Derik

I left the bonfire soon after it started. Torri quickly mixed in with the rest of the students, and Edam, coming despite having said he wouldn't, was fluttering around the girls.

There was still about an hour before it would get dark, so I had decided to walk down the trail on the edge of the forest. It was eerily quiet; however, that was due to the fact there were a bunch of college kids and a massive fire nearby. Walking into the small clearing that opened up at the end of the trail, I sat down on a large rock.

Somewhere inside of me, I had hoped that Estella would say she was coming. I wasn't sure why exactly why, other than wanting to know if she acted the same. The Estella I knew was from a different time and place. But I was curious, curious to see what remained unchanged.

The girl in my dreams was kind, understanding, and compassionate. However, she was also hard-headed and frequently walked into trouble. She almost always got herself out of that trouble, but it had driven Agnar mad with worry.

I shook my head at the thought and looked up. I felt something brush across my face and saw a white blur that made me jump back and tumble off the rock and onto the ground.

Pushing myself up with my elbows, I looked and felt my excitement grow. Where I had been sitting before I had unceremoniously fallen on my back, now sat a white raven. Its head tilting back and forth as it studied me from where I landed.

"Derik," I heard a female voice call from down the trail, but I didn't look away from the Raven.

It turned its head, peering down the trail, then quickly opened its wings and flew off into the woods.

"Derik?" I heard the voice again and stood up, dusting myself off. I looked up just in time to see a delicate-looking girl step into the clearing. Her eyes lite up when she saw me. "Ah! there you are, one of the others said you had come this way." She walked over and stopped in front of me. "My name's Tash. The second-year student warned me that there is an important group project that they will hand out tomorrow, and I was wondering if I could join you, Torri and Edam. They already said it was fine.

I looked at the girl, confused by why she came out here just to double-check with me. "Yeah, that's fine."

"Great!" She glanced around the forest. "I'm heading back, you coming?"

I looked in the direction the Raven had headed, but it was long gone. "Yeah."

***

I walked into my room that night and laid on my bed oddly exhausted, I blinked, and my heart skipped a beat. Glancing around, I saw that I was now standing in the middle of an old Village. The houses were made of logs with green grass-covered roofs, and people moved about as they went through their day. It was cloudy and the air smelt of rain. Taking a step forward, I looked to Agnar, who was sitting on a log chatting with his friend.

"We need to speak with a Volva, Agnar. It was strange, not anything of this world."

"It will be fine Haldor, whatever it was, wasn't coming after us. it was going after them."

Haldor grunted. "Tell me that when it comes after us instead."

Agnar just chuckled and tapped him with his fist. "We should go." They stood up and started walking out of the town.

Fogg rolled in, and the scenery around me changed until I was standing at the edge of some small farm fields.

"This day is just not getting any better." I heard Haldor speak, and I looked up into the tree I was standing beside.

"Oh, come on. it's not that bad." Agnar said as he sat in one of the branches of the tree, leaning against the trunk. He was fiddling with some thin leather strips, weaving them in and out of each other.

"We were treed by a boar!" Haldor threw up his arms, gesturing to a large boar with massive tusks standing a couple of meters away in the tall grass.

"It's fine, just be patient it will go away soon," Agnar said, still focusing on what he was doing.

A black streak flew by, and a raven landed in the tree next to them. It cawed loudly, bobbing its head up and down towards the field. "Agnar." Haldor said, urgency in his voice.

"What." Agnar finally looked at his friend.

"Look." Haldor pointed to a young girl, maybe ten years old, wander into the field. The boar picked its head up as the wind shifted, sending the girls sent straight to it.

It turned its head and stared at the girl before letting out an angry squeal and took off towards her.

"Shit," Agnor said and hopped out of the tree, Haldor not far behind him.

"We won't make it in time!" Haldor yelled. "Run!" He waved, and the girl turned to him, her eyes going wide when she spotted the boar.