Thirteen - Alden

I had a dream I was running. The ground was soft, and the trees seemed to move out of the way as I raced through woods. When I got to the end I saw nothing. It was like the world just dropped off into nothingness. I turned to go back the other way, but when I did so I felt a grip on my ankle, pulling me down into the depths of nothingness. I clung to the edge of Terraro's surface, crying out for help. Below me a menacing cackle echoed. I dared a look down, to see who it was that clung to my ankle, and saw the glowing eyes of Lesion, slowly digging his clawed hand into my ankle. 

"Come with me." He hissed, yanking me off of the edge.

I bolted up right, body shaking and sweat dampening my ripped up tunic. I sat back against the tree I had fallen asleep under, taking note of Tristram's sleeping form against a tree across the way. Still trying to calm myself, my fingers searched for my scimitar, but to my dismay felt nothing but leaves. I sat up straighter, becoming more alert. After searching my area thoroughly, and searching quietly around Tristram, I realized I was never going to find my scimitar.

I sat down again, defeated. I glanced up through the leaves, trying to get a gage on the time, but the trees hid the location of the sun, leaving just a few rays leaking through here and there. 

Tristram was snoring quite loudly at this point. I didn't know what to make of him. He was a Brackin, and for all I know I can't trust the Brackin people. But then again, he's an exile like me. A part of me wonders if he knows anything about my brother, maybe he was even responsible for my brother's death... No. My brother would never fall prey to the barbaric acts of which Tristram explained. If I knew Fastus at all, which I surely did, I know he died trying to get back to me. No matter how hard I always pushed, he was always there when I needed him to be... until now at least.

I stood up again, trying to be as quiet as I could; Tristram kept snoring away. I ventured a bit into the woods, figuring I should find something new to defend myself with. As I walked between two intersecting trees, a tree-nut fell in front of my feet. Confused, I glanced up, thinking I wouldn't really see anything, but did see brief gleam through the leaves. I tried to get a closer look, and surely enough I caught a glance of a light bouncing off of my scimitar. 

"Hey!" I exclaimed, excited to have found my scimitar. "There you are!" I made a move to climb the tree when suddenly my scimitar was moving. "What the--?" There was a flash of green, and suddenly I realized that my scimitar was being held by someone. "What?" I sat there, stunned for a second, and then I began to grow furious. "The heck!" And I began to run after the thief.