Fae's consciousness itself was suppressed as she floated within a dark abyss, so much so that she could only be a witness, not think, only feel, to be an observer to the hundreds of hands crawling all around her body, seemingly phasing through it as they were searching for something deep within her mind and heart, something hidden in places she didn't even know she possessed

A slithery voice sneaked through her ears "Mine..." it spoke, having a hint of femininity in it if not for the echoes and reverb that it was put under, enough to twist it's original sound

The woman suddenly felt as if the hands grabbed her very own soul as it made her feel like a mirror falling unto hard ground, right at the moment of impact where it would crack to unleash billions of pieces, that was her consciousness right then, and as the hands pulled, it just made it feel a thousand times worse, she could feel pain all over her yet she had no mouth to scream with, nor could she even think about it, she only could feel it within her mind, feel her consciousness break apart in pieces

And yet all of a sudden, she could hear the same voice gasp, with the hands letting go just as the cracks unto her mind disappeared and swiftly leave her motionless body, her mind still staggered from the sudden intrusion as flashing photos came by her, moments showing sand, sand and blood, a lot of blood, wetting both said sand and a stone ground, one of what seemed like a temple

No matter what, Fae's life right there and then was spared by the same thing that almost caused her to die mentally, what or who was it was a whole other question as Fae herself was not even aware of what happened, her mind so oppressed by its surroundings alike the blackest of abyss that it just did not register any of what happened, leaving this incident deep in the backlog of Fae's thoughts

With her life being spared, Fae woke up with a huge gasp and her eyes widened fully, straightened her back as her hand clutched her heart tightly while her chest felt as if it was imploding within itself, the woman let out raspy and dry coughs while her mind slowly adjusted after the past event, the headache she was experiencing feeling like a string of jackhammers all around her head

"Aaah..." Was the only sound she could let after the onslaught of coughs slowly died out, her eyes lifted to look around her and gazing at what to her was only a blue and green blurry mess, pursing her lips as she rubbed her eyes forcefully, Fae opened them again as the blur started fainting away, leaving the seated down woman to realize that she was on top of a green prairie, the sky above her bright blue and her surroundings filled with trees and dirt paths

"What..." She whispered under her breath while her eyes became sentries to analyze the environment she was suddenly in

A hard and rough lump suddenly appeared in her throat, a feeling of harsh anxiety and fear slowly creeped it's way unto her mind, her eyes desperately trying to find just an inch of familiarity, but the more they looked, the deeper her heart sank

She slowly got up and lifted her backpack that was laid next to her, slinging it over her shoulder while her other hand was rested on her fast beating heart, her lips lost their color and her face became pale, just where was she?

It was a dilemma that her mind couldn't find an answer to, she walked down the hill into the path as she gazed around her, recoiling at every bird chirping and with every bush swaying with the wind, her breathing heavy and uncontrolled while her hands trembled in fear

Fear that only intensified as she saw the carcass of a lifeless animal, her eyes widening as she could see the dirt that turned into mud from the amount of blood that it absorbed, Fae slowly approached the animal and could see multiple arrows sticking out of it, she gulped hard, it wasn't the blood that bothered her or the gore, but the fact that someone murdered this poor animal in cold blood, a horse that seemed as if it was used for a knight to ride on

She was in dangerous lands, and that fact slowly creeped up her mind as it sent shivers unto her body, holding her shaking hand Fae took a deep breath, she had no idea where she was or how did she even come here, but she couldn't just stay here, and the only path ahead was one that had a blood trail leading deeper into the woods, looking around her once more for any preying set of eyes, Fae murmured a curse as she then took on the bloodied path

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Walking slowly and hugging herself with both arms, Fae was terrified of what was ahead of her, hoping that whatever it was, it was far away from her

Fae widened her eyes as she then noticed the silhouette of a person seated against a tree, her lips parting away in shock as she realized that the trail of blood was leading towards exactly the same person, as grim as it sounded, Fae thought that an injured man would pose less of a threat to her, and if he had no ill intentions then she'd try her utmost to help him

Gulping hard as she approached him, Fae could see that he dressed as if he was the leading role in a knight movie, his plated armor looked the part with the blood stains on it, his sword on the dirt next to him as it seemed the blade was broken in half with an equally worrying amount of blood on it

The man himself seemed to be sleeping, or that's what Fae hoped at least as she feared he might have lost his life, his face seemed old as she deduced he was in his late fifties while his hair was of a grey color, he had a slight beard with the same color while his skin itself was white

Fae crouched down in front of the man as she then took a deep breath, her hand reaching for his throat to check his pulse, at which all of a sudden she felt a cold metal touch her throat, her eyes widening as they gazed unto the blue eyes of the very alive man, eyes that seemed losing the life within them with each passing second

The man then furrowed his brow as he had to narrow his eyes to realize that Fae was not what he thought she was, she just couldn't be with her weak face and fearful gaze

"You..." His voice was dry and weary "You're not Aralian, are you?" Fae shook her head slowly and meekly, fear taking hold of her so deeply you could see even her pupils shiver, her answer prompting the man to let out a sigh of relief as he slowly removed the dagger form the surface of her throat "Thank the four" he murmured weakly, forcing a tiny smile on his face as he looked at the defenseless woman "Tell me, girl" He couldn't continue the short question without taking in a wheezing inhale "What is your name?"

Fae for a second felt so much Fear that she didn't realize she had to answer "F-Fae" she answered shortly and very clearly, the man grunted in pain while nodding to her answer

"Fae, it is a good name" he locked eyes with her, the healthy one afraid to almost death while the one on death's door hung a smile on his face, almost a comforting one "My name... is Archard" He spoke, breathing in between to summon the tiny amount of energy he had left "And I have to ask a favor out of your kind heart" he told her

"What is it?" She inquired, seeing the man soften his smile as his hand went on to grab something that was between his back and tree, something he seemed bent on hiding desperately

"This..." It was a scroll, one within a metal cylinder that had engravings of blue and red color on it's surface, he handed it to her "You need to deliver this..." He took a slow and dying breath "To our queen, the queen of Flora"

Fae even though she took the scroll off his hand still had many questions pondering her mind "The queen?" She asked with much confusion "I'm so sorry I just don't understand" she wished to ask further questions but her line of thought was interrupted

"Please, lass" He looked at her with pleading eyes, as if everything rested on her "You have to do it" His weak hand grabbed into her arm "Please" his voice trembled as he spoke

Fae pursed her lips as she looked at him silently, only giving back a slow nod

"That way" He pointed towards his right "Run and do not stop until the first village you see, go to Flora and seek the queen, please"

His hand only let go of Fae after hearing her next word "Okay" a word that required much strength to be said, she then gazed at the man with a soft look "What about you? you look in really bad shape"

He chuckled to her innocence "Do not worry about me, I'll be fine" He said with a comforting tone "As for you" He took a slow and shivering inhale "You have to be somewhere" He smiled at her and looked within her deep brown fearful eyes "I shall pray for your safety" His hand then handed her another thing, the same dagger that was previously on her throat, slipped into it's fancy engraved blue scabbard "But if the worst was to come, this is for you"

Fae's spine shivered at having to use the dagger that was now held tightly by her hand, she looked one last time unto the eyes of the dying man

"Go lass, may the four be with you" He gave her a confident nod, Fae had no words to say but a slow nod to give back, standing as she reluctantly started walking into the direction he guided her to, stopping midway to give him a look over her shoulder, a last smile he gave to her that pushed her on and forward, past the bushes and leaves to leave him by his lonesome

Only then did she truly realize

This, was not her world