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"Life isn't about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself."
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The ground was shaking, voices were around him, worried and concerned ones. His eyes cracked open, his muscles felt like jelly, his body is stiff and in excruciating pain, especially whenever he moved. A pair of arms were around him, holding him tight. His vision cleared, feeling pressure against his left shoulder. He coughed, a face hovered over his.
"You're awake, thank Notch. No! Stop moving!" They said panicking, putting more pressure on his shoulder, blood stained his shirt, Jordan putting pressure on both sides of his shoulder since a Skaldian decided to yank the arrow out and stopping the bleeding so far has been difficult and stressful on the three. They are in a wagon, Falicia held the injured prince while Jordan put pressure on his wound, Ty's skin is growing pale and sweat glistening off it. Jordan bit his bottom lip. 'If we don't get him to Vega or even a doctor soon, we could lose him.' He thought. Ty's eyes closed, his breathing turning ragged. Jordan looked at Falicia, he knew that she was worried for the prince, but Jordan was starting to lose hope.
"Falicia," Jordan said. She looked at him, tears stained her cheeks, her eyes red and puffy. Jordan bit his bottom lip. "I don't think he is gonna make it." Falicia looked away from him, she held the prince tighter, careful of his injuries. Ty was using her for support, and she knew he was. While his other injuries are concerning, especially his head injury, yanking the arrow out of his shoulder might be the end for him. Jordan looked at the prince, he had an idea but he didn't want to do it. "I have an idea...it could save him but...it will require one of us putting an arrow in his shoulder, it might stop his bleeding long enough for him to get to a doctor." Falicia looked at Jordan with a horrified look on her face. She looked at the prince. His head rested against hers, his eyes closed with unsteady breaths. She looked at the floor. 'I have no ideas and no medical equipment, any makeshift bandage we tried he bled through. It won't be long before he dies from blood loss.' She thought. She nods.
"Anything to save him." She said. Jordan looked at the guards.
"Alright, this is gonna be...interesting. But this might save him, I need one of your arrows, I'll break the arrowhead off and put the rest of it in his shoulder which is gonna be painful so you need to help Falicia hold him still." Jordan said. The guards hesitated at first but went to help. Jordan ripped off a part of his cloak, folding it up and lightly hitting Ty's cheek, waking him. "Bite on this." Ty didn't react at first but then opened his mouth a bit, Jordan puts it in, letting him bite on it. A guard breaks an arrowhead off an arrow, handing it to Jordan. Two of them hold Ty while the other assists Jordan.
"You're gonna help me wrap his shoulder to secure it," Jordan said before Falicia's legs go around Ty's waist, pinning his arms to his sides. Jordan looked at Falicia, Ty was still oblivious to what was going on as he stopped listening ages ago and tried falling asleep but woke when her legs went around him. He picked his head up a bit, he looked at Jordan. "You can hit me later for this, prince." Ty furrowed his brows, confused as to what the general meant, then the pain hit him, he bit down on the cloth, struggling, the guards and Falicia holding him. Jordan pushes the arrow through. Ty kicked one of the guards from the pain, Falicia held him tight and the other guard wrapped the prince's shoulder tightly, Ty groaned, Falicia let go of him, hugging him tightly.
"It's over, it's over." She said repeatedly to him.
"What's going on here?" A voice asked. Jordan looked at the back of the wagon, seeing Prince Anthony. The wagon had stopped, Anthony looked at Ty, and then at guards. "Toss the girl and the prince, keep the general...and toss that Estron soldier too while you're at it." Jordan gritted his teeth. He heard Mac shout. Jordan moves to the back of the wagon as they grab him. He struggled, watching them grab Ty and Falicia.
"No!" Jordan said before they pulled Ty out and let him hit the ground. Ty groaned, Jordan looked at Mac who's being held by two guards. Mac looks at Ty.
"Captain!" Mac shouted. Falicia is yanked out, but she falls beside Ty, she puts her arms around him helping him stand.
"Come on, stand." She said panicked. Ty leaned into her, his head hanging low. She gripped his arm around her neck, looking around. They push Mac towards the two. Jordan gritted his teeth. 'They have to leave me behind, they have to, if the prince doesn't get to a doctor, he'll only get worse and he can only hold out for so long in his condition.' Jordan thought.
"Kill them," Anthony ordered. Jordan's eyes widen, he struggled, but the three guards grabbed him, pushing him into the side of the wagon where they tied his hands together. Jordan cursed under his breath. "Fire!" Jordan looks outside.
"No!" As the arrows fired, they hit a wall, but two of them stopped and went flying back towards Jordan, striking two of the guards down. Jordan punched the other, kicking him down. He cut the bonds with a sword from a dead guard and grabbed their sword, jumping out as havoc started. Jordan ran towards Mac and them.
"Mac! Horse!" Jordan shouted. Mac nods, getting the prince on a horse and getting on one behind him, Falicia gets on a horse with Jordan, they four then gallop away while Anthony sighs.
"After them!"
"No, don't," Anthony said.
"Why not?!" Captain Adder asked as he looked at the royal, Anthony turned his horse around.
"Because that was Master Azdel and Brice protecting them and they will continue to protect them, it isn't worth the lives to even try."
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"What happened back there? What happened with the arrows?!" Falicia asked. Jordan smiled.
"Obviously you aren't used to seeing magic," Jordan said. Falicia looked at Jordan confused, till she saw two other horses coming close to them, but they were like other horses, they didn't have armor on them at all, just saddles and reins. Mac's arm tightens around Ty, he's favoring one side, making him slip towards it and Mac panic. Mac looked at the horses. He smiles a bit but focuses back on Ty. They two horses go beside them, Jordan looks at one.
"You know I had that under control right, Seto?" Jordan asked. Seto chuckled, looking at him.
"Right! Sureee! Whatever makes you feel better!" Seto said. Master Seto Azdel, a master wizard, he is one of the best wizards in Etora. A master of arcane magic, Seto was actually once a member of the Magic Council but lost his seat due to the fact he barely ever showed up to the meetings at all. He has chocolate brown eyes with caramel brown that tends to hide his eyes from time to time and wearing a black wizard robe with dark purple mystic designs on it and dark brown boots. But what Jordan notices is the fact that he has metal braces around his wrists.
"What are those?" Jordan asked. Before Seto could answer, the other figured answered.
"Oh, those are his monitoring braces, yeah, the Council put them on him so they know what spells he is using twenty-four seven, like a bunch of stalkers." They said. Seto looked at them.
"Brice," Seto said. Jordan smiled a bit. Brice Solace, a human, but a human will an expert skill in the use of magic weaponry since he is best friends to Seto. They tend to stick together a lot, so Brice had to learn how to protect himself from magical creatures and other mages. He has blonde hair with blue eyes and a dark green cape with usually dark-colored clothing. Jordan looked ahead.
"So why did you need those--"
"Yeah, why Seto?" Brice asked. Seto looked at Jordan.
"I forgot about the hearing, but if I'm being honest here. I don't care about this whole investigation they started since I outright admitted it right to their faces." Seto said. Falicia looked at them.
"Wait, you're a wizard, can you heal the prince?" She asked. Seto looked over at Ty, shaking his head.
"No, I can't. I don't specialize in healing magic." He said. He looks at Jordan. "But we have another problem, it's Shivoa." Jordan looks at him.
"What? What's the problem?" He asked.
"King Izic has cut off the trade between Estron and Shivoa." He said making Jordan curse under his breath.
"I forgot about that!" Jordan said as the others were confused.
"What's the problem?" Falicia asked. Seto looked at her.
"Without that trade route, Shivoa might actually fall. They haven't been doing so good other there with the dark mages attacking and the winter being harsh to them. They can't grow their own food because of the temperatures right now and they lack the basic natural resources because of their location. They depended on Estron for that and now it is gone." Seto said. Jordan gripped the reins in his hands, feeling his anger boiling within him, only to calm himself.
"Avalon City shutting down their ports and trade doesn't help Shivoa either. Like Estron, Avalon helped keep Shivoa going until near the end of the war when they shut down their ports. We need to get to Shivoa and fast." Jordan said. Seto nodded, agreeing.
"Yeah, they really do and I don't think that King Mitchell knows about what happened to Estron yet. I doubt it, but we'll meet you guys at Shivoa." Seto said before they both left the four.
"How is he?" Falicia asked Mac out of sheer panic, her eyes haven't really left the prince. Mac looked at Ty.
"Unconscious, but his bleeding stopped, that's a good sign." He said making Jordan smile. Falicia looked at the general.
"You meant for the bleeding to stop, right? When you put the arrow in his shoulder?" She asked. Jordan shrugged his shoulders.
"To be honest, I didn't think it would, I was just grasping at straws. I wasn't about to let Prince Ty die like that." Jordan said. His eyes shifted over to Ty, seeing him passed out. "We need him more than ever right now."