Looking in the darkness of an alley between two shops, Daron noticed a figure curled-up into a ball, shivering in the cold weather. Moving closer, he finally was able to see what it was. It was a human! A human child around the same age as himself… perhaps a few years older?
Trudging through the snow, Daron moved closer and sucked in a cold breath, both from the cold air around him and the shock he was facing.
The child that was in front of him was Rachel! The knight in training who was in love with Tom back at Bard city!
Only now did Daron's attention move from who the child was to what state she was in.
Her clothes were in tatters, with tears here and there, dried blood and dirt mixed into a crusted layer in places, while some of it was just wet from the snow.
Through the opening in the thin cloth that was covering Rachel, Daron could see that her flesh had nearly vanished, leaving her skin nearly sticking flat against her bones. The muscles that knights in training prided themselves in were nearly reduced to nothingness, while the fat that never existed in her body was naturally nowhere to be found. In places, you could see that her skin had turned from her original vibrant bronze colour to a disgusting bluish-black, with a mark that looked like the fingers of a man wrapping around her thigh.
Her feet had already nearly turned completely black, with cracks appearing on the edges, while the entire sole of her feet were covered in a thick layer of mud and snow. Through the cracks in the mud, Daron could see dried blood, and beneath that was exposed red flesh, which was clearly covered in white and green puss showing signs of severe infection and frostbite.
Her hands were not in too much of a better condition, with blisters everywhere which looked painful just to look at, while her face was completely sunken into itself. Cuts which had formed from the skin cracking due to the lack of moisture on her lips and cheeks could be clearly seen, while her tears mixed with snot as they slowly rolled down her face, only to be slowly frozen by the cold temperature.
Unlike the capital where most of the seasons were milder, the north where the Xenith region was located had rather extreme winters and summers.
In this harsh weather, Rachel was in an absolute mess. Her current state slightly reminded Daron of the slaves he had found in the basement of that gross merchant in Bard city.
"Rachel"
His voice was harsh, seeming as though something was stuck deep within his through as he called out to her while making his ay closer.
Rachel, who was shivering in the 2-inch-deep snow while shivering in a thin and tattered piece of shabby cloth, suddenly stopped crying for a moment as she completely froze.
As Daron moved closer, she slowly lifted her sunken face to look towards the source of her name and saw a familiar face.
However, no joy appeared on her face, and instead, there was a wry smile as she mumbled to herself,
"So, the hallucinations have begun once more. Well, at least it is not Tom this time round."
With that wry smile still hanging on her hangered face, she closed her eyes, just like she always did when she hallucinated of Tom and began counting till 10 to get rid of it.
However, by the time she reached 5, a hand reached out to her shoulder while the voice saying, "Rachel! Rachel! Wake up," did not stop.
Suddenly, she was lifted off the ground, causing her to open her eyes, startled and perplexed at the situation.
What she saw was only Daron's shin and nose, however, she would not forget this sight, since every time they would train, it would end up with her on the ground and Daron looking at her while standing, offering his hand to help her get up.
Suddenly, a thought came to her mind as she began trembling for a different reason other than the cold.
'Could it be…'
As her thoughts flowed in a different direction to before, the tears that had stopped began to flow out once more as she began sobbing, tears of joy, grief, self-pity, anger, helplessness, and hope.
This time, she was not hallucinating, and had actually been rescued by someone… and that someone was actually Daron!
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