I couldn't breathe, but I had to keep going. If I stopped, he could find me again. I couldn't let that happen, so I needed to run faster. There was no place that was safe, not anymore. Twigs, leaves and debris clung to my clothes and hair. My face was covered in dirt from my expedition.

There was no time... Never enough time. If I stopped, everything was over for me. If I kept going, there was hope, Voetta... Voetta was gone, my sword had been taken from me, everything had been taken from me. Eridor was gone, to where, I do not know. All I know is that our bond still connects us. The only thing that kept me going was knowing that he was ALIVE. He wasn't dead. Not yet. But who knew when they'd kill him. I needed to save him. No time to think. I needed to run, stay alive. I needed to get to him. The sleeve of my dress got caught on a branch. It almost pulled me back to the tree, but I ran harder, even faster it tore the sleave of the dress, but I didn't need to stop. The dress wasn't even mine. At that place, that place where I had been held so long, I was forced to be their puppet, a pawn in the game. My travel clothes, my armor, weapons, all was taken. In exchange I was so lucky to be given dresses and a necklace. The necklace, I remembered it with horror. It was a simple silver chain, but it held a bloodstone. The bloodstone is a green jasper dotted with bright red spots of iron oxide. On the stone were words of the Ancient language.

Fricai Anglát

Hidden memories, memories I had been trying to forget for so long... they now came to the front of my mind. Making themselves clear within my vision. Everything else passed by in a blur. The trees of the spine, the few animals, they all went fuzzy, in exchange for images that weren't there.

I sat in the corner of a room. The room was large and comfortable, at least it should have been comfortable. But because of my circumstances of being a prisoner, it was quite the opposite. The walls were white, everything seemed clear and pure. If you walked to the northern part of the room, their was a door, outside the door was a balcony. The balcony overlooked the ocean and a land unknown to me. It was beautful. In a place of so much misery, it was hard to believe there could ever be beauty. I shielded myself from the allusions that he made. I was sitting, holding my knees to my chest, thinking. I was barely aware of anything except my own presence. I was lost in my thoughts, in my memories, in everything that made me who I was. The room was given to me. It would be mine if I did as he told me, but I could not betray... I couldn't be their puppet. Soon, soon I knew that I would be moved to a dungeon, if I did not follow his orders. But that didn't matter, nothing mattered anymore. I was lost, my connection with Eridor was blocked. I didn't know why... I didn't know if he had been killed. I couldn't think about that though.

A door opened, I came alive from my meditations. My eyes were fixed on the door, I already knew who it was. It was him. I let my head droop and lowered my eyes again. He came every day, three times a day. My only visitor, my captor. He walked over to a table at the other end of my room, setting something down, probably a tray of food. After, he came over to me, his footsteps were quiet, almost silent. He kneeled beside me.

"Alex... Will you ignore me yet again, today? How many times need I remind you that I am not your enemy, only your friend. Why do you hurt me so? Ignoring my very presence, have I not saved you?" he asked. His voice was dark, yet pleasant, in a way that words are not enough to describe.

I remained silent, fear etched in my mind, i never knew what was to come. I felt his hand underneath my chin, pulling it up so that my eyes met his.

"Do not fear me. Only I know what's best for you, and this is it. You do not know your destiny as do I." he quietely said.

Ignoring him was doing nothing. I finally decided to speak. "If you are a friend of mine, realease me. There is nothing being accomplished by holding me prisoner. Let me go." I said, watching his eyes for a reaction, hoping they'd betray his emotion.

"Your ignorance betrays you. Remember, I hold your life in my hands, I am the only one who keeps you alive. Be careful, that is my warning..." he said, his voice at first was almost harsh. "But let's put that aside, I have something for you." he said gently.

He withdrew his hand from underneath my chin. I was worried about what the gift would be, I obviously couldn't risk not accepting it. My goal was to stay alive. Not accepting whatever his gift was would be considered an insult. Watching as his hand dissappeared into his pocket, I grew even more nervous than before. But against all my good judgement, I also had hope. Hope that... perhaps he'd give me back something he had taken from me. I felt a sense of relief and my heart drop as I realized he took out a necklace. He held the necklace by the chain with one hand, with his other, he grabbed my hand. My hand was balled up into a fist, he forcefully opened it, a smirk on his face, then placed the necklace in my hand. He watched me as I studied the necklace. The pendant caught my eye, a bloodstone. My eyes grew wide as I realized that words of the ancient langauge were carved in the stone.

Fricai Anglát

I dropped the necklace and tried backing up, but I already was sitting against the wall. I tried to stand up, he pushed me back down. My strength had failed me, I hadn't eaten in days, nor had I moved much, my muscles were against me, unwilling to do as I commanded them. He smiled as I struggled. Finally giving up, knowing it was useless, I crawled back into a ball, rocking myself back and forth. I needed to get away...

Putting his hands on my shoulders firmly, he refused to let me continue to move freely.

"It's a gift," he said. I refused to meet his gaze. Lifting one of his hands off of my shoulder, he picked up the necklace from where I had dropped it. He now held the necklace with two hands. He put the necklace around my neck, muttering something as he did so. I couldn't hear what he had said, it was too quiet. "It's a gift," he repeated. "A gift so that you'll never forget me."

It felt like everything died right then and there. What did this mean? I knew, but I didn't want to believe it. His words echoed in my head... I still wouldn't meet his gaze. After a moment in my trance, his face appeared right next to mine, I now couldn't look anywhere besides at him. His eyes were dark, almost black, which scared me, his eyes only moments before had been a clear blue. His eyes, like his home, they were all an illusion. Underneath it, that is where the darkness lay. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his face, his perfect features. They were all fake.

I felt his hand on my neck, tracing my collarbone, I felt a tinge of fear. His fingers grasped a necklace, I didn't know which one, it was either the one that had once been my mother's... or his own gift.

"What is this?" he asked. I didn't know if he was asking himself, or me. I was jerked forward as the necklace was tugged at, towards him. I opened my eyes, peeking cautiously at him. He was studying my necklace, my mother's necklace. The emerald pendant glistened as the sun shone from the balcony door down upon it.

"Where did you get this?" he asked me darkly. There was some anger in his voice for some unknown reason.

"It was my mother's," I whispered.

He didn't look at me, he just took it from around my neck, then put it in his pocket. My neck felt bare without the necklace, even while his 'gift' remained on my neck. He stood up and walked silently to the door, the only escape from my room.

"Why, why are you doing this!" I asked, almost shouting, my voice broke though. It sounded shaky, even to myself. All the power and meaning I had meant to put in those words were lost. Warm tears betrayed me, leaking out of my eyes, falling down my face.

"Wiol ono." He whispered, right before he walked out the door. "I'm doing this to save you."

I collapsed in the forest, onto the ground. Trees were my only surrounding, that and darkness. My memories kept flashing before my eyes, I couldn't stop them. His words still echoed in my mind. They were engraved into my soul. I could never forget. I could feel the necklace against my skin.

A gift so that you'll never forget me

"You took everything of mine, everything I ever had, it's all gone. Everything is lost." I whispered to myself, now rocking myself back and forth, putting my head on my knees.

Yes, perhaps even your sanity, a voice echoed in my mind.