I took one last look at the dead bandit before I prepared to run. On the side of his now exposed neck I saw a tattoo.
A black heart?
Thats something to investigate, but for now…
"Run."
With that I took off in a sprint
My mind drifted while I ran through the forest. I killed two people. Raping murdering no good bandits but… they were still people.
No.. you had too. You had to.
But it was so surreal. Ive never taken someones life or ever had someone seriously try to take mine. Sure Ive done a bit of combat sports but its just that. A sport, you dont kill people. But in less than a minute I killed two men, much less time then you would think.
But it felt…. Good.
It felt good to survive. It felt good to triumph. It felt good, victory felt good. However I knew that victory wasnt certain. It gave us a chance at victory, but the chance of victory is not victory itself.
Look at me being philosophical.
But killing people wasn't something I wanted to feel good doing. But it was hard. Ill have to work on this another time.
But for the first time in a long time…. I felt alive.
A few minutes have passed and the sound of battle and screams grew faint before they disappeared all together.
"Nephiah?" I asked looking for the dark elf.
"Yes?" She answered back coming from behind. I didn't even hear her!!
"I think we ran far enough. This injury needs to be looked after." I said to her.
"Let me see it." She said to me.
I showed her my arm and she showed no reaction.
The flesh was red and stained from blood, the wound itself was fairly deep and was hurting.
"Im sorry, Reynard, but I do not know healing magic. We should look for herbs and a river or stream to clean it." She said holding my arm.
She then looked into my eyes.
"Thank you, Reynard….. I couldn't imagine the fate that would befall me if you didn't help me escape. I promise with my life Ill repay this debt." She said very sternly. It was obvious that she ment this from the bottom of her heart.
"It was… the right thing to do. But your thanks is appreciated." I said to her. She gave me a soft smile before letting go of me and turning around.
"Follow me, I feel the water spirits this way. Keep an eye out for any herbs." She said before very gently walking forward.
Shes very...…. interesting…. Yeah interesting….
I held a hand over my wound and applied pressure before continuing to follow Nephiah.
Very quickly we found a small stream of what looked like safe enough water. Hopefully safe.
"Come here," Nephiah said before she motioned me to sit down on a nearby fallen tree.
The area we were in was beautiful, it seemed like late fall and the bright orange and yellow leaves glimmered with the evening glow. The grass was luscious and green with many orange leaves covering the ground in a orange blanket. Birds chirped and animals called and sang in the air. The stream was cool and quietly transported water to who knows where. It was an amazingly beautiful scene.
I took off my helmet and looked into the small stream.
Whoah…..
The man in the reflection was not me. I had gathered that much when I first woke up I noticed my body was taller, heavier, and much more stronger and muscular. Even after all that running and fighting I wasnt too tired. In my reflection I saw a very handsome man. I looked to be in my early 20s or late teens. My hair was healthy and moving softly with the wind. I think I hit the jackpot.
"Let me, Reynard." The dark elf said before grabbing some water in a waterskin and pouring it over my wound. The blood was flushed off and I was more able to see my wound.
"Thats gonna leave a scar." I said out loud. The wound was fairly deep but not super deep. Not enough that time and some good medicine cant fix at least.
"People like scars." Said Nephiah
"Do you like scars?" I said to her.
He lips curved slightly into a smile.
"No." She said.
"Is that your attempt at a joke?" I said teasingly.
"Maybe.." she said, still with a slight smile.
She washed my wound with water one more time before packing some gauze on the wound and wrapped a bandage around the wound. I moved my arm around a litte bit. It felt a lot better!!
"Thankp you. So what are you planning to do now?" I asked Nephiah.
"I think looking for a nearby city is the best choice. We should follow this stream upwards I feel a stronger connection to the Water Spirts that way." Said the dark elf.
"Right… well I have no choice but to trust you for now. We should move quickly to avoid any bandits that might have come looking for us." I said.
"Very well." Nephiah said before turning around.
Sigh
I would much rather be in my bed right now.
We silently walked through the beautiful forest, I seriously couldn't believe it. I lived in a city and while we did have trees and parks, I never saw anything like this.
"So… Nephiah, tell me about yourself." I asked the dark elf. I was just trying to pass the time but I was genuinely curious about her, this was a different world after all and I feel like she had some valuable information.
"About myself?" She replied back sounding a bit confused.
"Yes." I said back plainly.
She looked away from me a bit before locking eyes with me again.
"What do you want to know?" She asked me.
Just answer the fucking question bro…
"About you, just anything. Something." I said to the dark elf.
Nephiah looked forward and seemed to drift into thought, we walked for a few awkward seconds before she finally answered.
"But what about me?"
What?
"What? Just- just something about you!!! Anything!!" I said a bit agitated.
"Hehe!" Nephiah giggled a little bit before she went back to her usual look.
I just facepalmed and kept walking.
She really is mysterious though…
An hour or so passed by without much talking. Occasionally Nephiah picked some herbs or warned me not to touch or step on something, but overall not much happened.
"It's getting dark shouldn't we make camp?" I asked Nephiah.
The sky was a deep orange and it seemed like the sun was setting, a beautiful sight that was a stark contrast to the view death and carnage that he saw before.
I tried my best not to think about what had happened but its hard not to forget, especially when it literally happened only an hour ago.
"I was hoping to get as far away as those bandits as possible, knowing them they would wait for us to sleep before they attacked us." Said Nephiah
"I dont feel like they followed us, but I cant say that I'm experienced in this sort of thing. Im sure your right though, getting far away is a good idea." I said to Nephiah.
I truly dont think those bandits followed us but again, Im not experienced in bandits, usually in games and things I just killed all the bandits.
The more and more time I spend here, the more I realize this isn't a game.
"Right, then let's keep moving, Reynard" said Nephiah.
"Right."
We continued for a while.