[center][color=orange][h2][b]The End of Chapter 0[/b][/h2][/color] [img]https://i.imgur.com/bc5Wfv1.jpg[/img] [url=https://instaud.io/2GCc]CLICK HERE FIRST[/url] There was a flash of light as fire zipped past them in a trail of smoke, a burning hand pointed inaccurately at them from within the darkness, [i]"Oh people of the flame, of will ever brash, Render those before me to dust, finer than ash!"[/i] [hr] [color=f26522][u][i][b]Dishonor[/b][/i][/u] [b]"Go!"[/b] He yelled then took it as far as his legs would take him, jumping over the gap then landing with a tumble, creaking armour and bones alike. The volley of flames glanced off the metal shell of his shield and splintered into a hundred fleeting embers. As his feet plod against stone, it seemed so surreal that in the excitement, he almost felt like he had lost weight. Like he stayed in the air longer with every step. His mind raced to understand why, ...till he realized that Gwyneira and the stranger were slowly moving upwards - no, he was moving down! The stone barely held it's own weight, one was pushing it, two was beyond it's limits and three, simply broke the aged stone mortar. With every of their step, the belly of the aqueduct showered a rain of sand into the river. Cicero sunk just as Gwyneira too felt the floor give, she turned trying to reach for him as instinct and he, her. Their hands closed and fingers yearned contact but only for that moment, ...it was a second to late before the knight went plumetting backwards towards the depths. As cicero fell, his gaze fell upwards only to see fire. Not from the magician guard earlier but from Alvion Tower itself, the towering monument that stood as a pride of the city engulfed in fire ...then he felt water rush over his face, ...struggle as he might, there was no way he was swimming in that armour. His hands flailed, feet kicked but he never rose. Spending his last moments in silence, he closed his eyes and prepared himself for the worst. Cold. Out of nowhere, he felt cold. An absurd amount of it, even for a river, then he could not move his legs anymore. Things got brighter instead of darker ...what was happening? It was when his head first touched the air, he gasped the loudest he ever had in his life, consuming a good gulp of river along it. There was ice. Ice on him, ice around him. Then he noticed Gwyneira's limp form, a blue mist trailing her fingers and it hit him what took place. ...he prayed for the current to sweep her near him and they were merciful enough to do so, immediately he reached out to grab her and plop her head on his shoulders as they washed down the river. Trying his best to fight off the splashing water as he did so but even as the guards were no longer in sight, the cold from the spell's embrace still caught him prisoner, ...in eventual slumber. As he helplessly watched the lights of Alvion turn the very heavens an orange hue. [u][i]I must reclaim my honor.[/i][/u][/color] [hr] [color=00a99d][u][i][b]Misfortune[/b][/i][/u] Gwyneira turned around when she no longer heard the clank of his armour, only to see him fall. Reaching out to only grasp nothing. But she remembered, though her hands could not reach - her soul still could. Immediately, even as she too fell, shutting out the world - she reached her conciousness into the watery depths till she felt a familiar pressence. There, she knew it had to be him. She caressed the armour, like she once did Zviad, wrapping herself around it then opened her eyes. Her soul froze as she had wanted it. She moved no longer, bound by her own mind. The water followed suit and turned to ice. A spell wrought from an almost intuitive form of magic, it was sorcery now and no longer wizardry. Sorcery took the most out of even the most seasoned magicians and she was no such someone. She felt her vision ebb, memories of the past tempting her to close her eyes. Like a satin fabric layered over her darkening vision. But in her final waking moments, she saw cicero's helmetted face pop out of the water and with that, she gladly lapsed into unconciousness. [u][i]Maybe one good thing came out of this afterall ...[/i][/u] [/color] [hr] [color=9e0b0f][u][i][b]Regret.[/b][/i][/u] He desperately clung to a single brick, fingers digging deep into it's crevices in one hand. The other, wrapped them tightly around the strap of his bag. He tried pulling himself and his bag up, cursing the moment he turned back to help them as he did so, all these months he should have realized his conscience had but been a burden and today ...today, his life hung by a thread for it. The rock wobbled with his shifting weight, his horrified stare shot to the waters below. They had fallen, he could not catch them. Was this all for naught? Now his belongings weighed him down, try as he might he still could not let go even if his mind screamed to do so, he WOULD NOT let go. It meant too much to him, it was all he had but was it all ...more than his own ...life? No ...no, it was not, ---just as his fingers loosened their grasp on his bag, he found himself bewildered by a strange sensation, the brick he held was no longer attached to anything and in a second, The wind blew at his back. His vision drew further from the skies. A silent moment. Then all was watery darkness... ... [u][i]What did I do to deserve this?[/i][/u][/color] [img]https://i.imgur.com/vqGKoo1.jpg[/img] [/center] [@Cyrania] [@Spiffy]