A/N: Finally, a new chapter! I know how long I've made everyone wait, and I'm sorry. School really is a killer out to get time, you know? Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this treat!

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"Sparrow?"

Sparrow grumbled but rolled over on her side and opened her eyes. Reaver was beside her, peering at her anxiously.

"Reaver?"

He sighed. "Good, you're awake." He stood up.

Confused, Sparrow got to her feet as well and noticed it was still very dark out, and that the fire hadn't died down. It couldn't be more than a couple hours since she had fallen asleep.

"What's wrong?"

Reaver took her hand and led her out of the small clearing, going quietly so as not to wake up the sleeping Garth. Sparrow felt his skin, a bit clammy, as if he was nervous about something. The flames from the fire faded away in the distance as they got farther and farther into the surrounding forest. Reaver finally stopped and turned to her after some time, still grasping her hand in his.

"I heard what Garth was saying, earlier." He stated quietly.

Sparrow recalled that Garth believed Reaver was hiding something, and that he certainly didn't trust the pirate.

"I heard what you said, too…" Reaver continued.

Sparrow felt her cheeks warm slightly.

"I just wanted to thank you for your…trust."

Sparrow nodded and smiled. "But that's not all you brought me out here for, is it?"

Reaver shook his head. "No."

"You are hiding something…aren't you?"

"Yes, but not from you. I was hiding it from Garth. I couldn't tell you because he was around." Reaver explained.

"Well…what is it? Do you actually know the dark wizard?"

"Not personally. I know he's been summoned from the Old Kingdom by the Shadow Court though, and that he's going to be about twice as difficult to deal with as Lucien."

"But…what's to hide in that?"

"…Nothing. That's not what I was hiding."

Sparrow gazed into his eyes expectantly, and saw the turmoil raging in them.

"The thing is…after we defeat the Shadow Court and all, well, we'll be happy for a time. But you're going to notice some changes in me. With the Shadow Court gone, I'll have no source for my…immortality."

Sparrow felt her own eyes widen slightly. Reaver would get older, at last. He would get weaker, catch sicknesses, and his body would lose its strength. He would die. And she would keep on being young and healthy, and living. She would be alone.

"So the question is…sacrifice all of Albion for our happiness, or defeat the Shadow Court at last and leave you all alone in the end." Reaver finished.

Sparrow finally felt all the pieces click. Whenever she'd spoken of having all the time in the world, or finally being happy when the Shadow Court were gone, Reaver had remained silent. He never expressed as much exuberance for the defeat of the Shadow Court as she had, and now that she knew why, could she blame him? She blinked slowly and felt the subtle sting of tears welling up. This had to be an even harder choice than she'd been dealt at the Spire.

"I can't choose…." She said quietly, trembling.

Reaver pulled her close and embraced her, trying to keep her from sinking down to the ground. "Why not?"

"Because…I love you more than Albion."

Reaver closed his eyes, internally rejoicing. He'd always dreamed of hearing her say something like that, but never under such circumstances. He so desperately wished she were crying tears of happiness, instead of dread.

"And I love you too…" He replied quietly, letting her weep silently into his shoulder.

/-/-/-/

"Well, the Bandit Camp isn't much further." Garth stated.

The sun was shining brightly overhead, the path continued on before them happily, and the forest seemed peaceful around them. The three had been walking all morning, and Garth had just returned from another scout ahead to report. Sparrow's sides ached silently from her crying, but she wasn't complaining. She knew her appearance betrayed none of her internal emotions, but she still felt like an open book. If her emotions weren't pouring out of her for everyone to see, she didn't want to know how bad she'd have to feel to make them. When Garth had left, Reaver had tried to consolidate her again, and she'd appreciated the effort. But it was so useless when all she could think about was how he'd be gone eventually and so would everyone else she knew.

"How many are there?" Reaver asked.

"Surprisingly, not many. I think most of them left in bands like we broke up yesterday to go to the dark wizard. The ones still there are simply guarding the camp."

"Well, was their leader there still?"

"I saw a flame burning from the chimney of the leader's cabin. He should be in there."

"Good."

The conversation ended, and they continued. The smell of smoke became more distinct as they neared the Bandit Camp, erasing all the clean and natural scents the forest had to offer. Sparrow mentally prepared herself for a battle, pushing away the depressing thoughts. She felt the Will spurn to life inside her, the flow getting stronger for her to bend to her use. The blue veins that glowed along her skin got slightly brighter, and in front her, she saw Garth's doing the same. Beside her came the click of Reaver's pistol as he loaded it and snapped it closed. The routine sounds calmed her mind, and she steadily felt her confidence rising. She could do this…she didn't have to think about anything to kill a bunch of bandits.

"And here we are…" Garth said as the large wooden gate came into view.

Like always, the bandits were all holed up inside their fenced in camp, which wasn't strategically a smart move since they never saw people like the three of them approaching. As they got closer to the gate, they heard to petty ramblings of the bandits on the other side, lazily talking and not watching like they were supposed to be doing. Sparrow caught enough of the conversation to tell that the speaker was fairly upset about not being selected to go see the dark wizard and having to stay and do the boring jobs. Before she could hear more, Garth released a powerful Inferno ball of fire that promptly engulfed the gate in flames.

The bandits' voices became understandably panicked at the apparent spontaneous combustion of their gate. Sparrow watched as the wooden frame was quickly devoured, causing the rest of the wood to fall down in ashes and revealing the inside of the Bandit Camp. Even though Garth had said there weren't many there, she hadn't expected there to be so few. There were probably only enough to fit one raiding group, not counting their leader, who hadn't appeared just yet. As the flames jumped from the falling gate to the surrounding fencing of the camp, Sparrow heard the first shot fired from Reaver's pistol, and knew the battle was on when one bandit that had been rushing past them fell lifeless on his face.

She targeted a bandit that had come to his wits and started charging at her with her Shock spell, letting the power build up until the bandit was a mere ten feet away before letting it loose. The bandit never stood a chance. Sparrow shifted her attention to the rest of the milling crowd, and let loose more spells. With the combination of her's and Garth's Will, and Reaver's excellent shot, the bandits were dropping like flies before them. It had to have been just as easy, if not easier, than taking out the raiding group the previous day. But still, the leader hadn't showed his face.

The last bandit fell to his knees and then fell face down. Sparrow surveyed the area and found no other panicked bandits running about. It had been a complete massacre for them.

"Let's go to the cabin…" Garth said in a focused manner.

Sparrow nodded and followed him through the center of the Bandit Camp and towards the defenseless cabin. The door was locked when Garth tried to turn the knob open. Without warning, Reaver jolted forward and let loose a trained kick that knocked the door in. Garth gave him a sarcastic glance before stepping over the door and entering the cabin. There were loose papers strewn over a worn out table, some on the floor. The fire in the chimney was almost dead from lack of tinder. The small bed wasn't made. But there was no leader.

"Gone." Garth stated.

Sparrow sighed and picked up one of the papers on the table. It was in a strange runic language. She handed it to Garth, who she figured had a better education in other languages. He studied it a few moments. "The Old Language…I do believe it's a journal page. But it's irrelevant. He must have torn out the pages he didn't need and left them here."

Sparrow nodded, disappointed. "What's it about?"

"Just how much he enjoys the spoils of raiding…they had just taken out a nobleman's carriage, apparently." Garth replied, putting the paper back on the table.

"What's this…?" Came Reaver's voice.

Sparrow turned and saw him crouched down, his hand had pulled back a corner of the matted rug on the floor. She couldn't see what he was talking about, so she walked over and crouched beside him. He pulled the rug further back and revealed the outline of trap door. A steel ring lay in the center, for pulling the door open.

"Of course you'd think of looking under a rug…" Garth stated as he came over.

"Hey, it's common practice among pirates to have multiple escape routes. I'm not surprised this guy had one, but I am surprised he used such a mundane method of hiding it…" Reaver replied.

"Well, he's just getting farther away while we're sitting here." Sparrow stated, her fingers reaching for the ring.

She pulled the door open and looked down. It was fairly dark, but there was some sort of light source down there. She guessed there were torches along the walls.

"I don't think it's an escape route per say." Reaver said as he peered down.

"No?"

"No. It appears to be a foxhole. He's just hiding down there. Better keep your wits about you." Reaver grinned and jumped down the hole.

Sparrow figured he knew what he was talking about, being an expert in this sort of thing. Garth shrugged at her, and she jumped down after the pirate. She bent her knees to soften her landing as her feet came into contact with the ground. She then straightened and moved away so Garth wouldn't land on her. Reaver was walking with his pistol held out ahead of her, and she hurried after him. She heard Garth's landing and then him following her as well. Her blue veins provided a small light source, so she could see faintly around her.

"What do you want…?"

She looked ahead and saw that Reaver had stopped and was pointing his pistol to the left. She came to his side and looked. The leader was staring at them, looking rather pitiable. He didn't seem like the sort you'd find leading a troop of bandits. But then again, most of them were cowards when they were outdone. It wasn't surprising that he looked so afraid.

"Don't try anything stupid." Reaver said.

The leader glanced between the three of them and decided Reaver was who he shoulder fear most. It was obvious that he recognized the pirate, just like the bandit the other day had.

"Why is the dark wizard recruiting you bandits?" Garth asked from behind.

"He wouldn't say why, other than that we should all be after that one." He pointed at Reaver.

"How many bandits have you sent to him?" Reaver's voice asked.

"Just about all of the ones I had that were any good. The one's you no doubt slaughtered up there were worthless to the wizard. But I wasn't the only one sending, mind you. There were other bandits who are gathering for him as well."

"What is he planning on doing with all of you?"

"I don't doubt he had a bigger plan, but right now it looks like he wants us to destroy all the towns we can, starting with the smaller ones of course." The leader replied, his voice shaking slightly.

Sparrow suddenly decided he was telling them all this information much too easily.

"What are you hiding?" She asked.

The leader's eyes shot over to her, looking startled, and confirming her suspicion. "Was that just a load of lies you just fed us?"

"No…no, of course not! I may be a bandit, but am no liar!" The leader declared, his voice rising.

"Those two sort of come hand in hand." Garth challenged.

Reaver stepped forward and shoved his pistol into the leader's neck. "Tell us where the dark wizard is…the truth. Not Bowerstone Lake like your pathetic bandit told us yesterday."

The leader trembled, but said nothing.

Sparrow summoned a small bit of fire and guided it to the leader, letting it scald his hands and evoking a cry of pain from him.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk!"

She let the spell drop.

"Wraithmarsh…the wizard is in Wraithmarsh. And he's planning on attacking Bloodstone first, then moving on to the rest of Albion."

Now that made more sense, Sparrow thought. Bloodstone would be where the Shadow Court would expect Reaver to be, and Wraithmarsh was where their realm was. Before the leader could start begging for his life, Sparrow looked away as the pistol went off.

"Well, this is an escape route after all…" Garth said.

"What do you mean? I see four walls around us, none with a tunnel." Reaver asked.

Sparrow followed Garth's line of sight and smiled. On one wall was a familiar looking insignia carved into the rock. Garth let loose the appropriate spell and loosed in on the insignia. Promptly, the rock began shifting and revealed a pathway, the escape route.

"Just needed a bit of willpower to find it." Garth explained, smiling. "Out little friend couldn't have used it for obvious reasons."

Reaver smirked at the other man, but they all headed into the tunnel. Sparrow had no doubt that it would lead them towards Wraithmarsh, if not brining them right to the Shadow Court realm. She looked from Reaver to Garth ahead of her, and wondered if Garth still thought Reaver was hiding something important. Her throat constricted slightly at the thought of what he had been keeping from her, but she couldn't blame him. It would have ruined their time together. She calmly came to the realization that she should be grateful for the time they still had. Even if she was going to lose him eventually, she didn't need to be depressed and sad about it until it actually happened, right? She needed to be strong for him, so that he wouldn't have to see her sad. Ignoring Garth's look of disapproval, she fell into step beside Reaver and grasped his hand.