Behind Enemy Lines (Day Three)

[Akirapryde]

Trysta had to fight the urge to cut him down right then and there. Instead she drew in a deep breath and choose to fight back the horrors locked in her memory. "Sorry Legend Slayer," she said trying to be playful but she couldn't.

She shifted on her feet as she turned and leaned up against a fallen tree. There were so many memories to fight back. Instead of fighting them all, she decided to talk about something she felt she could. "Fray is where my sister died" she finally said in defeat. Her voice soft and filled with sorrow.

"There was a Civil War, and we at the Academy were tasked with protecting a local noble as she was transported back to her home city. Auro Syrdash led the mission. My sister was chosen to go with him." She looked up at the rain falling from the havens and uttered a silent prayer for the rain that concealed her own tears. "They were shot down. No one knew what happened to her. She was presumed Killed In Action." She looked Jaden in the eyes, "I never once blamed Auro for her death. I blamed the woman we were tasked with protecting, with Kayla's death. Later in the war, our Academy was attacked. I felt the call, that temptation, that voice calling me. It was so, so strong and authoritative. It was all that my sister was, strong and sure. I didn't want to obey, but I felt I had to."

She looked up to the sky once more as the rain washed over her face, "I reached out through the force and grabbed one of the attackers. I could feel his life in my hand. I could feel the beat of his heart. I could see his fears, his hopes, his dreams. In that moment I know more about him than that woman he claimed to love. It was in that moment, I saw her face. The woman we were suppose to protect. The woman my sister died for." She looked back to Jaden, "I saw her as real as I see you now. And I would have killed him if it wasn't for Auro."

She took a moment to calm her voice and gather up some strength. "After the war, we got new leadership at the Academy. I begged them to send a mission to find her. To find my sister's body." She drifted her gaze down as she continued. "They told me that I should hold on to my attachments. It was Graff and the other Blades that understood my pain. He led us in to the heart of Fray's jungles in search of her."

"A month later, we found her. Stuck in a tree with a branch through h......her....." Her voice broke as she tried to continue. Her tears flowed as she hid her face from him with her knees, "I remember begging to the Three Goddess, that she died on impact. Because I couldn't bare to know that she was stuck up their slowly dying while animals bit pieces of flesh from her."

She fell silent for a moment as she pulled back the pain and fought to stop the tears, "Graff used his own money so that I could get transportation back home. So that I could take her back to our forests where her people will watch over her spirit."

She looked up at Jaden once more, "When no one else would lift a finger for me. The Saberblades, Graff, Jenna, Frija, all of them, defied orders and followed me in to the darkest parts of those jungles to find my sister. I can't speak for anyone else, but that is the reason why I am where I am now. I will lay down my life for them. They are my family."