∞ Chapter 3.

Siv'antis Jaka man'tha gloru'da.

Siv'kontra Jaka, haevar horkus sha.

Mir'dalla fal'en Foibu est, sin e fal'a dor'en fest.

Foibu brakam Jaka'an. Soin vin sha'da horken han, ts'nun rai ti haeg'el korr.

Mir'dal'en Jaka brakan dorr.

Vor'an magam horkus porr.

Brakam Jaka öb di dorr. Haeg'el korr.

Siv'antis Jaka fönx die mor.

Siv'kontra Jaka, mor di ÿgg ven shaka lorr.

Brakam Jaka, Foibu Xodum shaka alfr shest.

Haevar horkum hex'em fest.

BRAKAM JAKA VVOI'ZI' VVORR.

Fönx ÿgg öb di shakel dorr.

Haeg'el korr, al'zi Jorr.

Brakam Jaka gloru'da,

öb di ÿgg fönx zi horkus da.

Brakam Jaka, kom'zi sha.

-Prophecy of the Breaker. Codex Fobius page 137.

Jak awoke to darkness, but it was not the black of the void. It took him a moment to realize that the 7th key master had been successful. He must've been, otherwise he wouldn't be alive right now.

Still, just where did the man send him? The Dorwinian dominion most likely. He frowned. It might not be the Dorwinian dominion any longer, but the Dorwinian Empire or something like that. Grimacing, he put it from his mind for now since there was nothing he could do.

He wasn't ready to deal with what had happened yet either.

As Jak sat up, he took note of his surroundings. He was inside a small room packed tightly with all manner of paraphernalia as though the occupant was travelling with... ah it could be a caravan he supposed. He had to duck since it wasn't a very large caravan.

He made his way to the exit and slipped out soundlessly.

When Jak emerged from the caravan, he froze.

What he saw was mezmerizing.

He was currently within a small circle of caravans bathed in the pale light of the full moon. The grass and the lush green forest surrounding the caravan, told Jak that he wasn't in Sirion any longer. Even though he'd expected as much, it was still a shock.

The air was fresh and clean, and it didn't even sting when you breathed. The night wasn't freezing cold either, but pleasantly warm. The unnatural feeling made him a little bit apprehensive, but also stirred within him a sense of excitement.

As his feet met the ground just outside the caravan in which he'd been resting, he noted a human shape sitting alone by the smoldering campfire, glancing at the dying embers in silence.

The figure was small in stature and had long golden hair that curled elegantly.

Jak was almost certain that this was a woman.

Why she was sitting there alone in the moonlight while all her companions slept was a mystery though. He supposed she was just keeping watch, no need to glorify her as some sort of ethereal moonlight nymph waiting for him to wake.

As he approached her, Jak noted the tense set of the womans shoulders. She looked like she was thinking hard about some troubling issue, or maybe she was nervous about being attacked during the night.

When Jak was nearly within reach the woman spun, her sword slashing out. He raised a hand to block the strike, but the woman stopped before she could shatter her blade against his palm. "Quite quick aren't you." Jak said, speaking Sirionean out of reflex. She turned to him, her eyes wide and her jaw dropping like some peasant girl. Jak smiled pleasantly as he lowered his hand.

"Anta'ra da!" The woman exclaimed, and Jak cocked his head.

"It's me?" Jak asked. What the woman had just uttered, could only be described as a strangely bastardized version of western Dorwinian.

The fact that he didn't recognize her accent slightly discombobulated him, since he'd been trained in the 12 most common Dorwinian dialects and all of their derivatives, which should cover most all of Dorwine.

"Are you stupid? I could've cut off your hand just now!" The woman shouted. Her face was flushed a healthy shade of pink, and Jak detected a slight tremble as she held the sword.

"Unlikely." Jak said. The woman sighed, sheathing her sword and relaxing. "Just what are you playing at, trying to sneak up on a woman in the middle of the night? Who are you anyway?"

"Jak." He said. The woman frowned, before motioning him over to sit at the dying embers beside her. "Ves." She returned. Jak smiled at the woman as he sat down beside her.

"Jak and Ves, how amusing." Jak said, continuing to stare at the pale moon overhead, the dying embers of the campfire, the forest alight in silver shades of moonlight, and the little blonde haired Dorwinian beauty at his side.

"Did you hit your head or something? Don't give me the amnesia excuse, you seem lucid enough to atleast tell me what by the sands you were doing in those ruins." Ves said.

Jak raised his eyebrows. "Ruins? Just how did I come to be here, and where is here, exactly?" Jak asked. Ves turned to him, frowning and crossing her arms across her rather flat chest.

"I told you, I won't accept amnesia as an excuse mister 'Jack'. You tell me exactly how you ended up lying in those ruins, bleeding and unconscious, or I'll have to turn you into the nearest magistrate for questioning. The penalty for unauthorized exploration of ancient ruins is a couple of years in the mines or the labor camps, but I'm sure you know all about the recent anti-banditry measures." Ves said. Her crystal blue eyes were sharp as swords as she glared at him.

"I am unaccustomed to being spoken to in such a manner, little girl." Jak said flatly. A moment later, the blade of her sword rested against his throat.

"This here little girl rescued you from those ruins and the spiders trying to eat you. And this here little girl is going to be the one asking the questions, understood?" Ves said.

Just what was with this woman? Did she not see the symbol on his... oh. He wasn't wearing his Hri'gah for some reason, but some roughly spun peasant garb. Atleast his Ar'gah was intact.

"I shall acquiesce to your request, miss 'Ves'. Ask away to your hearts content and I shall grant you answers in sofar as I'm capable of providing." Jak replied.

Ves frowned, then removed her blade from his throat. She was a fast draw, Jak would give her that much. "Why do you sound like an old book? You must be a noble of some kind, but I can't place that strange accent of yours." Ves replied.

She appeared to have calmed down somewhat, though she still rested one hand on the hilt of her sword and sat in such a manner that it was easy to draw her weapon should she require it.

She had to have a modicum of skill, he supposed.

"I thought the same of your accent. It sounds closest to the western Dorwinian common dialect, but I've been unable to place it exactly. That's why I decided to deploy Western Dorwinian when you spoke to me first and I realized..." Jak's smile froze on his lips. Of course. That must be the reason for her aggression. She'd seen the symbol on his Hri'gah before removing it, and she'd heard him speak Sirionean out of reflex. She must've figured out a little something and decided to confuse him with a strange manner of speaking, just to keep him on the back foot.

"I commend your strategy of obfuscation and distraction rebel. You almost had me with that strange fake accent, but now I know your ploy. You probably realized who I was even before I told you my name, yes?" Jak said, turning to the blonde haired Dorwinian girl. She truly was an uncommon beauty, her moist, heart shaped lips ripe for the conquering.

It was a shame she was a rebel.

"Just what in the sandy panties are you babbling about man? Did you really hit your head that hard when you got hurt in those ruins? And I told you before. I'll be asking the questions, just obediently answer me truthfully and I might not turn you over to the magistrate." Ves replied.

"And if I refuse to cooperate, will you draw that sword on me again? I must say you're quite good with the blade." Jak said.

"It's no use. I'd thought to intimidate you, but you're clearly daft. Didn't even flinch once. I'd originally figured you for a fighter, but seeing that stupid as fuck hand raise reaction to my sword strike, and you not even caring that a blade's at your throat... I think you more likely to be some sort of village fool posturing as a noble. That accent of yours is obviously some failed attempt to try and sound like the royal family." Ves said.

Jak couldn't help but let out a short laugh, which made Ves raise an eyebrow.

"The Dorwinian dominion doesn't have a royal family. " Jak said. It was clear now why this woman was acting so aggressively. She just had no clue what she was doing and was obviously out of her depth.

It was her turn to laugh now. "Oh that's a good one. What're you really doing? Did you read one too many an S.V Scroll and decide to become an actor, a roleplayer? Are you a child with a stick pretending to be a knight? Is that it?" Ves said. Now Jak truly had no idea what the woman was talking about.

"What's an S.V Scroll?" He asked, sincere in his confusion this time. The Ves woman just looked at him funny. He stared back at her, and their eyes met. Those crystalline blue eyes of hers were fascinating to him. So clean and clear like the sky and the ocean, but sharp like a windblade too. Sharp crystals. That's what they were. So sharp one could cut himself on them. She stared right back at him without flinching or looking away. What a strange female.

Few people in Sirion had been willing to meet his eye, fewer still looked him in the face like this and did not flinch or blush or become bumbling idiots in his presence. They stared at each other for a time, the pale moonlight making her hair glow with an ethereal silvery shine.

A loud burp followed by a gritty chuckle pulled Jak from his reverie, making him jump right along with the Ves woman. "That sure was a long piss, oaf." Ves said. Her tone was almost jovial now, a far cry from when she'd been talking with him.

"Figured you wanted some time alone with your new man. Looks like I wasn't wrong, what with the way you two were staring at each other just now. Haha." The huge chunk of a man said, and Ves' face flushed red. "Whose new... argh, the man is a fool Barnas. I haven't been able to get anywhere with him even though he promised to answer my questions." The man Ves referred to as Barnas, was bald and had a long bushy moustache. A two-handed axe hung from a leather harness strapped across his back.

At that, Barnas raised an eyebrow and thumped two ham-heavy fists together with a thud. "Perhaps I can help with that?" Barnas said. Jak nearly chuckled at the mans overt threat, but somehow managed to keep his face frozen. Ves sighed.

"No Barnas, that probably won't work. You see, our little noble over here is completely lost in his own strange fantasy land. He just claimed that Dorwine had no royal family." Ves said, then she cocked her head, perhaps in imitation of his earlier gesture. "Actually he said the Dorwinian Dominion. I don't suppose you have any idea what this Jack fellow is playing at, do you?" Ves asked.

Barnas shook his head. "Not a clue. Sounds like a loon alright. Dorwine's got the oldest royal family in existence." Barnas said.

Jak sighed and stood. These two were clearly playing some sort of elaborate game with him. He needed to find someone who didn't know of his identity, then tease from them some useful information instead of all this babble.

Jak turned to leave, but before he took a single step the Ves woman called after him. "Where do you think you're going?!" Jak turned back to her.

"To find someone who's going to tell me the truth. I don't know why you two feel the need to play tricks with my mind, but you are getting on my nerves and it's high time I found out where I am and what's going on here." Jak said.

In the next moment, a couple of things happened. Ves surprised him by drawing sigils as she stretched an arm towards him. The sigils swirled around her arm, glowing brightly. She drew well, even if her speed was incredibly slow. She was probably just learing the ropes. Jak smirked internally at his own little joke. He recognized the sigils, after all.

Barnas jumped forward aswell, perhaps to restrain him in case her spell failed.

He didn't protect himself because he could easily discern the purpose of those sigils. Ropes shot out from the palm of her hand like whips, quickly entangling him and preventing his escape. If he was an ordinary man, that was. Good thing Barnas hadn't been the one to attempt to restrain him, lest Jak unwittingly damage the man beyond repair. Not that he truly cared, but it might cause some inconvenience later. Best to keep a low profile.

On second thought, he didn't know the location of the nearest settlement.

It might be wise to endure this farce a little longer and let them lead him to civilization. After all, he was currently in the middle of a dense forest and who knew how far the nearest village or settlement was?

Ves smiled. "I don't think you'll be going anywhere any time soon. Why don't you stick around? We've hardly gotten to know each other. " Ves said, and Barnas chuckled. "Look at him princess, he's frozen in shock. I doubt he expected you to be an intermediate rank magus on top of a swordswoman." Barnas replied. Jak frowned. There was nothing intermediate about that glacially slow drawing speed. Perhaps they weren't confident in their own strenght and felt the need to run a bluff on him to keep him in line?

Since the rope was only tied around Jak's upper body, extending to Ves as though he was an animal on a leash, he walked quietly back to Ves, not saying a word. Keeping his expression neutral, he stood tall before his would be captor, staring down at her with his one eye.

He noted that Ves had a strange expression on her face. She was biting her lip, but when she noticed him looking, she shook her head and frowned, a stern expression of disapproval now plastered across her pretty face.

Jak smiled. "It seems I'll be in your care then."