We awake at five, and eat our meager, cold fare. At dawn, we pack our bags. We begin to run /Running, always running/ Everyday we run form the royal army across the now barren landscape of Seyruun, torn apart by war and internal strife. Every day, we know that the orihalcon tanks draw nearer. No matter how little we sleep, or how hard we run, their tanks are always faster. Now, we have barely enough food for a week, our water has to be watched carefully and rationed out. As we near the crest of another sand dune I think I see a glint of metal.

I glance at Lina, who runs alongside me. Her eyes are shimmering gems of beauty. These ruby eyes capture mine, and I am lost in their depths. When she speaks, I devote my entire attention to her voice.

"Zel, did you see that dust cloud over that hill?"

"That's why I led us around, to avoid it." We round the crest, "... Or not, we avoided a decoy."

Three hundred yards away is a phalanx of royal tanks, bristling with orihalcon armor and twenty centimeter shock cannons, golden and glinting in the midday sun.

We dive behind a boulder, praying that we weren't seen. After about ten minutes, we break cover, dashing behind a second boulder. This time though, Gourry trips, and they are alerted to our presence. They do not know our location though, so we take full advantage of this.

We continue this game of hide and seek. Zefilia is now only two hundred yards past the tanks, which are only fifty yards off. There is no more cover though, so we decide to sprint. We are not spotted until we are another fifty yards past them. They begin to fire, sand erupts at incredibly close proximity. Gourry is wounded by debris, and Lina and Amelia are blinded by the swirling sand. Lina does not see the gun turret aimed toward her fire. We are just thirty yards away. Time slows as I launch myself in its path.

I am knocked to the ground, blood begins to flood from a gaping wound in my abdomen. I am dying, I can feel it, but I saved Lina. That is all that matters. I faintly hear her cry my name. I try to tell her not to let my sacrifice be in vain, but I cannot speak. /So close/ and all coalesces to black.