Yet again, I ended up in the same dire situation. Nothing changed ever since arriving to this world. For now, I understood my state of unconsciousness with the pitch blackness before my eyes, but I was still perfectly able to feel agonizing pain that enveloped my whole body. The twisted arm, the arrow in the leg, the eyes full of dirt, and the fall to the ground from the highest of heights. I was scared to wake up because there was no telling if this was even a fraction of what I might feel. Thus, for now, I preferred to be dead; there was no hope for me anyway.
No matter what I did, I ended up hurting myself. I had tried to follow my usual methods of survival and failed miserably. I made an attempt to find a new reason to fight, but I got stopped by the inhabitants of this world. Were my methods wrong? Or perhaps, my approach? I did not understand. Ever since I was born in my home city, I had always survived with scraps and my power alone, no matter how insignificant it was. But somehow, after all the dangers were left behind, I felt like everything I knew, my great experience, was totally worthless now.
All I could was to put a world at blame that refused to accept me, as well as Solitaire, who refused to tell anything about this place. He had given me power once, but then took it away, as if toying with my past. I hated him so much, just as much as this world. I hated how I was unable to comprehend it and find a way to fight, no matter how strong I became. In the end, I was the one who slayed the darewolf and a mage! I made the guards of the big town chase me around the whole region of Schöltum, yet my demise was as dull as it could get. Although I probably deserved that, if I was to believe Heindrich's words about the nobles here being common folk just like me... Was my vengeance directed at the wrong people all this time?
As I was reasoning my downfall, I noticed the intensity of pain that was slowly rising. The blackness in my eyes disappeared, giving way to the newfound light. Both my eyes and face were free of dirt, only light moisture remained from the long-passed heavy rain. The sun up in the sky was shining brightly, however, it was slowly following the path of dusk, trying to engulf me in the darkness yet again.
As I suspected, the feeling of dread in the forced dreamworld was just a fraction of the one awaiting me in the real one. The feeling of pain was so intense that tears swiftly formed in the corners of my eyes, the leg burned as if it was surrounded by hot coals, my back and ribs hurt, and the right arm did not listen to my commands, I was unable to move it. In fact, my hands were still tied together with a rope, thus I was barely able to move the left one as well.
Suddenly, I heard a rustle behind me and a quiet hum to a tune I did not recognize. I froze in place, awaiting an animal attack, but nothing came. I noticed a dagger that was somehow lying beside me and not yards away from my drop point. Using my last bit of strength, I extended my hands towards the knife, cut the ropes as quietly as possible, then waited… for the time to strike!
I rolled over, pushed myself up in the air, which triggered a massive wave of stinging pain all over my body, but it did not matter because I managed to fall right onto the source of the sound. Together, we fell back down onto the dirt, but this time I was sitting on top of a person with my dagger's blade put against their neck.
Even though I was breathing heavily all this time, as soon as I witnessed the person below me, my breath was shaken up and I froze once more. Her light blue hair was tied in a single French braid that was now stained with dirt and grass. Her unusual kurta matched her hair and was further highlighted by her white, short cape with orange decorations and patterns. One peculiar detail was her ears, which were far longer than those of a human, and the tips were hidden under a silver ornament that looked like a thimble but for ears. But the most surprising detail was her emerald eyes, that were calm, even cold, but accepting, in spite of the situation. Even after my dagger slightly grazed her skin, her expression did not change, as if it was frozen in time.
After a while of my observations, she tilted her head lightly and said with a soothing voice, "Seems like I am surviving this after all."
Then, my body was pushed by a strong gust of wind all of a sudden. My back hit a nearby tree, breaking the sudden flight, and I raised my weary eyes to her. Her small frame was already up, however, now she was pointing a wand in my direction, that appeared out of nowhere. Her accepting demeanour disappeared in an instant, but her cold expression remained intact. I did not feel anger or disgust while she stared at my dying body, only a wish to end it all as fast as possible.
"Wait!" I raised my only functional hand, "I am sorry, I didn't mean to attack you."
"You went at me with full intention to kill, even left a cut after observing me closer," she explained to me. I struggled to find a counterargument, thus, another half-lie was my only option. I clenched my teeth and exclaimed, "Because I thought you were one of the people who chased me! I did not see their faces, so, of course, I would assume that one of them might have found my body! You did not even try to help me, after all."
After a moment of silence, she lowered her wand and leaned down to take her basket full of berries, herbs, nuts, and mushrooms. Then she turned away and said, "Well, I assumed you were already dead. Humans rarely survive such injuries, but fair enough."
Then, she began walking away from me, to which my eyes widened, and I asked, "Where are you going?"
She turned around, her brow raised slightly, "Back to my shelter, why?"
"So you are leaving me just like that!"
She looked up at the sky in thought and then murmured, "Perhaps, I should help you out, but I really do not like you."
"Listen, I am sorry that I attacked you! Please, I beg you to help me!"