<div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/564x/71/41/63/714163da1c2240123a9c122d7944c092.jpg)</div>Sondanwe took another sip from her water-skin as she trudged down the road with her head held high despite the exhaustion.<br/>She had lost track of how long she'd been on this road. She guessed about two weeks but it could have been longer. Her food reserves were running low. She only had enough for about three more days.<br/>She had no idea what road she was on and where it led. The entire path seemed a mystery. She had stumbled on it while she was escaping the town through the neighboring forest.<br/>At first she had stayed to the side of the path, letting it guide her but staying unseen in the forests or hillsides as much as possible. But after three days without evidence of any living thing she had decided to walk the easy dirt road.<br/>As the days went on she had developed a routine. She would rest at night and continue during the day. Eating a small breakfast and then eating little bits of food throughout the day to fuel her travels. She would only stop to forage for berries and to refill the waterskin. Come night she would make camp far from the path and eat a large meal.<br/>This was also the time she would try removing the slave collar. She had been the property of local tavern for half a year before she'd finally escaped. Her master, the tavern owner, had forced her to wait tables and entertain the patrons along with the rest of the slaves.<br/>Escape had seemed impossible since her wrists and ankles were always shackled, preventing free movement. The worst being the slave collar, which somehow prevented her from using magic.<br/><br/>For the six months she'd been a captive she'd looked for an escape to no avail until the night the dwarves came. They had requested she dance on the stage, which wasn't new to Sondanwe. But what was new, was that the dwarves requested a dance that requires wide movements and the full use of her limbs. For the first time in six months her shackles were removed. She performed the dance as ordered and was sent to her room shortly after. Taking advantage of the situation, she snuck into the storage room where her belongings were hidden,she took her things then snuck into the kitchen for supplies, which luckily was right next to the window. She slipped out and rushed towards the forest before anyone knew she was missing.<br/><br/>Now, two weeks later, her collar was off, her body once again radiated with the mystic energies, and her limbs were free from chains. Despite seeming to be in the middle of nowhere, she was completely happy. Perhaps the seclusion added to the feeling. The days had gotten slightly harder. She was in the badlands. Away from the forests and grasslands of before. Food and water was much more scarce.<br/>But still, no sign of civilization save for this unused but well kept road.<br/><br/>"<em><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 9pt;">Perhaps I'm the only one left alive.</span></em>" Sondanwe mused to herself as she turned a corner. As if on cue, or answered by some unforeseen force, she was greeted by a small village, sitting quietly in the dusk.<br/>