Chapter 2 Show me something

When Daxter had ambushed him from the bushes, Jak nearly, nearly made a sound. The fact that he was taken by surprise was amazing in itself. His hearing was the sharpest in the village, no one could catch him off guard. With the exception of his best friend, of course. Then again, Jak had been running, not listening. Daxter was just lucky enough to have found a hiding place large enough for him to squeeze himself into.

"You know Jak, I think you should get those ears of yours looked at. And you're getting slow!" Daxter tugged roughly on the end of his friend ear with a loud chuckle, snapping his fingers by his own ear. Jak only smiled that mischievous smile of his, then started running again with Daxter on his heels. Through all the excitement, however, Jak couldn't shake the feeling of being watched and followed.

Damas watched the scene play out. There was no way that was his son. Yet, he saw the similarities Jak had to Mar. The adventurous and daring attitude, the smile. The eyes. Amala recognized the boys eyes before anything else, her breath catching in her throat. Her eyes had widened to the size of saucer plates, if that was even possible. Jak even had the same hair color as Mar, at least the slight green tint at the roots.

"Damas," Amala said shakily, eyes now half lidded as she continued, "That's him. I know it. Its Mar." The two watched as the scene slowly faded out, the ethereal entity taking form before them once again. Xadret. Damas was still attempting to make sense of the name. And, as neither he nor Amala could come up with anything, they had silently agreed to speak with the monks. This was a spirit. Maybe they'd have something.

I have said so. You do not need to repeat my words. The spirit's words came out garbled, as if the entity were having trouble forming proper sentences and keeping its form stable, but remained silent and hurriedly continued. They call them Rift Gates. The people. Though most are gone. Destroyed. And I do not have energy to send anyone back. But I need help. Your help. You can warn them… you can…

Before the spirit could continue the door swung open to reveal the two normally statue-still guards, with wide eyes and panicked looks. In response, the spirit dissipated and melted into the candlelight before the two guards got a good look. Damas faced the guards with his deadliest stare, a question on its own. What had compelled them to barge in so rudely? To his and his wife's room?

"Sir, it's the Baron. He's launched a full scale attack on the city!" The first guard, visibly the youngest, had stepped forward and begun relaying information on the attack. The Baron, obviously, knew the weak points of the city and had used them to his advantage. "The rest of the guard was already barricading the front entrance when we got word of the attack."

Damas shook his head and, with a quick glance aimed toward the dim blue light, followed the two guardsmen down the hall to the war room. With every twitch of his fingers, the guards instantly knew their post. So long as they left room for him to fight, Damas was pleased with their need for combat. Should the Barons forces breach the front doors, he and forty-three of the greatest soldiers would take the pleasure of ending the siege.

The thought brought a smile to his lips, anticipation welling up inside him. He almost hoped for the battle, the failure of the city guards. Considering that, should he survive, he'd be the one to take the Barons head before his followers as well as his own people. He was the Ruler of Haven, not Praxis. Taking extreme measures was a mild act to him if it was enough to prove his power. He was not a tyrant. He just refused to look weak.

Damas rubbed the dark circles forming under his eyes and leaned forward against the rounded platform at the center of the room, the holographic map of the entire city piecing itself together one block at a time. Tiny red insect sized blips showed up on the map, the largest of the clumps appearing nearer to the wall of the city. Why would the Baron attack from the outside? Looks like he'd have to ask personally.

"So their attacking from the edges of the city rather than from within?" He repeated aloud, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "Smart. Wasn't what I was expecting. You two," He gestured to the guards who'd called him in, "I want snipers on the roof of every house, every factory-I want them now." Damas turned back when they scuttled off, listing off strategies to his generals and casually ignoring the wise words of his advisors.

Damas silently prayed to the Precursors for victory, then left the room to retrieve his own weapon. He was royalty, yes, but he was also a warrior.

"Did you see that, Jak? I was standing completely still and you missed! You distracted or something?" Daxter waved his hand in front of his friends face in an attempt to catch his attention, neither concerned nor worried but rather angry that he was no longer the center of attention. Jak remained frozen on the spot for a moment longer before shrinking away from Daxters hand.

Jak tilted his head and stared once again at the bushes, turning Daxters attention to the faint light emanating from behind the thickest of the bushes, pulsing softly. Seconds after Daxter had turned to look, the glow vanished completely and abruptly, startling the both of them. "The hell was that?" Daxter, being the cowardly daredevil that he was, took a few steps closer to the bush and prodded around for the source. Nohting

"You think that was blue eco? Minus the oh-so-painful sparks…"

Jak shook his head and turned away from the bush, lazily wandering toward the shore with Daxter skipping up behind him. "Jak?"

Daxters childhood friend would have answered, had it not been the voice growing louder within the space behind his eyes.

Hello Mar.

Im' so sorry for not making this as good as the first chapter. I'm trying to build things up slowly without making the chapters ridiculously long… Don't worry, things will get better in the next chapter! Promise!