The world came into view, with colors unlike the ones in my room. There was flashes of green and dark brown, as the world spun around us. I began to get lightheaded from all the spinning. Suddenly, the world stoped,and the earth was solid under our feet. My legs felt like jelly, and my head was still spinning. I would have fallen to the ground, if it weren't for Theo holding me tight and steady.

Theo didn't even seem that affected by the teleportation. All he had was a small buckle at the knees, then he was steady as stone.

For the first bit, Theo practically held my weight while I allowed my head to steady, and regained some feeling back in my legs.

Once I could stand without him holding me, I moved out of his grip, but still holding tight on his arm while my legs regained normality.

"You good?" He asked me after I slipped my hand from his arm. I replied with a nod before we began walking.

I began to take a look at our surroundings. We were in a forest filled with thick trunk trees, that were dressed in dark brown bark. Their leaves were wide spread, blocking out almost all the light that might be on the outside, giving it an eerie feeling.

"So, where's Mendrick?" I asked Theo.

"We should have landed on the outskirts of the city. It should be close, and somewhere in this general direction..." His words trailed off as the giant trees were cut off, revealing a towering stone wall. "Well, we found that quicker than anticipated."

"Now the question is, where's the entrance?" As I spoke, we heard a shout at the right of us.

"At the ready, men!" A man with a deep confident voice held from behind the thick trees. I followed Theo as he moved through the trees in the direction of the yelp.

We moved into a small clearing that held a large dirt road. The wall had an enormous gate implanted into it. Five men stood with drawn swords, prepared to fight. They stood in a V like formation. The man at the point of the V was dressed in grander armor, and was mostly likely the one that held the command, as he seemed to be the obvious leader of the group.

A pack of grieves stood on the road, hunched slightly, with menacing snarls on their mouths.

Theo drew his two swords, and I unhooked my crossbow, loading a bolt into it.

The first of nine grievers rushed for the gate soldiers. I fired my crossbow, lodging a bolt into the side of the creatures head. The griever fell to its knees, but crumbled to ash before it's body but the earth.

My stomach felt slightly queasy.

I had never actually killed anything before, and I was caught in a daze, replaying how the bolt pierced the creatures temple. The replaying of it made me sick.

I was pulled from the ill memory by Theo's voice next to my ear.

"Nice shot." Theo whispered to me.

"Thanks." I whispered back, shaking off the previous sickening feeling.

The men at the gate glanced at us, but turned their heads back instantly towards the on coming griever attack. Five of them headed towards the men while three rushed forward in our direction.

One came for me, closing the distance between us quickly with its long legs. I finally got my second bolt ready, and shot It into the beasts chest. When It only stumbled back, I loaded another bolt and shot the chest again. It quickly dropped into ash, only a few yards from where I stood, giving me a view of Theo's fight. He took on the tallest of the two grievers left. He slashed at its legs, forcing it on its knees. With one blade, he blocked the griever's on coming strike, and slickly slid the other blade into its chest. As he did this, the other griever came up behind Theo. I put in another bolt in, ready to shoot for the creatures back, but right as I was about to pull the trigger, the end of one of Theo's swords peeked out of the creatures back. As Theo drew out his blade, the beast crumbled to ash.

We both put our weapons away, and walked towards the men at the gate who were finishing off the last of the grievers. Once the last pile of ash was formed,the soldiers looked over at us. Theo began to walk forward, so I followed as he strode over to the men.

As we approached them, I got a better look at their faces. They all looked to be ranging somewhere in their thirties, except for one, the man I suspected to be the captain. He looked to be in his mid twenties, which I found quite peculiar. It was strange that the youngest of the group should be the leader.

I examined the captain more closely. He had broad shoulders, and was almost as tall as Theo. The captain had strong features, and a tan that suggested he spent most of his years out in the sun. He had rich brown hair that matched his eyes. The man had a scratchy unshaven jaw, that had been a few days old. Overall, he was quite handsome, despite a scare that cut through the end of his left eyebrow.

"And who might you be?" The captain asked us as we approached. He still held a drawn sword at his side, as if debating whether he will need it.

"Travelers." Theo answered calmly.

"Travelers away from the road, and in the woods? That's dangerous, and something someone with half a brain would know not to do."

"We were on the road, but ambushed by a pack of grievers, driving us into the forest." Theo answered quickly.

"You two seem like quite the fighters, and don't seem like the type to run from a griever attack." The captain instantly observed.

"There were almost twenty of them."

"How long have you been travelling?"

"Three days." The captain rose a eyebrow slightly for just a second, before his face returned to its emotionless gaze.

"Where did you travel from?"

"Camrid."

"What business do you have in Mendrick?"

"Our business is our own. Why all the questions?"

"It's my job to question suspicious characters."

"Suspicious?"

"Yes. First off, you say you were ambushed by grievers on the road. They don't usually ambush in the road, except to forge money or supplies. You look to have nothing of worth, and they would have no reason to ambush you. Second, you say you've been on the road for three days, yet you look like you haven't spent a night out in the wilderness. Your cloths are not at all travel worn. I believe that is a good enough reason to call you suspicious."

I now understood why he was the captain.

I looked up at Theo, expecting him to counteract him, but he said nothing. I was surprised by this. He didn't know what to say. For the first time since I ment him, he was at a loss for words.

I saw on Theo's face that he was silently kicking himself right now for not thinking everything through.

The captain smirked. "But at the same time, you did help us kill those grievers, showing that you are not with Derkon, and have not posed as a threat. You can keep your secrets to yourself, but if you cause any trouble, I won't be as lenient."

He stepped back to give us a path, then held over his shoulder yelled, "Open the gate!"

The giant, fifteen foot doors of the gate inched open in a rumble. The captain finally sheathed his sword, but still gripped the hilt. He watched us with narrowed eyes, as we passed through the gate, as if waiting for us to cause something bad to happen. I looked back at the captain as the gate began to close. Once he disappeared behind the wooden doors, I turned my attention on to Mendrick.

The city was packed with houses, only leaving room for winding cobble stone streets. Despite all the buildings the roads were still quite wide, making it feel less crowded. I looked up at the tall buildings as the rising Sun began to inflame the tips of the roof tops. The number of people on the streets began to double every minute, as the sun rose. It quickly went from a couple to thirty people out starting their day.

"Where do we begin?" I questioned.

"We'll start our search at the inns. You always start there when tracking anyone in a city," Theo replied.

As we walked on the main road, I looked at the medieval world around me, keeping an eye out for any inns that we pass by. We maneuvered through the city, interrogating inn keepers, with each tavern dirtier than the last. We spent over two hours with no luck, roaming around the giant city. Every inn keeper didn't know anyone by the name Flynn that matched the description we had. All except for one, who knew Flynn, but had not seen him for months.

We entered a large market area with stands set up, selling a variety of goods. The items ranged from selling jewelry, to fine cloths, to freshly baked goods.

In the market, I sat down on a crate and stretched my legs from all the walking. I let a small yawn escape me, as I leaned back against a house on the outskirts of the market center.

Theo disappeared for a second among all the small shops, and came back holding a bundle of something wrapped in cloth. He sat on another crate beside me, and unwrapped the cloth on his lap, to revealed a small loaf of bred, and some cheese. He took out his dagger, sliced into the food, then put some bread and cheese into my lap. I looked down at the food with a growling stomach. I began to eat greedily while he cut some food for himself.

"You know, you can actually enjoy your food. It's not going anywhere." I stopped mid bite to look up at him. I frowned at his smirk as he bit a piece out of his bread.

"Hey! Don't make fun of my hunger."

"Well, I suggest you do enjoy it more because we probably won't be eating much in the next few days." I frowned in confusion, but before I could get a question past my lips, Theo answered me. "I don't know how long this search is going to take, and we don't have money to spare, so we may need to ration."

"How long do you suspect this will take us?"

"I don't know. It varies, but I'm hoping it will only take us a few days." I turned my head back to my food, and began to nibble on my cheese while thinking over his words.

If Flynn was still in the city, we would be searching it for days with its size. If he left the city, there really was no telling how long it would take to find him, especially if we can't find anything hinting at where he might have gone to.

We finished eating, took a couple of swigs from a water skin, and then headed off in search of another inn.

The next inn we found wasn't far from the market place, and was named Lion's Pride Inn.

"Lion's Pride," I said looking at the engraved words on the front of the building. "I too find them quite prideful creatures." My little joke earned me the pleasure of Theo elbowing me in the side. "Oh, sorry if I hurt your pride." I said smiling as I walked into the tavern.

The inside of the inn was fairly decent, compared to some we'd seen today. Once we entered, I saw a young man with shaggy straw hair leaned back against the wall, with a brown mug held up to his lips. His blue eyes lazily moved over to me at the sound of the door. They widened as soon as they landed in me, then began examining me up and down.

I shifted slightly were I stood at the door way. I wasn't often checked out by men, and never did have had much practice in the field with flirting, so, naturally, the gaze of the man made me nervous, especially when he began to make his way towards me.

"What's a girl like you doing in a place this?" The man said walking up to me.

"A girl like me?"

"A girl that is as fragile as a flower."

"I'm carrying a crossbow, and what you think of is 'fragile'." I moved my cloak away better revealing the weapon at my hip. His eyes moved down to my hip, then widened. It seemed my cloak must have been hiding the weapon when he eyes me. His eyes retired to normal quickly and his gaze was calm.

"My guess is it's a scam. You wear it to word off ruffians, and probably don't even know how to use the thing." He said lazily. I was about to respond, but he kept talking. "The reason I think this, is because you have a certain look to you. You look innocent and soft, like you've never seen danger in your life. And your eyes seem full and bright, like they always look for the good, ignorant to evil. So this is me offering my protection to you, fragile flower." As he finished his sentence, his fingers moved away a loose strand of hair back behind my ear.

I was about to say something but my lips stoped as an arm slipped around my waist and pulled me back against a broad chest.

"She doesn't need or want any protection you have to offer." I heard Theo's deep voice tinted with warning, rumble underneath my head leaning against his chest.

The mans face was lined with fear, and I suspected Theo had him locked down with his intimidating stare.

After a moment, the man wiped the fear from his face, and appeared to slightly puffed up his chest.

"And who are you to say?" The man questioned.

"The only protection she needs." Theo replied darkly. He slipped his had to the small of my back, and gently nudged me away towards the inn keeper. "Come on, Sky."

I obediently let him lead me away, surprised by how he reacted to the situation. Surprised by how protective he was.

Once we reached the inn keeper, Theo slipped his hand away from the small of my back, and cleared his throat to grab the inn keeper's attention.

"Excuse me." Theo said. The inn keeper looked around for a moment, then he displayed a warm smile once his eyes ment ours.

"What can I do for you two?" His voice was like butter, and his cheeks plump and rosy.

"Yes, we were wondering if you knew of a man by the name of Flynn. He would have black white tipped hair and be in his late teens." Theo questioned. The mans smile disappeared, and his eyes narrowed.

"Yah, I know him." His cheery tone had faded.

"Is he here?" Theo asked with hope, and seemed not to notice the mood change of the man.

"No," He replied blandly. "And I ain't want to see him walk through my doors ever again."

"Why," I asked. "What did he do?"

"The kid almost tore my inn in two! I've never seen anyone so wreckless, and have such a nack of digging himself into trouble. After about two hours, he had already made enemies with half my patrons! He was carelessly picking pockets every chance he got. Even drove away some costumers." The man shook his head. "I wish I could say that was the worst of it. The fight that took place was horrendous."

"Do you happen to know where we could find him?" Theo asked.

The inn keeper rubbed his hand on his balding head. "Think he mentioned something about Riystone."

Theo smiled. "Thank you, you've been a great help." We almost turned away, but were stopped.

"Wait," The inn keepers voice made us turned our heads. "You two shouldn't be mixing yourselves up with someone like that. The kid's a magnet for trouble."

"We appreciate the warning, but we've already made our minds on finding him."

"Well, in that case, could you return this to him." The inn keeper turned around to retrieve something. He turned back to face us holding a dark green cloak. "He left this when he was here. The gentleman in me thinks it decent to return it, even though he doesn't deserve it. He prolly stole it from some poor bloke in the first place."

The man handed the cloak to Theo.

"We'll make sure he gets it." I said.

"One more thing," The inn keepers voice darkened. "When you do find him, let him know he's banned from the Lion. The little devil slipped away before I could tell him myself."

"Will do, and thank you again." I said as we exited the inn.

I closed the door then turned to Theo. "Where's Riystone from here?" Theo stopped and pulled out a folded piece of parchment out of his satchel. He unfolded it revealing a map of Yaris. I looked down at the map and found Mendrick, covered with thick woods. A little ways away marked Riystone. The thick woods seemed to fade in Riystone's direction, so that decreased our troubles of getting lost.

"The journey from here to Riystone should take a little less than a week if we move fast. We'll exit Mendrick on the north gate, so the one we came in from. Then we'll begin heading north-west from there." He folded the map up and put it and Flynn's cloak into the packed satchel.

We went back and found the original gate we entered through, and watched the giant doors open once again. We exited Mendrick to find the captain and his men still posted outside the gate.

"You two again." The captain said to us. "Hope you got done what you needed."

Theo replied with a nod, and stopped himself from speaking, when a man jogged out of the gate.

"Captain, there's been another attack. Grievers are attempting to climb the wall."

"How many."

"About ten, sir."

"Jordans, Barik, go with him."

"Wait, we may need more."

"What for?"

"They're... not ordinary grievers, sir."

"What do you mean?" The captain's brows frowned.

"They're different... they're faster than ever, agile, and they don't seem to die as quickly." The captain brows were kept lowered.

"I need to see this. Jordans and Barik, stay here and hard the gate. The rest come with me. Where's the attack?"

"A little west."

"We can help." I chimed in. All eyes looked to me in regards to my offer.

I don't know what made me speak up, but I felt a strange need to offer my assistance, and I might as well include Theo. Besides, the man spoke of a different kind of griever, and I thought it best that Theo and I have a look, in case we encountered them in the future.

"We don't need help from you two." The man seeking the captain's help spoke. "I'm sure your fighting abilities are out matched in this battle. Even if you were able to fight off a regular griever, these creatures are superior to them."

Theo let out a very audible scoff.

"They can come," the captain accepted my offer. "They may be handy, and I've seen them fight. They're not half bad."

The man looked at us only half convinced. "If you say so."

"Let's waist no more time. Lead us to the attack."

We headed back into Mendrick, and along the wall was a narrow stair case that lead to the top. We jogged along the top of the thick wall, till we reached the attack.

We found a team of men slightly leaning over the outer rim of the wall, with crossbows all aimed down. I watched as one fired a bolt, and like thunder after lighting, a grievers screech was shot from the trees.

I looked over the wall to see the men's progress.

The grievers were different, as the man had said. They were shorter, yet their legs and arms seemed to not change in length, making look even more misshapen then they all ready did. And, to add on to their strange appearance, their heads were smashed down on to their black shoulders with no neck in between. They had white bone helmets covering their heads, and their skin seemed hard everywhere, except for around the claws, and bearing the head.

One that had almost reached the top of the wall was shot hard in the chest. It lost its grip, and fell back with a screech. As it fell, the creature's head dipped back, reviling an unprotected neck. Once it hit the ground, it quickly crushed its neck between its head and shoulders again, removed the arrow, and began scaling the wall with the speed and agility of a monkey.

I watched it with wide eyes. It should have died from the arrow and the fall. It's impossible it's still alive! I took note of the extra hard skin, and come to the conclusion that that was what kept them alive for so long. The crossbows would be useless against them, so I drew my sword instead. Some of the guards passed me curious glances before pouring their attention to the oncoming grievers.

I lined myself up with a griever almost finished ascending the wall, and positioned myself, ready to strike. The griever was almost to the point were I could strike. The guard beside me began to aim at my griever.

"Wait!" I stopped him before he pulled the trigger. "I've got it under control." I assured.

The griever reached the top and slashed at its waist without hesitation. The blade pierced its side, but stopped there. I paused for a moment, trying to figure out why my sword came to a sudden halt. The metal like skin had stopped it. I hadn't thought it was that hard or thick.

I had to tug to get my blade free from the armor skin. I ducked and rolled backwards when the grievers razor claws attempted to make contact with my throat.

That gave me an idea.

I had to figure a vulnerable spot on it that could be used as a killing blow. It's neck was the only thing that would work.

The griever tackled me before I could jump out of the way. It dug its claws into my shoulders , holding me down, but not keeping me from using my arms. I bit down on my lip, stifling a cry of pain, turning it into a small whimper. I quickly punched its helmet face, eager to get the creature off me. My hand proved to be no match against the hard helmet, when I heard a a small crack from one of the fingers in my left hand, but I had managed it to reveal its neck as I wanted. I bit down harder on my lip til the bitter taste of blood hit my tongue. Hot tears now blurred my eyes. Pushing my pain to the side, I thrust my blade into the creature's throat.

It released a pathetic screech, and stumbled back, off of me. I drew my sword out of its throat just before it tumbled off the edge into a rain of ashes.

I began to lift myself up, wincing at the pain in my shoulders and hand. Theo was at my side almost instantly, examining my blood stained shoulders.

"How you holding up?" He asked, keeping his eyes on duty of examining my wounds.

"I can hold up. They don't feel that deep." I glanced at my shoulders, but instantly regretted it when a queasiness filled my stomach.

"Any other wounds?"

"I think I broke a finger, but I can still fight." His jaw tensed, but relaxed after a moment.

"Okay."

I looked at the men keeping the grievers at bay, then asked, "How many grievers left?"

"Eight. It appears we're the only ones who have successfully got a kill."

"Did you pinpoint the neck too?"

"No, the eyes. But clever thinking getting it to reveal its neck through a punch." a smile played at my lips from his complement. I didn't often get ones from him that aren't tainted.

"We better get back into the fight." I pulled my mind from Theo, and back to the battle.

"Yah, who else is going to kill these grievers for them." The smile I was holding back came through with his joke.

I turned my head at the scream of a griever. It's neck had been revealed, and the captain's blade cut through it, silencing the creature's cries.

"Go for the necks!" The captain commanded the soldiers.

I held up to my sword, ready to fight. My injuries burned with each movement, but, through a miracle, I didn't let the pain distract me.

Once the trick with the necks was released, the soldiers began successfully killing the remaining grievers. Theo and I fought side by side, killing off half of the creatures between the two of us. I managed to stay protected, without further injury.

The captain killed off the final griever, ending the battle. A man thanked the captain and captain's men for the assistance, and gave us a nod of appreciation. The captain, on the other side, thanked us personally.

"You should see to those wounds." The captain nodded towards my shoulders. "I know a healer by the name of Jericho who lives in the East side of the city. Just tell him Captain Phillip Monroe sent you. He'll see to all your needs."

I smiled at him, but Theo was the one to speak. "Thank you, but we can tend to the wounds."

He gave us a nod, then headed off with his men. The other soldiers left to their original posts as well, leaving Theo and I alone on the wall.

I sheathed my sword and winced as pain shot through my shoulder.

"Over here." Theo led me away by the small of my back. We left into a room in a small watch tower. The room had a thick wood ladder leading up to the top of the tower. A barrel with two short crates beside it, lay opposite from the splintered ladder. I sat on one of the crates, and my foot bumped against a hidden wine bottle tucked away behind the barrel.

"Remove your cloak and sword." Theo moved behind me as I did so. The cloak pooled in a black mass at the floor of my seat, and I propped up the blade beside the barrel. Theo gingerly began undoing the first few buttons of my dress. I tensed more and more with each button.

"What are you doing?" I asked stupidly.

"You want these cuts taken care of, don't you?" He finished unbuttoning a third of the way down my back, and had moved to my shoulders. He softly pushed the dress off my shoulders, his finger tips gently brushing over my bare skin striking me dumb in response. I caught the fabric at my chest before it could slip down.

I let go of a breathe as his fingertips left my skin. His warm touch was replaced by a damp cloth mopping up my blood. Once my skin satisfyingly clean, Theo spoke. "This is going to sting a little."

A liquid touched my cuts creating a searing pain throughout my shoulders. I bit down on my lip for the third time today, and hissed at the pain.

"A little?"

I couldn't see it, but I could tell he was smiling.

The burning slowly simmered down as Theo began to bandage my wounds. I tensed once again every time his fingers brushed against my, usually concealed, skin.

I relaxed as he buttoned my dress back up. As for my fingers, he bandaged up my middle finger on my left hand to help the bone heal.

He helped me latch my sword onto my back without disrupting the cuts on my shoulders. Theo picked up my cloak off the ground and draped it around my shoulders. As I redid the clasps around my neck he opened the door, gesturing for us to leave the room.

"As we travel change into your natural form. It will help with the healing."

We exited the west gate, ready for our journey ahead.

A/N: Please remember to vote, and thanks for reading!