I stand up straight and look towards the road I see far off in the distance. From what I can see, it is the only sign of civilization near me. It looks quite far away and would take an hour or two to reach...
My stomach rumbles~*
I guess that while walking over there I will start foraging for some food...
I start to walk across the open green field and towards a few trees that are not to far away, and are in the path of where I need to go
10 minutes later...
I arrive at the trees
As I stand directly below the tree, I can see the wind gently move the leaves and branches. I also see 2 squirrels running around the tree with their mouths full of... probably nuts.
Thankfully, this tree I'm under is an apple tree. I can see some ripe red apples dangling at the very top branches of the tree.
"Oh jeez... You just have to be all the way up there..." I say to myself, frustrated, while looking up at the tall tree
As I look up, the sun's rays break through the leaves, ever since I suffered through hell, this world that I thought I knew so well, feels incredibly different for me. I stand still, admiring the beauty.
A Moment passes by
Suddenly, a gust of wind hits me and the tree. An apple breaks off it's branch, and starts to fall directly towards me
"Oh!" I say while quickly reaching my hands out to catch the apple
The apple hits some leaves and branches on the way down from the tree, but I'm able to catch it
"Heh! Thank God." I say to myself while smiling
I doubt it was the God who did me such a small favor of taking down the apple, but I'm reminded that there is an overbearing entity watching this world.
I walk away from the tree and start to head in the direction of where the road is, I start eating the apple as I walk
I was never really a religious man. When I was a young boy, like many young boys, I believed in God. I used to think that God would always protect me and my family no matter what happened, as long as I kept my faith. But the day I had my sword go through another man, or the day of me having to kill a rabbit for food, made my faith falter. It also made me think that how can a God allow such a cruel world to exist. Why would God allow death and violence to be so abundant? After my first time of taking a mans life, I was told by the priest of the Kingdom of Roxannia that the sins I have committed were the will of God and for the sake of our holy Kingdom.
Yea... So much for that. After seeing those so called priests touch children behind closed doors when I was locked away in my cell, was that the act of God too? The slavery that this Kingdom relies on, the corrupt people in power, the Heroes that attacked me, and so much more... I can't help but feel that something is to blame for this, and it's not humanity's fault.
Now out in the open fresh green fields again, I finish eating my apple all the way to the very core of it, I then throw the apple on the ground and continue walking
That God that I met in that hell... If he allows such tyrants to live and gives me my wishes to enact my brutal revenge... God must not care about us... God probably sees us nonetheless as tools for his entertainment.
Why am I even calling this God, a God? The things God allows is simply on par with what a Devil will do... However, I can really care less. The God or Devil I'm questioning, has given me the chance to fulfill my desires.
As I continue walking and thinking to myself, I feel a weird sensation in my body, almost as if something is about to happen
I quickly come to a halt and look around my surrounding area, there is a large hill that I cannot see over
I remember this feeling, It's my perception trying to tell me something that I can not yet conceive
I quickly lie down on the tall grass and put my hands against the dirt. I lean my head sideways and put my right ear up against the dirt, I listen carefully
I can feel the rumble in the ground, as if there are horses coming my way or a large amount of soldiers marching towards me
I try to stay relaxed and slowly bend my head and body up from the ground, looking for a place to hide. If whatever it is finds me, with these clothes I'm wearing, I would look like a runaway slave and probably get taken to the nearest Slave Hunters station. Or in the worst case possible, what's coming to me could be demons that have an itch to kill anything they see in sight.
As I look around my surroundings, I don't see anything that I could use as cover. The trees I was at earlier are a few minutes away and I have no time to make it there by running. I lay back down on the ground and the best choice I have is to use the tall grass to hide myself. I face myself towards the hill, in preparation of what's to come.
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A Few Moments, passes by
I continue to stare at the hill quietly while the sun starts to set behind the hill, I wait to see what happens next
Multiple horses then appear from the hill and have soldiers mounting them. As dozens of horses and soldiers start heading in my direction, I see a blue flag with a crowned white tiger head in the center of it
As I look at the soldiers rumbling towards me, I feel like I have seen that flag before
I stop looking at the soldiers and try laying down as low as I can to the ground. I lean my head to my left side and I push my spine as far down as it can possibly go. I now hope that one of these horses doesn't run on me, that'll not be a great feeling to have at all.
I can sense the soldiers getting closer and closer
A Few Moments, passes by
The horses now start running right next to me and I see the hooves of the horses race by my face
As multiple horses run by, one of them accidentally drop a few coins on the ground
As more and more horses run by, I hear the screams and cries of women
"NOOOO! PLEASE!" says a women while screaming as loud as she can
More and more horses run by, I hear the cries of children and the laughs of these soldiers as the ride by
In my previous state of mind, even with nothing on me, I would have stopped these soldiers and faced them head on... It's what any royal swordsmen will do... But as I lay on the grass, I no longer care about people and doing what's right... The only people I care about now, are the ones I seek revenge on.
I let the last few horses pass and wait a few moments before moving
I face my head forward and look towards the hill while laying on the grass cautiously
I no longer feel any presence coming from the hills direction, but I can see black smoke being emitted from over the hill
I'm guessing that those soldiers that passed by right now just finished pillaging what was over there... It might have been a trading caravan or a village... But I can use this opportunity to maybe find a weapon, supplies, and clothing at whatever was attacked.
I stand up from the grass and look behind me, the sky behind me is gloomy as the sunset is starting to go away. I also see the horses and soldiers now far off in the fields with their trophies along with them
Before I begin walking over the hill, I remember one of the horses dropping some coins on the ground
I look to my left of where I was lying, and see shiny gold coins on the green grass
I bend down and grab four gold coins, I start to analyze them, all of which have distinctive markings that symbolize the Bible's passages
I realize to myself that only one Kingdom has these types of coins, it is from the Lordship of Nox. The Lordship of Nox is a Kingdom far north east that borders both Roxannia and the Federation of Eisenhope. From what I heard when I was a noble swordsman, The Lordship of Nox was a landlocked land constantly under the threat of Eisenhope's army that had a looming shadow over its border and Demons that ravaged lands for the sake of doing so. I remember that the Lordship of Lox was also one of the very few unifications of where demi-humans and pure breeds co-existed. It's a true pity to see these lands fall, but it was inevitable.
Now that I think about it... Those flags I saw earlier... Those Blue flags represent the Royal Knights of Eisenhope... Seems like Rorke is to blame... He made his move to expand his endless border and territory.
I stop looking at the coins and put them in my pocket
I look out towards the hill and start to walk towards it and up it.
2 Minutes, passes by
Now on top of the hill, I look down on what I see in front of me
With a yellow sunset in the background, I see a large village surrounded by water with dozens of completely ravaged homes, looted stores, trashed streets, panicked and shaken up people, and some people are holding the dead bodies of their loved ones while mourning them
I look at the village with a pitiful look, I cannot help but feel bad for these demi-humans and humans simply wanting to live out their lives peacefully... Being judged and discriminated against for loving a demi-human or treating a demi-human with the same morals as you do a pure breed, was simply forbidden in the Kingdom of Roxannia. Even though the rules and promises stated in our Kingdom's law, "All who enter thee lands shall be treated equally." was simply not true at all. Anyone who dared to show even the slightest respect to a demi-human, was beaten by guards or even beat by the ones they called friends...
When a country does things right, they just end up like this... A ravaged land with death, suffering, and nothing.
I stop thinking to myself and I walk to the village as it should be safe now with all the soldiers now gone
10 minutes, passes by
I arrive at the village, people run by me and no one seems to care about me as I stand at the entrance of the village. The cobblestone wall that once safe guarded the village, is torn to pieces. The iron gate connected to the cobblestone wall was torn open and tossed to the side.
In front of me, are some few men who died trying to fight and slow down the Knights of Eisenhope. They're all dressed with normal clothing and with short swords in hand
I look at their faces, some are completely crushed by horse hooves while some are wide eyed with blood and tear covering their face, their clothes are filled with blood and cuts
I start to step over the bodies with an emotionless look
Out of respect for my past noble self, I make sure not to step on these bodies. These people are the true heroes that deserve praise, as they have given their lives for the weak and loved.
As I step onto the blood drenched stone bridge that connects the village and the rest of the world together, there is one more body in front of me
I stop moving and look at the body, I see a young man's face, short brown hair, brown eyes, and a surprised wide eyed face with blood coming out of his mouth and a slash across his neck. He has a sword beside him and unlike the other short swords from the other men, this one is not bloody and was never used
I can't resist not wanting to help close his scared eyes, he was not ready to die such a terrible death.
I bend down and reach my hand out to his face, I take my hand and close his eyes. I let him rest easily. I then grab the sword next to him and grasp it within my left hand
I feel no anger, but for people like me who have had their life taken away from them, I swear that I would avenge him. I spite people who are like the ones that broke me.
I stand back up and leap over his body, I'm now about to enter the village
"If I encounter those Knights again, know that you will be avenged, young man..." I say to myself quietly as I walk past him and into the village, with his sword in my hands