Part 1

                                    

                                          
Dirt shuffled under my feet as I walked. I was sweating from the heat and the long run I had done earlier, and it didn't help that I had my hood up. I didn't want to put it down though; my bright red hair would make me easy to find in a light brown desert. 
                          
I wanted to stop; I was so tired and my legs were numb with pain after running for so long. But they weren't that far behind...
                          
I finally dropped to my knees, and looked around at my surroundings. Miles of sand and dirt, and no village in sight. 
                          
"You know you didn't have to run; you could just accept this."
                          
"Shut up." I said through my quiet panting. I really needed water and food; something I ran out of about a day ago. I managed to push myself up, and continue forward.
                          
I continued walking for who knows how long, and the sun started to get low. As I was about to stop, I noticed many people ahead, at least 30. However, it appeared they were in the middle of a battle. Instead of avoiding their conflict like any sane person, I picked my pace up to see if there was any villages nearby. One of them could have been protecting their homes.
                          
Getting closer, I noticed one side were soldiers for the Mad King; Gangrel, and the other were Ylisseans. Great; one side would take me to Gangrel and send me back to the lunatics who I've been running from, and the other side would try to kill me. Taking my chances (and my sword), I went into their battlefield. 
                          
The Ylisseans were pretty outnumbered; about 10 to 20, but when I looked more at each person, I noticed one had the Brand of the Exalt. He fought with his sword in hand, and a grin on his face. 
                          
The rest of the Ylisseans varied in sizes and weapons. There were multiple classes of knights and magic users of all kinds, different healers, and even a Manakete and Taguel. Most of them fought in pairs, saving and helping each other. They weren't losing any lives while the Plegians were dropping like flies. 
                          
I turned my attention back to the one with the mark, who was fighting off a couple of Plegians by himself. I was about to focus on another part of the battlefield, when I noticed there was an assassin, coming up behind him. I dropped my sword, and pulled a tome out, quickly whispering the incantation for Mire. Focusing on the target, I landed my hit, killing the assassin. Sighing, I put the tome away and picked my sword back up. Yes, I wield a sword and magic; I had a lot of free time to learn whatever I felt was needed; including dark magic.
                          
The Ylissean turned around in surprise after killing off his two targets, seeing the assassin dead with no physical wounds. He looked around and took a notice to me, before checking his surroundings and coming over to me. I tensed up, nervous for what he was gonna do, until I noticed that smile on his face.
                          
"Were you the one who killed that assassin?" He asked me. His hair was dark, black actually, and he had the brightest golden eyes. He was just a little taller than me. His armor was blue in color, and was able to show his marking off. 
                          
I looked down, with my hood still up, to hide my face. "Uh...yeah..." 
                          
"Really?? What did you do? I mean, you were way over here! You must be an experienced mage or something!" 
                          
"It was just a Mire tome..."
                          
"Mire, huh? I don't believe any of our mages have that one." He said. "Oh, I'm Gold by the way."
                          
"Prince Gold?" I asked, referring to the Brand on his shoulder. 
                          
"Oh, well, yeah." Gold grinned. "Pretty hot, right? What's your name?"
                          
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a Plegian archer with his arrow aimed at Gold. I deflected the arrow with my sword before it made contact with the side of Gold's head.