For the next three days, we camped out with the hunters. The night Althea had said I was a hero, she explained what she had seen. She had had a vision come onto her suddenly, like an arrow hitting her with a flood of images. She couldn’t make out what all of them meant, but she had heard a voice calling out my name, saying I was a hero of the lands, and saw an image of me standing on a mountain, holding up my arms in triumph. I was apparently destined for greatness.
    One night, we were sitting around a campfire, just laughing and talking amongst ourselves. All of a sudden, a dark figure crept out of the shadows. None of us realized it except for Althea. She abruptly stopped laughing, and turned her gaze to the dark figure. He emerged into the light of the fire. Everyone gasped, and the hunters grabbed for their weapons, but the man just flicked his fingers and the weapons were thrown up into the trees. My magic sparked and a small force field gathered around me, but then died off.
    “Who are you?” I asked fearfully, staring into his dark, bloodshot eyes. He was wearing a robe like mine, but pitch black. His auburn hair was illuminated by the glow of the fire. He completely ignored me, and walked right up to Althea. “It’s good to see you again, my old friend.” His voice was deep and calm, yet sounded so full of pain.
    “Thou art not welcome here, Archie,” Althea glowered. I suddenly realized who this was, thinking back to the day I first met Althea, when she had told me about her former friend. A black mist unfurled from his hands, reaching forward and piercing Althea’s head. She strained against the blackness inside of her, trying to get whatever was in her out.
    “Never,” She released one last burst of energy, blasting Archie backwards with a sudden burst of light that blinded me for a split second. Althea stood up and grasped her silver blade. She glowered at Archie. “Leave this place. Now.”
    “That’s fine. I’ve already got what I needed.” He stopped in place and turned his gaze on me. “We’ll see each other again, Estienne, hero of the lands.” He turned and disappeared in a burst of darkness. As soon as he was gone, I rushed to Althea’s side.
    “Althea! Are you okay? What did he do to you?” I asked, frightened out of my mind at what I had just witnessed.
    “We must leave immediately. Pack up camp,” Althea said anxiously.
    “Leave? Why? Where are we even going? Althea, what did he do to you?” I ran after Althea as she started to pack. Once we got to the tent, away from the hunters, Althea whispered, “Estienne, I can’t explain now. But thou must trust me. We have to get far away from here.”
    “You know what? No. I’m not going off on some adventure that just got really dangerous! I don’t want to be a hero, I don’t need to save the world! I don’t care about your little rivalry with Archie. I’m going back home. Goodbye Althea. I hope we never meet again.” I stuffed everything in my bags and rushed off. I could feel literal steam escaping out of my head, probably my magic emotions again.
    “Ugh! I hate these powers! I wish I was never born with them,” I muttered to myself, feeling even more resentful to the world around me. 

       After a few hours of backtracking my path through the forest, I could tell that there was a clearing up ahead. The trees were less dense and I could see more light. All of a sudden, I heard a twig snap behind me. After my encounter with Archie, I wasn’t taking any chances. I started to sprint towards the opening. I looked back, trying to see what was behind me, when- *SLAM!*
    “OW!” I collided with someone, us bumping our heads together hard. The other person moaned, and I looked down, seeing who I had knocked over. I recognized that face!

     “Jarvis! Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry!” I apologized, helping him up.

     “Estienne? You’re back? But I thought you were gone for good!” He exclaimed, hugging me tight, then rubbing his head.
    “Yeah… well… I kinda found the hunters and this immortal woman named Althea, then this really freaky guy named Archie showed up, found out I’m destined to save the lands, and I just couldn’t handle it, so I came back.” Jarvis gave me a confused look.

     “What? Hunters, immortal, Althea, Archie, hero? You were gone for five days!” Jarvis exclaimed.

     “Yeah… I guess adventure is drawn to me. How have you been? Why are you outside the walls?” I asked curiously. The walls were not just something you could take a walk outside of. They were meant to keep people in. They were grand walls made of marble and limestone, etched with images of past leaders and historic moments of the sorcerers. 

     “I’ve been waiting outside every day for you to return. And you did! I missed you so much, Estienne, you don’t even know how worried I’ve been. Hey, did you find Artemas by any chance?” He asked me. I had totally forgotten to tell him!

     “Well, I’m sorry to say that… I found him and he’s alive, doing amazing! He’s with the hunters now, living a grand life, well according to him. I don’t know how hunting could be so fun, but he seems to really enjoy it.” 

     “Oh, that’s great,” He tried to sound enthusiastic, but I could tell that he was bothered by the news. 

     “Jarvis, what is it?” 

     “He abandoned me!” He yelled resentfully. “He left me and now he’s doing fine, but I’ve been worried sick about him, and he probably doesn’t even care that I’m still here or that I even exist.” Jarvis vented.
    “Jarvis, he still really misses you-”
    “Estienne! Finally!” I turned to see Althea running at me with the hunters behind her. 

     “Althea? You’re here?” I exclaimed.

     “Wait, is this the immortal Althea you were telling me about?” Jarvis asked, looking her over. 

     “Yup!” I said. Jarvis looked at the hunters, then did a double take as his eyes crossed Artemas.
    “Aretmas? Is that really you?” Jarvis was in disbelief.

     “Hey Jarvis. Sorry I ran away all those years-” Artemas was cut off by Jarvis running at him and slapping him across his right cheek.

     “OOOW! DUDE! Estienne already slapped me twice, once for you! How many times do I have to get slapped?” Artemas complained.

     “Here’s another one if you’d like.” Harper stepped forward and slapped Artemas across the other cheek. 

     “What was that one for?” Artemas moaned, rubbing his left cheek. 

     “Just for fun! And because I don’t like you very much,” Harper laughed. 

     “Now that we have all met each other, we need to leave. Archie will be back. We cannot stay in one place for too long.” Althea announced. 

     “Leave? But I just got here! And I meant what I said, I want no part in this,” I exclaimed. I couldn’t believe she still wanted me after what I had said!

     “Estienne, no matter what, thou cannot change the fact that thou is the hero! Thou art the only one who can save the civilizations and restore order to the lands. We need you,” Althea declared.

     “Yeah, she’s right. And we’ll be by your side every step of the way,” Artemas chimed in.

     “All of us.” Jarvis stepped forward. “I’m not letting you go again Estienne. I’m coming with you.”

     “Well then, what are we waiting for? We must hurry, Archie could be here any moment.” Althea stated. 

     “I guess… it’s time to save the lands!” I shouted, and everyone cheered. And so we set off on our journey to save the worlds.