Beings that possess a consciousness are odd creatures. In order to keep themselves safe, they will do anything to preserve their lives. Even imagine and hallucinate things that didn't happen or maybe happened in the past.
'Wait... wait, wait, wait. What's going on? What's happening?'
Surrounding Vigil was no longer the nice, decorated, comfortable walls of his mother's room.
Instead, was the sight of destruction.
The castle, once great and imposing, was turned to rubble. Only half of its walls still stood while the other half had crumbled down into an unrecognizable pile of rubble.
"HELP!"
"MAMA! PAPA!"
"PLEASE! SOMEONE, ANYONE!"
The voices that he had heard earlier in the day finally made sense to him.
They were the screams of terror that came from the ensuing destruction.
He did not only hear voices though, he heard explosions, the sounds of fighting, and the infrastructure falling too, as if someone or something was causing this whole mess. Purposefully or not.
'Wait. But if those screams were real then...'
Looking ahead, Vigil saw a pile of rubble and underneath it someone was sticking out with their lower half clearly crushed from the fallen debris.
"Run, Vig! Please... Run."
The person lying below the rubble was Vigil's mother, Maria, with tears in her eyes, telling him to run, not help, but run.
Dropping the sword that was currently in between his arms, Vigil rushed towards Maria.
"MOM! Stay still, I'll get you out from there I promise!"
He said while trying to lift the giant piece of rubble currently crushing his mother.
Looking up at her son, Maria couldn't help but cry even more.
"Vigil, my beautiful boy, look at me. I wish I could've stayed with you just a little longer. A day, no a minute, hell even just a second longer."
"Mom, please... just please be quiet! I'll get you out so don't waste any more energy!"
Her voice started to become weaker as time passed.
"But today is when we have to say goodbye. How I wish I could've seen you grow into a strong young man, see you start a family of your own someday, make me some adorable little grandchildren."
"MOM, PLEASE STOP SAYING THESE THINGS! YOU'RE GOING TO LIVE OKAY!?"
At this point Vigil started to cry as well.
He couldn't help it. As a young boy, seeing someone close to you die was an experience that would make you sad no matter what.
"Vig, please listen... to me. Run... run and keep running. Don't look back, for both of our sakes. Your mother doesn't want you to see her in this state... right now. She also... doesn't want any harm... to come to you."
As Maria was saying this, she was trying her hardest to push Vigil away but to no avail. She seemed to have lost too much strength.
Using the last of her remaining strength, a final desperate assault made by her will to keep her son safe, Maria shouted at Vigil.
"VIG! SHUT UP AND LOOK AT ME!"
"Huh...?"
Snapping out of his stupor, albeit only a little, Vigil let his mother speak to him.
"Vig... leave this place. Pick up your father's sword and... leave."
In between gasps of air and barely able to say another word because of the pain, Maria looked at Vigil in the eyes with the last remaining shred of resolve her shortening life would allow her.
"Reach Mercy... and gain their attention. Once... you do... make the right choice... make the choice your father made. Now... run, Vig. Pick up that sword... and run!"
Looking at his mother, Vigil couldn't help but shake his head.
He didn't want to believe what he was seeing, he wanted to think that this was all just a nightmare. Sadly, he already woke up from one dream today and he highly doubted that there was a second one he would need to wake up from.
Vigil was conflicted on what to do. Obviously, he wanted to save his mother. But at the same time, something inside of him was screaming at him, telling him to listen to his mother and run like the wind.
Looking at Maria's face once more, Vigil saw his mother, bloodied and crying...
Yet she was smiling as well.
This smile was the same one that Vigil saw many times before. He knew exactly what it meant.
Trust.
That smile was the same one Maria would give Vigil whenever she wanted him to trust her.
Shaking his head, Vigil began to slowly take steps backwards until his foot hit something on the ground.
Looking down at what his foot hit, Vigil saw his father's sword, the Promise. It was the last gift that his mother gave him, and most likely the last one he would ever receive from her.
Bending down and reaching out to grab the sword, Vigil saw his hands. They were not only shaking but also covered in ash and soot.
Looking at the rest of his body, he noticed that, not only were his hands covered, but his whole body too. Almost as if it wasn't just his mother that was caught up in something that could kill a person.
'Wait... if we were just inside mother's room when all of this happened...'
Looking back at his mother, struggling to keep conscience, Vigil thought of something that made his stomach drop with anxiety.
'If we weren't on ground level... then how did I come out of all of that with only minor injuries and a bit of dirt?'
Looking up at Maria, Vigil's mouth opened up to ask one last question.
"Mom... did you... did you protect me? Is that why you're in that state right now?"
In response to his question, Maria smiled.
She couldn't help it. Knowing that, although it might've costed her life, she was still able to protect her child to the very end made her happy.
But that smile wasn't just a happy one, no, it was full of sadness and regret too.
She was sad that she couldn't spend more time with him. She regretted that this was how they would part.
But even after all of that, she was happy. So very happy that her son still had a shot at life.
Barely able to open her lips, Maria mouthed one last thing to Vigil.
'Go.'
At this point, Vigil had tears streaming down his face. Enough to seem as though the world's greatest dam had been destroyed.
Looking back at the Promise, Vigil bent down and picked it up with his fiercely shaking hands.
Holding the sword between his arms, Vigil looked back at his mother one last time.
Although he opened his mouth to say something, no sounds were able to escape.
Realizing that he was still standing in the same spot, Vigil turned back to look at the ruined city and ran.
He ran and ran and kept running as though nothing else mattered to him, all while crying.
'I'm sorry.'
Looking at the crumbling houses Vigil couldn't help but think.
'I'm sorry.'
Seeing people, young and old, crying over their loved one's corpses, calling out for people to help, Vigil could only think one thing.
'I'm sorry.'
'I'm sorry for being a coward, for not helping, for running away, for doing nothing when I could no matter how little it may have been.'
Growing up, Vigil had a strong sense of responsibility, and it was only strengthened by the work that he has done over the years.
He was raised to help people, look after and take care of them when they needed help.
But today, he did nothing.
All he did was run. As though it was written in his DNA that running was the only option.
***
Now ways away from her son, Maria could stop keeping up her strong front and let out a pained groan.
'So... this is how it ends, huh?'
Looking at her sons back, she couldn't help but think one last time before she died.
'Vig... I love you-'
*BOOM*
With that, she was gone, along with the nation of Gravolta...
***
Somewhere a few miles out, a hooded man dressed in blue robes with gold embroidery stood atop one of the once giant walls that surrounded Gravolta's capital. On the back of his robes was a symbol that was made up of multiple ancient words that conjoined to form multiple circles. These circles combined to make an even bigger, more elaborate one. The people of War Field have come to know these symbols as magic circles.
With the hood of the robe up, one could only see the bottom half of his face. From what people could see when looking at him at this moment, he was sporting a short black beard. However, no other distinct facial features could be made out at this very moment.
Behind him was his right hand. A women dressed in the same blue robes as the man, but with silver embroidery instead of gold.
"My lord, the castle has fallen to our forces, and we have confirmed the deaths of the king and queen."
Hearing the update on how the seige was currently going, the man in blue robes responded in a mature, gruff voice.
"What about the princess?"
Taking a second to respond, the women replied with a calm tone of voice.
"At this moment... we do not know where she is. We believe that she fled the capital with a group of mercenary escorts."
"I see."
Not even needing to take a second to gather his thoughts and think of a plan, the man proceeded to give out his orders.
"Send out a few dozen groups of scouts. They couldn't have gotten too far, so make sure they only go a few miles out at most. Tell them to be back by next nightfall at the latest."
Hearing his orders, the woman was about to turn around and give his command to their scouts when she heard his voice once more.
"Also, make sure none of the kids that are still alive are harmed by our people. They've suffered enough from our initial attack."
Looking back at the commander, the womans eyes sparkled as she looked at him with reverence.
'Even during a destructive seige like this the commander still puts his values first.'
"I understand my lord."
Nodding her head, she turned around once more to give out the man's orders.
Meanwhile, the man, while giving his orders, was looking at a certain kid running down the street with tears streaming down his face carrying a sword that was clearly too big for the child.
'I'm sorry young one, but this is how the world works...'
Taking a second, the man said a single phrase under his breath before looking away from the boy.
"Welcome to War Field."
***
*Cough cough*
Within the vast reaches of War Field was a lone child wearing a beaten, worn-out suit. Its once pristine jacket was torn on the arms, as if the wearer had scraped it on something multiple times. The dress pants were the same as the jacket's sleeves. On the parts where the dress shirt could be seen, it was now stained by soot causing its once clean white to turn a deep black in some places.
In the child's right hand was on the hilt of a sword sheathed in its scabbard. The tip of the sword was dragging a few feet behind the boy.
The boys' cheeks were sunken in, presumably from lack of food and drink.
This young boy was Vigil, the once butler in training for the royal family at the now fallen nation of Gravolta.
Surrounding him was nothing but a barren wasteland.
Every now and then he would find a tree or two that had been burnt to a crisp, only standing due to its great roots that it had burrowed deep into the ground over the years that it once lived.
'Why...?'
'Why did this happen? What did we do to deserve this?'
With all the spare time he now had, Vigil couldn't help but think about what happened a few nights ago.
'Mom... I'm sorry...'
'I didn't even get to tell you 'I love you' one last time...'
With tears welling up in his eyes, Vigil shut them so that he couldn't cry.
He didn't want to because he didn't feel like he had the right to. Not after what happened.
"Mom..."
*Tonk*
'Huh...?'
Feeling his foot hit something, Vigil opened his eyes and, for the first time in days, he saw something other than dead trees.
But what he saw wasn't pleasant.
'What... is this?'
Looking up from the ground, all that Vigil saw was even more death and destruction.
People lay on the ground, some with wounds covering their bodies, some with nothing... seemingly asleep, and others without their bodies... just their heads lying on the ground.
Throughout the field of corpses were weapons that had been lodged in the ground, forgotten by their former masters. Some weapons still lay in the hands of their former owners, now corpses.
While looking at the soldiers' bodies, Vigil noticed something odd.
Every body that lay on the ground wore the same chainmail armor with pieces of steel plating protecting their arms and leather for the legs.
Etched onto the shoulders of the armor was an insignia of a spear with a crown atop its blade.
'These people... were they all on the same side?'
Looking around, Vigil tried to find a single person wearing something, anything, that may be different from the rest of the corpses...
...to no avail.
"This was no battle. This was a massacre."
While whispering his conclusions under his breath, Vigil felt a small chill go down his spine.
'What if the person, or thing, who did this is still here?'
When looking around his current vicinity, Vigil felt a sense of relief when realizing that nothing was close.
Well, at least nothing that was still alive.
Marching forward, Vigil took time to glance over every corpse that he came close to in order to find some form of sustenance.
Throughout his inspection, Vigil found a few people with water pouches strapped to their belts.
Each time he found a pouch, he quickly checked to see if something was still in it.
*Tink*
While drinking from a scavenged water pouch, Vigil heard a noise. One that sounded like metal on metal.
Putting down the pouch and looking to his left, Vigil saw one of the fallen soldiers walking around.
The soldier had an unsheathed sword in his right hand, using it as a walking stick. His left arm was missing with the bone protruding outwards and small chunks of flesh still hanging on to it.
There was also dried blood that had already come out of the soldier's helmet.
From the looks of it, the soldier was looking directly at him.
"Hello...? Are you okay?"
In response to hearing Vigil speak, the soldier started walking towards him without answering his question.
'Can he not speak? Maybe he is too hurt and can't...'
Thinking this, Vigil started to walk towards the wounded soldier so that he could better communicate.
As he was walking towards the wounded soldier, Vigil couldn't help but think once more about who or what caused such a large armed force to perish so easily.
'Maybe it was a dragon. No, Professor Shtil said that dragons are neutral beings. From the wounds on the bodies, whatever did this wielded either a weapon or had sharp claws. Some limbs also seemed to have been forcefully torn off...'
'Seriously... what happened...?'
Coming close to the soldier, Vigil tried to speak with him once more.
"Hey, are you okay... do you need some help...?"
After staring at Vigil for a few moments, the soldier quickly slashed his sword upwards from its previous position on the ground.
Thankfully, the soldier misjudged the distance he was from the kid and missed.
Seeing the sudden movement, Vigil took a step back as soon as possible. His sword now positioned vertically next to him with its tip still on the ground.
'Wha...'
Not giving the boy time to think, the soldier took a step forward with his left foot and performed a downward slash aiming for his head.
Recovering from the shock given to him by the initial swing, Vigil looked to his right and saw his sword.
'Block...'
Taking a step to his left and positioned the flat side of his sword onto his right shoulder with the tip still pointed towards the ground.
By the time the soldier's sword reached Vigil, it was unable to hit its target because of his sudden movement.
However, the swords did still clash.
"Ack!"
This was Vigil's first time in an actual fight, so although he might've blocked his opponent's attack, it still weighed heavy on his small frame.
But due to the angle in which Vigil positioned his weapon, his opponent's sword hit it and slid down the length of its sheath, hitting the ground.
Not thinking, instead, reacting off of pure instinct to live, Vigil ignored the pain from the initial strike and charged forward towards the soldier's legs dropping the Promise in the process.
'Live... I need to live!'
Noticing the childing rushing towards his leg, the soldier quickly retaliated by lifting his right knee up and hitting the boy in the face with it. The soldier quickly followed up by trying to hit the boy on the side of his head with the pommel of his sword.
Getting knocked back by the sudden blow from the man's knee, Vigil decided to charge forward and try attacking the man's leg once more. This time aiming for his left leg.
At this point in time, Vigil wasn't thinking. All he was doing was acting off of his natural sense of self-preservation.
Because of Vigils sudden charge, the soldier's pommel strike had missed his head and instead flew right behind it, causing the man to lose his balance.
Realizing that the man's footing was messed up, Vigil went for a shoulder tackle aiming for his knee.
With the full force of his bodyweight as well as the momentum he gained from his short charge, Vigil connected his shoulder with the soldier's right knee.
*Crunch*
"Aghh...!!"
Without the support of his left leg, the soldier fell to the ground while letting out a pained groan.
Taking this moment of vulnerability, Vigil rushed towards where he dropped his sword and picked it up.
Quickly taking the Promise out from its sheath, Vigil swung it towards the arm in which the man held his weapon.
*Tink*
Vigil's sword bounced off of the man's armor, causing it to bounce slightly into the air.
Realizing that he couldn't cut through the fallen soldier's plate armor, Vigil looked towards where the plate began and the chainmail ended.
'You can't slice chainmail, but you can pierce it.'
Thinking this, Vigil positioned his sword over the man's shoulder with its tip pointed down.
Putting all of his bodyweight into the downward stab, Vigil was able to breakthrough his opponent's chainmail...
...albeit barely.
Noticing that his attack was only able to pierce the armor but not what it was protecting, Vigil raised his sword again and stabbed downwards.
Again.
Again.
And again.
Until the man was bleeding profusely from his shoulder.
"Hah hah hah..."
At the moment, all that Vigil could hear was his own breath...
...Until another sound came from the man.
"Hic... hic... it's- it's not fair..."
After looking at the man's helmet for a few seconds due to the sounds coming from it, Vigil decided to take it off.
Underneath, Vigil saw a young man, no older than being in his mid-twenties, with blood covering his mouth.
"Why... why me...?"
Raising his sword, Vigil positioned its tip atop the man's throat.
Before thrusting his sword into the man's throat, Vigil said one last thing to him.
"I'm sorry..."
*Shick*
With that, Vigil took his first life.