Wyn

Chapter 1.5
Jagrin1

"Old my foot," a boy said as he stepped out from behind the large oak tree. He had shaggy black hair that was splotched with dark gray patches and that drooped into his pale amber eyes. His cloths were old and far too big for him. Wyn could just see a gold-gilded dagger hooked to his belt. He smiled full-out, showing irregularly sharp teeth. The boy continued, "I'm at least five years older than you."2

Wyn rushed over and hugged him. Hard. "Jagrin, I thought you were dead!" 3

"No," he choked out, suffocating from Wyn's agonizing hug. He tried to free himself from the hug, but failed. "I'm still alive."4

Wyn hurriedly let go of him and held him at arm's length while he rubbed his neck. "You haven't aged a bit," she commented.5

"Neither have you," he replied. Shrugging out of Wyn's grip, he looked her up and down, noting everything from her still tear-stained face to a small tare in her cloak. "Where have you been?" he asked in genuine curiosity.6

"I could ask you the same question," she retorted. "We all thought you were dead."7

"You said that already," he pointed out. "You tell me first, then I'll tell you."8

"Fine," Wyn stated and waited patiently for him to ask a question.9

"So," Jagrin asked uncertainly when Wyn didn't say anything, "what have you been doing?"10

"Sleeping."11

"For how long?"12

"Since the war started."13

"For fifteen years?!"14

Wyn frowned. "It's been that long? I thought the war would take only a year or two."15

Jagrin looked at her incredulously. "Wyn. Every race is involved with this war. It's not going to take a year for ANY two cultures to come to agreements with each other."16

"It's still going on?" Wyn asked in shock. "We were supposed to wake up when it ended!"17

Jagrin snorted. "It's not even NEAR the end," he said ruefully. "The Humans have taken over most of the Elven cities and don't plan to stop until the Elves are totally gone. The Elves have destroyed three of the Humans' 'great' capitals in return. Not to mention the Sea Serpents and Mermaids are attacking every rowboat that comes within a mile of them. The Dragons are hiding somewhere in the mountains with God knows what other civilizations. And no one knows where the Seraphim or Unicorns are. Plus, us Weres are spread among everybody else in this bloody war. Shall I go on?" he finished bitterly.18

"Oh, no," Wyn said, ignoring his last question. It was worse than she thought. Everyone was going to be left in ruins. She continued quietly, half not wanting to know the answer, "What happened to everyone?" Sighing, Jagrin sat on a rock and rubbed his temples. Wyn joined him. It was a long time before he spoke again. "You left in the first year of this war?" he asked. At Wyn's nod he continued. "During the second, I found Torrin and Eyis in this place," he jerked his head toward the human-infested city "when the Elves still lived here. They were married and had a son named Tyrus. I lived with them until the fifth year, when the Humans took over. Torrin died with most of the Elves during the siege, even though he was human. I don't know what happened to Eyis," he answered her questioning gaze. He shook his head, "She just disappeared. I had just come back from Kilner when it officially became theirs. One of them knocked me out when I came into the city, probably trying to kill me." He winced, "I still have a bruise. I found out that a family had taken in Tyrus and claimed him to be their own. They call him Thatcher. They also have a Tailer, Carver, Scout, and Fletcher. Humans and their names," he added, shaking his head again. Glancing at Wyn in a concerned way, he concluded, "I don't know what happened to anyone else."19

Wyn was on the verge of tears. Eyis was her twin and they didn't even know if she was alive. And Torrin had been one of her closest friends, one who had saved her life on countless occasions, and now he was dead. Yet she felt like jumping up and running to meet Tyrus and celebrate that she had a nephew.20

"So, what happened to you?" he asked cautiously, too curious to wait until a better time to ask her.21

Wyn didn't reply at once. She couldn't. She was still mourning the loss of Torrin and hoping against hope that Eyis was alive somewhere. Finally she choked out, for Jagrin's sake, "I couldn't last another war. Neither could Saya. We knew everyone was on their last nerve, just waiting for the chance to kill each other. When the Elves chased you off, we knew that the war would break out, so we-"22

"An elf!"23