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All twenty eight of us were sitting around the massive fire in the middle of the Encampment. Everyone was digging into their food except the Snakes, who were praying for it or something. I was sitting next to Nrasky, and felt a little left out of everything. The others all had things to talk about and discuss, but I didn't. If I was included, I was just answering questions about the region. No one seemed to care about my personality.

Then Nrasky decided to make an announcement, "People of the new age! We've all travelled far and wide, forging alliances and making friends with some, and making great enemies out of others. Tonight we celebrate a new friend! To show that they'll join us, the Canines have given us a gift, and we can all thank them for that. Now, shall we see what's inside?"

He held up the box and opened it. There was a strange glow, and the Otters and Ferrets started freaking out when they saw Nrasky pull the orb out of the box. It was a small glass ball, about the size of an apple. Inside, a raging torrent of purple and magenta streams. The Otters and Ferrets were screaming and cheering against the item in Nrasky's hands.

"I knew we couldn't trust them! I knew it! They're trying to kill us!"

"If only we'd listened to Carter!"

"I can't believe this is how they're treating us!"

"Oh, the anthranity!"

Nrasky raised a hand to silence them, "Riley, explain to us all what this item is."

"Those things don't have names, mostly because the people who handle them die before they can figure it out. They're a way of capturing a dangerous spell. Break the glass, and it's released. Judging by the insides of that one, it's probably some sort of hell fire."

"Cairn, why would your people give this to us?" [Nrasky]

"They... There is no 'they' in king... 'They' didn't do anything. But the king... He said, and I'm quoting him here, we need not side with faggots and freaks."

Everyone looked at me in shock and anger. They started growling, wooping, and snarling. I quickly added on to it, so I wouldn't be eaten by the monsters and creatures here.

"But I'm not like him! I'm not afraid of people who... have sex with their own gender. I mean, I'd do it too. Our people have fucked up traditions, like how homosexuality is a bad thing. So many people suffer because of this, and I hate it. If the king wanted to destroy you people, simply because he's just as fucked up as the rest of the Canines, than he's no king of mine."

Everyone went dead silent. They all starred at me, trying to understand what all I had just said. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked to see Nrasky. He was smiling at me, and seemed glad by what I had said.

Then it happened. In half a second, a movement in a tree caught my eye, and I saw the archer fire his arrow. Everything seemed to slow, and I started to shove Nrasky out of the way, but I was too late. The arrow shot straight through the orb, and exploded into fire and flame.

Everyone scattered. The fire shaped itself into a massive twister of blazing heat and light. It touched the campfire and sort of began to anchor itself to that. Slowly, bits of flame started shooting of of it, hitting the buildings, and even lighting a couple people on fire. Screams of terror and pain filled the air, and I knew Crogar was watching. There was no way he couldn't see the fifty foot fire from his castle.

I tried to rationalize what was happening, make sense of it all, and things started to clear up. I started ordering people out of the encampment, and they bolted. I then told a couple of the snakes to help me find anyone left inside, and bring out anything of value. A few others joined in too, and slowly, we got everything out of the fire.

Then I heard the wails and screams. I was the only one who heard them, and I dashed back into the burning structure. I followed the screams into a burning building, and saw a baby Ferret bundled in his sheets. He looked like he was about two or three, but was completely entrapped his blanket. I scooped him up and rushed out of the building as fast as I could. When I got out, his parents took him out of my arms and thanked about nineteen times.

From there, we watched the building burn, and I saw another movement in the trees. I bolted to it and got there in time to heave a small rock up at the archer, off balancing him. He slipped and fell twelve feet to the ground, landing hard on his bow, breaking it. He looked up at me, and I some what recognized him. He was the gay guard who had tried to sleep with me the night before.

"Cairn..."

"I can't believe you'd fall victim to Crogar's lies."

"What are you talking about? They're criminals!"

"They aren't criminals!"

"Then why would Lord Crogar have me kill them?"

"Because he's a close minded nitwit with no moral or fair judgement."

"Huh?"

"Just come with me." I lead him around front and showed him the mass of people standing in front of the burning camp. Watching everything they'd obtained burn away by the will of an oppressing mad man. I turned and looked at the gay guard, who had tears in his eyes.

"You see now? They're just people. They aren't criminals or murderers, they're just people. They just want to unite with us, join forces and fight side by side against greater threats. In all honesty, I've felt more at home with them than I have in any of the four holds. I'm no longer a citizen of Laothnea. I'm one of them now."

"You... You'd be executed for treason!"

"I'd die fighting for something Crogar can never understand."

There was a short pause as the guard tried to wrap his head around what I'd just said. "... and so would I."

"You don't have to-"

"No, I do. I'm fed up with these racist homophobes."

"... Really?"

"Without a doubt."

"Good, because I now have one question for you."

"What?"

"I still don't know your name."

"Oh... I'm Sebastion. I... I'm albino."

"Oh, that explains the fur."

"What's an albino?" Nrasky butted into the conversation.

"Someone like me..." [Sebastion]

"They have coloration distortions that make them very white and clear." [Me]

"It's a birth defect..."

"Oh. We have people like that. We call them Urgk, for holy. We believe that they're birth is due to the alignment of divine stars." [Nrasky]

"That sounds like a bunch of hoopla." [Sebastion]

"Urgk means holy?" [Me]

"It's draconic. There's a lot of weird stuff in it." [Nrasky]

"Like grunting for holiness."

"Shut up."

"So," Duskle joined us at the edge of the crowd, "Everyone's terrified and aggrivated by your king. How should we respond? By assassinating him, or damning your people to the Aogktnun?"

"No, we can't kill Crogar. There's too many guards, and some of us are good people. We just need a way to seperate them from the others..." [Sebastion]

"How?" [Nrasky]

"We could use Zander." [Duskle]

"Zander? I've never met a man who's more chaotic. We need someone who's a bit more predictable."

"Zander's predictable! He gets results, too! Set him up as an actor in a play, but have him write the entire thing. He'll get the job done."

"Who's Zander?" [Me]

Suddenly a snow leapard materialized from the dark behind me, "Why you guys talkin' 'bout me?" He had a small child in his arms, and was rocking it about.

"Zander, we might need your help. No one here can weave words like you." [Nrasky]

"Well I accept the compliment, but I'm a bit caught up at the moment trying to get my kid to sleep." I hadn't really noticed, but he was the one who's kid had got left in the fire, that was still a raging inferno, I might add.

"Not now but after a while. First, we need a place to retreat." [Duskle]

"I... I think I know just the place." [Me]

"Is it safe?" [Sebastion]

"Sebastion, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you know Nox'Hyem?"

"What? You can't be serious."

"What's Nox'Hyem?" [Zander]

"It's an abandoned mining facility, but a large group of magicians took over and started working together on arcane machines. My father, Neyclos happens to know how to get in, and showed me when I was twelve."

"Wait, twelve harvests or twelve years?" [Duskle]

"Years, and... what's the difference?"

"His people have a strange life cycle in the desert. They have two harvest seasons a year." [Nrasky]

"Oh. Well, anyways, I know a place of refuge. It's not too far... Maybe twelve or fifteen miles."

"We're supposed to walk twelve or fifteen miles without food or water?" [Zander]

"There's plenty of streams along the way, not to mention we all just ate, and there's gonna be food at Nox'Hyem. Come on, I trusted you guys, it's your turn to trust me."