With my knife in my hand I continued my charge down the alley, as I got closer the rage welling up inside me burst out into a yell similar to those of men charging into battle release. I raised my knife aiming for the bald man who had taken off most of his armor by this point, I swung my knife down as he turned towards me, with a look of fear I have never seen in another human before. Everything slowed down and narrowed as I got close enough to plunge the knife in the man, all of a sudden a clang rung out and I lost my footing, tumbling into the man on top of my sister, the force of my charge dragged him off her. I clasped my arm and checked to see what was wrong, I had a long but shallow cut across the top, I looked up to see what that loud noise was that caused me to lose my focus and trip on the armor. I saw her standing there, a beautiful woman clad in decorated armor with her sword drawn and the end slightly red with what I assumed to be my own blood. Before I could react she pierced her sword straight through the thigh of the other man who was holding my sister down, as he screamed out in pain she kicked him away from my sister who was still laying there crying. She unhooked the cape that was attached to her back and draped it over my sister who was now sitting up right, as soon as she had finished this, she looked my way then at the bald guard who was unconscious behind me. The woman sheathed her sword and walked my way, her mouth opened "I am the Lord's eldest daughter, Emilia Valenture, I'm sorry for what these men did to you people, Zoryians are no different from Arkosians in my eyes." She said, loud enough for everyone to hear, even those who had gathered with the commotion.
Emilia walked over to me with a cloth in her hand, she began to wrap the wound she caused on my forearm. "I'm sorry for attacking you, but I didn't want you to become a fugitive after having killed a guard. I saw your killing intent and the way you positioned your knife in mere seconds to line up with the guards heart was unnatural." She said while she finished wrapping my arm. I had trouble responding when I remembered Fred and his wounds, "My brother-" I started to say but she silenced me and pointed towards him, medics from her squad were already tending to him. before I could ask anything else my vision gave out and everything went to black. I awoke in a comfy bed, one that you wouldn't find in any Zoryian home and definitely not in my home. I began to raise myself but as I did a splitting pain encompassed my head causing me to grunt slightly in pain, I reached my hand up to my head feeling a bandage wrapped around it. I assumed when I lost my footing during my charge and tumbled with that first guard, my head hit the ground just as hard as his did. I heard the door open to my left and heard the faint words of an older woman "I've come to check on you" the woman said in a soft and gentle tone, I tilted my head towards her and saw she was dressed in a maid's uniform, she had graying hair and soft features, her eyes were motherly and full of care. Seeing her put me at ease for the time being, the woman changed the bandage on my arm she then brought some medicinal tea and I drank it, finally with my thoughts fully collected I asked her "Where am I, and what happened?".
"You're in Lady Emilia's personal manor, you collapsed after the head injury proved to be too much for your body." She said, she left shortly after leaving me to my thoughts.
So that Emilia brought me here, what about my brother and sister, were they okay? How was Carl? I remembered his bloody nose and broken glasses, he must of tried to stop the guards and protect Myra. I began to remember Emilia's words, Zoryians are no different from Arkosians, it's odd that the Lord's daughter would think that way when the lord himself see's Zoryians as lesser than human. I finished the tea the maid had left with me, I decided to try and stand up on my own two feet. I was able to sit on the edge of the bed before I heard the door open again, in came Emilia, out of her Armor and now in a dress, she was even more beautiful than before. "I never asked you of your name, what are you called?" she said looking at me
"I'm Eric Milady, I live in town with my mother and three siblings." I told her in a quick but respectful tone, I was still worried about my brother and sister's conditions.
"Your brother and sister will be fine, your brother's injury on his chest was nothing more than a scratch but his thigh was pierced through, his walking may never be the same again," she said with a sorrowful look in her green eyes.
"I understand, and how is my sister, is she okay?" I asked
"Yes, she's fine, a little shaken up but she's fine." Emilia replied
I sighed a sigh of relief my family was okay, but it seems it isn't over here. I'm still in her manor, and I'm not even that badly wounded, from what the maid mentioned to me earlier, my siblings were all back home already, so why am I still here? "Lady Emilia, why am I still here if my siblings have returned home?" I asked her, "About that, I would like to apologize in advance, my Father heard about the incident and wanted you to be executed for attempting to harm one of the guards even though he knew the circumstances of why you tried to attack him." she said.
"So what is going to happen to me then?" I asked
"I was able to convince my father that you're useful and it would be a waste to execute you!" she said chuckling near the end.
"So what am I useful for then?" I asked her.
"You have the potential to be a powerful warrior, and a natural born leader. There is something about you that I can sense, something inside your soul that tells me you're going to be important one day." Emilia said giving me a smile at the end that caused me to blush.
"So I have the potential to be something more than a lowly hunter? What do I have to do from now on?" I asked still blushing from her smile
"You'll become one of my personal guards, you'll train and unlock that potential inside you." She said
"How could a Zoryian like me become a guard? It's just not possible in the Arkosian Kingdom." I said in a shocked tone
"No you're right it shouldn't be possible, but I found a loophole, you can't be a guard, in general terms you can't be a soldier of the kingdom, yet you can be a bodyguard or register with the mercenary guild, so the way I've worked this loophole is to claim you're a mercenary guard." She said with a bright smile, she clearly thought she was the best when it came to these things. Well I suppose this turned out better for me than I expected, I was always waiting to server a noble who saw us Zoryians as equal to Arkosians, now it's my time to take this oath and bind myself to her fate. Little would I know, the events of today would lead to everything changing drastically in the future. A future that is filled with drama and chaos.