**

The twilight was falling, everywhere in and out the ruins, little smoke columns were joining the fragments of black clouds, higher in the sky. Ashes were falling like snow and the last red sun's rays were getting through the blackness of the burned steam, making an accurate depiction of the scenery on the ground of the destroyed city.

In fact, among ruins and campfires, men equipped with various armors and weapons were walking, tending to the fires and burning hundred of corpses. An oppressing and nauseous heat was warming the dried pool of blood that was spilled in a large part of the area, even near the wall surrounding the city.

At one of the gates, three riders, coming from the camps settled far all around the city, were approaching, side by side. Their bodies covered by crude cloaks with hoods, which original colors were spoiled by the impregnation of ashes.

A group of soldiers guarding the gate who were standing on guard, contrary to the majority of the warriors inside the keep, they wore more regular pieces of armor of different quality, but had in common an emblem reprensenting a silver shield entwined by golden vines.

Seeing the three hidden riders, a spear holding guard looking bored, did not wait for them to stop at their level and shout at them.

"Hey didn't you hear the news damn scavenger ? There's nothing more to see or take inside, no gold, no treasure, nothing."

As he was looking at them with a casual glance, the soldier's eyes went wide. The crude piece of cloth was no more able to hide the stern expression of the rider in the middle. But what was shocking in the soldier's eyes, as well for his comrades after their attention shifted on the trio, was their equipment.

Each one of them wore a chestplate which, even with various scratch, were shining in a light glow. The rest of their armor varied from shoulder pad to various armor plate in steel and iron.

Several weapons were hanging from the saddles of the horses, crossbows, long swords, maces, together with travel gears.

Without according attention to the few guards, the trio passed without a word through the gate. As the guard with the spear was about to speak up despite being quite intimidated, the squad's officer, older, put his hand on him.

"Don't speak to those madmen, you didn't see their chestplates ?"

The young guard turned his head in confusion.

"Tsk Tsk. They are agents of Osluga, just some mercenaries thinking they are better than the others because of their god. As far as I know, the Empire didn't hire any of those damn zealots, at least not for Keradia. Leave them to their business."

He said before spitting out on the trail of the horses. In a different situation, the officer would have been quite concerned about the three riders , but those months of siege added to the lack of loot, put to cramble the already faint sense of meticulousness among the soldiers.

'There's nothing in those ruins anyway...'

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

**

The very first thing I felt in my life was a smell of burned flesh, ashes and blood.

I could say that I remember the day of my birth, at that time, and for a few decades after, I wasn't able to recall anything from the first seven years I had lived before. If I were ask about how it feel to be a newborn, I would say it is a quite an unpleasant feeling, especially in my case.

While a newborn is given years to take control of his limbs and to grow, it was like someone took me from my mother's womb, may she rest in peace, and threw me to the outside world.

And not just the outside world, I was finding myself in the fresh ruins of Keradia, alone and in the body of a seven years old boy ! Of course I didn't know at that time.

Without anything to cling myself to, I quickly lost the bit of sanity I woke up with, acting like an animal. Even today, I'm reminded of the smell that brought me, in great part, to that state, and happy or not, it saved me.

For the years after, I never forgot about that time, it taught me that all that matter in the human's society is balance, balance between civilization and savagery.

Because if civilization is our future and our blooming, savagery is our birth grass, our past.

And we should never forget it.

**

I woke up, thirsty and famished, around me a crambling roof, broken rocks here and there.

My body lied down on a cold floor, I lifted my right arm in front of me. It was thin and white, crossed by purple line underneath turning black at a regular interval.

As I was trying to do the same for the left one, I struggled to barely move it halfway. No pain, just a strange feeling of emptiness at his shoulder.

This first failure put my mind into a trance, trying to feel every corner of my body. For a few hours, the concepts of hearing, sense of smell and sight were emerging, in the same time, the sound of wind, a blending smell of ashes, blood and burned flesh flowed in my mind.

Then, only those feelings seemed to deserve my attention, focusing on them in a sweet naivety.

But suddenly, a regular clanking sound barged in my head.

I immediatly raised up on my two feet, my back arched forward, my head turning everywhere while I was wondering from where that bothersome sound would came.

Whereas it became closer, dictated by an instinct, ancient and absolute, I ran away while stumbling to a hole in the wall. There was no blinding sun, no fresh wind or sweet scent from a forest to welcomed me, instead, a black and red clouded sky as well as the same scent from before. But my mind was focused on the unknown and so dangerous sound, I made my way quickly threw a street between destroyed stone building and piles of wooden furnitures.

About ten seconds of running, more clankings could be heard nearby, on the other side of a stone wall. I changed my trajectory according to those sounds, but came a moment where they surrounded him.

Feeling like a trapped beast, I searched for a shelter, the regular beat of wave felt more and more like a snare around my neck. I noticed a half-opened door with only darkness behind. No sooner said than done, I threw myself at the opening.

Expecting to land on a solid floor, my fall became longer, a shock and...

Nothing.

**

I opened my eyes, unwilling to move, a faint light could be seen from a hole in the ceiling. Underneath my body, a rochy flood, the surroundings were completely different. Darkness everywhere except for the hole, a temperature far colder than outside and a smell of humidity.

The hours passed as my ached body conviced me to stay still, I fell in the same state as before, opening myself to the new sensations. Following the example of my first try, an unknown variable came to interrupt my trance.

A rope fell, hanging from the hole, a white ball glowing and lighting up the space around followed it, but it stopped before touching the ground. Right after, a figure used the rope to go down in what looked like a cave.

As the figure turned his gaze around, he stopped at the sight of me, supposing that I was quite exposed. Approaching slowly, the light glowing from his back, our eyes crossed, as I was in the same position, lying on my back. My guard completely down I did not tried to flee his gaze.

A rasping sound came from him, pronouncing incomprehensible words.

"Take my hand kid."

I accepted.