It's been awhile, huh?

I have finally, with some "persuasion" from Kalinka, gotten back into a write-y mood. So, in that case, Marr Vell presents the continuation of my point of view in the story.

Enjoy.

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Catching up to Llyd proved harder than expected. The spirits of the mountain seemed to really want Llyd's soul for their own. I wasn't sure why, but then again I wasn't about to waste time thinking about it. Kalinka and I climbed as fast as we could, having only Llyd's war cries to guide us.

Upon reaching the crest of the cliff we were set upon by a Will o' the Wisp*. Normally it would recede the moment we began to approach it, but this one was different, it blocked our path almost intent to keep us from reaching Llyd.

"We don't have time for this," I turned to Kalinka, "No one else is here, feel free to use your powers to take care of this one."

With that Kalinka raised here hand to the flames and parted them instantly. But just as we were about to run through the flames were replenished hotter than ever.

At first I thought that Kalinka's concentration was merely broken, but as I turned to look at her I noticed that another Will o' the Wisp had appeared and began attacking Kalinka directly.

I quickly rushed to Kalinka's aid, but the first Will o' the Wisp began attacking me. I shielded my face from the flames and drew out Schicksalflügel. Swinging it's enchanted blade at the Will o' the Wisps I was able to cause them to vanish for a time at least.

Helping Kalinka up, I said, "Let's go, we've still got a hero to save."

Kalinka then parted what remained of the flames just in time for Jesse to appear behind us. "What in the name of the gods?" She stammered, obviously taken aback by Kalinka's powers.

Kalinka panicked for a moment, "H-how much did you see?" She asked Jesse hesitantly.

"I saw enough, when were you two going to let me in on the fact that you had that kind of power?"

"Please, Jesse." I interjected, "we don't mean to keep secrets, it's just that Kalinka is unsure of her powers and she doesn't want to worry anyone. Besides we should hurry, I'd hate to have an argument like this keep us from helping Llyd."

"You're right, let's go." Jesse responded.

"Um..." Kalinka started, "don't tell Llyd, okay?"

"Alright, I won't." Jesse agreed, "I don't like being secretive, but I promise not to tell."

"Thank you."

Just as we began running again we heard an inhuman shriek from a short distance ahead. It definitely wasn't Llyd, what ever it was.

Clearing the fog we saw Llyd standing in a clearing gasping for breath as soldiers stood around him.

Jesse and Kalinka ran up and nearly tackled him out of concern for his safety. I took the opportunity to get his attention.

"What you did was foolish and irresponsible, you're lucky to be in one piece." I scolded him. I thought that maybe I was a little hard on him, afterall, I did the same thing once.

But before I had a chance to apologize, a young woman stepped out in front of him. "How dare you preach to him about being irresponsible," she said, "he just saved me and the others from a Shadow Mouth."

"He did, did he?" I must admit, I was surprised to learn that Llyd's sword was also capable of harming spirits. "Well then, that must be a sword of great proportion if it can harm a Shadow Mouth, we'll have to get it checked out when we get to Valvega."

The woman's eyes seem to light up when I mentioned Valvega. "Valvega is it? What a coincidence we were heading there as well, maybe we can come with you."

Not wanting to endanger anyone else on our journey, I merely shook my head and turned away, wanting to return to our horses before more spectres tried to take us. But then Llyd spoke up. "Um Marr, I promised to teach her how to wield a blade, and as you know one of my honor cannot go back on his word."

Giving up on getting rid of the women or the soldiers for now, I just shrugged and mounted my horse to continue on our trip.

"By the way, Llyd." I said to him as we began again. "Thank you for wasting all the time I had planned to save us by taking this pass. As soon as we exit the mountains we're setting up camp so we can rest and plan the rest of our travels." Then I lightly nudged him in the arm to show him that there were no hard feelings, and told him the story of my first time traveling this path with my old master.

Upon setting up camp in the field Llyd and I quickly took charge of the soldiers, some were sent to collect fire wood, while the others went to catch food. The women, who introduced herself as Rebecca, came to me to ask if she could be of any help.

"You're here so that Llyd can teach you how to use a sword," I told her, "why don't you two get started on that? If you need me, I'll be on the first watch."

A few hours later, while tending to Schicksalflügel, I heard music rising from the camp. I instantly recognized Llyd's flute. But later I heard Kalinka, Jesse and Becca all singing along together. Their voices seemed to surround me as I listened, the song calming my normally tense nerves.

That moment of weakness was all it took. I felt a sharp pain in my chest and arms, and nearly doubled over. It was all I could do to keep from screaming out as the torturous feeling took hold of me again. The pain was great enough to make me black out, but I held it back knowing full well that should I slip into unconsciousness what awaited me was worse than any physical pain I could ever endure.

After a few moments of burning pain, which felt like hours, I was able to regain control again and the pain vanished a quickly as it began. Clutching my chest, I began to breathe heavily, and I tried desperately to regain my composure before anyone noticed.

"Marr...are you okay?" I heard Kalinka's voice behind me.

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Cliffhanger! Ha! Take that!

=P

Marr Vell

*Will o' the Wisp - A fire spirit, normally considered a guide, sometimes a guide to treasure, sometimes a guide to getting lost. It varies, but they are usually not directly harmful. But this is MY story, they'll do what I want.