'Uh? What happened? Where am I?' Artur could not see anything but he was still hearing the noise of battle. It was a dark around him but there was a bit of blueish light and he was very cold. 'What is this, no, I can't move. This is bad. Is this snow?'
Artur struggled against the snow but it was no use. Instead, it only got tighter and squeezed on his chest. He managed to stay calm but he could not breathe properly.
'Shit, I'm buried facedown under the snow' He thought. 'What am I going to do now? One of those colonels must be behind this, I should have reacted sooner. What about Eustace, I have to get out of here'
There was no way he could escape, no matter hard he tried. He was losing oxygen fast.
'How unlucky. The only way for me to get out of this now is for one of those bastards to use their abilities and release a force powerful enough to get me out of here or for Eustace to dig me out of here or else I'm finished' Artur thought.
He waited, conserving as much air as possible, but nothing happened. He could still hear explosions and screams but for some reason they weren't coming close to him at all and it just felt like the snow was only crushing him more.
'I can't take this anymore, someone help me'
There was an explosion and more snow built above him but what suffered more was his right hand which was stretched out. It felt like the bones within it were about to be crushed.
'This pain, how deep am I underground for there to be so much weight? I'm losing consciousness'
If it was not for the pain in his arm he would not even be sure that he was still conscious.
'Please, anybody, do something'
Like as if it was an answer to his prayers something huge suddenly hit the ground and with a lot of force too. He felt the snow above him loosen up and wasted no time in shooting his head out from underground. He took in a lungful of the fresh air and panted, trying to put his blood circulation back in its natural flow. His upper body followed and he used his hands to pull himself out of the ground. He fell facing up as he looked at the chaos around him. His right hand hurt like hell.
"Victor!"
His eyes widened when he heard that cry full of pain in the familiar voice 'Eustace?'
He darted up from the ground and looked around for where the voice came from. His eyes missed it at first but then he heard the voice again.
"Victor!!"
"Eustace where are you?"
"Victor!!!"
Artur turned around and saw him there, stuck under the tree stem. He was bleeding from the mouth which signified internal injuries.
"Eustace!"
Artur ran to him and the first thing he did was try to raise the tree enough for Eustace to crawl out from under it but he was overestimating himself. Even if he was mature he was still twelve years old in this body and it would be pretty absurd for a magicless kid like him to move a cook pine tree as big as that. Even Eustace already knew that it was hopeless.
He groaned as he did his best to raise the tree but to no avail but he did not give up. "Hold on Eustace I'm going to get you out of there.
"Ugh! Aaaaargh!"
"Stop Victor, stop"
"Don't talk like that. When I raise it make sure you crawl out from under it, just wait" 'Come on, come on, come on stupid tree move!"
"I can't feel the rest of my body"
The words struck Artur like a gunshot as his whole world froze. He was befuddled. He turned his face to Eustace, "What did you say, you're joking right?"
"The tree missed my head and landed on my back because I was bent forward a bit, now I can't feel anything in my body"
Artur's face went dark and he returned to the tree. "It doesn't matter. All I have to do is carry you right? There's magic, runes and techniques everywhere so we'll definitely find someone to heal"
"Victor don't, don't worry about me"
"We'll definitely find someone to heal you so..." Artur's voice was shaky now "...so..."
"Victor, you have to st-"
"...so shut up and don't tell me things like I shouldn't worry or I have to stop you idiot. Of course I'm going to because you are my friend"
Eustace smiled. "My bag did not get stuck under the tree so you can take it and leave"
"What are you saying you idiot? You want me to leave? Are you even hearing yourself" Artur turned to him again, all teary-eyed and angry looking "I'm going to get you out of here"
"It's nice to see you like that, I've never seen you crying before"
"That's not freaking important right now" Artur said under his the strain of raising the tree "We planned this together, and we are going to finish this together. I will get you a horse so just..." He paused and grunted "...just believe in me"
"I do believe in you, that's why I want you to take this bag and go"
"I'll take the bag" Artur said and took it from him immediately "But I won't leave without you"
"Tch, how resilient"
Eustace pulled out a lighter and a bottle with a wick from beneath the tree and lighted the Molotov cocktail. He threw it on the ground and Artur took a leap back to avoid the flames. He was shocked and it clearly showed on his face. He also found it weird that the flames made a perfect semicircle around Eustace.
"Eustace, what are you doing?"
"I prepared this before you escaped from the snow. I know what kind of person you are Victor, you will refuse to leave me behind so I had to do this. Sorry I lied about my condition, but I really can't feel anything from the waist down. The chances of you finding a horse to steal in this battle are very low so you shouldn't waste time searching for two. Just save yourself"
"No I won't do that, I won't leave you"
"You're so annoying Victor, I'm trying to look cool here for the gods to see so when I get to heaven they can at least call me a brave guy but you are killing my parade. Just go" Eustace smiled "I'm sure we'll see each other some day but make sure it is a long time from now. Now get going"
Artur was silent for a bit then he pick up a sword and a sheathe from the ground and started walking away. His face was dark just like before.
"Hey wait Victor, have you forgotten?"
Artur stopped and listened to him "Forgotten? Forgotten what?"
"Your promise. It may not be the exactly conditions we set but at least, tell me your real name before we part ways"
Artur turned around with tears welled up in his eyes. They were threatening to pour out of his sockets. He grinned at Eustace but it was a forced one "Artur, it's Artur without an H. My name is Artur Loxley"
Eustace looked surprised like he knew that name before but his surprise changed to a grin. "I always wondered why you were so good with a sword. Well, see you then, Artur Loxley"
Artur turned around and continued walking away. With each step his strides got wider and faster until he was running at full speed.
'I did it, I did it again. Someone else is dying because of my safety. I freaking did it again' Artur thought as he ran. He did not are anymore.
Men came and attacked him, those from Khan's and Karn's armies, but no matter how big or tough or scary-looking they were he made sure that they tasted his blade in its cold glory. He was in a rush searching for horses. The battle was a rough one but he pulled through and when he finally got one, it was cut down before he could even go fifty steps.
He crashed to the ground and the enemy that brought his horse down came on him immediately. Artur struggled to hold this man back but he was way stronger than Artur and the man's sword went closer to his face. Something flashed in the corner of his eye and in the next moment a bright yellow flames descended from the sky and hit the ground close to Artur. The explosion flung he and his opponent away.
When he raised his head he was instantly taken aback.
This person with black hair had jade eyes and they wore a uniform like the captain of some special unit in a great kingdom. He had such confidence and a not-smiling face. All of that was not what got Artur's attention but what he could see on this man's back.
The cape was black with a golden design big enough for anyone to see what was on the back. On the back was a design of two gold bells crossing each other at the top and below them there was a stallion that stood on its two hind legs supported by something that looked like it was meant to be a cloud.
It was his family emblem.