The meadows stretched afar, covered by a bed of colourful flowers. The scenery was very pleasant to look at. The planes were flat, endlessly so. The lands met the clear blue sky at the distant horizon. The Sun was radiant, or one could say more radiant than an usual day. August looked at his surroundings, which were unnecessarily colourful.
Uh..? what? Wait a minute.
Was this a kind of nightmare? Looking around one more time, August wasn't so sure himself. Well, he was sure that it was a dream but for some reason he felt reluctant to take it seriously. The vibe this place had, was very different from the fear he used to feel within the nightmares.
While this was true he couldn't remember what actually he experienced inside those but the eerie feeling they gave him was enough to be considered as an actual experience. For some reason, the back of his head was aching like crazy.
'What the actual hell?'
August for some reason knew, it wasn't even a serious thing to get himself worked up over. He got up with a bored expression, clearly not impressed by this strange place. Then it felt like he heard something. A strange voice from behind.
But what was it exactly? More importantly, whom does it belong to? Because even in the dramatically strange place such as where he was standing, he could easily recognize the voice and the conclusion he got by himself was that he doesn't recognize the voice. Or more accurately he didn't know the person to whom this voice belongs.
What was it saying though?
"Get away…
The hazier words a while ago were becoming clearer by the minute.
"Get.. get away from my…
My sister?
August contemplated the words in his mind for a while and he didn't remember having this kind of a conversation with anyone.
'Doesn't ring a bell. Definitely'
August was sure. Why would anyone tell him to get away from his sister and call him a creep? He never got close to anyone's sister to begin with. Not that he could remember.
'NEVER'
Yes, he never did. Never. So why was that strange and unfamiliar voice telling him to do what he hadn't done in the first place?
— — —
August opened his eyes suddenly, realising he had been asleep, god knows how long for now. Thinking about the strange dream, he realised it was strange enough to be put in a list of most horrifying dreams of his own. August had read somewhere that the most dangerous fear of a person happens to be, fear of the unknown.
'A field of flowers, a colourful world. Scary'
Considering the strange place he was at, up until now or his mind —that experience was enough for him to creep himself out. Not that he got spooky vibes or anything in that dream but it still was …scary.
'I've had enough of these nightmares'
Or so he thought. The moment he opened his eyes he was greeted with another strange sight or was it strangely beautiful.
He saw a pair of deep blue eyes staring down at him, the silver-white hair falling at his face occasionally swayed by the gentle breeze.
August was still processing the sight before him. Faster than he could've reacted however, the lips of the girl staring down at him from above curled upwards in a smile. August saw her expressions changing slowly.
That was the moment he realised that he was lying on a wooden bench at the side of the street.
"You're awake" The girl spoke as August sat leaning his back against the bench, "We thought you'd never wake up."
While the question or numerous questions exactly, still lingered in his mind about this strange girl August bit them back, just for now. Rubbing the back of his head gently which was still hurting he spoke calmly, "We?"
"Ah, yes my bro—" Stopped as a voice cut her words, which seemed like August had heard somewhere before.
" —You're alive" August looked at the noble young man who also seemed about the same age as himself. From his royalty-like attire, he seemed as though crown prince of some kingdom. His dark hair was put together, as was his seemingly luxurious clothes. The attire of the strange prince was the polar opposite of the loose, comfortable clothing of August.
His deep blue eyes gazed at August with cold indifference, like he was looking at nothing more than a peasant. August had read about various royalties and the thing they all shared in common was their attitude problem. It's not like he blamed them for that. August himself believed it was quite logical for the people who ruled over countless masses to be proud or even a little bit arrogant.
But the problem here was the emotion he was feeling from his gaze —wasn't the arrogance of the royalty but something completely different, completely personal.
"Ah, yes" August tried to answer humbly, trying not to provoke the stranger any more, "I am?"
"Damian!" The girl on the wheelchair said to the strange prince in an authoritative tone, "Is this the right way to talk to someone?" August sat silently for a while, surprised by the sudden change in the attitude of the seemingly harmless girl, he gulped in silence as she continued, "This gentleman here was trying to help me, you come from nowhere and hit a person like that? What is this behaviour?"
"B–But Sis I…" The young boy tried to give a clarification, his tone growing a bit somber at her words.
"What now? Are you saying that you aren't at fault here?" She pushed her chair towards him, continuing to scold her brother, "Come on, apologize to him, right now!"
"I–won't" he muttered under his breath, pouting like a child now.
"Enough!" She tried to be scary but her sweet pleasant voice betrayed her, "I approached him first because I couldn't find my way back. So if anyone is at fault here is me. I should apologize. Damian, you're right."
"No.." He said trying to raise his voice as he saw his sister blaming herself, "I didn't say that" He lingered for a while and said, "Okay, I will apologize"
"I am sorry, okay?" He said bowing reluctantly. August could imagine how much of a hit was it for his royal ego, apologizing to a peasant like himself. For some reason though August felt good, he suppressed a smirk which would definitely have come out as a mocking smile. August lingered for a while figuring out the right way to react.
"Properly.." the girl said, suppressing a frustrated growl.
"I–I am sorry sir" the boy said, this time however his apology sounded genuine, "I thought you were some creep trying to hit on my sister. Forgive me please. I acted rashly."
August intended to tease him a little, not humiliate him. He thought of something to lighten up the mood but before he could've come up with something however, the girl in the wheelchair spoke, lowering her head alongside her brother,
"Please spare some kindness in your heart to forgive my brother, Sir."
"No, please don't" August felt like a cruel demon, making her apologize in place of her brother, so he stood up quickly and held the boy with shoulders helping him stand straight. For the girl however, he couldn't possibly go and touch a girl without her permission, "You don't have to do all that" he tried to lighten the mood, "If anything, that smack of yours helped me snap back to reality. Believe me."
Trying to change the awkward subject quickly he asked, "May I ask who might you two be? Because I've never seen you around here before."
"I am Damian fiona" the young noble replied, gesturing to his sister, "...And this is my sister Marianne. Actually, we are new here and don't know our way around very well. While it's obvious, but I feel inclined to tell you gentlemen that my sister has an unusual habit of wandering off on her own which often results in her getting lost. So, please forgive her for this…"
"That's enough!" the girl spoke, her voice authoritative. Ignoring her brother she looked at August with a polite smile, "Now when my brother is here, I think it would be unwise to trouble you anymore" her brother grabbed her wheelchair from behind as she continued, "Sorry and thank you"
"Please" said August, his tone gentle and welcoming, "This might seem like a small town for you. But we do have scenic views and pretty good food" With that he stood up awkwardly and said, "enjoy your time here."
August always wondered about the survival of their small town. While it was true the town was in somewhat good conditions but not upto the point that it could be called as a thriving place. People still had their individual struggles and most of them were related to money. And what could possibly be the best way to earn money for a place with almost no connectivity to the outside world? It was tourism.
One of the best ways to make people of the great empire aware of the presence of their small town. That was why he got out of his way to inform these strangers about some of the few specialities of the town, apart from goodwill.
"We will," the girl replied warmly. With that August stood there for a while watching them turn around and start to leave. He felt like he was forgetting something.
What exactly?
Then he suddenly remembered, his eyes widened in surprise.
"Wait" he shouted, not minding to keep his voice down. The duo stopped in surprise, turned towards him with confusion written clearly on both of their faces. August stood there for a while and spoke looking at the girl,
"Where did you say you were going to?"
— — —
Deep inside the boundary of the southern forest, a beautiful and seemingly delicate woman with dark hair stood motionlessly. Her soft light green dress blending with the atmosphere of the forest swayed with the winds, as did her hair tied in a pony tail.
Sighed, as she finally opened her red ruby eyes, gazing straight with grim determination. She looked at the abomination coming straight towards her as she knew it had to be stopped before it would reach the town. Being one of the two combat mages of the town, it was her unspoken duty to protect the people. Or it was something her husband would like to say in moments like these.
A monster of the lesser class was charging at her with unstoppable speed and strength. The abomination looked fierce. Its head was adorned with two long and thick horns, its three green eyes stared at Sophia without even blinking for a moment. The creature was huge, taller than some of the canopies of the forest. It made the trees in its path tremble as it moved with ground shaking strength. Its weight was more than enough to crush the rocks beneath its four thick legs.
The abomination was closing in on Sophia but she stood at her place without even flinching for a second. And when the creature was just about metres from her, she lowered her hand.
The winds moved around her fingers, then the atmosphere suddenly felt cold. The frost spread throughout the ground freezing the legs of the creature on the spot. It tried to break free, even managed to pull one or two limbs of his from the cold but the frost got it again.
Watching the creature struggle Sophia moved towards the creature, dodged the bite from its giant maw with razor-like sharp teeth and effortlessly brushed her hand against the thick hide of the furry monster, making it shiver under the cold spell of her core element.
The whole body of the abomination began to freeze up rapidly. The frost spread from the outer skin to the viscera inside like a disease resulting in the complete frozen corpse of the monster devoid of life.
The frozen corpse of the creature stood still on the spot as the life inside was taken away by the shivering cold in an instant. Sophia grabbed one of the horns of the monster, applied some force and crushed it between her delicate fingers. The rest of the frosted corpse of the creature, like a domino— shattered easily under the given pressure, falling down on the ground into bits and pieces. Outer hard white and reddish icy from insides.
Then, she looked at the corpse of the dead monster with a bored expression,
"Only one remaining now. Let's come for it tomorrow"
— — — — —