I am in the abyss, drowning and struggling to reach the light. It gets farther and farther away with every minute I drop, dimmer and dimmer until it fades, and I'm surrounded by darkness. My eyes are open, but I cannot see. My arms stretch out, but I cannot grasp anything with them. I scream, yet no sound comes out.
I awake screaming as my eyes flutter open, the light of the sun pulling me out of the nightmare. I breathe heavily and bathe in my own sweat. My whole body aches. Cramped legs scream in agony. It's as if they've been trampled by a bull. My chest is heavy, and every little turn I make tortures me. My throat stings with every breath I inhale. Only a warm, comfortable blanket wraps around me, and the daylight gently brushes my face. This comfort makes me forget for a moment—forget about the nightmare.
But it was not a nightmare. It was all real. The gruesome death of my family as that monster of a man cut them in half. The long sprint pushed only by fear. The cold sobs covered by the tall wild grass. The painful walk under the bright moon in hopes of finding shelter. That was not a bad dream. I wish it were. Why did it happen to me? I did not wish for this!
The wooden door on the other side of the room creaks open as an old man with a long gray beard walks in. He is tall, with very wide and rough hands. His face is wrinkled and ancient. A horizontal scar marks him under the eyes, stretching across all of his face—perhaps a sword wound. His blue eyes look through me.
"You are awake?" the old man says gently. In his left hand, he carries a wooden cup filled with water. His dark clothing is baggy and held by a single rope tied around his lower torso. "You've recovered fast," he smirks while putting the cup on a drawer that stands next to the bed.
"Who are you?" I demand. "Where am I?"
"You're rather eager with your questions. But I suppose you do deserve answers." He nods, looking at the ceiling before looking back at me. "My name is Tigo. I am a fisherman. I was also the one who rescued you last morning. You are in Nirip, the southernmost town of the capital, and this is also my house."
"But I have my own questions, and I demand answers in exchange for my hospitality. Who are you, and where do you come from?" he asks, giving me a gentle smile. His eyes, however, are cold and don't share the same emotion.
"Eric…" I murmur, not even looking at him. "My name is Eric, and I come from a village south of here." He doesn't seem satisfied with my answer, but before he can ask another question, a rumbling sound from outside cuts him off. It shakes the ground like an earthquake. Tigo rushes to see where the sound comes from. I can't follow him, my legs are still cramped.
"What is that?" I shout, spitting everywhere.
"Horses," he declares, gripping the wooden frame of the window. He stays like that until the rumbling fades. "It is the Iron Hooves. They ride south at maximum speed."
"The Iron Hooves?" I ask, my eyes wide open. It is the first time I hear about them.
"It is a defensive army ordered by the Emperor. Something big has happened in the south for them to ride there," he answers. Riding south? Could it be that they gallop south because of what happened to my village?
"Are they strong?" I ask, hoping that if they ride south to confront the pillagers who burned my village, they will be strong enough to defeat them. Can they face that monster? Can an army really stop him?
"They are…" he smiles. "Their horses are massive, reinforced with heavy armor. They have long iron spears that can pierce any armor. They are undoubtedly the strongest army in the south." He glances through the window, looking at the distant horizon where the black mountains linger.
Tigo faces me, his half-open serious blue eyes ready to break me. "Eric… why did you come all the way here?" he asks. He is not like my father, his demeanor is mysterious. You can tell from afar what a man my father was… Tigo, I cannot. He's strange, filled with mystery. How does a simple fisherman bear such a scar? Not even the hunters in my village had one of those. That is a scar of a warrior…
"I escaped. My village was attacked and burned by pillagers. During the attack, my family was slaughtered, only I managed to flee." Even having to think of that night dreads me. But I cannot recall the faces of my family. I don't remember their last words. No. I only remember that monster. His gold armor carved with hawks and the skull helmet that gazed at me, filling me with terror. "I walked for hours until I finally managed to find this town," I murmur, trying not to tear up.
"I am… very sorry about that…" Tigo says, looking down. "… Is there anything I can do for you?" He did not expect this to be my answer. But I do not need his sympathies. They will not bring my family back. They do not even fill a drop of the abyss that's within my heart. I want more… something that will give my family the rest they deserve.
"I want revenge," I say to him. A fire igniting within me, fueled by anger. I am enraged by how weak I am. I am a pathetic excuse for a human. A weakling. It should've been me that night. I should've been the one that was killed, cut in half so that the others could escape. "I want revenge on those who wronged me." I declare "On the one who slaughtered my family like they were pigs. I want him dead—killed the way he killed my family. His blood spilling on the ground felling the terror I felt"
"Revenge?" His eyes open wide in surprise. I nod, determined. "Revenge! Ha-ha! I like your spirit, boy. I once thought like you, filled with rage. But I cannot give you vengeance. I can, however, give you a tip on how to pursue it." His eyes gleam with an unexpected excitement, surprising me. Old men typically preach against vengeance, they dismiss it as a waste of time. Yet he does not…
"What is it?" I ask, my heart racing and eyes wide open. "Tell me!"
Tigo grips my shoulder firmly, his rough hand anchoring me. "Travel north of the Bridged Capital, beyond the cloudy mountains, and even beyond the tall Obsidian gates of the Sovereigns which rest between the mountains…" he smiles. "There, farther than peaks and forests that no one has traversed, is the center. Whether you are looking for revenge, answers, power, glory, truth, or something that transcends all of that… you can find it there."
"Head to the center…"