I saw the old couple who had taken me in all those years ago, who had cared for me and treated me as their own, trying to force their way to me. They were halfway when they froze abruptly, pain in their eyes and blood spilling from their nose and mouth.

"No!!" I screamed as their bodies tumbled to the ground. I could no longer feel the Grisha that was dragging me by my hair, I fell to the ground on my knees, the only thing I could feel was loss, grief, and pain. As I hit the ground a cry came from within, and with that darkness.

I don't know where it came from, but everything was covered in complete shadows and darkness within seconds. I was too overcome with grief to notice but another cry came but this time the thing that came was light, the shadows melted away at the very touch of it, everyone had stopped what they were doing and stared at me, the Grisha who had grabbed my hair even let go and stepped back in shock. The villagers were the first to overcome their shock, they ran for the woods looking back in horror as they did, the Grisha didn't even try to stop them, their feet were stuck to the stop eyes still staring fixated in shock on me. I should have ran, ran like the others into the forest, but my energy was sapped, so instead, I collapsed and my eyesight went blank.

I woke up inside a tent, lying on an old makeshift wooden bed, there was a couple of the same ones in a row lining the tent. Beside me, I heard the clinking and clanking of glass jars. I looked over and there was a man in a red robe with black detailing was mixing together some sort of concoction.

He turned around and when he saw me looking directly at him he put on a friendly smile, but I wasn't fooled easily, this was a Grisha, a savage, "Ah, you're awake, that's good, also fast" he murmured the last part, he looked older than me but still young, then again I thought, do Grisha age normally? He seemed overly friendly, seeing as I was Shu and he was Grisha.

"My name is Fredyor, what's yours?" he asked, inching towards me, I shuffled as far back as the bed I was in would let me "Not much of a talker eh? I wasn't either a long, long time ago, hold on a minute, Ivan, Iv-!!" he shouted "That man really needs to get his ears cleaned" he sighed, "Stay here ok? I'll be right back" he promised, he then left the tent, I took this as my chance, I might not get another, I ignored my throbbing leg and went over to the table he was just at, there was an abundance of herbs and remedies, I searched the drawers and found what I was looking for, a knife, not really meant for combat, it was blunt from chopping ingredients but it would do.

I went to where the door flap was, but as I was going to exit I heard voices outside it, "Is she strong enough to walk? The general has asked for her to be brought before him" an unknown man said.

"She just woke now, it really can't be though can it, I mean a Grisha of her power-" Fredyor was cut off.

"We can't say for certain, but if she can walk, she can most certainly talk, come, we've given her enough time."

The general? As in the black general, he wanted to see her? Oh I'm totally dead now she thought, she waited for the two men to come in the door, the first one who came in was Fredyor, he stared at the empty bed "But she was-" before he could finish his sentence Rena hit him with the butt of the blade at the back of the head with as much force as she could muster, which surprise surprise, wasn't that much.

He tripped forward about a foot and I backed up towards the door, then from behind someone grabbed me around my torso trapping my arms and hands by my side causing me to drop my knife, I did the only thing that came to mind and I kicked him where the sun didn't shine, he dropped me clutching that area, I took this as my opportunity so I picked back up my knife and ran, it was my only shot, I heard Fredyor and the man running to catch up with me so I ducked into the closest tent.

Now that I think about it that was probably the worst decision I could have ever made, me who was trapped in a Ravkan camp decided that to escape a Grisha I would hide in one of their tents. Good job Rena.

I heard them run past and went to leave when someone behind me said "Going somewhere?", the voice was cold and stern, I whipped around throwing my knife in the direction of the voice, but I hadn't enough strength so it just harmlessly bounced off his black kefta, he didn't even flinch, almost as if he knew she didn't have the strength. I looked around, the room was filled with Grisha, it was possibly the most terrifying thing I had ever seen.

I backed up slowly and yelped when I bumped into Fredyor and the man who was running after her, the unknown man pushed me further towards the man in black and made me kneel in front of him, much to my hesitation.

"What's your name little one?" He asked, Rena didn't respond, she studied the man, he was tall with dark black hair, she couldn't tell how old he might have been, he wore a dark black kefta with even darker black stitching, then the realization hit her, she was kneeling in front of the black general, the darkling.

The Grisha had created a ring around Rena and the darkling, almost as if they were about to have a boxing match, "Your name", he said again more slowly, this time Rena got the feeling he was more demanding than asking this time.

"Alina" she lied, he raised a brow at the man who had chased her "Ivan?" he asked, Ivan shook his head, Rena noticed that the man he called Ivan had his hands clasped together in her direction, 'since when were Grisha lie detectors?' she thought.

"Heartrenders can sence the change of your heart rate and tell when your lying," he said as if reading her thoughts, "So tell me, what is your name, it would be best, to tell the truth, this time," he asked again looking down, circling her.

Instead of answering his question, she asked him one instead, "What do you want? Why am I still alive, you monsters killed my whole village" I demanded trying to restrain my voice so I wouldn't break down.

He stopped in front of me and sighed in frustration, "Rena," I responded finally.

"Rena?" He questioned, I nodded, "And tell me, Rena, what is a Grisha like you doing in Shu Han," he asked.

I didn't think I heard him right, I looked around and saw everyone staring at me, "What?" I said.

"You heard me"

I laughed, more out of nervousness than humor, it was the only thing that I could do, "I think that you've got the wrong person, I'm Shu, not Grisha, I wouldn't be caught dead having similarities to the likes of you monsters" I told him with distaste.

"Then would you care to explain to me why the inferni that found you hiding is now in the infirmary, near-blind" he demanded.

I looked straight at him in confusion "Blind? Do you think I, did that? First, off he deserved it, and second I don't have a clue what's going on in that pea-sized brain of yours but, I didn't do it" As soon as the words left her mouth she regretted them, there were a few small gasps from the crowd but it was too late to take it back.

He squatted down so we were eye level, and stared me in the eye, I held his stare not backing down, I wasn't going to give him the pleasure of showing that I was terrified, that I was near breaking.

"May, you were there, tell me what happened," he said, still staring at me.

A woman who I presumed was May spoke up in the crowd, but I still held the darklings stare, "We had surrounded the village, told them to leave but they resisted, they fought back. We had to separate them, that's when the inferni came out of a house, dragging her by the hair" she pointed at me, I knew what she was going to say next and I wasn't sure if I was ready to hear it yet.

"There was an old couple, they tried to force their way to her, but they were stopped and crushed by a heartrender" Rena could have sworn she saw Ivan take a sudden interest in the floor as she said that before regaining his blank slate of no emotions look.

"She-she fell to her knees in an ear-splitting scream and within seconds, we- we were all covered in pitch-black shadows, most of us thought it was you, sir, but then, then she let out another cry and then the shadows melted away at the touch of a- of a singing light"