A/N: Okay, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank everybody that favorited the story (still amazed I've gotten this many):
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Rosym lay in the distance; the illustrious castle rose prominently and stood against the great mountains in its own right. No man would have seen a mightier structure in all the land. This would seem fortuitous for our company but instead a great sadness loomed over the weary travelers. They were more than tired and hungry come the setting of the sun. They felt a great emptiness of spirit since Victoria perished before their eyes.
She was many things to this troupe. Sister. Ally. Savior. And now she was gone.
"It was not fair," Catherine gritted her teeth to herself. "Someone who carried themselves as she did and as driven she was...Victoria had that spark that showed she was meant for great things. I suppose to die in battle would be a heroine's end but to become fodder for such a disgusting and wretched beast...No doubt it was probably working in congress with Noxymis...She deserved better than that."
Rob looked on into the middle distance, holding his arrow in his hands.
"How could this have happened?" he asked internally. "It should have been me, damn it all. It was me with the life debt and she ended up allowing my hide to be spared once again. How am I expected to just live with that for the rest of my existence? As a man who had stolen almost everything he possesses since he was a child; it is bemusing that something like this could lie heavily on my conscience." Rob scoffed. "To think I, of all lowlifes, would have a conscience."
Over the years, he was able to morally reason with himself that stealing gold and other material things was relatively harmless to say a rapist or murderer. To take another's life or innocence; such things could not be replaced. Rob had certainly seen a lot of death in his time. He turned back to Trina who had not spoken a word or barely moved.
She had stopped weeping a long time ago; now she just looked like a shell of herself.
It was only days ago that Trina didn't know what became of her sister. It was a part of her childhood that she left behind; however brief but it was no less painful. She had already lost her sister once before, that night, but Trina eventually found the serenity in that parting because it was her own decision. She knew in her heart that she was doing the best thing for her.
Now that decision had been taken away from her. And this time it was permanent.
Trina didn't know what to do with either herself or her new companions. Do they go back? She just didn't know.
"Things came so much more easier to me when there was no one to care about."
Trina shook her head when she noticed that a lone wolf had locked eyes and was staring right at her, unblinkingly. Something strange, something inside her, told her not to be afraid of the animal. Stranger still; Trina was overcome with the urge to follow it. And so she silently got off of the rock she had been wallowing on for hours and followed the mysterious wolf into the underside of a hanging rock, away from the others.
She rubbed her shoulders from the cold of the night when a familiar voice cut her right to the core.
"Fascinating, are they not?"
Trina rubbed her eyes furiously as what stood before her was impossible. It was her father, as he looked when she last remembered him. In fact, his face seemed relaxed and jovial, standing a tiptoe as he always had before he had taken ill. Trina didn't know whether to scream out of confusion or joy.
Her father stood beside the wolf that led her. He petted the wolf like a trusted dog and it licked his hand in response.
"Father?" Trina asked, dumbfounded. "How is it possible?"
It was then Trina realized exactly what she was looking at. It was indeed her father but there was something about him. Neither him nor the wolf looked solid. She could see them both but could somehow see what was behind their backs.
"See, the spirits of animals that have passed on become our companions on our journey to the land of the dead." He looked warmly down at the wolf ghost. "It is a journey no one should go through all alone."
Tears fell upon her cheek. "I miss you so much," she said.
"As do I," he nodded gravely. "Trina, you must listen. You need to keep going."
"But...Victoria..."
He waved his hand. "I had never had the pleasure of meeting my second daughter."
Trina shook her head, "How is that possible? I saw her d...die."
"I see no sign of her," he said. "Perhaps her spirit is restless; in need of closure."
"The princess," Trina sighed. "She set out to save her from who had taken her. I," she turned back for a second and came back. "The three of us really, joined to help her."
Her father smiled. "And if Victoria is anything like her big sister, she would never leave her quest undone or her friends stranded. Because, like her sister, she has too big of a heart."
"I had already given up my heart."
She lowered her gaze and he lifted her chin up son their eyes met.
"Do you honestly believe that?" he asked.
"I do not know," she responded.
"Trina, this is much bigger than I think all of you had anticipated. Noxymis and his hunger for power will be the pestilence that will destroy these lands."
She weighed in everything that was being told to her. Trina knew that Noxymis had lusted after her jewel but did not care about what his aspirations were at the time she relinquished it. Victoria's life was more important.
"What can I and this motley crew of vagabonds possibly do to stop him?"
"Think about it, Trina" he said. "He sought power from you and even after he got it, the man still tries to assassinate you and your friends. Seems to me that despite all he has gained, you remain a threat. Because you have something he has not."
"What is that?" she asked.
"Friends; allies that you can truly and completely trust. His ilk will always devoid him of any actual loyalty. I wager not a single man under his thumb would not turn traitor at the sight of someone more powerful. You love your sister, Trina?"
"Ever since I first laid eyes on her."
He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Then honor her memory and finish what she had started. I cannot imagine anybody else that can stop Noxymis anyway."
"You are right," Trina nodded. "I cannot give up." She ran to the apparition and was floored that she could touch him enough to give him and strong hug. He reciprocated with his very tight embrace. It was exactly like when she was a little girl. "Thank you."
Her father patted the wolf's back and they proceeded to walk away. He turned back to tell Trina, "I love you."
"I...I love you too," she smiled through more tears.
Trina returned to the campsite where Catherine and Rob looked surprised at the sight of her walking and showing something other than a stone face.
"Trina!" Catherine stood. "Are you alright?"
She chose not to indulge her companions about conversing with her father's ghost. They were already looking at her like she was to be handled with kid gloves.
"I had been doing some thinking," she replied.
"What were you thinking?" Rob asked.
Trina took a deep breath and released it. "I had been thinking about our strategy."
Rob smirked, "You want to keep going."
"It is what Victoria would have wanted," Catherine added.
"Indeed," Trina nodded. "We have gotten this far and Rosym is in our sights. Victoria wanted to bring Princess Jadelyn back alive and unharmed."
Catherine looked beyond where they were and focused on the kingdom in the distance.
"It will be nothing close to easy," the redhead declared. "Who knows what Noxymis may have in store for anyone who dares to challenge him."
"You know," Rob smile grew broadly. "All of this danger and uncertainty is making this whole excursion almost irresistible."
Jadelyn washed ashore and was coughing up water for a good two minutes on her hands and knees when she saw another figure floating downstream.
"LOTTIE!" she called out.
She desperately fished out the older woman; very nervous because she was motionless. Jadelyn turned her over and tried to get the water out of her lungs but it was too late. She wasn't breathing.
"Oh no," Jadelyn sighed.
It was too far flung of a thought that anyone would've survived that plunge. She was even impressed that she didn't die. Unfortunately, her friend wasn't so lucky. Jadelyn looked over Lottie who looked serene with here eyes closed. She placed the woman's limp arms across her chest and remained on her knees, thinking about what to do next.
"Who are you?" asked a voice in the night.
Jadelyn turned and there stood a young man with long dark hair and bronze skin. She was initially surprised but hardly showed it for she was still grieving over Lottie's death.
"I...I am Jadelyn of Reinhart."
It wasn't until he lowered it that she knew he was armed with a bow.
"You are with Clios?"
"Was," Jadelyn shrugged. "But he stayed behind so that we could escape."
The young man made a small smile.
"That sounds like him," his face suddenly shifted to concern. "Did you say we?"
Jadelyn contritely stepped aside allowing him to view Lottie who laid there peacefully. He approached cautiously and upon being close enough to see her face, he dropped to his knees and started weeping uncontrollably. She was taken aback that he had recognized her. In his sorrow, she heard him call her something but he could not identify it. Jadelyn figured it had to be some term of endearment. Maybe she was a close friend?
"Tell me," he said, attempting to regulate his breathing in order to sound intelligible. "How did this happen?"
"S-s-s-he and I were trying to follow Clios and escape when..."
"It was him, wasn't it?" he asked, his eyes ablaze with pent up rage. "The man who usurped my father's place?"
"Your... father?"
The young man stood and got within inches of Jadelyn.
"My father was the king. His mother, my grandmother, lays before us. I am Andre, Prince of Rosym and rightful heir to the throne."
A/N: Man, that was a tough plot point for me to keep a secret. But things will get moving as our heroes get closer to Rosym. I will try to get the next chapter out soon because we aren't ALL here
;-)