This chapter has been changed due to it previously being garb. Please take into account that the next few chapters have not yet received this change, so they are also a bit weak.

For this chapter I touched up on the dark void part, and basically re-wrote Flynt's fall to Valoran. I also changed up some dialogue in his dream and removed the time-stamps because... reasons.

Flynt was dead, he was sure of that. He was sure all the energy he used to kill Elder Garrison had killed him, and even if it hadn't, Ace had stabbed him in the heart, not to mention the already existing stab wound and the fact that the sheer amount of energy required to do what he did likely consumed his body, ripping his very cells apart and scattering the very atoms that made him in billions of different directions. Contrary to his belief, he felt fine; his pain had disappeared, and he was definitely in one peace. Flynt blinked, and realized that his surroundings were so dark, he felt better with his eyes closed. He wasn't standing, and he wasn't flying; he was floating helplessly. He hated it. He couldn't control his movement, or lack thereof. He was at the mercy of whatever unknown forces acted upon him. Maybe he really was dead, and this was just the afterlife he was sent to. A scary thought to anyone, but to Flynt it was a nightmare. His worst fear was coming to life as he continued to exist within the dark void without a say in the matter.

It took a few hours, or a few days, before he started falling. He accelerated to dangerous speeds and cringed at the thought of landing. It would be ugly. He noticed a light coming from behind him, but he couldn't turn his head to see what it was. When he reached the light, he felt gravity shift and pull him in the other direction. Suddenly he saw sand, a beach. He saw more and more of it as he flew higher before reaching the top of his climb. The scene was actually quite nice and peaceful. He saw a large lake with a mostly undisturbed beach save for one cabin nearby. He saw birds flying below him, and if he looked up he could see the clouds passing by him. He was actually enjoying the he started falling again.

In a last ditch effort to save himself, he conjured a shadow shield to maybe break his fall. It worked a little; he didn't die on impact but it still hurt like hell when he landed. The first thing he felt after the pain was dizziness, funny how falling from a hundred feet did that to you. His vision was fuzzy and his head was swimming. He attempted to move, but this effort sent a searing pain through his right arm. It was probably broken, which meant that he'd be useless in a fight unless he used his magic, and he was too dazed to focus enough to do that. Considering this, he hoped to god no one saw him fall; he was certain that person would show no kindness to him. His entire life in Mund had poisoned his mind; everyone was against him.

Flynt managed to twist his head to the left so that he wouldn't suffocate in the sand, and he spotted the fuzzy outline of a person standing a few feet from him. The person walked up to him and stopped. Flynt tried to move his good arm to wave the person away. He tried opening his mouth to tell them to go away but Flynt was in too much pain to utter a word. Not only was he experiencing pain from his fall, but it seemed as if the pain from his apparent death had crashed down on top of him all at once. It was agony, far worse than anything he'd ever experienced.

Flynt's vision began to focus as the person kneeled down next to him and placed their hands on his head. It was somewhat soothing, a gentle, kind touch. It was something he'd only experienced from one other person before.

"Molly?" Flynt managed, despite the immense pain he was feeling.

The person sighed "No, just, keep quiet alright?" It was a girl's voice, definitely not Molly's.

His vision cleared even more; he could point out her beautiful features, long black hair, and three small lines on each cheek. Her eyes were golden and… they were amazing. Flynt couldn't stop staring at them, they way they seemed to glow was almost hypnotizing. He felt hopelessly lost, adrift in the warm golden glow of her eyes. He enjoyed it, especially since it gave him the exact opposite feeling the dark, cold void did. She let go of his head, and started to walk off.

Flynt raised his hand and grabbed ahold of something fuzzy and warm.

"Hey, let go." The woman pulled away from him. "I'll be back in a few seconds."

Flynt watched her walk over to a beach chair he hadn't noticed before, grab it and drag it over to where he was laying.

"Molly I'm sorry." Flynt mumbled.

"I don't know who Molly is, but my name is Ahri."

"Ahri."

"Yes, now hold still." Ahri grabbed Flynt's arms which was met with a cry of pain escaping from his lungs. "Shit, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to pick you up somehow and it's probably going to hurt."

Flynt nodded, and Ahri pulled the chair around behind him. She grabbed ahold of his legs and pulled him into the reclined chair.

"That wasn't so bad huh?" Ahri said as she began pulling the chair along.

Flynt was faced behind them, so he had no idea where she was taking him, but he didn't really care. He was tired and in the last twenty-four hours of his living memory he had been rejected, betrayed, attacked, betrayed again, back-stabbed, and killed from a combination of battle wounds and his own overexertion. So at the moment, where he was going wasn't important. What was important was that for whatever reason this woman was helping him. There must be something in it for her. He didn't know what it was, but there had to be something. There always is.

Flynt was standing in the woods that bordered the city of Prentice. It was cold enough for snow to crunch beneath his feet as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. As a result he and the person standing before him were both bundled up in winter clothing. Said person was Molly, Flynt's girlfriend of two and a half years. She had pure red hair that flowed down to her shoulders. Molly was among the higher-ish class of people in the city. She wasn't nobility, but her family was much better off than most.

This scene was strangely familiar to him. It was infact the exact scene that happened not twenty four hours ago. Maybe everything he just experienced was a vision showing him that the decision he was about to make would be the worst decision in his life. Then again, he did end up in a place where someone named Ahri was offering him genuine kindness instead of kindness built on a lie. It wasn't worth it. Things would end up as they always do, the woman would probably get rid of him once she got whatever he seeked to gain.

Flynt opened his mouth to speak before he heard himself sigh, and speak involuntarily. "Molly I have to tell you something."

He wasn't in control of his actions, and he noticed this when he tried to look away from Molly. His body wasn't responding, and he couldn't speak. This was a dream. The realization was overwhelming since he hadn't dreamed since he was ten.

Molly smiled, "Anything Flynt, what is it?"

"I… I'm" Flynt paused "It's hard to tell you because I don't know how you'll react."

"What is it? You know I'll always love you."

The words delivered a different kind of pain to his chest because he knew she was lying.

"I know, but this is different I-"

"Someone else."

"What?"

"You're seeing someone else aren't you?"

"What? No, of course not!"

"Who is it!? It's Samantha isn't it!?"

"Molly! It's not that it's…" He sighed.

"Then what is it?" Molly crossed her arms.

"It's me."

"What the hell are you talking about Flynt?"

"The Thrall. It's me."

"You're joking right? Please tell me you're joking."

Flynt shook his head. "I'm not, but everything they say about me is a lie."

"So you didn't kill those people?"

"No, I mean yes I did, but I did it to defend myself. They were going to kill me!"

"You're lying!" Flynt could see tears in her eyes as he walked closer to her.

"Molly I'm not lying, but Garrison is." He said in an even tone as he embraced her in a hug.

"Why?"

"What do you mean?"

"What am I doing? Get off of me you murderer!" Molly pushed Flynt away and backed against a tree.

"Molly I-"

"GO AWAY!"

Molly began running away as the words that came out of her mouth slammed into him, as if it was a swift gust of wind that swept him off his feet and sent him careening into a dark abyss, yelling as he fell. His fall was suddenly broken and he felt himself laying on a soft surface.

"Shh… it's ok, I'm here for you" a voice from the dark whispered to him. "Everything's going to be fine, I promise."

It wasn't ok, it was never ok, and it wouldn't ever be ok. That's how his life is, was, and always will be, or so he thought.

Yeah, I'll be changing the first few chapters like this at a pace of at least one per update. Which basically means that it's going to happen when it happens.

GG