My eyes slowly adjust to the damp, brumous air.

A strong smell of rain wafts through the air, muddled by the smell of iron, alluding to what may have happened on the grounds I lay on.

As I try to lift my body, a wet sensation on my back sends shivers down my spine. My blood-drenched clothes stick to my back, tingling me to my very core.

I lay down motionless, attempting to decipher what has just occurred within my mind, as the typhoon of muddled colors is slowly absorbed back into the depth of the void that fills my heart, slowly grounding me back in reality.’

Now that my state of befuddlement has faded, it is replaced by the colors of anguish and fear. A torrent of welled up emotions burst all at once, which overwhelms the weaker colors which lay dormant within me.

In my panicked state, I try to stand up, move my hands, do anything, but the most I can manage is a tiny, pathetic twitch of my fingers, signaling that I am indeed still alive, even if barely.

Suddenly, as if responding to my cry for help, a vibrant, almost blinding light zips over my head, and with it comes a light, playful, bright voice that echoes through the chamber I’m in.

“A survivor? A survivor! Survivor, you surviving? Hehehehehehe.” The childlike giggles reverberate through my ears, and I feel new colors of reignited hope flow through me, as I try to make my final effort to stand up, a new voice enters and flows into the void of my head.

“That’s enough of you, Keiju. Hey mr. survivor, you alive there?” A deep, gritty sound contrasts the previous bright tunes so much it startles me out of my focus.

Trying to make out what I see through my foggy vision, I spot a hand reaching out, attempting to help me up. I weakly try to reciprocate, but my arm doesn't have nearly enough strength in it.

The man, seemingly annoyed, mumbles to himself, and then pulls out something from his pocket. Before I can even react, a revolting taste flows through to my tongue, then down my dried throat. My body inherently rejects it, but I feel my mouth being forced shut and the liquid poured all the way down.

I jerk and wiggle, trying to escape from the man’s grasp but it’s no use. In my weakened state, I could barely fend off a kavell. The deep-voiced man speaks once again.

“Calm down, in Vaeltaja’s name, It’s not gonna kill you!”

The man’s shouts snap my thought process back on track, as the panicked shades in my heart start slowly dissipating, I fade back into my senses. The liquid is warm in my mouth, and sickly bitter, but I force myself to gulp it down, getting every last drop before finally relaxing again on the ground.

I’m not sure what was in the liquid, but a feeling of serenity follows the nauseating taste, and as it flows through my mouth and down my throat, the sensation of calmness elapses through me. As I feel it reaching my arms and legs, the anxious and tense feeling, which had previously restricted my movement, slowly fades into the warmness of the liquid.

Instantly, my efforts of movement are successful, as I feel my jittery arm turn and weakly push myself off the ground. As soon as I try to stand up, however, my malnourishment hits all at once, and I tip over and start falling backwards. Expecting this, the small creature the man called “Keiju” quickly zips behind me, holding me up with relative ease, due to my small stature.

The man speaks once again, “I think I don’t need to tell you that you’re in no state to move, give it a rest.” As he grabs me with the help of Keiju and lays me down on a slanted piece of smooth rock.

I try to adjust my back comfortably, as my shoulder blades creak from being laid at an awkward position, as I take a look at my two saviors. Immediately, the first thing I noticed was that my analysis of the man’s stature was way off. What I originally thought was a slightly above average height man now stood towering over me, with large, inhumanly stretched legs that looked almost deformed under my hazy gaze.

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Just as my head was processing this development, I noticed another thing, zipping and swirling around the man, a childlike spring in her step. She had tiny wings, seemingly fit for a butterfly, and a slim, grayish body, with spiky hair, which seemed to imitate the sun itself with its color and radiance.

Seeing me in my daze, Keij quickly flies over and lands on my shoulder. The radiance of her light so bright, it leaves me half blinded as I feel her jittery feet tremble on my aching bones, soothing them immediately.

I take comfort in the feeling, as I hear a voice echo through my ears once again. “What’s going on, tell me, tell me! Why were you looking? Are you thinking of something? Are you alive? Helloooooooooo-”, “Keiju, seriously, knock it the hell off, this man is barely surviving on his own here.”

A dejected look appears on Keiju’s face, as she slowly flies back and sits on the man’s head, making a pouting face.

The warmth of her heat still radiating through me, I finally got comfortable on the rock. Preparing my throat, which still feels bitter from the strange liquid, I manage to mutter out something quietly.

“What… Happened…”.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wrap my trembling hands around the small, warm cup of kahvi, and take a long sip of it, feeling the sweet and hot liquid flowing down my freezing throat, as I listen to the man’s story.

“Let me start by introducing myself here. The name’s Burtan, and my shining little companion here is Keiju. To answer your question, the ground we stand on right now was a battlefield not too long ago, and we are here to search the grounds for leftovers, survivors, and anything in betwee-”

“and cool treasure!” Keiju interrupts Burtan’s description in her standard cheerful tone, which gets a hoarse chuckle out of me.

Seeing my chuckle, Burtan stops himself from berating his companion, and continues. “Well yes, indeed that too, but most importantly, we were here to seek answers about what started this entire conflict in the first place.” Burtan pauses, a solemn look can be seen on his face. “You see, back from the first civilizations in Ikuiss, those who ruled above always advocated for peace. Furthermore, with leaders being voted by the people, this trend of world peace, of unitedness against the dangers and perils of the world, had lived on for as long as anyone could remember.”

“However, a month ago, this all changed. For the first time in the history of the myriad races, a kingdom drew its sword against another of its own. The land we stand on was once the kingdom of Vaurastu, the most prosperous in Ikuiss, that had been long established as the hub for all types of mercantile trade. While most looked at it as a beacon of commerce, it was not viewed the same in Linnake. That damned Nors Corj, who took over the throne just recently, initiated the blood order, and massacred the entirety of Vaurastu, almost overnight. So far, you’re the only survivor we’ve found.”

Burtan finishes off with a sigh, as he takes a long sip of his drink, and lays his back against the wall of rubble, picked out to provide us cover. Exactly against what hasn’t been specified to me, but Burtan says it's better safe than sorry.

I sit there in silence, attempting to pick out from the abundance of information I just received, trying to understand everything and sort out probably thousands of questions that dwell in my mind. Noticing my emotions as always, Keij perks up and off Burtan’s head, and in an admittedly more mellow, though still cheerful tone, she asks.

“Did you understand everything, survivor? Do you have any questions? Actually, I have questions too! What’s your name? We gave you ours, so you have to give yours, right?”

As usual, the bombardment of questions and answers and thoughts flow from her mouth to one ear to another, though one thing does catch my interest.

What is my name?

I’m scouring my mind, trying to pick out every piece of information, which as it turns out, isn’t a lot, until I finally land on a conclusive answer.

“My name… is-”

Boom

Burtan and Keij are knocked to the ground, and the sounds of 3 pairs of feet rushing towards us is getting louder by the second.

Without hesitation, Burtan grabs me and starts to run, as my tired legs attempt to follow closely, all the while Keij, still lacking a filter, shouts sarcastically while giggling as she follows us.

“Our cover’s blown! Literally! Hehehehehehehe” the bright laughs echo through the spacious chamber, as the sound of approaching foes in the distance sends us barreling through the main door and into the scene of a ruined town square.