A blinding flare seared my vision, jolting me awake. My eyes fluttered open, struggling to focus amidst a throbbing pain in my head. A groan escaped my lips as I tried to raise an arm, only to find it bound by coarse rope.
"What the...?" I mumbled, my voice a raspy croak, the sunrise casting beautiful colors onto the landscape.
"He's awake," a gruff voice announced. Not Ellgrick or Rufaeck, but the two others who had ambushed us. As my vision cleared, their faces sharpened into focus—both blonde, one lanky and tall, the other built like an ox.
I blinked, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. No sign of Odessa, nor the other bandits. A cold feeling settled in my gut. "Where is she...?" I rasped, my voice barely a whisper.
"What should we do?" one of them whispered, ignoring my question, but his eyes stayed locked onto mine.
The other man shot me a withering glare before turning to his companion. "Leave 'em here? Ellgrick already claimed the girl," he replied, his voice carrying a broken accent.
"Claimed?" I struggled, then spat at them.
They recoiled; their faces contorted in disgust. With swift movement, the one on the left slapped me across the face. I grunted, surprised at the lack of force behind it.
"Come on, we already have his shit to sell," the one on the right sneered at me, though his words were directed more at his partner. The other man nodded, and both of them rose from their crouched positions.
"You bastards!" I cursed as they walked away, something changing inside of me. "I'll murder every last one of you! Don't fucking touch her!"
The words echoed into the landscape. Anyone near would think of me as insane. I pushed forward once again, trying to see if the ropes could be broken, but too securely they bound my wrists.
Glancing around, I tried to find something, anything to get me out of this. A rock caught my eye. Sharp and in distance. With a surge of adrenaline, I stretched my right hand, the rope granting me just enough slack to reach the rock's sharp edge.
They had secured me poorly, wrapping the binding around the tree trunk before tightly knotting it to my wrists. Inch by agonizing inch, I worked the rock's edge against the taut rope encircling my left wrist. Time distorted as I meticulously sawed, the minutes stretching into an eternity. Finally, the fibers parted. I quickly untied the knot binding my other wrist, heart pounding.
With a ragged groan, I forced myself upright, my limbs protesting with each movement. Pain ripped through my leg from the wound, sending me crashing back to the unforgiving earth. "Agh... shit!" I spat, slamming a fist into the dirt. Raising my head, I squinted against the sunlight. The town was far away, but I could still see the two figures heading toward it in the distance.
"Come on..." I pleaded, then muttered under my breath, "How do you even work?" The question was a desperate plea to the supposed power that lived within me. With how little it had helped me, I started to think of it as bullshit.
With hard eyes I fixed a fierce glare on the distant town. "Take me there!" I roared, the words ripped from my throat painfully. I began to crawl, my fingers digging into the unforgiving earth, dirt burrowing into them uncomfortably.
Exhaustion soon overtook me, my limbs trembling with the effort. I paused, chest heaving, and drew a deep, ragged breath. This time, I closed my eyes, shutting out the harsh reality of my surroundings. Instead, I summoned every ounce of willpower, envisioning myself standing at the town's edge. This had to work. There was no other option. This was my last, desperate gamble.
As I opened my eyes, the world had shifted. No longer on the forest's edge, I found myself standing before a dilapidated town. The buildings sagged under the weight of neglect, their once-bright colors dulled by time and poverty. Dirt paths snaked between the structures, barely passable as roads.
A large structure dominated the center, but even it paled in comparison to the grandeur of the Faust Estate. As I took a hesitant step forward, my vision swam, and a wave of dizziness washed over me. I steadied myself against a nearby wall, my fingers tracing the rough surface for balance. The villagers stared, their faces a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
With a deep breath, I found my voice, "I'm looking for two men, and a girl." My words carried, the only sound amidst the whispers and murmurs that arose around me. "She has long black hair, no older than seventeen winters. Two men have kidnapped her—please."
As I stepped forward, the crowd parted. I reached out, my fingers grasping the worn tunic of a nearby villager. "Have you seen anything?" My voice cracked.
They didn't respond but instead moved backwards. What the hell were they doing? I desperately needed help, and these people didn't seem to care at all.
"Bastards," I hissed, shouldering my way through the dispersing crowd. Panic gnawed at me. I had to find Odessa. There had to be a way.
Then, it struck me. A plan, reckless perhaps, but my only choice. I would wait for the two bandits to arrive. It would take time, but their path would inevitably lead them here. I would follow their trail and see where they took her.
"Okay... alright..." I muttered, taking deep breaths to steady myself as I leaned against a rough-hewn wall. The villagers gradually left, their eyes lingering on me. Did I truly appear so unhinged, crazy? Or were they merely content to watch a spectacle unfold, their own lives too mundane to offer any excitement?
At the same time, I knew that wasn't fair. They saw me appear out of nowhere, pleading frantically. If I saw that when I still lived with the Fausts, I wouldn't have intervened either. Too much trouble for everyone involved.
"Needa drink, pal?" The voice slurred slightly, heavy with an unfamiliar accent. I turned to find a figure leaning casually against the wall beside me. He was taller than I, but surprisingly, we appeared to be around the same age. Curly brown hair framed a face tanned a shade darker than my own, reminiscent of the sun-kissed complexions found in Yokonland, a nation that this town and Auriver were cusp on the border of.
"Don't drink," I replied weakly, propping myself up on one leg against the wall to ease the pressure on my wound. "Are you offering?"
He chuckled lightly, tilting his head back to gaze at the sky. "Ah..." A sigh escaped his lips. "Name's Alon." His eyes slowly met mine, "Let me help you."
"With what?" I asked. A cart rattled by, piled high with freshly harvested corn, its scent filling the air.
"The girl," Alon replied simply, "Let me help you."
"Thanks, but..." I hesitated. Could I trust him? A large part of me wanted to, "I don't know where she is—there are men coming who do."
"Aye... but how long would that take?" Alon questioned, "I saw a group of men, not two, take a girl into a building."
I leaned forward, the pain in my leg causing me to wince sharply. "Fuck—uh..." I stuttered, struggling to focus through the throbbing. "So, you know where she is?"
"I know who she is with, and possibly where if they haven't moved yet," he responded, his eyes flickering to the wound on my leg. "We won't be able to retrieve her if you're injured. Perhaps rest first? Then sneak in when it's dark."
"There's not enough time." I said urgently through seethed breaths, damn this leg.
Alon clicked his tongue, "Rest." He replied plainly, "I have something to heal the wound quicker, but if we don't wait, we won't stand much of a chance."
I wanted to counter, but like many other moments in my life, the other person was right. If we tried now, especially in the morning daylight, we wouldn't get very far, and my leg... that only added to the issue. "Fine," I replied, swallowing my frustration. "Where, though?"
Alon scanned our surroundings, his eyes narrowing in thought. "There's an old barn just over that ridge," he pointed. "It's abandoned, been that way for years. We can hole up there until nightfall, my friend."
"Yeah..." I paused, tilting my head as if lost in thought for a moment. "Sorry..." Shaking off the distraction, I continued, "I know someone else who says, 'my friend' quite a lot."
"It's a common saying, I suppose," Alon replied with a nervous smile. "Come on, let's head over."
Without further question, he wrapped an arm around my shoulder, helping me walk forward.
We maneuvered slowly through the town and eventually into a bustling market center. Unlike the quieter outskirts, this area was crowded and dense with activity. Vendors had set up shop in every available space, their faces sweaty and determined to make a profit. Some sold clothes, others tools, and many offered a mix of both along with food.
The farms in the region were owned by the kingdom and managed by the local 'lords' of each village, town, or city. These lords sold the crops to vendors directly for profit, taking a significant cut of the earnings. It was neither a fair nor efficient system, and I remembered it being implemented a few decades ago in some book, much to the detriment of the common folk. One of the only good things to come about from Chlodovech's reign was the slow descent of local lords.
After four minutes, we arrived at the old barn, a remnant of a farm that had once thrived here before the town took over. Alon grasped the handle and pulled aside a wooden board that rattled on the dirt, then began to drag one of the large doors open. It screeched against the earth, the sound loud and jarring, but no one seemed to notice.
Alon opened the door halfway, creating a wide enough gap for us to slip through. He was breathless by the time he finished, laughing as he wiped his brow. "I'm out of shape," he said, shaking his head.
I offered a weak smile in response, leaning heavily on him as we made our way inside. The barn was dimly lit, with shafts of sunlight piercing through gaps in the wooden walls, casting eerie patterns on the dirt floor. The smell of hay and old wood filled the air, causing my nose to itch.
"Here, sit down," Alon urged, guiding me to a stack of hay bales. I lowered myself onto the makeshift seat, gritting my teeth as pain shot through my leg.
"This isn't where you live, is it?" I asked, hesitating as I looked around the barn.
"No," he replied quickly, shaking his head. "Heladon's strict when it comes to folk from Yokonland," Alon continued, pronouncing each word strangely.
"Yeah?" I responded simply.
"Aye," he muttered. "Property rights and all that." He blew out a breath, a look of mild frustration crossing his face. "Let's talk about something more fun... like..." Alon tilted his head at me, a curious glint in his eyes. "So, this girl. You two together?"
"Together?" I mouthed at first, confused, then immediately dismissed the idea. "Oh—shit... uh, no," I said quickly, shaking my head. "I'm basically her brother."
He glanced away with a click of his tongue. "Aye. If you say so, dear friend."
The remainder of our time together was filled with scattered conversation about the state of the nation, the marriage between Chlodovech and the Orerhan princess, and other such trifles. Yet, my mind was elsewhere.
The curse gnawed at my thoughts. I had once believed I understood its workings, but as I sat there, it dawned on me that it hadn't manifested since the courtyard of the Faust Estate. What did this signify? And how did it intertwine with my Masavoran heritage, the revelation gifted to me by Chlodovech and Vondor?
Lost in contemplation, I lost track of time. My muscles ached, prompting me to recline. The hay beneath me was far from comfortable, pricking my skin and causing my nose to run incessantly, but what choice did I have?
Gradually, time dissolved, sounds faded into silence, and the soothing embrace of sleep claimed me.
37Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡceXDWMbH86
