His nose scrunched up in disgust as a putrid stench wafted past his nostrils and his eyes snapped open to witness the unfamiliar scenery that settled in his sight. He laid still. Unmoving! Gazing at the crimson moon that hung in the sky like an enchanting poetry, surrounded by a hazy golden halo.
The sky was starless, purple but dark enough to mesmerize dreams. It was night.
He was in a daze, trying his hardest to process the reality of the situation. Soon realisation dawned upon him as he sat up in horror and looked around.
He was gloriously naked lying on a tar-coloured street surrounded by rows of houses. The houses were fairly old styled. A gigantic clock tower could be seen in a distance. A shroud of light fog was restricting the vision a bit. There were steel pipes emerging through the ground probably passing through the underlying sewage tunnels. A few pipes to his left were also steaming out putrid sewage fumes. The town was silent and there was no one in sight.
Where am I? he questioned but sadly there was no answer.
Confusion was evident on his face and his heart was beating wildly but he calmed himself to assess the situation.
His brain was hazy. Confused. Who even am I?
As he was lost in his thoughts, his eyes caught notice of the reflection on the glass window of a house. He paused. His pupils dilated and he touched his face to make sure that this was his face.
The man in the reflection had a smooth but pale skin. His body was lean and despite that, the muscles on his body were structured perfectly. He had shoulder length hairs and a pair of grey eyes. Sitting naked in the middle of the street.
Markiv…Albet…
And not sooner than the name went past his head, a sudden influx of memories gushed into his brain. His veins throbbed in intensity and a sharp pain shot through his nerves. His eyes became a bit teary and veins bulged out of his neck. The muscles on his body contracted and he found himself unable to move.
A few moments later, he came back to senses. His entire self doused in sweat. He breathed heavily. It was a bizarre experience.
After going through the memories, all the seemingly unfamiliar things around became more and more familiar.
'I…I am Markiv Albet? A resident of City of Marut, Vaday Province? The kingdom of Uruk in the western continent? Of…the world of Prithisht…'
There was so much uncertainty pertaining to the present that he was doubtful whether the memories in his head were even his own. But a question will inevitably arise with this line of thought that if these were not his memories, then where were his?
Questions must not be asked when there is a certainty that the answers will not be met…
Putting his thoughts behind his head, he stood up and the moment he did so, the sound of horse hoofs clip-clopping against the road entered his ears. It was coming towards him.
The night patrollers!
With an almost instinctual reaction, he dashed away in the direction opposite to the sound, hiding himself under the shadowy veil of crimson moonlight and a violet night.
…
Clip! Clop! Clip! Clop!
The sound of horse hoofs went past the place where Markiv was lying on the road a few moments ago. Two men wearing black cloaks with golden embroidery pulled on the leashes of their rides and looked around. There was a seriousness in their eyes but also a sense of frustration, maybe of the fact that they couldn't find the thing that they had arrived here for.
"Are you sure it was here?" one of them asked.
"Hmm…" the other nodded.
"Where then?" the first guy asked in frustration.
"…" his partner did not reply, but his frown was deepening.
Soon they left the area; oblivious of the fact that a cat was watching all their actions, hiding behind a garbage can on the side of the street. And the moment they vanished from its sight, it opened its mouth and coughed violently. A small round object, covered in its saliva, rolled out from its mouth. It started to play with it. Rolling it around with its paws. But suddenly the round object was pushed out from the shades of the garbage cans and illuminated itself under the bloody moonlight.
It was an eye; though stray but, on a further note, the shades of its pupil had an uncanny resemblance to that of Markiv.