I was running from that place with fear and hope that Master would be all right. I wish I could have stayed there and helped him, but seeing his face and the pain, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I ran.

After running for some time, I fell to my knees. Every muscle in my body hurt from running for so long, I just could not run any more. I was so tired from fleeing and all the crying I had been doing. Not realizing it, I fell asleep….

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When I woke up, I found Willan standing next to a tree that was not very far from me. His eyes looked sympathetic, as if he knew something I cared for was gone. He stood there for a moment, then walked over to me and rested his silver horn on my shoulder.

I slowly got to my feet, his eyes still upon me. For some reason, as he stared at me with those sad eyes, I felt calmer than I had when I woke up. He urged me to get on his back again; I agreed without hesitating.

As I climbed to sit, the calm feeling grew. When I reached the top, my eyes grew heavy, so I closed them, but I did not fall asleep. As we were moving, all I heard was the sounds of nature and Willan's breathing, calming the rage inside even more.

Riding through the woods, I felt the night coming on. The cool breeze flowing over me felt so refreshing on my sweat-covered body. I opened my eyes to see where we were. The moon did not shine in the night sky, only the stars. Even though the night was dark, it wasn't haunting, but peaceful.

After some time of riding, Willan finally stopped. I sat up only to see destruction. The cabin I once lived in with Master was now a burned skeleton; all the things outside were over turned or broken. It had to be a nightmare, but I knew it was real.

Jumping down from my high perch atop the unicorn, I ran to look for Master. I was praying to myself, hoping he was still alive. My instincts told me different. I didn't care; I had to find him.

I looked all over… the only place left to look was the place where he first taught me how to hunt. That wasn't too far away from our home, and I knew that he'd go there every morning. He knew everything around there like the back of his hand.

There was no sign of a fight or him. "They didn't come here. Where did they go!! Where is he?!" my voice echoed through the woods. When the echoes stopped, I opened my eyes, only to see the images once again.

Then it came to me, he was the tall, strong man from the vision. Master was the one fighting with a friend then, but this time, there wasn't the feeling of friendship; only hate. I finally knew where he was. I had to go there, back to Destrátle.

I ran back to where I had last seen Willan, by the tree next to the brook. When I got there, he was waiting; it seemed, to take me to my destination. He seemed as if he knew that I was in a hurry. So, as soon as I climbed onto his back, he reared up and took off into the woods like a bolt of blue and silver lightning.

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We reached Destrátle in no time at all. Paying no attention to those hideous birds sitting in the barren trees and broken windows, we kept going until the stable's remains loomed in front of us. There was a new feeling around it. The death feeling was still there, but I felt the presence of a great power; stronger that the one I got from the sword that Master called the sword of light. Slowly, the power faded into nothing. When it had faded completely, the stable seemed safe enough to enter.

As I walked through an opening, I couldn't see a thing, but my sword started to glow. As it got brighter, I noticed that there was one more corpse in the room. I knew whom this new body belonged to.

I walked over to the lifeless body, yet, he was still alive. With his last breaths, he told me "Sonya, didn't I tell you that I would be fine? Why don't you listen to me… touch the sword… I need to know if you're the next one…" Coughing up blood, he grabbed the sword and handed it to me. "Touch the sword… I need to know… NOW!" He winced in pain from the gaping hole in his side.

I was afraid that I would get another painful shock from this one, too, but I grabbed it anyway. At first, there was just a few sparks; then there were bright flashes of lightning outside again. The pain started to come and Master smiled. "I knew it… the sword… has chosen you… as its… new owner…." The smile on his face faded just like the power had. The pain I felt didn't come from the shock of the energy bolts; it came from the loss of a friend.

When the light show was over, I stood up. Master was dead; I didn't know what to do anymore. I didn't know how to survive on my own; I barely did before Master found me. I decided to ask Willan to take me somewhere that had actual living people in it.

"I feel weird talking to a horse, but I need you to take me somewhere so I can talk to real people… I need some information on Master…." I knew his death wasn't just a coincidence; someone wanted him dead for some reason.

Willan seemed to agree to take me, but when we started to leave, he headed back towards the burnt ruins of the cabin. "I told you I wanted to go to a town with people!" I tried to make him change directions, but he refused. "Why do you want to go back there? There's nothing left there for me anymore!" I tried again to force him to turn back and go somewhere else, but it was as if I was taking a bull by the horns and wrestling it to the ground.

I let him go the way he wanted because I found that it was no use to plead with him; once he started, there was no stopping him. "I give up… go where ever you want, but if it is of no interest to me, I'm going on my own…."

Just then, the gigantic horse reared up as if to say "If you don't want to come, I will make you come!!"

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The further we went, the more he seemed to calm down. It was like I had no choice on whether or not I went back. I didn't know what we were going back to or what we would find.

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Soon we reached the ruins, the fires that were burning when we left had died out; all the trees were blackened, no leaves left on their branches. Even though the dark veil had cleared from the air, I could still smell the think black smoke that had filled that quiet place no more than a day before.

The sun had already started to set beyond the silent woods. I didn't have much more time to waste; I needed to find what Willan had brought me there to get. What ever it was, I hoped it was worth the time he was taking away.

"Where is this thing that is so important?" I said, hopping down to the scorched earth below. "Can you show me, or do I have to find it myself?" At this point I was a little agitated with the horse. I think he noticed because he nodded his head, his horn shinning brightly in the little light the sun gave us.

"So… where is it?" my tone getting sterner with each word.

The beast seemed surprised from the attitude in my voice. "Sorry, I didn't mean to do that…" Before I could say more, Willan gave a soft neigh, and walked over to where the cabin once stood. There wasn't much of an inside anymore; the roof was gone, very little of the walls stood around him, and there wasn't much in the way of furniture to be seen. The only thing holding up the remaining wall was an old piece of a charred wood beam. One, half standing, chair from the wooden table set was left in the middle of the room while you could still see where the beds were once in a corner.

I scanned over the blackened remains; something caught my eye. A big, grayish box sat in the opposite corner from the beds. I had never seen it before, but now it stuck out from the rest of the items. That box was the only thing that wasn't turned black from the fire and smoke.

I walked over to it, I didn't see any signs of damage on the metal box; not even a trace of dust or soot on or around it. It seemed odd to me that it was the only thing in the whole place that wasn't touched by the flames. I didn't see a lock on the hinge; so maybe that was what Willan took me there for.

Since the metal couldn't be hot anymore, I reached out to open the lid. I was still a little hesitant though; the last time I touched something I was told to, I got a pretty good shock. Remembering the look in his eyes when I back off from the sword, I decided no to look back and ask.

Taking a deep breath and preparing for yet another jolt I reluctantly reached out and opened the metal container…