Anastasiar

It was insane. Chaotic.
The very air around was acrid.
Though with all the chaos, death and destruction around, somehow, Daphne was still fine. Everyone was still alive and so far, she'd managed to keep Furley from injury. Or, at least...he wasn't injured yet. It may not have had anything to do with her.

The moment she had gone inside, Daphne began preparing her gear. She figured that she was the expendable one. She wasn't a leader, a Commander, a Sergeant or even a merchant. "My job is to take care of him."

I thought I was too old to be in love. Most of my kin are married once, and by the age of their maturity - around one hundred years old. To not be married by then is considered queer, or as if fate had another plan. 

I assumed, that after nearly seven thousand years, fate simply had another plan. 

The morning after the tournament, Daphne slept in until noon. All of the recent events, on top of her recent illness, had drained much more of her energy than she'd realized. When she sat up, every part of her groaned in protest. "Oh, right. I forgot to stretch after the tournament," was her first thought.

"Touch me Commander and I'll send you to the other side to check if she's there yourself," Furley had growled out, without even turning away. "YES OR NO, DID YOU SEE HER DIE? Answer me!!" He'd shouted. 

(For a full account of the actual tournament, go to A great tournament by Amaken )

Daphne wasn't quite sure what  she felt as she held the note from Deorla. Although she couldn't read much at all, she knew from the expressions of others, and the absence of Deorla, what the contents were. 

What an unusual day it had turned out to be! Daphne's mind was everywhere as she packed her belongings once again. Though it wasn't all bad, the day weighed on her. She was weary and longed to collapse into sleep. But she knew despite her exhaustion, her mind was too scattered and energetic to actually rest yet. 

She had never seen fighting like that before. Certainly, Daphne had seen many fights before then...even been in many before then.