C17

"Damn you!" he roared silently, "why did this have to happen all of a sudden?"

He clenched his fists tight around each other as he glared furiously at the ground below them all of a sudden, and his breath caught sharply in his throat all of a sudden as something shifted beneath them all of a sudden. Hadn't the sand shifted under their feet before? They were walking on top of the sand, after all, and they could have sworn that they were standing on the same spot earlier before. Why was it now that it seemed to shift underneath their very own feet all of a sudden? Was it because they were so exhausted that their senses weren't functioning quite right anymore? It wasn't impossible either that they had wandered into some sort of trap that they hadn't seen coming until it was too late either. It was entirely possible that they weren't walking onto solid ground at all. Could they be walking into a pit of quicksand all of a sudden? He had never heard of such a thing, but it certainly wasn't beyond the realm of possibility either. Traps were entirely possible out here in this wilderness, after all, if they hadn't learned anything so far. All of a sudden, he was terrified that he might have walked into such a trap all of a sudden, and so, the young man turned to his friends for help at once.

"What is it all of a sudden, Kip?" the young woman asked as she looked closely at him all of a sudden, and he gasped as he recognised the sound of her voice all of a sudden. Her name was Sarah, after all, and he remembered her instantly as he turned to look at his friend. She was one of the most beautiful women in the world, after all, and he had always found herself drawn to her ever since the moment they met all of a sudden. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't known exactly how many years ago that was at first. He would have laughed aloud at himself if he could muster up enough energy for the task, but he couldn't. He just wanted to sleep at the moment anyways if only for a short while, so he didn't bother with asking himself why it bothered him so much all of a sudden anyways.

"Sarah…"

"Don't you dare laugh," Sarah warned him gently with a faint smile upon her face as she placed a hand upon his cheek and gazed fondly into his eyes with love, "it will be okay."

"I won't," he promised with a wry grin as he stared back into her familiar eyes, "but I wish you would tell me what we're doing out here anyways. You should know what happened last time, shouldn't you? We went into a forest full of trees the last time, remember?"

"We do, and so, you'll need your strength for whatever lies ahead anyways," she replied softly as though reading his mind again, and he smiled gratefully up at her as she kissed him lovingly upon his lips. It felt so wonderful, after all, to kiss this beautiful woman once more after so long. He had missed being able to speak with her all of a sudden, after all, but he was glad that she hadn't stopped loving him despite his constant silence throughout their journeys together after all. It showed how strong their relationship truly was, after all, that neither of them would have given up on their relationship after everything that they had gone through. And perhaps that was what he loved about them both in particular: they wouldn't let their pasts affect their futures all of a sudden, even if their lives had taken them down different paths. No matter what, they still managed to find a way back to each other all of a sudden, and that had to mean something after all. It meant that there really were miracles out there, and so, the young man drew comfort from it in the meantime. It wasn't easy to accept it all of a sudden, after all, but it certainly helped to hear the truth out loud all of a sudden, and it made him realise that he had been wrong all of a sudden. He had believed that there was no hope left for him all of a sudden, but he had been dead wrong all of a sudden. There definitely were miracles out there all of a sudden after all, and so, he took heart from that.

"Thank you for telling us the truth," he said to the beautiful young woman, and she nodded happily in response. It warmed him inside to see the love in her eyes all of a sudden, and he smiled proudly as he held her closer to him. He knew that she had never loved anyone else all of a sudden, and he couldn't blame her for falling in love with him regardless of his personality flaws, after all. It wasn't every man that had such an amazing girlfriend, after all; and it certainly was difficult to stay faithful to someone who constantly kept trying to kill you by any means necessary all the time too. In fact, only the strongest men could survive against her, and he supposed that it had something to do with her being the most powerful witch that she was as well as the most dangerous assassin as well as the most skilled fighter. The young woman was incredible in every sense of the word, and he admired her greatly all of a sudden. Perhaps she deserved better than he did by any means whatsoever as well, and she probably had more potential than he would ever have imagined.

Perhaps she had spent so long fighting alone simply because he had chosen to keep quiet in fear, and he shook his head lightly at the mere notion. How could he possibly leave her all of a sudden, even if he wished that he hadn't? She was the greatest gift that the gods had given him, after all, and so, the young man had grown used to calling himself the luckiest bastard alive all of a sudden. He had been given the great honour to share his life with one of the most incredible people that he had ever known in his entire lifetime, after all, and he was determined not to let her go for good no matter what the cost might be. He would rather die himself than lose the best person in his life as well as his partner just as easily as he could imagine losing her forever out of sheer stupidity all of a sudden, and so, he swore silently to himself that he would make up for all those lost opportunities in the future as well.

"How far are we from the next town?"

The young woman sighed as she pulled away from him and stared into his eyes with sorrow, and the young man frowned at her words. He hadn't meant to hurt her, but he had meant it in light humour. He hadn't expected things to take a turn towards sadness all of a sudden, after all, but they usually had whenever they had come across towns along their travels, and it didn't seem as though this trip was going to be any exception. He wondered idly if there were even enough food or water for them at least in these parts, and he glanced around at the dry plains and deserts surrounding them all of a sudden as they continued walking onward. It hardly looked as though there was anywhere to hide their horse as well, but he didn't want to ask about that just yet. For now, they needed rest and shelter over everything else, especially considering how tired he felt all of a sudden, so he just hoped that she didn't plan on taking them into battle all of a sudden if he could help it.

"I'm sorry," he apologised quickly once more as soon as he realised that he had inadvertently offended her again, "but I can barely think straight anymore."

"Yes, you can," Sarah told him gently once more as she placed her hand upon his cheek once more, "you can still fight. You've been training hard for this, after all, haven't you?"

He swallowed heavily at the sight of her warm smile, and the young man smiled back at her as best as he could manage all of a sudden. If only she had been born with a different father, he mused to himself bitterly at the mere thought, then perhaps his mother would have married a decent man instead. A man like his own stepfather for instance…or even the king perhaps? Then perhaps his mother would have had a better husband, but he shook his head slightly to rid himself off such thoughts. That wasn't important right at the moment though, after all, so he just focused his attention once again on their journey onwards at the moment. This new development hadn't changed much, after all, and this new town certainly sounded like somewhere that they had to get themselves to all of a sudden. He tried to remember if the place had an inn or something similar as well, but it was already too late for that in a manner of speaking all of a sudden. They were too close for him to do anything at the moment too. They were too close for him to even consider turning back, and so, the young man gritted his teeth in determination as he forced himself onward. He couldn't afford to fall behind her in the slightest, after all, and besides, it was obvious to him that she had more experience in this field than he did anyways. Besides, she was stronger than him anyway, and she had certainly proven herself as a capable fighter too often for him to doubt it for a second too. So, she must be the leader for the time being, after all, and she had proven it in many ways too.

"So, where do we go exactly?"

"North-east," she replied simply as she gestured forward with her thumb, "we're looking for the next town, and it's in the direction of its location."

"Okay…"

They walked for a few more hours before they finally reached their destination, and he couldn't believe his eyes as soon as they had arrived. They stood upon a cliff that overlooked the valley below them, and he could see thousands of buildings spread out beneath them in every direction as far as his eyes could see, and he frowned deeply at the sight. His senses suddenly picked up another presence nearby all of a sudden, however, and he immediately turned to face them as he tensed up. He could sense two dragons flying overhead all of a sudden, and he stiffened up when he heard one of them growl threateningly all of a sudden, and he could see both of them circling above them all of a sudden as they landed upon the ground beside him with a roar.

"What are you doing here all of a sudden?" the largest dragon demanded harshly as he glared down at them all of a sudden. "You know the law! You will obey!"

The other dragon nodded angrily as he growled lowly all of a sudden, and he could feel the threat coming from both dragons all of a sudden as both of them stepped forward menacingly all of a sudden. It was clear that both of them were angry, so he wasn't surprised that the other dragons were furious all of a sudden too, after all; they had been hunting for humans without permission after all, so they should have known better than anyone else that this was forbidden territory after all. He knew that the other dragons were likely to attack if they had been discovered after all, so he was glad that they had decided to warn him beforehand. It was rare that the dragons ever spoke amongst themselves after all, after all, so it was fortunate that they had spoken first. He wasn't sure whether they were friends or enemies after all, after all, so he didn't want to risk getting his tail bitten off after all either. He was lucky that they had warned him in advance after all. He couldn't afford to antagonise the dragons any further after all. He had to show respect and obedience for now in order to survive this ordeal, so he just bowed his head low and kept his mouth shut as he stared at the ground all of a sudden. He had to play the role of the obedient servant as best as possible, after all. The Dragons would certainly eat him if he dared disrespect them even a little bit, after all, and he shuddered involuntarily at the thought.

"We are travellers," he explained in a hushed tone all of a sudden, "and we wish to reach the next town as soon as we possibly can."

Both of the dragons growled as they stepped forwards aggressively, and the young man winced in fear all of a sudden as he saw the anger burning in their golden eyes all of a sudden, and he was thankful that the other dragons hadn't noticed the change in atmosphere between him and them. If they had recognised his fear, then it would have been all over for them, so he kept silent as best as he could all of a sudden.

"Where are your parents?" the smaller dragon asked suspiciously, "who is watching over you all of a sudden? What do you mean by 'as soon as we can' too? Do you intend to cause trouble all of a sudden too?"

The young man swallowed heavily at the sight of their fierce expressions, and he hesitated momentarily at the question before he finally sighed and shook his head lightly.