espite his efforts to protect his home town he was unable to do so. Having been called off to protect the holy city, Aria, he was not around to prevent the siege that claimed his home town and the life of his wife and young daughter. News reached Jace during the 2nd day of the battle at Aria. His grief, being more than he could handle, overtook him and he had no regard for his own life. Despite his friend Niko's attempts to calm and console him Jace wouldn't hear it and ran off, head long into battle. The enemy had started to over power them, driving them away from Aria and furthur south. The city crumbled as Lior's army fell.___Soon, Jace found himself alone and injured. He wasn't really sure where he was nor did he much care to know. He trudged over rocks and small hills, slowly making his way in whatever direction his body decided to take him. Blood coated his bare chest and blurred the vision in his right eye. The physical pain was excruciating but not nearly as bad as what he felt mentally. These two put together caused him to be surprised when he finally reached the summit of a small mountain. He must have already been up it some to of made it that far.
___Jace's breathing was becoming increasingly jagged as he tried to take deep breaths and heard a rasping in his chest. Unable to go farther, Jace leaned against the trunk of a gnarled, ancient tree and slumped to the ground. His vision blurred even more and he momentarily closed his eyes, taking a deep, rattling breath.
___He leaned his head back against the warm bark of the tree and slowly opened his eyes. Bright spots danced in his vision and at first he thought it was from him about to pass out. However, as his vision cleared in his un-obscured eye he realized that they were lanterns. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, his eyes widened. "Hello." A voice whispered close by. Jace's head jerked in the direction of the melodic sound and came face to face with bright red eyes and a soft smile. He blinked his eyes a few times, wondering if he was seeing things.
___Surely he was. With the war going on and being in the mountains, the last thing he had expected to see was a young woman. The woman watched, head cocked to the side, as Jace tried to reason things out in his head. What was going on here? Was he dying? He flinched away as she raised her hand up towards his face. Not even hesitating, her fingers ran gently over the gash through his eye. Jace felt a sharp pain and then nothing. He blinked a few times again and this time, the vision in his right eye had been restored. The woman frowned, though, as she took her hand away from his face. "There's a scar." She stated simply as she looked down at her hands and gave another frown. "Hmph." She snorted, a very unlady like sound and reached her hand back out. This time, she pressed the palm against this bare chest, where the wound that was affecting his breathing was at.
Again, that same sharp pain was felt and then nothing. Jace clutched at his chest, only to feel the raised skin of a puckered scar. He gasped as he looked down at himself. Though he was still covered in his own blood, and that of his enemies, he could see that his wound was no longer fresh. This was all too good to be true. Surely he was dead. "You're not dead." The woman said as if reading his thoughts. She sat back on her heels and looked deep into Jace's eyes. "You will do." She nodded firmly.
___"Do? Do for what? What's going on? Who are you?" The questions flowed out of his mouth before he could stop himself. The woman quirked an eyebrow at his rapid fire of questions and giggled.
___"Helping me find the lanterns homes of course." She smiled warmly and stood as she looked up into the branches of the trees. Worry, etched across her face as she took in the vast amount of lanterns now hanging from the branches. Aminia sure was persistent. "I'm Idris. And I'm a guardian spirit to those." Idris said as she pointed up into the tree. "And I needed to find someone to help me find them homes and I chose you." She said as a sad smile crossed her lips nad she glanced down at him.
___"Wh-why me?" Jace stuttered as he gaped up at Idris. The only response he got from her was a shrug and a 'just because'.