Dynamis's footprints in the ground trailed through the snow storm only to be covered quickly. The said boy was pushing through the weather with his cloak drawn closely against his body. It wasn't enough to be travel through Nix in, but there was nothing he could do about it. He needed to get to the City quickly, and tell Artemis about what plans had been stirring inside of Mortem. He'd already lost Aurum, he'd already lost Zeus...he couldn't imagine watching the already fragile Kingdom of Nix fall as well. The fact that Ninel had not followed him out worried him as well and only made him want to push harder at the thought of her and all the other prisoners that need help.
He caught sight of the wall and gave a deep sigh of relief as he trampled over the snow and came to lean against the smooth wall. Looking up he saw the swaying lanterns from where the guards were stationed. A faint flickering of lanterns just above him and the sound of men shouting filled the air. Dynamis closed his eyes, resting his forehead against the wall as his body grew more and more tired, hungry and worn. Being so sleep deprived kept him from wanting to open his eyes again, but as he heard guards coming down to him he meekly lifted his head and opened his heavy eyes. He stated his name through the howling winds and told them of his position within Aurum, at least, before it's fall. He was grateful to be taken inside to rest, but no matter how much he insisted he get to the palace then, the guards refused to take him anywhere before the storm outside subsided in the morning.
Even though he was layered with furred blanket's she could still tell his body was thin. His hair looked brittle and no longer soft and fluffy as she remembered it. His cheeks were hollow, though it was almost unnoticeable unless you looked hard enough. His skin was a bit sickly pale compared to its usual healthy tan. Rosalina frowned, walking up to the sleeping male. The fact that he'd been found at the wall astounded her. He'd traveled so far in his sickly state and in a storm no less. As Dynamis would always say; the gods must've been looking out for him. Rosalina imagined Zeus up there, looking down and guiding his old friend here. It was a comforting thought.
Rosalina drew a somewhat nervous hand through her scarlet hair and took a seat on the bed beside him. She placed a hand under his forehead, pushing away his bangs. He was warm, running a small fever now. She watched him, gaze cast down with pity and a twinkle of relief to her friend here and alive. Part of her new that she should let him rest as long as he needed, but another part of her wanted to wake him up this second so that he could tell her everything that had happened the past few months.
She wasn't able to stay for long as she felt the hand of one of the castle's nurses on her shoulder, telling her that it was time she leaves. With the lack of magic in Nix, the nurse's were mostly just human's without the aid of magic. The few healers that were around remained working with the small army and hunt, as their magic was too valuable not to preserve. Still, Rosalina knew the nurses would take care of Dynamis well, using herbs and medicines, of which they were getting low on due to the cut off from trading with Celo, who made most of it.
Artemis had been outside waiting for her when she left the room. "We have a situation Rosalina." She said with a serious tone as she beckoned the redhead to follow her. The went to the east wing of the castle, entering one of the meeting rooms around the castle. Rosalina knew this one to typically be for The Hunt. she took a seat and Artemis remained standing. "Dashan is currently missing at the moment. He didn't arrive in Khione Village this morning like he was supposed to. I assume the storm threw him off course, so my plans for protecting the staff have been pushed back a day or so. That is a day that we don't have to spare. Aurora and Vanemy have yet to return as well."
"Do you want me to search for them?" Rosalina didn't mind the idea of doing that, however, with everything that was happening she would rather stay here.
"No, I trust that they'll be fine out there. However, I do want you to do something for me. I would rather someone else, but due to your traveling experience and friendship with Dynamis, you'll do well."
"What is it?" She eagerly asked.
"Hades and his armies are able to get here within a day." She began, "we've always been the closest to Mortem and at the moment we are the weakest, I knew very well that Hades will be here any day now for the staff, I'm sure when Dynamis wakes up he won't have good news concerning Hades. Because of this, I've begun evacuation the city to several of the villages farther northwest from here and closer to Celo and the Asper docks that sit more east. They will have time to get to Celo or ship over to Asper if Hades goes after then, however, his only concern is here in our capital. Dynamis can't stay here either, Hades would likely just kill him now that he's escaped. He's more of a problem now."
"I agree with you, but...he's sick, traveling may be too rough-"
"He will die if you don't take him and so will you."
Rosalina's grip on the edge of her seat tightened. "I understand that and I'll do it. How do you advise I travel this journey?"
"A horse normally, but there's no way you could travel with a cart to carry supplies and Dynamis. I suggest you take Asena and Kane, not only are they fast, but they'll protect you if needed."
"Are you sure? The wolves should stay with The Hunt to help protect Nix…"
"It's fine, Kane and Asena are two of many. You'll need them out there." Artemis smiled as Rosalina stood up to leave, "I would like for you to leave in the early morning if possible."
"That won't be a problem." Rosalina looked up to her queen for a moment. "My Lady, I just wanted to say thank you for everything you've done for me." She began, "I only wish that I could be here to help protect you and Nix one more time."
"We'll see each other again soon." She smiled, "I'll have everything prepared for you in the morning. Be safe out there."
"Thank you." Rosalina smiled and left. Even though she didn't feel good about leaving her home at this moment, she knew that Dynamis should be in Celo, working with Athena.
The sound of a young man's footsteps echoed through the dark, narrow hall. His hand gripped the wall and he was shouting something, it sounded like he was begging. He'd make it outside eventually, where he was on now a battlefield among countless bodies upon bodies. The sky was dark, but lightening up slowly. The man continued to run, but he tripped and fell into the mud. Whoever he'd been running from showed up and he continued to beg, but they didn't listen and a sword drove through the man's body.
A puff of smoke appeared around his body, and from it, a winged beast flew from it and into the sky. The battlefield was gone now and the beast was flying up into the sky, going higher and higher until it reached the sun. It opened its mouth and took a bite of the sun's light, a ball of it now spinning in its mouth as it flew down and left it with a group of human men. The ball of light was cast over a field then and the beast disappeared while several colored orbs appeared above the field. Men and women on horses paraded in the field happily, but the field grew dark and the colors disappeared.
Water began to pour into the dark field. The inky blue depths hiding away sunken ships and treasures. A scaled serpent swims around, silhouettes of bodies in the water, trying to get back to the surface, but more monsters seem to want to keep them under there. One makes it to the surface, but the water begins to freeze, ice spreading quickly as the view aced along the water and to a snowy field where three people stood waiting. One was dead and the other two watched over them.
Before anything could change again, it all crumbled away, leaving nothing but darkness.
Dynamis woke up with a small gasp for air. His azure eyes shooting open and his hand coming to grasp the blanket. He laid there and breathed silently for a moment. The room was empty beside himself. Dynamis kicked his covers away as he felt hot and he looked around to see if he could find his things. He hadn't had much when he got out of Mortem, but he had managed to get his journal back. He found the beaten up book laying on the bedside table and he began to frantically look for something to write with. He'd woken up from such an odd little vision that he needed to write it down. It was the first one he'd had in months, so he was sure there had to be important messages and details hidden somewhere within it. Looking quickly out the window for a moment he was that it was dark out and he felt his stomach rumble and yearn for food painfully. His throat was dry and his body ached. He looked up quickly as the door opened and someone holding a plate of food walked in.
Rosalina almost dropped his dinner in joy when she saw that he was awake. She beamed with a grin and moved to set the food down. "You're awake!"
"I am…" he looked to his dinner eagerly before looking back up at the red-haired girl. "Rosalina, it feels like forever since we've seen each other." He smiled and Rosalina leaned in to hug him.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better, just hungry." He admitted, going for his food once she pulled away. "Do you have something I can write with?"
Rosalina dug through her bag for a moment before handing him a quilt and finding some ink in the tableside drawer. She watched as he began to write in his journal. She pulled a chair up to the bedside and sat down, "I know you've only just woken up, but you should know that tomorrow we'll be heading to Celo together."
"Celo?" He paused for a moment, "yes, I need to see Athena. Zeus left many secrets for her, things that she needs to know." He looked up from his words, there were bags under his eyes. He knew that look on his friend's faces, she had a million things to ask, but was holding them back. "Ask me anything Rosalina, I'll be fine to answer you."
"How did you get out of there?"
"I had help, except the girl that was supposed to come with me didn't make it out."
"What did they do to you? Why did they take you?"
"Hades wanted me because of my visions, but when he found out I had stopped having them he locked me up. I got very little food and it was a horrible place to be." Dynamis gripped the quill tighter, "he has hundreds of mages locked up underground, just slowly dying." He looked down, "he plans to attack Nix next."
"We know, Artemis had already begun taking precautions and planning. The staff that Hades wants is hidden away, where he'll never find it."
"I hope that true Rosalina because Nemesis will be back if he gets his hands on it."
"I know…" she sighed, "you saw something in your sleep didn't you?"
"I saw a lot of things." He stated.
"More people are going to die." She spoke quietly as she put her head down into her hands, "this all is just so…"
"A lot of people are going to die, I've seen a lot of people already die, but do you know what else I've seen?" His hand found her shoulder, "I've seen a light, I've seen hope. We still have a chance to fight this all, we just need to get to Athena."
Rosalina smiled, "I'll make sure you get to her, I promise." Dynamis smiled, a good feeling spreading through his body, the first good feeling he'd had in months.
The sun had barely begun to rise yet when Dynamis and Rosalina found themselves standing in the bitter cold air of Nix. Both were dressed warmly and carrying packs of their own. Dynamis still wasn't feeling all that well, but he had a few medicines packed away that would help him make the journey to Celo, which was about a day and a half away, two depending on how far they traveled at night. Artemis hadn't come out to send them off, she was busy in a meeting with her soldiers at the moment. It made Rosalina glad that she had said what she needed to say the other day. As Artemis said one of The Hunt members met them with two of the large wolves. Kane was giant and looked strong, he was almost the size of Rosalina and already had supplies resting on his back, there was room for where he would carry Dynamis. The other wolf, Asena was a bit smaller and leaner. She carried a few things and Rosalina knew that she'd be traveling with her. Kane was stronger, but Asena was faster.
The animals walked right up to them, giving them genital sniffs and glances to get acquainted with the people they'd be traveling with and protecting. "They're magnificent. It's almost unheard of to see tamed Dire Wolves." Dynamis breathed in awe as he pet Kane's short, rough fur.
"That's why they work with The Hunt," Rosalina explained, petting Asena. "We should get going though, Artemis wants us to get to Celo as fast as possible." Dynamis nodded and they finished preparing to leave.
The wolves took off with them on their backs. Asena kept the same pace of Kane as the large wolves raced through the snow. The cut across the snowfield, their shadows casting long against the sparkling snow as the sun slowly began its rise over the horizon.
I'm back with a short chapter! I really hate that I spent so much time away from this story, but I'm super glad to get back into writing it now. I decided to do a short chapter rather than the big one I had planned months ago for this. It's just something to ease myself back into writing this and getting my thoughts rearranged for the story. The next chapter will definitely be picking up again, so I'm excited to hopefully not take forever to get it posted. Anyhow, I hope you all enjoyed.