"Wake up! Heinrich! There's something bad happening outside!"

I felt a heavy hand shaking me awake, dragging me from the solace of dreams and the place where the definition of exhaustions is not known.

Opening my eyes, I saw Bertrand in front of me, looking worried with a grim expression, blood stains on his large body and face, making me awaken at once.

"What's wrong?" I said groggily, getting up, ignoring the aching of my body on the cold, hard, and damp ground; the view of everything around me becoming clearer.

"This is bad. There's a riot of people going on outside. Everything's in disarray, and the soldiers are slowly losing control. This is our chance to get away from this place. Come, there is no time to lose. Kurt and the others are waiting for us," Bertrand said with urgency, reaching out and pulling me up.

It was then that I could hear the sounds of people screaming in agony and yelling in pain outside, my senses returning back to normal, making me wish that it hadn't.

"Hurry and follow me! We cannot let this chance pass us by!" Bertrand exited the tent, leaving me to myself as my mind adjusted and adrenaline started pumping my body, opting me to move as well.

Leaving the tent, chaos ensued as people could be seen running here and there; people wearing armor and those wearing only a few on their backs.

As Bertrand and I exchanged glances, he ran to his left, a passage walled off by many other tents in the area.

Not even reaching far enough, I could already see the sight of bloodied bodies strewn on the ground, mercilessly brutalized with a sharp blade from the looks of it; their eyes open, indicating that they must have died swiftly.

"Faster! We are nearly there! -" suddenly, Bertrand was cut off as he was ambushed from the side by two soldiers that immediately drew their blades against him.

With his large body, Bertrand delivered a powerful blow to one of them, knocking him away, destroying one of the tents, then protecting himself as he tightly gripped both of the man's arms, preventing him from attacking him.

"You're not getting anywhere, slave! All those that attempt to escape will die!" the man screamed at him, amazingly pressuring Bertrand; his sword inching closer and closer to my friend's head.

With a sudden rush to my head, I dashed as fast as I thought possible for me, taking the knocked out soldier's sword and immediately coming up from behind the other soldier currently battling with Bertrand.

Without delay, I raised my sword, taking a breath in and gulping, then driving my weight downwards, cutting across the soldier's back, forcing him to arc towards me, enabling Bertrand to move and finally bring the enemy down.

"Thank you. I owe my life to you," Bertrand said, taking the deceased soldier's weapon.

"We're not out of it yet. Lead the way!" I said, trying to put what I had done past me, filling it with many other unnecessary and random thoughts.

After a while, we came up on Kurt, Alissa, and Marshall, waiting near the outskirts of the forest positioned to the very back of the slave camp.

"About time. Come on! They're getting closer, and everyone else is just dying and not putting up a fight," Kurt spoke naturally, disregarding how I remembered him when we first introduced each other.

Almost immediately we started to run away from the camp, using fear as a source to where I could draw my speed from, helping me immensely as I managed to catch up to the others.

With each distance covered, the forest started getting thicker and thicker, making it hard to see the ground for roots and other things, and our surroundings.

Yet the sun and the pale clouds stood above to guide us through, including those who were chasing us, quick on their feet despite wearing armor.

I dared not look back, fearing that I might trip because of negligence, costing me my life and my only chance to see her again without reason.

We reached a rickety, narrow bridge that spanned a few meters long, held up by two sets of wooden poles, one attached here, and there on the other side of the chasm, where a rier flowed, looking to be a small stream from our perspectives.

We came to a stop after reaching the start of the bridge, and Bertrand voiced is worries saying, "If we cross this bridge now, then no one will be able to escape. They will simply cut down the bridge and let us fall to our doom. Someone must hold them back."

"I can't believe this! We should have taken the front entrance instead! We could have never needed to encounter this bridge then!" Kurt said angrily, looking into the forest where he could see our pursuers emerging.

Quickly running out of time, someone spoke, astonishing me and the others, especially one.

"I will go. I may not be able to do much, but hand me your sword and I might delay them for a while," Alissa said with a strong and stern expression, smiling afterwards.

"W-wait! what are you saying, sister?! Y-you can't leave. What about me?! We're brother and sister, aren't we? You promised to stay with me! You can't do this! I can't let you!" Marshall started trembling, then tearing up, unable to hold back his emotions.

She came up to him and caressed his cheek gently, speaking softly into his ear, still enough for us to hear as the silence overtook our surroundings.

"Please, be strong for both of us. There are much more that you can still accomplish. This is not the end, nor is it time for you. I won't break our promise. I will be there for you, always watching and praying to keep you safe. Right?" she kissed his forehead, pushing him back and taking Kurt's sword with a smile.

"Please go. It would hurt me if something bad happened to you all. Though we didn't get to know each other very well, I ask of you, please take care of my brother," she faced the man, barely even holding the sword right as she assumed an amateur form.

Bertrand picked up Marshall and ran, alerting me and Kurt to do the same, crossing the bridge with everything we've got left, even going so far as to push our bodies to the limits.

"Damn this! I'm not even fit to be a man! I let someone die, and didn't even say anything! Argh!!" Kurt yelled out in frustration, continuing forth as we successfully crossed the bridge, letting us take a breather.

To our dismay; however, we bore the sight of Alissa being cut down immediately, then continuously impaled by the other soldiers, making sure that she had died right away.

"SISTER!!!" he desperately screamed out on the top of his voice, running and reaching out, only to be stopped by Bertrand, who closed his eyes and kept a strong, stern face, only barely handling his emotions.

Bertrand covered Marshall's eyes, forcing him to turn away the sobbing young man from the sight of his own sister being eviscerated.

As for me, I could not understand as to why my eyes were looking at the gruesome sight without turning, or feeling something wretched coming from my stomach and to my mouth. It was truly bizarre.

But I had this unexplainable anger welling up from within me, slowly controlling my body, attempting to move by itself and possibly do something, anything about what was happening across the bridge.

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But I couldn't do it. I was too weak to do anything, or to make a difference. I would only be throwing my life away, making Alissa sad at my attempt to simply waste her efforts... I wanted to ignore her words and just act on my own, but I didn't.

"Let's get away from her, now," Kurt said, cutting off the ropes binding the bridge, forcing those that were currently on the bridge to run back quickly in a panic.

The rickety bridge was no more, and we turned our backs to continue further into the forest, never wanting to look back, but never forgetting what happened back there.

We were quiet the entirety of the time, unable to even make up the courage to speak to one another, nor make a comment about what happened back there. There was just no use to it.

I wonder myself how I became one who would brood day and night, only feeling bad for myself, not doing anything at all to fix the situation.

This isn't me... But what was I exactly? I don't know who I am, or what I was. There was no way for me to find out. I merely adopted the name of a legend in this world I know nothing about, walking and thinking as if I were him, even a fraction of what he was, someone everybody looked up to.

Why did I want that anyway? Was there a reason? Or did I have the ability to make something of myself, yet I disregarded that.

I'll make my own path, one different from this world's Heinrich. I don't know what, but a path never trekked is no path at all, or something along those lines.

I don't know how long we've been wandering aimlessly.

The sun had begun to set, and the curtains of the orange hue were slowly draping over the land, making it harder and harder to see with every moment.

We had taken rests here and there, but nothing too luxurious for our own good.

Marshall had seemed to stop sobbing, resting as Bertrand carried him on his back, looking calm and composed, like the tower of a man he is.

We came to a vast field of green where no tree could be seen, only the mountains on the horizon.

You could see the gust of wind blowing through the grass, a comfortable and welcoming sight. it was enough to make me feel the toll of exhaustion that I had ignored for the past few hours.

The beautiful sight was tempting, but we had to worry about what we could eat next.

I've ignored the grumbling and aching of my stomach, dismissing it and simply thinking of something else to distract my thoughts, yet it fought back rather furiously, nearly making me mad with anger and frustration. yet I held back as best I could, knowing that the others had to deal with the same thing.

As night came, the moon up above shone brightly, covered by clouds drifting calmly and aloofly in the air, not a care in the world.

We encountered a stream whose water glistened with the light the moon provided, much to our luck, allowing us to drink water to refresh our lungs with.

"I've never been so happy to see water my entire life. Thank the gods," Bertrand said, greedily drinking the water from the stream, washing his face, provided that the two of us did the same, Kurt and I.

Marshall; however, kept to his lonesome, cradling his legs and looking at the reflection of the moon.

"C'mon kid, you'll wither out if you keep on being like that. The water's just right," Kurt said, becoming more talkative than he was previously, making me relieved rather than surprised.

He stayed silent, not budging at all from what Kurt said, seemingly in his own world.

"It's going to get cold soon. Does anyone know how to make a fire?" he asked.

No one responded, leaving him with a disheartened look.

"Very well. It's not as if we can't brave the night. We've been through much worse, right?" said Bertrand regrettably, looking regretful at what he said, having a face the said 'I want to take back what I said'.

"I think we should keep moving," I said, hearing the sounds of howling all around us, getting louder and louder, as if something was getting closer with each waking moment.

"He's right. I'd hate to deal with wolves right now. They'd made food out of us within seconds."

"Come, young Marshall. We need to move, right away. The predators of these areas might find us quickly," Bertrand urged the still young man, not responding, looking away instead.

"Stop this, kid. There's no reason to keep being like that. Your sister told you herself, so let that motivate you. Or would you rather you'd be a meal for the wolves," Kurt said harshly, fed up with him after being persistent in his way of being silent.

"Fine, let them eat me for all I care. There's no reason for me to be here anyway. I -I just want my sister back! It's because of me that's she's gone. I couldn't do anything to help her, not even when we lived together in peace. I was only a hindrance, Y-Yet she, she loved me and took care of me no matter what," he hid his head behind his knees, crying again once more.

I came up to him, wanting to soothe the atmosphere, and hopefully prevent us from dividing. It was also a given that I wanted to say what was on my mind. I sympathized with him heavily, nearly crying as if she were my own sister.

"Marshall, listen. If your sister were here, she'd urge you. She wanted you to keep living on. As long as you're alive, she is as well. The three of us will never forget her for as long as we live. How about you make something out of it and make her proud. She'll wish she were there to see you and cheer you on, I guarantee that," I looked him dead in the eye, sternly speaking as I held my hand out.

He took mine, wiping his tears away, ceasing from his self-torment.

We crossed the stream, heading further into our current direction, not knowing what lies ahead, staying vigilant.

The wind howled gently, blowing past the leaves into the sky.

Who knows what time is it. No one knew where we were going, yet our feet moved towards somewhere, just to get away from that.

After a long, rigorous moment of trekking barefoot into the wilderness, we came upon a small village near a forest a meters away, with a handful of wooden houses with chimneys spewing smoke from it.

It looked to be a farming village, having granaries and fields of a beige color, assuming it to be wheat.

The streets were paved, and one house looked to be a mansion in the farther side, not that far away from the other houses, having a small tower attached to it, making that one specifically an important one.

A few wooden towers stood as well, having flickering flames of light hanging by the very top, indicating the presence of life.

"A village! Finally, we might be able to rest after all," Bertrand said, relieved as his entire being awoke.

my feet grasped upon the cold soil, bursting into a run, following the others who had already done what they thought of, leaving me to myself. A little bit saddening, but I could have done the same if I were given a bit more time to relish the welcoming sight.

But just as we came towards the village, we were stopped by people high up at the tower, pointing bows at us, calling more as they emerged from the inside boundaries of the village, wielding poor looking spears and swords, some even improvising with pitchforks; some wearing simple leather armor and nothing else to cover themselves with.

"Halt! Stay where you stand! Who are you people? And what have you come here for?" a tall, well-built man looking to be skilled with his sword spoke cautiously, but with a bit of hostility, perturbed by our sudden arrival.

No one could speak despite the reluctance of seeing the village, maybe it was because the answer could have been taken in the wrong way, and as a result, we could be turned away harshly.

No one could say that we were prisoners sold off as slaves.

"I'll ask again. Who are you and what have you come here for? Speak quickly. Disturbing the peace in the village of Orias can spell you end as I have sworn to defend this village with my life. Now answer quickly and honestly. Are you friend, or foe?"

I wracked my brain on what I could say, anything at all, so long as it didn't cost us our chance at living through this mess we ended up in. I myself was becoming desperate, a horrid trait.

Breathing in, gritting my teeth, and clenching my fists, I spoke saying, "We are prisoners. We escaped a camp somewhere holding innocent people taken from towns and cities," I came outright and said it, thinking that I could not lie whatever the situation.

Would I curse myself afterwards, or would luck and fortune dwell on me?

"Prisoners?! Near the village? This is more dangerous than I thought. You, tighten the guard's perimeter around the eastern part of the village. We're few enough as it is. Tell them to keep an eye out for suspicious people. And you four, I am afraid that prisoners are not welcome here, no matter the origin. We have stayed away from whatever is happening here in Barda, and we cannot start now by taking in prisoners," he said flatly, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword, seeing that we held blades ourselves.

he bowed his head without hesitation, raising it again to speak saying, "I apologize, but before you leave, this village of ours will offer you something to eat. That is the only thing I and the people of this village can do."

"Hush Frederick. This is no time to be so uptight. It's the middle of the night. Let these young men come in. They look so ragged! Oh my. Come here, I will give you something to eat right away. Come now," an old lady spoke whose back was hunched over with a cane, one wearing a thick garb to shield her from the cold winds outside.

"Elder?! What do you mean?! We cannot allow these people, otherwise the noblemen will come for us, and the rest will be able to justify ransacking the village for their own deeds," he objected, showing clear respect to the old lady in front of us.

"Back then, I remember you always taking in people, helping them whenever they were in need. I wonder what happened. But don't worry about that for now. Let me worry about those rowdy noblemen. Now you four, come with me. I hope you like what I've cooked. It's just me after all. And you here, you're welcome to join if you like," she faced some of the guards standing by.

"Thank you for your kindness, Elder. But we have to protect the village."

"Oh, how uptight. Very well then. Come by if you ever are hungry."

She then started walking with her cane, following a path that led to only one building in the distance, the mansion that was positioned a few meters away from the other village houses.

Without question, we followed her, thanking her in our heads time and time again for showing kindness, one that nearly made me weak in the knees.