The pitch black darkness of the long hallway, a barricade that stood between him and the light. Taking a brief glance behind brought nothing but fear, seeing fierce flames approaching in a ferocious angry roar that consumed everything in their path. The fire however did not burn amok, it had itself fixed upon him.

Even with the considerable gap between them, his bones were being burned by the searing radiance. As the flames set their sights on the boy, he kept his eyes fixed on the light at the end of this long dark hall. But the more he neared the light, the dimmer it shined along with his hope. He kept on running even though he was short on breath, but he realized he had reached the end of the hall as he smashed into the wall. The light glimmered off the wall at a small point, he reached to grab the light and found it was no more than a speck of sand. He held on that speck tightly with the little hope he had left, until the fire blazed all around him and consumed him whole.

"Ahh!" Zilian screamed as he jolted upright from his nightmare.

He scanned his surroundings and saw he was safe with Erica on the opposite side of the campfire, so he shook his head to shook off the bad dream. He thought his dream was related with Blade that he had met yesterday, Blade was a piece of that small light but was lost in that same night. Then he heard a trotting followed with the appearance of a horse, recognizing Blade riding atop the beast back into camp.

"You came back?" Zilian challenged him, still holding a chip on his shoulder in sour spite that stung from yesterday.

"You seem surprised." He jumped down from the saddle nonchalantly.

Erica stirred awake and with a couple of sleepy blinks, she recognized him too. She tossed off her blankets and ran to hug him. "Blade! I thought you weren't coming back." She was clearly pleased at seeing him again.

"I thought I said I would be back last night?" He gingerly peeled her off.

Zilian cleared his throat annoyed, "No, you said we'll see each other again."

He shrugged in defeat, "All I needed was time to think. Truth is, I wasn't going to leave you. I too have a promise to keep."

Zilian eyed him suspiciously, "Oh yeah, and that is?"

Blade crossed his arms defensively, "To 'stick with him' is what father told me, and I intend to keep that promise. Even though that is not my only reason, you are alone and I am alone, so no point in going our own separate ways. From here on out we got each others backs." He stretched out his hand to shake.

Seeing that stretched out welcoming hand had stirred something in him, for the first time Zilian did not feel alone and because of that he smiled. He stood up and took Blade's hand giving a hesitant grip, hoping they truly had each other's back.

"What are you waiting for?" Blade remarked on their prolonged awkward grip.

"I just wanted to hold the suspense." He grinned and after letting go, they both laughed.

After the humor died off, Blade inquired from him their goals,"So, where are you guys heading to?"

Zilian stated, "To Kenplar Estate."

"Alright then." Blade went next to the fireplace and kicked dirt in it, choking the fire off.

"What are you doing?" Zilian asked.

"If it is not obvious enough, I am trying to kick dirt in the fire to turn it off." He taunted in reply.

Zilian sighed in frustration, "I see that, but why?"

"It will be dawn soon, so we might as well get on our way now."

"So that means you are going with us to Kenplar?" He asked on further.

Blade did not reply right away, instead, went to the river and filled a canteen with water. Only when he stood in front of Zilian he answered. "Yeah I guess, since I had done my part. I found you guys and you guys have your thing to do, whatever it may be, so I will be there to help you accomplish it."

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"How ‘bout stopping the Mountain?"

"What about it?"

"You know what I mean." He glared back at him.

Blade sighed tiredly, "Ok, let me make this clear. Anyone can stop the Mountain, as much as I would like it to be me. My part is elsewhere, so I will keep to it."

Zilian smiled, satisfied at least he had some support, "Thanks."

Blade shrugged, "That is what comrades are for."

"Well, let's head out now then." Zilian announced.

He and Erica packed up their things; their blankets and pot. Erica accepted the horse that Blade offered, while Zilian and Blade walked. They chattered through the forest, it felt good for him to speak to someone after all this time. After a while, Erica fell asleep on the horse, and Blade led it by the reins.

Zilian took a deep breath before he got to the topic that had been bothering him, "So, did your father tell you anything about Shavo? Or how he knew him?"

He shook his head, "To make things clear, he never knew Shavo. He met him many years ago when he knew Shavo's father."

"You’re not making a lot of sense to me." He rubbed his head in ache.

"My father was one of the guardians of the blades, passed down from my grandfather. Just as yours had been passed down from your great-grandfather."

He lifted his blade hanging from his side in awe, "This belonged to my great-grandfather?"

Blade's eyes widened with shock, "You mean you did not know of your heritage?"

He shook his head in denial.

"Oh boy. I do not know where to begin." Blade pondered for a short while, "I guess the best place to start is to mention our forefathers were founding members of the group Rings of Hope, they strove to unite the four Empires and bring closure to the war. In the end, they dissipated because a traitor broke it up from the inside. Your sword and mines are the two only ones that have not fallen into Malie's hands. I’m guessing you will ask what are so special about these swords next, right?"

He rose a finger in objection, "Actually, that part I can figure out why." Zilian recounted his experience with his accidental discovery of the power his sword contained.

"Interesting. You must be very sensitive to its energy." Blade remarked.

"Does yours shoot out lighting too?" Zilian asked.

He chuckled lightly, "No. There are eight swords with eight affinities, so mines controls and creates earth, while yours as you now know has power of lighting. The other six are Ice, Crystal, Fire, Water, Plant and Wind. All the blades had been forged with their insignia inscribed on the blade."

Zilian rubbed his forehead as the migraine built up from digesting all this information, "Ok, this is a lot to take in. You are saying there more of these swords around?"

"Six more, yes." He answered briefly much to Zilian’s satisfaction.

"Malie has the other six, why isn't he using them?"

Blade shrugged unknowingly, "Father and I asked the same thing, we both could not figure out why either. We believe he has been using them discreetly, but is waiting to unleash their full power."

"Waiting you say. Why and when?"

"That is the problem, one question leads to another. Why or when, we do not know. But it must be soon considering how the Mountain is moving around a lot recently."

"More of a reason for us to leave as soon as possible." Zilian remarked.

He scoffed mildly, "To where? Across the ocean to another continent? And if we do, what if this war spreads all the way there too? Maybe it is more of a reason for us to make a stand instead."

Zilian remained silent, Blade was not going to let go of the argument if they contended and frankly, neither would Zilian himself.

Erica gracefully interrupted the conversation by yawning loudly and stretching, fully awakened at this moment as her joints popped. And not a moment too soon, they finally cleared out of the forest and stood on top a long hill that led to a river. Beyond the other side of that river was another forest, but the trees were different from the ones on this side. They looked like a pine, which was in contrast to the oak that they had been traveling through.

"Oh!" Erica exclaimed excitedly.

She opened her pack and dug inside of it searching for something, until she pulled a folded piece of paper. She opened it and traced her finger on it. "We're almost there!" She said.

"Kenplar you mean?" He asked.

"Yes." She affirmed.

"How much is almost?" He asked carefully, worried he might not like the answer.

"We'll be at the front gates of the Estate half a day's worth of walking and in front of the doors half an hour after that." She assured confidently.

He turned to face track again, pleased with the news, "Sounds good, so let’s get there now."

Blade looked up to the sky. "No, I think it is best if we camp here for the night."

"Why?" He argued.

He explained, "She said half a day worth. It will be dark in two hours, and navigating the dark through forest on the other side of that river would be difficult and dangerous. Best choice is to wait until early tomorrow."

Zilian looked up to the sky and saw he had a point, “Then we'll camp by the river then."

Blade agreed, "Sounds good to me."

They walked their way down the hill to the small sandy shore of the river line, setting camp there before they arrive their long awaited destination.