She could hear the screeches of the wraiths behind her, could feel their icy breath on the back of her neck. Her heart was beating furiously in her chest, pounding in her eardrums, blocking out the shouts of Banu and Thayer. The wind had whistled loudly around her as she sprinted across the grass field. The men around her continued to fight, a sword went swinging through her left leg. Elora dared another look behind her; a bony finger was inches away from curling onto her shoulder. Breathing in a scream she dug deeper and pushed herself to run faster, her breaths came out in short, hot bursts.

The injury on her side had started to throb with each foot that slammed against the ground. Her boots were starting to feel heavy as she desperately ran for her life. Ahead of her were a group of archers, their backs turned to her while facing up towards a giant. As they pulled back on the string to release the arrowhead, she ploughed through them headfirst. Her body almost crashing face-first into the hard ground from the momentum. Desperately she looked around, searching for somewhere to go. The soldiers around them had started to thin out and the sound of weapons clashing faded away into the distance. Ahead she could begin to make out a dark patch of trees. The forest line.

Breathing deeply, she pushed her legs to move faster, ignoring the pressure building up in her lungs, as if they could explode at any moment. An ice-cold pain shot through her right shoulder, she looked up to see a wraith alongside her. Its arms had stretched out and their fingers danced over her shoulder. Another ear-splitting shriek joined the others. More wraiths had arrived and were taking turns diving down to reach her. Using what was left of her energy, she ran towards the trees, her sword bounced wildly against her hip as she weaved from left to right, ducking to avoid the wraiths.

The trees were an arm's reach away from her, just one last push. She could feel them behind her as they entered the forest with her. Sweat poured off her forehead as she looked around while running for somewhere to hide. She did not see the thick vine on the ground before it was too late. The toe of her boot caught it and she went flying onto the ground, hard. The wraiths appeared above her as she rolled onto her back, staring back at them in horror. Her mind worked overtime as she tried to hopelessly figure out what to do.

In an act of pure desperation and the sinking feeling of defeat, she nimbly yanked her sword from the belt. With trembling fingers, she held the sword flush against her chest as if to prevent their hands from plunging through her heart, her last act of defence. She shut her eyes tight and concentrated so hard on the trembling hands that were wrapped around the handle. An image flooded her mind; a warm serene feeling overcame her as she watched a young blonde child sitting at a wooden table. An older man sat beside her; his head bent as if he was listening to what she was saying. Behind the man stood a woman, her hair as white as snow, with her hand resting on his shoulder. As if sensing she was being watched, the woman turned and stared straight back at Elora, her face was like looking into a mirror. The hard punch of realisation hit her, and Elora watched, almost mournfully, at what could have been her future play out in front of her eyes, a warm and happy life.

Her image was shattered by screeching that sounded different than before. Opening her eyes expecting to have her soul torn out, instead, she saw that the wraiths had gathered above her. Feeling brave she sat up and held the sword closely. The wraith closest to her let out an angry cry and backed away. The others followed suit, their arms waving wildly in the air, hovering above, yet they did not move any closer. Timidly, she pushed her sword forward and made to wave it at them, as if shooing away an unwanted pest. As she swung the sword they cried out and moved farther away. She frowned in disbelief and looked down at the weapon in her hand. No, it couldn't be...Again she thrust the sword forward with more force and watched amazed as they backed up. A loud crash followed as she waved the sword at them again, Thayer came tumbling out from behind the bushes, his bow raised as the wraiths screamed one last time before they flew away in a flurry.

Thayer rushed over, his gaze fell upon her weapon, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Elora! Are you hurt?" Slowly she pulled herself up from the ground with Thayer's help, her thoughts muddled from what had just happened. Banu came running up to them, his breaths heavy. "How did you get here so fast?" He rested his hands against his knees as he bent over to catch his breath. She ignored Bana and brushed Thayer's hands away. "I'm fine, I'm fine." She mumbled, staring into the distance where the wraiths had retreated. Thayer turned his head and stared that way, "We're at the edge of the Spectres Playground, they probably couldn't go any further..."

"I felt them."

"Impossible, it's all in your head. I warned you this could happen." Thayer explained, his words gentle as if he was afraid of hurting her feelings.

"No, I felt them touch me. Their touch was cold, I can still feel it coursing through my body." She insisted, ignoring the shared look between Banu and Thayer. Even if they did not believe her, she knew it was real and she could not explain why. Her thoughts strayed back to the moment she lifted her sword away from her chest, it was like they were afraid of it, she thought of telling the men but something inside her resisted so strongly, so instead she said nothing else.

They did not stay in that spot for long before Thayer began leading them through the forest. She hung back and followed behind Banu, letting him be her lookout. She studied him from behind for a time, noting his confident stride and wondered what the people of the Southern Realm would be like. There was also the important mission she had to complete. She needed to learn more of Khogassek, the coin and piece of paper she had in her pocket had to be connected. She needed answers. When they arrived, she would depart from Banu and Thayer, she needed to find a library or record room, something that could assist her. Whenever she thought about Khogassek, a strange sense of urgency overcame her, the feeling that she had to do something, and she did not like this feeling.

They had come to a stop in a small clearing, the sun had started to sink into the horizon casting long shadows across the ground. Thayer dropped his items onto the floor. "We'll camp here for the night. Tomorrow we shall reach the border into the Southern Realm. Get some rest." Her bones ached as she flopped onto the hard ground with a loud sigh, across from her Banu did the same and lay on his back. She could see the tiredness settling into his eyes, she barely heard Thayer saying he would start a fire as her eyes began to close on their own.

Elora woke the next morning, the sunshine peeking through the trees shone upon her face, giving the campsite a warm pink glow. She sat up, resting against her elbows as she listened to the forest waking up around her. She had begun to love the sound of the wind whistling through the trees, the small forest creatures rustling in the undergrowth, the low croaking of the frogs and the loud squawking of a bird far off. These sounds were so different to what she had heard in the prison, she used this moment to absorb how far she had come and now they were almost at the Southern Realm.

"Ah, you're up!" Banu called from across her, his hair sticking up at odd angles. She grinned at the sight and said nothing to him as he stretched his arms behind his head. She could see he was excited to be almost home, the mood around the campsite was light. Even Thayer, whom she had never seen smile, looked remarkedly less solemn.

They packed up their belongings quickly and started their journey through the trees. There was no real path they were following, just Thayer guiding them with purposeful steps. While both Thayer and Banu chattered, she got lost in her thoughts as she tried to imagine what the war would have been like. She wondered if the men trapped fighting in the Spectres Playground were as afraid of the wraiths as she was or if they even knew they have been trapped in there for so long. She wondered if anyone from the Northern Realm knew the real reason the war had ended so suddenly, everything she ever knew has been challenged and made false. The world would have been a vastly different place if the war had carried on, she probably wouldn't be alive today. Her thoughts carried her across the forest as they walked through the undergrowth and over rocks.

The air had begun to change, a light sweat had formed on her forehead as the sun grew warmer. Ahead Banu shrugged off his thick coat and stuffed it into his bag, exposing his dark ebony arms to the sun. It wasn't long before Elora too pulled off her coat and wrapped it around her waist. The sun was high in the sky and beat down on them, she could feel the sweat forming under her arms. Her soft skin, not used to the harsh sun rays, began turning a soft pink along her nose.

The further they travelled, the fewer trees appeared until eventually, it there were only small dried shrubs and spindly looking plants with sharp thorns poking out. The pace slowed for the three of them as they battled against the heat, so different to that of the North. Out of all of them, Banu looked the most comfortable, a sheen of sweat covered his face and yet a small smile graced his face, his breaths, unlike the rest of them, were not laboured.

Elora had begun to tire of the dry and barren landscape, her face was burning, she was uncomfortably hot and miserable. "Is it always like this?" She complained to Banu, pulling her sticky tunic away from her stomach. He laughed at her.

"What, hot? Wait until we reach Alzoh, then you'll know what hot is." 

She groaned in response to him, wondering how it could possibly get any warmer without them bursting into flames. Thayer stopped ahead of them and held his hand up. "Alright, we're here."

Elora looked around. "Here? There's nothing here." The area ahead was an empty desert that stretched like a golden ocean into the distant horizon. Banu laughed loudly, shaking his head at her ignorance, she crossed her arms across her chest and glared at him.

"We're at the border, you have to cross it, think of it as camouflage." He stopped laughing to tell her, she saw Thayer nod his head in affirmation. Without saying anything, Banu stepped forward through the border and disappeared from their sight. Elora looked at Thayer. "You coming?"

"No this is where I leave you. Be safe." He almost smiled at her. She nodded her head in return and took a step toward the border. Thayer reached out and grabbed her arm. "Oh and Elora, trust no one."

He let go of her and watched as she disappeared from his sight and into the next realm.