REVELATIONS

He tightened the tendons in his arms, constricting his fingers into a fist and driving it into the table. the other figure was pacing up and down, shouting at him.

" We had them! Why in the hell did you do that, we had them right where we wanted."

The other figure paid zero attention to the other. he kept looking down on a wooden chessboard. he reached for the bishop and pinched the cross on its head, struggling to look for a place to put it. Scratching his chin he knocked down a pawn and replaced it with the bishop.

The other figure realized he was yelling at nobody, he turned to the other one and grabbed his cloak lifting him up in the air.

" Do you realize what you've done, and you still have the pleasure of playing that stupid game!" he tossed him aside and went over to the chessboard, giving it a crude kick that sent the figurines flying.

"No, you fool!! You've ruined the plan!" he got up dusting the soil off his gown.

"Me? ruined the plan... that's it bonehead you have drawn the last straw, I'm out of here." the figure walked out of the shack, out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by huge trees and thick fog.

" The plan did not account for the darkbender and the former commander coming back from the dead! We have to recalculate, plan a new way forward."

The figure knocked down the door of the rusty shack.

" For goodness sakes, you can use teleportation magic! did you have to knock down the door!"

" Yes, I had to! I used up a lot of my magic fighting that guy so until I get far away from you I have to regenerate, we got bigger things to worry about all thanks to you. Now if you'll excuse me I have some meditation to get back to." he took a step outside the shack and landed on the mushy ground. it swallowed his foot whole.

" And find another place to rendezvous you fool! Just because you're a witch doesn't mean you have to live in a swamp," he yelled back at him, trekking through the muddy ground. he then vanished into the woods, leaving the other figure behind scrapping for the dispersed figurines on the floor. He put them back on the board gently, cursing under his breath. The bloodstained bandage wrapped around his wrist untangled itself and hung out of his oversized sleeve. he was still mumbling to himself.

" Impossible, you were supposed to be dead you fool! I watched it consume you alive!!! a plan is not perfect until it's perfect. Urgh and that darkbender too, and that girl. She was definitely from North Angus, but what was she doing there? Wait...if the darkbender is still alive, then!!!" an idea finally hit him. Under that large hood, a chronic disturbing laugh echoed. he reached for the king and dragged him upfront, " his power shall be ours, everything will still go according to plan!!!"

BACK AT THE FOREST

"I'm not from here, I mean the Independent statest. I'm from outside the walls"

The bunch stared blankly at her as if she didn't say anything.

"Okay, now get to the real part," Slejj replied, breaking the awkward silence.

"I'm serious old man,"

Slejj choked back a laugh. " look kid I may be old but I'm not gullible. Those walls are like a million feet high and like a mile wide. and you're telling me that you just happened to have leisurely crossed them and settled in."

"Not exactly, Daito, you remember that night?"

"What night?" Daito tried to look confused but his face wasn't made for those kinds of expressions

FLASHBACK

Two people were running through the forest in panic. A mother and her daughter. Lora ran ahead of her mother. She reached back and grabbed her mother's hand and continued their sprint. Branches hit their sweaty faces and vines tried to choke them as they made their way towards a faint light at the edge of the valley, they were hoping it might be a village. Two vurhans were in hot pursuit of them, closing in rapidly. Lora's mother got her leg stuck between two roots sticking out of the ground. she couldn't get her body to stop, she was out of control, lunging forward she felt her ankle snap. she let got of Lora's hand and sprawled to the ground in excruciating pain

"MOTHER!!!"

"Don't worry about me, keep running!!" she held on to her left foot, fighting back the agony and tears. The pain was unbearable. Lora ran back to pick up her mother, a few feet from where her mother was laying a vurhan sprang forth from the shrubs. Another jumped towards her from her right. Lora hoisted her arms to protect herself, she knew she was moments away from her painful demise. Suddenly the vurhan attacking her mother changed trajectory and fell beside her wiggling in pain and missing the top half of its torso. Lora turned to her left, watching the figure cut through the air elegantly. Its arm was pointed at the vurhans direction and it was emitting a string of light blue embers. the figure finally turned its attention to Lora, wrapping its arms around her, lifting her off her feet. They made a full barrel turn in the air and the vurhan was now above them. it clearly missed its attack. they finally sprawled to the ground, tumbling down the sloppy field until they came to a stop. Lora looked up and noticed the vurhan landing in the spot where she stood. The figure wrapped its arms firmly around Lora and they both dissipated into fire specks. For a moment Lora's world turned black, all she could feel was the warm embrace of her savior. She heard a faint sound coming into focus, like a swarm of locusts. the forest burst into view once more and She found herself in an open field lying on her back as the figure was above her, its feint warm breath skid over her face. It then straightened to his feet and to began walking away "NO please you have to help my mother,....please!"

thte figure then stepped back and dissipated into fire specks. After a while, Lora heard violent wails of vurhans in close proximity. An astounding bang rippled through the air then the wails instantly died off. The figure reappeared, helping Lora's mother to walk as she limped. Lora rushed towards them and put her mother's arm around her shoulder

"Thank you." she faintly whispered to the mysterious figure, fighting back tears.

After a while the lights of flaming torches became visible from afar. It seemed like Lora's hunch was true, the lights at the edge of the valley was indeed a village. the lights came closer and closer and soon voices could be heard.

"No don't go please, I'll talk to them, I'll tell them that you saved us!"

The figure let go of Lora's mother and begun retreating into the woods. The howls of the townsmen become louder by the second. The figure was unconvinced the villagers would hear it out. It bolted straight into the cluster of trees and dissipated while running into the forest

"WAIT!!!... who... who are you?" Lora shouted back at him. The townsmen finally arrived, the figure long gone.