At first darkness, not a single beam of light to be seen. Then as if by some miracle the hill was brightly lit. A dirty blond boy, almost entering adulthood, sits at the base of the hill with his head down. He raised his head and a large tree appears at the top of the hill. Ungracefully he stood up and began rushing to the tree. As he gets closer his dark eyes land upon a boy sitting by the base of the tree. "Malcolm!" he shouted out to the boy. He ran as fast as his feet could carry him until he reached the boy. He reached out his hand for the boy "Come on, let's leave this place!" Malcom appears to be younger than the other boy, his hair is dark brown and his eyes as blue as the sky. "Leave Lanpoint, Pan will be here soon" Malcolm looked away from Lanpoint, in attempt to ignore his presence. Lanpoint refused to leave and knelt down putting his hands on Malcolm's shoulders. "Come on Malcolm!" Darkness. Darkness once again consumed everything. "Malcolm!" Lanpoint cried out amongst a mass of sounds that muffled his cry. After moments of intense sounds, silence. Lanpoint stayed still in fear, after an eerie moment of silence the sounds of a pan flute could be heard then the crowing of boys and silence. The light reappeared taking the hill back from the darkness. Lanpoint was alone. Malcolm taken away by the darkness, and then Lanpoint woke up.
He woke with a start "Malcolm!" he shouted as if a last attempt to save him. He sat upright in his bed; he looked over to the bed neighboring his own. It was empty. The room was small and bare, not really a home, just a place to sleep. Lanpoint fell backwards back into sleeping position and shut his eyes for a moment trying to make sense of his dream. The door burst open "Lanpoint! What's happening?" Malcolm stood at the end of the bed, he was much calmer then a moment ago realizing that Lanpoint just woke up. "Bad dream again?" Lanpoint nodded "Same one?" again Lanpoint nodded while covering his face with his hands, his elbows in the air. "That's tough. Well Jorah needs us to get to work. Says he's got lots for us to do" Lanpoint peeked out from behind his hands. He noticed that Malcolm's face was covered in sweat and grime "I took you away from your work" Malcolm looked down at the base of Lanpoint's bed. Lanpoint drowsily swung his feet to the floor. "Go on Malcolm. I'll be as quick as I can. No need to make it worse." Malcolm agreed and snuck out of their room.
Malcolm entered the small kitchen and quickly shuffled out into a room filled with metal and fire. He already felt as though a weight had been dropped on him making it harder to move. He went silently but not swiftly back to fire where he had been working before Lanpoint cried out. Lucky for Malcolm, Jorah was not in sight which most likely meant he had not noticed his disappearance from his duties.
After a while of working alone and he began to feel weak and weary, he heard someone come up behind him "I have been working this whole time" He expected cruelty instead of kindness, Jorah never listened to what either of the boys said. "You are awful at lying Malcolm. Here drink this, you could use it" Malcolm turned around to see his only friend in the world, Lanpoint, holding a cup of water. "I find there to be no need to lie when he doesn't even listen" Malcolm explained as he took the cup and drank from it as though it could be taken at any moment. Lanpoint began working next to Malcolm. Malcolm set the cup down and returned to his tasking chore.
After many, many hours of working with the coals and grime, Malcolm and Lanpoint were free of their torturous tasks. They left as quickly as they could out of fear that they would be given more tasks if they stayed a moment longer. Out on the streets, covered in sweat and grime, they ran to the closest river. By the time they arrived at the river it was shortly after mid-day. They appeared to be alone; they ran up to the water and began to clean their faces. "I went to that place in my dreams again" Malcolm bragged "I wish there was a way to be there for more than just the time while I sleep" Lanpoint looked at Malcolm, who was now looking longingly at the sky. "Or you could just sleep forever" Lanpoint joked. Malcolm laughed "That would make everything all too easy wouldn't it. It would be funner if I could be there while I am awake" Malcolm, now cleaned of the sweat and grime, fell backwards. He lay, feet in the water, and staring at the sky "to fly would be wonderful." Lanpoint, after finishing his wash, fell back and joined Malcolm in staring at the sky. "I would be scared to fly. What if you fell?" Lanpoint shared his concern. Malcolm, without even thinking about it, turned to Lanpoint and assured him "It you believe and have a touch of pixie dust, anything is possible" Lanpoint looked to the sky "I definitely do not believe" Malcolm's gaze went back to the sky then closed his eyes. Lanpoint glanced over and saw Malcolm's eyes closed, he looked back to the sky.
After moments of peace, the two boys sprang to their feet and headed to town. The streets were fairly dead with a few people passing them every now and again. As they walked they came upon an old man with three cards in front of him. "Young sirs! Will you humor an old man and play my game. It only costs one coin for you young lads" Malcolm eagerly accepted to play the old man's game "What kind of game is it?" "I like to call it 'follow the lady' I have three cards, two jokers and a queen. I while shuffle them about and you must show me where the lady went. If you win you get two coins and if you lose I keep your money. Fair?" "Sounds brilliant. I'm in" Malcolm pulled out on of his only coins. "Are you sure Malcolm? You only have so much" Lanpoint worried. "You say that like I'll lose" Malcolm boasted as he handed the man his money.
Malcolm pointed to a card and he was correct "I did it! I found the queen! And you were worried Lanpoint" the old man chuckled "You did very well boy. As promised here's double what you gave me" Malcolm took the money and the two boys walked on and came upon a small bakery. Malcolm went towards the door "Come on let's get something delicious" Lanpoint grabbed Malcolm by the shoulder; Lanpoint is only a few inches taller than Malcolm. "We haven't that kind of money Malcolm" "We'll make it work" Malcom slyly responded.
As they entered the bakery they looked about then at the same moment they both saw her, a girl in between their ages, with beautiful red hair and blue eyes. Her skin was fair and her face sprinkled with freckles. The girl wore a non-pristine dress; it had a white bodice with a red corset and a brown skirt. She stood behind the counter filling baskets with new bread. Both Lanpoint and Malcolm were in awe. Malcolm walked over to the counter, "Hello I would like to buy some doughnuts. One for me and one for my friend" The girl looked up and smiled at the two of them "that will be four coins" she sung happily as she put two doughnuts into a bag. Malcolm looked into his pockets and saw only three coins. "Seems I might not have quite that amount. Put them back I am terribly sorry to have troubled you" Malcolm explained and as she began putting them back, with her back to him he grabbed two buns and threw one back to Lanpoint and shoved the other in his pocket. Lanpoint, caught off-guard barely had time to catch and put the bun into his pocket. "It's no trouble. At least it gave me moments of conversation rather than standing here alone with nothing to do" She responded then turned around, not noticing the theft. "Please have nice day gentlemen" She smiled, and when she did so she entranced the two boys for a moment. She looked down and continued to put new bread in the baskets. Lanpoint replied "and you have a wonderful day as well miss." The two boys exited the bakery with their stolen goods.