Virgil lay in the bedroom staring at the ceiling, the light from the rising sun coming from the window through the gaps in the curtains making the room's details barely visible. It was yet another unfinished room with exposed plaster on the walls and just concrete for the floor and ceiling. There were two army style cots in the room for beds, when Virgil had lay down he hadn’t realised the cot would be covered in dust, the cloud it produced caused him to have to choke back a coughing fit. It was still dark when he lay down but he wasn't able to sleep, the weight of what Rami had said heavy in his mind. If Rami is to be believed his parents didn’t die in some tragic accident they were murdered by the very same people who were now hunting him. It was in that moment that Virgil decided that no matter what he would find who killed his parents and make them pay. The bedroom door was flung open nearly exploding off its hinges as Rami came through the walkway.
“On your feet we need to leave now” Rami said, urgency apparent in his tone. He walked over to the cot Virgil wasn’t on sliding two swords still in the sheaths and two satchels. He threw a satchel at Virgil who was still yet to move.
“Open that there is a necklace in there, put it on and hurry up. They've found us. We have maybe fifteen minutes before they get here.” He affixed the sword around his waist so it fell on his left hand side he then took the satchel unclipping it on one side and looping it through the sheaths belt at the back so that it sat tight against his back. Virgil sprang up from the bed tearing open the bag reaching in to pull out the necklace, taking it out it was a sterling silver chain with a pendant on it of an enamel lion with a sun made out of gold for a mane and eyes made out of rubies. All together the pendant was bigger than Virgil’s fist. He struggled to get the chain open and around his neck, jewellery wasn’t something Virgil had ever needed to concern himself with, he tucked the pendant under his shirt the metal cold against his chest. Virgil tied the sword and satchel around his waist the same way he had seen Rami do it, the satchel sat a lot looser than Rami’s though. Rami started towards the door Virgil followed close behind till they stood behind the front door.
“Right once I open the door, run straight for the woods, don't stop, I'll follow behind,” Rami said, placing his hand on the door handle, his eyes locked on Virgil’s. Rami held up three fingers on his other hand counting down. Virgil readied himself crouching slightly ready to spring forward as Rami’s last finger fell and the door was pulled open.
Virgil took off at a full sprint the muddy ground squelching beneath his feet but he paid it no mind all he focused on was driving his feet into the ground. He covered the length of the field in a matter of minutes. Reaching the edge of the woods there was a small waist high wall which was covered by the overgrowth that slowed his progress. Placing both hands on the wall he pulled himself up to throw his legs over it he used this moment to look back at the house to see where Rami was, to his shock the thatch roof of the house was on fire the flames spreading out across it while Rami stood by the entry way. He looked towards where Virgil was perched on the wall making eye contact across the field and doing a shooing gesture. Virgil got off the wall and continued to run forward. Rami hadn’t told him what he was looking for just that he would catch up and he had to trust him. His progress was slower now he was in the woods. The canopy was thick letting very little light in but the ground was still sodden from the recent rains, along with the leaf litter making the ground difficult to run on.
Virgil stayed moving forward letting his instincts guide him; this was far from the first time he had to carefully navigate difficult ground; the scars on the soles of his feet from broken glass could attest to that.
He continued through the woods alone for about twenty minutes before he heard the snapping of branches behind him and Rami’s voice reaching out for him in the darkness.
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“Virgil, it's me, stop for a second” Rami called as Virgil turned to face the man stumbling over the root of a tree. Rami pulled up alongside him his face glistening with sweat, he had lost his suit jacket and looked rather disheveled. Rami's breath was coming in hard swallow breaths. He took a moment before speaking again.
“Virg I’m going to need you to listen to every word I say okay” Rami placed a hand on Virgil's shoulder as much to steady himself as to comfort Virgil. “Keep going the direction you're going, the gate is guiding you towards it, when you get there take out your pendant and then go straight through.”
“What about you?” Virgil interjected. Rami took another deep breath, his hand moved from Virgil’s shoulder to the hilt of his sword.
“I’ll meet back up with you on the other side” he said “When you go through you’ll be met with guards tell the guards that I was with you but we were followed by cultists and that you demand to see Toscaire Xyla. They’ll probably question it and you need to tell them that you are Solarus’ champion then they are duty bound to take you straight to Xyla. When you meet with Xyla the first chance you get you tell him that cultists used the Tork-Earth gate to follow us so either they are at war or have betrayed us. Can you do that for me?”
“But what are--” Virgil began but Rami cut him off nearly instantly.
“Virgil a yes or a no, I’m sorry we don’t have time for more questions.” Virgil nodded his head yes. “Good now go” Rami said in a shouted whisper before he drew his sword and he was gone.
Virgil turned and continued onwards the woods completely silent before him but he thought that the thickness of the canopy was lessening. As he pushed forward he began to be able to speed up the trees and undergrowth before him becoming more visible with each step. And with each he began to feel the gates tug on him stronger. It had been there since he had entered the woods but not till Rami had made him aware of it had he actually been able to feel it.
Virgil came to a thick wall of brushes and brambles but he knew on the other side of the wall was the gate he was looking for so he had to force his way through. He drew his sword, taking the hilt in both hands and he started to hack at the foliage in front of him , clumsily at first each swing taking more out of him then it did out of the brush and then it hit him a wave of exhaustion unlike anything he had ever experienced the consequence of pushing his body like never before. He let his arms go limp, the sword falling to the floor, Virgil following it down. He kneeled there for an age, his breathing completely out of control as each breath felt like a thousand tiny needles stabbing him in the chest, the branches and tree litter that dug into his knees an after thought. He had gotten his breathing under control when the sound of fighting reached his ears, he could hear the sound of swords clashing, the twanging of bow strings and cries of agony and all of them were moving closer to him. He started to panic. Rami said he’d be fine, Virgil on the other hand had to get through this wall, this barrier between him and safety. He gripped the sword again, not even wasting the time to stand. He plunged the sword into the brush then pulled back trying to rip and tear his way through each subsequent stab and withdrawal sending more and more debris flying out of the hole. He kept going till the opening no more than shoulder width had opened. Virgil threw his weapon through the hole and then started to force himself after it.
The brambles and splintered wood covered his face and arms in cuts but he didn’t allow that to slow him. He pushed with all his might and then he was on the other side in a clearing where a lone tree stood in the centre. A tree that looked like none Virgil had ever seen, its leaves were every colour Virgil had ever seen and even more he couldn’t even imagine let alone begin to describe bark seemed to shimmer in the light of the sun making it look like a rainbow was moving across it apart from the a section right in front of Virgil that was the blackest black Virgil had ever seen and he knew that was the gate. With every last bit of energy and power and will Virgil could muster he ran for it the sounds of fighting behind him now just a distant memory. As he ran he reached under his shirt taking out the pendant as he fell through the gate and he was gone from this world.
