Nistria

by Gareto

A boy,and outcast to society, meets a princess with a kind heart. They meet, not knowing that they are crucial to keep balance between good and evil. Vampires, a forbiden love, a demonic arm, and a rising evil that the boy himself can defeat.

2. Volume 2

The Nistria Trilogy

Book 1

The Prophecy

By: Garrett Williams

Volume 1 (Chapters 1-6)

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Prologue

Jason dashed in the woods, letting the rain drip onto his dark hood. The water fell onto his dark hair and dripped onto the ground. He was running so fast, the trees appeared as a blur, and the trees seemed to be moving instead of him. He clenched his fist tightly. Why did I have to be so stupid? He thought to himself, dodging the trees and other objects that got in the way. "Jason!" a voice called behind him. He peered behind him and saw Nicole, limping toward him, trying to keep up with the speed that Jason was going (She usually would beat Jason in any race or running contest, but her feet where burnt)

"Stay away from me! Haven't I've already done enough?" Jason screamed louder, picking up his speed. The rhythm of the drops of rain matched the sound of Jason's frequent footsteps. He clenched his teeth. Hot tears slowly streamed down his eyes, mixing with the rain to make one big drop of water. "Jason, it's not your fault! I shouldn't have said what I said!" she said back. Jason ignored her. On the inside he knew that he should turn around. But he could never bring himself to doing it. And with that, he was gone.

"Why did Jason have to be such an idiot?" Nicole screamed at John, eyes red, obviously from a sleepless night. John nodded. "That was quite stupid of the boy. He is in fact, our secret in winning this war." Nicole sighed. Kin just stared into the dark morning sky. This is nothing like Jason. He must've done something last night. I can't help to think that Nicole is hiding something. Nicole's head was down, in thought. Kin glanced at her. Her face was covered with guilt. "Nicole, did anything happen last night?" Kin asked in curiosity. Nicole glanced up. "Um…. no way! I was asleep the whole time!" she said quickly. Kin looked at her in the eye. Her eyes almost screamed guilty. "Okay then, just checking." Nicole sighed in relief. I guess it was kind of my fault. I know it was. I just had to scream at him. I'm such an idiot. Nicole glanced at the small sparks of fire that was left from last night. The sparks made a light rhythm that jingled into Nicole's head. Kin then stared down at her leg. She was covering it up, having a cloth wrapped around it. Got you! "So, Nicole!" he said, exaggerating Nicole. Nicole peered up. "What?" Kin pointed to the cloth. "Why do you have that cloth around your leg?" Nicole's eyes suddenly twitched. "Um…, a snake must've bit my leg while I was sleeping, so I put a cloth around it." she lied. Kin raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Well can I see the wound?" Nicole's eyes widened, now getting larger than ever. "Um… well I don't think I should. I mean it looks real ba-'' John glanced at Kin. "Stop bugging the girl, she, after all, got you out of slavery." Kin nodded. He then gave the look to Nicole, the one that said 'I'm on to you' There was a silence for a little bit. "So are we going to search for him" Nicole asked, coming out of her trance. "Aye lass, we shall start at day break. But you need your rest. You must have not of gotten that much sleep yesterday. You must rest." Joshua said, now laying his axe upon the tree while chugging down some ale. Nicole nodded. She didn't notice the bags that laid under her eyes. She must have been up all night thinking of Jason. She didn't know when she was going to tell them about what Jason has done to her leg. Now wasn't the time obviously. She would have to wait.

Chapter 1 Jason's beginning

Jason sprinted into the city, trying not to bump into the merchants that were selling things there. Screams were heard behind him as he put his cape over his head. "Hey, get back here!" screamed a fat person behind him, holding a butcher knife in his hand. He had a white butcher hat on and blood on his shirt (obviously from slaughtering meat).

"Ha-ha, you've got to get me first!" screamed Jason, looking behind. He held a bread stick in his right hand and a chicken bone on his left. He leaped over a cow and dashed through a crowd of girls. They all shouted words and curses that if I named in this book, your parents probably wouldn't let you read it. Jason squeezed past a tight alley and drifted back into the streets. He swung himself side to side and sprung up in the air, trying not to trip over a pile of boxes. He skinned the ground and then, fluently, did a front flip over a cow. It mooed and then continued standing there, amazed.

He then shifted onto an alley, and skit the wall and bounced off, landing on the next brick and then jump off again.

"How does that kid do it?" the chef whispered to himself. He then peered around, shifting his head left and right. Where's a ladder or something? He thought to himself. He then peered at a wooden ladder, lying near a trash can. "Alright you little rat, here I come!"

Jason huffed and puffed and jumped to the next rooftop (being this story in another fantasy realm, kind of like our Europe, they haven't evolved as much as we have so the rooftops aren't as spaced out) "Oh my god, that fat guy just doesn't quit, does he?" Jason asked himself. He then stopped, put his hand on his knee, and then laid down. The aroma of pastries and slaughtered meat blended in to make a musky smell. The city was covered with a light fog, and a light rain drizzled upon the land. Jason sighed. "Wow, this place isn't really that fun." Jason complained. He then got up, went to the edge of the rooftop, and spread his arms out. Wet rain water dripped down from his face and the calm wind blew his shirt upward. He stared off into the sky and then closed his eyes.

Suddenly, a hand peered from the edge of the rooftop-a chubby one to be exact- and the chef slowly pulled himself up. "I got you now you little kid!" the chef screamed, grabbing Jason's leg. "Hey, get off of me!" Jason screeched, kicking his leg around. "Kid, I swear if you kick me I'll…." Jason grinned. "Kick you off? I wasn't going to do that, but that's a good idea!" Jason joked. Suddenly, the chef's eyes widened. "You wouldn't!" Jason's grin even became larger and his smile stretched across his face. "I wouldn't would I?" Jason joked again. And then it happened. Jason shifted his foot up, then picked and picked it back, exaggeratingly. "Oh my god, please don't do it!" the chef screamed. "Don't think I won't tubby, I'm real tempted to" Jason said in an exaggeration of an evil voice. The chef's heart bolted rapidly. Beads of sweat drifted down his face. "Oh my god, please don't kill me! I have can barely survive off a minimum wage of being a mediocre merchant! Don't end my life now!" The chef screamed. Oh my gosh, this guy's such a wimp! Jason thought to himself. "Well, I guess it won't matter that much if you're dead then, now would it?" Jason continued to joke. "Oh please, don't" Jason winked, and then sprung his leg just over the chef's head, just hitting his white top hat. "Oh my god!" the chef screamed and then let go, and scream as he descended. And then, looking real stupid, he laid on a patch of manure. The stench of the 'cow patties' made his eyes water and turn red. Jason screamed from above. "You fat idiot! We weren't that high. Oh yeah, hope you have fun scraping of the cow crap from your chef hat!" He chuckled and then sprung down from the rooftop and started sprinting away.

"My chef's cap! That's the cap my mum gave to me!" The chef slung his crap-cap onto the ground. "You rotten kid, once I get to you I'm going to strangle you!" the chef shouted, slowly getting up from the cow manure that surrounded him. "Well you got to catch me first fatty!" Jason screamed as he spun around a corner. The chef screamed and swung his body weight over and dashed toward Jason in a swift foot stepping movement. The concrete crushed as he tore the ground with blinding fast speed. "Wow, this fat guy can run. I wonder if he uses potions." Jason mumbled to himself. Jason peered around, while still frequently moving his feet. "Hey, are you using a potion??" Jason asked as the chef shook the ground. "What?!" the chef screamed at him as he panted. "I said, are you using a pot-'' then it happened. He ran into a girl and slowly crashed onto the ground.

"Ow! My head! You need to pay more attention lad-'' Their eyes met. She looked about the same age as Jason, maybe about a year older. She wore a blue skirt, and had a white tunic on as well. Her hair was braided, and she had a nice smell. "I'm... sor" Then a scream was heard behind him. He then shook himself, got back up, and then started running again. "Wait!" the girl screamed into the distance. But it was too late. He was gone in a flash, and all that was left, was a white glove.

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"Alright, this has gone on long enough!" screamed Jason. He then peered behind him and let out his right hand behind him swiftly. "Take this!" he said as he snapped his finger. Suddenly, a rumble was heard and fire erupted from his hand! It shifted and swirled, and a giant inferno swallowed a whole city block! The chef screamed and swung his self backward and dashed past a group of people and ran back into his shop. "HA-Ha!" Jason laughed, and then skipped, carrying a loaf of bread and some meat. His hand was defected, and it throbbed with every footstep. It was brown, starting from his hand to his shoulder. "Darn it, it's grown!" he screamed at himself. "The way this is going my whole skin's going to be brown by next month!' he complained. "This is all that stupid Rith's doing. I swear, if I see that stupid General again I'm going to rip my arm off his body and get my arm back!"

Jason sprinted back to his usual place- a corner a back alley- and sat down by a trash can. "Hey, Skipper, I got some food from the usual." Suddenly, a shadow came out of a corner in the alley and out came a white dog, about as big as a wolf, with a frequently wagging tail. The dog let out a bark. "Well I got bread and chicken….well you know what, just hurry up and eat it."Jason demanded, reaching the breadstick to him. The dog sniffed it, and then took a bite out of it. It munched it slowly then continued chewing on it. Jason let out a sigh. "I remember the times when mother was alive, when she use to tell me how the earth was created, and the betrayal of this one evil guy who plotted on ruling the world, but got defeated by this one good guy who apparently is all tough and stuff." Jason told Skipper. It wagged its tail, totally ignoring what Jason just said and staring at the large piece of meat. "How did the story go again?" He whispered to himself. He rubbed his chin slowly. "You know what, I totally forgot. I'm going to have to steal that book from the library across town" Jason whispered to the dog. The dog wagged his tail and barked. Jason giggled and then peered up onto the sky.

Jason climbed onto a rooftop and peered at a blanket at the far right corner of his eye. He crawled down to it and picked it up. Under it laid a framed picture of a young woman with sparkling long, dark, hair and bright blue eyes. Jason stared at the picture. "She sure did look beautiful back then, didn't she?" Jason asked the dog. It barked and then took a chunk out of the meat that was left over. He laid the picture down and turned to a pillow. "Well, I guess good night Skipper", Jason said, turning his head to the pillow. The dogs wagged his tail and lie next to him, and let out a yawn. Then Jason laid his eyes. And all turned dark.

***

Nicole sat on the rooftop-the one right above the balcony to be exact-and swung her feet with the frequent movements of the whistling air that surrounded her. "It feels so nice up here, huh Gloria?" A cat laid by her and meowed. It purred and rubbed against Nicole. She sighed. A group of birds flew through the night, chirping a sweet melody as they glided through the air in a triangular form. "Sometimes, I wish I could be like the birds in the sky. They're not restricted by the laws of gravity and come somehow swift into the air" Gloria meowed and clawed at one of the birds that apparently drifted too close her. She sighed again. "One day I'll escape from this castle-heck; I would like to escape from this whole city, but who knows when that'll happen" She then stared off into the black winter sky, ignoring the wind that whipped around her face. "But in the mean time, I should enjoy my life in this city" she said, hopping off the rooftop and back onto the balcony. Gloria then backed up, and then leaped off, landing, like Nicole, on the balcony. She then peered into her room, which was not like most tween girls at that age. It had a master bedroom with a smooth pillow and a red blanket with it. A rosy aroma filled the room, obviously from many exotic plants. The room was filled with unicorn wallpaper, and a very wide closet laid in the room as well. "Well, I guess it's about time for me to go to sleep then." Nicole said, heading toward her bed. She dashed to her bed and peered down. A white glove laid next to her pillow. It had the name Jason on it. "Oh crap! That one guy I bumped into!" Nicole picked the glove up. "Guess I'm going to have to give this back to him, huh Gloria?" The cat meowed and leaped right next to her. A candle laid beside Nicole. "Good-Night Gloria" Nicole said, fixing the red blanket over her body. And then she blew the candle out.

Chapter 2 Jason's Past

"Jason……Jason……" whispered a distant voice. "Huh….who's there?"Jason whispered back. He saw a blurry image of a girl in a dangling blue shirt, with a ponytail sticking up. She had the smell of roses, and held something pure white in her hand. She looked about the age of twelve-about his age- and held an umbrella in her other hand. She was tan, and had a perfectly formed face. "M….Mum?" Jason stuttered. The girl then made a confused expression on her face. "Mum? I'm not your mom" the girl responded. Jason stared at the blurry image of her, confused. "Then……who are you?" he asked. The girl then giggled and tapped Jason in the head with the umbrella. "I'm Nicole sleepy head!"

"Um… thanks for giving me my glove back!" Jason said, slowly putting on the glove. "No problem!" Nicole responded. She stared at the scars and bruises that laid on his body. "So, um, where's your home?" Jason peered at the alley and noticed that this wasn't the best place to live at. "Uh… this is my home!" Jason responded back, putting both of his arms high in the air. "Well, just for now at least" Nicole's eyes widened. "Wait, so you're saying you're a traveler?!But you're so young! "Nicole said excitedly. Jason peered down at his arm. "Well…..you could say I am….." Jason held his arm up high, making a swish sound. "I wouldn't be one if it weren't for this arm" Nicole gasped. His arm was dark brown, and the brown infection started from his right hand to his right shoulder. "What happened?" she asked, trying to keep her eyes off the arm. Jason turned around. "Why do you care anyway? Why are you even still here? I'm glad you gave me my glove back but….." Nicole clutched his shoulder. "Well since I did you a favor, then you should do me a favor by telling me what happened to your arm." She giggled. "Okay….I'll tell you…." Jason said slowly.

***

"Uncle, uncle, Kin is going to the woods, can I come?"Jason asked, jerking the old arm back and forth. His uncle let out a slight chuckled. "Jason, you know you're too young to go in the woods. Your brother is getting meat for the family, he is not going there to simply have fun and play in the woods." Jason rolled his eyes. "But all I'm going to do is follow him around. I won't get in his way and I won't slow down his pace" Jason complained, making puppy dog eyes. His uncle rubbed his gray beard and then let a grin. "Bring your brother here, if he's not already left, and I'll think about it." Jason grinned and then, with a 'Thank you', without hesitation, sprinted out of the wooden cabin.

Jason breathed deeply as he sprinted past a bunch of acme ridden tweens (back in those times, they didn't have acme cream, so most people with acme had to go out with their lives with the disturbing blemishes. Jason pushed aside a merchant and leaped over a pile of boxes. "Where the heck did he go?"Jason asked, now slowly walking on the pavement. He scanned across the small village and peered everywhere he could creep his eyes into. After many searches and peering through many boxes, he slumped down onto the wall, shrugging down on it. He let out a sigh and then bit into an apple. "I guess he's not in the town. Must've already left to go off in the woods." Suddenly, a grin formed his face. "Well, it's not like he has to know I'm not here" Jason schemed, trying not to giggle out loud. And with that, he dashed out, out toward the gate where the forest was.

"Jason, how could you?" Nicole said, amazed at what he just told her. "You know you weren't supposed to go there!" Jason rolled his eyes. "I was ten back then, what was I suppose to do?" Jason said, using an excuse. "Well, you could have followed orders like your uncle said you should" Jason, yet again, rolled his eyes. "You sound just like my mother. In fact, you look like her too" Jason said, studying her appearance. "Oh really? Was your mum pretty?" She asked, blushing. Jason, just as her, blushed also. "Um… I think I should get back to the story" Nicole nodded and then focused her eyes on Jason.

Jason sped past some leaves and trickled over a pile of sticks. The only sunlight that was shone was the light that rarely crept through the cracks of branches that lead out a small amount of space, making thin beams of light shine out, and the beams of light got smaller as he walked. "Kin?!" Jason said, calling out. Jason leaped over a log and tried not to step on a snake. "Kin?!" Jason screeched again, this time a bit more loudly. Jason sighed. "It was stupid for me to come all this way outside the forest. I should've known I couldn't find him in this big amount of space. I better go or Uncle's going to kill me, and mom would probably kill me next." Jason whispered to himself.

Suddenly, he heard a clank of a blade, crashing down on a chunk of wood. "What was that?"Jason asked himself, sprinting toward the sound. He sprinted toward a wide open field, with a teen, looking at the age of sixteen, holding a blade and swinging it onto the chunks of wood. "Kin!" He shouted, sprinting toward him. "Jason?" His brother whispered to himself as Jason crashed in front of him. "Hey Kin, what are you doing. I thought you where suppose to be getting food for supper. Why are you swinging that sword around at wood except at animals?" Kin blushed. "Well…..what are you doing here? I thought I told Uncle Luke to not to let you come" Jason rolled his eyes. "Well you still haven't answered my question!"Jason complained.

Kin sighed. "Okay, I had the meat with me, it was an easy kill, but a bear stole my food and I knew I couldn't come home without it so I began searching for the bear, but I couldn't find him, so I got bored and I just stuck out here, practicing my blade skills." Jason burst out laughing, tears streaking from his eyes. "Ha-ha, you lost your food to a dumb old bear!" Jason joked, pointing his finger at Kin with one hand and holding his ribs with the other. "Ha-ha, real funny. You're laughing at my irony." Jason suddenly stopped laughing and wiped the tears off his face. "Tell you what." He said, nudging his brother on his arm with his elbow. "I'll buy you some meat from the merchant since I know you have no coins."Jason said, with a big grin forming at his face. Kin shook his head. "This wasn't only for the meat, this was for honor, and the hunt, and the lust for the kill!" He said, raising his sword high in the air. "Okay, so I guess you don't want the meat." Kin shook his head panicky. "I never said that. But if you give me the meat, what do you want; because I know you're not just going to let me buy something with your money scot free, without me giving you something."

"Well…." Jason said, stretching out the 'ell' in the word well. "I always did want to know how to use a blade." Jason said winking. "Okay then, you buy the meat, and I show you a lesson on the art of the blade!" Kin said trying to impersonate a Japanese person's voice. "Um…okay, now show me how to use a blade!" Kin nodded. "Okay, here we go! Ready for lesson one?"Kin asked. Jason nodded. "Okay, Lesson one……….."

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The stars twinkled in the night sky. Kin's blade bathed in the moonlight as he crashed the sword onto a chunk of wood. "Lesson fifteen, aggressive attacking" Jason stared at his brother in amazement, and then peered down at the chunk of wood. "Holy crap! How did you do that?" Jason screamed excitedly, staring at the split piece of wood that laid in front of him. Kin grinned. "It's all in the wrist!" he said, shoving his blade back in its sheath. The sheath was light brown, and had an engraved pattern of a rose on it. The blade shared the same insignia and pattern as the sheath, except the blade was silver and shone in the moonlight. Wow, he's amazing! Jason thought, examining his brother. Kin basically looked the same as Jason; they both had a dark shade of black hair, and had dark blue eyes and crystal white teeth. On the other hand, Kin had extremely large muscles, and he wore a dark mail and shaggy brown pants.

"Really? Well than that should be easy!" Jason said, reaching into his brother's sheath. "Hey, what are you doing?!" Kin said, reaching back for his blade. "Don't worry Kin, I've got this!" Jason jerked Kin's arm away then swiftly brought up the blade in the air, making a swift noise like a bee. "Pass me a block of wood, Kin" Jason said, peering toward him. Kin sighed. "Okay, but if you hurt yourself, I'm not defending you when mum screams at you." Kin lectured, tossing a thick block of wood. Jason nodded. "Okay, here I go!" Jason screamed. Jason suddenly swung the blade down and hammered it to the wood. Pieces of oak shattered and filled the area. Birds screeched and flapped their wings and glided out of sight. The sound of frantic chirping filled the air. Beads of sweat filled Jason's forehead.Oh my gosh! Kin thought to himself, closing his eyes so the sawdust wouldn't intrude in there.

"Hey brother, there's sawdust in my eye. Tell me how I did?" Jason whispered. Kin nodded and the peered at the location the piece of wood was at. He saw grass, dirt, sawdust…but that was it. No wood. No hint of wood even being there but sawdust that laid on the ground. Kin stared in amazement. "Holy crap, where's the wood?!" Kin screamed, searching for any block or piece of wood. Jason balled his fist and scrubbed his eyes. "So, how did I do?" Kin just stared at Jason-eyes wide-in amazement. "Y-you………you broke the wood! Yo…….you crushed it!" Jason grinned with satisfaction. "It's all in the wrist!"Jason mimicked, flexing and holding the small bit of muscle he had.

"Wow, you where pretty good back then." Nicole said. Jason blushed. "Yeah, I was. I'm kind of rusty with a blade now though." Nicole nodded. "Yeah, you don't look that strong" She giggled. He suddenly turned red. "Hey, that's not funny!" Nicole tried not to burst out laughing. "Okay, just tell me what happened next!" Jason nodded. "Okay so after I pulverized the wood……..

"Kin, I swear I'm okay!" Jason complained at Kin, jerking his arm away from him. "You must be a defected child or something. How did you become that strong?" Kin asked, flopping Jason's arms left and right. "I said, all I did was swing my sword down and it was broken!" Kin rolled his eyes. ''I know how you are Jason. I'm not falling for your little tricks." Kin grabbed at Jason's arm. "Now we are going home and mum is going to see what's wrong with you!" Jason jerked and pulled, but it was no use. He got dragged in the dirt and whined the whole way there. He trotted and yelped, but he knew it was no use. There was no way he convince his brother that nothing was wrong with him. Suddenly, the smell of smoke filled the air. It wrapped around Jason's nose, and he jerked his arm violently from Kin. "Do you smell that smoke? I can't go there; someone may be invading the village!" Kin rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, somebody is probably just cooking something" So off Jason trotted. As they walked closer toward his house, the smell of smoke came stronger.

"That's it!" Jason screeched, doing one strong pull, nearly knocking his brother over. "Oh my god Jason, what is wrong-'' and then he just stopped. His eyes widened and his heart pumped heavily because lying, right in front of him, was the village in burning flames! Smoke arose from the village and ashes laid everywhere! Bodies of misfortunate souls laid on rooftops or on streets, with blood streaking out of their flesh! "Mother!" Jason cried, charging into the village. "No, don't go, you're only going to get yourself killed!" Kin screamed, but it was too late.

***

Jason charged into the village, trying not to get caught in the flames that surrounded the area. "Where's uncle?" Jason whispered to himself. Jason peered left and right and all he could see was ashes and bodies laying in the ashes. "Uncle?" Jason called out once, squinting his eyes so he could peer through the smoke. A soft voice suddenly filled his ears. This voice called out the name "Jason". Jason suddenly recognized the voice. "Uncle Luke?" Jason said, trying to follow the voice to where it came from. Jason peered left and right and saw a figure, under a fiery block of wood. "Uncle!" Jason said, dashing toward him. "Jason…" he called again. "Is that you?" Jason knelt down where the crusty old man laid and saw that the fiery block of wood was preventing his uncle to stand up. "I'm about to get this wood off you!" Jason said, putting his hands on the wood and pulling. "No Jason, it's okay. I'm too old to live on anyway. The smoke has already probably filled up my lungs by now." His uncle coughed then squeezed Jason's hand tightly. "The prophecy…must be…..fulfilled……" his uncle stuttered, slowly closing his eyes. Jason laid his hand onto his shirt and then squeezed tightly. "What prophecy? What are you talking about?" But it was too late. His uncle's hand slowly felt cold and Jason laid his hand on the floor.

"Oh my god!" Nicole said. Jason nodded. "Maybe if I was there, if I just followed orders like he said, mum and Uncle Luke would still be alive" Jason said squeezing his hand tightly. "Your mum?"Nicole asked in confusion. Jason sighed. "Okay, after that…….

Wood fell on Jason's head as he charged through the violent flames. Bodies laid on the ground with swords driven through them, making blood run down their waste. "Mum!" Jason screamed, searching around through the ashes and flames. He coughed and sprinted through the flames. A small house was barely seen through the thick fog of smoke. It was Jason's house, except it wasn't happy and merry as usual. Burning wood fell from the house and chunks of brick fell as well. "Mum!" he screeched again, tears rolling down his eyes. He sprinted toward the battered house and kicked down the door and slammed down a flaming chair that was in his way. "Mum, please answer me!" Jason balled, nearly streaming tears. "Don't leave us like dad, don't leave us!" Jason brushed through a hallway and leaped over another flaming chair.

Suddenly, a whimper was heard and standing in a closet, laid a little puppy, a beagle to be exact. "A dog?" Jason said to himself. The dog barked and limped over to Jason. Jason bent down and picked him up. "Okay, mum's alright, I know she is" he convinced himself. Suddenly a screech was heard from a doorway to his left, and a slapping noise continued after that. "Mum!" Jason screeched, charging through a bundle of flames. The dog howled as Jason busted through the flaming door. Then, in the room, with blood streaks coming down her mouth, sat Jason's mum, beaten and battered with shut on her clothes. In front of her, was an orc, with a green hammer and brown skin. He wore dark armor on him and he had a brown muscular body. "Mum? What is he doing to you?" Jason asked, trying not to sob right where he stand. "Jason…….get out of here……this is none of your concern…..".His mum struggled to say, coughing up a hint of blood through each pause. The orc peered at the boy and then peered back at her. "Who is this child?" the orc asked with his blood whipped teeth. Jason's mum clenched her fist. "This…this is my son!" Jason's mum stumbled to say. The orc flashed his eyes at her with anger. "A child? So there is another son! You lied!" the orc suddenly swung his hand back and hit her across the face. His mum screeched and then fell to the floor, tears rolling down her eyes and a blood stain crossing her face. Tears streaked down his eyes. "You lay your hands off her!" Jason said, searching around for a weapon. He peered to his left and found a silver blade with the words inferno engraved on it.Time to put those sword lessons to the test. Jason thought to himself. He grabbed it and held it in front of him. "Okay, I've got a weapon now. Now stay away from mum and I won't hurt you"

The orc gave off a wicked laugh. His chuckle drew fear into Jason, and he held his blade tighter. "Ha-ha, you think I'm supposed to be scared of you? You are so silly. You are nothing but a boy with a petty little blade!" He held his hammer in his hand. "But if it's a fight you want, I'm not afraid to kill a child!" he said, grinning. Jason shivered. I've got to do this for mum. I don't know what's going on, but I know that this guy is trouble! Jason thought. "Okay…. here I go!" the orc said, charging at Jason. "No! He's just a child!" Jason's mum screeched, pulling on the orc's back iron mail. "You witch!" the orc said, back hand slapping her to the face. Jason gasped. "You punk! Now I'm going to kill you!" Jason said, rushing at the orc, with his blade held high.

Jason stabbed at the orc, but he swung his hammer down and bent the blade. "Your pretty fast with a blade" he commented, swinging hammer in the air. "But I'm faster!" the orc screamed, crashing his hammer down toward his head, but Jason quickly dodged it and swung his blade on the orc's arm. He screeched in pain. "You rat! I'm going to eliminate you right where you stand!" He brought his hammer down and Jason yet again, dodged it, but his arm got hit by the hammer and it fell off, just as the orc's. Jason screamed a bloodcurdling scream and fell on the floor, clutching his arm. "You have seen this coming naïve. You should've not threatened the almighty power of general Rith!"

Darkness. Loneliness. Failure. All these emotions clouded Jason's mind as he slowly closed his eyes. Only a miracle could save him now. Only a miracle

Chapter 3 The Library

Suddenly, Rith's detached arm glowed, and suddenly, slowly came toward Jason. "I'm going to end this now!" Rith said, bringing his hammer high in the air. "Now die!" he said, swinging down his hammer. Jason closed his eyes and held his arm up.

"Where did Kin go?" Nicole asked out of curiosity. Jason rubbed his hand on his chin, obviously in thought. "Well that's one of the reasons I've been traveling, I'm looking for him" Nicole nodded. "That makes since. But I wonder…." Jason glanced up, almost reading her mind. "Do you know where he may be at?" Jason said in utter amazement. Nicole put her head down slowly. "Well….maybe….but we're going to have to go to the library. You can tell me the rest of the story while we're going" she said, slowly getting up from her squat position. Jason nodded. "Yeah, I was planning to go to the library today anyway. I need to get a book."He slowly rose up from his squat position and walked out the alley he was currently in. "Let's hurry up; I want to know where my brother's at. I'll be running fast so you better keep up!" Nicole grinned. "I don't think that will be a problem", she said. And with that, she bolted down the street. Wow, she's fast! Jason thought to himself.

"So what are you looking for?" Nicole said, browsing through the O section. Jason, himself, was reading a text book titled The Death Of Mordric. He was obviously deep into the story, so Nicole decided not to bother him. Time passed by, and he still was buried deep into the book. "Jason", she would whisper once in a while, but he would not respond. Wow, he's a deep reader! She thought to herself, still looking around for a book that may describe where Jason's brother could be. I know he's somewhere around the orc area. He must be. There's no way a teenager could survive an orc invasion on a village! But then again…….. "Hey Nicole, you found the book yet?" Jason shouted, breaking her train of thought and apparently forgetting he was in a library. "Shut up Jason, you're in a library!" she whispered to him. "What?!" Jason shouted, now in complete stupidity. Nicole bumped him in the head. "Shut up!" Nicole shouted, even louder and with more stupidity than Jason. "Ow!" Jason cried. By the time she was done whopping on him, the whole library was staring at them. Nicole frowned. "See what you did?!" She said in an annoyed voice. Jason sighed. He obviously wasn't use to the city. Jason let out a bigger frown than her. "Okay, okay, I'll be quiet" he said, folding his arms with a pout. And for the rest of the time they were in the library, they were silent.

"I got it Jason, I got it!" Nicole whispered to him, but he was already on a bench, fast asleep. "Okay then." she said to herself. She let out a deep sigh. "This kid sure is something. Why am I still with this little boy anyway?" she asked herself. Nicole peered down at the book that laid in her hand. It read Orc Invasions. She stared at the front cover for a brief moment, and then opened the book up. The pages where wrinkled and it had a musky smell to it. "I wonder how old this book is." Nicole said to herself. She scrolled through the pages, scanning every detail on each page. This book was filled with old battle plans that wiped out entire nations, races, and other things. Her eyes widened in amazement as she looked at the sketches of the old armor and army formations for the orcs. Sweat dripped down her face as she looked at the excruciating torture techniques that were used for their enemies. This stuff is gold! All the history of the orc's is in this book. I wonder why this is in a library….

Suddenly, Jason let out a deep yawn. "What's going on?" He said, rubbing his red eyes while slowly getting up, making a creaking sound on the bench. Nicole rolled her eyes. "This is embarrassing" she whispered to herself. Jason stretched his arms to the left to the right, and then popped his knuckles. "So you found the book?" Jason said, wiping the dry drool of the corner of his mouth. Nicole nodded. "It's quite interesting. It not only shows where Kin's at, it also shows old battle plans, their armor, and there classifications." Jason gasped in amazement. "This is amazing! We need to show someone this!" Jason said, scanning the book, as well as Nicole earlier. Nicole nodded. "I can tell my father." she said, now closing the book. Jason nodded. "Okay, let's go!" he said. "Alright, but you are going to have to tell me the rest of the story" Nicole reminded. Jason nodded. "Okay, so after I was almost near death….

"What happened to my arm?" Jason screeched, holding Rith's detached arm and running around the room, screaming a blood-filled scream! The arm's nerves attached to his and blood gushed out of Jason's other part of his arm. "My arm! You cursed full! It attaches to anything that is alive if it is detached!" Rith screamed. Jason fell on the floor, twitching on the ground with painful screams that would probably break an average man's ear drum. Tears streamed down Jason's eye. "Now you've done it! You son has cast your fate." Rith screamed, walking toward Jason's mum, wielding his axe on his one hand that wasn't broken off. "Stay away from her!" Jason screeched through clenched teeth. He slowly walked toward Rith and held the blade in his normal hand. "You are too weak to save your mother now naïve!" he screeched, swinging his war hammer in the air. "No!" Jason screeched, now sprinting toward him. Jason's mum looked down, tears streaming down her eyes. "I'm sorry Jason…..I shouldn't have told him about It." she said. Hot tears streamed down Jason's eyes. "Told him what! What are you talking about?" he said, clenching his fist.

Suddenly, Rith brought his hammer down. "No!" Jason screamed, but it was too late. The hammer collided with Jason's mum, and the rest, was history. Jason stared down at the limping body that was his mum. Rith grinned in satisfaction. "That's why you don't mess with Rith" he said, bringing his hammer on his shoulder. Jason glared at Rith. "What is it? Are you mad because I killed your mum? You know this is your fault. You shouldn't have defied me" Jason clenched his teeth even harder. "I….hate…you!" Jason screamed. His hand slowly glowed and a dark purple aura surrounded it. "What's going on?" Rith said, backing up slowly. "Now….I'm going to kill you!" Jason screeched, dashing toward Rith. With a swift movement, Jason dragged his blade onto his stomach. Rith coughed up blood onto Jason's blade. "You…you piece of crap!" Rith cursed, put his hand on the blade. "You think this hurts…." he asked. He suddenly dragged the blade deeper into himself, letting the green blood gush out onto Jason's clothes. "This doesn't hurt one bit!" he screeched. Jason's eyes widened, and he suddenly felt drowsy. He slowly drifted toward the ground and fainted.

"So that's what happened." Nicole said, eyes widened in amazement. Jason nodded. "Now, whenever I feel a slight bit of hatred, my arm grows, but there is a good side. I have all the powers and orc has, but I've only learned one which is fireballs" Jason said, staring at his arm. There was a white glove on his arm currently, so no one could see it. "So are we almost there?" Jason asked out of curiosity. Nicole nodded. "It's just ahead, we'll be there in a second" she said, walking a little faster. "This is a house? You didn't tell me you were a princess!" Jason screeched, dashing through the house, examining the paintings that laid around the house. Nicole sighed. She was use to people overreacting when they entered her house. Other then the fancy clothes, there was no significant source of anything about her that would make them think that she was a princess. She wasn't really snobby like most rich girls; she was just like any other girl.

"Um….yeah, I'm kind of a princess" she said, scratching her head. Jason's eyes widened. "Oh my god, I would of never guessed" he said, dropping an obviously valuable vase. "Yeah, I get that a lot" she said, looking toward the stairs that laid in-front of her. They where pure white and there were no cracks in them and didn't have one fault in sight. "So are we going to see your dad or what?" Jason asked, walking toward the pure white stairs. Nicole nodded and followed Jason up. Jason wasn't use to so much jewelry and fine art. Finding all of this different cultural paintings and clay molds in one household was quite a shock to him, and he could barely take a step without screaming 'Look at this' or 'What's this'. It was quite annoying to Nicole, yet she didn't mention it.
____________________________________________________________________________________________

"Father, father!" Nicole screamed into an empty white office. It was full of white chairs and a window laid in-front of it, showing her. "Where is he?" she asked Jason after searching for a couple of minutes. Jason shrugged. "How would I know" he said, stretching his back on the wall and putting his hands over his head. "Why are you so relaxed? My father never leaves his office." she said, beginning another search. Jason sighed. "Oh yeah, I found this note before you started searching. I found it on his desk." he said, handing a white sheet of paper to her. Nicole's eyes almost bulged out.

"You've got to be kidding me" she said, snatching the sheet of paper out of his hand and examining it. It read: I'm sorry pumpkin, but I will not be at home today. The war is getting real violent so I think I should be visiting the troops on the orc territory to sign a treaty of piece. There is also a rumor that the leader of the orcs is rising and that the prophecy shall be avenged soon. If the rumors are true, then this shall be the first time the orc lord has ever shown his face other than the beginning of time. Let light prevail!

Nicole's eyes widened in fear. "The prophecy……isn't that what your mom was……" Jason nodded.

"I have a bad feeling about this"

Chapter 4 A Journey's Preparation

Jason clutched Nicole's hand as they sprinted out the castle. "So are we going to find your father or what?" Jason said, now dashing out onto the street. Nicole bobbed her head. "Yeah, we should be looking for him. I don't think we should go just yet though." "Why not?" Jason asked out of curiosity. "Because, we should stock up on food and supplies. We only have one dragon and I think my dad took that, so it looks like we may have to walk the whole way to the battle grounds on foot." Jason nodded. He was use to travel on feet. Plus, it was good they weren't going to go right away. His stomach was completely empty. "So what are we going to be getting?" Jason asked out of curiosity. "And you know you're paying because I don't have any money" Nicole rolled her eyes. You wouldn't be on the streets if you had money she thought to herself. "Um, we should be getting some food or snacks for the trip to Vinton" she said, grabbing the book that she was reading in the library and searching for the map in the back of the book. "Vinton? How do you know where your father's at?" Jason asked. Nicole flipped through a couple of pages and shoved a particular page in his face. "I know because it says right here that this is where the orc's official council is at, and if my father is trying to get the orc's to sign a peace treaty then this would be the first place that he would go" she said, pointing to a sentence on the book that explained what she just said. "Oh, okay then, then Vinton must be very far away because I don't recognize any of the landmarks that are around Vinton" he said, scanning his finger on the map that laid on the page next to what Nicole was pointing at. She nodded. "Yep, so we need to get a lot of food for the trip. We also will probably need a blanket, a tent, some firewood, and some rope." Jason raised his hand in the air. "Oh, I want to get the firewood!" he screamed, acting as if he was a school student. Nicole sighed. "I really feel sorry for you. Anyway, are you sure you want to come? I mean, your brother is around the area, but this is still a dangerous journey and I may just get in your way." Jason nodded. "Of course, I mean, you are the only friend I've ever had!" Nicole raised an eyebrow. "Friend? But we just met. I don't even know why you're still with me" she said, now closing the book. Jason grinned. "Okay then, don't think of me as your friend, think of me as your acquaintance" he said with a chuckle. Nicole giggled. "Okay my acquaintance, so you're going to get the firewood and I'll get everything else?" she joked. Jason raised an eyebrow. "How are you supposed to get all the rest of the stuff?" Nicole playfully slapped Jason in the back of the head. "I'm a princess, remember? I'm rich!" she said, and with that she was off.

Jason walked back into his usual spot and sat down by Skipper. Skipper wagged his tail, expecting food, but Jason shook his head. "I'm sorry Skipper, but I don't have any food." he said, bending down and brushing the tip of Skipper's head with his hand. "But I will have some soon. Nicole is coming back with some snacks for the three of us. Looks like we're traveling again." he said, looking around for his green bag. In it, laid a wooden axe, his blade (Fury) and a framed picture of his mum. Jason pulled up the bag and wrapped it around his body. "Looks like I'm ready to get some wood, this should hopefully be quick" he said, dashing out into the streets. Skipper followed behind him, trying not to trip over his tail. Jason sprinted past a crowd of girls and squeezed past a bunch of obese men. "Hey! You! You little brat!' a voice called behind him. Jason turned around and saw the chef, holding his butcher knife in his left hand. Jason sighed. Come on, I don't have time to deal with this. Jason thought to himself, sprinting faster in a quick-stepped burst of speed. "Don't start running away, I need to talk to you!" the chef screamed again, trying to walk toward Jason. Jason stopped for a minute and stood still. What could that fat-old chef want with me? Jason thought to himself. He clutched his right hand and a dark red aura surrounded it. The dog whimpered. "Just in case he's trying to trick me, I'll blow him away with my fireballs!" he whispered to the dog. The dog whimpered even louder. "Don't worry Skipper, I've seen that fat man run, there's no way my fireballs are going to hit him!" Jason said with a slight chuckle. The dog suddenly stopped whimpering and wagged its tail. Jason slowly trotted toward him. "So what do you want?" Jason asked him once he got close enough. The chef got closer a bit. "Look, I'll give you anything you want if you just do something for me" the chef said into Jason's ear. Jason shrugged. "What do you want me to do?" Jason asked him, pushing the chef's mouth out of his ear. The chef suddenly peered to the right, and then peered to the left. "You know those little gray things with tails that like ze cheese?" he asked silently. Jason put his hand onto his chin. "Do you mean mice?" Jason asked. The chef shook his head. "Yes, yes, ze mice! Well they are eating all ze cheese and I cannot get them to stop. Can you please help me?" he pleaded, holding both hands together and giving Jason the puppy-dog face. Jason sighed. "Well…maybe….I guess so." he said, strapping off the bag that was on his back and dig his hand through there. "I can't see why you couldn't just put the mice in your stew." Jason joked, bringing out the blade from the bag. It shone on the sunlight. "Well, I guess it's time for some rat extermination!" Jason said, rushing into the store. He kicked down the door and slowly walked into the mice-infested place.

Cut! Slash! All the mice came toward Jason. Right stab. Left brunt. Jason brought the blade down onto the mice and picked it back up and stabbed at a crowd of other ones. The blood of the mice shone on the blade as he chopped them up, one by one. "There are so many, he must have a butt load of cheese" Jason joked in the middle of crisis. The mice where ferocious and bit at any part of his body they could bite at. His whole body aced as he slowly slouched down onto the ground. "Looks like I'm going to have to find the source of where all the mice are at, and then shoot one of my fire-balls at them!" Jason said to himself. He slowly raised up from the ground and clutched his sword. He sped through a crowd of rats with blinding speed. His whole bodily image appeared as a blur as he cast out the mice that got in his way. His blade appeared to be part of his own arm as he scampered through his multiple enemies. There it is! Jason thought to himself as he peered at the far corner of his eye and saw a giant crowd of rats, all huddled on one piece of cheese. "Okay, here it goes, looks like I'm going to have to make this fireball small or this whole shop may crumble to the ground!" Jason spoke to himself, slowly taking off his white glove. He closed his eyes and focused on the group of mice. "Take this!" He screamed as he let out a small fireball. It shifted and swirled and knocked out the whole group of mice. "Yes!" Jason screeched, raising one hand in the air.

"Nice work! You killed ze mice! You should be very proud of yourself!" the chef shouted, patting Jason on his back. "OW!" Jason screeched. "Don't do that! Those mice knocked the crap out of me!" he said, putting the chef's hand off Jason's back. The chef grinned. "That's exactly why I didn't put them in my stew; they would've been too strong!" the chef joke. Jason let out a slight chuckle. "So, um…" Jason started. "Grindington" the chef (or apparently Grindington) said. "Oh, well, Grindington, why did you have such a big block of cheese in your shop anyway?" Jason asked. Grindington grinned. "I am going on a diet and that was my lunch!" he joked. Jason's eyes nearly came out of its sockets. "Wow…..aren't you eating light?" Jason joked. Grindington laughed a bit then put on a straight face. "But seriously, thanks a lot. I don't know how I could repay you…" Jason shrugged. "Me either…..oh, wait, do you have any firewood?" Jason asked after a bit of hesitation. Grindington nodded. "Well in-fact I do. What, do you need some or something?" Jason nodded. "Yeah, me and Nicole are going to Vinton!" Jason said in an enthusiastic way. Grindington gasped and his eyes bulged out of amazement. "You mean, you and Princess Nicole are going to Vi……Vi…..Vinton!" he stuttered. Jason nodded. "We have some important news for the king!" Jason said. "Oh, so the king is in Vinton too? It makes sense. The war against the orcs has been getting pretty violent lately. Well I shall be giving you the firewood in a minute. Happy travels!" he said, reaching down beside him where some firewood laid. Jason nodded and reached for the firewood. Wow, I guess he is really a good guy. Jason thought to himself.

Chapter 5 The Journey

"Oh my god, this is going to be my first time out of the city!" Nicole screamed, walking near a gate. Upon the gate large words laid on the upper parts of the gate. It read Dingiton on it and was dark brown. "I've never seen past the city gates" she said, staring at the large letters. "So you've really never gone out of the city?" Jason asked, peering at her. She smirked lightly. "I'm a city girl!" Jason giggled. "So you're saying you've lived at the same place all your life?" Nicole nodded. "Kind of. My dad never let me get out much. He's a little over protective" Jason's eyes bulged out. "Wow, that's sad" Jason said, scratching Skipper by the ear. Nicole nodded. They didn't talk that much after that. They knew whatever lied ahead, they could face it together. Jason clutched his fist. "Are you ready?" Jason asked, peering at Nicole. She nodded. "Let's go!" And with that they were gone.

Birds chirped as Jason and Nicole dashed out into the forest. The whistling wind covered their faces and the beat of the birds chirping blended in with their frequent footsteps. Jason jumped over a log and spun past a tree. He then side-stepped past a snake and jumped over a bush of blueberries. Nicole staggered behind, trying to be as flexible as Jason was being. Her feet ached and she struggled to not trip over twigs and other objects. "Jason, don't you think you're going a little too fast?" Nicole asked, stopping by a tree and putting one hand on her ribs and another on the tree. Jason shook his head, still running. "Come on, keep up! What happened to that burst of speed you had when you ran to the castle?" Nicole shook her head. "I can only run real fast in a clear area! I can't when there are obstacles at every corner!" Nicole complained. Jason nodded. "I understand. I'll go a little slower" he said, now walking slowly.

They didn't talk for most of the rest of the journey. There was an occasional 'oops' when someone fell, but that was it. After a while, Jason's stomach started growling. "You hungry?" Nicole asked, reaching into Jason's bag, searching for food. After a brief moment, she jerked a raw piece of chicken out of his bag. "This should do the trick!" Nicole then put her other free hand into the bag. "Now all we need is a fire" she said, busy searching. She then yanked out a piece of wood and laid it on the ground. "Now go light it up!" Nicole demanded, pushing the wood toward Jason. He nodded and then took off his white glove and reached out his right hand. "Okay, remember to make it small. You don't want to cause a whole forest-fire!" Nicole reminded. Sweat suddenly streaked down his face. "Thanks for adding pressure" Jason said, frowning. She giggled. "Okay, here I go!" he yelled. A red spark of fire exited out of his hand and slowly collided onto the wood. The fire first crackled and popped and then made a beat with the sound of the noises. The sparks arose into the air and went into the sky. "Alsome, I did it!" Jason said, clutching his fist while slipping his white glove back on. Nicole smiled.

Grimdor waddled toward King Trin, holding a scroll in his hand. He had a green, scaly face and a pointed green nose. He was scrawny, and reeked of the stench of fish. He had a decorative brown and green and brown jester's hat on and green, sagging pants. He had thin, long, nails and they where yellow from fungus. He bowed in-front of the king and he nodded. "Sir, the boy has grown stronger. He has defeated the rats you sent for the Grindington and is lurking to Vinton as we speak. By every passing moment he is becoming stronger." he said, showing the scroll to the orc king. He scanned it with his eyes. On it, it showed Jason and Nicole, sprinting in the forest. He let out a slight chuckle. "He even brought the princess. This boy is falling in the palm of my hands!" The king tossed the scroll onto the floor. "Thank you sir" the minor orc said, picking the scroll up. He bowed and then left the room.

"Do you ever feel like you're being watched?" Jason asked randomly, walking out onto an open field. Nicole shook her head. "What do you mean?" Jason sighed. " Never mind, it's not important. Are we almost there?" Jason asked, backing up to get closer to Nicole. "I don't know; let me see my map…." She reached into Jason's bag and searched with her hand. She buried her hand into the bag and pulled out the book from the library. "Let's see, it looks like we're right…" She flipped through the pages with her hand and peered at the page where the map to Vinton was. Suddenly, she gasped. "Oh no!" she complained, now standing in shock. "What is it?" Jason asked, reaching for the book. "Um, I think we're lost!" she confessed, handing him the book. "Yeah right, you're just trying to scare me" he said, scanning the book with his eyes and searching around for any landmarks that could prove that they were not lost. There were none. Jason, like Nicole, gasped. He then handed back the book to Nicole and folded his arms. "Well this is a waste of our time. So you're saying we've been going the wrong way all this time?" Nicole ignored him and then peered around her surroundings. "But I could've swore….wait a minute!" she said in amazement. She searched to the right and then to the left. "I think we are going the right way" she said to Jason. Jason looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean? It says we're supposed to be by a mountain and I don't see a-'' Nicole suddenly hit him in the back of the head. "Don't you see you big dummy, we are on the mountain! This book must be so old that it has landscapes that where there back in the old times!" she said, grinning. Jason nodded. "That makes sense" he said, examining the map. "So this once was a famous mountain?" Nicole nodded. "It was called the mountain of spirits. Apparently residents backed then believed spirits roamed free upon this mountain, so it was completely deserted, but it's just a myth." Jason shuddered. Even though he never admitted it, Jason was quite superstitious. "So…um… none of this stuff is real right?" Jason whimpered, leaning down and picking Skipper up and holding on to him tightly. Skipper, as well as Jason, whimpered too. Nicole nodded. "The residents back then where really ancient, they would've believed in anything." Jason nodded. "Yeah, it was probably just some rumor that got spread around the village" Jason said to make himself feel better. She nodded. "Okay, so we better get going then" she said. Jason nodded slowly. Please don't tell me those rumors are true! Even if they are, I'm not scared of nothing! He thought to himself

"This place totally freaks me out Nicole; I think we should turn around" Jason said, holding his sword real close to his chest. Nicole sighed. The murky gray fog covered the spaced out land. Jason's whole body was pale white and he shivered in fear. "Well we've came this far, and we can't back down now!" Nicole said enthusiastically. Jason nodded and a small ounce of courage entered his body. Suddenly, a distant-sounding voice entered Jason's ear. "Jason…Jason…come to me……" the voice called. Jason shuddered. "Did you say something?" Jason asked Nicole. Nicole shook her head. "Nope, nothing." she said, still walking. Jason shrugged. I guess it was just my imagination. He thought. "Jason….Jason…walk toward me" the voice called again. Jason suddenly shifted his head around, but nothing could be seen through the fog. "Okay, now I swear something is talking to me." Jason whispered to Nicole. Nicole shook her head. "There's no one here but you and me." she persuaded him, walking on into the fog. Jason rolled his eyes. "Yeah…right" he said, stopping where he's at. "Follow me Jason…Follow me…." the voice called out again. "That's it!" Jason screamed, swinging his blade behind him. There was still nothing there. Jason's eyes almost popped out of his head. Beads of sweat streamed down his head. "Let's hurry up and get out of here!" Jason screeched, sprinting out. Nicole chuckled. Oh my god, he totally fell for it! Nicole thought. And in a flash, he was gone.

Chapter 6 Friendship

The fire crackled and the fire swung up onto the moonlight. Jason laid down onto his shivering back and laid a dark brown blanket onto the ground. The ground was hard, and being in the middle of winter, the weather was brutal. Jason shivered at the coldness. Snow slowly sprinkled from the sky. The ground was-in a matter of minutes- covered in a thick blanket of white snow. Jason laid his head back onto the freezing white puffs of snow and clutched his blanket close to him. He peered to his left and saw Nicole, shivering in the wet snow, sneezing. Her skin was very pale and frost dripped down from her hair. "She must've not have brought her blanket." he whispered to the left of him, where Skipper sat, trying to fix the blanket around his toes. He let out a brief sigh. He couldn't stand looking at Nicole shivering in the coldness. Jason let out a brief sigh. Jason peered down, obviously in thought. He scrubbed the back of Skipper's ears then closed his eyes. Well, she probably needs it more than me anyway. Jason thought to himself. Suddenly, as almost reading his mind, Skipper bit the blanket tightly, and yanked it off Jason, and with that, he fell on the hard, winter ground. Nicole glanced at Jason and let out a slight chuckle. "Well now Jason, it doesn't look like your dog's too fond of you now does it?" she said, trying not to laugh at Jason's dumbfounded face. Jason, the victim of this event, let out a slight chuckle himself. "I guess not", he said, reaching over to the used-to-be brown blanket that laid in Skipper's teeth. He looked at it, slobber and all, and hesitated, thinking if he should give her the blanket. A brief moment of time passed, and then, with no regrets, Jason slowly crawled over to Nicole and placed the blanket over to her hand. Nicole glanced at it for a brief moment, amazed that Jason would give this too her. "It's okay, I can live without it" Jason said, staring at the blanket as well. Nicole looked at him, with big, puppy dog eyes. "But Jason…….you'll freeze" she said, handing the blanket back. Jason shook his head and pushed her hand, causing the blanket to brush up against her. "You need it more than me, plus, I just can't stand to see you freeze in the cold like that" Nicole let out a grin. Her grin was wide, and made Jason's heart fill with warmth. This was the first time anyone had anyone made him feel so special, other than his mom of course. Jason tried not to blush, but on the inside, he knew he couldn't do that for long. "Thanks Jason", she said with a lot of happiness in her voice. Jason suddenly let out the blush. "Nah, its nothi-" But Jason was suddenly cut off, because, right then and there, Nicole spread her hands out, and clutched Jason as tight as she could. Jason's cheeks turned redder than they were then. Despite of the bitter coldness Jason felt on her body, he still felt warm on the inside. Jason didn't mind it when he crawled back and tried to snuggle close onto the burning fire. He didn't even mind it when the fire burned out. He just closed his eyes, and drifted down onto the snow. No matter how brutal it was, Jason was going to stick around with Nicole, till the end.

"Jason……….Jason……." a voice called into his head. Jason ignored it and continued on sleeping. The voice obviously belonged to Nicole. She let out a brief sigh. The morning had been really quiet without him, and for a little while, she enjoyed it, but she knew they would have to continue on with their journey. She peered down at Skipper and grinned. "Well, it looks like he won't be up for a while" Nicole admitted, facing at him. He wagged his tail frequently to the left and to the right. Nicole let out a brief giggle. "Well well, it looks like someone is happy that their travel companion is asleep huh?" Nicole joked. He let out a bark and rubbed himself onto Nicole's legs. It even joked around and purred liked a cat. Nicole laughed at the sight of a dog purring. "Well, since you're so happy, why don't we have a little fun?" she asked, picking him up and facing him toward the winter sun. The dog barked and shake its tail even more swiftly and chaotically. Nicole laughed and then placed the dog down onto the cruel, winter snow. "Well, then follow me!" she said, speeding swiftly through the brutal winter snow, and with that, they left Jason out in the freezing wet blanket that covered the land.

Nicole could barely feel her face as she sprinted into the wet pillows of snow. The mixture of the rushing wind creasing amongst her face and the cold winter snow drifting down from the heavens did not bother her at all. She was too excited finally feeling free. Even the dog had a hard time keeping up. Nicole let out laughs as she was swept by her excitement and ran in the snow. "This is amazing!" she screamed behind her, still keeping her eyes forward. "'I've never really been outside the city before, this place is like a whole other world to me!" The dog wagged its tail. She just guessed that the dog was saying, 'I know how you feel'. This was truly one of the most exciting days in her young life. Even though the trees where covered with snow, they still looked majestic and marvelous. Dead plants where covered along the wide open plains she would occasionally get herself into, and patches of snow would cover on top of them. She didn't care if she got tired, she wouldn't stop even if someone would offer her up one million gold pieces. Her excitement was overwhelming, and the speed added on to it. Her foot where like engines in a car, and her excitement was her fuel. She barely could she anything up ahead, being that the speed was making her eyes blurry.