Halden followed his new companion away from the church and into the valley he crossed when he first left home. Though he had been here only a few short days ago, it felt like years as they reached the familiar campsite. They stopped for a short break, giving the young Luminary a moment to think.

Raeyla had been quiet since leaving Erik behind at the church and Halden tried his best to give her space. Growing up with his mum and Gemma, he had quickly learned that sometimes it was best to leave a woman alone when she was upset.

Thinking about his mum and Gemma brought his mind back to the situation at hand. He was worried for them and everyone in Cobblestone. Hendrik was going there because he had escaped. He regretted telling the King where he came from.

"Halden." He heard the girl's voice call out to him. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked up to where she was standing, bag on her shoulder and ready to move on. "This is your first time taking a long trip, right?" she asked gently.

"Yes." he answered quickly, moving to stand and get his bag.

"Ok. I'm sorry, but we should keep going. We have a long way to go, and it's not safe for us to stay out in the valley. Soldiers could come by and see us." Raeyla's tone was sympathetic but firm.

Halden didn't mind being pushed, despite his fatigue. "That's ok. It just means we get back to Cobblestone faster." he said with determination.

The brunette girl offered a small, reassuring smile. "You're really worried about your home. If we can keep up the pace, we can get there by tomorrow morning." she said softly, trying to comfort him. He appreciated her attempts, but he knew that he wouldn't feel better until he got home and made sure everyone was safe.

They left the campsite and moved quickly across the valley until they reached a line of dense, dark green forest. Though the setting sun provided little light, Halden noted his inability to see into the forest. He watched as Raeyla hopped over a log and continued into the forest.

"Will there be a path through the forest we can follow? It's getting dark." he asked, trying to keep his voice steady as he climbed over the log to join her.

She turned to face him. "No, and in about an hour we won't be able to see our own hands. There's a spot that Derk, Erik and I have used for a camp before. If we look for wood and stones on our way, we can set up camp as soon as we get there." she explained, her voice calm and assuring.

Halden nodded, feeling a little more at ease with her guidance. He still felt the weight of his worries, but knowing they had a plan helped him focus on the task at hand.

By the time they each had an armful of kindling and rocks, the sun had reached the horizon and it was becoming difficult to see.

Raeyla led them to a small area behind some trees and started to clear the ground for their makeshift camp.

"We'll want to get a fire started. Put the stones in a circle, as close together as you can get them." Raeyla instructed, and Halden got to work.

When everything was set up and the fire was finally lit, they were able to rest. As they sat around the fire, Raeyla looked up at Halden and spoke.

"So Cobblestone, what's it like?" She inquired, her voice gently yet curious.

Images of his home flashed before Halden's eyes. "It's a small village in the mountains. There are lots of hills and a river from the nearby waterfall. It's all very quiet. I'd never even left before a few days ago." Halden explained, his voice tinged with a mix of nostalgia and worry.

"Wow, it sounds really peaceful. Why did you leave?" she questioned further, her eyes filled with genuine curiosity.

"After we climbed the Tor, a monster attacked us. My friend Gemma was in danger. I remember reaching out to her when the mark on my hand lit up. Then everything was bright and lightning struck the monster. After that, my mum told me that I was the reincarnation of the Luminary." Halden explained, earning a surprised look from the female.

"Lightning! You can use magic!" she exclaimed, her interest piqued. The boy nodded in return. "I couldn't before that, and I haven't been able to since then either."

He looked down at his hands and flipped them over, staring down at the mark on his hand. The silly little mark that had been there since birth, the mark that caused him to leave his home to fulfill a destiny he didn't understand.

"So what's the Tor?" Raelya suddenly asked, changing topics and bringing him back from his thoughts.

"It's a mountain south of our town. When villagers turn 16, they climb to the top as a rite of passage. It means we're now adults." he explained, a touch of pride in his voice.

"Sounds really cool. You'll have to point it out to me when we get there tomorrow." she responded, giving Halden a small reassuring smile. She was trying to cheer him up, and it worked, if only for a moment.

Without waiting for a response from him, Raeyla spoke once more "You should get some sleep. We'll have to take turns watching for monsters. I'll wake you up in a few hours."

Halden nodded silently and laid his bag on the ground, trying his best to close his eyes and get some sleep. Raeyla woke him up a few hours later for his shift, and he quietly took his spot by the fire, keeping watch for any danger.

It was a peaceful few hours, staring up at the stars. But his eyes were starting to droop. He thought it would soon be time to change places with the girl when he heard a rustling noise from the trees to his left.

He turned toward the noise quickly and drew his sword, ready for whatever might be approaching. He inched backward toward Raeyla's sleeping form slowly until he saw four pairs of red eyes staring back at him from the dark. He knew then they would have to fight.

"Raeyla!" was all he shouted as he tried to ascertain which one would attack first, hearing a shuffling sound from behind him. He worried for a moment before he heard the girl's voice "Damn it", confirming that the noise had been her waking up.

His heart was beating loudly in his chest. He was exhausted and had no idea which monster to attack first. He saw one of the eyes move closer suddenly before an arrow flew past his shoulder and toward the eyes, followed by a noise from the monster to signal that the shot had been successful. Feeling a little panicked, he ran forward and slashed at one of the eyes, desperate to eliminate the threat so he could sleep.

"Halden, no!" Raeyla shouted after him, and he soon could see why. Once his attack connected with the monster, he found that it was too dark to see his opponents. He heard a noise from behind him and swung his sword in that direction, but felt nothing but air as he attacked. A small roar sounded off back in the original direction he'd been facing, and he tried to turn to dodge an attack when something caught his cloak and dragged him to the ground.

He spun around on the ground quickly and felt something jump on him, a slimy round body that tried to jump up and down on his stomach. He guessed that he was being attacked by a slime and aimed a hit to the monster with the hilt of his sword. That attack at least had landed.

He stood back up quickly and tried to look around once more, finding that it was still too dark to see. He didn't know how many were left and was beginning to feel more panicked when he looked back toward the fire.

Raeyla had two monsters trying to attack her. One was a pink, devil-like creature wearing a purple cape, greenish-blue pants and brown shoes. The other was a spotted, red-capped mushroom with stubby arms, feet and a fanged mouth. She dodged a lunging attack from the mushroom but couldn't avoid the devil's swipe, which scratched her right arm. She yelped in pain, and Halden tried to rush forward.

He shouted and raised his sword, swinging it at the devil. The hit connected, and the devil fell to the ground. He watched the devil for a moment and saw it was no longer moving, but in that time, the slime from before returned and slammed into Halden's back, sending him to the ground again. The last thing he'd remembered was Raeyla shouting, "Look out!" before he felt too sleepy to resist.

When he woke, it was morning, and Raeyla was deconstructing the fire pit. When she saw that he was moving, she looked over. "Good Morning" she greeted him.

"What happened?" he asked, rubbing his head and checking himself for wounds. He suddenly remembered the devil's attack on Raeyla and looked at her arm. It was bandaged, with a small red tinge visible.

"The Funghoul spread a gas that put you to sleep. I got the other two, and after that, the rest of the night was peaceful." she explained and moved to her pack.

"You're hurt. Are you ok?" Halden questioned, feeling a bit of guilt. She looked down at the bandage and shrugged. "It's not too deep, it will heal. We'll have to work on our teamwork in battle to prevent it from happening again."

"I've never had to fight so many monsters, and not with other people as well. It was too dark and chaotic." Halden tried to explain, hoping that she would understand his inexperience. She shook her head in response, "I'm also used to fighting with Erik. We're just out of sync. If we're fighting at night, try to stay in the light so we can see each other. I mainly fight with a bow, so I need to keep my distance. When you ran ahead, you lost track of the other monsters and they were able to get around you to me." she explained calmly, ensuring Halden knew exactly what went wrong. He made a mental note to ensure that in any future battles, nothing would get past him.

They finished packing up camp and traveled through the dense forest together. Raeyla had no idea where Cobblestone was located, so the duo made their way into the forest toward the southeastern direction until Halden recognised one of the mountains that surrounded his village. After pointing out the visual marker, Raeyla and Halden tried their best to make their way to the base of the mountain so they could follow it around and look for a path inward.

It required a lot of vigilance and communication between the two, as they both had to look for paths and keep an eye on their surroundings to stay safe from further monster attacks. There were a few times where they found themselves in a fight, but with their most recent exercise in teamwork, the battles were handled with much more precision. Halden took extra care to ensure that no monsters got past him, not wanting Raeyla to risk further injury.

They had worked out a system while they traversed through the forest. Halden led the walk because of his close combat capabilities, and Raeyla stuck to the back. They tried to keep talking to a minimum so additional monsters wouldn't be alerted to their presence. Before they knew it, they'd found a pass that led through the mountains.

Halden was only momentarily relieved, as once they started walking down the pathway, he saw a large plume of smoke. There was a fire in his village. He broke away from their formation and ran. "Halden, wait!" Raeyla shouted after him, but he didn't listen.

He followed the pass and saw the familiar path from the Tor come into view. He ran to the left at the crossroads, past the river he used to fish with his grandfather, and up the hill, where he knew he would see his home at the top.

But all he saw was the burnt rubble that was once his home.

The houses where his family and friends once lived were now collapsed and smoldering. He could see the farms in the distance, blackened and lifeless, none of the crops salvageable.

"No.." he heard Raeyla whisper behind him. He fought the urge to collapse to the ground and instead ran through the village up to where his house was supposed to be located. "Mum!" he shouted into the rubble, looking for any sign of life but found none. Panic rose in his chest as he tried to lift the stone rubble to search for her. As he struggled to lift one of the larger stones, he felt the weight lessen just a bit as Raeyla stepped in to help him.

Together, they searched in the remains of his home until they were certain she had not been there. When he hadn't found his mother, he moved on to Gemma's house and they searched there as well, finding that, much like his mother, his childhood friend hadn't been there either. They checked the remains of the church, the stores, the nearby caves and even ran to the entrance of the Tor, finding no one in each location. Halden tried not to fall into despair as they reached the town center once more, the sun setting in the distance. They sat under the tree that Gemma frequently lost her scarf in. He briefly thought of how, on the day they climbed the Tor, he had been up there retrieving it for her.

"They're gone.." Halden said in a soft voice. Raeyla put a hand on his shoulder and tried to reassure him, "We couldn't find any of them in the village. They could have escaped."

He told himself they had to have, but then another thought crossed his mind. "I can't go looking for them, not with Heliodor looking for me." He looked up at Raeyla, hoping he'd be proven wrong.

She frowned in response, "It's… probably for the best. I'm sorry, Halden." She looked around the village before speaking again, "If Heliodor is willing to go this far just to get to you, it's too dangerous for you to be near them."

He felt his shoulders slump at the confirmation. He had no idea what to do anymore. Where would he go? How far would he make it before Heliodor found him? He was trying to fight the spiraling thoughts when he felt Raeyla's hand leave his shoulder.

"It'll be ok, we can meet back up with Erik and Derk. Erik and I are on the run as well, remember? You can stay with us." She offered.

"Thank you but I don't know what I'm supposed to do." he responded. Raeyla sat quietly for a moment before questioning, "What were you told about being the Luminary? Is there anything we can use as a hint, maybe?"

He shook his head. "My grandfather only told my mum that I was the reincarnated Luminary, and that I was destined to save the world from the Dark One. Everything happened so fast. I was standing under this tree just a couple of days ago, getting a scarf for my friend, living a quiet life. Before I knew it, I was before the King of Heliodor, accused of being the Darkspawn and arrested. I'd never even fought that many monsters before leaving the village. How am I supposed to defeat something called the Dark One?" He despaired, rambling his thoughts aloud for the girl to hear.

She listened to everything he said quietly, seemingly debating how to respond carefully before speaking, "You're supposed to be Yggdrasil's chosen, right? Why don't you go to Yggdrasil and ask for help?"

"Yggdrasil? How am I supposed to get there? It's in the sky." He countered, watching the girl's face fall at his point. She thought for a moment and responded, "I don't know, but maybe we could find out. Surely there is some historian or someone who knows about the Luminary. Your grandfather can't be the only person who knew."

Raeyla's idea made sense, but it overwhelmed him. He was just too young and inexperienced to save the world.

"I guess I have no choice." He said, resigned to accept his fate. Raeyla shook her head and empathized with him, "I can't imagine what that's like, but we can try to help." She said and smiled at him. He returned the smile and spoke, "Thanks, you're really nice. You only just met me."

"Erik and Derk really helped me a couple of years ago, and they'd known me less than I know you. I'm only doing what they'd do. Besides, after everything we went through, I think it's safe to say we aren't strangers anymore. We can be friends if you want." She said, sounding cryptic and a little unsure at the end.

Halden smiled in response and nodded his head, "I'd like that." He said, choosing to avoid asking her about the incident she mentioned occurred with Erik and the unknown person named Derk. From what little he knew about Erik and how Raeyla spoke of both of them, he thought that they were good people and hoped that they would join them on their journey.

He looked back out toward his village, the smoldering ruins keeping him from fully enjoying the moment, but looked up toward the sky to see that the sun would soon fade.

"It's almost sundown. Do you think we'll be safe here?" He looked to Raeyla and asked, who put on a thoughtful look, "We might be safe here, but Erik will be looking for us. We'd be better off returning to the Manglegrove. I promised Erik I'd go to a particular cave to meet up with him and Derk. If we move quickly, we should make it there before dark." She offered an alternative plan, and although he was hesitant to leave Cobblestone now, he knew that it wasn't a good idea to stay.

There was nothing he could do here, and he only risked getting himself caught again if Hendrik ever returned to the village.

"Yeah, let's meet up with Erik and Derk." He answered, deciding quickly before he changed his mind and gave up this whole Luminary business.

"Great! Let's go then, it should be much quicker now that I know the way." She stated, reaching her hand out toward the tree behind them to help lift herself up, touching the root that was wrapped around the tree.

As soon as her fingers brushed the tree, she went perfectly still.

When she didn't move for a few seconds, he looked over curiously, before becoming a bit concerned. "Raeyla?" he questioned, but got no response. She was staring off into the distance, toward the hill that led up to the main entrance of the village before slowly moving forward.

He got up and followed her, moving ahead to look at her, "Raeyla? What's wrong?" He asked once more before noticing her eyes - they were dull in color, as if she weren't really there at that moment. She continued moving without stopping, like she didn't know that he was in front of her and continued up the hill. He could only follow her slowly.

She left the village and walked down the hill to the right, toward Cobblestone falls. He saw her continue her walk until she almost reached the water's edge of the waterfall. He reached forward to stop her from continuing, but found that she had stopped on her own.

She stood there quietly, watching something in front of the waterfall for several minutes before the boy tried to reach out to his friend once more. "Raeyla? Are you there?" He asked, unsure of how to help her.

He may have only recently become friends with her, but her behavior now was vastly different from that of how she acted in the last few days.

He was going to take his chances at shaking her when a familiar voice was heard.

"There you guys are! I was starting to think you'd gotten into trouble!" Erik's voice came from the entrance to the falls. Halden looked over quickly at Erik, seeing the look of concern on his face. He briefly noted the cyan-haired boy appeared to be out of breath, as if he'd run a long distance.

"When you weren't at the cave I got worried and headed this way. Everything ok, Halden?" Erik asked, walking forward toward the duo. Halden responded, "We couldn't find anyone, and then." Halden trailed off, looking back at Raeyla, "Raeyla. She… Something's wrong with her."

Erik's mood and focus shifted quickly, his eyes moving to Raeyla, noticing the bandages on her arms, "Rae, what happened?" He asked her, but she didn't respond. As he got closer, he reached out to touch her left arm.

The moment he brushed her arm, Raeyla seemed to snap out of the trance she was in, and her knees buckled from beneath her. "Rae!?" Erik responded quickly in concern, reaching his other arm forward to catch her before she fell to the ground. Halden also hurried closer to get a look at her; she was unconscious.

Erik looked up furiously at Halden and questioned him sharply "What did you do?".