Chase woke up. He blinked several times, startled and confused.
Everything was bright. There were no massive trees or monstrous creatures...
No scent of death, no monsters, and he wasn't freezing to death alone on the lowest branch of a Goliath tree.
It was warm, and he could feel the radiant sun burning into his forehead.
It took Chase a minute to gather himself from his dazed mental state. When he did, he quickly realized why everything was so bumpy.
He sat up on a small leather bench in the back cabin of a decently sized caravan.
"Hey, you're awake!"
Chase jumped, reaching for the topaz dagger tucked into a small pocket on the side of his charred leather pants.
"I have food—only if you're hungry, though."
The voice came from the other side of the small cabin.
It was a higher-pitched male voice, similar to that of a younger boy around Chase's age.
The lone survivor of the Dark Forest looked up slowly as the blurriness in his eyes began to clear.
Sitting across from him was a boy with raven-black hair and vibrant blue eyes that sparkled like the frozen rivers of the Dark Forest.
He wore an ivory-white nobility outfit.
Chase had not grown up anywhere remotely populated with nobility, so he didn't really know what their outfits were even called.
Nor did he know what manners or proper etiquette were required when speaking to someone of higher-ranked status.
His brain short-circuited, and he lost his ability to think clearly.
It had been nearly a year since he'd been able to hear the voice of a real human being.
Something Chase hadn't considered during his trials in the forest was that his social capabilities would be severely damaged after such an isolating experience.
He lifted his sore hand off the dagger's handle and brought it up to rub his eyes.
"Well, I was told not to ask you any questions, but I was wondering...?"
Chase nodded silently as the boy began to speak again.
An excited expression lit up the boy's face.
"Did you kill the Naga? Was it you who did it?"
"Huh..."
Chase was confused by the overly energetic boy's question.
Why the hell does he want to know if I killed it?
"Yeah, I guess I killed it," he said, wondering what rank the Naga held among monsters. He hadn't studied monsters much; most of what he knew came from stories his father used to tell him or snippets he'd read in miscellaneous books.
Chase assumed it was just a larger snake from the reptilian family.
The boy's eyes lit up as he studied Chase.
His eyes widened. "Wait, wait—what do you mean 'yeah, I killed it'?" He leaned forward, his voice lowering as if sharing a secret. "You don't just kill a Naga. The thing's a legend. And you—no offense—look like you couldn't kill a rabbit."
It was true. Chase was tiny compared to other kids his age—both in weight and height. So he didn't take offense to that; however, he had killed many rabbits recently!
Quickly, though, the boy's energetic mood was replaced with an unconvinced expression.
"Do you mind if I ask how old you are?"
Chase nervously scratched the small patch of burnt skin on his neck, glancing down at his tattered clothes, which revealed massive burns and bruises across his body.
"Um, thirteen—almost fourteen, I think..."
"No way! You killed a Naga, and you're younger than me..."
He paused, looking out the caravan window.
The Dark Forest had long since disappeared, and now the ponds and grasslands surrounding the City of the Sun moved past them.
Suddenly, a proud and triumphant expression appeared on the boy's face.
"Ya know, today is my birthday! Which makes me a year older than you."
"Uh, cool, I guess?"
The boy ignored Chase's lazy and uncaring response and kept talking.
"My father finally let me attend his job—which is watching the walls during the night, if you didn't know."
He continued to talk, which began to annoy Chase, who just wanted to get to the academy and find a warm place to stay for the night.
"And who would have guessed that on my first time with the night watch, I'd meet someone my age who killed the Naga!"
Chase was caught off guard by the simple "the."
"The? Like there's only one Naga?"
The boy tilted his head, frowning.
"Yes! There's only one Naga. Ten years ago, that Naga ravaged the City of the Sun and even killed our only paladin."
He continued to tell Chase about the Naga.
"When it fought the paladin, its soul-invading powers were strong enough to kill him from the inside out!"
Chase stared at the boy, lost in thought.
'No soul powers?' Chase frowned, the boy's words echoing in his mind. Was it weaker than it should have been? Or… was it holding back?
Before Chase could dwell further, the boy spoke again.
"By the way, my name's Michael of House Everfrost. What's yours?"
Chase felt an unfamiliar warmth spread through his tired body.
"Ch—Chase of... uhm, no house..."
He tapped his finger against the charred skin on his neck, waiting for Michael to make some remark or insult.
"Oh, the schools tell us the Nameless can't slay beasts of corruption."
Chase turned away, staring out the window, feeling a sense of hatred ignite within his heart.
"But I already knew that was a bunch of bullshit," Michael said proudly, grinning at Chase.
Chase's fingers stilled against his neck. He blinked at Michael. No ridicule? No scorn? He wasn't sure if it was some cruel trick or if Michael truly believed it was "bullshit."
"Uh, yeah... Can I ask where you guys are taking me?"
Michael's grin widened as he looked out the window, pointing to a beautiful silhouette atop towering mountains on the city's edge.
As the caravan creaked along, Chase's gaze followed. Rolling grasslands and serene ponds framed the city in an almost unreal way. For a moment, he wondered if he was dreaming. Then he saw it—a towering gothic castle perched like a sentinel on the mountains. His breath caught.
"The headmaster of Phoenix Academy asked to see you as soon as he heard a kid had been spotted alive in the Dark Forest—not to mention that you've probably been there for quite some time."
Chase's heart skipped a beat as his eyes locked onto the far-off castle.
"Thank you, Michael..."