Scarlet was running towards the nearest town. She was wearing a hood that made sure not to reveal her identity. Her clothes and body were covered in blood, but it didn't seem to affect her. Scarlet was a mercenary, more precisecely, an assasin. She had lived that way since she was seven years old, killing people to live. Now, that she was sixteen, death, blood and corpses were a part of her life. Unfortunately, the world was like that.
According to her map, she was near Laren, a small town, she didn't know it existed until now.
When she was almost arriving there, she was surprised to find a corpse of a boy that looked around his age. She decided to get closer and inspect the corpse.
Scarlet could hear a weak breathing come from the body, he was still alive! There was a hole in his chest, the girl could tell it was made from a sword stab. She knew he was going to die soon anyway, but she couldn't help but recognize herself in the stranger.
'I wonder who are you why and who did this to you' she said in an almost unhearable voice.
The boy opened his eyes of a ghastly green and looked at her.
'Corban...' the boy said weakly. 'That's my name.'
After that he lost the strenght to stay awake and lost conciousness.
'I am sure I am going to regret this later but... there is a chance he could live, but only if he is strongwilled enough.' Scarlet thought. She extended her hands and pointed at him. Suddenly, Corban stopped bleeding. The wound was still there, but the blood was being kept inside by Scarlet. Then, she lifted him from the ground and turned around. This was going to make her waste time, but having someone in debt to her, especially with his life, was useful. Although the chances he would survive were very slim.
*****
They arrived at a plain land in the middle of the forest. Scarlet took a single step towards, and when she did, the place started to change. Instead of a meadow full of grass, there was a warm-looking cottage. Scarlet knocked. An old lady opened the door, she wasn't surprised to see Scarlet, but she wondered why she was carrying someone she hadn't seen in her entire life, that was on the verge of death.
"Victoria, I need your help. Can you save him?" Scarlet quickly said as she stepped inside the house.
"I guess I will save my questions for later. He is in a terrible state. I am sorry but I can't. There is a strong Light energy that is keeping him from healing, so if he can't restrain it himself, it's over." Victoria answered, examining Corban, that was laying on a bed, unconcious.
Suddenly, dark energy appeared from the boy's body, suppressing a bit of the light energy.
Victoria looked at him, surprised. "Who even is he..." she wondered. "Scarlet looks as shocked as me."
"I don't know what just happened, but this solves the main problem. Still, it's not enough, I will have to put some of my own energy for the ritual to work, and so do you." Victoria said.
Scarlet recuperated and instantly touched Corban's hand. "It's so... cold" she thought. Victoria did the same and took a book from a nearby bookshelf. It was blue in color and was written in unreadable symbols. Then, she started chanting the spell.
"§œđğəčł
ğđßæþþī
ęķčůßåəþ"
The language was unknown but it sounded ancient.
Corban started to convulse, clearly in pain, but Victoria didn't stop. His body started to glow. The old woman didn't lose concentration for one second. The process dured a few hours. Finally, Victoria stopped singing and Corban went limp again.
"He will survive" she declared, tired. "So, care to tell me how we came to this?"
Scarlet explained what had happened. Victoria looked at Corban, thinking.
"You also saw that strange energy, right? I have never seen an element like that. He must have been hunted because of that. Like you. That light energy... I am sure it was a soldier from the Grand Empire, probably one of the Imperial Guards" Victoria told Scarlet.
The girl clenched her hand, angry. Angry at the Empire, angry at how the world worked.
*****
"Where... am I?" thought Corban when he woke up. The last thing be remembered was being stabbed and falling of the cliff, so he should be dead by now. However, his body looked completely fine.
He was alone, in an unknown place, with no recollection about what brought him there. Corban was trying to come up with a theory when the door opened. It was Scarlet. The boy looked around, there was nothing to defend himself with, since they took his dagger too. He looked helplessly at the stranger, demanding answers.
"How are you? Although Victoria cured you, you should be tired and very confused, I suppose. Well let me explain, my name is Scarlet and I am your savior." She said, looking at him proudly.
The girl explained what happened. Corban just listened. When she finished, an uncomfortable silence followed until Corban spoke.
"So... what do you want from me? There are two types of people when lending a hand. The fools, the ones who do it just because, without expecting anything in return, and, may I add, the ones who die sooner, being veeeeeery escase in numbers. Then there is the rest of the population, that have common sense and follow one of the unwritten laws of this world, 'everything has a price'. I think you are one of the latter, am I right?"
"I just did it because I think you and I are in a similar situation. Your injuries... they were made by a Light Carrier, and probably by one of the Imperial Guards right? Your elemental energy, it's very strange, you know? Hunted by the Empire, I can relate." Scarlet said, as she took out a knife. Corban flinched, but the girl made a small cut on her own hand. Nothing serious, but enough to draw a bit of blood. Then, she made a gesture, and the blood started to float in circles around herself, it started to make different shapes, until it dissapeared.
"A Blood Carrier... that explains why she said she was hunted by the Empire." he thought looking at the girl warily.
"As you might know there are elements that the Empire declared 'forbidden' as they incite the practise of what they call dangerous activities involving death, corpses, manipulating people and so on. Well, that's bullshit. Not all of us are like that, I assure you. In the end, they were the ones that made us monsters by treating us like we were." With these words, Scarlet looked at Corban and asked him. "What do you want to do now?"
"I want to survive" he said, determined.
"Then, come with me" she smiled.
That's how everything started. That's how Corban entered a new word he didn't know existed.