The Paragon

Chapter Four

I didn't know where I was running to, of course. That wasn't the point. The point was no longer being there, with strangers bowing and claiming I was some sort of ancient legendary savior meant to lead them. Lead them? I hadn't even known they'd existed an hour ago!

The path split in two directions—I veered right and kept running, leaping down a few steps that appeared before me. A dead end was at the end of this hall, I could see, but I ignored that. Too late to turn back. Instead, I vaulted over the railing at the end of the path, leaping to the deck below, only hesitating slightly when the grated floor shook beneath my impact. Once I recovered, I continued on.

They thought I was the Paragon. This was some cruel joke, or nightmare. Maybe I was still asleep. Or maybe I was really dead, and this was some test by the spirits. I turned one corner, then immediately turned another. The halls on this ship were so convoluted—the whole place was a maze. I ran by signs too quickly to properly read them, so maybe they gave directions, but it seemed impossible that anyone could find their way around here.

There was another set of double doors ahead—these with windows on them. I could see sky outside. There! Open air—that was what I needed right now. The closed space on this ship was making it impossible for me to breathe. I ran through the door, coming quickly to a stop and taking a deep breath.

I looked around. This was an exterior deck of the ship. The area was small, a safety rail keeping me fenced in. From the way the landscape moved past, it seemed I was on the side of the ship rather than the front or back. My messy hair was whipped around by the wind even at the slow speed the ship seemed to be flying at, the scenery rolling past gently. I walked over to the edge and peered over the high railing. Below us was a valley of some sort, covered in winter snow. Everything looked grey and markedly unfamiliar. As I looked around at the distance, nowhere could I see a cityscape.

I'd never been out of Foster before in my life, and now I didn't even know which direction the city was.

The door opened again behind me, and I turned to see Eli run out onto the deck, out of breath. He seemed relieved to see me. "Oh, thank the spirits," he said, gasping for breath all the while. He bent over, hands on his waist, trying to catch his breath. "I was going to be so pissed if I'd lost you at that turn back there. And how did you even know you could make that jump?"

"I didn't," I replied.

Eli laughed once, not actually sounding amused. "Of course not."

I ignored him. "If I was asleep for three days like you said, and we were flying the whole time, it could take us weeks to get back to Foster on foot," I said, still staring at the landscape. "We could find a car somewhere—but we'd also need travel permissions. There's no way we'd be traveling that long and not run into Imperials. Maybe we could find a forger along the road, but that's pretty much relying on luck. Do you know which direction Foster is?"

"Hold on, hold on," Eli said, straightening up and walking over to me. "Look, they didn't tell me anything about this Paragon thing either; they just said they could help you. But you have to admit that it would make some sense."

"Make some sense?" I repeated incredulously. "It would make absolutely zero sense, Eli. The Paragon doesn't exist. It's a fairy story."

"You thought that about Redcloaks too, but they seem pretty undeniable now." I scoffed and started to walk away, intent on pacing up and down the deck; he placed his hands on my shoulders, stopping me. "You explain what's going on then. Because you're the first one who said you made that energy blast the other night, and it seemed a lot like magic to me. You're not a wizard. And everything after that made no sense either."