Ezreal awoke in a thick, murky fog with nothing but pitch-black darkness surrounding him. He couldn’t blink. He couldn’t breath. Everything was in stasis as he looked around to see something – anything, but the darkness enveloped all.
Is this hell?
There wasn’t anything else that could explain this feeling of… overpowering emptiness, of pure wait.
There was nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Although he knew that time was non-existent in whatever realm he was, he could still feel time passing by – as if his internal clock still kept ticking. He kept waiting for what felt like an eternity, unable to move a single muscle besides his head.
Broken.
A whisper passed by his ear, the voice fading like mist.
His soul. Broken.
This one has broken the rules.
The rules, yes.
We must find it.
Find it.
A clawed hand gripped his throat.
Monster. Running. He smells like HIM.
LIKE HI -
----------------------------------------------------------
“ – Wake up!”
A slap jolted Ezreal awake, causing him to sit up immediately in shock – only to find out that ropes kept him tied down. He groaned, his muscles burning and aching from that slight motion.
“I will ask you this only once. Who are you? Where are you from?” said a deep voice with a clearly audible British accent.
“What the hell are you talking abo – OUCH!”
Another slap rang across Ezreal’s face, this one backhand.
“Your name. Your affiliation. Under what banner do you claim?”
“E-Ezreal. And I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about! Get the hell off me!”
The hand raised above him in the corner of his eye, ready to slap him once more.
“That’s enough! I won’t stand for this any longer!” rang out a voice, this one distinctly feminine. “He helped save my honor for Hevliva’s sake, you shouldn’t be treating him like this!”
“My lady… we have no idea what this thing is. For all you know, it could’ve just been a spy –“
“I hardly doubt a spy would come to their aid in that situation! Now leave him be!”
“… Very well. I’ll be waiting outside with the rest of the guards.” The sound of brisk footsteps followed, becoming silent after a few seconds.
The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
A pregnant paused followed, giving Ezreal the opportunity to tilt his head forward to get a glimpse of where he was. He appeared to be in a large tent, with small cots lining its walls. Bandaged men lied within them, looking to be in abject misery and pain – with constant groans ringing against the walls, mixing with the smell of vomit and metal that floated in the air.
Next to his feet sat a pale blonde woman in fair white clothing, a stark contrast to the dark and dampness within the tent. She seemed to be staring pensively at him with her deep blue eyes, curiosity brightly lit in them.
“So why were you naked?”
“Ah, you see…” Ezreal’s mind ran at a thousand miles an hour, despite it still being deeply disturbed by what he had just experienced in the pitch black. “I was robbed and they stole my clothes, so…”
“Right. They stole your clothes. So, what did they look like?”
“Uh… around my height? Both of them had beards, and another one had… another had…”
He was god-awful at lying. She grinned like a cat who just ate the canary, enjoying the fact that she had caught him in a lie as he lied there stuttering and sweating profusely.
“Uhuh, right. Around your height and with beards. I’ll be sure to keep a lookout for them.”
“T-thank you…?”
“Anyways, I won’t press on further about this. I owe you deep gratitude for your service in helping my father’s caravan.”
“Your father’s caravan?”
“Yes, his caravan. It was transporting essential supplies to a local town – it’s been overrun by goblins as of late, I’m afraid. They haven’t been able to have a decent harvest for quite some years now.”
“Ah… I see. I was happy to help.” Grimaced Ezreal, his injuries starting to flare up once more. He shifted in his cot, trying to find a more comfortable position to lie in.
“Is that uncomfortable? I’m terribly sorry – let me get those binds off you.” She pulled a knife out of thin air, cutting the ropes that tied Ezreal down. The knife vanished in the blink of an eye as she made the last cut, confusing the living hell out of Ezreal.
“Anyways! I thank you once again. For your honorable service, I’ve taken the liberty of setting some gold aside for you, since you’ve –“ she snickered, “Clearly have been robbed. Oh, and one more thing.”
A bald man in priestly robes, made of white robes with gold stitching and imprinting appeared from the right corner of Ezreal’s vision. Shifting his robes aside, he held out his hands over Ezreal’s body. They glowed in a golden color that was so harsh, Ezreal tightly shut his eyes to block out the light.
Yet his body felt… better? The strain of his muscles and the burning of the wound in his side, alongside the countless number of cuts began subsiding, replaced by an intense, frighting level of pleasure. Eventually the glow subsided, allowing him to open his eyes.
Ezreal sat up, running his hands over his abdomen. To his surprise, the wound was no longer there – nor were the countless number of other cuts. They had been replaced with fresh, pink skin.
“H-holy crap – thank you! Thank you so much!” exclaimed Ezreal, feeling completely refreshed.
The priest nodded but looked extremely troubled, staring at Ezreal with confusion mixed into his gaze. This went unnoticed by Ezreal, who looked up again to see the injured soldiers in their pitiful states. He remembered how valiantly they had fought to save the civilians, giving their all despite the overwhelming odds. Not one of them had dropped their swords and run.
If only the men in his world were the same.
“But what about them? Can you heal them?” Asked Ezreal, with some hope floating in his voice.
The priest and Lady exchanged looks, a countless number of words exchanging between their gazes. The smile visibly dropped from her face, replaced by a troubling expression that he couldn’t read.
“… No, father says that priests are a valuable resource. We can’t… We can’t do it. We’ll give them the best care we can, though.” She whispered, anger laced into her words. In the blink of an eye, however, she reverted to her previous expression, but the forced smile was clearly visible.
“It’s about time we departed.” She stood, dropping a bag on Ezreal’s lap which was thankfully clothed. She stared at Ezreal for a bit while longer, curiosity once again written across her face. “Although I somehow doubt this is the last time we’ll see each other.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
She left the tent with the priest, hearing Ezreal stutter his thanks again in the background. The bright sun almost blinded her as she stepped out, the air wonderful and fresh compared to the stuffiness in the tent. Despite her best attempts at clearing her head for the day ahead, she couldn't help her bubbling curiosity and interest in the lad, who was clearly a stranger in these lands.
“What was on your mind before?” she asked the priest as they walked towards her carriage.
“It was nothing much, my lady, but… I couldn’t feel his soul.”
“His soul?” She lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. “What do you mean?”
“When I heal, I can feel their soul push in response, reflecting the magic healing their body. Yet nothing responded in his body – it was unlike anything I’ve experienced before.”
She stopped at the entrance of the carriage, thinking over what the priest had just said.
No soul, huh…? How strange.
She looked over at Josiah, her butler who had just stepped out earlier.
“I want you to keep someone on him. Watch him from a distance and report what he does back to me. Do NOT tell my father.”
“My lady…?”
“You heard me - I know with a certainty that he won’t be going anywhere any time soon. We can keep observing him for the time being here until I figure out who he is.”
“Understood. I’ll get someone on it right away.” Responded Josiah, who opened the door to her carriage. “Should we get a move on?”
She looked back once more at the tent, pensively thinking about the strange man once more.
“Very well. Let’s go.”