Sylvian lost track of time. His breathing was ragged and his muscles were aching. The morning was but a distant memory, now all he knew was running. Ellen had stayed ahead of him, picking paths that would leave minimal trails and be hard to follow. She also made them circle back quite a few times and take different routes.

Sylvian had once felt that he was no a stranger to the forest. In the last few moon cycles, he had become accustomed to running around the woods and hunting. This, however, was the first time Sylvian had strayed so far away from Hasita. After the first few hours of running, he lost track of where they currently were. Without Ellen guiding him, Sylvian was sure that he would be completely lost.

Currently, they both huddled around a small campfire that Ellen had made. Sylvian looked to the night sky above them. The canopy of leaves was parted enough for him to make out the stars and white moon above. The night was always welcomed with the presence of one moon, just as he remembered from Earth. But here on Tel'Mora, there was one night yearly that welcomed two moons. The normal white moon, and a larger red one. It signified the end of one year and the beginning of the next.

It had only been a season since Sylvian celebrated that day. His father had gone all out this time, traveling all the way out to Farja, the closest city to Hasita, and buying a keg of beer from a local pub. His family danced and sang that night. Even Ellen showed up to celebrate with them. Sylvian looked at Ellen now, the sight of her slowly spinning a rabbit on a stick above the fire almost reminded him of the roasted boar they all ate that night. Almost.

Ellen's eyes met his. They were deep green and filled with youth. Sylvian had no idea how old Ellen actually was, but as far back as he could remember she had always looked to be around her mid-twenties. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, still twirling the rabbit above the flames. She leaned forward a little, "Are you crushing on me? Like me in my military clothes?" She teased Sylvian with a wicked smile.

He sighed, all too used to Ellen's taunts. She was either completely serious or not at all. There was never any in-between with her. "I was just thinking about the New Moon celebration." He let his sight fall to the grass below, his mind wandering to his parents. "Do you think they will be ok?"

Ellen didn't immediately respond. Instead, she pulled the rabbit off the fire and used a small knife that was strapped to her boot to piece it apart. Soon, Sylvian had a large leaf topped with cooked meat being handed to him. It wasn't the most glamorous meal he had ever had, but with hunger taking over he gladly dug in. "They will be alright." Ellen said before chewing on a smaller piece of meat. Her gaze was lost in the fire crackling between them.

"As you know, your father and I fought in the territory war against House Marlin." Sylvian nodded, recalling the stories he had heard. Ellen was his father's platoon leader. At some point, somehow, their platoon was wiped out. Ellen and his father managed to make it out alive and retire in Hasita, away from the war. While his father found love, Ellen found the church. "We told you we retired from war. But we lied." She was staring right at him, grief filling her eyes.

"We ran away, Sylvian. After our platoon was wiped out we couldn't take it anymore. We were fighting a war we never wanted." A tear rolled down her cheek as she remember those she fought with. Sylvian didn't know what to say at the moment, so he gave her the silence she needed until she continued. "I'm in my sixth stage of Arcane gathering. I can't just go anywhere and become a local, so I hid my identity through the church. But your father is such a low cultivation that he never needed to hide it. No one questioned anything, especially after he was married and you were born."

Sylvian stayed quiet, digesting the new information. His father and Ellen were deserters and now, somehow, House Griff found out and came to arrest them. "So what will happen to them?" It was all Sylvian could think about. With his father being caught, what would they do to his parents?

"They will be thrown in the mines. There they will be offered to work off the debt they owe to the country." Ellen stated in disgust. "Your mother will be tried for harboring a deserter, and your father for deserting. It's a debt they will most likely spend the rest of their moons atoning for."

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That didn't sound good. Sylvian's heart raced. How was he supposed to help his parents? They were to become eternal slaves, mining to pay off an impossible debt. "That's where we come in." Ellen interrupted his thoughts. "We need to pay their debt for them. And if we can't do that, then we break them out." She bit into another piece of rabbit, throwing the bone down into the fire. The embers erupted into the darkness of the night.

"Step one, don't get caught. We are doing that now. Step two," Ellen pointed at Sylvian "we get you to The Academy." While they were running through the forest, Sylvian had told Ellen of his encounter with the transcendent. She hadn't laughed at him peeing himself as he expected. Instead, she congratulated him on being alive. Ellen said that the connection he felt with the bird had most likely startled it and saved his life. And on the point of the connection, she had nothing to comment on other than the fact that it was 'weird'. Whatever she knew, she obviously didn't wish to share.

That was when she mentioned the idea of The Academy. An organization holding greater power than that of the entire Aspen Kingdom. The Academy was known to be a neutral organization with the highest reputation in Arcane education. "I doubt you will make it in, only one in a thousand awakened cultivators get admitted. But if your Arcane roots are pure enough, you might have a shot at it." Ellen tried to sell him on the idea. "You want to get connections to people that can help your parents? That's the place to start."

Sylvian had to admit, it was a good plan A, even if likely to fail. He was still within the age of admission, and with Ellen backing him through the church, he could have the testing and admission fees waived. It would also give Sylvian a place to hide until he got stronger. There was no point in not trying. If they could that is. "So how do we even start?" Asked Sylvian. "The Academy holds testing in Farja, which is controlled by House Griff."

"The Academy holds testing in most major cities." Ellen informed him. "We just need to go to one that isn't in House Griff territory."

As Sylvian tried to think of where the next closest city was located outside of House Griff, he noticed the silence sweeping across the forest around them. Leaves rustled alone in the passing wind. It seemed as if any wildlife in the area froze, not even a grasshopper chirped in the distance. Sylvian leaned to the left, slowly grabbing his bow and quiver. He watched as Ellen placed her food to the side and slid her free hand over the hilt of her wand.

"Protegé!" Ellen yelled. Her hand was a blur as her she ripped the wand from its straps. Sylvian felt the earth move out from below. Spinning around, he caught a glimpse of a wall of solid earth forming behind him. As quickly as it formed, it erupted into him. Heat engulfed his body as the clap of an explosion rang in his ears. Before he could process what happened, he was tossed back meters into the denser grass of the clearing.

"-ciá!" Sylvian couldn't hear what Ellen shouted next. He tried to look back to their makeshift camp, only to be blinded by a spear made of pure light. In the blink of an eye, it hurled forth toward the shape of a man between the trees. Another wall of dirt and stone formed, this time protecting the figure. As the spear collided, molten stone was blasted away, leaving a scorched hole in the now crumbling wall.

The man shouted and waved his wand. In response, a wave of fire washed over Ellen. Ellen cast her own wall of stone as she dashed into safety, throwing out a spear of light as she did. The two began to circle each other. In a sequence of spears made from light and fire and walls built of stone and dirt, they danced under the stars.

Sylvian gripped the bow in his hand and desperately pushed himself from the ground. Blood trickled from his nose and ears, and he could barely feel his legs. As he fought against the pain, Ellen was beginning to be pushed back. Her walls were becoming weaker, and her spears took longer to form. Sylvian scrambled for an arrow, most broken or bent and scattered around him. Still in his quiver, however, he spotted a single intact arrow. He grasped ahold of it and notched it to the bow string. Syvlian glanced up in time to see a bolt of fire blasting the ground near Ellen's feet. Launching her body to the side from the fiery impact.

The man walked forward with confidence, his wand pointed down at Ellen. She struggled to move, her arms shaking as she pushed off from the ground. Sylvian screamed internally, pulling back on the string of the bow. It was as if he was an ant trying to pull back the branch of a tree. He could feel the muscles in his arm threatening to tear, begging him to give up. He did not care, Sylvian yanked the string back and felt it scrape against his cheek. He could not aim, he could barely move at all. So he did the only thing he could, Sylvian prayed to the Gods above and released his arrow.

The man heard the twang of the bow, and with ease, turned and swatted the arrow aside. He glared at Sylvian with a smug smile plastered across his face. The man knew he had won.

A light flashed through the night once more, causing Sylvian's sight to go black. He blinked, trying to make out what happened. Where the man's smug smile had just been, he saw the charred lump of a neck. The figure tumbled out of view as Sylvian's body finally gave. He could vaguely hear Ellen's screams as they faded from his ears.