Roman and I had run from the tent as fast as we could, racing quickly towards the tall mountains. The terrain grew firmer and uneven, causing my footing be less stable, and the hunger and dehydration that I felt was almost all-consuming, but Roman kept nudging me forward.
Eventually there was a small stream of water that seemed to separate the loose dirt from our Palkin territory and a lush, green and rocky terrain of the mountains that stood between the Northeast border of my home, and the Northwest border of what must be Tristram's. I collapsed at the water's edge, and with shaking hands tried to get the water into my mouth. The trembling of my hands made drinking difficult, and I was lucky to get a good swallow all the way to my lips. A despair seemed to take me over once again. Was this my life now? Grateful for a sip of muddy water?
I sat and stared at the flowing stream, imagining what life might have been like if I were a fish or some other aquatic creature. Maybe it would have been shorter, but it would have been less painful too.
"We need to keep moving." Roman insisted, tugging up on my arm.
"I'm tired of moving." I complained, using my weight to free my arm. "All I ever do is run and abandon people."
Roman knelt down, his face like stone, a common facial expression amongst the Palkin soldiers. "I don't care. You don't get to play momma's boy any more, this is war. Do you think I never wanted to just stay home instead of trampling across borders? Wouldn't it have been great if I could sit around instead of having to miss every big day in the lives of my sisters just because Callow said so? How about the day I had to leave camp just to watch my best friend killed?" Roman grabbed the back of my tunic and forced me up. "My sisters died while I was fighting this stupid war because they didn't have any food, and I could have saved them." He said with an air of defeat, and a wetness in his eyes. "I played with girls and did my duty, and my sisters died. I'm not going to make that mistake again." With a light shove I had been pushed across the stream and was moving once again towards the mountains.
We walked in silence for a long while, neither of us sure what to say after that. "I'm sorry about your sisters." I finally said, still refraining from looking his way.
Roman let out a deep sigh. "I'm sorry about your brother."
I looked to Roman now with a sense of urgency. "Wait, you know what happened to my brother?"
Roman seemed to look at me with pity. "I--" he started, but the sounds of the animals around us suddenly became quiet. Roman held a finger to his mouth and drew his scimitar. Three Viridian men dropped from nearby trees, each wielding a sword and quickly circling in on us. One made a quick swipe at Roman, leaving a shallow cut just beneath his ear, while another knocked the scimitar from Roman's hands. I scrambled for anything like a rock, but came up short, and with a quick kick to the ribs.
Just as I was about to suggest we run through them the ground began to shake, knocking all of us onto the ground. Once the ground had stopped moving I looked up to find the Viridian men dead, and a younger man standing above them. "Who are you?" I asked indignantly, but he simply stepped to the side revealing both Rhythmus and Tarka. "Tarka?" I gasped. Roman quickly went for his scimitar, but I grabbed his arm. "It's okay, they're friends."
"Friends?" He asked in disbelief, eyebrows deeply furrowed.
"Yes," I assured. "Friends."
"Ah." He sighed. "I remember the girl now..." He said, a smirk obvious in his voice.
"Seriously?" I groaned.
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