Prologue They escaped at last. Steps of trotting horses, four in all, echoed against the dawning sky. Light laughs of victory sounded inside the party. For the first time in days, Alice allowed herself to feel safe. The Wall was close. “We did it, '' Elias said hesitantly. “Don't get too excited yet, keep your focus” Sam spoke, confident and commanding, as always. “But we did it!” Elias repeated, louder this time, more sure of himself. “El, shut up” Melly hissed with irritation in her voice. “Come on you downer! We fucking did it!” El yelled happily, tilting back on his saddle with arms spread wide apart, grasping the air. Milly sighed with a hint of a smile. Alice didn't mind, she was happy herself. As the eastern wind brushed against her auburn hair, the wounds on her face almost stopped hurting, and her torn lip no longer throbbed to the rhythm of her heart. For over a week, they searched every hole of western ground trying to gather proof of the rumored mobilization, and all signs were ensuring it to be more than serious this time. Alice still remembered the boy in Edrax that spotted her inside a cabinet of some military official. He was no more than seventeen, recently called to arms. She tried not to think of him, he didn’t matter anymore, she would eventually forget his face as she did all the others. Every step taken by her horse made the memory of his face more vivid. The report of the expedition waited patiently inside Alice’s bag. Three pieces of paper that could start a war of unthinkable scale. The thought itself made the girl adjust in her saddle, although now was no time for worry. “Once we get paid for this, I'm leaving this shithole for good, and I'm taking that horse.” Elias patted his Windstrider behind the ear. “I assume you are done too, lovebirds ?” It was a good idea. Alice and Sam met at The Wall, but neither was ever planning to die on it. Commander Avenblade favored them both, he would allow them to leave. Alice served loyally for almost a decade, since the age of fourteen she participated in countless expeditions of all kinds. Now her duty was done, and he had no reason to refuse her freedom. “Without you, this place might not even be half bad” Sam answered. El gasped theatrically. Alice looked at him with a pitiful smile. She liked him, although a few stitches to seal his mouth sometimes would certainly make him more bearable. Their eyes met briefly, his green against her blue. Initially, she didn't notice the spear, and when she did, her lip throbbed again. Sam turned around, surprised by the silence. “Did you lose your toun-” His eyes widened at the sight. “Faster!” he shouted, forcing the horses into a gallop. El looked down, a dark metallic spike hung out of his chest, right beneath the heart. He tried to grab it but his arms no longer obeyed his commands. He looked back at Alice, confused. His mouth opened, as to speak, but instead of words came blood. Elias tilted to the side of his white horse, disappearing behind her sight. Alice continued to look at the lonely Windstrider when another spear flew by her face. Screams of mindless riders sounded not far behind. “Alice!” Milly’s scream came from the side. Alice looked at the road. An old path that once connected The Continent. Now abandoned, forgotten, hidden under shadows of the Imperial Wall. The trap stood in the middle, a barrier of spiked logs now peeking above the grass. It happened too suddenly for anyone to react. Alice tried pulling the straps as if that would magically make her horse come to a halt. It did not. Her brown patterned Thunderhoof shrieked in agonizing pain as it slammed into the spikes. The impact threw her into the air where for an instant, she might have hoped to never touch the ground again, never feel the pain, never know what would happen next. Only this close, did she realize how many leaves covered the path, brown and orange and yellow and purple. The end of Fall was truly near. The impact was worse than she expected. The world spun around her as she struggled to catch a breath. She rolled onto her back, moaning in pain. After a long blink, she spotted two blurry figures approaching from her side. -“Milly..Sam..” She whispered weakly, attempting to pull herself up. With another blink, she noticed their swords.. and their chest plates, marked with a red trident shining in the middle. Regaining some senses, Alice began to crawl toward her horse where the bow was tied. She saw her Thunderhoof, no longer moving, impaled alongside Sam’s Moondancer. Where are you, Sam? The world seemed so small, centered around her, covered in the scent of wet leaves and morning dew. All she felt was the throbbing of her lip. All she knew was to continue crawling. All she cared for was to keep her life but a second longer. Men behind her laughed, someone screamed, birds sang to welcome the morning. In the end, she wasn’t fast enough. A hand grabbed her as her own desperately reached down for the dagger sheathed by the belt. She stabbed blindly toward the opponent looming above. Her arm was stopped without much effort. Sam's voice pulled her back into the world. “You are bleeding,“ She said quietly. A stream of dark blood ran down Sams's right cheek, beginning somewhere inside his dirty dark curls. “Are you okay?” he asked, not giving much mind to himself. “I think so” She lied, not to stress him any further. Where is Milly? She wanted to ask, but the answer delivered itself before a word left her mouth. A painful groan came from behind them. A voice Alice knew too well. She had to force herself to look again where their horses had died. Millie's horse stood before the trap, walking around mindlessly without its raider. Windstriders were known for their ability to stop almost instantly…and so instead, Milly took its place. Alice gasped as if the pain belonged to her. ".. "Help me.." Milly cried out. She was still moving, trying to pull herself free from the wooden pike piercing her abdomen, blood was spewing onto it endlessly. She looked at them terrified. “Help..” She whispered before the light left her eyes.