The Rings of Atraxia

Both Jonathon and Finn stared at the girl for a full minute, neither saying a word, Mia starring right back at them nervously as she began to dance from foot to foot under their intense gazes. Then, a certain archer's mood switched totally out of the blue. Jonathon bounded over to the child, skidding to a stop, he knelt down to her level so they could talk eye-to-eye.

"Hey there, Mia was it?" The young girl nodded in response.

"Well hey there Mia I'm Jonathon and he's Finn! We're travellers you see, trying to take in new places. Do you know what happened here?"

Mia began to relax at the overly friendly archer. She offered him a small smile; however, that quickly vanished when the question got through to her. Tears began to form at the corner of her eyes as the memories of what had happened resurfaced and she collapsed to her knees, hands going to her eyes and she gave up on any resistance and let the tears fall.

"I was just staying with my auntie and uncle. Momma and Papa went to the city for a few days and I was staying with them until they came home. Last night we had just finished having our dinner when we heard screams from outside. My uncle rushed out to see what was going on but came back a few minutes later looking really scared. He dragged me to my favourite hiding place before telling me to stay there until he came back. But he never came back. I spent hours waiting and I got bored so I came out to see what was going on."

Both Jonathon and Finn winced at this; they knew what was coming next.

"The whole town was like how they are now. I tried to shake some of them but they wouldn't wake up. Then I found my auntie and uncle but they didn't wake up straight away, they woke up after about a minute and changed into those." She pointed at the now dead figures that they had engaged when they entered the village.

Finn began to feel slightly ill, had they really just killed a poor child's relatives in front of her face? It appeared that every fight he had, was taking him further and further away from being a hero. He was so lost in his thoughts he barely realised that Jonathon was trying to get his attention until he felt his partner's hand on his shoulder as he shook him lightly.

"Finn we need to get out of here, there may be some residual magic left and I have a very good idea what will happen if we're caught up in it." He indicated at the recently killed relatives of Mia, his face showing that even he was affected by what was obviously happening. Turning back towards the young girl, the archer forced a comforting smile to form on his face.

"Hey Mia, do you know where the city is?" The girl nodded after a moment's thought. Raising her finger, she pointed due east, Jonathon taking careful note before deciding on what to do. Lifting the Young Girl onto his shoulders, and ignoring the surprised squeal that came from her at his actions, the archer addressed his friend as he gave one last gaze around the village.

"What do you think about heading for the city and finding out more information?" Finn gave a small noise of confirmation, letting Jonathon take the lead as they prepared to move out. The young hero took a final moment to look around the remnants of what was once a humble abode, eyes downcast, vowing to try harder to never let this happen again.

Looking over to his two companions, he saw that they had already started to wonder in the direction that Mia had pointed to earlier. Jogging to catch up, Finn fell into step beside them, getting an easy smile from Jonathon and a shy one from Mia. With the party now together, they set off leaving behind the devastation of the village. As the group slowly turned to silhouettes in the horizon, a final deathly silence descended, leaving only the memories of a bustling community, their laughs, smiles and conversations left to the winds blowing through the emptiness.

And so they walked on for hours. Mia had long since dozed off, maintaining a tight grip on the top of Jonathon's head. Said archer, however, had said little over the time passed since their experience in the village, Finn was unsure whether this was because he was simply mulling over what had happened or if he was simply concentrating on getting them to safely to the city their new companion had talked about. Either way, the young hero had things he wanted to talk about but knew better than to approach them straight away.

As the day began to end, Jonathon called Finn over to him to have a quick conversation.

"As you can see it's getting dark and we need a place to camp out for the night, can you handle it?" The younger of the two nodded not responding with words, however, his silence seemed to convey its true meaning to his friend anyway.

"We'll talk later, I have a feeling it won't be a pleasant topic for this one." He gestured up at the snoozing child still using his head as a pillow. It seemed the past few days had exhausted her, not that Finn felt any better. But surely she felt the effects more when she was the one that lost almost everything.

Nodding at Jonathon, the hero moved away to look for a suitable place to sleep for the evening, leaving his friend to tend to Mia. After about ten minutes of scouting ahead, Finn found a scattering of trees. Nowhere near a forest but enough to keep them hidden from sight at a casual glance. He could at least feel a bit of security from sleeping there.

Running back to his friends, Finn soon guided them to their sleeping place for the night. Nodding with approval, Jonathon wordlessly handed Mia to his friend before vanishing into the night for about half an hour before reappearing looking a bit more happy with the circumstances.

After giving Finn a brief nod he wordlessly began to set up camp, setting up the tents and even starting a small fire. After finishing his set up, Jonathon reached into one his pouches he grabbed some rations, heating them up a bit before tossing some to Finn, waking up Mia so she could eat as well.

They all ate in a strange silence, all with their faces down in their food. Mia finished first, already sleepy the girl stood, not really sure what to do before Jonathon spoke up.

"Don't worry we have a tent just for you. It's the one on the right, I already set up a bed for you to fall into. I figured you'd still be tired." Giving a muted giggle Mia waved at both of her new companions before plodding over to the tent, letting the flap close behind her, leaving the two outside in silence.

Despite the fact they were now alone, neither broke the quiet just yet, finishing off what little remained of their food. They both finished at the same time. Rising as one, they wordlessly made their way inside the remaining tent. Even in the bleakness, Finn could see that his friend had made two beds inside, choosing one quickly, the young hero settled down, looking over at his companion as he mirrored his actions.

"Where did you go before you set up camp?" Jonathon looked over to Finn's general outline before giving him the answer he wanted.

"Covering our tracks, I obviously didn't do all of them and we can still be traced, but for an inexperienced tracker, it will look like we just vanished into thin air." Nodding at the clever idea, the hero allowed quiet to once again blanket itself around them, however, Jonathon was not in the mood to mince his words.

"Talk about what you want to talk about Finn, there's no need to try and think of a tactful way of putting it here."

At his friends urging, the hero let loose everything he wanted to ask and say.

"We...we..."

Jonathon sighed wearily, eyes creasing at his next words.

"I know we killed some of Mia's family in front of her, it's not something I'd want to do again but it was necessary." That had not stopped the guilt from affecting Fin who was still squirming at the thought of what they had done.

"But we probably messed up Mia for life, how can we be sure that we made the right call?"

Jonathon rose from his position on the ground moving beside his doubting friend, collapsing in a heap next to him, the archer let out a long breath, staring off into the darkness of the tent, as he mulled over what was said.

"This will probably sound morbid to you, but I much prefer Mia alive rather than dead. Which without us, she would have ended up being. Hell for all we know she could have been brought back the same way her family were, and I personally don't like to think of an undead child laying into an unfortunate traveller. I know it's hard to swallow but we saved a girl's life today, without us she would be dead or worse, I'd say we did a good deed rather than a terrible one."

Finn gave his friend a pointed look before questioning his logic.

"Isn't that a bit simple?" This got a chuckle from Jonathon, who looked over at his friend with a small smile on his face.

"Of course it is, things only serve to get worse when we overthink everything and I've done enough of that for one lifetime. Look, Finn, I know this is tough for everyone but be assured we did a good thing."

Despite the reassurances, Finn sighed. He knew the archer was right but that did not mean the guilt and disappointment had gone away.

"It just seems that ever since I left on this journey we haven't really done things a hero would do."

Catching his companion's eye, Jonathon maintained the contact even through the difficulty of the night.

"I will admit that it is admirable you want to be a hero so badly I believe there should be a person like you for every person like me out there. But one realisation always seems to break your type Finn. The fact that you can't save everybody all the time. I've seen it destroy people who couldn't handle the fact that they had let one person die when they saved a group of others. You've already shown signs of it."

The young hero remained silent, letting Jonathon continue on with what he was saying.

"I know that you think it's not right that it looks like I don't care about the village but the fact is I do. I do wish I could have been there to try and save them from whatever it was that eventually killed them off, that Mia would be happy at home with her auntie and uncle not here travelling with two strangers into God knows what danger. I just know what will happen if I let those thoughts take control of me. So I do what I can for the living. That doesn't mean we shouldn't mourn those gone, but we shouldn't let our grief overrule our common sense."

Finn was not quite sure how to take that. While it certainly explained the way his friend behaved, he was not sure if he could ever achieve that state of mind. Unbidden another question forced its way out of his lips.

"How do you live that way, doesn't it eventually jack up your junk?"

A chuckle came out of the darkness at his turn of phrase, however, the archer did appear to be carefully considering his answer.

"It can do if you're not careful, just like how your outlook can mess with your mind. I'm pretty sure there are people who force themselves to have this frame of mind and they get found out when someone dies in front of them or an equally disastrous thing happens. It can lead to a breakdown, you've just go to not bottle everything up inside you."

Finn nodded at what Jonathon had said, it made him feel better knowing that his new friend was not an emotionless killing machine that cared little for others. He just helped those he could while not letting the deaths of those he could not save eat away at his conscience. He jumped slightly as a hand was placed on his shoulder, patting it a few times before a voice sounded out in the dark.

"Get some sleep Finn, today's been a long day, one of the longest I've had for a while. You must be exhausted. Leave the philosophical thinking for another day."

Finding that he agreed with the wisdom, the young hero laid his head down, shutting off his brain for the evening. Jonathon was right, the philosophy of being a hero could wait for another time.

The morning came far too quickly for Finn as his surroundings began to light up with the brightness of the rising sun. Groaning to himself he tried to pull his sleeping bag over his head to blot out the offending light, however, his struggles were for nought as he failed to get the said item to do what he wanted. Looking over at Jonathon there was some comfort in the fact that he seemed to be struggling just as much as he was.

The archer was also groaning, his hands covering his eyes in an attempt to fight off the inevitable morning. It appeared to be a losing battle as the poor man had to sit up and actually prepare for the day. Glancing over to Finn he gave his friend a quick nod before collapsing back attempting to regain his peaceful sleep.

The young hero rolled his eyes at the behaviour, sitting up to shake the poor archer back into wakefulness.

"Jonathon we have to wake up, Mia is probably awake now, we can't let her wander off by herself!"

This got another groan before he picked up on a mumbled sentence from his mumbling friend.

"Urgh from one kid to two, how did this happen to me?"

This once again caused an unfavourable reaction, bristling at the perceived insult Finn hit the archer square in his arm, making the man yelp in surprise before he levelled a glare at the assault on his person.

"What the hell was that for, don't you know you should never wake someone up by punching them, that's the way murders happen." Ignoring the obviously fake threat that came from his grouchy companion Finn prodded him once again now that he had his attention.

"Go and check on Mia, she's probably woken up by now." Reluctantly realising the younger man was speaking sense, Jonathon finally got up, standing and stretching to try and get his still asleep body to compile with his wishes. Moving over to the tent flaps and pulling them back expecting to reveal the morning sun, the archer instead jumped out of his skin at the sight of Mia standing at the entrance looking like the shyest child in the world. She struggled to maintain eye contact as she held her hands behind her back, fidgeting at the surprised look that graced her saviour's faces.

"Good morning sirs, I don't want to bother you, but... can we have some breakfast soon? I've been awake for a while and I got really hungry." Forcing the surprise off his face and sending a glare over his shoulder at the snicker that came from his friend, Jonathon walked out into the small glade patting Mia's head as he began to get the camp ready for their meal.

'Of course we'll have breakfast soon kid! I'd be just as upset as you if I ever missed a meal." This got a giggle from his small companion who gave him some small twigs she had collected to help rebuild the fire. Although he already had some logs saved up from the previous night, (and years of experience telling him that these twigs would not be enough to even start a small fire,) The archer still smiled taking the offering from the child before adding them with some more lumber and restarting the fire.

"Erm, mister Jonathon sir?" Looking over at Mia, he was surprised to see that her shyness had been replaced temporarily with intrigue as she was hard in thought about something.

"Just Jonathon is fine kid, I've never been comfortable being called sir." Nodding in agreement the child continued on with her questioning.

"Jonathon, what is Hell?" Realising that Mia had probably heard what was said in the tent, the archer took some comfort in knowing that she obviously had no idea he was mildly swearing at his friend. Speaking of which, his newfound travelling companion was just stepping foot out of the tent at the sound of the fire crackling. Still a bit peeved at being forced out of bed, Jonathon found his response quickly as he eyed the other man in slight annoyance.

"Hell is where Finn is going if he ever even thinks about walking me up by hitting me again." Rolling his eyes at the fact that his friend was still grumpy, Finn settled down to wait for Jonathon to start cooking breakfast. Looking over at Mia, he saw an even more confused look on the young girl's face.

"Don't worry about it too much Mia, he's just grumpy because he hasn't eaten yet." He smiled at the giggle he got in response, however, it quickly turned strained as his thoughts drifted to Jake, another who had to eat first before the mood to actually embrace the day came around. He let himself drift into memory, trying to not let his feelings of anguish show but it seemed that his effort was fruitless. Jonathon seemed to pick up what he was thinking easily moving over and putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Breakfast will be ready soon, don't get too lost in your thoughts." Finn smiled and nodded at the words, causing his fellow adventurer to smile and give him a pat on the back as he went back to preparing their food.

Luckily for everyone, the wait was only for a short time. Jonathon quickly handed out some basic porridge that he had somehow managed to get to actually have a pleasant taste. Finn quickly realised how lucky he was that he always seemed to find the good cooks, first Jake and now Jonathon. It was probably for the best that he was never allowed near an oven. Out of control fires and burnt rations were never a good thing.

After their meal was finished, they broke camp as quickly as possible eager to be underway and to get to proper civilisation. As Finn was taking down the tents, the elder man turned to Mia to see if he could gather a bit more information about where they were headed.

"Hey Mia, not to put you on the spot or anything but do you know the name of the city where we're headed?" The girl nodded excitedly as her thoughts shifted to the place where her parents were hopefully residing.

"It's called Atraxia! There are so many people there and it's huge! There are so many different shops to go to, Momma always took me with her when she went shopping, we had to leave Papa behind though, he never seemed to enjoy it as much as me and Momma."

Ignoring the obvious plight of his fellow man (although he did spare a smirk at the thought), Jonathon continued on his questioning, trying to get some more details.

"That sounds wonderful! I'm sure you're looking forward to seeing your parents again. But I need to know if we're heading in the right direction and if we are, how long it will take us to get to Atraxia."

After mulling over the request for a minute, Mia finally found the answer she was looking for, a beaming smile coming to her face as she worked out the problem.

"I don't think it's far from here, I think it's less than a day now!"

Smiling at the enthusiastic response, Jonathon held up his hand gesturing to Mia, she jumped at the chance immediately high-fiving the man with a giggle. Picking up the still laughing girl and placing her on his shoulders once again, before turning to check on the dismantlement of the camp.

Turning around to check on Finn's progress, the archer was pleased to see that his friend was just about finished and the last tent was just about packed. Going over to his companion he patted the shoulder of the young hero, gesturing to him to follow so they could set off. Looking over the area one more time and finding that they had not left anything unpacked Jonathon started to walk away, Mia still on his shoulders and Finn walking by his side.

The next few hours turned out to be therapeutic for a certain Teenager, Mia's infectious happiness wormed into Jonathon as well and the two proceeded to try and make him laugh as much as possible. Although he doubted that the young girl they picked up really knew what she was doing, he was happy that his fellow adventurer was making an effort to keep his mind off of recent events. It felt like a slightly dysfunctional family.

With the distraction from his thoughts, the journey breezed by in what felt like a matter of minutes. It was only as he cast his eyes away from the currently joking Jonathon and Mia that he saw the city of Atraxia beginning to loom in the distance. Although they were still a distance away, he could see that there were people moving in and out of the city as civilisation seemed to increase.

Finding the nearest road leading directly to their destination, both Jonathon and Finn gasped in awe as they got steadily closer to the city and more details were beginning to slowly phase in. The most defining feature, however, was the walls of the city. Not only was the entire place surrounded by some seemingly unassailable ramparts, but there were another two pairs of inner walls, creating three large rings.

According to Mia, each section of the city had a different purpose. The first section was mainly for the peasantry to live. It was mainly just some reasonably well-made houses with taverns and a smattering of shops thrown in to try and make the place feel more homely. The second ring was mainly for agriculture. Although it was unclear how they managed it, the local populous had managed to make themselves self-sustaining by growing all sorts of fruits and vegetables as well raising their own animals. It was a feat that not many knew how to do anymore. A grand market also stood in the ring, designed to cater to the every need their customers may have. From magic shops to potions, to smithing, the market had it all for the right price.

The final section belonged to the wealthy and the nobility. Although Mia had never seen it with her own eyes, she had heard rumours of mansions beyond the common folks wildest dreams, shops that made you the envy of your peers, with always updating fashionable clothes and the most expensive food. And at the centre of all the grandeur stood the palace.

Atraxia was apparently run by a royal family and their advisors, making the palace their obvious home and meeting place to discuss new policies in the comfort of their wealth, and safety of their guarded walls.

As they travelled down the road and approached the city they noticed more and more people seemed to be crossing their paths, all of them giving the two adventurers strange glances. Although this did not seem to faze Mia at all, Finn and even Jonathon were starting to feel a little self-conscious at the attention.

"They've probably never seen people like us before," Jonathon whispered to his friend as the group got ever closer to one of the few entrances to the city. Leaning back slowly so as to not arouse suspicion, the young hero whispered back.

"I guessed they haven't, but have you ever seen a city as big as this? Ooo has nothing that compares to this." Taking a thoughtful look at the walls, Jonathon slipped into his mind for a moment before coming back out a confused smile on his face.

"It's a little fuzzy in my mind but I think I've might have while travelling when I was younger, but still after spending so long in more uncivilised lands, seeing this is still impressive." Finn nodded at the words of the archer as he continued to gaze in awe at the sheer size of Atraxia. He was so engrossed, he failed to see that his group had reached the entrance to the city and the two spears suddenly appearing to bar their path and deny them entry.

Looking over in surprise, Finn was shocked to see two fully armed guards, similar to the appearance of Mia glaring at him suspiciously, they motioned their makeshift group to the side, allowing passage for the people behind them while keeping their eyes narrowed on them.

"Who are you and what is your business here? We've never seen anyone like you two before." It shocked the Teenager to hear this, while he was certainly unique in Ooo, they all knew who he was by sight. It was an entirely new experience to have this level of mistrust directed at him. Luckily for him, however, Jonathon seemed better equipped to deal with this sort of thing, stepping forward the archer was quick to address the guards.

"Hi there, we're travellers coming from quite a distance away. We happened to stumble onto one of your nearby villages and found it totally destroyed with only one survivor." Beckoning for Mia to come forward the young child obliged, shyly stepping up before taking hold of Jonathon's hand as she gave both the guards a shy glance.

"We were just in time to save her from what appeared to be some magically risen undead, she pointed us here in hopes of finding her parents and spreading word of this attack on a peaceful settlement." This last part seemed to have a dark reaction on the two guards. Withdrawing from the group to talk, the two muttered to themselves for a while, making both Mia and Finn slightly nervous. Jonathon, however, looked unfazed by the ordeal, comforting their youngest companion by placing his hand on her shoulder. Soon the guards finished their discussion, moving back to address the group about what was to happen.

"There have been other reports of different locations being attacked, all recently as well. It's beginning to make some of the locals twitchy. If another place has been hit, the captain will probably want to know about it. You're coming to talk to him first before we let you loose in the city."

Without waiting for a reply the guard that spoke walked into the city, leaving the small group to stand around awkwardly for a moment as he made his way back to the barracks. Realising they were meant to be following, they quickly rushed after him, determined not to lose sight of the fast moving guard.

Although it appeared to be more of a struggle to keep their eyes off of the city they had just walked into. The amount of people bustling about was astonishing. What was really impressive, however, was the fact that none of them seemed to have a clear destination in mind. Luckily the guard ahead seemed to slow down, realising that they were more than likely not used to being in this type of enclosed environment. This gave the small group plenty of time to gap at the sheer amount of activity that was going on.

There were street vendors desperately trying to sell their wares, yelling above the din trying to, outdo one another with prices that fluctuated depending on who was nearby. Street performances seemed to be quite a common occurrence. There were dancers twirling around as they spun to the music of different instruments being played around them, enthralling the ground in their unspoken language as they conveyed a story that could only be told in their own special art form.

There were other storytellers too. Further on down the road, there were actors performing in a minimalistic play, voices rising dramatically as they performed to the absolute pinnacle of their ability. If the guard was not so determined to get to his location as quickly as possible, the group may have had a chance to sit down and watch some of these performances. All of them seemed intriguing and to Finn, he had never seen anything of the sort before.

Looking back longingly as a woman cradled a dead-looking man, crying out in anguish before she stabbed herself right through the heart with a fake knife, Finn hurried to catch up to his still fast moving group. As he sent his gaze elsewhere, his eye happened to catch a flash of metal. Hurriedly looking over to the source he found a man wrapped in a hooded cloak, fading into the shadows of a nearby side road. He was just about to call out and say something before a hand gripped his shoulder firmly. Turning he found Jonathon looking on at the scene as well, his face dark with the realisation of what happened as another man who happened to be in front of the shadowed figure frantically tried to find his purse.

"I know what you're thinking, but don't say a word. We're still new here and can't afford to stand out just yet. You'll always get people like that guy in a more populated area, comes with the territory of living in a city. People always prefer the more thrilling ways of making money." Looking at his companion with a hint of distaste, Finn nodded his understanding once before turning away causing Jonathon to sigh to himself.

Luckily Mia appeared to have not seen anything and soon reached up for the archer's hand, grasping it gently and sending a smile his way. Scooping up the young girl back onto his shoulders Jonathon quickly started up a conversation with her, making her laugh as they proceeded through the city, leaving Finn alone to his thoughts. Luckily he was not inside of his own mind for long.

The group were soon stopped outside a large, imposing building. It stuck out amongst the throng of other normal brick houses its sheer walls made entirely of black stone, looking unnaturally intimidating in comparison to the dwarfed houses in its surroundings. Finn had to admit it was quite the intimidating sight.

Not that the guard seemed to care, with no delay to admire the structure, he was inside before the group knew it, leaving them all stood outside wondering what to do. It was only a matter of seconds before the guard's face reappeared around the corner, a scowl set on it.

"Well I haven't got all day, come on inside, quickly now!" This gave them the jump they needed to get moving. Quickly jogging into the building, they stopped for a second to let their eyes adjust to the new light level of light.

Unfortunately, there seemed to be a lack of light in all directions, it seemed that the price of having this gigantic black building was that it seemed to absorb any light that got in, leaving a permanently gloomy interior. However, before they could take a proper look at their surroundings, the guard once again took the lead and began to guide them into what they felt was the centre of the building.

Seemingly coming to a corridor with only one room, in the end, the guard quickly moved to it, making it clear they had finally reached their destination. Gesturing them all inside a rather spacious office, they were greeted to a grizzled, imposing man sat behind a simple yet large desk.

Scars ran their way over his face and out of sight into his plate armour. The lower half of his face was wild with hair, leaving his beard untamed as his scowl landed on the new arrivals who had entered his office. Getting to his feet, the man took a long stroll to the front of his desk arms folding together over his muscled chest as watched on with two jet black eyes matching the colour of his hair, although those did not have the streaks of white that his mane had.

"I take it there is a reason for this interruption and it better be a damn good one I'm a busy man!" It did not escape the notice of the group that this man was even taller than Jonathon. This was not a person you wanted to cross by any means necessary. The guard, seeming to know this more than anyone currently in the room, stepped forward, a look of apprehension on his face. Eyeing the slightly trembling man in front of him, the intimidating figure was quick to get to the point. "Aiden isn't it? Well, what's wrong boy? Speak quickly!"

The now named guard snapped to attention, looking directly forward as he reeled off his speech as quickly as possible.

"Sir, we stopped these two at the gates, sir. They said they wanted to get into the city to help find the little girl's parents and that they had news about another attack sir. I Thought it would be best if I brought they straight to you to judge them."

The man looked at his guard, before turning his eyes to study the new arrivals, not stopping the slight second of surprise that on closer inspection, the two in front of him were an entirely different race than he was. However, that was quickly covered up as his scowl returned in full force as the weight of the words fell upon him.

"I see... You're dismissed Aiden. Return to your post, I'll deal with this." Nodding once at his order, the guard left the room in a hurry. Sighing to himself the man made his way back behind his desk, retaking his seat before once again eyeing the new arrivals. Beckoning them forward his gravely voice reached out to them.

"I apologise for the welcome but in these times it's an important necessity. Our more isolated villages have been getting attacked for the better part of the year and we've had no idea how to stop it or even why it's happening. There are rarely any survivor's and those that do, are usually too in shock to talk about it. They must have seen some scarring things to get to that level of trauma."

He paused briefly as he let his memories take control for a second, however, he soon focused back on the conversation at hand. "Anyway, I'm Dexion, Captain of the guard for all of Atraxia and responsible for keeping our little kingdom safe. This is why you were barred from entering the city. No offence but we've never met people like you two before and my men were ordered to apprehend anyone looking suspicious for leads. However your little one over there probably got you this meeting."

Mia scooted closer to Jonathon gripping onto his leg as she looked into the face of Dexion, intimidation clear on her face at the very sight of the Goliath stood in front of her. Deciding to not worry the child, the Captain turned to Finn to continue their discussion. "So, like Aiden said, I heard you've got news of another damn attack?"

"Yeah, we were just minding our own business when Jonathon found tracks that led straight to a village. Erm, we never actually got the name did we?" Both Jonathon and Finn paused for a second as they realised they never asked Mia the name of her village. All eyes turned to the young girl who sheltered herself further behind the archer's legs.

"Sil...Silverdane."

The name seemed to resonate with Dexion, his gaze softening before going to study Mia more intently. Some inner thought alerted him to something and his eyes widened slightly as he leant forward in his chair, calling out to the afraid girl.

"Silverdane eh? Been a while since I was there last, tell me do you know Erik and Sofia?" Mia seemed to perk up at the mention of these names, a smile visibly appearing as she hesitantly took a couple of steps forward.

"Y..yeah I know them. They're my momma and papa! I know they came here before, before..." Her eyes went downcast as the reminder of the fate of her village swelled in her brain, tears started to leak from her eyes before Dexion cut her off before she could really get started.

"It's okay, we'll sort everything out. As it happens your parents are old friends of mine, came to see me not too long ago for a brief catch up. They're staying at the Windsail Inn in the tourist section. It's probably the one Aiden took you through as you walked through our first ring, y'know? The one with all the performers?"

Mia actively jumped up and down in happiness, pulling on Jonathon's hand, yanking the unfortunate man down to her level although he seemed not to mind overly much as he laughed alongside her, joining her in the childish celebrations.

Even Dexion had a hard time not smiling at the pair's antics, although Finn could tell he was cracking. Before the smile could appear on his face the Captain of the guard quickly called out to his friend's daughter.

"Mia." The girl immediately slipped back into being her usual shy self, however, she seemed to have relaxed around the man as she moved up to the front of his desk, her eyes wide in childish innocence and slight confusion. Picking up on her questioning glance, Dexion soon provided the answer to the unasked question.

"Your parents told me your name when they came to see me. Couldn't stop talking about how precious their daughter was." This got a giggle out of the small girl as she beamed back at the now smiling man. "You have the look of both of them in you that's how I guessed it may have been you. Luckily I was right."

Dexion sat back in his chair before yelling, surprising everyone in the room at the sudden change. "Holand get in here!"

A rather nondescript guard entered and saluted smartly as his Captain gave him his orders.

"Go to the King and tell him this, Silverdane has fallen, it was attacked in much the same way as the others. Off you go now, make sure it gets there quickly." The man moved swiftly off out of the office and what they imagined was outside towards the third ring. Looking over to the three still in his office, he spoke once again.

"Mia if you would wait outside for a moment please, I'd like to talk to one of these gentlemen for a moment." The young girl nodded happily before bouncing out of the room Jonathon volunteering to keep her company and leave whatever discussion was left to Finn.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't Finn." The Archer called over his shoulder as he vanished out of the door with a wave of his hand. Leaving the young hero and the captain to themselves. Dexion studied the young man in front of him intensely before resuming their conversation.

"You never told me the full details, I guess I acted hastily sending Holand off without the full story but I didn't want the young one crying over what's happened. Now then tell me the full story."

Finn took a moment to compose himself before he launched back into the full account of their travels from the approach to Silverdane and onwards to Atraxia.

"As I said, the other guy, Jonathon, found tracks that led to the village. when we got close we saw smoke and rushed forward to see if we could help, however, the town had burned and the people were already dead. Whoever did it didn't let a single dude live not even any of the kids. The only person who was alive was Mia being chased by a couple of undead villagers. We dealt with them but they turned out to be her auntie and uncle."

Dexion's face morphed into a look of rage for a split second before he schooled it into a stoic expression. He spoke up, cutting off the explanation in order to finish it early.

"She brought you here to find her parents and give us the news of the attack, am I correct?" Finn nodded at the Captain as he sighed before sitting back heavily in his chair, gazing at the roof of his office.

"He was a good man, Mia's uncle. Fought alongside me and his brother in the war. This is probably going to devastate Erik and Sofia." He slammed his hand down onto his desk as he let his fury out in the only manner he knew how.

Finn flinched slightly at the volume, his mind starting wandering back to the sheer devastation he was greeted with as they entered Silverdane. The eyes of Mia's auntie and uncle were staring right at him, unblinking as they ate into his very being. Lying still on the ground where they left them to rot. Forcing himself to focus on the present, Finn looked directly into Dexion's eyes before speaking with a fire he had not used since he started this journey.

"Let me and Jonathon track down this punk, we'll capture him in no time." The captain of the guard stood up to his full height, coming round the table to eye Finn as he circled him, taking in every detail he could and committing them to memory.

"You seem young, but determined. I won't lie my men haven't had any luck in tracking whoever is responsible for this down, and we can't afford to send anyone else. Hells I'd be out searching if I could, but that isn't possible. Can I count on you two to do this?" Finn nodded straight away eager to get underway.

Dexion eyed him one more time before dismissing him before returning back to his desk to pull some papers to read through.

"Go then and know that the whole city will be grateful if you pull this off. Make sure you return Mia to Erik and Sofia for me, if I know this city the rumours would have spread about Silverdane already. Holand isn't known to keep his mouth shut unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if most people in the first ring already know what has happened. Thank you for the extra information, I'll send messages out with the new details to our guards in the villagers and the people searching for the culprit."

As Finn moved to the door to leave, Dexion said one last thing.

"Good luck Finn."

Leaving the office he spotted Mia animatedly telling Jonathon about her parents as the archer looked on smiling at her enthusiasm. As the young hero approached, his friends looked up both giving him a smile as he stood beside them.

"Well now that we're clear to explore the city shall we take this one back to her parents, I'm pretty sure she's looking forward to seeing them." Finn happily agreed as Mia bounded on ahead, skipping along calling for her two friends to hurry as they rushed back out the building and back onto the streets.

Stopping a passerby for directions the group made their way back towards Windsail Inn once again filtering through the still active crowds however the general atmosphere was drastically different this time around. People stood in groups looking around in worry as the spoke in hushed whispers. Even the performers from before seemed to have stopped, gathering in their troupes to talk all looking anxious. It became obvious when the group overheard a not so hushed whisper.

"I can't believe it, Silverdane? I'd have never have guessed that would go next." It seemed that Dexion was right, the rumour had spread so rapidly that it seemed that everyone in the ring knew. Finn idly thought the city must constantly be on high alert if news spread this fast. It appeared that Mia was oblivious though, the excitement of seeing her parents was obviously taking up all her attention. Finn sent a quiet 'thank you' to Glob, that their companion was spared the worst of the rumours.

Luckily with everyone preoccupied it became easier to navigate to their destination and in no time, thanks to the stranger's instructions, they made it to Windsail Inn. Opening the door and walking in the group made its way straight to the barkeep who seemed intent on cleaning the mug currently in her hands, the atmosphere inside matching what they had seen outside.

"Excuse me miss? We're looking for a man called Erik and his wife called Sofia, we were told we'd find them here." Looking up to view the group that had approached, the woman's eyes stayed on Jonathon before giving him an answer.

"I'm afraid they've requested to not to be disturbed, they just got news of their home being attacked and rumour is there were no survivors. I think they had family there, so if you don't mind this will have to wait." She was about to look back down when Jonathon cleared his throat, causing the barkeep to give him a look of annoyance, but before she could voice her displeasure, the archer stepped in.

"I understand that miss, however, I'm afraid that we have to insist. This is simply too important to be left for any other time. If you would just fetch them all would be made clear." She eyed him again with a look of slight loathing however she seemed to realise that the group in front of her weren't going to leave until they got what they wanted. Sighing in defeat she moved from behind the bar and made her way towards a staircase at the side of the room, calling over her shoulder as she went.

"Just stay here I'll be back in a minute." And so they stood there waiting. It took a few minutes but soon they heard yelling coming from upstairs. Heavy footfalls sounded throughout the inn, drawing the attention of the patrons, all eyes on the stairs as an angry voice was soon heard.

"Who do they think they are demanding that they speak to us when we're in mourning, do they lack any common decency? Why do they have to demand to see us now." A man soon appeared at the top of the stairs, racing down to meet the group as a woman appeared behind him only a few seconds later.

"Please calm down Erik, they said it was important, we don't know what they might want." The man spun around, stopping his descent halfway before addressing his wife. "Calm down Sofia? Any person would have realised that we were not to be disturbed but they insisted that it was 'more important' than our wishes. No, I'm not going to 'calm down'." Spinning back around Erik practically hopped the remaining stairs, landing right in front of the group before eyeing both Finn and Jonathon with a glare that would cause even the sternest man to tremble. His wife joining him a few moments later, casting worried glances at the two men and her husband.

"And who in the hells are you? You demanded that we come and talk well here we are, so come on what do you want!?" Erik practically spat out at the two. Being unsure how to deal with this situation Finn stood there blankly trying to process what to do, even Jonathon seemed surprised at the level of rage they were receiving. Recovering as quickly as he could the archer was about to step forward and speak however a small voice cut him off before he could muster a word.

"Momma? Papa?" Mia muscled her way forward past her two companions to come face to face with the two shocked faces of her parents. Silence fell throughout the inn. Everyone just processing what was happening as the quiet stretched onward.

"Mia?" The young girl watched as tears sprang to her mother's eyes as she stepped forward in front of her still in shock husband. Hearing her name said by the most important woman in her life caused a sob to come out of the girl's mouth. Surging forward, she buried herself in the stomach of Sofia crying her heart out as she finally let out all the held in emotions she had from all she had seen in the short span of time since they were last together.

"Oh, my sweet baby, my sweet baby girl!" Sofia collapsed to her knees desperately grasping her daughter in her arms as she let all of her restraints go and wailed in the middle of the inn not caring who saw as she hugged her daughter closer to her body.

"Mia! My little Angel! Oh thank the Gods, thank the Gods!" And with that Erik joined his family, pulling his wife and daughter to him for a family hug as his own tears mixed with those of his loved ones, all three weeping tears of joy at reunion none thought possible.

Jonathon and Finn could only watch, tears in their own eyes as the reunion played out in front of them.

"Jonathon?"

"Yeah?"

"I volunteered us to track down whoever attacked the village." There was a brief pause before the archer answered.

"Didn't I tell you not to do something I wouldn't do?" There was no heat to his words. The two remained silent, watching as the family all clung to each other basking in the presence that only a family could provide.

"Jonathon?"

"Yeah?"

"We'll find whoever did this won't we?" The archer's eyes never left the sight in front of him, even as he answered with a fire burning in his very words.

"Yeah... We'll find the bastard, don't you worry."

Yeah, I have no excuses for being away this long. The fact that it's been almost a year is pretty shocking even by my standard. But at least we have a new chapter! No? Okay, I'll shut up now...

Thank you for waiting this long though, I'll be honest and say it wasn't at the top of my to-do list but some recent reviews reminded me that it's still wanted so I kind of went gung-ho over the past week and finished it.

This story was also placed inside of a community, just so you know I think that's awesome! Feel free to my stories to any community you want! (It can even be one for really terrible stories if you want, It'll give me a good laugh!)

This chapter had a whole load of references and I'm intrigued to know if anyone can get them all! (You won't as I kind of made one impossible) but give it a try anyway!

On to the reviews!:

DJ Rodriguez - Just thanks for being so patient man! I really appreciate it. I swear if this was a real story you'd probably be the person I dedicated it for!

The Book of Eli - I won't say much but I will say this, I have it all planned out! (by that I mean I have a vague idea that could go horribly wrong)

Tman2016 - I'm not going to lie you saved this story. I don't think I would have abandoned it but I slowed down production of the next chapter, it probably would have been a long time coming if you didn't kick me up the butt, so thank you! And thank you for the kind words!

Guest - It's right here you don't have to beg anymore! But if you're interested I have an update bit on my profile, so check there to see how much is finished and what's going on!

Thank you all again for being patient I really hope this lives up to some form of small expectation. Until next time!