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In the first moments after I awoke I was sure it had been a dream. I laid in a plush bed with soft sheets pulled over me, but as I tried to open my eyes the truth shattered my illusion. Every bone and muscle in my body ached, a dull throbbing that permeated my entire being. A heavy cloth was wrapped around my head, judging by the feeling of it as I turned my head. I laid still and listened quietly for some time, able to pick out the muffled and barely audible clink and clatter of drinking in the distance.

"Are you awake?" Said a familiar voice in the room. I couldn't help but jump, turning my head this way and that in an effort to locate the sound. "Don't worry, you're okay now. It's me, Cadein."

"Cadein?" I repeated, finding the source of his voice and turning my head towards it. Footsteps crossed the room, and I felt his warm hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm here. How are you feeling?" He asked, concern in his voice. My head hurt worse than the rest of my body, but it was bearable..

"Alright, I guess." I swallowed, my throat dry. "Am I...?"

"No, you're not. Well, not totally. We're just keeping the wounds bandaged." There was the heavy scrape of a chair being drug, and Cadein sat heavily.

"What do you mean, 'not totally'?" I said. Fear ran through my mind once more, and as I tried to sit up Cadein gently pushed me back down.

"It's possible the damage to your right eye is too much for time to repair. We lack divine or even arcane healing, so there isn't more that we can do other than wait." Cadein's voice was apologetic. "There is much I need to explain to you."

"I'm not really in a position where I can deny you, so go ahead." I said. Inwardly my mind was trembling in fear, but I tried not to show it. At least I wasn't entirely blind. There was a slight pause, and Cadein cleared his throat.

"Firstly, the situation. Right now the area is extremely volatile, we believe it's due to the Black One's influence."

"We?"

"Which kind of trails into my next topic. We've been protecting you ever since you were brought to the abbey. I admit, I failed in my duty when the goblins." He trailed off, but picked up once more after a moment's pause. "And I sincerely apologize for it. You are to be protected until the time is right, and I allowed a threat to pass by me unhindered."

"Why? Why are you 'protecting' me? Who am I that needs protection?" I asked. Things were getting stranger and stranger by the moment, and I was beginning to think that maybe I was just hallucinating all of this. It certainly wasn't impossible.

"That isn't for me to say, Sigan. All I can tell you is what we need to do next."

"Why should I trust you, though? Everything's changed." I said, frowning.

"Aye, that it has."

"You only showed up once the abbey was burning and the goblins had already had their way with me." I felt myself begin to tremble at the memory. "Some protector you are."

"I know. I can't apologize enough. I was in my hut, reading, and I didn't even notice until I smelled the smoke from the fire. I came out as the road patrol was riding up the path, and we didn't get there in time. We did kill two of them and the road patrol captured the last one."

"Not in time, though." I said, more angrily than I had intended. Cadein sighed and I supposed he would have nodded if I could see him. I immediately realized just how angry I had sounded, and it was my turn to sigh. "I'm sorry. It's been stressful."

"I understand. Look, I need to remove your bandages and then you should sleep. When we need to leave I'll wake you." I felt his hands lift my head and begin unwrapping the layers of cloth wrapped around it. The scent of medicinal herbs filled my nose, pungent and unmistakable. "Firstly we'll need to take a stagecoach to the city of Haliea, and from there you'll get on a boat. I'll stay in Haliea, but from there a second agent will protect you. You won't see him, but if you do figure it out please do not speak or interact with him. We don't know where the Black One's spies are, after all."

"Who is this 'Black One'?"

"To be truthful, we haven't the foggiest. We know he's been gathering forces in the old dwarven citadels in the Frostfang mountains and importing weapons by the thousands. Also, evidence of corruption has been discovered in many cities surrounding the citadels. I don't mean the monetary kind, though. The magical kind." I made a quiet sound of acknowledgment, and the last bandage was lifted away. The room was dark, the blinds drawn but a few shafts of late afternoon light streaming in. It was like I was holding my right eye closed, but even as I opened it and blinked several times the sight never returned.

"It isn't quite as bad as I thought it would be.." I said, holding my hand before my face as I sat up. It was difficult to judge just how far away it was at times, but I was sure I could learn to cope with it given time.

"I did all I could for the scarring, but without magical healing I could not make them entirely disappear." Said Cadein, handing me a polished steel mirror. As I brought it up and caught sight of my reflection I frowned, the entire right side of my face scarred and in the process of healing. It looked worse than it felt, scabbed and dark red against my light green flesh. My hair, growing naturally violet thanks to my swamp orc blood and hanging to just below my shoulder blades, was dirty and matted. All in all, I looked a wreck.

"How long was I unconscious?" I asked.

"Two days. I had worried you'd slipped into a state you wouldn't recover from due to the amount of blood you lost, but here you are." Cadein smiled gently, his face worn with lack of sleep and worry.

"You look exhausted. Go rest, I can take care of myself." I looked over at the washtub in the corner of the room. "Could I perhaps get a bath? And some food?"

"Of course." He stood and left, taking the mirror and bandages with him. I sat there on the bed, the events sinking into my brain. I wanted to curl up and cry, now that I was alone, but I had no intention of letting Cadein see me that way.

But I couldn't fight it. I'd lost everything I owned, the monks were as good as dead as far as I knew, and I'd lost one of my eyes as well as my purity. It struck me as suddenly as a thunderbolt, overriding the existing blankness in my mind with pain, fear, and loneliness. I pulled my legs up and buried my face between my knees, shuddering in the almost comforting darkness of the room. It was all too much, far far too much. I didn't want any of this at all, was it insane for me to want a peaceful life? Why did this happen to me instead of someone that could handle it?

By the time Cadein returned I'd regained control of myself and dried my face on the sheets. He bore a plain black robe, tray of bread and cheese, and a large bucket of water in his other hand. He left the robe and tray on the bedside table and began to pour the water in the basin.

"I can do that myself, you know." I said.

"I know." I frowned, but soon he was done and the basin was full. "There you go. I'll be waking you before the dawn breaks, so do try to get some rest."

"Thank you. I will." With that he headed out, and after bathing and eating I climbed back into bed.

A strong hand on my shoulder scared the living piss out of me. I jerked awake and nearly fell out of the bed as I rolled away from the hand, catching myself on the bedpost. A startled Cadein watched me struggling with the sheets, eyes wide in the darkness of the room. He wore a dark cloak with hood drawn up over his head as well as his leather armor. A dagger hung at his hip as well as his bow on his back.

"Oh, it's you. Dammit, don't startle me like that."

"I've been trying to get you up for a good two minutes now. The stagecoach is here, get dressed and let's go." He nudged a pair of boots on the floor with his foot. "Haliea's a four-hour ride away, get dressed and let's get moving." He seemed tenser than normal.

"Something wrong?" I asked as I stood and pulled the robe quickly around me. Even though he'd definitely seen me naked I had no intention of standing about bare in front of him.

"We need to get to Haliea before midday, and get you on the ship shortly after that. She leaves port at three tolls past midday, so we have no time to waste." He went to the window and looked out as I buckled the boots on, the top of them coming to my mid-thigh. I had mentioned I liked the style before, and apparently he had gone out and bought them after I had went to sleep if the stiffness of the leather was to be believed. The robe was fine as well, with a hood and violet trim. I pulled it tight around me, fastening it with the violet sash that was folded up atop it.

"It's a bit drafty," I joked. Cadein turned back from the window, looking me over quickly.

"I couldn't find any underclothing, but where you're going it might be best not to have it until you adapt."

"Where am I going, anyhow?" I followed him as he left the room, down a set of steps on the other end of a hallway lined with doors into the main room of the inn. Chairs were sat up on tables and the candles snuffed, indicating that not even the owners were awake at this hour. Our footfalls echoed in the emptiness, and with the curtains pulled over the windows the inn almost seemed abandoned.

"Across the ocean to Hierakon." Said Cadein, simply. His voice was serious and focused, and his hand was on his dagger as he pushed open the door. I began to ask just where Hierakon was, but he held up his hand. An unadorned wooden stagecoach sat on the road outside the door of the inn, with four dark horses set up to pull it. A thin human sat at the horse-master's seat and spoke as we exited the inn.

"This the boy?" He asked, looking down at me under his hood. The sky behind him was dark and gray in the early morning, and the air already smelled of rain.

"Aye. Now, you're aware of the route?" Cadein produced a map from his pack under his cloak, and I simply stood at the side of the road studying the sky. If it was going to rain at least some good would come out of this day. Nothing bad had ever happened to me when it was raining, and just the sound of rainfall washed any worry or fear from my mind. The air was calm and cool, a light wind rustling the leaves of the trees around the inn.

"Yeah." The horse-master said, nodding and taking the map. "Yeah, I remember this. Get in, no time to waste." Cadein opened the door for me, revealing the simple interior of the carriage. Two benches sat opposite each other, small windows covered with dark drapes flanked each of the benches. As I settled down on the rearward one Cadein climbed in as well, pulling the door shut and tapping the wall behind him. Immediately the carriage began moving, the clopping of the horses' hooves on the cobblestone barely audible.

"So, where exactly is Hierakon?" I asked. Cadein shifted his bow and quiver off his back, leaning it against the bench he sat on.

"As I said, across the ocean." Cadein said, unhelpfully. I frowned and smoothed my robe, watching the trees alongside the road pass by. A few droplets of rain spattered against the window, beginning to be pushed along by the wind.

"You're not telling me for a reason, aren't you?" I asked.

"Look, I wish I could totally fill you in but honestly I don't know all of it. I don't want to mislead you, so I keep quiet. Let's just say you're important and this protection is direly needed." He explained, sighing and leaning back. It was only then I noticed the exhaustion on his face and the dullness in his eyes.

"Have you even slept?"

"No, I was busy all night." He yawned and I shook my head.

"Then sleep in here. I'll be safe enough."

"I will when we get to Haliea." He said, stubbornly. The rain picked up, filling the carriage with its soft patter. I merely smiled at him as I turned my attention back out the window, leaning against the wall. Soon after his soft snoring joined the rain, and I joined him in a quick nap.