Syme brought his wrist up to wipe off the sweat from his forehead. He sighed. His feet were sore, his ankles were mangled from walking in the sand, his back and arms ached from unhealed wounds, his eyes were blinded from the bright sun and encrusted with sand, but he was close now, close to his destination, a grey building peering above the flat terrain around it. It hurt, everything hurt, but it didn't matter. This would be his ticket to success. Story, story, he had to remember the story he created.

He took a glance behind. A little figure trailed behind him, not much taller than his waist. Two horns adorned her head, one snapped in half. These, along with her bizarrely pale skin, marked her distinctly as a denizen of this world. But, beyond that, she seemed human enough, though perhaps a little too small. She wore primitive clothes, a sort of rough shift with a matching cloak.

Her horns would no doubt cause alarm. Syme stopped and covered it with some extra cloth before continuing on.

He was nearing collapse by the time he reached the entrance. The door quickly swung open, a few excited youths still dressed in uniform peering curiously at him. A few of them helped him up as he stumbled. One of them brought him some water, which he gulped down graciously.

The inside of building was dark, light filtering in through a few windows. It was cooler inside, but not by much.

They began to bombard him with questions, asking where he came from, or what his name was, but he ignored them.

"Who's in charge? I have bad news," he announced.

"Uh, Eran and the rest, I suppose," one of them answered. "If you want, I'll take you to him."

He was lead to small, conference-like room. A round table sat in the middle, with a dozen or so seats around it, four of which were occupied.

"Er, hello," one greeted, seeing them enter.

"My name's Syme. I've been traveling for days now."

"Really? Have a seat. My name's Eran, beside me is Sue. Along with Saul and Nime, we used to be the student council. Now, what do you have to say? Are you also a student?"

Eran had a tough build with fair hair and a healthy complexion. Sue, the girl next to him, had orderly straight black hair, contrasted with her rather pale skin. She was of average height, shorter than Eran by half a head. Nime was a short boy, black hair as well, easily excitable and the youngest of the four. Saul's face seemed to be forever adorned with scowl. He, too, was pale in complexion, but he quickly turned red when angered.

Nime wouldn't be a factor, Syme judged. Sue didn't seem to be the kind of person who would go against what the others said, so he could ignore her. Saul... he couldn't say, and Eran was even more unreadable.

"Yes," Syme answered, sitting down. "One day I and everyone else in my school woke up in school cafeteria, still fully dressed in uniform. When we looked outside, well, there was nothing but desert."

"I see," Eran said, "it was the same for us."

Syme grimaced. "We spotted something outside, but when we went out, it ran off. An hour or so later, we were swarmed by these impish creatures. They came carrying wooden spears and swords." He grimaced. "I managed to escape with some water and food."

"I... I don't know what to say," Eran said. "I am sorry for your loss, for what that's worth."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Mm," Syme mumbled, nodding his head.

"Can you describe what they look like?" the girl beside him, evidently named Sue, asked.

"Better than that, I can show you," Syme answered. He took the covering off of the top of the creature's head, who had continued to follow him, revealing her horns, one snapped in half.

"She's—!" Eran exclaimed.

"Yes, engrave her features into your memory. This is our enemy. Two horns, pale skin, small stature," Syme said grimly. "I call them Imps."

"She's kinda cute," Sue said. She then paled in realization. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have—"

"I won't be offended by that," Syme answered. Especially because none of that happened.

"But why is she following you?" Eran asked once his shock began to fade.

"While I wandered, I found her dying. At first, I wanted to kill her in rage, but I calmed myself and reconsidered. She can be useful as an observation subject, so that we can learn their biology and weak points," Syme explained. "So I fed her some food and gave her some water. Ever since, she's followed me. I named her Cily."

Not bad. He made that up on the spot. She looked up curiously at him when he said it. I'm glad you can't speak, he thought, tussling her hair.

Eran carefully observed her horns. "Did you do that?" he asked, pointing towards the broken one.

"No," he said, shaking his head, "the horns are too strong for me to break. She was like that when I found her. Considering her state, I suspect it's a symbol of banishment."

At least that wasn't a lie.

"I see," Eran said, processing the new information. "That's... pretty bad. We need to prepare to defend ourselves. Immediately." He looked over at Syme. "Syme, you are the most familiar with their ilk. I'd like you help, if you're fine with that."

"Of course," Syme responded. "I already have some ideas," he said as he tried to stand up, but he suddenly doubled over in pain, falling to the floor. Cily immediately began to help him up, and despite her small stature, she managed to lift him back into his seat. She looked at him worriedly.

"Are you okay?" Eran asked, alarmed. "Sue, help me take his shirt off."

Sue nodded.

"I'm fine," Syme protested. "There is no time to waste."

"A fine person does not hunch over in pain," Eran replied.

When they got close to him, they were blocked by Cily, who stood in from of him arms outstretched, a nasty look on her face.

"Stop," Syme said, touching her shoulder. She gave him a worried glance, then moved away over to his side.

They removed his shirt to reveal two large stab wounds on his chest. The area around was massively swollen and yellow pus emerged at the fringes.

"Well, that's not good," Eran said.

"I'm fine," Syme gasped. His vision momentarily blackened out. He had pushed himself hard during the desert trek. His head felt muddled and his eyelids heavy.

Eran frowned. "I think he's fainting. Sue, go over to the infirmary and ready a bed. I'll try to find something that can be used as a stretcher. Maybe the..."

Eran's voiced trailed out. The last thing he felt was Cily shaking his leg in worry.