“Scy, wake up.”

“Huh? Wha? Who’s there?”

“It’s me, Venus. Meet me outside.”

“Ok. Gimme a bit.”

Scy got up groggily. He shook his head trying to focus. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. He got up off the floor of the cabin and walked outside. Venus was there with Blast and Flare. They were getting the horses ready. “C’mon we should leave early. Saddle up your horse and wake up Sui and Typhlo.” Scy nodded and untied his horse. He saddled it. He then walked back in the cabin. Whoomp. “What the!?” Parduseye was on top of Scy. Parduseye growled, she then noticed it was a friend and got off. “Didn’t mean to scare ya there girl.” Scy walked over to Typhlo. He shook the man getting him up. He then went to Sui and gently woke her up.

Outside they were all dressed in their armor and saddled the horses. “I already left Purity a thank you note on the table. Let’s get going to Nickleborn.” The group silently slipped away with Foreigner trailing behind them.

“Take me down to Nickleborn city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty!” sung Scy, Blast, Typlo, and Flare. They had a whole song made up for Nickleborn. Venus and Sui stayed a bit behind them listening to their attempts at singing. Sui sighed, “Are they always like that?”

“Scy and Blast? Usually when they are around guys. They can be pretty wild sometimes. Once or twice I’ve had to drag them out of a could be fight or bar.” Sui laughed, “Sounds like Typhlo. You cannot drag that man away from a woman or bar. Put the two together and he’s there ‘till the roosters crow.” It was Venus’ turn to laugh. “So, why did you join the knights Sui?”

“Oh it’s a long story.”

“We’re not getting to Nickleborn untill late tomorrow maybe the day after.”

“Ok then, well there was this guy. He was the local bully of our town. He was a little horror. He kept putting people down again and again. I got fed up with him. I wished so bad to put him in his place. I joined the knights not because of him. There was another reason. The other reason was that my dad wanted a boy. Well, it was only me. So, I wanted to make him proud.”

“Ah I see.”

“Why did you join the knights?”

“Because of those two up there.” Venus nodded towards Scy and Blast. “We have known each other for a long time. At the tests we met. And to tell you the truth I liked one of them.”

“Who?”

“Well, Blast has the kind heart like his brother. Blast is a bit uhh how should I say this. He’s a bit quick to act and slow to think. He also goes through women like water sometimes.”

“Ah, so Scy then?”

“Yeah. Although he doesn’t know it.”

“HEY SCY!” yelled Sui.

“Shut up Sui.” said Venus trying to push her of the horse. “Nothing Scy!” Venus shouted. Scy shrugged and turned around. “Sui, you better not do that again!” Both of them laughed and talked on about other things on the trek to Nickleborn.

“Well, what mad you decide to join the knighthood Scy?”

“Well, it was more of a pact Blast and I made. Our father was a knight, he died protecting the crystal. We decided we would honor him and become knights too.” Scy said. Blast nodded in agreement. “Why did you join the knights Typhlo?” Scy asked. Typhlo leaned back a bit and said, “Well, to tell you the truth I am in here for punishment. I was caught trying to steal a sword from a knight. They warned me. I then tried to take a sword and an armor to sell. Well, they caught me and forced me into this knighthood so I could have my own sword and armor. Then again, that was about 20 years ago.”

“Ah I see. Hmmm..” Scy looked up at the sun. “Lunch break!” he yelled. Everyone stopped. They headed off to the side of the rough trail and unpacked. Foreigner ran off hunting, maybe something else. That darn wolf would go off every now and then. Sui and Venus volunteered to make the lunch. It was something simple. A piece of flat bread with some mashed peanuts or fruit. It was a good energizer, had the sugar and carbs for energy. Venus handed Typhlo his lunch. She asked what Flare wanted on his. He declined and pulled out his pouch of jerky. He selected a nice sized stick and chewed on it. “So, where do you guys think we are?” Flare asked.

“Well, I know we are getting close.” Venus said handing Scy his lunch. “Up ahead there is a nice campsite.” She looked up at the sky. “Yeah, we’ll go on for acouple more hours. We’ll reach a nice spot. There is a river running next to it, so we can clean up a bit and get some water.” The group ate in silence. Then Foreigner came running out of the brush. He was carrying a dead rabbit. Behind him a familiar feline ran. Foreigner was hauling butt. He tried all he could to get that rabbit away from Parduseye. Finally he stopped to catch his breath. Parduseye walked up and took his rabbit. Wham! Foreigner attacked Parduseye forgetting that he was tired. He was gnawing on Parduseye’s side when a familiar voice yelled, “Parduseye! Get your sorry hide back here! You know better that taking food from other animals. Jeez people will think I don’t feed you at all!” Purity stumbled out of the brush twigs were stuck in her long red hair. She looked like a hurricane hit her. She then saw Scy and the group and smile. “So, it looks like Parduseye wasn’t just taking food from an animal. Sorry,” She said. Foreigner jumped off Parduseye and took his rabbit. He trotted over to the group and lied down next to Scy. Pure talked with the group. After half an hour she said goodbye and walked off with Parduseye back into the forest. The group saddled up and left as well.

That night the group stayed at the spot Venus talked about earlier. They all fell asleep pretty quick. Venus woke up. She walked over to the river to get a drink. She sat at the edge of the river lit by moonlight. The sounds of the night engulfed her. She couldn’t sleep. Something was troubling her. She couldn’t figure out what though. She remembered a dream she had a while ago. She saw Scy with someone else. A woman, but not her. They were laughing and talking. Then she saw a huge wasteland. On the wasteland Scy was standing in front of a shadow. The shadow was telling him to choose something. If he didn’t agree someone he loved would die. Scy shook his head no. Blast’s body appeared in front of him on the floor. Scy stared in horror. He tried to fight the shadow, but he couldn’t. Scy then nodded his head sadly. His armor turned a dark black and red. It was covered in a shell. The shell cracked open and Scy walked out. He had an unusual look on his face. A dark aura surrounded him. He grinned wickedly and walked with the shadow into the darkness. Behind him a pale spirit wept for his decision. Venus cried herself to sleep near the river. She had a bad feeling about this...