Water flows in streams. The wind howled. He picks up the water droplets and throws them with all his might to the sides, as if fighting rain, and tries to protect the solidity of the earth from an endless stream of water. Dark clouds covered the sky to the horizon. Darkness reigned as night, and only endless lightning tore through it. Huge thunders echoed all over the world, and Edvan, as if enchanted, watched all this, unable to look away or even blink.

A battle broke out in the middle of the storm. Here, under a pouring rain, in a thunderstorm, a man and an animal rushed together in a life-and-death battle and violently tore each other apart, delivering horrific blows. The heavy paws of a giant bear in front of the powerful fists of an old warrior. The sharpest spear against steel claws. Martial arts against the power of brute force. When their mighty blows clashed, thunder rumbled and it seemed that they were not fighting in the midst of the storm, but nature itself was raging, driven by the hatred boiling in their souls.

Edvan finds himself in the plight of an old warrior. Very faintly, like some dusty old memory, he felt his affection. Sadness and wild weariness. He tightened his grip on the shaft of the spear. The bear rose on its hind legs, its mighty roar echoing through the field like lightning. Neither one nor the other had any strength left, and this blow was the last. Decide the outcome of the entire duel. Two shadows rushed towards each other. The ground shook as they collided, and even the rain stopped for a few long seconds.

But then the water hit the ground again, and the wind howled again. A piece of spear fell to the ground. The man coughed, spewing blood onto his brown fur. The beast is stronger. Edvan felt his chest ache again. Now he along with the old warrior hung on a mighty leg, and the steel bear claws pierced through him. The heart seemed to be torn to pieces. The cold began to slowly dissipate from the terrible wound throughout the body. All his life he lived without fear of death and was proud of it, but only now did he realize how wrong he was. An alien, nameless, and therefore, so terrible, the fear of unknown things clung to him, penetrating into every cell of his dying body. What's next? Endless void? Or new life? The man does not know, and only now, only one step away from the answer, he realizes that only those who have crossed this path can live without fear. Who's dead. With the last bit of his strength, he clung to the remaining vitality. With his fingers, he drew an ancient sign on his chest with his own blood. But he didn't save.

"..." The warrior whispered. Endless darkness brought him to his kingdom. Again.

Consciousness returned suddenly. Waking up, he gasped for a few seconds like a fish thrown to shore, unable to calm his panicked body. My heart was beating so fast that it seemed like it would only take a little more for it to pop out of my chest. A deep breath only slightly softened his frantic rhythm. Alive. No bear claws and a terrible wound. No more rain and wind, no more monkeys coughing, no more pain, no more bitterness, no more endless emptiness. It was just a dream. A bad dream doesn't want to end. Or not?

***

Edvan looked into the void and endless sadness filled him. The world he once knew dissolved into a thousand small pieces and vanished like a cloud of smoke to the wind. The sight of the deserted village on the edge of the Mysterious Thicket seemed to freeze before his eyes. The empty houses, the empty windows, the scattered things here and there, the rush of someone left lying naked in a dead village. He recalled how he paused for a second to look back at his house one last time before stepping into the bush with his villagers. It was an important day. The last settlement, which had not yet joined the Great City, was finally protected by its walls. The number of magical beasts in the forest increases every year, and their thirst for human blood grows stronger. They couldn't stay in the village anymore.

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Soldiers from the fort promised to meet the refugees at the old bridge over the Belaya River and take them to the City. Residents only have to cross a large forest moment. This cursed forest ...

The memory took away the image of the village, dispelled the hatred in the hearts of the city soldiers and village elders. A new picture appeared before my eyes: a long column of people with furniture moving forward along the old highway. Women and children walked in the center, and the men guarded them, armed with spears and bows. Edwan was there too, walking beside his father and sincerely hoping that they wouldn't have to fight. Of the entire villagers, Only two are endowed, their strength is the main hope of all inhabitants in case of attack by the gifted animals. Edvan himself aspires to be the same, awakening the gift to be able to protect his relatives from all misfortunes, but ... He no longer strongly believed that this was possible. Not so much as deep childhood.

The piercing cry of a monkey was like thunder in the clear sky. The creatures flew out of the forest and attacked the column with an incredible rage, killing the endowed almost instantly. Pain pierced Edvan's heart with unprecedented strength, as if thousands of sharp blades had pierced it. He closed his eyes and bit his lip until it bled, unable to forgive what he had done.

He ran away. Seeing the creatures deal cruelly with his villagers, he threw down his spear and rushed away, furious with horror as the others fought to their last breath. Shame and grief destroyed him, it seemed like it would be better if he died with them, but no. He survived. By some miracle, he saved his skin, but all the people he had ever lived with before ... die.

The mental pain gradually subsided and the deep bitterness was replaced by a cold emptiness. Tears were dry, the guy was still staring at the ceiling, not knowing how to continue living. The wound in his chest was more than the real one. She itched and moaned, constantly reminding him of the experience. Edvan remembers a gray, deadly world. He remembered a strange scene where he fought a bear, he remembered the moment when he suddenly felt energy spilling out around him, which he could not feel now.

"I must have just imagined it. I dreamed in a delirium on my deathbed... ", he thought bitterly.

He lay for hours, staring at the ceiling, not knowing where he was, or who had saved him from that terrible wound. He doesn't care. Edvan had gone so deep into himself that he hadn't even noticed how a silver-haired old man looked into his tiny room and immediately rushed off somewhere when he woke up.

The sound of heavy footsteps outside the door forced Edvan to emerge from the depths of his mind, but his heart reigned like a lifeless emptiness. Blinking, he tried to take a deep breath, but the wound in his chest ached causing the boy to stop. The sound of footsteps in the hallway grew louder and louder, under the weight of someone the foot of the bed trembled slightly. A moment later, the front door swung open, letting guests inside. It turned out to be a large man with a bushy mustache. Entering, he occupies almost all the space in the small room, almost touching his head to the wooden ceiling. A thin, cuffed old man in a white coat from behind his broad back gently slammed the door.

"Hello, hero! Smiling, the man sat down on the stool next to the bed." The old man was still standing.

"Hero?" the words stabbed Edvan in the heart. Did they come to taunt him?

"Hello," he exclaimed. The boy's eyes roamed over the visitor's body, lingering on his arm. The forearms seem to be about the size of a young trunk. The wrist is decorated with two wide horizontal bars engraved with inscriptions and, if the syllables are put together, it becomes: "Sword". Mentally, Edwan chuckled. Nicknames in bold ...

Do you remember anything? the man boomed.

"Yes," the boy replied, "I remember.

"Hmm. It means that fate has taunted you again." he concluded, "What is your name?"

"Edwan. Edwan Louth."

My name is Mark Bow. It was my team that pulled you out of the afterlife," the man said, carefully looking into the guy's eyes. He expected some kind of reaction from him, but the boy's face remained casual. The warrior sighed, - you received a fatal wound. Honestly, I'm still surprised you made it through.