Dear Gwen,

Guess what? I can rite now! I got to Liz teech me how befour I left. We made it to the Capital. Yoo should have come with us and seen it yoorself. Their is a massive skeletal arm holding up the city, which is under a hallowed-out mountan! Isnt' that cool?

I'm kiding. I know that yoo never liked that sort off stufff. I remember yoo would run of whenever grandpa wanted to tel us a stori and I would stay behind and listn. Maybe it would have been a litle different if yoo heard abut all the fantastac places he went. I know yoo've already herd this from me a thousand tymes so I'll stop.

I'm just riting to say that I mis you. Also, if that owen guy does anything bad too you, I'll kik his as. R yoo hapy? I hope this leter gets to yoo. I always wanted to get 1 from yoo bak at the front lines. I wood have had Doevm reed it to me. He rote yoo so many letters on my behalf yet yoo never rote bak. Butt that is ok. I know yoo must have been busy with other things trying to adjust, or yoo were still angry at me. It fells like I can never be their four yoo anymore. Butt after I am done at the acadamy, I will come straiht home like yoo asked me to. I still remember our promise. I will protect yoo when owen can't, just like befour, when they left us.

Love, Frey.

…

Frey sighed as he reread the letter. 'I hope I didn't make any errors,' he thought as he blew on the ink to dry it. He rolled it up and wrapped it with a piece of string before putting it into his spatial ring. 'Maybe Doevm knows how I can send this to her.' He looked out of his window and his eyes went wide. 'It's already night!' He got up and wiped his ink-stained hands on his pants. He cursed as he stepped away from his desk, his feet crunching on crumpled up letters filled with scribbles and crossed out words.

He washed the ink off with the contents of his water sac before stuffing all the paper into a drawer in the desk. After, he got into bed and closed his eyes. 'I just got home and I'm already gone. I'm sorry I can't be there if you need me one day.' He let his mind drift off as his body relaxed.

Then a bang shook the entire Capital.

He opened his eyes. Then a snap as the support beam which held up the ceiling cracked. Every inch of the room violently shook around, nearly flinging him right out of his bed, which he clung to in order to keep himself anchored.

"What the hell?" He yelled as the support beam gave way. He threw his sheets off, a burst of adrenaline pushing him fully awake, and pulled his shield out of his spatial ring right as the ceiling and three walls all topped down on him. Blue life essence surrounded his limbs, but even with the added help, his limbs creaked and moaned.

Screams rang out around him, followed by loud crashes and glass shattering. While the shield bore the brunt of the weight, his exposed sides were assaulted by debris. More weight pushed down on Frey, pushing him into the bed, which broke under the strain. He pushed more of his life essence into his arms, hoping the shield could withstand the pressure.

His body shook uncontrollably. His arms slowly numbed. Another crack rang out and the rest of the first floor crashed to the ground. A large piece of wood struck his head, nearly knocking him out from the pain which shot through him. 'This isn't still a dream!?' He expanded the shield, which now protected more of his legs as well.

"Not here," He yelled. "Not now." His aching arms pushed the rubble up just enough for him to scoot his body by inch by inch. "Someone, help me!" He yelled out. "Doevm, Thomas, anybody!" Light struck his eyes as his head and neck emerged.

The rubble consisted of various items from other commoners' rooms: wood, stone, furniture, and weapons. With each of his arm's shake, the rubble moved. One weapon in particular, an axe, was right over his neck. All that kept it suspended above him were rust hooks from its wall mount.

"Goddess, is this it?" He asked himself. The more he moved his body, the more the pile of rubble shook, and the looser the axe got. However, the more he waited, the more pain flooded through his arms, their strength dwindling. He slammed the back of his head into the ground, then used his neck muscles to pull more of himself out.

'I'm so pathetic,' he thought, spitting mouthfuls of dust out of his open mouth. 'Come on body. Move!' Screws fell onto his exposed face, just below his eyes. He couldn't even spare the life essence to protect those areas.

'I swore to myself I would get stronger,' Frey thought. 'For Gwen, for Arte. I can't die here. Not after I've come so far, not after my life was saved at the cost of another.' Hopi flashed through his mind. He could see himself in the axe's blade, his red veins bulging out. 'Who is she going to rely on if this kills me, Owen!'

He glanced behind him, finding that another pile of debris blocked his view of the outside. He pushed a little harder. 'Who does he think he is knocking up my sister as soon as I leave! Why did she throw me out?' An inexplicable rage filled him, almost as if he had been unconsciously blocking it out. His eyes flashed and strength surged through him. Something long forgotten awoke within him. 'You piece of shit! Don't you dare take her away from me!' His chest came free. The axe tumbled down. He looked down at his legs, which were still underneath. "Close enough!" He moved his life essence to his neck just in time as the axe bounced off it.

The rubble, however, slowly collapsed onto his legs. He tried to pull them out in time but something caught against his foot. His bones creaked as they sunk into the mattress. Frey moved his life essence to his legs, but they could only hold out for so long. He yanked his spear and Kopis from his spatial ring and chopped away at the rubble in a desperate flurry of blows. 'I just want to leave her be-' Before he could finish the thought, the weight lessened. A light engulfed the pile of rubble. Piece by piece, the broken wood floated into the air and connected back into place with other pieces like a puzzle. He pulled out his legs and, without wasting any time to wonder what had happened, charged through the window behind him.

The glass, which had just reformed, shattered around his shield. He broke his fall by rolling, then he looked back at the building. "Oh my goddess," he heard someone say. He turned around to find that most of the people from the commoners' quarters, staring at him in awe. "You were under all of that?" The commoner who had spoken pointed at where Frey's room used to be, at where every piece of rubble had collapsed onto.

"Yeah," Frey huffed, feeling the adrenaline rush wear off. He fell to a knee. "I was calling, but no one came. What's happening?" He tore his gaze away from the building to discover that the rest of the buildings in the area had been destroyed as well.

"I don't know," the commoner shrugged before turning back to the group. The Capital was still shaking around, the streets cracking. In the distance, he could see piles of smoke from other buildings. He scanned through the crowd only to realize that Doevm was missing.

'Damn, where is he when you need him?' "Doevm!" He called out. He looked around, finding that there was also a crowd in front of the nobles' quarters. Just when he was about to leave, his eyes went wide. 'The skeletal arm,' he thought. 'It's inside of the ground! The blast from it destroyed almost everything!' Then, robed men appeared one by one around the nobles' quarters. A few moments later, they pulled a girl from the half-destroyed building.

"Follow me," she scowled before leading them towards the red-light district.

"Hey what's happening?" Frey asked one of the passing mages only for the man to scoff at him. "Alright then," Frey mumbled. 'What the hell do I do now? Doevm could be anywhere in the Capital? I bet I could get some answers from him.'

"Make way!" A voice boomed. Frey turned around, seeing that a group of a noble house wearing emblems of books on their chest plates were pushing their way through. "This was an attack on the Capital. We need to defend it. Out of our way!" The commoners made way, but Frey held onto one of the passing guards' arm.

"Hey, let me come with you guys. I'm strong. I can fight." Frey displayed his spear and shield.

"You're just," the man said as he turned around, but stopped when his height only came to Frey's neck. "A kid? What the hell have you been eating?" He shook his head and regained his composure. "Sorry, this is a matter that only the guards of the Capital and noble houses are to deal with. You just stay out of our way." He yanked his arm from Frey's grip before continuing onward with the rest.

As their backs got smaller, Frey bit his lip, his hand tightening around his spear. 'I should go with them anyway,' he thought. 'I'm sure Doevm followed them whether they allowed him to or not. He's out there fighting alone. I know it. He always is where the action is.' His grip loosened a bit.

'But if he wanted me there, he would have gotten me. He would have told me about it if he wanted me to fight with him. I'm almost sure he's there, fighting whoever did this.' He looked back at the commoners. They were heading back into the commoners' quarters, which had been rebuilt in seconds.

'I'm only here to get stronger,' he thought. 'For Gwen and Arte.' He put his shield back. 'I don't need to fight this battle. I'm sure Doevm will be fine on his own. This isn't the war. I'll get stronger in the academy. I can train later. Later. All I need is to get stronger so I can protect them. I don't need more fights.' He put his weapons back in his spatial ring.

'Why should I have to get much stronger than I am now? I'm just going to be there when Owen isn't anyway.' He looked back at the commoners' quarters, at the backs of his fellow students. He sulked up the white stone stairs, stopping himself on the doorway and looked out at the skeletal arm.

He looked at the people crying and bleeding on the street, families. His lip quivered as a pain shot through his heart. He gripped his chest. 'Why does it hurt? I have a family. Don't I?' He let go of the doorway and went back inside.