Chapter 1.

Chapter I: Godspeed.

Thomas Sargonian nodded a goodbye to the guard who currently had duty at the town’s gate this morning. He was a heavy set man. Another strong fellow drafted into the country’s citizen militia. He was wearing the typical blue and white officer’s uniform but he also sported a metal chest plate and a spear with his cross bow. The big guard gave a slight nod back as Thomas entered the town of Linx. The other guard, a thin man with a mustache, simply nodded as he closed the simple iron gate behind him. Linx was still a smaller, growing town but it was close to becoming a major trading point thanks to its location, only a couple days travel from Dharvel. It’s always-busy market place even rivaled that of the larger cities. It also sported a large governor’s house thanks to its income, making it even more impressive.

Nevertheless it had been built after the fall of the Imperial Army, thus it’s defenses were none too impressive. Neither did it need be. No enemies were left to fight after Lord Kazas entered the country some 20 years ago, destroying the Imperial Army and taking the crown from King Marius. The Barbarians from the north quickly fell as well. Only the Magi remained uncontrolled. And a wall wouldn’t hold up a powerful Magi for long.

But Thomas didn’t need to breathe his aura to get into the town, besides, that would have caused too much commotion. Stealth was of the essence at this particular stop. Pretending to be human was easy enough. Thomas had always been a believable actor and some quick words and some quick thinking went a long ways in convincing people. With his aura withdrawn into his body, it was easy for him to pass for human. As he moved deeper into the town he became very uneasy though. Without his aura to breath, his power, he felt very vulnerable. He wasn’t helpless without it, oh no, but he was far from his maximum potential. Thomas gave a passing thought to what other Magi must feel like when they pull their aura in and aren’t able to breathe it. For him, a fighter, he felt so much weaker. Not to mention, in his special case, so much slower, clumsier. There was also the horror of becoming human. It was a silly fear he knew, it took Magi weeks, sometimes months of holding their aura in before it joined with their internal soul. But he wouldn’t be holding it in much longer. He couldn’t. He respected Magi who were able to pass as humans for long periods of time, but he also knew it was something he could never do.

As he moved further into the town he pulled his long brown cloak hood over his head to hide his face. He had a somewhat infamous face in some parts of town. Last thing he needed was some nobleman pointing from the window of his carriage screaming, “There’s the scoundrel who robbed my liquor cabinets”! Thomas chuckled at the thought. How was he to know as a young man that he would grow to love fine wine and liquor, which the easiest way of obtaining these would be to con noblemen and rob them? Well, he had worse habits, like setting fire to The Telum Army’s barracks.

Of course this sort of anarchy from Magi was intolerable but Thomas kept his bad habits a secret from those who shouldn’t know. He risked a glance of his shoulder, ever the cautious one. No soldiers, nothing out the blue. Without his aura he was unable to sense any Fallen, the worst of dangers. He continued his walk unaware that the commoner behind him had been following him. Thomas dismissed him, just thought he was another townsman on his way home from the taverns.

Weaving through the bustling street and its people he approached his destination, the residential apartments. This was the place the majority of the lower class residents lived. The only place they could afford to live in Linx. He slipped towards the lowest house on the left, throwing one last glance over his shoulder before stepping up to the oak door, but nobody appeared to be watching him. Thomas felt of a rush of excitement, a silly giddiness only felt by those in love. He hadn’t seen her in a long time.

Thomas smiled to himself and tested the door handle. Unlocked? He panicked for a second. What if they had found them? No, don’t be foolish, he told himself. He stepped in without knocking though, locking the door behind him and continuing into the house unaware that he was still being tracked. If Maria and Charlotte were expecting him there was no one to greet him he noted. Thomas’s keen ears suddenly picked up the faintest bit of music coming from the next room over. He stealthily moved over to the door, putting his ear to it first then his back. He breathed deeply, slowly, and then pushed the door ajar to see into the room.

The sight that greeted his eyes was a beautiful sight indeed. A girl sat at the piano, pressing keys in a slow almost random fashion, yet these keys flowed together, weaving a song that spoke of sadness. Thomas crept into the room and watched her for a bit. She was beautiful. Her father had come from the East. Exotic features, her nose shorter and flatter, her lips thick and luscious, her eyes a dark brown, her hair almost black, and her skin a striking caramel shade. Even in the simple dress she was wearing, her more voluptuous features were noticeable and Thomas felt a hot tingling in his lower parts that he knew he would have to ignore for now.

Maria Beiku stopped, feeling a tingling on the back of her neck. She cocked her head slightly to the left looking out the corner of her eye. Was there a figure in the room or was that just her imagination playing trick on her? One hand stayed on the keyboard playing softly, the other hand dropped below it slowly. The song’s melody seemed to shift into one of confusion…fear?

Thomas knew this scene all too well. “Maria”, he said aloud.

Once again Maria paused. Could it be? That voice… She spun and saw a tall man dressed in a brown billowing cloak, one that would make it hard for another to gauge his movements, his hood was lowered over his face casting a shadow over all but his lower chin.

“Thomas”? She asked softly.

“Don’t shoot”, Thomas said quietly, calmly. He raised his hands in the air and then pulled his cloak off to reveal his full face.

“Thomas”! This time the voice carried happiness and excitement as Maria rushed forward, leaving her small single-handed crossbow under the piano in its small hidden drawer. She flew into his arms and they embraced passionately.

“Oh Thomas”, she cried, a couple tears sliding down her face, “I had heard they caught a “Quicker” in Fiskera, I feared for you”!

“Now now my dear”, Thomas said, picking up the tears with his index finger and flicking them into the air. “There is no need to cry. I am no normal Quicker and you know it. I can’t be caught”! He puffed out his chest and gave Maria his grandest smile.

She smiled back and kissed him gently, “I missed you Thomas”. She looked into his eyes. His hazel, ever changing eyes and fell even deeper in love with him. He was a handsome man, although his features were unique. Thick radiant long brown hair, a longer distinguishable nose, full lips, the shadow of a beard haunted his face as well. It had been a year since she had last seen that face.

He kissed her back. “I missed you too my love”. He released her and walked over to the window, pulling the curtain to the side to look out. “You realize your door was unlocked”?

“Yes”, she nodded, “Charlotte just left to go to the marketplace. It also makes us look less suspicious if someone happens to wander in and notice the new girls in town don’t have auras”. She smiled.

“A crafty ploy indeed”, Thomas agreed, “But I hope you remember to lock it when you have to Breathe”.

She nodded. “Of course”.

He scrutinized her, and then continued. “I locked the door on the way in, force of habit”.

Maria waved her hand, “Charlotte has a key”.

“Good”, Thomas replied, “Then I can Breathe”.

Maria held her breath. Thomas exhaled, releasing his aura.

Releasing his aura from his body was a much more natural feeling for him than bottling it up. He exhaled and released the secondary part of his soul, Xeno’s Gift, and from his center of being a sphere of color emerged. This sphere grew until it reached its limits, it contoured to the shape of his body and the wall behind him as well, gently pressing against it, yet in a real sense, never really touching it. When finished it would be shaped as the flame from the top of a candle. His aura shone all around him for two feet where it could, his colors that of constantly moving red and orange, with bits of yellow here and there. Indeed, it looked as if he were inside a fire. The colors were brilliant, even to Maria’s eyes which were still human at this point.

She gasped. “Thomas…your aura….it’s different”. She had seen it many times before but it was special now, more powerful. His aura had always been unique; most Magi auras were more plain, radiant still, but not as manic and luminous as his.

Thomas nodded, breathing his aura, his soul energy in. He had the sudden feeling that he was being “pushed up” somewhere. Colors became brighter and more of them seemed to exist than before, as if his eyes were on a brand new color spectrum. Everything stood out from everything now. The plain brown of the wooden walls around him became rich dark velvet brown, so complicated in its patterns. Smells and sounds became textured somehow, and yet the World around him felt more natural than ever, he could in a way, feel Gaia’s pulses and feel the vibrations of emotions around him.

And Thomas could feel his power flowing through him again. It surged through his body like electricity, he felt its energy, almost limitless, and it’s potential moving inside of him, spreading to the tips of his fingers and buzzing at his forehead. Suddenly Maria’s movements became slow, clumsy. It would have been annoying if he hadn’t known it wasn’t her fault, it was his. His mind was now racing. Ideas, thoughts, plans, and feelings were rushing through his head at light speed, and his movements became deft and quick, very quick. He made a mental note to slow down so Maria wouldn’t be put off. Between his primary that allowed his body to move at abnormal speeds and his secondary that increased his reflexes and general speed of thought he could at times be very “hyper”. But only because of his unique secondary was he able to fully control his own body’s unnatural ability to move at mind bending speeds.

“It’s because I have grown”, he answered now that he was finished. He buzzed with power and it felt good, he no longer felt weak or vulnerable.

“Of course”, she answered and smiled weakly. He had always been one step ahead of her, never mind he was 4 years older than her, she had always felt the urge to catch up with him spiritually.

“Join me”, he asked and reached out a hand. She nodded and released. It had been almost a week. She tried to minimize Breathing. If she was ever saw or sensed by a nearby Magi her cover would be most certainly blown.

Suddenly her head felt so much lighter than the rest of her body and the World exploded into detail. As she adjusted to it she felt that sadness that came from knowing she would have to pull it all back after he left. It was part of her cover, to portray a human.

All her senses, her perceptions slid up and she felt that familiar feeling, that feeling that made her think that below all the senses, smelling, hearing, sight, touch, taste, there was something else, something that connected them, some oneness. From her being her aura came, a bright forest green that enveloped her. She breathed it and suddenly a million thoughts began racing through her head, all of them being Thomas’s. Immediately she lowered her soul energy to make everything more tolerable. Thomas’s aura was even more intense now with her Magi senses, almost too bright to stare at, and his thoughts were moving so much quicker than a normal person’s, Magi or Human. Her aura withdrew a bit and became slightly fainter, her energy signature would lower as well.

“Better”? Thomas asked as he pulled his own aura in a little as well. She reached out and took his hand, stepping closer. Before their hands actually touched both their aura’s reached out and wrapped around each other before melting into each other. His aura immediately became less chaotic, the edges of it becoming a shade of passion red. She nodded and moved even closer. Something beautiful occurred then. Something that usually doesn’t happen when Magi stand close together that is. Usually auras will touch, contour to each other, especially with friends, but they rarely ever blend. To see it happen is still amazing.

Thomas’s aura and Maria’s came together, creating a third area that was a tie dye of colors that swirled with brown and light green. It was peaceful, natural looking, like seeing a healthy forest from the corner of your eye. To a nearby observer it would look just like that, like seeing the colors of a forest pass by as you rode your horse quickly down a forest path. They were different as people, very much so and yet, they were soul mates.

Thomas shook his long dark brown bangs from his forehead. “This is better”, he said with a smile. “I had to see you before I left for Gasimile”.

She nodded, she understood, his work was important to him, he had been defending Valsuran from outside its walls for almost a year now. “I’m glad you came”.

A sudden loud noise issued, interrupting the moment. The source of which was coming from the front door. Maria jumped as the front door shuddered then began walking towards it. “Charlotte calm down, did you forget your key”?

“Open up Magi scum! You’re under arrest”!

Maria frantically glanced at Thomas, “You were followed”?

A slamming sound and the door almost came off the hinges. “Hands in the air or we will shoot on sight”! The voice yelled loudly, slightly muffled through the door. Thomas followed her into the room.

“No”, he shook his head, speaking quickly “Impossible. How could they have known anyways? I hid my aura. I…” he trailed off then sneered before resuming. “A ‘Seer’, it’s the only way possible, he must have been posted near the gate waiting for me, waiting to see if I would lead them to you. The Seer knew you were here, but he couldn’t pinpoint your position. Thank Xeno he never saw you on the street or you’d be dead already”.

Another loud report, a crunching sound as the front door ripped free. “Hands up”! A voice screamed, trying to be authoritative yet Thomas could hear fear in it.

Maria screamed in fright as two soldiers, no, only local officers came through the door, their blue uniforms with green trim giving them away. Outside a third one was staying put with his small cross bow trained in the door way. Their eyes were wide with anxiety as they took in the image of a young couple with auras shining out from them. They had seen Magi before, but never this close. The young girl would have been beautiful if she wasn’t screaming, her face twisted by fear. Her aura, dim and green to their dull senses flashed with yellow splotches that orbiting around her quickly now in no particular pattern. The man in the doorway behind her had an aura like that of fire, but it instantly began to rage even more before their eyes. For some reason, it was a bit brighter than the norm.

Thomas breathed his aura with a quick inhale, letting the power rise in him. His aura flared and the World burst into even greater detail than before. With his enhanced senses and mind he saw things in almost slow motion, like the bead of sweat that slowly slid down the young officer’s clean shaven face and fell from his chin until it hit the ground.

The first officer raised his small cross bow and pointed it at Maria, his mouth was opening to say something but he was cut off. He had made a mistake, pointing that cross bow at Maria as if he intended to shoot.

Thomas had decided to move, quicker than anyone could have ever possibly moved.

The second officer, another young fellow who had been standing only a couple feet behind his pal, was aware that the Magi in the flowing cloak had moved, yes, but tracking his movement was terrifyingly difficult. One moment the Magi scum had been standing there then the next his fist was raised in an upwards arc and the first officer had flown straight up, his head actually slamming into the low roof before coming back down to crash onto the floor, raggedly limp, looking possibly dead, judging by the angle of his neck. The girl in the background was unmoving and still wearing a fearful expression. No, no time to think, life is too short to think.

Thomas exhaled as he completed the uppercut and his kiai, his battle cry echoed in the air. It was part of his form, his martial arts. Thomas was an extremely proficient adept, of course, he was a Ruach. His knuckles, like piercing rocks slammed into the jaw of the officer. His enhanced sense of feeling felt the bones crumble under his hard knuckles and he actually hit the fellow so hard he flew up into the air, slamming face first into the low hanging roof before crashing lifelessly to his feet.

Shouldn’t have pointed that cross bow at Maria. Thomas thought as he looked to his next opponent.

The second officer seemed slightly in shock but he managed to shake it in time to fire a bolt from his crossbow at Thomas. Thomas’s quickened mind picked all of this up instantly transmitting the data, processing it, and then sending the signals to the body three times faster than a normal person. His body, like that of tensile steel bent over backwards from his right as the bolt flew over his shoulder. His arm flew up from the side at insane speeds and when he straightened up, the horrified officer saw that Thomas had the bolt in his hand. This man was a Quicker, the quickest one that he had ever seen, and faster than any he had ever heard of.

Thomas watched as the man frantically reached for his short sword at his side. Not a chance, Thomas thought and dashed forward, covering the short distance in a fourth of a second, spinning the bolt in his fingers expertly until the end was jutting from his fist down. He slammed his fist into the eye of the second man, shoving the bolt deep into his skull. The officer still had his hand on the hilt of his sword; he had never even gotten an inch of his blade out of the scabbard.

Thomas released his hand from the bolt and stepped back. The dead officer, still clutching his sword weakly, fell to the ground, blood oozing from his wound.

Maria watched all this from a Magi’s perspective, yet she was no better at tracking Thomas’s movements than the officers. It was frightening to see how he moved, how easy he killed. She had seen him spar before but she had never seen this side of him, this side that could fight and kill without remorse. It was strange for her to see the man she had spent many nights in bed with, being caressed by his hands, kissed all over her shoulders and neck lovingly, stick a crossbow bolt into a man’s skull. Xeno taught them not to kill but more importantly he had taught them self-preservation. Thomas was merely ensuring their preservation. Aggressively defending it, one might say.

After the second officer fell dead at his feet Thomas could see out the front door where a third officer was standing down the walk way in the road. He was pointing his crossbow into the doorway; he was pointed at Maria who he could better see. The officer wasted no time in firing on her. This time Thomas took no chances at catching it with his hand; it was impressive, yet slightly difficult to do, even more so because he couldn’t see the exact angle and line the man was firing along. Maria was his love, his life, the reason he got up out of bed and continued to seek danger.

Thomas felt the bolt slam into his left shoulder. He had barely shielded her in time. “Damn it,” Thomas roared and clutched at the bolt protruding from his shoulder. Outside the third officer was already reaching for another bolt from the small quiver at his belt. Got to get moving, Thomas thought, pretty soon this place is going to be crawling with every officer in the town, and then the soldiers will be right behind them. He glanced back, Maria, I’m sorry I lead them here but the Seer would have found you sooner or later, thank Xeno I came in time.

Maria had been stunned up until now, too startled to move and then amazed at how fast everything had happened after the door had been broken down. She came to now. Thomas had gotten hurt protecting her; no doubt that last bolt had been intended for her. From where she was standing she could still see over Thomas’s shoulder as the third officer grabbed a bolt and began lifting it towards the crossbow to reload. Maria inhaled, Breathing her aura.

Thomas left his position to begin dashing out the front door towards the last man, who was trying to reload faster than anyone Maria had ever seen. Of course he was, his life depended on it. Would Thomas be quick enough before the officer got a shot off? Thomas was fast, his speed had seemed to increase even more since Maria had last seen him; he had caught a bolt in mid flight by Xeno! But what about at point blank range, could he dodge it?

She instantly reached out with her mind, touching the officer’s mind with her own. She heard his thoughts, saw what was in his mind’s eye, and could read through his memories like a book. John B. Mayfield had had oatmeal for breakfast this morning, was angry about owing money to a fellow officer for losing a bet at headquarters today, and had felt fear as a man in common garb encased by a sickly yellow aura had said to him quite recently, “Yes that man over there, on the right of the road, walking with the brown cloak and his head down. That’s him”. Another voice asking for assurance, “Of course I’m sure damn it, I can see his aura, it’s like a raging fire”! The Seer, she took a mental note of his appearances.

All this information entered her head instantaneously as her mind explored John’s in that split second of contact and then she moved to buy Thomas time. Her aura surged as her energy rose, the World becoming very real, very fast. She quit moving through the officer’s mind like a visitor in a library and instead gripped it as hard as she could.

<Stop!>

The officer briefly paused with bolt in hand, above the weapon.

A brief pause was all Thomas really needed.

Thomas looked as if his feet weren’t really touching the ground, as if he was gliding across the dirt at breakneck speed, looking like a fireball in flight, his cloak fluttering around him. Thomas was on the officer instantly, kicking his crossbow out of his hands with a spinning kick. He continued to spin all the way around, his knee in the air, perfect form, ever so graceful in combat, using the momentum of his spin to fire his next attack from his hip, a powerful side kick. The ball of his heel crashed into John B. Mayfield’s chest, sending him flying through the air to crash some ten feet away, skidding through the dirt before he stopped. No doubt his sternum was crushed, an awful mess inside. Speed is Power, Thomas thought as he brought his foot to the ground, it was a saying Kogi Dean had taught him.

Thomas quickly glanced around. A couple of humans across the road were staring at him in wide eyed horror. Thomas caught movement out the corner of his eye. He turned his head to the left to see a flash of man with a yellow aura fleeing down an alley way. That would have been the traitor, the Seer. Thomas paused as he wondered whether or not to give chase. It wouldn’t take long to catch him.

Suddenly a bolt whistled through the air close by and he turned to see 6 more officers running towards him from down the dirt street to his right. These fellows seemed older, more rugged than the young men Thomas had just dispatched of. The one in the lead, who was reloading his empty crossbow, roared at his miss. Back up. Of course they wouldn’t have sent three men to contain Magi. The fools Thomas had disposed of had gone on ahead trying to claim the glory of arresting them by themselves. Thomas instantly deduced this, ever the analytical one. He couldn’t carry Maria to safety with these men firing their bolts at them. No he couldn’t risk that, would not.

Maria followed Thomas outside, following his eyes and seeing the reinforcements. She glanced back to him and the bolt that was sticking from his shoulder with worry, her eyes were wide with fright. Thomas winked in return to put her at ease and blurred away from her vision heading towards the officers.

“Thomas”! Maria cried after him.

The officers stopped their charge and all fell to a kneeling position. They had dealt with a rogue Magi before. They all lifted their crossbows and fired immediately. Thomas processed all this with his enhanced reflexes and flipped high into the air, spinning sideways into a barrel roll. With his perception of time and Magi senses he could see the bolts floating slowly through the air under him for a split second and then they were gone. They continued on down the street, several slamming into houses, one a lamp post and another actually struck one of the awed bystanders. The commoner went down hard, the bolt finding its place in his upper thigh. His screams of pain now added to the turmoil.

Thomas landed more deftly than a circus acrobat, hitting the ground and surging forward to resume optimal speed as if he had never left it. The officers glanced at each other uneasily. This one was different; this Magi had exquisite combat training. The officers had time to drop their crossbows and pull their short blades out as they stood and then Thomas was on them.

One particular officer near the middle of the group was a little too slow on rising up so he received Thomas’s foot to his face in the form of a thrusting front kick. The kneeling officer’s head snapped back and an audible crack was heard. He slammed into the ground and slid several feet back.

Thomas pushed off the ground for power, spun and slammed his elbow into another’s face that had been standing too close. Immediately his face caved in with a sickening “crunch”. His mother had trouble recognizing him later when she was asked to identify the body. Thomas spun around his opponent even before he had begun to fall and finished a third officer with a vicious blow to the Adam’s apple. The Ruach’s palm was open, fingers bent until only knuckles remained, but his fist was not curled. The technique was called long fist and it was ideal for striking soft points. Thomas reached and grabbed something from the man’s belt.

All this had happened in about half a second. The third officer with the obliterated face behind him had just begun to fall backwards to the ground as Thomas spun and delivered a powerful side kick to the dead fellow’s back. His spine snapped as his body folded back and he flew through the air, slamming into a fourth officer. They hit the ground together as the first officer stopped sliding through the dirt and the second fell on his face, one limp hand still reaching to clutch his destroyed, cold throat.

Then Thomas stopped moving and the death making paused. Thomas dropped his cloaked hands and held still, waiting as the bodies fell around him almost simultaneously.

The two remaining officers still on their feet looked to each other for support; there would be no outrunning this beast that was sure. They raised their short swords and charged the Magi. Thomas immediately flung his hands into the air and from the sleeves of his cloak flew two metal bolts, the items he had snatched from the officer’s belt who had received his fist to his throat. The bolts flew from Thomas’s hands as if they were throwing knives in the possession of a skilled barbarian. One bolt entered the throat of one officer, and the other received his just below the collar bone. They both dropped to the ground immediately.

Thomas strode past the last and only officer alive, who was struggling to push his fallen comrade off him so he could flee this man slayer. “Free your mind from the deception of Kazas”, Thomas said aloud as he looked down to him, “Seek the truth and find Xeno, so that you may not end up like your fellow man”. Thomas finished, with a small jerk of his head to the bodies that littered around them. The officer cried pitifully as he looked up at the man emblazed in fire. Surely only demons could be so gifted in power and combat and assume the guise of man.

Maria cried out to Thomas and he looked down the street to see Harek Guards, the next form of militia, approaching from afar. It was time to go. He ran to her, spun around, and lowered himself down. “Quickly”, he said, “get on my back”. Maria wasted no time, jumping on his back and holding on for dear life. She also quickly sent Thomas several thoughts. <To the safe house! We can hide there until we can leave Linx. Charlotte will follow as we’ve planned>.

Thomas nodded. Charlotte had been their inside contact in the city, she had Magi blood but was part of the 50% of half-breed children who received no aura. As Thomas took a deep breath from his aura he found that information was suddenly available in his mind. He knew the town more intimately and knew the exact location of the safe house. That had been Maria’s doing no doubt, she was capable of doing such things, being a “Reader”. The safe house was a place Magi could go if they needed help. Both Magi and humans sympathetic to the Magi would house them and help them to leave the town. It was a place of secret doors to hide them.

Thomas stood up and began to run. Maria was hardly a feather weight to his powerful legs. With his aura flared and his breathing at full power he could run faster than any horse at top speeds, accelerate like a bolt from the most powerful crossbow. He left the street in a cloud of dust, flying down alleyways and cutting through the town like a hot knife through butter, Maria holding on as tightly as she could.

They went through an alley way and stopped midway. Thomas lowered himself and Maria stepped off to the ground. She quickly went to a cellar door at the back of one of the buildings and knocked on it loudly but in a certain particular way. A wooden slat opened and eyes appeared on the other side looking at them both. “Maria”? A voiced whispered loudly.

“Yes”, Maria answered, her voice still shaky, “Quickly there are officers looking for me and my rescuer, they found us and he has been wounded”.

The eyes took one more final glance to Thomas, then back at her, and then closed. A second later a loud noise like that of a heavy wooden bar being slid was heard and then the cellar door opened on one side. “Hurry”, the man said, motioning inwards. He was older than Thomas had expected.

Maria entered and looked back to see Thomas following but was startled to see him unmoving. The man who had opened the door looked at him as if to say, Hurry now!

“Keep her safe”, Thomas said to the man, and then looked to Maria. “They will help you now. I must continue my mission, time is of the essence. You have pierced my mind, and you know the secrets hidden there. Continue to Valsuran and remember that I love you.” With that his aura raged around him like a violent fire again. He practically disappeared from view as he ran down the alleyway and out of sight, the gust from his swift movement throwing up dust and trash into the air. As he ran towards the nearest town gate he heard a fading voice in his head, Maria’s voice.

<I love you too>.