Fate of The Three

Jason

Jason walked behind Armen. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he understood enough. Armen's friend was in trouble. The friend he shared with that elf and the Dragon Theif. Jason studied Grayson. The outlaw wasn't anything like he'd been told; it was kinda surprising. The Empire had painted him as this entirely dangerous criminal, cruel and heartless. But he wasn't anything like that. He was walking beside Armen, grinning. He said something to him, making Armen laugh. They both seemed happy, though anxiety still showed through their postures. From the sound of it; they were both very close to Drake. Ender walked alone, apparently lost in thought. Jason had never seen an Enderman hybrid before her, so he found her merging sides fascinating. He'd never even heard of an Enderman before. They looked scary, from what he could tell. Miya, the elf, had told him that Enderman were an ancient race, older than even the Elves, and they were supposedly extinct. No one had seen an Enderman in over two thousand years. Which made Drake and Ender's existence all the more mind blowing. Jason liked Miya, despite being told all his life that Elves were below humans. She was very down to earth, and loved history and archeology. She'd met Grayson and Drake while they were trying to save Armen. From what, they wouldn't say. Grayson froze, holding up his hand to stop them. His body was tense, the cheerful man he'd been only moments before was gone. Jason tensed. Around him, he could tell others felt the same. Ender's eyes were narrowed, her expression wary. Miya was hopping from foot to foot, hand on her curved sword. Armen's body was taunt, and he was kneeling with one of his knifes in his hand, ready to strike. But they all waited for Grayson's lead. The outlaw drew his sword, purple and gold glowing in the half light. All around Jason, weapons were being drawn. He drew his bow warily, checking his scabbard to be sure he had plenty of arrows. He did. "Mersionarries." Grayson muttered, his eyes hard. They burned into Jason accusingly. Jason flinched. Though he wasn't sure what to feel about Grayson, he'd come to respect Ender and Miya, and of course he trusted Armen. Grayson had been cool towards Jason, though the way he acted towards Armen and the others made it clear he cared about them. Why couldn't he be like the Empire said? I'd be so much easier to hate him. 'He killed my parents.' Jason reminded himself, though the words felt hollow. The Grayson the Empire painted had sounded so cruel, of course he would burn down a villa and trap innocent people inside. But this Grayson? The one who would laugh with Armen, protect Miya with his life? It just didn't seem like him. Jason couldn't imagine this Grayson doing that. The Empire had clearly lied, the question was, about how much? Jason met Grayson's eyes squarely. He couldn't do it. He couldn't side with the Empire. He nodded at Grayson, acknowledging Grayson as his leader. Grayson raised his eyebrows, looking kinda surprised. But pleased as well. His eyes flashed towards Armen, and Jason realized that he must have been worried about the boy. Of course. If Jason had attacked Grayson for the Empire, Grayson would have had to fight back, possibly killing him. And how would Armen have reacted? Jason shivered, and not just because he might have died. Armen. He was the link. Jason suddenly understood why Grayson hadn't killed him already, something he'd wondered about constantly. It was obvious Grayson hadn't trusted him, but he hadn't wanted to hurt Armen by killing Jason. Grayson nodded back at Jason, then turned towards Armen. "Can you feel it?" He questioned quietly. Armen nodded, his expression a mixture of fear and determination. Feel what? Jason wasn't sure what they were talking about. Ender's expression was tense. Miya looked fearful. "Him?" She questioned. Grayson hesitated. "Maybe." He said finally. "I've gotten pretty good at telling when I'm being watched. But I'm no Mage. There's no way to tell if it's him or a mersionarry." Armen was quiet, his blue eyes wide. Ender also looked questioning. "No Mage would be able to tell anything about that." She informed them. Grayson frowned. "Well, Drake could. I guess I kinda assumed anything he could do other Mages could as well." Honestly, Jason felt lost. He knew Drake was a Mage, of course, but he didn't understand anything about the magic art, often seeing it as something out of a fairy tale or fantasy book. An arrow ripped through the air, headed straight for Grayson's head. Before Jason could cry out, Grayson ducked swiftly, and the arrow blew by him. Jason caught a glimpse of an old scar, halfway hidden under Grayson's golden locks, and realized there was another, identical one on the other side of his head. Like he'd been shot with something, and it had torn right through his skull. More arrows rained down around them. Jason was aware of the others, fighting beside him. But this was different from the mersionarries. Grayson and Armen fought back-to-back, as if they'd done this a million times before. Ender was throwing splash potions at the enemy, making them fall in pain, or become slow, or float into the air, screaming in panic. She threw a blood-red potion at a mersionarry who was about to stab Miya in the back. He screamed, then fell as the potion did its work, trapping him in a nightmare. Miya stabbed another metsionarry in the heart, killing him, then glanced back and nodded at Ender. The two girls fought together, Ender throwing slowness potions while Miya would hook the enemy's swords with her own and disarm them. Jason then found himself facing Luke. The man who'd raised him gaped at Jason in disbelief, then glanced over to where Grayson was fighting, unaware of his old enemy. Jason, seeing an opportunity, took it. He tackled Luke, and the two ended up rolling down a hill. Jason coughed out grass, then shot to his feet to find Luke standing a few feet away, sword drawn. But this wasn't a practice run. Jason gripped his sword tightly. "Jason, what in Notch's name are you doing?!" Luke demanded. Jason stood his ground. "He's not a bad person Luke!" Jason pleaded. "The Emperor is wrong! Grayson-He'd never hurt innocent people!" Luke gazed at Jason quietly. "Your right." He agreed calmly. Jason was stunned into silence. "I knew him. We served together." Luke's voice was soft. "He'd never hurt innocent people." Jason felt his blood turn cold. Then shouting erupted, and Luke turned and ran. Grayson stopped where Luke had stood, glaring into the trees were the Assassin had disappeared. He let out a curse, one that sounded oddly similar to something Armen would say, before turning to Luke, His eyes were surprisingly gentle. "Are you okay, Jason?" He asked, placing a hand on Jason's shoulder. Jason was startled, "uh, yeah." He muttered. Grayson was talking to Jason like he would Armen. What Luke had said suddenly came back to Jason. He had known Grayson. Jason looked up at Grayson curiously. He was sure he wasn't imagining the pain in Grayson's eyes as he stared at the forest were Luke had disappeared.

"He would never harm innocent people."

Good God, were his parents the cruel ones....?