"Jon, wait! Where are you going?" Namey asked.
I was already halfway to the entrance of the tomb when he pulled me by my shoulder.
"To Lindisfarne," I said while trying to shrug him off and continue on.
"Why? Why now?" He asked
"My friends are in trouble," I said.
"How do you know?"
"I saw a-- vision, like a-- trance. There was a girl. She warned me…"
"Jon, you're not making any sense. Even if they're in danger, they're just NPCs," Namey said. "You think they're real because of your programming. We can always recreate them and make them even better."
"Why don't you get it?" I asked.
"What don't I get?" Namey replied.
"That I don't care about any of this. I don't care if there's someone watching me all the time or reading every word I say. It doesn't matter to me if you think my world is real. It's real to me," I said. "As far as I know, I'm real. My friends are real. They matter. That's enough for me to care"
"Fine, go," He said.
***
Maybe Namey was right. Maybe I was overreacting. I had no evidence that my friends were really in trouble. The mysterious girl with the blindfold and the white dress told me and I believed her. Aki must have been able to feel my tension and urgency because he was racing towards Lindisfarne at a greater speed than I had ever seen him use. My wrists began to ache as I clung to his wide neck to keep from being pulled off his back by the racing wind. Yoshi was fast asleep inside my shirt. He claimed my body's warmth for himself as he slumbered peacefully. I didn't want the girl to be right. I hoped that she got it all wrong. Even if it was a trick, it wouldn't hurt to see Abi's face again or watch Hans skin deer wrongly. A tear trickled down my face. I had been so caught up in my adventures that I forgot about them.
Underneath Aki, I could just about make out the iron mountains. I would have to cross it, then cross the Livorninan forest before reaching Lindisfarne. The morning sun was just beginning to peak out beyond the horizon in front of me. That's when I saw it. Pillars of smoke rising up everywhere. It looked like the entire Lindisfarne was on fire. Men riding large beasts, bigger than horses moved between houses setting fire to them.
When I got to the farm it was too late. Everything had gone up in flames. Everything I knew growing up. All my fondest memories were burning right in front of my eyes and there was nothing I could do about it.
If I couldn't save the farm or Abigail and Hans then at least I could punish the ones who did this. I took out my bow and went in search of the beast riders. They had long flowing hair that twisted around them as they moved and their weapons were curved in absurd angles, the likes of which I had never seen.
I nooked and then released an arrow that hit one square in the chest. It hit with enough force to knock him off his horse to the ground. I hit a second, then a third, then a fourth until I lost count. Suddenly, I found myself facing a horde of them. They charged at me making loud whooping sounds and waving their weapons in the air. I let loose another arrow but this time I used the maximum amount of mana possible. I could feel Auriel's bow flex and then sizzle with power. The explosion of it's sun element would destroy everything in the immediate area but I didn't care. Lindisfarne was all but burned to the ground by these monsters. There was no point in using restraint. More likely than not, i would get caught in the blast but exchanging my life for the lives of these animals didn't seem so bad.
***
There was a pillar of light that could be seen from everywhere on Onderon. From the volcanic islands of Molokai to the west of the midlands to the deserts of the Sassanian empire on the continent of Esos to the east. From the icy kingdom of Akureyri to the far north to the Elven temples on the peak of the Gyantse mountains to the south.