A forest. A dark forest.
A man walked in the forest densely covered with grapevines and trees in all directions. A thick mist filled the surrounding, limiting the vision.
Snap!
The man continued to walk forward as he kept stepping on twigs on the ground, breaking them in the process. His senses, honed with years of practice, didn't show any alarm for potential danger yet he had an uneasy feeling.
"Show yourself." A cold and calm voice, complementing his refined appearance and elegant gait echoed in the forest.
As Aamon continued to move forward, the mist kept getting thicker. Even he, who had the status of an 'Aldor', found it difficult to traverse through it.
[How does it feel, you bastard?]
Suddenly the mist shifted, and the surrounding changed. He found himself crucified with chains while his body burnt, and a woman held flames in her hand. Her robes swayed as the wind fanned the flames, and her open auburn hair kept touching her face.
[How does it feel, your life that you so dearly value, slowly slither away from you?]
Her anguished voice continued. Aamon watched himself burn yet no voice left his mouth, his eyes locked onto the eyes of the woman standing below him.
[Feel the pain, the sufferings that I suffered under you, living with you.]
Ptak! Clack!
As the flames continued to burn, he couldn't feel his lower body anymore, the pain assaulting him was excruciating that passing out felt like a better choice to escape from it.
'So, this is how they felt when I purged them,' Aamon thought to the countless times he had hunted down the Dark creatures and monsters, alas who knew he would meet the same fate as them - that too from his own wife. And yet, he refused to make a sound, refused to give her the pleasure of seeing him suffer.
All he did, he did for her, for his love towards her. If he dies for it, so be it.
'For a person to die, he needs to be alive first. But even that right is also only destined for the living, for I was never alive, to begin with. I was merely a puppet, raised and such, and now disposed of as such.'
"A-Adrienne."
As he coughed up blood, he spoke for the first time.
"At the sight of you being happy as I perish at your hands, I can finally be at peace."
The wind continued to fan the flames, the man continued to burn, and the woman watched it as the silence continued.
* * * * *
Aamon had a frown on his face after waking up from his nightmare.
'Is it the work of a mist demon or just another nightmare?' He thought to himself. Since they were hunting mistbeasts this time, he couldn't rule out the possibility. On the off chance that he was right, it could cause trouble for them later on.
He looked around his room, or tent to be exact. It was minimalistic with his bed and a fire basket the only thing. His sword rested on the table near him, and naturally, he didn't have any armor on him.
He slowly stood up, feeling suffocated from the air inside the tent, and walked toward the curtain door.
Plop!
A cold wind blew across the snow-covered land all night. The air was crisp, though not as icy as Aamon had anticipated for this time of year. The darkness in the sky was just beginning to fade, the thousands of stars dimming like diamond dust. The twilight hung low, allowing only enough light to see the silhouettes of the men guarding the camp in the sprawling oak and leatherleaf copse.
He drew his cloak back around himself, a hand on his sword in its scabbard, and continued his round of the knights through the snow. It was a valuable sword that he had purchased at an exorbitant price.
The faint murmur from the knights filled the air. It appeared that they have not yet gone to rest. It was understandable to be restless when a threat of monsters and demons loomed over.
"My Lord."
"My Lord."
As he passed through a pair of knights taking guard, they bowed, greeting him. He nodded in response. The noble etiquettes drilled into him demanded so, to acknowledge the efforts of those who work hard - his Creed as a knight moreover so.
As Aamon walked on, he thought back to his dream. A nightmare he didn't want to revisit once again. It was then that a mechanical voice interrupted his thoughts once again.
{Synchronization Progress: Currently 10%}
'Hmm, what does this mean?' He wondered. This was the second time such message had appeared in his vision and yet the meaning was unclear. There was no explanation either from this system - as his 'other self' claimed it to be. But this recent development did excite him, and his heart throbbed.
As he was lost in his thoughts, he heard another person's footsteps near him.
"Greetings, My Lord."
It was the Knights Commander, Elric. He lightly bowed his head while greeting, his hands on his chest as the tradition demanded.
Aamon nodded. It wasn't necessary to reply to the greetings, especially if the other party was merely a Knight's Commander of a group of knights that barely amounted to a hundred, including the fifty they had taken with them. How many of them would make it back was still unknown, thus the shrinking of the already small Knights Order was a definite.
"The knights are excited at the prospect of fighting beside their new Lord." He added.
"Is that so?"
"Yes, My Lord."
It was not surprising to Aamon. It was in their Creed for knights to always be loyal to their Lord, even if it was a new one who barely got the title a few days back.
"What do you expect the size of the monsters this time?" Aamon asked.
"The monster waves from the north have always been fierce, My Lord," Elric replied as if he was waiting to be asked this. "Earlier it used to be goblins and Orcs, but lately new monsters have also started appearing. Thought this is the first time mistbeasts have appeared here. I have heard they are quite dangerous, My Lord," he added, as if curious about it.
"Yes, they are. I wonder if your people can handle it."
"Yes, they can, My Lord. Rest assured, we won't bring shame to the name of knights and to our Lord." Elric bowed as he replied, this time even more.
"I see."
That was all. The conversation only lasted this long and silence ensued again.
As they decided to walk forward, to continue the rounds, a small sound caught their attention.
Swish!!!
Swish!!!
Swoosh!!!
A barrage of arrows rained upon the camp, along with the cries of the monsters.
"Kkkekekekek"
"Kwkwkwkwkkw"
One of the arrows penetrated a knight sitting beside the fire, alerting the others. Soon, chaos ensued as everyone looked for their weapons and the attackers who ruined their peaceful atmosphere.
"It's the GOBLINSSS!!!"
From the bushes, a group of green-skinned, pointy-eared creatures surrounded their camp. Goblins. The subjugation had started in earnest.