I open the door to see Zona in the same position as last time. I slowly approach Zona. “Zona. I need you to get up now.” The flames from the fire start to rise the closer I get to her. I reach for the bucket of water I brought with me just incase this was going to happen. She sits up looking at me. Her bloodshot eyes glare into me.

“..Leave.” Her voice sounds cold and weak. She looks like she has lost weight in her face. I gulp going to her.

“Zona. I understand it hurts..” She glares at me weakly holding up her hand.

“I. Said. Leave.” Before I can act, Jake appears next to the bed picking up Zona with blanket. I frown at Jake as he carries her outside. Zona struggles within the blanket. I follow him outside and watch as he dumps Zona onto the ground. Zona stands up trying to shoot flames at Jake. A very weak amount shoots out he waves them out of his face.

“The once great Zona Everlast reduce to a pathetic child.” Zona frowns trying to punch Jake in the face. Jake continues to dodge the attacks. “Look how far the once great hero has fallen. All because of her little pet is dead.” Something inside Zona snaps as she tries to call upon her full force of her magic. She screams trying to throw it at him. When nothing comes, she drops to her knees looking defeated. Jake walks up to her. I run to her getting between her and him.

“Back off Jake.” He pauses looking down at me. Something in his eyes tells me he realizes that he took it too far. He goes back to the house with the look of disappointment on his face. I look back at her slowly helping her up. “Come on Zona. Let's get you cleaned up.” I hold onto her arm as we head inside. I take her to the bathroom undressing her. I can tell that she has lost a good amount of weight. I help into the bath turning on the water. I sit next to her washing her.

“Why are you doing this?” I pause slightly surprised she spoke to me.

“Because I care about you Zona.” After the bath has filled up, I begin to wash her. She looks visually upset as I start to wash her hair. The bath water begins to heat up as a tear falls from her face.

“... I miss her..” I frown slightly trying to cool her off. After the water starts to get too hot, I get her out of the bath. I start to dry her off.

“I know. We all miss her.” I look up to see tears running down her face. She isn’t sobbing or anything like that.

“I never should have done.” I wrap her in a towel hugging her close. For a moment, she doesn’t do anything. I rub her back and she holds onto me burying her face into my shirt. “I can’t….” We hug for a few minutes letting her work this from her system.

“You know she wouldn’t want you to live your life like this right? She would want you to help people and be yourself.” She doesn’t say anything for a moment. She lets go standing. She looks at me with a forced smile.

“..Right. I will be done in a minute.” I smile happy that she is at least trying to be better. I leave going to the kitchen. I make some soup setting out three bowls for everyone. I turn to see Jake coming into the kitchen in his suit of armor.

“Is she finally better?” I frown glaring at him slightly.

“Yea no thanks to you.” He starts to eat his soup looking bad.

“I understand I took it too far. However, if she is the only person who can defeat Grant. We need her back.” I know he is right, but he could have gone about it better. I pause seeing Zona come in with her old clothes on. She sits down and begins eating. We all don’t say anything for a second and she looks up at Jake.

“Why are we going to the North?” Jake begins to fill her in everything that he knows. She almost looks like her old self except for the fact she looks just overall sadder. After Jake finishes, Zona eats the rest of her soup.

“Fine. I will meet you in the morning then.” She heads outside as Jake and I share looks of confusion. He heads to the window making a face.

“Finally, she is back. I will be back in the morning with everything we need.” He looks back at me opening the door. “I will be back in the morning.” He closes the door leaving me alone in the house. I clean the house for a little bit before going to do some research. I open the door seeing Zona sitting on a nearby bench resting in the sun. I almost head over to her but I figure she still needs to work things out herself. I head to the library like usual. I open the door and see the friendly old lady sitting at the main desk. She looks up and smiles.

“Good morning Ashley.” I smile going to her.

“Good morning Betty. Did you find any of the books I asked for?” She sadly shakes her head no.

“Unfortunately, no, but I did find a book that considers about old myths and legends. It’s older but it should still do the trick.” She holds out a green bound book with a title Forgotten Dreams. I smile taking it.

“Thanks. I will return it as soon as I can.” I walk over to my usual spot and sit down getting comfortable. I open the book and start to flip through some pages. It mostly covers everything I basically already know. I sigh mindlessly flipping through the pages. After finishing the book, I get up heading back Betty. She looks at me as I hand the book. “I couldn’t find anything in it. Sorry.” She looks sorry for me.

“I am sorry that I can’t find what you are looking for.” I head to the door looking back.

“It is okay. I am leaving on a trip for a few weeks. Maybe I can find something to bring back to add to this massive collection.” She smiles waving at me.

“Of course. See you soon Ashley.” I smile walking away out the front door. I look up at the sky noticing it starting to get dark out. I frown slightly confused.

“That’s weird.” I notice a few men from the military running toward the center of the city. Dark clouds start to form in the distance as I feeling a dread starts to come over me. I take off running toward the center of the city. This time I am making sure no one else dies because of him.

I get to the city center seeing a group of men with their swords trained on someone. He looks panicked and super skinny. His skin hangs off his bones. He is mumbling something that no one can hear. He looks around with white glazed eyes. I get closer hearing what he has been saying. “He’s coming! Run! Please! He is going to consume everything!” One of the guards goes to grab him but I stop him. The guard looks at me for a second looking angry.

“Who do you think you..” He stops as one of the other guards grabs him pulling him away.

“She is one of the people living with Captain Jake.” He frowns looking at me extremely sorry. I roll my eyes looking at the man.

“Hey. It’s okay... I am here for you.” The man grabs ahold of my arm. His grip is ice cold and I feel something trying to worm its way inside my head.

“The Forgotten King Will Raise. The World Succumbs to Darkness. A Hero is Forged in Flames and the Return of Her.” Brief flashes of black tendrils flash into my head, a skeleton on a throne, an empty throne, and finally; Grant. He shows me his toothy smile reaching out for me. I rip my arm from him as he grabs his hand in pain. He screams out into the air, “IT COMES!” He falls over drawing one last breath. I hold my arm close to my body as I see more soldiers including Jake approach me.

Jake orders soldiers to clean up everything and send the people back to their homes. He walks with me back to the house as he dismisses the rest of group. He looks at me as we passed by the garden. “What happened?” I frown slightly rubbing my arm where the man grabbed my arm.

“I think Grant got ahold of that man. To send a message, I think. He told me this The Forgotten King Will Raise. The World Succumbs to Darkness. A Hero is Forged in Flames and the Return of Her. I saw a skeleton, a throne, and Grant. Grant is the one causing these attacks. I know it.”

“Hmm. Interesting. You won’t leave my sight once we head up there. I don’t need you getting in trouble.” I nod in agreement with him.

“Yea we need to stay together from now on. So what time are we leaving?” He makes a face.

“Change of plans. We are leaving tonight. Lord Lionheart insisted that we left as soon as possible. Our transportation should be ready as soon as we get down packing. Plus, he has granted us everything we would need for the mountains.” I smile slightly happy that I won’t have to worry about going cold.

“Will I be able to see him before we leave?” Jake looks at me confused.

“Maybe. Once we get everything packed. We will see.” We see the house. I assume that she went back into the house. “I already came here to her know. Go pack your things so we can leave soon.” I head up to my room and start to pack things to keep me busy on the trip. I back a few books, pencils, and other items. I head downstairs seeing Jake and Zona waiting by the door.

Jake had time to change into an updated version of his armor. The whole thing isn’t completely black. A few white patches have been given to it. Apparently, some of the magical qualities have been lost over the last couple of months. He actually pulls it off pretty well. I pause slightly surprised at the thought. I notice that he cleanly polished his sword. It is still the same old black bladed sword that he has always used. Apparently, Zona has used the sword before. They usually don’t talk about the old days anyway.

Zona is wearing her old red robe with the selves removed. Her blue undershirt hands loosely from her body and her robe looks a little big now. She is wearing her necklace with the single teardrop wrapped in metal vines. At least she isn’t staying in bed anymore. I look at the house one last time before following them outside. I have grown attached to the house. Finally having a permanent place to stay felt good. We all walk to the front gate of the city. A few people start to gather noticing Zona. Her legend has evolved a little more over the last two years. She went from being a myth to somewhat of a celebrity. Not everyone knows who she is but they people who do are grateful.

We get to the front gate and I see two wagons filled with supplies. I see two men in the driver's seat and a group of men on horses. They look a good size about twenty or so. I look at Jake confused. “We are taking people with us?” He nods whistling for his horse to come over. A horse as black as midnight trots over to him. It has light blue eyes as Jake rubs his side.

“You two will ride in the carts. Understand?” I frown slightly not wanting too. However, I nod climbing into the cart with Zona. I look at Jake who rides up next to the cart. Lord Lionheart makes an appearance as a large cheer goes throughout the crowd. I smile seeing him walking over to us. He smiles at me.

“Ashley Price. It’s nice to see you again.” Zona hides in the back of the cart as Jake puts on his helmet. I get a warm feeling hearing his voice. It makes me feel safe for some strange reason.

“It’s nice to see you too. Here to see us off?” He nods.

“I would join you, but I need to help the people here. Stay safe. All of you.” He waves to the crowd as the we leave the city. Jake rides beside me as we march North. I look at his horse.

“What’s his name?” Jake doesn’t answer my question right away but looks at me as we start to pass more dense trees.

“His name is Knight.” I smile slightly petting the horse as he walks beside the wagon.

“I like it. It suits him well.” Knight neighs nudging my hand slightly. I pet his head as Jake looks down the road.

“Will we be able to try again tonight?” I pause for a second trying to figure out an excuse. I already feel somewhat exhaust from all the visions I had today.

“.. Maybe. It depends on how I feel.” I see him frown slightly but not say anything. He rides ahead of the group and I sigh annoyed. I pull out one of my books trying to pass the time. I relax getting into the book. By the time I look up from the book, I notice that it is getting dark out. Zona is slightly playing with some small flames. I relax happily knowing that Zona is slowly getting back to her old self. The wagons start to slow down and find a place to stay for the night. The wagon parks as the men start to set up camp. Jake orders them around as Zona, James, and me set up our tents in the middle of the camp. We all sit down by a nearby fire exhausted from the day’s events. A few men pass around rations and some wine. I pass on the wine never really enjoying it. Zona takes the wine and sips on it. Jakes walks over looking at us.

“It will take about a week to get to the Northern Mountains. By the pace we set we should arrive on schedule.” Zona rolls her eyes muttering something about doing this before. “Go get ready. Ashley. I would like for you to join us.” I stop confused looking at Jake.

“What are you talking about?” He smiles at me planning something.

“I would like you to train with men and me.” I go to say no but Zona stands up warming up her shoulders.

“I am down. I need to start back up my training anyway.” I see Jake frown slightly nodding.

“Very well. I shall face Zona, and train Ashley.” Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a few men starting to place bets. I gulp realizing that I am so fucked.