"The world is changing, time is distorting into nothingness and soon this world will become something... something unknown." The old man's voice lowered to a murmur and his words began to carry a tone of admonishment, and whilst he spoke he carefully began to creep forward and close the distance between himself and Erratus.

"You see, here in the desert everyone is an outcast. We've been called here from prisons and exile, from war-torn kingdoms and helpless poverty- we're all here. Affected by tragedy we have all come to this place to find purpose, and in doing so we have become momentous pieces in a crisis which was born into this world during its own inception. From time immemorial this moment of absolute self destruction has always been coming, and somehow we've always known it."


The old man's brow furrowed and his eyes began to seemingly darken into bleakness.

"From the very beginning we've been playing at a game of futility. The lives which have been lived up until now- they've all be pointless. This curse that plagues the land, it's a natural part of this world, it signifies an end. The Lord of Sun's Age has finally reached its twilight and soon the entire world will plunge once more into a primeval darkness. The Forsaken have been gathered here to help ease this age to its death for once the Age of Sun has set we will rebuild the world in a new image, one free of careless gods and callous kings. I know not what role you play in this existence, but the man who is deceiving you believes that you are an important piece to his own schemes. He has made himself an enemy of both Aestaria and the Forsaken and claims that he is somehow aligned with the Sorcerer Lord who abandoned man countless eons ago. He is using you and for reasons unknown he is trying to get you close to our Lord. I beseech you, turn back, do not follow this man's ambitions any further. He is a dangerous and his will is nothing but wanton destruction.
______

It wasn't long after Lucia had blown the whistle that Nero arrived. He was careful to move through the ruins stealthily but upon seeing Lucia he couldn't help but call out in a whisper to her as he crossed over a small pile of rubble.

"Is everything alright?"

Oddly enough though, before Lucia could respond a meek, womanly voice called out from within the tower as if she were responding to Nero's call.


"Are there people out there? Please, I need help! I cannot walk, my leg has been severely mangled by a creature and I have been waiting here in these ruins on the edge of consciousness for hours..."


"We shouldn't trust her." Nero cautiously began to back away from the tower and tried to hide himself from its view behind some rubble. "We should call for Nadya and head back towards the center of the ruins."

_______



Despite her best efforts, Talaitha found herself unable to use whatever power she was attempting to tap into and eventually found herself gradually becoming more tired. Despite this minor defeat she continued to search the ruins until she overheard a pair of people talking in the distance. As she grew closer she recognized one of the voices as Erratus', but the other was unfamiliar, though it did not seem hostile.

Lucia was torn. While quite obviously it could be a trap, her innate sense of empathy wouldn't allow her to leave behind someone who was possibly in need of help. Besides, what if the creature was still around? Perhaps the woman would be able to let them know where it had gone, and they could go and warn the others after attending to her wounds.

"Maybe we should wait for Nadya" she whispered, "We can't just leave her alone in the desert...she'll die" The prospect of more death after all the allies they had lost in the attack and the following disaster at the caravan. It seemed like death merely followed them wherever they went. She could not bear the thought of someone else having died due to her inaction.

Sticking his neck out for others was becoming quite tiresome for Nero, in fact recently he felt as if all he were doing was putting himself at risk for the 'good of others' and for vague promises made by suspicious mercenaries. The whole thing had left a terrible taste in Nero's mouth since day one but recently his patience with the situation was beginning to grow thinner and thinner and hearing Lucia plead to save the life of some potentially murderous stranger was enough to make Nero feel exasperated.

"We can't trust her." Nero's body slumped against a nearby wall and gradually slid into the dust. Nero appeared visibly defeated, he was exhausted, he was far from anything he could call a home, and he was once again in a situation where he had to rely on others... He had to rely on Lucia to be able to handle herself if something went wrong, he had to rely on Nadya to come to their aid, he had to rely on the word of a stranger, he had to rely on his own terrible decision making...

There's nothing I can really trust anymore, is there? Nero's thoughts spoke what he dared not say to Lucia, or anyone for the matter. He didn't want to be this way, he wanted to be hopeful and trustful, but there was nothing worth trusting here, nothing that he felt he should risk his life over...

" living a life without trusting another soul is a very sad and lonely way to live, so I still choose to put my trust in others. It may blow up in my face, or work to my benefit, but no matter the consequence I choose to live with the it rather than dwell on them and learn from my mistakes"

As Nero's faith in himself and others faded, Lucia's words from a time not so long ago poured through his head like a river bursting through a crumbling dam... He could recall with impossible clarity every word of what she said to him that night and when he closed his eyes he could remember the look in her's when she finished speaking.


"You're quite something, you know that?" A soothing chuckle escaped Nero's lips as he pulled himself up off the ground and began to dust away sand from his tunic. "After everything we've been through you're still willing to put faith into others and trust that everything will turn out for the better in the end." Carefully Nero pulled forth the whistle from his pocket and began to gently blow upon it to try and signal Nadya to their current position once more. Afterwards Nero shoved the whistle back into one of his tunic pockets and grabbed for his sword on his side.

"You stay here. Wait for Nadya and keep a watch out for anything that might try and come into the tower, I'll go on ahead inside to make sure she's okay." Nero smiled and before Lucia could protest he took off in a hurry and vanished into the darkness of the building. It wasn't long after Nero entered the tower that Nadya appeared forth from the rubble, and amazingly not long after Nadya appeared Nero reemerged with a masked figured in his arms.

"What on earth is going on?" Nadya looked to Lucia for answers but it was Nero who was first to respond.

"She was harmed by some kind of wild animal." Nero placed the woman's body down and very carefully released his hand from a wound on the left side of her upper abdomen that was bleeding profusely through her torn clothes.

"She's not conscious and it seems like she might have some other more minor injuries elsewhere." Nero removed one of the packs from his belt and placed it beneath her head to give her support and then carefully removed the odd, expressionless porcelain mask she was wearing.


Beneath the mask there was a young girl who appeared no older than sixteen. Her skin was white as snow and her face was rounded with soft cheeks and full lips. Her mahogany hair was cut short and uneven in the back as if done by a blade, but her bangs appeared well kept and straight as if they were cut by a servant or a professional groomer. She wore a long, dark, hooded coat and beneath that she wore a drab green soldier's tunic adorned with a crystal-like brooch and a some sort of military pin.


"It's not safe to move her much further." Nero grabbed a few rags from another pouch on his belt and began to press them against the wound beneath her left breast. "We need to get her out of her jacket and tunic and clean the wound with-"


"What's a girl like this doing out here..." Nadya interrupted Nero's instructions as she looked over her fair face. "She's no merchant or soldier... and she's wearing these odd things." Nadya's fingers traced over the brooch and pin that were attached around her collar.


"-water." Nero began lifting the the girl's tunic to reveal the wound. "Do you have water to clean the wound with?" He looked up at Lucia and then down at the fist-wide gash he had just revealed. The wound was deep, and teeth marks accented the entirety of it's area. Limp skin peeled back from around the wound itself and inside it looked like a mound of blood and discoloured innards.

“I see.” Erratus exhaled grimly, his expression falling. “I never did trust that cryptic know-it-all. The only reason I’m here right now is because I thought I had no choice, owing to my rather odd condition.” Even as he spoke, the thief began to backpedal, maintaining the distance between the two as the man stepped forward.

“From one pawn to another, I’ve grown weary of being manipulated by those who know more than I. I need to draw my own conclusions. Please, tell me more about the impending demise of this era, and the new world the Forsaken intend to create.” Erratus bowed his head slightly.

The elderly man shook his head and then stopped dead in his tracks. "You're dangerous to us, he brought you here for a reason and if you continue any further you will bring ruin to us- I'm certain of it." The old man's voice was worried and between breaths and slow words his eyes would shift away from Erratus and into the ruins behind him.


"Listen to me, All you need to know is that this world is living on borrowed time, this plague of undeath is proof enough. Things are becoming unstable and soon even greater, unpredictable catastrophes will befall this world. We were told that we could reverse this process by a voice that inhabits the very core of this desert. We were told that the way to avoid total destruction lies deep beneath the city of gods, Sol Erra... but you, you have no part in this. The others, those in our army who are above me, they believed that you're a threat and that your very existence will lead us down another, much more dangerous path. Aestaria wants to use you against us, as does that White Haired Snake- I ask that you leave and go somewhere where they cannot find you."

The old man felt terrible for Erratus. He felt so awfully terrible telling him to run and hide, he felt so terrible telling him that he was some sort of tool... it was so hard for him to put someone in this position and yet he could not allow himself to let Erratus go any furhter, or go back to Gonye and Pitt. He was confident that Erratus and the others were dangerous to his allies and Ostarius, and he was confident that if he let Erratus defect to his side he would be betrayed by The Forsaken and locked away until the end of his days.

Lucia smiled to herself as Nero quoted what she had said. In truth, she had forgotten that she had said those very words, but she was glad that she still lived by them subconsciously. Though his warning still rang true, and she worried about him as he went into the tower. She couldn't help but sigh with relief as he saw him exiting the tower with a girl in his arms. Though her feelings of relief were quickly overcome by a feeling of shock at the sight of the poor girl as her wounds were made more apparent up close.

Her vision began to blur as she looked down at the girl, and Nero's request for water sounded quite distant. Instead, she suddenly found that she could see various strands of threads emanating from the girl's wound. They seemed crimson in colour, emanating a warmth, that as she reached out to touch them she jerked her hand back sharply as if she had been burned. Rubbing her eyes, her vision refocused and she could no longer see the strings.

"Ah..yes," she said feeling mildly dazed "Water...we need water..." She looked to Nadya, hoping that she would have some herself.

Nero's request was unheard by Nadya and it was only until Lucia started staring at her that she realize what exactly was going on.

"Right..." She finally uttered as her eyes wandered from the pins. "I bought a waterskin before we left, there's not much left though." Nadya quickly produced the container and handed it to Nero before returning to her visually investigation.


Nero quickly grabbed the water from Nadya and began to pour it around the wound to try and clear away debri and dried blood, he made sure to save at least a mouthful before tossing the skin to the side. Without missing a beat he grabbed the knife from the back of his belt and cut away the sleeve of his thick woolen tunic. He then proceeded to cut the tunic lengthwise and then in half before taking one of the flat halves and applying it to the wound.

"Here, put your hands on the center and push." He grabbed at Lucia's hands and hastily pressed them against the wound. "If it bleeds through put another piece over it and make sure check from time to time to see if the bleeding has stopped, alright? Good..." Nero was rushing himself and paid little attention to whether or not Lucia was handling the situation well, at the moment it just didn't matter. His main concern rested with saving this girl's life and finding out why exactly she was here.

"Nadya..." Nero carefully lifted the girls head away from his bag before continuing on. "Come sit here and let her head rest on your lap, it'll be much softer than this."

Nadya nodded and silently complied with Nero's order. Once Nadya was in position, Nero moved himself to the patient's side and place his head against her chest to monitor both her heart and her breathing for a few moments. Satisfied with the information he could gather he lifted his head and simply watched the girl's pained face.

"We can't go to Gonye about her." Nero spoke bluntly. " 'She's an obstacle to the journey and a potential threat to the secrecy of this mission.' " Nero paused. "That's what he'll say." Nero lowered his head into his right hand and closed his eyes tightly as he racked his brain for a solution to this girl's perilous position.


"I'm a burden... no matter where I am."

Nero's eyes flew open and his face turned directly towards the girl's, and though her eyes were not open she spoke softly in a calm, pronounced manner.

"You're awake then..." Nero gave a long sigh of relief before nervously pushing his resting right hand through his hair.

"You put your lives at risk to save me." The young girl's pale emerald eyes opened and slowly she traced over each of her saviour's faces with her wide gaze. "You were willing to trust me and come help me despite the risk I potentially posed." Her face frowned and her voice began to tremble slightly in pain.


Nero at first seemed relieved that she was talking at all, but as the wounded girl continued to speak Nero took notice of the obvious, she was aware that they were afraid of confronting dangerous people.

"So you were spying on us..." A distressed breath escaped his lungs as his head sunk back down into his hands. He wasn't worried about the girl being dangerous, he was far past that at this point. At the moment he was most worried about what other enemies might be lurking near by and how he would convince Gonye to spare an enemy of all things.


"I am sorry." Her voice had become a low whisper and though her apology did seem a bit distant she carried no ill will, she was truly grateful for her salvation. "I didn't want to harm any of you... It's just... just complicated..." She looked to Nero for a response but he failed to answer. Slowly her eyes wandered away towards the beautiful star filled night that was beginning to take form overhead and after simply starring at the stars for awhile she began to stir.

"Sodara..." She whispered softly and moved her right hand away from her side and positioned it slightly above her chest in a praying gesture. Shen the went on to mumble a few inaudible words and then carefully lowered her hand back to her side.


"I am deeply sorry, I never wanted to hurt any of you or put you in this position."

After all he had seen, and all he had been through, was Erratus really supposed to just run and hide? No. He didn’t even need to think about it. This situation so much greater than him, so much greater than anything he’d ever known. He had been handed a role in the event of the millennium, and regardless of what that role was or whose side he was on, the one thing he wasn’t willing to do was walk away.

"So be it.” The thief said, his expression tranquil. “If that’s what it takes to be free of this absurd game, I will go.” And with that, he turned on his heel and began walking away from the man.

"Hush now," said Lucia softly as she tried to stop the bleeding with the torn tunic. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl, regardless of her being sent to harm them in some manner. It seemed that they always seemed to be skirting along the edge of a great war. Like a fire, sparks flew towards them when they got too close, and Lucia worried what would happen if they were to sucked into the vacuum of the flames. Would they be consumed by its destruction as this poor girl had been?

Her fingers sticky with the coagulating blood, an eerie thought came to her mind. Days ago she had managed to spin a solid piece of wood into string. Would not blood be easier to weave together? The thought however, caused her stomach to lurch. What Nero said was true. Gonye would not accept the girl. Ignoring the fact that she was a risk, in her weakened state she would be a liability.

"Um.." Lucia hesitated and then breathed deeply. She could not stop to ask any questions, or think about what she was about to do. Most of all, she would not look at Nero to see his expression If she did, she knew that she would immediately lose her nerve and give up. She lifted the blood soaked rag from the girl's side, letting the blood slip down her finger and pinched it as she normally did to form a magical strand. She took the flesh and blood and and attempted to weave it together like she would one of her sweaters, hoping that she'd at least be able to close the wound.

The old man hoped deeply that Erratus would heed his warning and run, in fact he was almost certain he would and in a way it made him happy. He didn't want to fight, he didn't want to see anyone harmed and though he knew Erratus' future might be harsh at least he could leave knowing he could have a future...



"Hold it." A deep voice called out to Erratus and before he knew it a hand had grasped at his shoulder. "The old man might believe that you're as good as gone, but I don't."

Erratus had only turned his back on the elder for 5 seconds, maybe not even that, yet somehow in that short period of time this new individual was able to clear a great amount of distance without making even a single noise and then grab at Erratus.

"If you're really serious about leaving I want you to tell me where that white-haired bastard is and I want to know where the mercenaries are. I want to know how many of you people are here and how many of them are like you."


If Erratus turned to look back on this new interrogator he would see a man with brown hair, brown eyes and slightly tanned skin. Around his nose and mouth a tan shemagh clung tightly
and his clothes appeared to be some kind of military outfit which was also tan and covered in iron buttons and straps. At the edges of his sleeves a bit of chain mail could be spotted beneath his clothes, oddly though as he moved the chains did not rattle or stir.

______

Lucia pinched her fingers delicately together and then carefully pulled at the stream of blood that had begun to run across her hands. As she pulled, the blood twisted and resisted but despite this odd sensation she continued to persevere until finally she was able to pull forth a single strand of twinkling crimson string. Between her fingers Lucia could still feel the blood wriggling about as if it were alive and she could sense an odd force within the strand she had just created. It felt otherworldly... the string felt like it was surrounded by a fog of some overwhelming energy which eluded all of Lucia's natural senses. The force of the energy weighed heavy upon her shoulders and inside her stomach she could feel a knot beginning to form. Lucia's legs and arms quivered with a chill and soon she found that her thoughts were narrowed and completely transfixed on an odd warmness that existed only between her fingers... Lucia was unknowingly tinkering with life itself and though she had the talent and skill needed to continue spinning the string and mend the wound, her physical and mental state was beginning to fall apart. Somehow she knew that if she released the string from her grip and allowed it to return to its natural state she would free herself of this fatigue... But something else deep down inside Lucia was also willing her to continue on, an inkling of megalomania... Almost every human harbors this sort of feeling somewhere and coming into contact with something so alien and powerful such as the force of life itself was beginning to gnaw at the very fringes of Lucia's more humble, conscious self. This alone wasn't driving Lucia though, she was still trying to save a life after all.

Lucia could feel mind slipping away as she spun the blood and flesh, and yet, she could not stop. Her body was crying out for her to cease, but the draw of power willed her to push farther and farther. Dark thoughts began to rise in her rapidly unravelling mind: perhaps this was what she sought, power. All the pain and suffering she had endured in her life, why did she have to go through with it? Was she not a god? She, who could grab the very essence of life and death in her hands. All matter bowed before her majesty. All energy was a mere trifle for her to control and wield. No. This was not who she was. She did not care for power. Her desire had always been to have greater understanding. She wanted to use her powers to help people, not rule them.

Unawares to Lucia who was having this internal struggle, she did not realize that the silver in her hair had completely overcome her once raven black tresses. Gasping, Lucia wrenched her hands from where the wound had been and fell back onto the ground.

For a moment Lucia's vision began blur and her control over her body failed, very quickly she found herself lying on stone and dust staring emptily into a distant ruined wall.

Where she was, who she was with, what she was doing... all of it seemed to escape her memory and soon she could barely remember who she was.


"Emeriya!"

An indistinguishable voice called out in the distance, to Lucia it was only noise.

"Emeriya!" The voice called again, though this time Lucia could make out the tone of it and the pitch as well... The voice was that of a young man's, and he was frantic...

"Emeriya... EMERIYA!"

In an instant Lucia's vision was barraged with images that were completely alien to her, and yet for reasons unknown they felt familiar... Burning ivory towers, countless torn and mangled bodies piled upon one another, faces of kindly people and faces of people who frightened her, soldiers clad in armor killing shaven men wearing odd robes... The images ran by Lucia's eyes like lightning flashing in a storm and they never ceased, the slide show of now unintelligible images continued to pulled at Lucia's aching mind from every conceivable angle until...

"Emeriya..."

Lucia's mind halted and her vision calmed. She was no longer lying on the dusty grounds of the ruins, her head was cradled carefully in a warm lap and a hand was gently caressing her beautiful silvery hair.

"I was afraid you'd never wake."

The night sky was mesmerizing tonight, billions of stars of numerous colours twinkled in the distance and in the center of it all a wondrous full moon glowed vividly. Lucia couldn't help but stare into the great celestial nether that was above her, she was completely oblivious to what was going on about her until she turned to look up at the face of the individual who was holding her..


He was completely unfamiliar to Lucia... it wasn't Nero or Nadya or her father or mother, she was resting in the lap of a stranger, a young man with blonde hair and brilliant blue eyes who looked at Lucia in such a passionate, loving way that she couldn't help but blush.


"Emeriya..." His voice was passionate, yet shaken. "Thank heaven you're alright."

The young man's eyes began to fill with tears and single drop ran down his cheek and splashed against Lucia's face...


Lucia's eyes shot open immediately as if she were awakening from a nightmare. She was back in the ruins and she was lying in the lap of someone familiar, Nero, who was staring off into the stars still lost in thought.

"She's awake!" Nadya jolted forth into Lucia's view and grabbed at one of her hands. "You gave us quite the scare!"

Lucia stared blankly as Nadya grabbed her hand; the touch of someone else against her own cool skin felt almost alien. For a moment, she was lost, forgetting everything that had happened to her, though slowly her thoughts came together as she looked about herself with an expression of confusion on her face. She felt displaced, as if she were not where she was supposed to be, or perhaps, not who she was supposed to be. The echo of the visions she had seen flashed in her mind, though gradually she could feel them slipping away like a troubling dream as her senses became reoriented.

"Ah.." she began, her voice sounding raspy after not speaking for a while "I'm sorry," she finally said. Her eyes lit up, as she remembered what she had been doing, what felt like moments before.

"The girl!" she exclaimed "Is she alright?!" Lucia's body quivered as she exerted herself, causing her to lie back down to rest, observing the scene around herself.

Nadya smiled and nodded in response to Lucia's frets over the young stranger's recovery.

"She's doing much better now" Nero finally spoke up. "She's just behind me, resting." Nero leaned and angled himself to the side to give Lucia a glimpse of her resting patient. The young girl's upper abdomen was wrapped now with a thin, sheet-like blanket and her head was resting comfortably upon one of Nero's leather pouches.

"You were only out for about five minutes but as soon as you fainted she fainted as well." Nero was trying quite hard to avoid bringing up exactly what caused Lucia to faint, he was quite put-off by Lucia's display of power and was worried that next time she might not wake up after such an ordeal. He was also worried about her physical and mental changes, he was worried about the changes in her hair and he was worried that she was stressing herself far too much.

"We're quite lucky things worked out the way they did!" Nero canned a bit of laughter into his words to try and lighten his mood. "What happened was nothing short of-"


"Lucia" The young girl's voice was still fragile but it immediately caught Lucia's attention as she interrupted Nero.

"That's your name, right?" Her beige eyes stared intensely into Lucia's as she spoke. "When you healed me, after I lost consciousness I mean, I could see people... A man and woman spoke to me and held me in their arms, they called me by your name..."

Lucia's eyes clouded over as it dawned upon her that the visions she had seen were the memories from the girl whom she had healed.

"So then," she spoke slowly as she pieced together her realization "You must be Emeriya"

Lucia smiled softly at the girl, though she could not help but shudder as her memory of the violent visions floated back into the forefront of her mind. All that bloodshed and carnage, this poor girl had experienced in person. She wondered who the man was that seemed to care greatly about her, but she felt like it would be a touchy subject.

"I'm glad that I was able to help you Emeriya," she stated softly.