I always wondered what happens after death. Do I go to hell or heaven? Or do I return to earth as a newborn? How do those rules apply to Fantasia?

Right now, I see myself staring into the darkness. Faeren told us that death means game over. I guess I ain’t coming back to Fantasia. Will I be thrown back onto Earth? Unlikely.

Whatever happens, I hope it happens fast. Cause I am bored of staring into emptiness for... I don’t know how long.

Sharp pain radiated from my forehead, and I was suddenly pulled out of the darkness. Blinding light filled my vision and my whole body radiated immense pain making me grunt.

I fell back onto whatever was underneath me, panting. The blinding light was not blinding anymore. I found myself staring at a thatched roof. Where am I?

I rolled my head to my right and took a quick look at my surroundings. It looked like a small hut from one of the villages. Cladded walls surrounded me on all four sides as I laid down on the floor. The leaves underneath me crunched as I moved about, trying to get up.

It felt like a daunting task just to sit up straight. Every muscle in my body struggled to move, as though they had forgotten how to. But at last, I was able to push myself off the floor and sit up straight.

I was still in my black trousers, but my torso had been bandaged up. Small cuts and gashes on my arms were covered in some dried-up ointment. I felt my face about it and found it to be patched up with bandages as well.

I survived. But how though? Did Urvi save me? Wait. Urvi. Where is she?

I immediately got up on my feet, fighting through the pain. On my right was a small wooden door. Stumbling forward, I reached and grabbed onto a small piece of wood jetting out of it. I tried to pull it and the door swung open, revealing the outside world.

Two women sat a few steps away from the door, grinding something on a huge mortar and pestle. The one who was bent down, turning the pestle was none other than Urvi herself. I sighed in relief, knowing that she was safe. I didn’t recognize the other woman. I slowly stepped forward, letting out a soft grunt. It appeared like my little grunt had caught the attention of the women, who turned towards me.

Urvi snapped upright and looked at me with a grim expression. Her eyes turned moist, and her cheeks turned red. It looked like she was about to burst into tears any second. She ran towards me before giving me a tight hug, squeezing the life out of me.

“I am sorry. I am so sorry!” she cried out.

“Urvi... you are squeezing the crap out of me...” I said, pretending to choke.

She let me go. “Sorry...” she looked down, seemingly afraid to look me in the eyes.

“How are you? Did you get hurt?” I asked.

“I should be asking you that,” Urvi said.

The other woman, thin and brown with beautiful brown eyes, said, “I will inform the elders.”

Urvi turned back and nodded. She walked away as Urvi grabbed onto my arm and led me back into the hut.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I will tell. But you shouldn’t be moving now.”

We walked into the hut whereupon Urvi made me lie down on the cot again. She sat down beside me with her legs folded up.

I observed that she was wearing a maroon tunic that stretched from her shoulders down to her calves. There were no visible wounds or scars on her.

“What do you last remember?” Urvi asked.

“Hmm... I remember the axe of the butcher coming down on me. I think he cut my chest open,” I said.

“He did. But I do not know if you remember that you set him on fire.”

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I did remember that. Rather vividly. It looked like it had no impact on him. “I do. But did it do anything?”

“I don’t know. When I saw your blood sprayed out of your chest, my blood went cold. I thought you were dead. He came down to strike you again and that is when he was struck by an arrow. A woman, who wore the mark of the sparrow, jumped out of the darkness and fought the butcher with her bow and arrows. She was screaming at me to get up and take you to safety but... but...” Urvi began to choke.

“It is alright,” I said, trying to calm her down.

“It was not alright. I could not move. I was so scared; my body wouldn’t listen to me.” Tears rolled down her cheeks which I affectionately wiped away. She grabbed onto my hand and began to feel it.

She sniffled softly and continued, “But just then tuskers popped out as well. He ran over to your side and began snorting using his tusks to lift you up. I don’t know why but seeing him again calmed my heart and I was able to get up on my feet. I helped put you back onto the beast who carried you away from that monster.”

“What happened to the woman? What had happened to Sierra?” I asked.

“Tuskers took us to where Sierra was hiding and soon the woman joined too. She led us here, to the village, where the elders helped us get you some medical aid. We were just minutes away from this place thankfully.”

“Didn’t the butcher follow you? Did she kill him?” I asked hopefully.

“She told me she couldn’t kill him. But the butcher didn’t show his face till now. I guess the small pack of warriors from the village is too much for him.”

I exhaled, just trying to imagine what had happened. Urvi must have been terrified, even I was.

“Karna...” Urvi began, “Please forgive me.”

“Wait. Why?” I asked.

“You put your life in front of me, but I just stood by watching you... get hurt...” Her lips trembled as her eyes turned moist. “I am sorry!”

“Hey! Come on! I am fine now. Even I would have freaked out if I was in your place,” I said, trying to console her.

It took a good few minutes to get Urvi to stop sobbing. Poor girl. “What is important is that we survived. We get stronger and beat that bald head to a pulp.”

Urvi’s eyes suddenly grew fierce. “Next time I run into the butcher, I will teach him how it is really done.”

I couldn't stop myself from letting out a chuckle. “We sure will.”

Sleep began to overwhelm me. I decided to shut my eyes just for a few seconds. However, things went dark almost immediately until I could hear Urvi calling out to me.

“What is it, Urvi?” I whispered.

“Get up. You have slept enough,” she said.

“It was just a few minutes. I need more sleep.”

“Few minutes? Darling, you have been sleeping for two days.”

My eyes snapped open on hearing that. “What the fuck?” I cursed.

“The healer has been waiting for you for two days. Lucky for you, she seems like the patient type,” she said.

I let out a dull sigh and said, “fine... let’s go.”

***

Urvi helped me get up and walked with me to the healer. As we exited the hut, I finally got to take a good look at the supposed village. It looked a lot smaller than I expected. The small huts surrounded us with thin mud roads cutting between them. Most of the huts were made of cladded walls and thatched roofs with a clay chimney on every other roof. Men and women of all ages walked past us, all of them dressed in maroon clothing. Each one shot a smile at us as they passed, and Urvi returned the smile back.

“People seem nice here,” I said.

“To us at the very least. We saved their child after all,” Urvi explained.

“Oh yeah! Where is Sierra?”

“Back with her family. She was here an hour ago. We will see her sometime later.”

“So, her family lives here?”

“In a village south of here. You cannot believe the amount of love they showed you and me,” Urvi explained.

That is good to know. We walked past a cattle pen where I saw a herd of cows lying around lazily. Children and their pets littered the street playing and wreaking havoc. Every now and then, one of them would look at us curiously.

She led me along a path that took us out of the village and deeper into the forest. I noticed more and more animals in the area. “Lots of animals here,” I said.

“Yes. The healer is an animal lover. You guys will get along just great,” she said. “Oh, one more thing. I keep calling her the healer because that is what she asked me to call her in private. When we are around other people, call her mother.”

“Mother?” I replied.

“Yes. It is because to them she is God.”

“A god? How so?”

“They call her mother of the forest, though she tells me otherwise. I didn’t get to talk with her much. Anyways, just call her respectfully and you should do fine.”

I quietly nodded as we continued our journey.

Animals of various sizes and shapes moved about minding their own business. There were your usual farm animals, cows, bulls, goats, or rams? But also, quite a few wild animals. A herd of deer and their cousins grazed at a distance, while I could spot an elephant walking in the distance. There were no signs of any carnivores, say for a fox that scurried away as soon as it saw us.

We walked down a narrow path, through an arch made of vines decorated with pink flowers. Their fragrance flooded the air and seemed to calm me down.

Inside was a small clearing where there seemed to be small patches of herbs being grown. Men and women went about tending to these small farms. “Medicine?” I asked.

“Medicine,” she replied.

We walked past them and under a giant banyan tree beneath which sat a lonely woman, writing something down on a giant tome. She looked young, very young, her skin fair as Urvi’s. However, she had long green hair that flowed down to the ground. Unlike the villagers, she was dressed in a beautiful green gown, slit on the side. Upon hearing us walk towards her, she raised her head and looked at us curiously through her sparkling green eyes.

Her lips curled into a smile, and she said, “Welcome Karna. My name is Xanthia.”