Valterra

EPILOGUE

Daenna raced thru the streets of Fretram, a small port city off the shores of Altnahara. She hated being chased, but lately it had become sort of a like a bad habit. She cursed the wicked sun for drying out the hillside crops before she had time to raid them. She cursed the barren sky for not producing enough rain. She cursed her idle hands for their lack of speed in stealing the two cobs of corn she held tight under her arms. She cursed her sluggish legs as she twisted in and out of the harbour alleys trying to lose the City Watch.

So far, the lone watchman had kept up with her at every turn. She had run straight towards the lighthouse from the market square when the vendor cried out for help.

"Theif! Stop that girl! That theif!"

She had made sure to run in the opposite direction of the Watch Post. Though with her luck, the watchman was on his rounds, and she practically barreled into him during her escape. He's been on her toes ever since.

He was a not a large man, but he was tall. His long legs were no match for Daenna's small frame. Though she was fast, her legs had to work twice as hard to keep her distance. She cursed her kirtle, perhaps if she had worn her trousers she'd be running faster, but a girl in pants stood out. She always tried her best to blend in with the locals.

"The Dark take you, girl! Stop!" Her pursuer was only strides behind her. Deanna cursed her absent mother and father, and she cursed the home she ran away from and cursed the three years she's had to fend for herself. She cursed the size of the docks, for she had just run out of alley. She had gotten turned around and ran herself right into a dead end. She flew into the wall with so much force that she thought she heard a rib crack. She banged her fist against the building until it bled.

"It's no use now, girl. Come with me." The City Watch guard approached Daenna slowly with both his arms out to the side, preparing for her to try and bolt around him. Instead, she picked up the cobs of corn she had dropped when she reached the wall and threw them straight at his face.

One caught it's mark and hit him straight in the eye. He screamed out and put both hands up to his face. Deanna saw an opportunity and darted around him. The guard must have anticipated it because he reached out and grabbed her by the long blonde braid she wore down her back faster than she could run by him.

Deanna howled as he tugged her back and pulled her down to the floor. In an instant she was filled with agony, as if something ripped her apart and entered her in the most vicious way. She looked down at herself to see what the watchman had done to her, but he simply had his hand on her chest, holding her down on the ground. Her body spasmed again. She thought she may be sick with a fever. Her whole body felt like it was on fire.

Just as soon as she was about to say as much to her capture, her clothes caught aflame. They both screamed. Her capture's clothes caught fire and he bellowed and screamed louder. He rolled in a fit and looked at her with such horror in his eyes that it scared her. Had her face melted off? Was there any skin left at all. Was she even still alive?

She looked down and her clothes had burnt away. She lay naked, yet flames still danced from her silken smooth skin. She was fire. Like a phoenix reborn, she lay in the dirt. Her would be capture moaning and calling for help a few feet from her. She stood up, remarkably unscathed and still burning, and ran away as fast as she could.

-----

Back in Bolster, Avos let out a howl as the pain of his new Primordial magic entered him.

He was not expecting it. He did not even know what it truly meant. He sat and held on to Elise as it filled him. Outside the Citadel, the skies began to darken and clouds formed in rolling tides above the city. The rain began in moments and drenched the ashes of the half burnt walls. The streets quickly began to fill with water with such a downpour, people began scrambling to get inside. Lightening struck again and again, children screamed, the live stock out in the fields scattered, looking for cover.

Avos sat still. He wept and would not let go of Elise. He could hear the rain and thunder outside and knew it was because of him. He didn't care. As he recalled Elise's capture, only one thought reigned in his madness; Revenge.