure I believed the story about your memory loss, but I couldn't just leave you there in the state you were in; you'd be dead within the next few days. It wasn't until the night we discovered you were a spell caster that I believed you really couldn't remember anything: No one can feign that much ignorance or surprise. It was written all over your face like a boy who had a taste of his first woman." She chuckled at her own joke before continuing. "I finally remembered where I had heard your name between there and Outterbarrens; but I wasn't sure how to proceed. I'll admit I considered turning you in for the reward: that is a lot of money for one woman. I could finally settle down with a house, somewhere out in the woods; maybe start my own shop." Her eyes seemed to glaze over as she spoke of the things she could do with the reward. She shook her head as if clearing her mind. "But I couldn't do it; you are too nice of a man. Whether you truly murdered that family or not, you have no memory of your life before. It seems to me that this could be your chance to start a new life. You could be Etrius Kummel the murderer from Nevelair... or you could be just Etrius traveling spell caster, or whatever." She shrugged tossing down her stick. Etrius was upset; granted she claimed that she didn't plan on turning him in but she hadn't told him of his past. He sat in constant emptiness, wishing to remember anything that could lead him to the man who had murdered his woman and she sat there quietly never allowing him to know the information she held that could help him.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" He yelled jumping to his feet in a fit of anger. "You knew! All along you knew who I was; and didn't even tell me!"

"What did you expect?!" She countered taking her own defensive stance. "Oh by the way Etrius you murdered a whole family; just thought you should know." She mimicked her own voice as she mocked him. "If I had told you what you had done what would you do?!" She yelled, not really wanting an answer. "How do I know that you didn't remember slaughtering them?! All I know is that you remember something, something bad. You avoid the subject every time it's brought up and the look on your face is sad enough to shatter a sea of cold hearts." As she continued speaking her voice slowly lowered until it was almost normal. Etrius' heart sank; she was right, he hadn't told her anything about what he could remember. What was worse was there was a possibility... he had been the one that had killed the woman he loved. Shock hit him; paired with his sudden anguish, the force was enough to knock him back down to his seat.

"Your right..." His whisper was barely audible as Aurora continued to stand. "I could have done it; but that's not what I remember." Tears burned his eyes as he forced himself to push them back. "I remember a woman." He began, catching her attention. "She was beautiful; perhaps not in the same way as you, but it was there, a little rough around the edges but there." He never looked up at her as he talked. "She was always laughing; it seems like I only have one memory of when she wasn't. She was a handful though: I remember her stealing from people constantly..." He chuckled absently, "But I'd never let her know I had seen. She always seemed to be in trouble... I remember her hair more than anything; it was the most beautiful shade of off yellow I'd ever seen." His eye began to cloud just as hers had done earlier. "But that's not what you want to hear about," Etrius sighed expecting to hear a comment of either agreement or disagreement from Aurora but none came. "She died; in my arms... I remember the blood... and the way she smiled when she said my name... with her last breath..." He couldn't stop the tears now; the reminder was too painful. Aurora never reacted; acting as if she hadn't noticed the wetness on his cheeks.

"Tell me more about her; what were your adventures like?" She asked, sounding sincere and compassionate.

He paused as something new forced its way to the front of his mind. "I remember... We were traveling somewhere... I don't remember where... but we were attacked; we fended them off easily enough and when they were gone we..." He had to concentrate for a moment as the image tried to escape him. "Found... a chest? Yes... A chest; we had just assumed it was locked." The memory shifted showing him an argument between the two. "We were... fighting over something... She had stormed off and... was cleaning her tools..." His chuckle turned into a full laugh. "She was a master at picking locks, but I wouldn't let her out of pride... So I used a very powerful spell..." He blinked in confusion. Aurora waited patiently realizing this was a completely new discovery for him. "A huge Eagle: larger than two of me; flew down from the heavens and kicked the lock open... I was so exhausted afterwards, but I had gotten the lock open by myself... Later I found out it had been unlocked the whole time... She laughed for hours afterward." His laughter died to a broad smile before slowly disappearing. The tears returned full force as his earlier thought returned to his mind. "I could have been the one that killed her!" He began shaking as the pain became too much.

"You're kidding right?" Aurora looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "There is absolutely no possible way that you were the one to kill her." She stated, not waiting for his reaction. "A man that loves a woman, enough to memorize the shade of her hair, for god's sake; would never do anything to harm her." She seemed a little over anxious on the subject but he didn't pay much attention to it. He wished he could believe her; perhaps deep down he did, but he had no proof to show otherwise.

They sat in silence once more; both lost in thought. Etrius had no other choice than to continue on his vowed mission; whether he had committed the crime or not, he would still find the truth. If it had been him; he would turn himself in to the authorities: they would either have him hanged, or leave him in a prison to rot for the rest of his life; either way it was what he would deserve. Perhaps, though, he would find that the man behind such a horrible deed had not been him: in which case... what? Would he kill him; perhaps torture him? Etrius still didn't know the answer to the question, but he was sure that when the time came; he would know how to proceed.

Aurora stood after a few minutes and dusted herself off. "Come on let's get going; we've got a lot of distance to put between us and the village." She had the fire put out and was saddled before Etrius had even risen from his thoughts. He took some time for him to mount up; still lost in his depressing thoughts.

The two were well on their way by morning; putting a few more miles between them and danger. The lack of sleep soon caught up to them as they continued on their long travels. Combined with the intense heat of the sun, their exhaustion soon left them in a state of waking dreams:

Aurora was the first to slouch in her saddle; images of her past filling her mind. An old woman sat crushing some form of weed in a small bowl as she mumbled to herself. The smell of bruised grass and lilac filled the air making a young Aurora a bit euphoric; she stepped forward holding a tray of vials, filled with different perfumes. The old herbalist took one, thanking the girl with a sweet smile. Aurora looked so strange compared to her guardian; with her tanned skin and dark hair. She seemed to always compare herself with her adoptive mother's pale appearance; but it never seemed to bother her, the woman loved her all the same. Aurora started upright; shaking her head to rid herself of the dream, but the alertfulness didn't last long, and soon she was lost in her past once again.

This time the memory was not a happy one. Aurora, a bit older now, was being dragged away from the old woman; her pleas and tears causing no more than a glance as the woman collected her money from the man. He stood tall, with broad shoulders, dressed in shining armor. His face was stern and uncaring as he watched her family fall apart. . His Brown hair was combed back and the smell of baked radishes and honey poured from him. She would never forget that smell; it was the last thing she came in contact with before he severed her mother's head. This time the sound of her own scream woke her; along with Etrius.

"Everything alright?" He asked, taking her horse by the reins and attempting to calm it. The image of the man stayed with her, making her feel cold. He was the reason she traveled constantly; always keeping an eye or ear out for a man by his description.

"I'm fine..." She assured him. "Just a bad dream; I must have dosed off..." She shivered trying to sell her story. "I can't stand spiders; all those legs." She wiggled her fingers playfully. "Especially the tiny ones!" She shivered once more, "Bleh!" Etrius seemed to buy it; allowing her to take control of her rains again.

It wasn't the first time she had lied to him; and it probably wouldn't be the last. She never cared to tell people about what really happened to the herbalist woman she was sold to: it made her look weak, and she'd have none of that. The woman couldn't have children and never could stomach what happened to the slaves sold to market; so instead of adopting she had bought Aurora: an illiterate barbarian child from the wilds. It took her a few years but she had taught Aurora to read and behave civil, soon they had become a family.

But the woman's business was beginning to go under, and soon they were so poor they began to starve. Aurora, desperate to save her mother, devised a plan: they would sell her to some noble who offered enough coin, and eventually she would escape and return to help her mother relocate. But things changed when the honey-radish man came. He offered twice the coin for Aurora than expected; Aurora could see now the reason he had done so, had experienced it in fact. The thought of the things he had done to her sent a shiver down her spine. In her mother's naivety she accepted thinking nothing of it; but the man was used to getting what he wanted with no charge, and instead of letting her keep the money he took her life. Aurora still blamed herself, still to this day; so she came up with a story that was less pathetic, the one she had told Etrius. She knew it was a bit pitiful, but she couldn't help it; it was just the way she was.

Etrius watched his companion as she sat deep in thought. He knew she had lied to him, but he hadn't pushed the issue. After all the nights spent around a small fire fighting off scorpions and tarantulas so big you could ride them; there was no way that was the cause of her starting outburst. He sighed just a bit worried but was still too lost in his own thoughts to worry about her dreams.

The two were so engrossed within themselves that neither noticed the advancing wall of sand on the horizon until the horses began to whinny in fear. Aurora was the first to look up; taking in the foreboding scene. A cloud of dust was slowly making its way toward them; towering almost eighty feet above them, even from the distance they sat now the air began to become heavy with sand. "Sandstorm!" She spat turning her horse contemplating trying to outrun it. Etrius looked up at the shifting wall a bit awestruck by its massiveness, before turning his attention to her.

"Don't be absurd; we can't go back, we have to go forward!" He called, as the thought hit him. "This actually might be in our favor; the villagers won't venter into the storm and if they believe we had, they might believe us dead. If anything; they will lose our trail." She looked back at him with a confused look on her face.

"Are you daft?! If we ride into that thing; they won't have to believe we're dead; we will be!" She countered. She had a point; they could easily be killed in a storm that large. He looked back at the cloud that advanced on them. It was gaining ground quickly, allowing little time for a debate.

"Well, we can't run from it either." He stated. Her brows furrowed in concern; he could see her thoughts racing in her mind. Quickly she jumped from her horse.

"Unsaddle your horse; take everything you can carry." She spoke quickly, causing the words to jumble together. "We'll have to bury them under us and take shelter under our bedrolls and tunics." Etrius nodded dismounting. "If we're lucky the storm will last only a few hours, but keep your water and food close; there is a possibility it could last for a few days." Aurora informed him as she threw her satchel over her shoulder.

"You know an awful lot about this kinda storm." He said getting the last of his equipment unlatched.

"This isn't my first time." She glanced up from her work only long enough to give him a playful wink. She had finished unequipting her horse as well and had begun digging; using her hands to scoop the hot sand away. Etrius threw his own satchel, full of rations and water over his shoulder before helping her.

"What about the horses?" He asked, looking up as they began to dance around nervously. Aurora glanced up at the storm; it was getting a bit too close for comfort.

"Dig faster," she demanded advancing her own speed. "They'll have to try to survive on their own; they have a much better chance without us. If we're lucky they'll survive and we'll be able to find them when it's over."

"And if we're not?"

"We'll they'll have died from either suffocation or exhaustion, and we'll have to walk the rest of the way." She said flatly. Etrius began to cough as the sand became too thick in the air. Aurora paused to dig into her bag; she produced the ruined tunic she had worn before their stay at the inn. She began coughing as well; as she ripped two large portions of the tunic apart. She passed one to him before securing her own around her face. He followed her lead; securing his own over his mouth and nose, allowing him to breathe a bit better; though small amounts of sand still clung to the walls of his lungs. They continued digging, and just as the storm was only a few yards away they dropped their equipment in and covered it with a small blanket of sand. Etrius quickly unraveled his bedroll and flattened himself against the freshly lain sand. Aurora dove down next to him just as the cloud hit; grabbing one corner of his roll, she held it down firmly, rolling her half under her. Etrius mimicked her movements creating a small cocoon of protection. Waves of sand forced their way into the cover, making it harder and harder to breathe.

The sound of whistling wind filled their ears as they huddled close together. Etrius kept his eyes closed as the air swirled around him; protecting himself from damaging his sight. The bedroll became a bit heavier as the first layer of sand settled atop of it. The storm continued for what seemed like forever as they lay silently in the muggy heat.

After a few hours Etrius felt Aurora stiffen next to him. "Did you hear that?" Aurora yelled over the deafening sound of the storm. Etrius pried his eyes open, blinking against the stinging sand. Aurora's head was tilted as she listened intently. Etrius mimicked her expression; eyebrows furrowed and eyes shut as tight as possible; listening for anything through the moaning wind. Slowly it came to him: the soft crying of a young boy. Aurora shifted quickly causing him to jump in surprise. "We have to go after him." She demanded.

"It's too dangerous." Etrius countered, though he agreed with her.

"We can't just leave him; he'll die!" She pleaded. They stared at each other in a silent battle. The sound drifted to them once more, breaking Etrius' resolve.

"Fine, but there is no sense in both of us going out there." He sighed as she nodded in agreement.

"I'll go!" They both said; speaking over each other. Etrius glared at her as she snickered under her breath, clearly amused.

"You are not going." He stated, matter-of-factly, winning a mirrored glare from her.

"Oh; and why is that?" She demanded. "Because I'm a woman?"

"Yes." He agreed, before realizing it was a trap. "I mean; no!" Her glare became sharper; piercing his skin like a newly honed dagger.

"I know how to survive out here better than you ever could, Mr. Forgets-a-lot!" She spat; pausing in a coughing fit before continuing. "Not to mention the fact that, because I _am_ a woman, I have a more 'motherly' protective instinct that a man of your 'stature' ever could." She mocked. Etrius couldn't really argue with that; she had a very valid point; she always did. He had no idea how to survive a storm like this; but he resented the sarcastic tone of her voice at the word 'stature'; even though he wasn't quite sure what she meant by it.

"Fine!" He ground out through his own fit of coughing. "What plan do you have in mind, oh great one?" Aurora's gaze became calculating as she began to design one; ignoring his attempt at mockery.

"I have my own bedroll in my satchel; I'll head out, find the child and take cover. When the storm ends I'll come find you. We can't leave the equipment unattended or we won't be able to find it again; so you'll have to stay put." She answered after a moment. "And if I don't find you with in a day of the storm ending; you'll have to move on, on your own." Etrius want to protest but held his tongue as she waved him away; as if reading his mind. "I'll leave as fast as I can, but you'll have to be just as quick to pull the cover back down; it'll be hard after the wind hits it, understand?" He nodded in assurance; still a bit annoyed by the way she ordered him around; as if he were a child himself.

As if on cue the sobbing sounded once more, urging Aurora on. She tightened her cloak around her before shifting down to allow him to take hold of the corner of her side of the bed roll. "Ready?" She asked, lifting herself on her arms. He sighed; still not comfortable with the situation.

"I'm ready; just be careful." He said, tensing in preparation, to roll the blanket beneath him. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"On three," She nodded; "One..." Her hand drifted to her mouth to hold the cloth closer to her air ways. "Two..." She pulled her legs up; knees against her chest and feet flat on the sand: holding the last bit of blanket with her free hand. "Three!" She threw the blanket up; a hard blast of sand causing her to almost topple over; she side stepped quickly pinning the blanket back down, where she had just been kneeling. Etrius had a bit of a hard time resealing his cocoon of protection, as a gust of wind inflated the bed roll like a parachute. After a few sand chocking moments he had the blanket wrapped around him once again.

Aurora's eyes felt as if they were bleeding by the time she was able to stand. The wind almost knocked her off balance as she threw up a protective arm to cover her eyes; though it did little to improve her field of vision. Another sob came; this time a bit further off. Her foot felt a few pounds heavier as she tried to step forward; the pause she had taken to catch her balance had allowed the onslaught of sand to bury her a few inches.

She dragged one boot from the shallow grave, then the other; by the time she had managed to release her second foot, her first had collected a new layer, she had to will herself out of. Soon her boots felt as if they were made of lead. Having been filled with the same particles that were trying to bury her alive. She sighed; causing her to inhale a mouthful of dirt and sending her into another fit. Again the sob sounded, even more distant now; if she didn't pick up the pace she would lose the only thing leading her.

"Hello?" She yelled at the top of her lungs, trying to ignore the scratching at the back of her throat. Her makeshift mask protected her from most of the particles in the air, but it was far from perfect. She made her way forward as quickly as possible, tightening her cloak around her; making it seem like it caught more sand than it repelled. "Hello?" She called, "I can help you; I just need to know where you are." She continued forward, not waiting for a reply; in fear of sinking. Her legs were becoming tired, from the added weight of the sand that filled her boots and the constant struggle against the bombarding winds. Soon the combination of exhaustion and heat left her panting; drawing more and more dust into her lungs. The sweat that poured from her mixed with the blowing sand, causing it to cake against her skin; making her feel as if she had grown a new layer like some form of reptile. Dragging herself on, she continued forward.

"Is there anybody out there?" She called again as she began to feel frustrated from the lack of replies.

"Hello?!" Whimpered a young boy's voice; a bit distantly. She squinted against the wind; trying to make out anything more than a few inches in front of her.

"Where are you?! I'm sure I can help you, if I can just find you." She yelled, trying to reassure him. She pushed forward trying to estimate where his voice had come from. She had advanced only a few paces before she heard his voice again.

"Over here!" The sound came from more to her left; she turned trying to pinpoint his location.

"Can you hear me enough to follow my voice?" She lifted her hand higher, still trying to see through the fog of sand.

"I... I don't know! I don't even know where I am!" She could hear the boy begin sobbing harder as he began to panic.

"Calm down... I'm coming to you; just keep moving you can do this." He was closer now judging from the projection of his voice. His sobbing was becoming louder, allowing her to better determine where she was headed.

Finally, she found him. He was hunched forward fighting the wind; the moment he saw her he dove forward wrapping his arms around her waist and crying into her abdomen. She placed a hand lightly on the top of his head trying to comfort him. His shoulder length hair was pulled back with a small band of leather at the base of his skull; the dark shade of black contrasted intensely with his seemingly golden skin. He wore a torn tunic and oversized trousers; leaving his feet bare. He looked to be no more than fifteen years of age.

She untied her mask, being sure to hold her breathe, as she ripped it in two. Lifting his chin, she pulled him upright almost gasping in surprise: his eyes were so odd that she had almost forgotten her surroundings. They were a cloudy blue, almost illuminating in comparison to the rest of his appearance; but it was the shape and angle of them, that really held Aurora's attention.

They seemed to be in the shape of a stretched oval; ending in sharp points at either end; they angled down at the bridge of his nose, causing them to sit on the axis of his cheek at a forty-five degrees. He blinked, sending a shiver down her spine, while at the same time, snapping her out of her surprised stare: two translucent lids slide together from the corner of his eyes, to meet vertically directly in the center, before disappearing back to their original positions.

She shook the goose bumps off as she secured part of her mask around his face, before reapplying her own. He didn't fight her as she went about her business, only watched her curiously as he tried to calm down.

"Everything is going to be alright, ok?" She tried to reassure him as she began to dig in her bag. The fact that everything was covered in sand made finding her bedroll a bit disorienting, but she somehow managed it after a few seconds. She unrolled it and spread it across her back, using her feet to pin down the bottom to corners, before embracing to strange boy and dragging him to the ground. She did her best to tuck the blanket around him before repeating the process to herself; after she had finished, it seemed that she had sealed this roll better than she ever could have with someone as large as Etrius next to her. Worry filled her at the thought of him lying there alone. She waved it away as quickly as it came and focused on the boy. "What are you doing out here? Where are your parents?"

The boy blinked at her in surprise; new tears welling up behind his eyelids. "They're both dead!" He whaled, the tears breaking across his dirt stained cheeks. "They were all killed by soldiers last night. I took shelter in this storm trying to get away from them." He buried his face into her chest, soaking her new tunic.

"I'm... so sorry." She whispered, letting him cry it out. Slowly he began to calm enough to stop the flow of tears. "What's your name little man?" She smiled down at him.

"Sori." He sniffled, wiping his nose on his tunic. Aurora looked up distracted; the wind had begun to ease; the storm would be over soon.

"Do you have some place to go?" She asked as softly as she could, not wanting to cause him to start crying once again. His stare drifted past her, not truly focusing on anything in particular.

"Well...." He mumbled. "I was a part of a group of gypsys that traveled the desert..." He sniffled, holding back more tears; which Aurora was grateful for: she didn't think she could handle another wave of waterworks. "But they were the only ones I know of; not many races can survive out here with little water and food."

"What race are you exactly?" She asked without thinking that he may take offense.

"I am a Huakab; though most of the humans from the villages call us desert people. They say we are spawns of some devil." He shrugged.

"Do you believe that?"

"No." He spat with a little too much force. "Villagers are ignorant cowardly people who prey on those in need; they are nothing but filthy thieves." He clamped a hand over his mouth immediately regretting his words.

"You are lucky I'm no village woman." She laughed. His tension eased and a small smile crossed his lips.

"And what of you; no ordinary human could survive a desert storm. Be you some secret race?" He asked eyes wide with anticipation.

"No." She laughed wholeheartedly at the absurdity. "My name is Aurora; sadly I'm just a regular human who just knows how to survive rather well." His eager expression dropped a bit but it didn't seem to bother him too much.

Finally the wind became silent and Aurora lifted the bedroll the peek outside. The sun had sunk low on the horizon; hours had passed since it had all began. The storm left the dunes smooth; blowing away any imperfections or tracks left behind by small animals or coyotes. She lifted the blanket enough to allow Sori to crawl out from beneath it, before following; casting her cover aside. She stretched, trying to work out the kinks and sores of the day.

"Well;" she said picking up her bedroll and shaking it out. "If you have nowhere else to go, you can come with my companion and me; I'm sure he won't mind." She rolled it up and stuck it in her sand filled bag.

"Really?!" He bounced up and down in excitement, causing her to laugh.

"Sure kid; we're headed to the nearest town, I'm sure the ones who survived from your caravan will be there resupplying." She kept the fact that it was unlikely that anyone besides himself had survive and even less; made it to the village to herself, not wanting to upset the boy more. "Watch out for my friend though; he's a bit of a downer." She whispered the last part, amusing the boy. "Now which way did I leave the poor man?" She spun slowly in a circle trying to catch her bearings; but with nothing but sand in every direction she was a bit lost. She had been sure she hadn't wondered off too far from him. Movement caught her eye as she turned toward the south. One of the horses had managed to unbury itself. "Come on." She said grabbing Sori's hand and sprinting toward the horse.

"But what about your friend?" He asked trying to keep up.

"To be honest, I have no idea where I left him; if we're lucky we'll run into him, otherwise he'll be heading to the next village and we'll be able to meet up with him there." The horse looked like it was exhausted, as she gave it a once over, but seemed to be over all unharmed. Aurora decided not to test its strength, by riding it though, and without out a saddle she was sure it would be uncomfortable. She dug a rope from the bottom on her bag and tied it around its neck. "Hope you don't mind walking kiddo." She winked at him as they went on their way.

Meanwhile, Etrius woke slowly, finding the loud whistling of the wind had faded. He wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep or how long he had slept but he was sure it had been a while. He lifted slowly, allowing the sand to roll from his bedroll. His body ached everywhere the long traveling throughout the night had taken his toll. He felt as if he could sleep for days; but Aurora was still out there looking for him. He froze as the thought hit him; How could she find him if he was still buried. Suddenly the seemingly useless information of how long he had slept became vital. She could have come near him and he would have never guessed; he had been dead to the world.

He stood quickly glancing in every direction for any sign of his missing companion. Everything looked the same; nothing but sand stretching in every direction. Had he slept through the hour he was supposed to wait? Had she gone on without him? He stood contemplating what to do next.

The sun was beginning to set; the next village was to the north, if he remembered correctly. If Aurora had gone on ahead, that is where she'd be heading; if she hadn't, she'd still be looking for him. If he decided to wait, she could gain a lot of ground before he had a chance to catch up with her. If he went on ahead of her she could track him in no time at all. So it was decided; he would be on his way toward the village, Aurora could follow or meet him there.

He sighed as he began to unbury their supplies. It took only about half an hour before he had them lying in a row next to him. The two saddles and three rucksacks sat next to each other staring at him menacingly. Without any horse and no back pack he wasn't quite sure how he would manage to travel with all their supplies. He sighed, if he left some supplies behind it was possible that he could cause some uncalled for trouble. He wouldn't be able to travel as quickly with both ruck sacks; but he couldn't chance leaving them behind. The saddles on the other hand, were useless without the horses. After he decided to leave them behind, he chose to rebury them; perhaps if someone would find them, and by burying them he could protect them from the searing sun. Once he was finished he stood; tossing a sack on either shoulder. They were heavy; weighing forty or fifty pounds each, but he managed to keep them balanced. He went on his way; making fairly good progress, considering the hundred pounds of extra weight; though he had to stop often for frequent rests.
Chapter 6

It took Aurora a day and a half to reach the village. The journey wasn't too harsh, with frequent rests and riding on and off for most of the journey. Sori was a fairly nice conversationalist; starting up every time they took a rest. Aurora rarely listened though; she had begun to worry more and more as the days continued. She had seen no sign of him, since the storm, and could only pray to the gods nothing had happened.

The village sat on the edge of the desert; where the vegetation just began to grow. Its small huts and shops were tightly packed together; leaving the streets barely wide enough to fit a wagon through comfortably. People crowded through alleyways and sidewalks as they hustled to and fro on their way to shops and stalls. The overall size was fairly larger than Outterbarrens; stretching miles wide.

Aurora pushed past a few of the citizens as she made her way forward, leading the horse, and a sleeping Sori. A few of the passer-bys who glanced up at the boy, stopped to stare at him; some with a less than appreciative look; but none seemed courageous enough to try anything. Apparently the boy's opinion of the villagers were mimicked toward him as well; Aurora would have to keep an eye on him for the time being, at least until they left the village.

She sighed as she spotted the first inn; it would be so nice to have a real bed to sleep in for the first time in a long while. If only that stupid man hadn't given away all her hard stolen coin. As if on cue a group of city guards brushed past her; each sending a quick glare at her and the boy as they passed. She would have to do something to hide the boy's unmistakable eyes. She sighed, not taking a chance with pausing. She would make her way to the center of the city and check the message boards for some form of job and maybe a place to stay. If she were lucky Etrius could find her with little trouble, hopefully.

It was a while before she managed to squeeze through the crowds to the square; and a while longer through the large groups of people there. Eventually, she managed to find the board and sighed at the mass of papers pinned over each other. By the time she finished the first layer, all the second layer jobs would be filled, if they weren't already.

"Where are we?" A sleepy voice came, from a top the horse. She looked up to find a blurry eyed Sori leaning over trying to hide his face behind the horses thick neck.

"We're in the village I told you about." She answered turning back to the board and reading some of the posters. Most of them were shop or stall posters trying to sell one thing or another.

"I don't like it here; can we go?" His voice was a worried whisper. She didn't have to guess why; the two cultures seemed to have such a shared hatred for each other that it made sense for him to be worried.

"Sorry, kiddo, we'll have to find something to hide those eyes of yours; to keep you outta trouble. Besides this is our chance to find out if anyone of your clan came through here, and to meet up with Etrius." She lifted some of the posters to read the ones beneath. Two in particular caught her eye; one was a want ad for a live in worker to mend the fires in the blacksmith's shop, the other; a live in apprentice for a historical items shop. She ripped them from the board and turned back to Sori; he sat upon the horse with slumped shoulders and a bowed head. "Everything will be fine Sori, I promise." He humphed in response.

She sighed again, knowing that it would be hard to convince her future employer to take in a second person; but she didn't really have any other choice. She made her way through the crowd once more, only stopping to ask a few rude civilians for direction to the blacksmith's estate. Eventually though, she managed to reach her destination. A large man stood over an iron anvil, hammering away at some form of molten steel; sweat poured from him as he worked, the sound of metal striking metal reverberating back to her.

"Um... Excuse me?" She called to him, as she stepped forward. He acted as if he hadn't heard her and continued on with his work. She cleared her throat before trying again. "Excuse me?!" She asked with more authority.

"I know, I know; give me a moment." He called back without looking up. "I can't just drop what I'm doing; I could ruin the metal." He continued to hammering away for a good ten minutes before dropping the forged steel into a barrel of water next to him and turning toward her.

His eyes slid down her length, as if some sort of snake watching its prey; leaving her feeling a bit slimy. When he finally looked back up at her his expression was blank. "What cha need?"

"I'm here about your add." Aurora answered, ignoring her disgust. She held up the flyer, trying to seem more official. Sori must have shifted, because the man's eyes shot up to her horse and its rider; she tried to ignore the look of anger on his face as he examined the boy. "I'm very strong and am not afraid of hard labor; I won't be any trouble. My brother here can also help; he's stronger than he looks." The man shook his head quickly.

"No. I don't need help from a woman; or the likes of him!" He jabbed a finger towards Sori emphasizing his point. "Besides the position is already filled, so be on your way before I call the guards." She glared as she turned away from him. She didn't understand why people could be so prejudice toward someone they had never met. She brushed it off as the continued on their way. It seemed that more and more people began to stare as they went on.

"Please; can't we just go?" Sori piped up from his slouch.

"No." She answered once more. She sighed untying her cloak from her neck and passing it to him. "Here, put it on and lift the hood; it'll hide your eyes, once we make some coin we'll buy some talc powder to hide that beautiful shade of skin." She winked up at him as she tsked, "what a pity it will be." He smiled as he fastened the cloak around him and lifted the hood; shading his eyes. No one would be able to tell his race at a glance.

The change in the people's attitudes was vast; the rude villagers who had glared and waved her away when she asked for directions turned into a kind and happy folk who seemed glad to help. Aurora was a bit amazed by how much animosity these people truly possessed underneath it all. With the help of directions, she soon found the shop she was looking for: A large wooden sign hung above the door reading 'Thom's historical and magical items'. Sori jumped down from the horse to stand beside her as she paused to read it.

"Is this where you're hoping to stay?" He asked. She looked down at him with a soft smile.

"Maybe; if we're lucky."

"Looks like a dump to me." He replied causing her to laugh. He definitely wasn't shy, and he called it like he saw it. The place was falling apart; some of the shutters hung cricked from their hinges and the coat of paint, which had been sloppily applied, was peeling away.

"Yes, well I'll take what we can get; if we can get it." She laughed, tying her horse to the stand that seemed to be barely standing. Sori stood close behind her as she moved; keeping both hands fisted in her tunic. She could tell he definitely feared civilization, and wanted no part of it.

She stepped into the shop, ringing a small bell that hung from the door as she did so. The store looked no better than its exterior; with many odds and ends tossed here and there and no real organization. The whole place smelled of dust and moldy paper. She glanced around the piles of junk, searching for any sign of life forms.

"Hello?!" A man's voice came a bit softly. "Thank the gods you've come along." Aurora stepped over a large pile of books as she began tracking the source of the soft voice. "You see, I was organizing the books on Nevarian plant life," She frowned in confusion as the sound echoed from the hard walls, leaving her turning in circles. "When I became engrossed in a specific edition of 'Ivies and Oaks; a complete guide to avoidance' and seemed to um... build myself into a uh... prison." He chuckled softly. She stepped over a piled of some oval shaped bits, that she really wasn't quite sure of their purpose. "There is someone there, right? I'm not just talking to myself... again?" Aurora was the one to laugh this time.

"I'm here, but where are you?" She called out spinning once more with Sori right behind.

"Oh! You're a w-woman?" He stuttered, a bit of annoyance flashed in her chest.

"Yes. Why does everyone seem so shock about that fact?! Is there a problem with being a woman?" She demanded.

"N-n-n-no; not a-at all. Did you know that in many s-societies woman are looked upon as gods; some even go off to war as their h-husband stay home to look after the household, o-or prove themselves as worthy by slaughtering the f-fiercest warrior in their clan. T-t-there is nothing wrong w-with being a w-woman." His sudden stuttered made her smile; and his story made her burst with laughter. "D-d-did I say something w-wrong?"

"No." She laughed, tears beginning to blur her vision. "Now where are you?"

"T-toward the back; b-behind the wall of encyclopedias." She looked past the large counter toward the far wall. Books stacked as high as she was tall and then some lay side by side. She continued to climb her way toward him, trying to keep from laughing more. "P-please, don't damage the b-books." He pleaded.

"Don't worry; your precious merchandise will be fine." She replied as she unburied a wooden stool from underneath a number of scrolls, and carried it to the wall.

"O-oh n-no;" He chuckled, "these b-books aren't f-f-for sale they're my p-personal collection." Aurora jaw dropped, why anyone would want so many useless things was beyond her comprehension.

"You have got to be kidding me." She blurted as she stepped up onto the stool and began passing down book after book to Sori, who then set them aside.

"Y-yes w-well, one can n-never have t-too much k-knowledge at their d-d-d-disposal." The last word was forced, as if he had become tongue tied.

"Tell me; do you always stutter or is it just a new development because, you sounded fine when I first came in." She chuckled, finding it a bit cute. They were slowly making progress; with each book the wall began to lower an average of five inches, at least in the area they were working on.

"W-well n-n-no," His voice sounded a bit hesitant. "Y-y-you s-see I... w-well I..." He paused, Aurora could hear him shift as he mumbled something.

"What was that? You'll have to speak up."

"I-I can't t-talk to w-women." He spat out. She could hear the embarrassment in his voice and her smile broadened.

"Oh? Why is that?" She asked amusingly.

"W-well they a-are in-in-intimidating." He said sadly. She couldn't hold back a laugh; finally a man who understood women.

"I'm sorry; I don't mean to laugh... It's just so damn cute!" She managed to get out between chuckles. Sori was the one to laugh this time, almost dropping a book in the process. It took about fifteen minutes to lower the gap to Aurora's shoulders, while she stood on the stool and wide enough to easily walk through. She peered through the gap trying to see the source of her amusement, but the corner was too dark to make out anything more than the wall were the light from her side of the room flooded through.

"I r-really do appreciate the h-help; w-what b-brought you into my sh-shop anyways?" The soft voice drifted through the opening a bit louder than before.

"Oh, this is your store?" The news surprised her a bit; she half expected the owner to be a shriveled old man with nothing to keep him occupied but the sound of his own voice. She paused; for all she knew he could be a shriveled old man, in fact it was most likely he was.

"Y-yes m-ma'am; I own t-this store." He replied. His use of the word 'ma'am' made Aurora feel a bit old, rather than respected.

"It's not 'ma'am'; my name is Aurora." She said emotionlessly as she continued to work. "I found you flyer on the town's message board, and I'm greatly in need of supplies; which of course cost coin, that I don't have."

"O-of c-course!" He exclaimed. "I c-could u-use all the help y-you can give, i-it can be a bit of a h-hard job a-at times but I'm sure a w-woman such as yourself c-c-c-could h-handle it; especially one with such a b-beautiful name." His statement made Aurora blush and won a snicker from her young companion, who she threw a playful kick at.

"My younger brother would be willing to work for you as well; that is if you don't mind."

"Of course, of course." She smiled at the lack of stutter. It took a good hour to finally clear the books away enough to allow the owner through; Aurora had replaced the stool to its original place long before they had finished, allowing nothing to trip the man as he emerged through his dark prison.

He was a tall man; perhaps not as tall as Etrius but fairly close, his hair sat in a curly sandy brown mess atop his head, while his mossy green eyes seemed to have a calculating feel to them. He was a bit lanky, with long arms and a high waist, but there seemed to be a sense of innocence surrounding him that felt a bit out of place in a city such as this one. He straightened and stretched before taking the two travelers in.

"T-thank you, again;" He paused "oh! I'm so sorry, I never introduced myself p-properly," he bowed repeatedly in quick succession as he stumbled over the last sentence. "M-my name it Thom; it is a p-p-pleasure to meet you."

"And you as well." Aurora laughed. She was rather relieved to find that he was not the crusty geezer she expected and that his gentle appearance matched his silky voice. Sori shifted closer, pinning himself against her back as he tried to hide behind her.

"And this must be your b-brother?" He asked, eyes shifting toward the boy. Aurora wrapped an arm around him and brought him a bit further; enough to allow Thom to see his broad structure but not close enough to give him away.

"Yes; this is Sori, my half-brother." She announced, Thom glanced up at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Half?"

"My father wasn't exactly faithful to my mother and me." She chuckled nervously, glancing down at Sori. "But we're the only family we've got left."

"I s-see... well it's rather dark in here; why don't you take off your hood, Sori, and let me have a good look?" Before either Aurora or her companion could stop him, Thom tossed back the boy's hood; revealing his oval eyes and golden skin. He gasped in surprise taking in the new discovery. Sori pressed himself closer against Aurora, frightened; she tightened her arm around him protectively. "Oh, m-my." Thom exclaimed glancing back up at the woman.

"If you don't wish to employ us I understand; but leave the boy be." She demanded, head held high with authority. Thom's brows furrowed in confusion as he looked from one to the other.

"He's Huakab?" He whispered, more to himself than to the two in front of him. Aurora nodded. "Y-you lied." He said looking back up at her.

"I know I'm sorry but I had no other choice; I won't let you harm him." She growled. Thom's eyes grew wide as he took everything in.

"Harm him?" He had no problem speaking as he seemed generally shocked at the idea. "I don't want to harm him!" He leaned in closer, examining Sori; who buried his face in her shirt. "He's fascinating; I've never seen a Huakab up close before." Now she was sure he wasn't addressing her, or was just too excited to realize she was still a woman and start stuttering. "I mean sure, I've seen their caravans pass the city's border but never a up close. This is fantastic!" He straightened and began rummaging through large piles of papers and ink. "Y-you should w-work on your story more; n-no one will believe he is your brother, not e-even y-your half-brother."

"Oh?" Aurora piped in with an eyebrow raised. "Why is that?"

"W-well my d-d-d-dear woman; Huakab females are u-unable to mate with h-h-human males, a-at least that is they c-c-c-c-can't pr-pr-procreate with them." His face became flushed as he clearly became a bit embarrassed over the subject. "M-males on the other hand; d-do have a tendency to f-f-f-f-f-f-fornicate with other races but none have been known to p-produce an of-f-f-f-f spring." He finally found a vial of ink and a quill and turned towards them once more.

"He's right you know." Sori mumbled, barely audible.

"Oh, well, thank you; we'll be getting out of your way now." Aurora said softly turning to leave. His hand caught her arm, stopping her; it wasn't a rough grasp but it was firm enough to get her attention.

"No! Wait!" She looked down at the hand that held her in place before meeting his stare; the moment they made eye contact Thom released her as if her skin had burned him. "I-I m-mean please d-don't go. I w-won't tell anyone y-you're here and t-the boy can stay for free. Just let me w-watch him; maybe ask a few q-q-questions. I promise I w-won't be of any harm. Y-you can work as a h-helper; I-I'll pay you w-well and the room is f-free." Aurora looked him up and down debating her next move. He seemed generally interested in learning everything he could about the boy, but she was not the kind to trust easily.

"It is not my choice to make; Sori what do you think?" The boy looked up at the man eyeing him wearily with distrust.

"I don't know; he's an ignorant villager, I don't trust him." He spat in a hushed whisper. She chucked at his brave forwardness. Thom gave a gentle half smile before bending to speak to him eye to eye.

"Perhaps you are right Sori; but this is your chance to help an ignorant village learn, and perhaps he can teach the rest of his people to respect your culture and values." Sori shot him a glare before his calculating gaze drifted to the floor. It was a few moments before he answered.

"Fine; but no experiments!" He pointed. Thom chuckled at the thought and straightened.

"Thank you Sori I truly do appreciate the opportunity; your generosity will be written in history books.

"Too bad I can't read your silly human writings." He mumbled kicking at the floor in nervousness. The two humans laughed in unison. Thom didn't hesitate to give Aurora a list of things she would need to do; including shelving half the books in the room, organizing wands and amulets, and dusting the dried lizard scales, overall they we're many things to keep her busy some a bit more disturbing than other but she never complained. Thom and Sori sat in the back corner deep in conversation over seemingly meaningless things such as the way the Huakab people wrote the way they did or the meaning behind certain clicks and snaps that they sounded in warning against some form of danger. Aurora found it all quite boring, but it kept both males entertained and out of her way while she worked.

Each time the door bell sounded, announcing the entrance of a customer Thom would quickly shove an open book in Sori's hand and yank his hood over his eyes making him look a bit like a short old man engrossed in some dusty book. Most of the people who entered the shop never bought anything; many simply asked a few question about this or that or offered coin to have an item repaired; of coarse Thom accepted their offers courteously and as soon as they left dropped the item in a large bin next to his desk before returning to questioning Sori. Overall the day went by quickly and uneventful. When dusk finally fell Thom stood and offered Aurora his chair; which she gladly took in her exhausted state.

"Well my new friends; I s-suppose you are h-hungry?" He spoke letting his gaze shift for the young boy to the woman. Aurora laughed as his stutter only pronounced itself when his eyes drifted to her.

"Starved!" Sori piped up excitedly. Thom chuckled, before setting down the numerous sheets of parchment he had scribbled notes on.

"Well I'll run to the Inn down the way and bring you back a nice warm stew." He smiled before turning to go. Both Aurora and Sori laughed as he scrambled over the mounds of junk that blocked his way, sometimes tripping himself, before he reached the door. He waved with an embarrassed smile before he slipped out the door, bell sounding.

"He's a strange man." Sori mumbled to her. She nodded absently before she leaned her head back, staring up at the ceiling. "You like him." He teased causing her to glance at him from the corner of her eye.

"I do not, he merely amuses me." He countered; Aurora was not the type to 'like' people that easily, much less a scrawny clumsy bookworm like Thom. "Besides he's so... so... scholarly." She stuck her tongue out and wrinkled her nose as she said the last word. Sori laughed.

"You like him." He stated matter-of-factly.

"How would you know; your just a boy, besides a woman like me could never like a man like that." She reassured him. She was a barbarian woman, who took what she wanted with no regards to the aftermath; the more chaos it brought the better. Thom was the type of man that would rather read about the adventures of a woman like her, in the safety of his shop, than actually live them. He was not a man for the likes of her.

"Ok..." Sori said; the sound of his voice was unconvinced but he let it drop. The bell that hung from the door rang as it swung open. Aurora sighed; it was late, Thom had made it clear they were closed. She stood and moved to peer over the stacks. The bulky form of a man stood in the door way, hood drawn, taking up a large amount of space.

"I'm sorry sir, but we're closed." She said trying to sound sincere. "The shop keeper isn't in; perhaps if you come back tomorrow-"

"Aurora?" The gruff voice came. He threw back his hood revealing his face. Etrius stood swaying in exhaustion as he eyed the woman.

"Etrius?!" She gasped and ran to throw her arms around him. He stood a little surprised at her outburst and unsure if he should return the affectionate gesture. Realizing her embarrassing display Aurora dropped her arms and took a step back. "Where have you been? I was half hoping the buzzards got you; would have saved me a lot of trouble." She lied, she had been worried to the point of sickness; hoping he was alright. She was so filled with relief to find out he was in a state of good health that it was hard to hide her smile; though she'd never let him know either of those facts.

"I'm sure it would have." He said a bit sarcastically.

"How did you find me?"

"Well," He began running a hand through his hair, which seemed to be growing a bit faster than he had hoped. "On my way into town I heard some rumors of a woman and boy entering the village, I assumed it was you and the boy from the storm, last I heard you had come here; but why did they seem so angry, what did you do?"

"Me?!" She gasped. "I didn't do a damn thing, and I don't appreciate the accusation." She was a bit offended, even if he would have normally guessed correctly if it had been any other circumstances.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow. Brushing past her he made his way through the shop eyeing the items. "What is all the stuff?"

"Some of it are antiques and some magical items but most of it... well... to be honest I have no idea; and don't really care to be honest." She chuckled. Sori still sat in his corner, hood now covering his face; if Aurora hadn't known he was there he could have just been some nicely carved statue. The bell rang again, announcing another visitor; Etrius jumped pulling his hood back up.

"I h-hope you don't mind stew; it's not the greatest in the world but madam Sarah—" He cut of as he spotted Etrius. "Oh. Hello? I'm sorry but we're closed. If you need something repaired just bring it by tomorrow, and I'll be more than happy to help." He held three bowl of steaming food; one in each hand and another pinned between his arm and chest. Etrius tilted his face away from the shop keep as the man spoke to him, hiding his features.

"Oh... um... Thom..." Aurora started, a bit worried. She wasn't sure how he would react if he knew she harbored a criminal; would he even recognize Etrius. He had been so kind thus far; she wasn't sure she could push him farther. "This is another one of my traveling companions."

"Oh." He piped eyeing the man.

"Aurora," Etrius mumbled. "You trust this man?" He asked; she could feel his body stiffen as he watched Thom. She eyed them both, unsure of what to do.

"He has done a great kindness to me and Sori; so far I have no reason not to trust him." She answered truthfully. Etrius glanced at the boy in the corner before returning his attention to Thom. He pulled back his hood slowly, watching for Thom's reaction. Thom took in the man's features a frown spreading across his face. Finally, he let his eyes drop.

"I see..." he whispered. Aurora's heart sank, he recognized him, and there was no mistaking that.

"Thom, you have done us such a huge favor and I wouldn't ask you to put yourself in danger for a group of people you don't even know; but I have no other choice. Please, let us stay for one night, that's all I ask." She pleaded with him, feeling a bit out of place. Thom's eyes shot up to hers by the time she had finished.

"No." His voice was strong and assertive making her jump.

"Very well then—" She started; he lifted a hand to cut her off.

"I have the chance of a l-life time; no one h-has ever been able to study the h-h-huakab, I will not give that up." He paused with a sigh. "I'll keep your secret; but I d-don't want any trouble. I am a s-simple shop keep and wish to stay that way. The two boys can take the room upstairs and down the hall. Aurora you can have m-mine; I'll sleep in my office." His voice seemed so sober it almost hurt her. "Now let's have some dinner and retire; it has been a long day." He brushed past the two and took a seat next to Sori, who tossed back his hood and devoured his supper as if nothing had happened. Etrius eyed Aurora with a confused look as he watched her expression dissolve into depression. The group ate quickly, even Etrius who with gratitude accepted Thom's bowl; which he had offered. Soon they retired to their rooms after their good nights.

Aurora had trouble sleeping; not that the bed was uncomfortable or that she felt as if she were out of place. She couldn't stop analyzing what had transpired: It was possible that Thom would go to the guards, despite what he had claimed, and to be honest; she couldn't blame him. Sori had been unusually quiet after Etrius arrived as well; only mumbling a thank you or please here and there, so as not to be rude. She hoped that tomorrow would bring a new atmosphere between the four.
Chapter 7

The next morning felt as if it came earlier than Etrius had expected; the smell of cooking bacon seeping through the cracks of the door to his room. The boy; Sori, still lay asleep in the bed across from his. The boy was definitely a strange sight; he had never seen anything like him before, he gave Etrius the chills; but Aurora seemed to take a liking to him so he wouldn't protest.

She had been worried about him; he had notice, even though she had tried to hide it. He was becoming a bit uncomfortable about how close the two were becoming. He respected the woman and even cared for her but he loved his blonde woman with every ounce of his being; he didn't believe he could ever love any other the way he had loved her. He shook his head, discarding the thoughts; she was a strong independent woman, there was no way she would ever allow herself to feel that way about a man; especially toward a man such as him.

He stood, tossing aside his blanket, and made his way toward the washing table. A mirror sat above the bowl and water filled pitcher that sat upon the stand. He stared up at himself, inspecting his appearance; his skin was a few shades darker than it had been the last time he had looked upon himself. Stubble spread across his chin, his facial hair was already coming in fairly well. He dipped his hands into the pitch and washed his face; before dipping his make shift mask into the water and washing his bare chest; he had discarded his dusty tunic during the night when it had become too constricting and itchy. His skin lightened a bit, but was still darker than before; being in all the sun had left a nice tan. As soon as he finished washing up he began to head down stairs.

He found Aurora in a back room on the first floor sitting at a small table while Thom cooked over a cast iron stove she smiled as she spoke with the strange shop keep; Etrius still didn't trust him, though not many people would in his position; with wanted poster all over the city and his face in the middle of them it was completely understandable. Wasn't it?

Aurora laughed whole heartedly at something the man said as he sat a plate in front of her. She turned, Etrius' presence catching her eye. "Oh, good morning Etrius." She smiled brightly. "Are you hungry? Thom is actually a pretty good cook." Thom's face dropped a little at the sight of Etrius, but he waved it aside.

"I wouldn't want to intrude." Etrius answered, still standing in the doorway. He eyed the shop keep noting the way the man refused to make eye contact or look his way; as if he were intimidated by his presence. Etrius could understand that; he was an accused murderer after all. Aurora glanced at him as well as he turned back to the stove.

"I'm sure Thom wouldn't mind?" She asked as he shied away.

"O-of c-course I don't mind." He answered not looking up. With a sigh Etrius took a seat at the small table, across from Aurora. He felt uncomfortable as he sat in the tension filled room. Thom loaded a plate full of eggs and bacon before turning to deliver it to his newest guest.

"Perhaps I should go wake Sori." Etrius offered; wanting to make any excuse to leave the room. Thom shook his head, never looking up from the plate as he sat it down.

"Huakab's go for days, even weeks, without sleep; but it leaves them more exhausted in the long run; causing their recovery time to double, sometimes even triple. The poor boy must have been up for days before you brought him here." Etrius watched Thom talk as he wondered at his sudden lack of stutter.

"But he slept for almost half the day yesterday." Aurora countered.

"Y-y-yes w-well it seems he is s-still exhausted from your travels." He smiled at her before turning back to Etrius, the plate of food dropped from his hands and clattered to the floor. The smile on his face disappeared quickly and was replaced with a look of shock as he stared down at him.

"Thom; what's wrong?" Aurora asked in surprise as she jumped up from her seat.

"W-where did you get that?" He asked pointing at the large scar that lay upon Etrius' chest. Etrius looked down where the man pointed looking over the only link to his past.

"Have you seen it before?! Do you know what it means?!" Etrius blurted jumping out of his chair; the words were coming out much faster than he meant them to, making it a little hard for the two people in front of him to understand.

"I've seen it somewhere; if it's what I believe it is then I've got another grand opportunity in front of me." Thom's smiled returned as he spoke. He rushed from the room and into his shop before either Etrius or Aurora could stop him.

"This is great Etrius; if Thom has seen it before he'll definitely know where you came from! We can finally piece together part of your past!" Aurora stammered excitedly, resting a hand on the large man's shoulder. Etrius became suddenly nervous at her words; he wasn't sure he was ready to know who he was or where he came from. It was more than possible that he had killed that family; could he live with himself knowing what he was capable. What about Blondie; the little memories of her he had were painful enough as it was, could he handle a whole lifetime of them? Did he have any other choice? Aurora brushed past him after Thom; with a sigh Etrius followed.

Thom was half buried in a large pile of books, that stood almost as tall as he did, tossing aside one after another mumbling to himself incoherently. Aurora had been up early to continue to organize the shop, and she was making progress; though you couldn't really tell. Etrius strode up to the scrawny man dodging this way and that as book after book came flying out of the man's hands.

"What exactly are you look—" He started to ask.

"Got it!" Thom exclaimed before rising, toppling the large mound. He paid no heed to the fallen books as he flipped through the pages. "Now... where was that.... Ah! Here it is!" He shoved the open book against Etrius' chest pages out. A black and white picture of the scar sat printed on the right page for everyone to see. Etrius looked down in shock.

"What... what does it mean?" He asked in awe. Thom stared up at him in confusion.

"What do you mean, what does it mean? It's your scar you should know." The big man's face dropped at the reminder of his ignorance and the group fell into silence, for only a moment before Aurora called the shop keep over to her.

"Thom," She whispered, head ducked away from Etrius as he eyed them both warily. "Etrius... well he has a memory problem." Thom mimicked her crouched position with a peek at Etrius.

"You m-mean he can't r-remember what he ate this morning or w-where he was l-last night?" He whispered back in confusion. Aurora shook her head slowly. Etrius stared down at his scar as he pondered the two's conversation in a bit of an annoyance.

"He doesn't remember anything past a few days ago; when I found him he could barely remember his name." Thom's face drooped in same as he realized he had insulted the large man. "He can only remember the death of a woman he loved dearly. So, please, can you take it easy on him; you're his only chance at figuring out his past. Up until you he had no idea how to find out what has happened to him." Thom nodded slowly, his calculating gaze drifting into nothingness, before turning.

"I'm s-sorry Etrius." He said using the man's name for the first time. He squared his shoulder and lifted his chin trying to seem a bit taller as he apologized. "I didn't realize how rude I've been; or your predicament, I'll try to help as best I can." He reopened the book and allowed Etrius to look over his shoulder as he began to explain. "This is one of the symbols of Beruth, the god of retribution; he has three, each being given to one class of his followers; paladins, clerics, and those few who are specially chosen as favored followers. The clerics tend to join the faith and train in a church for years to gain their spells and follow the path of Beruth; Paladins have a very similar society but are less strict in discipline. The favored are very rare and are not trained, but simply given the power that the god has entrusted to them. Your scar," He pointed at his chest before pointing back at the picture. "Is an imprint of a Cleric's amulet."

"What is the difference between the three symbols; are they all amulets?" Etrius asked.

"They normally are worn around the neck like amulets but some of the more 'active' members of the religions tend to forge their ceremonial amulets into their weapon; believing it will bring more power to the object. The differences are minute; a cleric's amulet has a much thicker inner ring than that of a paladin's, and a favored's has a bit of metal vine flowing between the gaps." Thom flipped through a few more pages, scanning each as he went. "Interesting..." He mumbled.

"What?! What is it?!" Etrius asked excitedly trying to read over the man's shoulder before he turned the page.

"If you notice, on your scar, it seems as if the amulet has empty insets where jewels had been set previously." Etrius eyed them wearily.

"And...?"

"Well; it's normal in some of the denominations of the Beruthian religion, when feeling as if a great transgression has been done by another denomination member; to remove his amulet and dislodge each jewel before branding the man as a sign of great dishonor..." Thom trailed off as he looked up at Etrius. Etrius face was somber and full of gloom. He had done a great crime in his life and the worse part of it all was not knowing what it was; perhaps it was connected to the family he slaughtered.

"This is good, Etrius;" Aurora piped in, trying too hard to be cheery, "this means we know another part of your past. You were a cleric of Beruth, aren't you excited; this is cause for excitement." He had all but forgotten she had been standing there. Now, he looked down at her hand that lay upon his shoulder. He appreciated what she was trying to do for him but it was too late; the words had already made their wound.

"It also means that I have disgraced his name; disgraced mine. I have done something so vile that my own brethren have marked me with dishonor." His companion cringed at the sadness in his voice as he spoke.

"Come on now, there is always an upside to life." She smiled. It was obviously forced but his heart warmed a bit at the gesture.

"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow curious as to her 'upside' to the situation.

"Well...." She started and paused. "Well..." She nudged Thom in the ribs, causing him to grunt in pain before looking up from his book. "Tell him Thom." She said nodding her head towards her comrade.

"O-oh, w-well..." He began. "We n-now know you're a spell caster." He said with a broad smile. Aurora's shoulders slumped in defeat.

"We already knew that _Thom._ " She hissed. He scrambled back a few steps holding his book up for protection.

"O-o-oh I-I'm sorry, l-let me try this again." He scratched his head contemplating his next sentence. Etrius wanted to laugh at the scene; the two were trying so hard to make him feel better that they were making complete fools of themselves. "Oh, I-I k-know; we know that you're a cleric of Beruth."

"Yeah, and?" Aurora urged him on.

"A-and... t-that m-means..." His brows furrowed in thought, after a moment they shot up in victory. "That you must have studied at the church of Beruth in the city of Nores to the north... o-or a-at least they'll have records of you t-there!" Aurora's face brightened immensely at the news.

"Oh, Etrius! Did you hear that?!" She exclaimed jumping up and down before throwing her arms around him again.

"Yes..." He managed with a sigh. This was his chance to figure out everything he's ever wanted to know. But why wasn't he excited about it? He allowed Aurora's arms to drop to her sides as she smiled up at him. He tried returning the same expression but knew that it looked as forced as he felt it was. "What... What if they don't allow me to look upon their records because of disgrace?" Aurora's face dropped immediately and she turned to Thom.

"W-well, I-if I am correct the accused i-is allowed to look upon the records of his deeds in o-order to prepare a d-defense for himself. I-I am sure that t-they will allow it; t-though it is a s-small possibility t-that you may be c-c-correct." The words were less than comforting Etrius still stood in the same predicament as he had been; nothing had really changed. Aurora sighed feeling a bit defeated but kept her smile in the hopes that it could still help.

"Come on Etrius, these still hope; it's only been a little over two weeks and look how far you've come." Aurora's cheery disposition was beginning to great on Etrius' nerves.

"How far we've come?! Tell me woman, just how far have we come?! We almost died of thirst and starvation; killed three men; had a mob of villages try to arrest us for a murder I can't even remember; we've been buried in a sandstorm; and now to top it all off I discover that my own god has burned a scar upon my chest to remind me of a great dishonor that I can't even name. If that is progress I don't believe I wish to go any further!" His anger was clear on his face as he yelled at the good willed woman in front of him. She opened her mouth to add her own voice to the loud fray; when he waved her away and turned. "I believe I'll take a look about town." His voice was a whisper now, as he turned and tied his cloak around his neck. He lifted his hood and walked out the door, bell ringing.

Aurora wanted to go after him but knew it was no use; Etrius was in pain and she couldn't do anything about it. Her heart ached for him as she watched the door glide closed; she was becoming very attached to the man that was certain. She sighed, turning back to her employer; he was watching her warily with a sober face.

"What is it Thom?" She asked, almost no emotion seeped into her words; which she was grateful for. His eyes dropped to the floor as his frown deepened.

"Y-you care greatly f-f-for that man don't you, A-a-aurora?" He mumbled so quietly she had to focus to understand what he had said. Aurora eyed him, not really understanding what he meant.  
"Well... Of course I do; we have been through a lot together." His expression dropped even more, along with his shoulders at her answer. "We are good friends."

"Friends?" His eyes shot up to hers.

"Yes, a friend; that is what you meant wasn't it?" She asked with a raised eyebrow. "We have made a fine team for a good while now."

"N-n-no; I meant... Well... You and him... Y-y-you're an i-item, a couple: you l-l-love him." Aurora's eyes grew wide at his implication; she was quite sure she was not in love with Etrius. She laughed at the thought. Sure he was handsome and strong; he was kind and serious; but to think that she, Aurora, was weak enough to allow herself to be drawn into such a human emotion; well, it was just idiotic. In the barbarian culture women never fell in love; they were either bred to fight or to reproduce strong warriors. Those who were unfit for war would be taught to tend to the wounded and to raise the children until they were old enough to be taught the mechanics of war. No one in a barbarian tribe married, much less fell in love; the women who were to give birth were simply pair with the male that would produce the best offspring. The woman who were chosen to become warriors were taken away from their mother and taught by other females to slaughter their enemies; the ones that grew too beautiful would be held down and have their face and chest cut repeatedly with a red hot dagger, until no man would ever wish themselves upon her. Aurora had been chosen at an early age to become a warrior, she had been in the middle of training when the slavers had come. She had been much too young to be scared by her people; though sometimes she had wished that, that had not been the case.

"Of course not," she laughed. "I am a barbarian woman; we do not fall in love." She spoke the words with pride as she held her head high. Thom smiled up at her.

"Y-you are no o-ordinary b-barbarian, or w-woman for that matter, Aurora." His face was the image of amusement as he watched her. Aurora stared back at him in humor; He was definitely the strangest man she had ever met. She was quite positive she would never understand him. She watched as his cheeks began to turn a very bright shade of red.

"Come on; if I recall correctly you made a bit of a mess in the kitchen." She laughed with a wink; brushing past him. He followed at her heels, with his head hung in embarrassment.

Thom had quickly become infatuated with the woman before him. She was very beautiful and very smart. He seemed to be becoming more and more nervous around her; causing his stutter to become more pronounced. He was sure Aurora would have nothing to do with him; after all she was a barbarian woman and the 'do not fall in love'. Oh, but how he wished that wasn't so; she was so perfect: she was a strong, capable, adventurous, gorgeous, intellectual woman who had the most wonderful laugh. His heart seemed to stop the moment he sat eyes on her. He sighed as he helped her pick up the broken plate from the floor.

He knew that she couldn't return his growing feelings; especially so soon; it had only been two days. At times he, himself, could hardly believe the emotions that have presented themselves the very short time he had known her. He could only hope that she didn't realize that he possessed them.

Even if Aurora could fall for someone; it could never be someone like him. He was just a scrawny, lanky book worm; who has never set foot out of the comforts of his home. The only good he was to a woman like her is to help her figure out which herb to use to heal her battle wounds. The thought of Aurora in battle left him a bit dazed; he was sure she was a sight to see; blades dancing through the air, sunlight pouring over her body, glistening with sweat. He shook his head to clear his mind; realizing the Aurora had begun to stare at him with a raised brow. He cleared his throat as he stood to dispose of the broken dish. With a sigh he stared down at himself as he walked; lanky and scrawny; that was Thom the shop keep. No, she'd never be interested in him. Etrius though, he was more her type; older, dignified, battle experienced, muscular, every inch of him oozing testosterone. How could he compete with a man like that? Not to mention, Aurora clearly had deep feelings for him; though she didn't seem to want to admit it. It was quiet understandable really; she had saved him, cared for him and had traveled with him for weeks; they must share a very deep bond having shared the same adventure. To pair those facts with the way she kept throwing herself at him; there was no doubt in his mind that she loved the man, and with him in the picture Thom had an even smaller chance of winning her affection that without him.

He dropped the shards of glass in a small bin and turned back toward the shop. There was no use wallowing in something that he had never had, and wouldn't ever. So he would turn his attention back on the shop, as he always did; ignoring his problems, with the hope that they would go away. Aurora had already made her way back into the main room and was shelving a large pile of books as he entered. His heart pounded nervously in his chest as he watched her open one of the books titled 'Broken Blades of the Past'. Suddenly he found her even more fascinating than before.

"U-um... A-aurora?" He mumbled trying to get her attention; she closed the book at the sound of his stuttering voice and placed it on the book case before answering him.

"Yes?" Her voice was hollow; the exchange with Etrius must have cut her deeper than he had expected.

"T-tell me... I-isn't it t-typical for a b-barbarians in such a c-culture to be i-i-illiterate? B-barbarian tribes look upon i-intelligence as a useless t-talent. C-clearly this is not the case w-with you." He felt self-conscious asking the woman about her past, but curiosity always seemed to get the better of him; no matter the subject. In fact, it had gotten him in trouble numerous times; sometimes with a very bad crowd.

"You know your cultures don't you?" She smiled at him; gracing him with a glance. His cheeks turned red at the compliment.

"Y-yes w-well; I do l-love the d-diversities in different cultures; it h-has always been o-one of my many p-p-p-passions." He said staring down at him feet; unable to make eye contact. Aurora let out a laugh. Thom grinned; he truly did love that sound, like the sound of pages fluttering as you open a large book.

"Oh? Well I see why you're so interested in Sori then." She replied, avoiding the subject and continuing on with her work.

"B-but w-why is it that you are n-not i-illiterate; i-if you don't mind me a-asking?" He leaned against his desk, brushing aside some papers as he did so. The amusement on her face disappeared as she placed another book upon the shelf.

"I was only raised with the barbarian tribe for the first years of my life." She said, not really giving him a straight answer. It was obvious that the subject was a bit on the touchy side; but Thom was never the kind to let information seep from his grasp.

"B-but you were there l-long enough to remember their customs; a-and be s-sorted into class. W-what happened; were you b-banished; d-did you leave on y-your o-own free will; o-or w-were you u-unable to m-make it through the p-proving?" She shot one of the angriest looking glares he had ever witnessed at him. He knew he was overstepping his bounds; the worst possible thing you could do to a barbarian was insult their battle abilities; and the worst death possible came to those who made one angry. She slammed down the book in her hand, causing him to flinch as it hit the ground, and stormed over to him.

"Now you listen here!" She yelled, gripping him by the collar; he closed his eyes in preparation for the blow. "My people would never banish me! I was the great warrior they had ever seen; even the war chief couldn't defeat me in a duel! As for the proving; HA!" She threw him back against the desk as if he were just some toy she had lost interest with. "I was the first to slaughter one of the warriors from the Katar clan; it was simple, I pasted with ease." Her voice was beginning to calm. Thom let out a sigh of relief; he made it through the peak of her rage with only a bruise here and there from his own desk.

"T-then how did you learn to r-read; or behave so c-c-civilly?" He asked softly. She her glare softened a bit after a moment, before she sighed.

"I wasn't raised with the tribe; at least not for long. Right after the proving the tribe was attacked; I was sold into slavery and my owner felt that it was important to my duties to learn to read." She replied flatly turning back to the books. Thom felt for her; it must have been terrible to be torn from your family; even if they had been bloodthirsty savages.

"J-just after the p-proving? W-well, you must have been only about t-ten." He realized a bit surprised that someone could enslave such a small child.

"I suppose so; we were never taught to count and our day of birth was nothing to celebrate. We simply were measured from our battles not our years." She shrugged.

"S-so you don't know how o-old you a-are?"

"No." She sighed turning with her arms crossed; clearly she was not going to get any work done until he was done with his questioning. "Though, I never could understand why you people seem to put so much Importance of age."

"W-well age can determine many things such as; wisdom, s-strength, experience." She chuckled at his response.

"That's what you measure those attributes by; age? Even the oldest man can be a fool; the smallest boy can wield a sword with enough training; and a young traveler will experience much more than an old innkeeper ever would. Age means nothing." He had to admit she had some very valid points. Age never really mattered much to him anyways but it still seemed a bit strange not to be able to tell your own age. Aurora moved to sit next to him on his desk, causing his heart to skip a few beats. "What about you? I mean, it only seems fair that if you get to interrogate me I get to ask some questions of my own." She winked at him, making him blush. She laughed at the sight as she cleared a spot for herself. Her body heat oozed toward him making him highly aware of her presences.

"M-me? T-there r-really isn't anything to t-t-tell." He stuttered. He wanted so badly to move closer but was trapped between the tug of his self-consciousness telling him to move away and the need to be closer to her. He sat perfectly still as war raged between his emotions and thoughts.

"There's always something to tell. You don't look like the locals, so clearly you're not from around here." She started to kick her feet as she talked; subtracting a few years from the age he had assumed for her.

"W-well; I-I was raised in Selara, but I'm not f-from there either." He peeled his eyes away from her, feeling immediately sadden by the loss, before continuing. "I grew up in an orphanage on the o-outskirts of the city; never really had any f-friends or anything so I p-pretty much learned to s-survive on my own." He was beginning to feel more and more comfortable around Aurora; though he couldn't determine whether that was good or bad.

"Well then; it seems like you're the odd one out too. Orphans aren't usually taught to read; where you adopted?" She had leaned forward to ask him her question. He risked a glance toward her; her hair slid from past her shoulders and hung parallel to her chest; she truly was the image of beauty.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-n" He had to look away before he could manage to speak coherently. So much for becoming more comfortable. "No. O-once I was o-old enough to be a-apprenticed I left the orphanage. I f-found a scholar who w-was looking for a new s-scribe," He chuckled at the memory. "I w-wasn't his first choice obviously, b-but he took me on all the same. He t-taught me to read and w-write; what books were real and w-which were obviously c-counterfeit. P-pretty soon I c-could keep up with everything he threw at me." He smiled with pride as he stared off into the distance; not wanting to chance another look at her.

"That still doesn't explain how you got here." She urged, leaning even further forward until he could see her outline just out of the corner of his eye. He cleared his throat trying to refocus on what he was about to say, instead of how soft her skin looked.

"Y-yes, w-well; He had sent me to find a rare book written by the s-scholars of Tavares. He had f-found w-word of it in Selara a-and had somehow m-managed to track it here. So, here I came." He shrugged.

"Well?" She asked.

"W-well, what?"

"Did you find the book?" She watched him eagerly, though he couldn't understand why. A woman like her was use to going of grand adventures slaying giant scorpions and fire breathing dragons; what interest could she have in whether or not he had found a silly old book? He eyed her curiously. Perhaps he didn't give her enough credit; she clearly had just as much brains as she did brawns and even more beauty. He sighed again, becoming even more frustrated at the fact that he could never seemed to get him mind off that particular subject.

"Y-yes."

"Well, where was it?" She blurted frustratingly.

"I found it on a m-merchant that s-stole it from a group of g-grave r-robbers; I h-had to pay some p-p-pretty coin for it as well." He answered. She paused, her eyebrows rising in confusion.

"But you stayed?" Her eyes never focused on him as she asked the question. He nodded in response. "Why?"

"W-well, you s-see; after I discovered the book I sent word to Torren, t-the scholar that t-taught me, b-but I never received a r-reply." He paused, his heart still aching over the memory. "It t-took three w-weeks for me to hear the news: H-his wife and c-child where murdered by a g-group of robbers who had b-broke into their h-home while he was a-away, a few days a-after I left." Aurora watched as his voice became deep with sorrow. "A-apparently, the old man w-wasn't strong enough to handle it a-and t-took his own l-life."

"Oh... I'm so sorry." She whispered as she hung her head; feeling guilty over bringing up such bad memories. He rested his hand on her shoulder with a gentle smile, that didn't quiet seem to reach his eyes.

"D-don't be, it was a v-very long time ago." Her skin felt searing hot through the cloth of her tunic as he let his hand rest upon it. He couldn't believe what he had just done; he just willing placed his hand upon the most beautiful woman he had ever seen by far. The thought hit him hard in the face, and it took everything he had not to jerk away from her. He tried to remove it slyly, but ended up shaking too badly to pull it; he hoped that she would just chalk it up to his depressing memory; luckily she didn't seem to notice at all.

"A-anyways," He started folding his hands in his lap and looking toward the door. "After that I saw n-no point in returning, so I s-stayed. I m-made a decent p-profit fixing magical i-items and s-selling my knowledge of t-this and t-that. Eventually, I had saved up enough coin to open my own s-shop and s-start a collection of rare b-books and a-artifacts myself." He waved his hand through the air, allowing its arch to take in the entire room.

"Have you ever thought about going back?" Aurora asked curiously; after all Selara was his home. She would give anything to have a place she could call home.

"T-there's nothing to go back to; I never was very s-social." He shrugged.

"Then you consider this your home?"

"W-well n-not exactly," He replied a bit confused himself. "I guess I never really found anywhere I r-really belonged; I s-suppose that when I finally f-find someone I can share my l-life with I can finally find myself a h-home." Aurora smiled about to say something when the doorbell jingled announcing Etrius' return. She jumped to her feet, her face lighting with relief. Thom sank back into his slouch at the sight. Etrius looked up at her with an unreadable face.

"I spend more times hiding from the guards than I'm comfortable with." He sighed, shrugging off his cloak. "I'm worried one of them saw me; perhaps I should create a better disguise." He made his way to the desk slowly, not really paying much attention to his surroundings. He was still deep in thought at the new information the shop keep had provided. Etrius had been considering for a while now what he would do next. Selara wasn't very far away but with him being a wanted man, whose face was plastered all over the walls of a small city like this; there was no way he would be able to hide himself in one as large as that. Perhaps it would be best if he left Aurora and the boy here with Thom. They would be much safer without him. He looked up at the two in front of him: Aurora stood proudly with her chin raised and a gentle smile; Thom slouched where he sat staring at Etrius with a wary, unamused look. "How much do you know about spell casting?" Etrius asked him ignoring his expression.

"That depends," An egotistical smile spread across the man's face as if it were some kind of secret.

"On what?" Etrius asked in no mood for games. If Thom had the information Etrius suspected him of then it was quite possible that he could teach Etrius to use his own abilities.

"Well, with so many different styles of spell casting, it all depends on which you're interested in." He replied smugly. Etrius' patience was wearing thin; between the bad news from earlier and the shop keep's attitude he was quickly on his way to a very harsh end.

"Clearly, I'm interested in that of a cleric's, Shop keep; now, do you know about their abilities or not?"

"I do," He replied crossing his arms over his chest. Finally a straight answer, Etrius sighed with relief. "But,"

"But what?" He growled between clenched teeth.

"I can't help you." That was the last straw Etrius was furious once again. Why was this man such an egotistical ass as to toy with something so critical to Etrius' past.

"Why the hell not?!" Etrius' fists clenched at his sides as it took every ounce of his strength not to throttle the book worm.

"Etrius..." Aurora placed a hand on his arm trying to calm him. Thom's eyes glanced down at her hand and returned to Etrius' face this time with more fire behind them then before. He was jealous Etrius realized with a smile. Clearly the man was infatuated with the barbarian and saw him as a threat. The absurdity made Etrius chuckle to himself. He respected Aurora as a friend and companion but could never have feeling for her; not while Blondie was still in his heart. He laid his hand gentle upon hers and squeezed; his smile still spread across his face.

Thom watched as Etrius' hand drifted to the one Aurora had placed on his arm. Fury built in his chest as the scene unfolded. The giant of a man squeezed her comforting gesture; he looked up at her as her face turned a shade redder and she turned away, never removing her hand. He shot a glare at the source of her discoloration. A broad smile was showcased upon his square face as he watched Thom watching him. The shop keep knew the look well; Etrius had discovered a way to get back at him for toying with the answers he desired. Was his obsession with the barbarian woman that obvious? Very well, if he wanted to play that game; he would fight fire with fire.

"Unlike clerics, wizards use the information from books to cast spells." He stated. The sentence left the man's question unanswered, and left questions in its place.

"What does that have to do with anything?!" Etrius demanded, smile fading from his face. Thom's smile reappeared; he was winning. Etrius wouldn't stand for being played; he would step things up a bit. He grasped Aurora's and tightly, pulling it away from him as he wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her into his side; winning a stunned glare from the shop keep. Aurora gasped, shocked at the sudden embrace from Etrius. Her cheeks heated as she was pinned to him; his warmth seeping into her every pour.

Thom's nails dug into the carved wood beneath him as he tried to gain some self-control. The man before him was nothing but a vial excuse for a being. "You a-asked w-what I knew about s-s-spell c-casters; well I know e-everything there is to know a-about wizards." He never took his eyes of Aurora as he spoke; cursing himself for his uncontrollable stutter.

"You must know something of other spell casters; what else are all these books for?!" Etrius was beginning to wonder just how far this thing would go. Thom wasn't exactly presenting much of a challenge with that pathetic stutter of his.

"They were created for a thing c-c-call reading; p-p-perhaps you should l-look into it!" Thom yelled, jumping to his feet in a fit of anger.

"Thom!" Aurora exclaimed. Etrius glared at him a bit offended for once. Apparently this was going to go very far and now was time for the next step. Etrius turned fully facing Aurora as he wrapped both his arms around her this time.

Aurora's heart pounded in her chest. What had gotten into these two; first Thom acting so rude toward Etrius, and now Etrius' sudden disregard for personal space? His arms wrapped around her waist, pressing her against his chest. Her cheeks felt as if they had caught fire. She flattened her hands against his chest, unsure of how to react. No man had ever been this close to her; physically or mentally. She began to panic, pushing half-heartedly against Etrius' chest. He was so close she could feel the pulse of his heart underneath her palms. Air seemed to rush from her lungs as she her heart continued to bang against her ribcage. The thought that he might lean down to kiss her slipped into her mind, surprising her. She had never kissed a man before; had never known what it would be like. The thought had crossed her mind a million times but she always tossed it aside as rubbish; a barbarian woman had no business with such thoughts; she was a warrior and nothing more. But, still the thoughts were always there; what would his lips feel like against hers? Would he have a unique taste? Would her heart stop beating for a moment when they actually touched? Without realizing it she began to lean forward eager to answer her questions and unable to wait, after all a barbarian took what she wanted.

She pushed herself up on her tip toes; slamming their mouths together. The action sent a shiver down her spine causing her heart to skip. He was warm under her palms as she fisted his shirt dragging him down to her level. She closed her eyes in bliss as the scent of worn leather filling her senses. His body seemed to engulf her as she surrendered to his embrace. She moaned gently at the ecstasy she had discovered.

Etrius jumped in shock as Aurora forced herself on him; it felt wrong in almost every way and regretted trying to use Thom's jealousy against him, for the answers he seeked. As he tried to pull away Aurora lifted herself up, dragging him down by the collar, and pressed her mouth more tightly against his. His heart sank at his mistake; the thought of Blondie filling his mind. The blonde woman was screaming at him in a fit of rage. He smiled down at her laughing at the way she tried to feign indifference. He grabbed her by the shoulders and yanked her against him; their lips meeting. She tasted of fresh watermelon picked just before the season was up. Her yellow braid was pulled over her shoulder in disarray; she moaned gently at his touch, surrendering completely.

"Thoth...." He gasped her name. Suddenly the image disappeared; tossing him feet first into the present. He didn't have time to react before the blow landed; sending him flying back against the book case. Books clattered to the floor as he slid down dazed, his jaw already beginning to swell. The only coherent thought he seemed to make out was that of the blonde woman's name.

"You! You! You son of a bitch!" Aurora screamed throwing anything she could get her hands on at him. Most of the items missed their marks, thankfully, seeing as she was too angry to really aim. "How dare you! You're lucky I don't castrate you here and now; you no good, slithering, slimy, whore of a man!" Thom stood beside her laughing uncontrollably at his circumstances; that is, until Aurora picked up one of his books.

"Whoa!" He gasped grabbing it from her hand before she had a chance to send it flying. "How about we go for a n-n-nice w-walk, Aurora?" He suggested with a sympathetic smile; though Etrius couldn't tell whether it was for her or his book.

"Why would I want to go anywhere with any man?!" She demanded throwing up her arms. "You're all just alike!" She stormed from the room and into the kitchen; where the sound of a few dishes shattering could be heard before the slam of the back door.

Etrius felt terrible for what he had done; and yet, he couldn't help but shake the feeling of relief. The woman that he loved, the one that haunted all his thoughts and dreams, finally had a name. Thoth; the word had rolled off his tongue so smoothly he knew it belonged there. The strange mix of shame and joy made his stomach churn. Thom walked up to him and started to clear away the books that surrounded him.

"That was pretty stupid, even for you." He said, not looking up. His voice held no anger or venom toward Etrius; it was just a simple fact. One that Etrius knew was true.

"I apologize; I didn't mean for it to go so far. I didn't think that it would hurt Aurora." Etrius mumbled in response. Thom sighed extending a hand to help the man up.

"You're more blind than I suspected." He said pulling Etrius to his feet. "You seem to be the only one that doesn't see the feelings she has for you."

"But she hasn't said anything; she's never given any indication that that was the case." Etrius argued.

"Perhaps she is lying to herself; but it is obvious, even the boy sees it. You and her are seem to be the only two that doesn't see it." He carried the stack of books to his desk as he spoke. Perhaps he was right, but what could Etrius do about it?

"It's clear that you're not as innocent as you seem either book keep." Etrius replied. Thom didn't look up at the remark; he just continued on with his work.

"I have not tried to hide my infatuation with the woman; I probably couldn't if I tried." He sighed. "But she has made it perfectly clear who she has sat her eyes on, and it is most definitely not me." He paused, setting down a book and turning to face the man still sprawled on the floor. "You should probably go after her."

"So I can add another bruise to my collection? I think not." Etrius argued rubbing his sore chin. Aurora was angry and he had seen the aftermath of her anger before. He knew better than to feed the flames that would ultimately kill her.

"Consider this: Aurora's mood changes instant, she has probably calmed down already. If you allow her wallow in hatred toward you for long enough; then the only logical outcome is that it never dies." His tone was flat and emotionless. For a man that had never had any really adventures; Thom seemed a bit wise beyond his years.

"And if I do go after what then? Why don't you go and talk to her; you seemed to know more about her than I do?" Etrius asked a bit annoyed at his situation.

"Because, I don't like you and therefore have no desire to make you look good in her eyes." Thom spat.

"Then why are you telling me this crap?!"

"Because...." He sighed, folding his arms. "As much as I wish it wasn't so; Aurora cares for you a great deal and I respect her enough to protect that. She looks up to, though I don't see why, and I'm not going to have you upsetting her! Now you are going to go after her and are not returning to my home unless she's with you. Do you understand?" The authority in the man's voice shocked Etrius. He had had no idea that the book worm possessed such a quality in him.

"Fine," He sighed slowly rising. "But this doesn't change anything! When I return you'll tell me everything you know about how clerics spell cast, got it?"

"It's a deal." Thom nodded in agreement as Etrius pulled on his cloak and left, slamming the door behind him. The sound must have awoken Sori, because within the next few moments the boy suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs.

"What's going on," He asked, his eyes still drooping with drowsiness. "Where's Aurora?"

"She..." Thom began, trying to quickly come up with a lie. "She went to the market to buy some food for tonight's supper. Are you hungry? I can make you some lunch while you tell me about some of your rain rituals." Thom smiled up at him, winning a smile from the boy as well. Sori nodded bounding down the stairs and into the kitchen with Thom close at his heals.
Chapter 8

Aurora sat atop a barrel, sobbing, on the side of one of the many inns that were scattered throughout the small city. Her anger had died slowly as she made her way through the crowds of the busy streets. She was relieved that she had managed to calm herself before she had hurt anyone; beyond Etrius of course. That sorry piece or trash deserved every ounce of pain she had delivered to him, and more. How could he toy with her like that? She wasn't as mad at him as she pretended to be though; it was just as much her fault as his. She had lied to herself repeatedly; telling herself that he was nothing more than a respected and trustworthy friend. It seemed that with each day that passed she had to tell herself more and more what a good 'companion' he was.

She resented him for the lies she told; after all blaming him seemed the simplest solution. If he wasn't so tall and handsome; if he didn't have such an amusing humor; or if he wasn't so damn calm: she wouldn't be in the situation she was in now. In all honesty she knew it was her fault; she let him get too close to her; a woman like her could not allow such a thing to happen; and yet her she was, in tears. She had known from the beginning that he was in love with another woman. It seemed that his thoughts never strayed from her; he tried to hide it but the constant look of pain in his eyes was always giving him away. She didn't really understand why it had hurt her so badly when he said his lover's name and not her own. She should have expected it after all.

But it was not his lover he had held close! It was not _Thoth_ that he had kissed so passionately! It was her; Aurora, the woman who had forced herself on him; had helped him regain his strength! Why couldn't she take his mind off of that retched woman? Aurora's fury flared once more. She fisted her hair trying to control it. She was after all very beautiful; she was strong and confident; witty and fun; she had more personality than any village woman by ten folds. She calmed after a few deep breathes and a kick or two at the stone wall across from her. Why was it that she was the one that was suffering and not Etrius; she was a major find?

"Aurora?" The sound of his voice drifted toward her softly. She ground her teeth together in frustration as her heart pounded in response.

"Go away, Etrius!" She spat, refusing to look up at him.

"I just want to talk." His hooded figure moved toward her; settling across from her.

"To who; me or _Thoth_? Because I'm fairly sure I have nothing to say to you." She spat the name out as if it were a curse.

"I'm sorry..." Etrius began as he watched her draw her knees up to her chest and leaned her forehead against them. "I didn't mean for-"

"I don't care! Just go away." She was being unfair and stubborn and she knew it; though at that particular moment she didn't really care.

"No." Etrius announced firmly. He was getting very tired of taking orders from everyone but himself. He would make a stand for once; taking in account his wants and not those of the people he surrounded himself with. "I've come to apologize and you are going to listen." She didn't move to answer; she only sat there quietly waiting to hear what he had to say next. "I don't believe I have ever led you to believe I had feeling for you. I am in love with another woman and I'm afraid I always will be."

"You are not helping your case spell caster." She spat out, never lifting her head. She didn't think she could handle him seeing just how much he affected her. She was sure that the puffy red of her cheeks and water trails would sure to give it away.

"Just hear me out." Etrius pleaded. He was very uncomfortable; he had never really apologized to someone, at least not that he could remember, and it was by far the most awkward thing he was sure he had ever done. How exactly did you tell a woman, who could rip your throat out with her bare hands at the slight remark she found offensive, that you weren't attracted to her in any way? Etrius had no idea what the answer to his question was but there was no sense in putting the deed off; he had to try something. "I'm sorry for what I did; I wasn't aware that it would affect you in such a way. I was just trying to make the shop keep jealous."

"Oh; so you were just using me?!" She screamed at him, her rage flaring again.

"I didn't mean it like th-"

"Besides, why would Thom be jealous of you? You are nothing but a pompous ignorant ass!" Etrius froze a smile slowly spreading across his lips; apparently he wasn't the only ignorant one in the group. Did Aurora really not notice the affection the shop keep had toward her; Etrius was quite sure that the only reason he had allowed Etrius to stay was because of his infatuation with the woman.

"You honestly don't see it?" He asked her generally curious as to if she were playing him or not.

"See what, damn it?!" She spat at him not understanding.

"He is obsessed with you."

"You lie!" She accused; there was no way a sophisticated man like Thom could ever like a barbaric woman like herself. Etrius laughed at the discovery.

"You didn't see the jealousy in his eyes when you hugged me or even placed a hand on my arm?" He asked amused. "He nearly burst into flames when I dragged you closer." This time he was too distracted by his laughter to see the blow. Her fist contacted with his jaw, sending his hood flying back and settling his shoulders.

"You used me to make Thom jealous?!" She went to throw another blow but Etrius had recovered quickly enough to grab her by the arm. "How dare you! Not only did you toy with a woman's emotions but you did so just to win an argument with the poor man?!" Aurora was right Etrius had messed up more than he thought; he should have never gone so far.

"Truly Aurora I am sorry; I'll find a way to make it up to the both of you just-" Etrius began.

"There!" A man's voice interrupted them. A guard came rushing into the small space, his hand resting on the hilt of his blade. "Halt! Etrius Kummel you are under arrest!" Aurora and Etrius glanced at each other in shock. He must have been right about being spotted by the guard earlier; the whole city must have heard the news of his presence.

"Run." Aurora ordered, stepping between the two men. Etrius hesitated, only for a moment debating whether he should stay and fight or run and avoid the man all together. The man before him was just doing his job, it didn't seem right to harm him when he had done nothing wrong. He felt a bit bad leaving Aurora to fend him off, but he didn't really have any other choice.

He turned and ran into the ally at the back of the inn; dodging a serving girl that was busy dumping the left over scraps. The ally was barely big enough to allow him to run, dodging barrels and bins here and there. The sound of struggle could be heard behind him as he ran. The ally curved around the building, emptying out into the crowded streets. He pushed the passing people out of his way, making his way forward; some stopped to stare, recognizing his face, while other hurried from his path in fear.

The guard from the alley was quickly joined by two friends. Dragging Aurora out by the hair, he ordered the two to head after him. Aurora grunted in pain, kicking and clawing at her capture as she fought for her freedom; though it only resulted in a tighter grip. Etrius continued to run, the over population of the city streets slowing him down. He turned left and then right, twisting and turning trying to find a way to escape his pursuers.

What would happen to Aurora if he didn't go back for her? The thought slammed into almost knocking him off his current course. Would they send her to the gallows for helping a wanted man? He couldn't allow that to happen; but if he did go back for her they'd both be locked up. He was no good to her dead; though he was no good to right now either. He had to go back for her; but he had no idea how to fight, no idea how to use his magic. They would take her to Selara to be judged in a major city; this one was much too small to have any court system. The information confused him; he wasn't aware that he knew so much about the workings of the justice system.

Selara! The men would take their captives to Selara; for judgment and the reward! This could be his ticket to the city! But what about escaping? If he were to find out what he had done to earn such dishonor he would have to be free. He would have to worry about that when the time came; for now his best option was to allow the men to take him prisoner. He stopped as he rounded another corner, reaching a dead end. He could hear the clatter of the men's armor as they ran behind him. Slowly he turned, facing the guards.

"Halt." One of the men demanded, out of breath. The other nudged him in the ribs, mocking him for his unnecessary command.

"Do you yield?" The second asked. "Or shall we take you by force?"

"I yield." Etrius answered, holding out his wrists, so as to be bound. He prayed that his partially devised plan would work; or at least buy him enough time to help Aurora escape. The bound his wrists tightly crisscrossing rope tightly around his wrists and dragging him in to the street behind them.

"We have captured Etrius Kummel; the murder of Nevelair!" They announced loudly to the passer-bys as they paraded down the streets.

Thom sat in his kitchen with Sori; asking question after question about his language and rituals. The boy was in the middle of explaining the Huakab's ritual for completing the training of a warrior, when a large commotion began outside. The muffled sound of a man's voice drifted into the shop followed by a few loud cheers.

"What in the world?" Thom spoke as he stood, heading toward the door to investigate. Sori followed on his heels, keeping close to the older man. The shop keep opened the door just enough for both him and the boy to see through. Sori, who was afraid of being spotted, merely peeked around the man still hidden by then dimness of the shop. Thom gasped at the scene that lay before him.

Etrius stood atop a large platform, which held the stockades, in the middle of the square with a guard to each side; hands tied before him. He held himself tall, as if he held no shame for what had happened. What _had_ happened? Thom asked himself. A large crowd swarmed around him cheering as the guard to Etrius' right announced his capture. A third guard forced himself to the front of the crowd. He tossed the figure of a woman at Etrius' feet.

"Aurora!" Sori called out quietly not wanting to cause any unwanted attention. There was no mistaking it, Sori was right, it was Aurora. Etrius didn't spare her a glance as she pushed herself up, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Blood seeped past her lips and ran down her chin; one of the guards must have struck her. Fury began to build in the shop keep's chest. No man had the right to strike a woman; especially not one such as Aurora! As the two watched the guard to Etrius' left yanked her to her feet by her hair. Her teeth were bared in a scowl, or perhaps a grimace; Thom couldn't be sure. The new comer climbed upon the platform and made his way toward her.

"You are charged with aiding a wanted man; do you have anything to say for yourself?" He asked. For a long moment she said nothing, causing the man who held her to give a rough shake. Thom ground his teeth in anger and frustration at feeling so helpless. With a nod from the newest guard, who was clearly in charge, the man released the woman. "I will ask again; do you have anything to say for yourself woman?" He asked more firmly this time. Aurora straightened, shaking the hair from her face, and glared at the man. He took a step closer. "Do... you... have... anything... to... say?" He spoke slowly as if she was a child who didn't understand the language. A smile made its way across her lips before she spat a mouthful of saliva and blood in the soldier's face. Pride replaced Thom's fury as he watched the woman he was infatuated with rebel. The soldier jerkily wiped the red liquid from his face with his right hand before turning and striking her with his left. The crowd cheered; delivering shouts of insults and cursed toward the barbarian. Suddenly the fury returned. "Lock them both in the stockade; let the villages have them. Tomorrow we'll deliver the criminals to Selara where they shall be judged and executed!" He announced to the crowd as he gave orders to his men.

Etrius' hands were cut free as they forced his head down against the wood of the stock. They were then forced into the small holes carved on either side of him. Aurora was treated much the same; only the man dragged her by the darkness atop her head once more. The slammed the wooden top down upon the two and locked it in place; with a cheer from the onlookers. Thom closed the door as the crowd began throwing rotten vegetables at the two adventurers, unable to watch.

"What will happen to them?" Sori asked as Thom brushed past him.

"I honestly don't know Sori." Thom sighed sliding down into the seat behind his desk.

"We can't just leave them out there like that!" The boy demanded stomping his foot.

"I know!" Thom snapped at him, not truly meaning to. "I just need some time to think; besides it will do them no good if we get strung up there as well. We'll have to wait until nightfall before we can make any moves." But what move would that be? Thom had no clue how to go about something like this; he had never had the need. He sighed, leaning forward with his head in his hands. If Aurora wasn't the one out there she'd probably just sneak in and break the locks. Thom slammed his fists against the wood and jumped to his feet, his epiphany swirling in his head. That's what he would do; he'd wait until dark and sneak into the stockades, break the locks and be off. He sank back into his seat as dread filled him; if he did manage to free them he would have become a criminal and give up his shop. Was he willing to make such a sacrifice for a woman he just met?

Sori watched Thom's outburst's, filled with worry; the man was taking the situation harder than he expected. Sori wanted to save Aurora, and even Etrius, just as much as the shop keep; but what could a boy with only a little fighting experience do to help?

"Sori!" Thom called causing the boy to jump. He had been so lost in his own thoughts that he hadn't realized the man had moved. "Have you been listening?"

"I'm sorry..." He replied, watching the man run back and forth gathering arm full after arm full of book and placing them in stack upon his desk.

"We have to pack; will you fetch the large bag in the trunk in your room?" His words were rushed as he continued to toss items into the growing pile. Sori nodded already making his way toward the staircase. "You'll need a key." Thom stopped him, digging into his pocket and producing an oddly diamond shaped key. Sori wasted no time examining it as he ran, bounding up the stairs two at a time.

Thom was frantically collecting his possession; not even bothering to choose what to pack and what to leave. He owned a magical item shop; he had room to pack everything. It only took a few minutes before Sori was back at his side with the large backpack.

"Good; now hold it open for me." Thom ordered. Sori did what he was told; his mind still occupied by his captured friends. Thom stacked book after book into the bag causing Sori to examine it in surprise. With each book the weight of the bag never changed. The shop keep filled it to the brim with the libraries content and still it stayed the same size; after shoving another book atop the stack it the one below that seemed to just disappear.

"What sort of magic is this?" The boy asked reaching his hand into the pack and wiggling it, feeling nothing; it was if it were empty.

"It's an endless bag; it was a gift from my mentor before I came here. Now come along we have to get everything packed before nightfall." Thom spoke almost as quickly as he moved. It would take hours before they finished and they only had a few before dusk. "Tell me; Is it true a Huakab can create the weather?"

"You mean like a thunderstorm or lightening?" Sori asked as he also began to load the pack with books and miscellaneous items. Thom nodded his response. "Yes, every Huakab is born with the ability but not many know how to harness that power." He answered.

"Do you?" Thom asked eyeing the boy with a look that made Sori twitch with unease.

"Well yes.... And no." He mumbled.

"What do you mean yes and no?" Thom asked with a little too much force.

"I've only been able to do it when I'm upset." Sori pleaded. He felt terrible for the fact that he was so week compared to the humans and to his own kind. He had always been the smallest of his family so no one ever wanted to train him.

"Are you not upset right now?"

"Well, yes...." He was very upset over Aurora and Etrius' capture but what could he do? A storm would do them no good right now; the only thing it would do is cause them to catch a cold.

"Good we'll need your gift fairly soon. For now we just need to gather all our things." Thom spoke more to himself than to the boy.
Chapter 9

It was a good while after dark by the time they finished gathering everything. The shop looked so strange without its clutter to litter the floor and shelves; Thom almost felt saddened by the thought, but there was no use in such feelings.

"Are you ready Sori?" He asked as he lifted the light pack over his shoulder. The boy looked nervous staring out the cracked door.

"I don't know, are you sure you need me to do this?" His voice was shaky as he asked the question. Thom knew it would be hard for him but he had no choice. The shop keep approached the door as well and leaned to peek outside at the two captives. The guards from earlier had left leaving two new ones in their place, to watch over the criminals. They stood silently as Etrius and Aurora knelt with their head hung; faces plastered with smudges of tomatoes and rotten cabbage.

"I'm positive; without you the guards will never leave." He whispered down at him.

"Fine, give me a second." Sori sighed closing his eyes tightly, trying to concentrate. The last time he had made it rain was when he was just a young boy, not even ten. One of his brother's friends pushed him down calling him a 'runt' it wasn't too bad, but there had been stones in the sand that had scraped up his knees. Sori focused on the image like Thom had instructed him to do over the hours of work. The feeling of Shame and pain filled him.

"That's it boy, just a little more." Thom's voice drifted toward him. The smell of damp earth filled the air as Sori began to understand how his power worked. The thought of his brother added to hid desolation; his family were gone; all of them dead. He was the last of his kind. Thunder shook the house as the rain poured into the cold desert night. He had done it; for the first time in his life he had summoned a storm on his own. "With all this rain the streets will flood and the soldiers will take refuge inside."

As if on cue the two men guarding the stockade jumped down from the platform and rushed down the street toward the inn. The city was use to a light rain here and there but they rarely got a full blown storm.

"Now is our chance boy, get you cloak on, let's go." Thom said, trying to ignore the tears that rain down Sori's face. If he mentioned them the boy would become embarrassed or worse; he would bottle up his emotions and dispatch the storm. Without a word Sori threw on Aurora's cloak and tossed up the hood, as Thom did the same with his own. With one last glimpse around the home he had made for himself so long ago; he said good bye and departed.

The rain came slowly at first, dampening Aurora's already drooping hair. The soldiers didn't seem bothered by it; in fact, one gave a small chuckle trying to catch a few droplets in his hands. Suddenly it changed, turning into a down pour. The two men jumped down into the mud without hesitation; and only a few comments over the sudden change and how warm the inn would be. Aurora sighed, her hair plastering itself to her face. At least the water would wash away most of the rotten smell that had come with the villagers.

"This is all your fault you know?" She accused. Etrius' sigh was audible even through the patter of the rain on the wood.

"I know; I'm sorry Aurora." He said, melancholy dripping from his every word. It was his fault she was here. She had said once that he was nothing but trouble, and he could see now that it was true. From the beginning he had caused her nothing but pain. She had to take care of him like some lost child; then she had to fight for him in Outterbarrens; he had caused her pain from his stupidity and she had ran, ultimately leading to their current position. "You should have left me back at the prison."

"Oh come off it!" She snapped. "I was the one that got angry and knocked your hood off; besides your nothing I can't handle. Now get off your pity horse, and figure out a plan." She couldn't believe she actually had feelings for such a whiner; but then again she was still surprised she was capable of feelings toward anyone. Out of the corner of her eye two dark figures came into view; one a fairly bit shorter than the other, and stopped in front of them. "Go away, damn you! Didn't you get enough of the shower earlier?!" She spat toward them.

"N-now n-now," The familiar stutter came, "Is that any way to speak to your r-rescuers?" Thom lifted his head high enough so that Aurora could make out his features.

"Really Thom; you bravely step in, to save us from certain death, with that kind of stutter?" She teased, laughing. Her smile was so broad that her cheeks began to hurt.

"Very f-f-funny." He climbed upon the platform and produced a large hammer from his bag. His first swing landed with a ting against the metal lock. The second landed with a thud as the lock broke away. He threw the top half of the stock away from her. Aurora fell to her knees rubbing her neck and wrists. Thom moved toward Etrius' lock as Sori helped the woman to her feet.

"Don't." Etrius ordered; just as Thom raised the hammer.

"What?" Thom stared at him confused. Aurora hobbled over to him.

"Etrius if this is some sort of mental thing get over it; they're going to kill you." She pleaded with him. She didn't understand what he was trying to do; and he didn't believe they ever would.

"Just go Aurora!" He spat at her.

"No! I'm not letting you ignorant self-loathing persona get yourself killed; no matter how stupid you are. Thom, do it." She ordered glaring at him. Thom lifted the hammer, preparing for the swing.

"Thom; don't you dare!" He yelled causing the shop keep to freeze. "You stupid woman; you wouldn't understand."

"What wouldn't I understand Etrius; tell me, because I'm just dying to hear it?" She leaned against Sori, trying to keep her knees from buckling. She had only spent a few hours in that blasted contraption but it had been enough to do some damage; everything hurt.

"It's the quickest way to Selara; once I'm there I'll figure out a way to escape. Besides, this way you and the boy are in less danger." Etrius explained. Thom lowered the tool, contemplating Etrius' plan.

"That is the worst idea I've ever heard! Are you mental? You won't last a week in a cell; and you have no experience with escapes. You made that perfectly clear back with the slavers!" Aurora yelled at him. "Give me that!" She shoved Thom aside and took the hammer.

"Wait." Thom interrupted catching her hand as she began to bring the weapon down. "He has a p-point."

"You too?!" She screamed in frustration.

"Consider it Aurora; he needs to get to Selara as q-quickly as possible, this could be his chance. He won't have to t-t-travel in disguise or hide in back alleys." Thom began.

"No he'll be tied up in a cage instead; and what about when he gets there, what then?" She demanded.

"We'll follow behind the wagons... Far behind and when we reach S-Selara we'll either help him escape ourselves; or hire someone to do it f-for us." Thom argued. Aurora glared from man to man; they had a point but it was a stupid plan; and a dangerous one at that. If they didn't manage to free Etrius by the time he was tried they would all be dead.

"Fine!" She exclaimed tossing down the hammer. "But if he dies, it's all on you!" She said shoving a finger in his face before storming off, rain bouncing off her every curve. Sori followed without a word; still clinging to his negative emotions. Thom stood next to the pinned Etrius, watching the woman walk away.

"Thank you." Etrius sighed.

"Don't thank me; if you get yourself killed that's just one less person I have to worry about." He said a bit annoyed at how upset Etrius had made Aurora. He picked up the hammer and jumped from the platform, landing in the soupy mud. "Just... Don't get killed; you've already done enough to Aurora, if you die it will probably kill her as well." He called over his shoulder before heading after the two.

The rain slowly came to a halt a few hours later; leaving Etrius soaked throughout the chilly night. By morning the guards had returned to find that Aurora had escaped. They spent an hour teasing Etrius about his lover running off and leaving him to die, while a number of other soldiers searched the city for her; but Etrius paid no mind, she was safe and that was all that mattered.

It was a little after midday when the wagon came, filled with soldiers, to haul him away to the major city. The man who had taken post next to him earlier that morning opened the lock that kept Etrius at bay, and threw back the stock; giving Etrius a chance to stand. His back screamed in agony as he straightened, his legs shook uncontrollably. It took every ounce of his strength to stay standing as they shoved him forward. He stepped into the wagon, clinging to the side for support. The large group of men pulled him to the front and forced him into a sitting position before binding his hands. They set off not soon after; making their way north west as the horses kicked up clods of mud as the pranced forward.

Aurora crouched behind the corner of a small leather working mill watching the men load their prisoner into the cart. Thom had left to gather supplies while Sori tended to the horses. She shifted from one mud caked foot to the other; nervously counting the soldiers. Eight men surrounded Etrius; four on each side. Two more sat at the front of the wagon urging the horses on. Ten in all; she could take ten men, if she needed to. She had taken on more than that before; and came out victorious. But these men were soldier, in armor and well equipped with a long sword and dagger for each of them. She sighed, if things went wrong on his way to the big city there was no way of telling if she could do anything about it. There was a very high possibility that Etrius wouldn't live through the trip, much less the trial. She continued to watch as the men made their way through the square and down the road that led out of town.

She sank down to the ground, allowing more mud to attach itself to her trousers. She was exhausted; she had been up for over twenty-four hours and had slept terribly the night before. She rested her chin in her hands as she leaned forward allowing her knees to take the blunt of her weight. She would have to wait until the men ahead of her stopped for the night before she could get any rest.

It would take two days to reach Selara. Two days seemed like nothing compared to some of her travels; but anything could happen in just two days. What if she just stormed into their camp slaughtered them in their sleep and dragged Etrius away kicking and screaming. She smiled at the thought. She took what she wanted after all and right now she wanted his safety. She leaned back in defeat; even if she could do that Etrius would hate her for it. He was so intent on going to Selara to find his past, but what if it wasn't what he expected? What would he do then?

Sori appeared around the corner, glancing about to make sure no one saw him before slipping in next to her without a word. Everything was almost in order for their departure; she just had to wait for Thom to get back with the supplies. Thom.... Etrius' words about his feelings for her rang in her ears. She had been quite sure he was only saying things to get her to change her point of view at the time, but now that she had had time to think about it she had begun to notice small signs here and there that supported his claims. She still had her doubts though; a man like him could never have such feelings for her. He did seem to genuinely want to protect her; the thought made her smile. He was such a sweet man but he was no warrior. Still, he was funny and fairly handsome; he wasn't egotistic and moronic like Etrius, which were very good traits. He was not a suitable mate for a barbarian; that was certain. She nodded, trying to derail her train of thought.

"What's taking him so long?" Aurora demanded, climbing back on her feet. Sori shrugged his response as he began building some sort of structure from the mud. She watched as he matted the wet dirt and molded it to his standards. She had learned, that night, that his people were known to create and control storms and typical weather, and that he was one of the talented individuals that could hone his power. Though Thom had instructed her not to test him: 'He has not been trained for this kind of spell casting and is extremely dangerous if he exerts himself," Of course he had said it with that ridiculous stutter of his. She continued to watch the boy, as her mind wondered. There were countless possibilities that his power could open for her; and if it was so dangerous why had Thom allowed him to use his power to save her? Again her mind wondered to Etrius words and still left the question in her mind; did Thom truly have feelings for her?

Sori stood, dusting his hands on his filthy pants. He looked over his work before smiling and nodding in satisfaction. He had constructed a very realistic mirror image of Thom's shop. She chuckled at the talented child; he was older than he acted, she was certain of that, but she was glad of it. Having his childish mannerisms around made her feel less stressed, and reminded her to enjoy the little things that she brushed off so often; like mud shops in the sand.

Sand! The thought hit her like a ton of bricks; she had met Sori in a sandstorm, when he was distraught by the slaughter of his family. Thom had said that the boy's power seemed to be triggered by emotional distress. If that were true then was it possible that Sori had created that storm? She eyed him as he shoved his mud stained hands in his pockets and whistled softly to himself. It took everything she had not to ask him, the only thing that seemed to hold her back was the possibility that the question would bring back the painful memory of that night's occurrences. She stared through him deep in thought until he began to fidget under the weight of her gaze.

"Will you stop that; you're creeping me out?" He whined, rolling his shoulders. She smiled in amusement before turning her gaze back toward the road. Thom was headed toward them, with his small backpack, while humming an unfamiliar tune under his breath nonchalantly. What was it with males and music? She wondered to herself. Thom glanced around seemingly casual as he surveyed the area before turning the corner.

"What have you got for me?" She asked as he pulled his pack from his shoulder. She had learned the night before of the bag's common appearance was just a front. He closed his eyes as he reached in the seemingly endless void that was contained inside of its flaps. He pulled out a large rag of a dress and a small container of talc powder and presented them to her. "What is this; a tent and face powder? We're not going to start a circus Thom. Be serious."

"I a-am being serious." He replied. "P-put them on I'll s-show you." She sighed, but did what he asked; pulling the large dress over her tunic and trousers. It bagged on her in almost every curve making her look absolutely ridiculous, she was sure. "Sori, fetch as much hay as you can from the stables." Thom ordered, sending the boy away with a nod. "L-lean your head d-down." He instructed turning his attention back to Aurora. She gave him an inquisitive look but did as she was told; allowing her hair to fall forward, hanging in her face. He opened the jar of talc powder and began sprinkling it into her dark locks, turning most of them a shade of gray. Finally, she began to realize his plan; he was to dress her as an old hag so she would have no trouble traveling in public. She smiled at his cleverness; sneaking from house to house and bush to bush would have slowed them down immensely. This way, she could ride alongside her two companions without having to worry about being seen. It was actually pretty ingenious, when she thought about it.

It took about fifteen minutes for Thom to finish coloring her hair; when he was finished he pulled her hood over her face, allowing the loose strands of her now graying hair to dangle through the opening for anyone to see.

"I-I b-brought you something else as well." He announced a red tint coloring his cheeks. Again, Etrius voice telling her of Thom's infatuation rang in her ears; she waved it off as rubbish before the thought could take root.

"Oh?" She cocked an eyebrow, interested in the new surprise. Thom smiled as he began digging into his pack once more.

"N-now I w-wasn't sure which y-you preferred so I got t-this one, to begin w-with at least." He slowly lifted his hand out of the bag, bringing with it a beautifully engraved handle attacked to the sharp blade of a long sword. She gasped in surprise. She took the blade swinging it slowly, testing it. The blade was stunningly made by a masterwork craftsman.

"Oh Thom, this must have cost you a fortune..." She whispered in awe.

"Actually," He chuckled softly "Not at a-all; I discovered it on one of my trips to the w-wastelands in the Northern plains of Calvary. I've had it for y-years, but never had a use for it until now." He smiled at her cheeks turning another shade of red. "It has some magical p-properties; it'll never dull or break, s-so you'll never need to worry about its s-strength or stop to t-tend to it." He rushed out. It was a glorious gift, for anyone; but could she accept something so valuable?

"Thom... I can't accept this." She mumbled.

"Oh, n-no I insist, please. I-if you want you c-can't return it to me a-after all this is over. For now you'll n-need something t-to protect yourself w-with." He explained, the words rushing out of his mouth so quickly Aurora had to pay close attention to catch everything. Sori returned with a large bale of hay before she had a chance to argue. Thom handed her the sheath from his bag before helping the boy with the heavy square. With a sigh she sheathed the weapon and strapped it to her side, underneath the many layers of dress. She felt a little ashamed excepting the gift but he was right; she was only as good as her weapon, and she may end up needing it.

The weight of the steel at her side was very familiar to her; she had carried both a long and short sword with her everywhere. That is, before they were taken away by the slavers. She sighed at her lose; her recent blades were the best she had had yet. She ran her hand along the covered hilt, that is to say they were before this one. A blade that will never dull; it would be fun to test that theory.

"Here we are." Thom said dropping the bale at her feet. "S-start stuffing."

"Excuse me?" She asked staring up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"S-stuff the hay into y-your d-dress; the soldiers will be looking for a f-fit dark haired w-woman, not an overweight old h-hag." He explained. She sighed; she was getting tired of him having very good points.

The next half an hour was spent stuffing hay down Aurora's blouse, while Sori and Thom stood watch. Eventually, after she had finished, it was time to head out.

Sori brought the horses around offering his hand to Aurora to help her up to the saddle. At first she waved him off a bit insulted by the chivalrous gesture; she didn't need help just because she was a woman. Though she quickly learned that having a very large belly was a cause to ask for help; which she did, a bit bitterly, accepting his hand. With a mumble of thanks she settled into place. Sori and Thom both climbed onto their mounts with ease and soon they were off.

The convoy of soldiers now had about an hour of a head start in front of them. The distance would ensure that the small group of travelers wouldn't be seen, and the tracks from the wagon would still be fresh enough to follow. Thom took the lead, allowing hooded Sori to follow closely behind him and giving Aurora plenty of room to take up the rear. She would have normally argued at the order in which the rode but if she were to play the part of her disguise she would have to learn to be a subdued gentle woman. The thought made her snicker; her, subdued? Or better yet; a gentle woman? The names from anyone else's mouth would have been an insult; one punishable by her fist down their throats. But, the thought from her just seemed more humorous than anything.

They rode steadily through town without any of the villagers giving them a second glance. So far things were going well; that is, until they reached the gates. Two large soldiers stood before the closed door, shields in hand. One raised their hand, stopping the parade of horses.

"Pardon, but a prisoner escaped last night and our orders are to search every traveler before they leave the city." He called up to Thom. Aurora's heart pounded, if they only looked under her hood they'd see through her disguise and all three of them would be arrested.

"So I had heard. Have you had any news of her yet?" Thom asked his voice steady and calm. Aurora kicked herself for her panicked reaction. If a simple shop keep can stay calm at the face of imprisonment why couldn't she?

"Not yet, but there is a rumor that she is being helped by someone in the village so we can't rule anyone out." The soldier explained firmly.

"Of course, of course." Thom replied. The guard reached for his reins with an open palm. Thom placed them in the man's hand without argument.

"Name your companions." The soldier ordered.

"The young man is a Huakab I bought from the traveling slavers that came through here last week," He nodded toward Sori before leaning down to whisper to the man. Aurora watched as the boy stiffened gripping his reins tightly. "Stupid lot those Huakab's but he's a fine worker." The man nodded in acknowledgement.

"You there, old woman; what is your name?" The second soldier called. Aurora froze; her voice would give her away for sure. She paused, panicking, not knowing what to do. "I asked you a question!" The man spoke, his voice becoming louder and more firm. He took a few steps forward his hand on the hilt of his sword threateningly.

"She's mute, my good man." Thom glanced from her to the advancing male. "Poor thing; had her tongue removed by her second husband for speaking out of term, looks like I'll never have that problem with her." Thom called; the men's laughs sounded loudly bouncing off the stone of the houses around them. "She is my wash woman and cook; she takes care of my everyday needs and tends to the boy as well. I really don't have any other use for her; her singing voice is horrific." He laughed, winning another few chuckles from the two men.

"Very well," The first said as the second receded back to his post. "Open the gate!" He called up to the watchmen. "You may pass, just be wary there are bandits around these parts."

"We will; thank you and keep up the good work." Thom said as the pasted the men and made their way through the gate. Aurora waited until they were well out of sight before she relaxed with an audible sigh. She watched as Sori did the same; even Thom seemed a bit more at ease. That had been entirely too close for comfort.

"Thom..." Sori called softly after a few moments.

"Is something wrong?" The man asked in return.

"Did you mean what you said back there? About the Huakab being stupid?" Sori looked a bit bashful but seemed to muster his courage at the last moment. Thom had a dumbfounded look on his face. Suddenly, he burst into laughter causing both Aurora and Sori to start.

"Of course not!" He managed between breaths. "I told them what they wanted to hear; the villagers hate your people, therefore they enjoy insulting them. I meant nothing by it; I'm sorry if I managed to offend you." Sori hung his head embarrassed for asking. Thom looked back at Aurora for guidance; she shrugged not knowing how to proceed. "I found the Huakab to be a respectable and intelligent race; in fact their one of the most intriguing races I've ever come across." Thom praised. The boy said nothing; but the way he lifted his head and sat up straight with pride spoke for itself.

They traveled throughout the day, only taking breaks where the convoy had stopped and never for longer than an hour. Aurora had become irritable early in the day. The lack of sleep affecting her judgment; along with the sweating heat that made the hay stick to her skin making her itch like crazy. By the time night fell, she was more than ready to call it a day. Only about half an hour after dark Thom called the order to make camp. Aurora had no problem with an order for once; instead she was the first to jump from her horse. He followed her lead and soon after came Sori, who rounded up the horses and tied their reigns to a low hanging tree branch.

The landscape had slow been changing hour by hour as they moved forward. The scorching sand of the desert was slowly become more and more vegetated. She smiled up at the surrounded trees that had kept the ground cool and provided a breezy atmosphere to chase away the heat of the day.

Thom and Aurora watched as Sori attempted to unsaddle the horse; discovering he was a bit too short to complete the task on his own. The two helped unload the mounts as the night seemed to become ever darker. After they had completed relieving the horses, Thom began to dig in his pack; mumbling to himself while Sori feed the steeds. Aurora watched as the shop keep produced a single one man tent and began to set it up.

"Um... Thom?" She interrupted catching his attention. He looked up from his work with both eyebrows raised waiting for her to continue. "I'm not exactly a math genius but by my count; there three of us and one of those. Unless you expect us to stack ourselves like planks; I'm fairly certain we won't all fit in that tent." She said pointing to the shelter.

"Y-yes, well;" He began as he attempted to straighten the leaning structure. "Y-you are the only one w-who needs p-privacy. We c-can't afford y-you being seen by anyone that passes b-by. That is unless you e-e-expect to sleep in that outfit." He stood slowly surveying his work. The pathetic excuse for a shelter was barely standing. Aurora laughed at his attempted. He was right; she wouldn't be able to sleep in this uncomfortable thing.

"You're not accustom to traveling are you?" She chuckled, watching him turn red from the teasing. She straightened the support poles, forcing them deeper into the ground, before setting the canvas. She gave her work a once over and nodded in satisfaction. "There we go." She said with a wink toward the shop keep. She turned to gather up her saddle, when Sori entered the camp site carrying a large pile of wood.

"I thought we could use a nice fire." He explained as he spotted her eyeing him. She smiled at his innocence; she truly did care for the child.

"Good idea little man, but I think I'll turn in; I need some sleep." She replied dragging her saddle back to the tent. "With all the fun we had last night I think I've deserved it. Good night." She sent a wink the boy's way as well before ducking into the tiny structure.

"Good night." Thom and Sori replied at the same time. Thom chuckled as he took half the pile from Sori and began to build a small teepee with them. Sori dropped the rest a few feet away and drug both of their saddle bags toward the soon-to-be fire. After he finished setting up the sticks he leaned closer toward the boy, drawing his attention.

"Would you like to know a secret?" He whispered with a smile. Sori leaned forward expectantly a nodded with a similar grin. "Ok, but you can't tell anyone; not even Aurora. It'll stay just between us right?"

"Right." The boy replied anxiously, ready to hear the man's secret. Thom shifted his weight to his knees, and shook out his arms as if his nonexistent sleeves were in his way.

"Are you ready?" He asked. Sori nodded excitedly like a child about to be given a new toy. "Now watch closely or you'll miss it." Thom whispered. He held his right arm outstretched as Sori followed his movement. The shop keep gave one quick SNAP of his fingers. The small pile of wood burst in to flames; shooting at least a foot and a half into the air, with a mild roar, before simmering down to a normal lever. Sori gasped and clapped loudly before Thom had to remind him of Aurora trying to sleep only a few feet off.

"How did you do that?" The boy asked excitement still evident in his voice.

"You aren't the only one capable of controlling the elements around you." He winked with a broad grin.

"So you're a spell caster too?!"

"Well... yes." Thom answered reluctantly; once the questions began he was sure they wouldn't end for some time.

"But why keep it a secret?" Sori asked.

"It has caused me nothing but trouble; I use it only when I need to or when it's something trivial and small." He answered nodding toward the fire.

"But, if you're a spell caster you can teach me to use my abilities, right?!" The boy's voice became excited once more. Thom's heart sank; he hadn't considered the possibility that the boy would think of that.

"Sori.... I'm sorry... I can't."

"Why not?!" He demanded.

"Well, because, you see; I am a wizard, and a wizard learns their spells from written words, without them we can't really function." Thom began, becoming a bit upset over the boy's distress on the subject.

"Which is why you carry around so many books." Sori interrupted feeling accomplished as he connected the dots.

"Precisely," Thom smiled. "But not all casters learn their spells from books. Take Etrius for example;" Sori's face dropped at the mention of the man's name. Thom regretted his words just as quickly as he spoke them; but there was no use stopping mid-sentence. "He's another type of spell caster called a cleric. Now each cleric has a specific god they pray too and because they pray to them everyday their god grants them certain spells; which is how clerics get them." He explained.

"So..." Sori's gaze became calculating as he stared into the flames. "I can either study books or pray to a god to learn how to control my power?" He stared up at Thom with a silly grin causing Thom's throat to tighten.

"I-it's not that simple my boy," He sighed, realizing that he had made a simple explanation a lot more complicated than it needed to be. "You are a different type of spell caster all together; to be honest I don't know where your spells come from. The only way I know to find out is to ask another Huakab with the same power."

"But, what if there is no other Huakab; what if my tribe was the last?" The boy pleaded as he held back tears. Thom leaned back against his saddle in defeat; he was only digging his grave deeper.

"They are out there Sori; we just have to find them." He said, trying to comfort the boy with a firm pat on the back. "I've read countless tales about Huakab tribes all over the world; we'll find at least one eventually." The boy continued to stare into the flames as Thom spoke. "Why don't you get some sleep, I'll keep the first watch and wake you up later?" He suggested. The young Huakab nodded slowly and lay back resting his head on the hard leather of his saddle.

Soon his soft snoring drifted to Thom's ears letting him known that he was asleep. Thom sat for over an hour staring up at the empty sky pondering his new situation. The thought of his lost shop filled him with sadness as he continued looking upward. He wasn't too attached to the building to be honest, but when you've lived in a place for over a decade you tend to be a bit hesitant to give it up. Why had he given it up? The question had plagued him throughout the day but he knew why. He was tired of living his life through the pages of a book; of not experiencing everything life had to offer; he was tired of being safe at home when the real adventure was out her on the road.

"Hey." Aurora's voice came, startling him from his thoughts. She had discarded the hay filled dress, and now strode toward him in her simple tunic and trousers, gray still coloring her hair. "I couldn't sleep." She whispered softly. All the reasons for his departure left him, all the excuses about real adventure and experiencing what life had to offer disappeared. He was here for her; a woman he barely knew but would follow to the ends of the earth; a woman who never even gave him a second glance.

"W-why not?" He asked kicking himself over his annoying stutter. She sighed and started poking at the fire with a nearby stick.

"Too much going on in my head I guess." Her whisper sounded full of exhaustion

"W-would you like to t-talk about it?" She gazed up at him trying to decide how to answer. She would love to have someone to talk to about her thoughts and problems but many of them had to do with him. She continued to poke and prode at the dancing flames as if she didn't hear him. They sat in the quiet for what seemed like hours, neither brave enough to say what was on their minds.

"S-so..." Thom started, breaking the awkward silence. "T-that... T-thing with Etrius... Are you still just f-friends?" He knew the question would stir up some anger in her but he couldn't help ask when it had been plaguing his mind since the day before.

Aurora surprised herself as she stayed calm through the question. The memory of the kiss frustrated her more than it made her angry. "Yes," She replied. "He's nothing but an egotistical fool; I simply made a mistake; one that will not be repeated." She said with a firm nod. Her gazed lifted to the man before her; his hair was a mess atop his head and his chin began to grow matching stubble the sandy brown really set off the color of his eyes, which almost seemed to glow in the dim light. His face softened a bit as if relieved. Etrius' words were true; she knew he wasn't lying but she didn't want to believe it.

"I s-see." He sighed turning his gaze back to the flames. He was adorable when he stuttered, his cheeks reddening almost every time. He was very handsome, and intelligent; she told herself still studying his strong features; he could provide well for a family both physically and mentally. He would make a great husband one day... to anyone besides a barbarian. She glanced away from the forbidden fruit, a little ashamed at her thoughts.

"Thom..." She began. He looked up at her expectantly with a raised eyebrow. "Do you..." She paused not really knowing how to ask the question. "That is to say; is it true that you..." She felt her face heat as she wimbled away.

"Y-your beginning to sound like m-me," Thom laughed, his voice seeming a bit too loud for the whispers of their conversations. "W-what is it Aurora?"

"Well..." She shifted nervously beneath his gaze. Her courage wavered; the only way she was going to be able to ask him was if she just came out and said it, and she was no coward. "Etrius said some interesting things yesterday, and I'm curious to hear if they are true." She whispered; still unable to get to the point.

"Oh?" Thom's eyebrow raised in surprise. "W-well I'll do my best to answer y-your questions honestly." His smile was innocent and sweet as he stared over at her.

"Is it true... that you are infatuated with me?" She blurted quickly before she lost her nerve. She was becoming annoyed very quickly; she could face a whole army by herself without even a second thought, but when it came to something emotional she was always terrified. She wasn't sure if it was being hurt that she was most scared of or hurting someone else.

Thom was taken aback for only a moment; the bluntness of her question caught him off guard. But then again Aurora had a way with bluntness. His smile disappeared as he pondered how to answer her question. He should have known Etrius would tell her of his infatuation; he was actually fairly surprised she hadn't already known. The question now was whether or not she wanted the truth or simply wanted to her suspicions to be proven wrong. He sighed; if he didn't answer soon, she would just assume the correct answer.

"W-well to be honest..." His heart pounded painfully reminding him just how embarrassed he was. "I don't k-know how to answer that." He stuttered truthfully. She stared at him expectantly; he shifted under the weight uneasily.

"How do you not know; you either are or you are not? It's a fairly simple question." She argued. He could tell she did not care for that answer; the annoyance in her voice was clear.

"W-what do you w-want from me Aurora? I'm doing the best I c-can. Yes I have feelings for you; a woman I don't even really know. A woman that I have no chance with; a woman that is clearly obsessed with another man; and to top it all off she is a barbarian woman, who can't simple take any man. A man has earned a title in war and death just to get her to give him a second glance; and even then he has to be muscular and good with a blade before she will consider him as a mate. What does it matter if I do or not; either way I'm nothing to you?" Thom's anger surprised her as he began to rise half way through his speech. He must have become very upset; so much so that he hadn't realized he lost his stutter. His whisper slowly turned into a yell as he finished, tossing down the twig she hadn't seen him pick up and storming from the camp.

Sori shifted in his sleep but didn't wake as Thom drifted into the darkness. She hung her head in defeat as she watched him go. She hadn't meant to upset him, didn't even realize she would. She sighed, her fears were confirmed; Thom had feelings for her. She gazed off into the night where he had disappeared, a bit confused. The dread that she expected never came, instead she had a sense of giddiness that she was unfamiliar with. She chalked it up to lack of sleep and stress as she turned back toward the fire.

She felt guilty at Thom's image of himself; she hadn't meant to make him feel as if he was unworthy, but he had a very valid point. The man was not a good suitor for a woman like her. Did he really think he meant nothing to her; and would she go as far as saying she was obsessed with Etrius? The answer to both questions was clearly no. Thom had become a good friend over the past few days; in fact she had told him a few things that she typically didn't share with strangers. He made her laugh constantly and just the thought of him made her smile. He had come to mean a lot to her though she could live without his company if she chose to; the fact was that she didn't. The question now was; could she return his love or would she have to force him to be miserable?

The question caught her off guard, even though she had been the one to ask it. She wasn't forcing him to do anything; he had come along on his own free will. He had accepted them into his home knowing that Etrius was a wanted man. Etrius' name turned her thoughts to a complete three hundred and sixty degrees.

Did she love Etrius? He was handsome and very strong; clearly he had some experience with death and violence; how else would he have gotten his name so badly tarnished and the bounty on his head? She was fairly certain he would make a good suitor, one that her tribe would have approved of. But, did she love him? The question still remained. To be honest, she had never fallen in love with someone before; so how was it she was supposed to compare her feelings for him to that of love.

It was true that her heart seemed to skip a beat when he was near; that he was handsome and charming. She was fairly certain that once he could recall his fighting skills that he'd be a force to reckon with. All in all, she would willingly welcome him into her bed if he chose it. Without having anything to compare it to, she could call this love or simply infatuation. She shrugged moving to lean back against Thom's saddle; it didn't really matter Etrius was in love with the dead girl of his past and she couldn't stand against her. Etrius would never love her.

The thought made her heart sink to the bottom of her stomach. The pain was horrible, she found herself thinking she would much rather take a blade to the abdomen then live with the pain forever. Shock hit her as she realized what it meant; her question was answered she was in love with Etrius. Thom couldn't really compare to him.

Pity filled her as she thought of the shop keep. How was she supposed to let him down? Then again, he seemed to have already let himself down. She sighed a bit defeated; she had never been in a situation like this. She had had men of course, ones that she thought would make a good prize, had her way with them and then sent them on their way but she had never had feelings for any of them, never even let them get close. Thom was closer to her than even Etrius and yet he still shadowed in comparison, would he still travel with them after she refused him; or would he turn back without a second glace? She slowly drifted into a restless sleep as she continued debating with herself.
Chapter 10

When morning came Aurora found herself still in a state of exhaustion; she may have slept through the night but it wasn't enough to feel rested. She sat up stretching her sore muscles; Sori was already up and about tending to the horses while Thom was still nowhere to be seen. She glanced around making sure she hadn't just over looked him. When he didn't appear worry began to swell in her chest. She climbed to her feet and headed over towards Sori.

"Have you seen Thom yet this morning?" She asked helping him with one of the feed bags. The boy allowed her to grab ahold of one side of the bag while he pulled the other; stretching it and allowing the horse to dip his large mussel in for a full bite.

"Yea, he came in earlier this morning and handed me the bags of feed; then left again." He shrugged. "Did something happen last night?"

"I may have upset him a little bit." She replied with a sigh as she surveyed the surrounding brush.

"Seems to me like it's more than just a little."

"You know, you shouldn't talk about people when they're not around." Thom's voice came from behind them making them both jump in surprise. The look on his face was serious while bags sat beneath his eyes as an example of how exhausted he must be. Aurora went to say some, anything really, but nothing came to mind. Thom didn't even give her a second glance as he brushed past them both and grabbed his saddle from the ground.

"Definitely more than a little." Sori whispered to her. She watched as the man began saddling his horse, as she did so she noticed that the tent had been taken down and her horse was already saddled. Aurora moved to Thom's side wanting to say something, anything, to make him feel better.

"Thom..." She started but paused not knowing how to proceed.

"Go get dressed." He ordered without a glance toward her or even a stutter. The thought knocked the breath from her lungs. He spoke to her without a stutter; the only time that had every happened was when he was too angry or excited to realize he was talking to a woman. Had she upset him so badly that just being around him made him so angry he didn't stutter; or was it that he no longer viewed her as a woman? With a sigh she skirted away and began to pull her dress over her head, stuffing the loose hay back into place and strapping the sword Thom had given her to her trousers underneath. Would he want it back now that she knew how he felt? The whole process took only about ten minutes and she was just about ready. Sori walked up with the small container of talc just as she finished.

"He sent me to help color your hair." He stated holding out the jar. Aurora looked up at the shop keep. His back was turned as he was tying his pack to the horse's side and checking the straps. Was he really so angry that he wouldn't do something as meaningless as color her hair. She turned her gaze back to the boy with a simple nod and leaned forward allowing him to work his magic. Soon, everything was in order; Thom had already mounted and was waiting for them at the trail, while Sori helped Aurora into her seat. "Don't worry Aurora," He called up to her with a gentle smile. "Whatever it is, he'll get over it." The words were meant to comfort but they seemed only to rub salt into her wounds; it was very plausible that he never would. Thing might not ever return to normal.

The day went on as they made their way forward; Thom at the front of the group with his head held high, followed by Sori and Aurora. Thom didn't speak a word for the rest of the journey, or even glance at either her or Sori. Even when they spotted the city just before nightfall Thom gave no reaction.

Etrius shifted in the wagon as they passed through the massive gates of Selara. The stone walls stood about twenty feet tall and about six feet thick with soldiers marching to and fro above them. The people crowded around the cart as they continued forward; causing many of Etrius' guards to jump from it to push them aside. Everything hurt; the rocky road they followed had jostled him throughout the two days; and the only time they allowed him to stand or move about was when they stopped for the night or allowed him to relieve himself. He could no longer feel his lower half and his back would scream every time he tried to straighten; he was beginning to look forward to being locked in a cell.

The city of Selara was massive; even the houses and shops seemed to be oversized. The population seemed to match its appearance as the guards began to call out Etrius' name announcing his capture. The wagon weaved through the streets for what seemed like ages before they stopped in front of a stone building in the center of the city's square.

One of the soldiers dragged him from the cart and pushed him forward. With numb legs Etrius couldn't support the change and fell face first into the dust. Another dragged him up by the arm and held him steady, while keeping a fair distance; allowing the crowd to see the soldier dragging his prisoner along instead of helping him. Etrius' didn't mind though he was just thankful to be out of that retched wagon.

Entering the building Etrius couldn't help but survey the room; carving of ancient battles and mythical beings wrapped around each of the five pillars they pass; the opposite pillars had similar carving that he couldn't make out from the distance. Two double doors greeted them at the end of the hall, along with a pair of city soldiers to match.

"We are here to see the chairman and collect the bounty for the capture of Etrius Kummel the murderer." The man who had a hold of his arm announced in a booming voice. The soldiers nodded and pushed open the doors slowly; the thickness of the wood must have made them very heavy because the two men struggled a bit to push them open. The room before them was furnished with well carved benches and a massive desk, which a single elderly man sat behind scribbling on some paper. The guards pushed Etrius forward into the room and up to the desk. They waited in silence as the man continued to fill the page with his writing. After a few long moments he sat down his pen and looked up.

"What is it?" He asked his voice sounding a bit annoyed. He eyed the small group in front of him warily.

"We have captured the murderer Etrius Kummel, and have come to collect the reward." The man gripping Etrius' arm repeated. The old man stood, still eyeing them, and walked around his desk. He strode forward, face to face with Etrius, and griped him by the chin; turning his head this way and that inspecting his features.

"Very well," He said flatly letting go. "Leave him here and report to my accountant in the room to your left as you exit here; he'll see to it you get your gold." The man turned back toward his desk and sat back in his chair.

"Thank you chairman." The guard replied with a bow. With a wave of the chairman's hand the men turned and exited, off to collect their reward.

"Erik!" The old man called loudly, making Etrius jump. A large man, about the same build as he, entered the room and strode forward toward the prisoner. He was bald and wore a simple chain mail shirt over a pair of studded leather trousers; all in all he was fairly intimidating. "Take the prisoner to be washed and then lock him one of the cells in the lower dungeons; and see to it that he is presentable before his trial tomorrow." The chairman ordered not looking up from his writing. Erik grunted in response and took Etrius' arm leading him firmly toward a large door to their right.

The made their way through a number of identical doors turning here and there, causing Etrius to lose his sense of direction. They stopped in a room with no furnishing just the simple bare stone of the walls. Six buckets of water lined one wall while on another sat a bench with a bar of soap and a folded pair of clothes.

"Strip." Erik's rough voice came. Etrius shifted uncomfortably. "I said strip," He said with more force cutting away the ropes from Etrius' hands shoving him forward. "Before I am forced to cut your clothes from you." Etrius stumbled forward, legs still shaky, before doing as he was told. He felt a little awkward as the man stood watching his every movement. Etrius cupped himself as the man's gaze drifted from his head to his feet. Erik picked up a bucket from the floor and tossed the water onto Etrius' naked body. The air rushed out of him as the icy liquid splashed against his skin. Erik strode forward with the second bucket and poured it on Etrius' head causing him to shiver.

"Wash." He ordered pointing to the bar of soap on the bench. Etrius didn't want to find out what would happen if he argued, so he did as he was instructed; heading over to the bench and picking up the bar of soap. He turned away from Erik, unable to rub himself down while the man watched his every movement. The soap must have been made from some odd substance because it left a burning train along his skin as he scrubbed it on. Before Etrius even had a chance to place the bar back in its original place Erik tossed another freezing bucket of water against Etrius' back, knocking the breath from him once more. The next bucket was aimed at his chest; this time Etrius managed to contain himself as the liquid struck his body. The fifth and sixth were dumped on his head as he tried to keep from shivering. Erik shoved the folded clothes into his hands and waited for him to dress before he took hold of his arm once more.

He led them through a few more doors and the down stairway after stairway after stairway. Eventually they made it to the lower dungeons; the smell of urine and feces filled the air making Etrius want to gag. Most of the cells they past were empty, save a few rats. Though the occasional one would have the dark outline of a man either hunched in a corner or lounging about in the filthy hay. Erik stopped him at the second to last cell and shoved him inside slamming the door behind him and locking him inside.

"Food once a day; you will have another bath tomorrow before your trial." He spat out before turning and walking away without another word. Etrius sank to the ground, leaning against the bars. His prison was nothing but a stone square with a small pile of hay for a bed. He sighed; this is what he had asked for he couldn't lose his nerve now. He brought his knees up to his chest as he shivered from the drafts that made him realize just how damp his clothes were. He could only hope that Aurora and Thom could figure out how to get him out of here; or even find him, for that matter. Etrius sat shivering in silence as he waited for a plan to come to him.

"What will we do when we get there?" Aurora asked leaning closer to Thom, eyeing the city walls. They were only little ways off but the walls seemed to tower over them. She had forced her way to the front of their little parade to try and get Thom to loosen up a bit. He rode next to her staring ahead almost unblinking.

"We won't be able to do anything until nightfall, so I suggest we head to the church of Beruth. We may be able to find something about his past there." He replied not even glancing at her. She reined her horse closer to his with a glance back at Sori. The boy was a few paces back eyeing them curiously.

"Thom... You can't keep acting like this... You're making Sori worry." She whispered unwilling to admit just how worried she was. For a moment he didn't respond but suddenly with a soft sigh he looked down at her.

"The boy is fine A-aurora," He said stuttering her name. She couldn't help but smile; just the sound of his adorable stutter made her feel at ease. "And you have nothing to worry about either; last night was my doing. I understand your position and I am simply removing myself from it; once we find Etrius and help him get his memory back, I will be on my way and you won't have to worry about anything." He kicked his horse's flanks lightly allowing it to pick up its pace just a little.

Aurora reined in her horse waiting for Sori to catch up. Thom's words had cut deep. At first she had been relieved that his stutter had returned but it had disappeared far too quickly. Would he really leave after everything was said and done? The tone in his voice had left no doubt, but still the thought of not being able to see him though out the day was one of the most depressing things she had ever considered.

"What was all that?" Sori asked as he pulled alongside of her. She watched as Thom continued on as the two followed a good ways behind.

"He was just explaining a few things to me." She sighed turning her attention to him.

Sori could tell by Aurora's expression that it was much more than just a simple explanation. Something Thom had said had made her very upset. They made their way through the gates as Sori sat pondering the group's foul mood. Something happened last night, that neither she nor Thom wanted to discuss. Whatever it was had caused this change in Thom which made Aurora sad and Sori didn't like it.

It took a few hours to make their way through the crowds of Selara and find that the church was located on the outskirts of the market district. When they finally made it to the large cathedral the sun was setting. The tied their horses to one of the posts next to the large stairs before heading up.

The inside of the building seemed much larger than it looked; the ceiling rose a good ten feet before turning into a semicircle of glass that allowed the dying light to seep in. Benches sat in rows in front of an elegant pew with the same symbol as Etrius' scar etched into the dark wood. A man in rough hide clothing stood behind it reading the book that lay open in front of him. Half way down the aisle Thom cleared his throat causing the man to look up. He smiled at the site of the wary travelers.

"Welcome, welcome my children." He said stepping down from his place with open arms. "How may I assist you this evening; perhaps a confessional?" He asked eagerly. He was an elderly man, possibly in his mid-sixties with graying hair but a kind face.

"No, I'm sorry sir; but we're only here for information." Thom answered, his shoulders squared. The old man's shoulder's sagged a bit but he never lost his smile.

"Oh, very well then; what exactly are you looking for?"

"I'm sure you've heard of the murderer that was just brought into the city; Etrius kummel?" Thom answered. The man's eye brow raised in interest as Thom finished speaking.

"Yes, but what does he have to do with the church of Beruth?" The man asked as he ushered them forward toward the pew, following at their side.

"Well..." Thom began as the man directed them to the right. "You see... we recently came into contact with him and made an interesting discovery, which led us to the church." The man opened the door for them allowing them through to a second room; this one filled with desks that had papers stacked upon them.

"I see, go on." The man urged as they walked.

"Well, you see, I am a scholar of sorts and have found his story to be quite interesting." They passed through another door that led into a large library; larger even than the service room. The old man stopped them in the middle where a large circular desk sat. "I have been writing a book on his 'happenings' and wish to tie up all the loose ends; including the scar on his chest, which is why we came here."

"Scar, you say?" The men asked a bit surprised. Thom nodded in response. "You mean that of Saint Beruth's symbol? But we are a church of clerics, surly it was not one of our amulets?"

"I can assure you sir that it is." Thom replied. The man's expression became a bit worried as he climbed into the middle of the desk and began rummaging through papers that lay upon the surface of the wood.

"Well, in any case, a cleric of Beruth was not the one to scar him so." He said as he pulled out more bundles of paper from beneath the leveled surface.

"Oh?" Thom asked a bit surprised. The man nodded, focusing on his search.

"Yes, you see, about a decade ago clerics stopped the practice of branding those who dishonored their gods; instead we adopted the practice of banishment or imprisonment." The man said flatly.

"That's a bit cruel, don't you think?" Aurora asked. The man looked up at the new speaker with a confused look on his face; as if it were a silly question.

"Not at all; St. Beruth is the god of retribution after all." He shifted through a few more stack before pulling out a large bundle. "Here it is! We may not have been the one to brand him but it possible that the information we have on his actions through the church will help you to discover what he might have done to deserve it." The man said with a smile.

"That's wonderful; thank you!" Aurora burst out, winning a glare from Thom. She settled down as she promised herself not to make another sound until they left the church.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to look upon our records, but there is no rule that says I can't inform you of them." The old man winked. He flipped through a number of pages before speaking again. "It seems that he has done the church a number of great services; in fact..." He began with his brows furrowed in concentration. "It seems odd for a man of this stature to slaughter an entire family." He flipped through a few more pages. "Well, we have no record of a deed that would bring dishonor to the great saint; in all actuality his records seem to just end about a year ago; but, perhaps you can ask his brother."

"Brother?" Thom asked in surprise. Aurora was no less shocked; she had not even considered the fact that a man like him had a family. That he had a brother was an intriguing notion. The Beruthian follower nodded, not looking up from his papers.

"Yes, yes, if these records are correct he has a brother by the name of Vardayus; a paladin of Beruth." He informed them.

"Do you know where he could be found?"

"I'm sorry, our records only contain information about the clerics of the churches in this region; not the paladins. Though, if I were you I'd check his home town, Nevelair; I'm sure you can find someone who knows where he can be found." The man said organizing his papers back the way they were.

"Thank you good cleric." Thom said with a small bow. "You have done us a great service."

"Not at all." He replied as they turned to leave. "Good luck with your book, scholar." He called just before the first door closed behind them.
Chapter 11

Etrius lay upon his hay still contemplating his escape when footsteps sounded down the hall. He sat up staring into the darkness that he had found himself in when one of the guards had doused all the torches what felt like a few hours ago. The sound of metal gently scraping the floor drifted toward him every few seconds. Eventually the footsteps drew closer stopping in front of his cell.

"Etrius?" An unfamiliar voice came. From what he could tell the speaker must be a man perhaps in his early to mid-twenties. The scrapping metal sounded again as something was slid underneath the cell door. "I've come to help you escape; be ready. I'll come for you in an hour's time." The voice came. The man stood and continued on his way.

Etrius crawled forward, using his hands to guide himself as he reached for whatever had been slid beneath the door. The man must have been hired by Aurora and Thom; but how did they find him so quickly, and infiltrate the prison as well. His hand scrapped against something smooth and warm. He investigated tracing it with his fingers. It was a metal tray, with a clump of what smelt like cheese and a slice of bread. He drug it closer and sat pulling it into his lap.

The bread tasted a bit moldy while the cheese was hard and stale. He normally would have discarded them both, but the soldiers hadn't fed him in two days; so he was thankful for what little he had. How long had he been in the cell? Surely it was not as long as it felt; Perhaps an hour maybe two? He finished his meager meal and lay back down trying to pay attention to how long he sat there in the darkness. After a while he gave up; having no way to tell how much time had lapsed.

Finally, after an eternity footsteps sounded once more in the hall. He sat up, listening to them carefully; they were different from the original man's. They seemed a bit heavier and further apart. The image of a large man with a heavy axe came to his mind. He shook his head, ridding himself of the ridiculous thought. Dim light drifted down the hall and into his cell. Etrius scooted closer to the bars, trying to peer down the passageway to get a glimpse of the advancing party.

After a few more footsteps the torch came into view; it's light so out of place and blinding after the darkness of the last few hours. Slowly his eyes become to adjust as he squinted to focus them. Erik stood tall in the cell block as he strode forward holding his torch high. Etrius sighed, backing away from the door; if whoever was going to help him didn't hurry Erik would drag him off somewhere and beat him senseless, probably for no particular reason at all. The large man passed his cell with only a glance at him as he moved on.

"Clear! All accounted for!" Erik called out from the end of the row. Etrius flinched at the explosive sound in such a quiet place. He passed by Etrius' cell once more heading in the opposite direction, footsteps fading as he went. The light slowly disappeared leaving him once again in darkness. The silence didn't return, however; Etrius could hear mumbles at the end of the hall. If he had to guess he would place a good coin that one of the voices was the menacing guard that had just counted his stock of prisoners.

Finally they both quieted and soft footsteps sounded, uneven as if heading up the stairs. The footsteps didn't seem to be heavy enough to be Erik's which meant that the massive soldier was still here. He leaned back against his pile of hay; what did the man from earlier have planned? If he got caught trying to help Etrius escape, he was sure that Erik wouldn't hesitate to cut him down then and there.

The sound of Erik's footfalls sounded once more, growing louder as he walked down the hall; this time with no light. The giant of a man stopped in front of his cell. Etrius' eyes had yet to adjust to the darkness but the presence of the man was just as noteworthy as the sight of him. He held his breath, feeling the man's eye bore into him; though he was quite sure the man couldn't see through the thick darkness.

The sound of keys jingled as Erik shifted through them; finding the one he wanted he unlocked the cell door. It swung open with the loud squeak of its hinges, allowing Erik to stride forward into the small square room.

"Get up." He whispered sternly. Clearly the man's vocabulary only stretched to two word sentences. Etrius began to panic; what would happen if he resisted? Could he take this man on his own, or would he overpower him in the first few seconds? Etrius decided not to test it and stood quickly. Erik gripped his arm and dragged him through the barred door. "Keep quiet." He demanded. Etrius became confused; what did it matter if he was quiet or not?

Erik dragged him down the hall toward the stair; surprising Etrius with just how fluid his motions were in the blinding darkness. Etrius could just make out the outline of the passageway that led up to the floor above; just before they reached it, however Erik veered left. He stopped, pulling at Etrius' arm to allow him to do the same. Erik let loose of him as he took another step forward with his hands extended. A wall of stone greeted them with its solid coolness. Etrius watched in confused silence, making out just the outline of the man before him.

Something gave way before him; and the gentle rumble of stone sliding against stone filled the air. Erik straightened and grabbed ahold of Etrius once more, dragging him forward. He shoved Etrius head down with surprising force, causing him to double over, before shoving him forward. Etrius threw up his hands for protection against the hard stone; but the impact never came. He stumbled forward a bit and tried to straighten, slamming the top of his head into solid stone. He cursed under his breath as he sank to the ground.

"Be quiet!" Erik's harsh whisper came as he forced his massive figure into the small opening. The rumble sounded again as the air stilled around them. Etrius heard Erik scrambling for something, a few short moments later Etrius could see the spark of flint and steel. A torch flared to life between the two men blinding them both only for a second. The space that they were packed into appeared to be a small well carved tunnel. Erik took a small step forward; the man was hunched down low to the ground almost on his hands and knees as he moved, forcing Etrius to scramble backwards.

"Go." Erik whispered, waving the torch forward. Etrius didn't argue; climbing down to his hands and knees he began to crawl forward, the light from the flame behind him dimly lighting his way. The tunnel twisted and turned as he went on crawling for what seemed like hours.

What was going on? Etrius began to wonder as he tried to ignore the pain in his knees and gashes on his palms. Was Erik truly trying to save him, or was this some sick and twisted trick? Either way he had no other choice but to go along. Had Aurora and Thom paid off the soldier? How did they know he would be guarding the prisoners that night? Had he truly been there long enough for the two to dig up so much information? He highly doubted it. Was it possible that someone else was trying to help him? If that were the case, why would they want to? He shook his head dismissing the idea; it had to be Aurora and Thom. The tunnel began to slant downward. Etrius continued crawling forward until he met a dead end.

"Knock." Erik's voice came. Etrius rapped his knuckles against the stone, listening to the sound as it echoed off the hard walls. The two men paused, waiting for something to happen. "Again." Etrius repeated his motions, this time a little harder. They paused before repeating the exchange once more. Slowly the stone slid aside, revealing a dimly lit room filled with dusty scrolls and desks.

A thin man stood next the opening staring down at Etrius; his black hair was long and mess while his face showed that he was no older than twenty-five. He grinned at the sight of Etrius and helped pull him out of the small cavern.

"Etrius!" He called with a hearty pat on his shoulder. "It's about time, I've been looking everywhere for you!" Before Etrius had a chance to respond the young man turned to help Erik out of the tunnel. "What took you so long?" He asked.

"They have the court house under heavier guard now that the chairman has taken up house." Erik replied stretching his sore muscles. He strode to a large table in the center of the room and pulled the heavy chain-link shirt over his head, dropping it with a thud atop the table.

"Oh well, as long as you got here safely." His voice sounded familiar.

"You're the man that brought me the bread." Etrius realized out loud. The young man stared at him with a confused look.

"Yeah..." He said hesitantly. "Are you feeling alright Etrius?" He stared at the rescued man with concern. Etrius' eyebrows furrowed in confusion; he felt fine, why wouldn't he?

"I'm fine." He stated, waving off an upheld hand. "How much did they offer to pay you?" Etrius asked; he had been wondering about the question for some time now. It must have been a number of shiny coins in order to convince one of the guards to assist.

"Excuse me?" He asked, sounding a bit offended. Erik sat upon the table, causing it to groan under his weight, as he watched the exchange with an amused grin.

"I meant no disrespect; I simply wished to know how much I owed the man who hired you, when I leave." Etrius said trying to should as sincere as possible. The man continued to stare at him in a fit of confusion. What had Etrius said that he couldn't understand?

"Have you gone mental?!" He burst out. "We weren't hired by anyone!"

"I-I don't understand. If you weren't hired; then who are you?" Etrius stuttered in confusion. None of this made any sense. Why would anyone but Aurora and Thom what him free?

"You're kidding right?" He asked. Etrius shook his head in response as the man ushered him forward to a discarded chair. Etrius sat down as the man righted his own, which had been tossed on its side in the corner. "It's me Jack." He said pointing to himself as he sat down. Jack; the name sounded familiar but Etrius didn't know it.

"I don't know any Jacks." He said with a shrug. "I'm sorry."

"Ok, you really have gone mental." Jack stated with a sigh. Erik began laughing uncontrollably, his voice booming against the stone walls, apparently finding the whole thing hilarious. "We've been traveling together for years!"

"I'm sorry." Was all Etrius could say. For all he knew the man was telling the truth or this could be some elaborate scheme to get something out of him; but what?

"Oh, come on!" He yelled, stomping his booted foot against the cold floor. "You know me! We've been on countless adventures; me, you and Thoth!" Etrius' breath was knocked out of him at the mention of her name.

"Thoth?!" He gasped.

"I knew you'd remember her!" He yelled excitedly jumping up and down in his seat. "You two were always together!" Etrius couldn't believe what he was hearing. Did this man really know him from his past? Jack smile slowly faded as he watched Etrius contemplating his thoughts. "Do you really not remember?"

"No..." Etrius shook his head, sorrow dripping from his every word. "I can't remember anything from before I woke up only two weeks ago."

"You're serious?" Jack asked stunned. Etrius went to answer but was interrupted. "Of course you are. You're always serious." He teased with a nudged. "I just can't believe it." Neither could Etrius to be honest. It was hard not knowing who you were or what you had before you just suddenly woke up one day not knowing where you were. He felt completely lost constantly the only thing that really pushed him forward was the thought of Thoth.

"What can you tell me about her?" He demanded urgently; he couldn't help the outburst this was the first time he had the chance to discover more about her, more about himself, and more about what happened to her. The thought put a major damper on his mood. The image of her death still stung as it was brought to mind, but he pushed it aside trying to focus on what the man could tell him.

"Who; Thoth?" He asked rhetorically. "Well... You two were always fighting; it always seemed like a great passion for you both." He laughed uneasily. "You'd bicker over everything; I once saw you fight over a foot of rope; it was the most hilarious thing I'd ever seen!" He chuckled at the thought. "Everyone knew you were lovers; though both of you tried to hide it, and not very well I might add." He winked. "It was strange to imagine though; a human and a dwarf together... you know... in that way. Not that I wanted to!" He rushed out shaking his hands in defense.

"So we were happy?" Etrius asked. The image of her tears had always made him wonder if he had been good enough for her.

"Well, yeah. I mean Thoth was as happy as she could be; you never really could tell with her though. In fact, I remember one night heading to a tavern with her," He began, his eyes drifting into space as he stared blankly at Etrius' feet. "We were celebrating some loot she lifted of some rich ass that had no manners." He began laughing. "She drank herself silly; couldn't even find the door when she was done. She told me never to mention to you that I knew; which is kinda ironic now that I am." He teased. He seemed to like the sound of his own voice the way he blabbered on like he did, Etrius thought to himself, but listening all the same. "Apparently, a few days before, you two got the go ahead from the high cleric at the church and ran off and got hitched. I had been wondering why she had been so happy those few days; I guess I got my answer didn't I?" He smiled looking up at Etrius. Etrius' head was hung in his hands, his face a culmination of pain and joy.

"I remember." He gasped out. His skull felt like it was about to burst as the images came running through his mind. He stood tall next to the holy man as he waited for her to enter the small common area of an inn on the outskirts of town. Everyone had left earlier that evening, thanks to a large amount of gold he slipped to the keep. Thoth strode down the steps as his eyes followed her. She didn't wear an elegant gown, like a typical bride would, instead she wore a simple white blouse that hung open just enough to hint at her breasts. The trousers she wore were dyed leather that were held up by a small belt, with both her swords tied to either side. Her blonde braid flowed down her back as usual. He remembered thinking that he had never seen a more beautiful sight than that day. She strode forward and took his hand, as the holy man began the ceremony.

"Good! Good!" Jack exclaimed tearing Etrius from the memory with gut wrenching force. He held back the tears as he tried to focus once again on Jack and getting some long awaited answers.

"What about what they've accused me of is it true? Did I kill those people? Was.... Was I the one... that killed... Thoth?" He ground out, kicking himself as his voice cracked. Jack's expression softened; his eyes filled with pity as Etrius finished his question.

"No." He answered flatly, turning his head away, unable to look at him. Etrius almost collapsed with relief, the weight he had carried with him over the past two weeks disappeared with one simple word. He felt extremely light as if he would float away if he didn't grip his chair firmly enough.

"Thank you." He sighed in relief. Jack shook his head in response, still unable to look up at Etrius. There was still one question Etrius had left. "One last thing," He said as he pulled the shirt, which Erik had given him, over his head revealing his bare chest. "What did I do to earn this?" He pointed to the symbol of Beruth that had been burned into his flesh. Jack looked up at the mark and flinched, looking away once more.

"Nothing." He whispered softly. Etrius watched his reaction, taking note of the distress tone in the man's voice.

"What are you not telling me?" Etrius asked slowly. There was something; Etrius was so happy to have another memory of Thoth and the knowledge that his hands were clean that he had overlooked the possibility that something was terribly wrong.

"Etrius... I..." Jack paused, his head hung.

"Tell me!" Etrius demanded, knocking over his chair as he stood becoming angry. Whatever it was he could handle it. He had managed to survive with the thought that he had murdered the woman of his dream. He had survived the notion that he had slaughtered an entire family; he could handle whatever it was that the man in front of him was hiding. Jack jumped at the sound of the chair smacking against the floor.

"Alright, alright," He sighed, trying to get Etrius to calm down. "You may not have been the one to kill them... But you may have been the cause." Etrius heart stopped. Jack had to be lying; what could Etrius have done to cause an entire family to be slaughtered? He may not remember much but he knew he wasn't a bad person... At least he didn't fell like one.

"W-what are you talking about?" Was all Etrius could manage to get out.

"Etrius..." Jack sighed, finally looking up at him; "It wasn't just any family that got murdered... It was yours." The news slammed into him like a ton of bricks; the images of his family member's blood stained bodies filling his mind. "You and Thoth had just returned from a mission set by the church. A necromancer had been plaguing a nearby village and they sent you to take care of him; and of course Thoth wasn't going to be left behind and neither was I." He paused for a moment as Etrius watched, clinging to his every word. "Taking him down was simple enough; with your divine spell casting and Thoth's uncanny ability with locks and traps we were done in no time at all."

"What does this have to do with my family?!" Etrius demanded his fists clinching in frustration.

"Well..." He sighed. "You see it wasn't the necromancer we should have been worried about. It seems that he had a lot of minions. Apparently, he had caught wind of our attempt on his life and sent some your way to be rid of us." Etrius could already guess what was to come next. "They never found you, but decided your family would be a nice enough reward for their travels." So it was true; Etrius had been the cause of his family's death. Pain ran through him as he began to shake uncontrollably.

"No one survived; not a single one?!" He pleaded. Jack shook his head solemnly turning away from Etrius, as he was unable to hold back his tears any longer.

"Your... Brother wasn't there when they came." He said slowly.

"That's good right; so he is still alive?" Etrius said hopefully.

"Well... Yes he is alive and well; very well I might add." Jack said; his fists clinching the chair beneath him as he ground out the words. Even Erik, who had become quiet throughout the exchange, growled menacingly. Etrius glanced back and forth between the two.

"What?" He asked, desperate for more information.

"Your brother is not the man you think him to be." Erik replied first, glaring at the wall.

"What do you mean?" Etrius demanded.

"Tell him Jack." Erik said shifting his eyes toward the young man, still seated in front of them. Jack looked up, fire danced in his eyes as he avoided Etrius' stare. Clearly the man was angry and upset, but Etrius still couldn't figure out of what.

"Your brother was the first to find your families remains." Jack said venom dripping from his every word. "He, like you is a follower of Beruth. You do realize who that is?" Etrius nodded swiftly trying to urge Jack on. "Good, when he realized what had happened he began to track down the murderers. Of course, while he was out you and Thoth had discovered the scene yourselves. Anyways, when he finally caught up with one of the bastards, they had already discovered what had happened to their leader. They explained to him that they were simply extracting revenge for their master; that you would suffer the loss of a loved one as they have."

"Get to the point!" Etrius demanded, having heard enough.

"I'm getting there," Jack waved a hand in the air dismissing him. "I'm simply trying to make sure you are keeping up." He spat in frustration. "Your brother took their words to heart and blamed you for what happened to your family. You see, your brother and you aren't really related. You were apparently adopted at a young age and brought up under the Beruthian religion; though it seems he took the whole retribution thing to a whole new level. He decided that he wasn't going to stand for what had happened, so after killing every last one of the necromancer's followers he turned back toward your home, to seek revenge on you."

"But I'm fine; clearly he didn't mean to kill me, since I am still alive and well." Etrius pleaded, still clinging to the hope that his brother, though he knew nothing of him than what Jack told, had some good in him.

"You are right, in the fact that he had no intention of killing you." Jack said shaking his head.

Shock slammed into Etrius once more knocking the breath from his lungs. His memories came rushing back, flooding his mind with the pain of his past. He stood over his mother's freshly dug grave with calluses on his hands from his work with the spade. He was both mentally and physically exhausted; for the past few hours he had done nothing but dig the graves for every member of his family. He had hoped the work would keep his mind off the fact that they were gone. Thoth stood beside him panting from the exertion as well. They were both filthy from sweat and dirt. Etrius heard his name called from a good distance off. He turned to see Vardayus striding toward them both, covered in blood. Etrius was relieved to see his brother safe. He dropped the shovel he held in his hand and rushed forward to greet the man. But before he fully reached him he swung. The blow connected with a good amount of force against Etrius' chin knocking him backwards. Before he realized what was happening Vardayus advanced throwing punch after punch. Etrius never fought back, unwilling to harm his kin. Thoth stepped between the two men pushing Vardayus back. A grim smile slid across his lips as he spoke.

"Just the woman I wanted to see." His voice sent chills down Etrius spin. He spotted the blade just before it struck. Etrius couldn't seem to move fast enough to stop it. The blade sank deep into her chest, her eyes growing wide in surprise. Vardayus pulled it away as she began to fall backwards, allowing Etrius to catch her. Then she was there in his arms staring unseeingly forward. Blood stained her lips as she gasped for air. His only thought was to stop the bleeding, that he could do something, anything to save her. He pressed his hands together over the large gaping hole in her chest. Blood was pouring from her, he couldn't stop it, she was going to die; and it was his fault. His chest constricted as he began to sob. He began talking to her, trying to comfort her. Her eyes moved to his face as her lips pulled back into a gentle smile. He tucked a small blonde strand that had worked its way loose, behind her ear, causing blood to smear on her cheek. He felt her hand on his cheek as she struggled to continue breathing. She gasped his name softly as her hand fell away from his cheek. She was dead, there in his arms, at the hand of his own brother. Something heavy struck against the back of his neck, knocking him into nothingness.

The next thing he knew he was being burned. He opened his eyes as he screamed; the image of his brother standing over him, pressing hot metal into his flesh filling his vision. "Now you'll know how I feel, brother." He spat out the last word as if a curse. "You'll have to live with the same loss as I do." Etrius could barely make out the last few words before he was unconscious once more.

More memories filled his mind, painfully stretching it. The image of Thoth screaming at him, holding her blades at his throat; "You're just another stupid human, what would you know about love?!" Her voice came loud and clear. He had just admitted his feelings for her, he realized. She remembered her rejecting him on the basis of race, but he knew he had her. He recalled the first time they made love, the first time she allowed him to 'accompany' her home. He could remember everything.

The flood of memories was becoming unbearably painful. His skull felt as if it were about to burst. He let out a scream as he felt to the floor withering under its weight. Slowly the room around him began to blur into darkness. He could hear Jack's voice from a distance but couldn't make out what he was saying as the world disappeared.
Chapter 12

"A prisoner has escaped! A prisoner has escaped!" The crier of Selara sounded as Aurora, Sori and Thom exited the inn where they had stopped for a meal.

"What?" Thom gasped rushing forward, to question the crier. Could it be Etrius? Aurora thought. There was no possible way. He was smart sure, but was he cunning enough to escape such an extravagant prison.

For the past few hour the group had searched down darken allies, taverns, and just asking every thug they could find; about a hand for hire. The search ended up unsuccessful, they had all but given up hope when the alarm sounded. Aurora watched as Thom spoke with the crier for a few moments and then turned and headed back their way, looking a bit confused.

"What is it?" She asked. He glanced up at her, before ushering her toward a back ally. He glanced around; making sure no one would see them hunched over and try to pry into their conversation. "Is it Etrius?" She asked. He gave one short quick nod of assurance. "But how?"

"It seems that one of the guards who had been working there for quite some time helped him." He stated flatly. Even after the hours they spent in the city Thom was clearly still upset with her. Aurora pushed the thought to the side and focused on the new information.

"A guard; but why?" She asked. Thom shrugged, just as confused as she was.

"Perhaps they knew each other before Etrius lost his memory." Thom offered.

"But what do we do now that Etrius is gone; where do we look?" Aurora panicked. Thom placed a gentle hand on her shoulder trying to calm her.

"He'll be looking for a link to his past; either he'll discover his brother from the guard, if they knew each other before hand, or they will head to Nevelair to find his brother after they discover the church's records." Thom explained. "Either way he will head to Nevelair."

"But we can't just go on without him; what if he tries to find us?"

"We'll stay for the night, rest the horses, and gather some information. If we can't find him by then we'll head to Nevelair and speak to his brother." Thom answered. Aurora nodded in agreement at the plan. Etrius' brother would know what to do. He had to know Etrius better than anyone.

The group returned to the inn and paid for a room for the night. When morning came they'd be off to find Vardayus and the only lead left to Etrius' past.
Author's Note:

Thank you for the read. Tell me what you think about it. Post a comment below or rate the book. Every comment helps. Feedback is the only way I can become a better author. I really enjoyed writing this book; I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much. The second book will be coming out soon so be sure to keep your eye out.
