I floated in water, and dreamed of days gone by. I dreamed of a battlefield, I dreamed of the smell that wavered through the air, and remembered friends that stood side by side. When I opened my eyes, I saw a pile of bodies in front of me. Soldiers walked past me and I felt heavy with fatigue. I rested a little and could only look at the faces of the dead amassed together. A smell lingered through the air, and it caught the attention of the living.

Death was a putrid smell; it just wouldn't let you forget.

Living had always been hell for me. I never liked living, but I knew I had to survive. Why? It's because I feared death most of all. I remembered when I talked to him about it. He never feared death, and I used to admire that about him. Now when I thought about it, that made him seem even more abnormal. The Hero of the Veil was far from normal.

"Don't you ever fear you're going to die by doing all the reckless things you do?" I remembered asking him.

The Hero stood next to me and looked almost like a perfect painting.

"Nope," he said with a pure smile.

"Why not?" I was intrigued by his brashness.

"Because I'm strong," he held up the sword that made him famous.

"Well, I can't deny that," I grinned as his words were true just like how his blade was fierce.

I took it for granted how a nobleman like him could talk to a street rat like me. We were in different positions and grew up in different lives but we had banded together. He was a pure light that I couldn't help but follow. One that lit up bright in the sea of darkness which covered me.

"Well then, what if you weren't strong?" I asked another question to get a sense of his nature.

"No," he returned another dazzling smile.

"Okay and why not?" I crossed my arms waiting for his answer.

"Because I'm smart," he said almost hesitant.

"Well, I can deny that sometimes," I returned his hesitation with humor.

The Hero didn't say anything further but just gave me his usual smile.

It was funny that we could talk about the most random of things in the most hellish places.

"Seriously, though, do you?" My eyes wandered around to the fields of death.

"I don't," his voice became cold and I could tell that his eyes wandered down the fields too.

"Care to explain?" I said looking over to a hazy grey sky.

"Well, it's because I'm the Hero."

Everything seemed to be normal for him, and that too made him abnormal.

We had to gather the bodies together and burn them. It was the only way to fight against the disease which plagued the poor. As if that wasn't enough there was a famine that hit the countryside. We had to alleviate as many problems as we could. At least that's what he always said. Most of us were just going through the motions.

We just followed him because he was our leader.

We followed him and walked a path through hell because he was the Hero.

The war only started then.

A jolt shook me awake from my dream, and I took a mouthful of water. I swam up to the surface and released the mixture of blood and water from my gut. I was surprised I still had my bearings about me. I gasped for air, and my throat felt warm again. I swam over to the shoreline and crawled out of the river muck. I was disoriented, and I didn't know where I was. I guessed the Raven Queen did not want to come get my soul yet.

I didn't know how far the river took me and for how long. I only knew that it was cold, deathly cold. What I wouldn't give for some warm place to heat my body and soul. I barely escaped with my life. A happy and smiling Cassandra filled my head for a moment. She'd be furious to know that I'm still alive.

Darkness surrounded the forest, and only one glimmer of light appeared. I looked up to the night sky to see the moon staring back at me. It looked beautiful tonight even with one eye. Pain coursed through me. Half of my face swollen from Cassandra's beating. I remembered when Cassandra used to sit with him during the moonlight nights. I wondered if she could still look up at the moon now?

I dragged my body next to a tree and tried to rest against it. Its wood bark felt like stinging needles to my wounds. Everything was hurting like hell thanks to Cassandra. The cuts on my back were burning like mad. I took off my clothes, and I tried to warm myself. Having pulled out a red potion from my pocket, I poured a little on my back. I felt some relief, and all I could hope for is that it closed the wound.

I spat out some blood that built up in my mouth. Then I drank the rest of the potion before having tossed the vial aside. As soon as the liquid touched my lips, I felt its healing effects. I swirled it around my mouth and hoped that it gets rid of the taste of iron. I shallow a little and felt slightly refreshed.

My tongue squirmed around my mouth to check my teeth. I found the culprit and pushed out the dislodged tooth with my tongue. I spat my tooth covered in blood to the ground. My body started to shiver; it was going to get colder. I pulled at shrubs and plants nearby; I needed some kindling. I produced a small knife from my boot and a flint from my pocket.

I gathered my kindling beneath some fallen branches. I struck at the Flint with the knife. Sparks danced out from the metal knife which lighted up the kindling. I couldn't inhale properly to fill my lungs with air as I blew softly at the tiny flames. The embers looked like friends long separated, insignificant and alone but stronger when grouped together.

"Come on….catch…come on!" My hands trembled and my voice was weak.

I desperately tried to insulate the fire through my wheezing and small puffs. Then with a small breath of light, the embers disappeared. Now it did seem like everything hated me. Frustration and anger mounted in my heart as I stabbed the knife in the dirt. I guessed the Raven Queen wanted me to suffer more.

"Gods!" I flipped the branches and kicked the small burnt kindling.

The clouds above me blocked the moon as I whimpered on the side of the tree. Now there was no light for me, and I was alone in the dark. A howl echoed throughout the forest. It seemed that I wasn't alone as I had previously thought. Still, I was naked, lost, and shivering in the shadows.

I pulled out another potion from my wet clothes; it was my last one. I just wanted to feel some of its soothing effects again. I drank it as if it was the last thing I ever would. I felt a tingling sensation as it poured down my throat. The potion couldn't heal everything wrong with my body, though I had wished it would. If only it could heal the nightmares that affected my mind.

The mind is a very fragile thing, right then my mind was playing tricks on me. My eyes were seeing places and people that would no longer welcome me. I knew it was pitch black, but I saw it clear as day. Dead people started to appear, lost friends, hated enemies and they started to walk by me. I heard no ravens so I didn't believe that the mistress of death had come for me yet.

I watched the people pass me, smiling, almost indifferent to me being there. I followed them with my exhaustion mounting, and then I saw a pair of yellow orbs floating. They twinkled a little and the yellow orbs danced as they came closer to me. Only when it came too close that the orbs revealed a sinister row of teeth below them.

My mind returned as a creature lunged at me. I grabbed its neck to prevent its teeth from tasting my flesh. A large wolf which sought its own survival through me. I felt its coarse fur which looked as black as night. Its yellow eyes stared at me as it saw a midnight meal. I struggled with it; its strong neck muscles were pressing down my weak arms. With a growl, it let out its claws which dug into my shoulders.

I cried out in pain, and I felt anger, I wanted to kill this monster. My eyes wandered for my knife, and I saw it firmly planted in the dirt at my side. My right arm reached for the knife as the monster's teeth reached closer to my throat. My left elbow propped against its throat, and I smelt the horrible breath of its mouth. The beast will have struggled to its end with me.

Having grabbed the knife, I stabbed it into the side of its head. I twisted the knife as I felt its body going limp. I stabbed it again and again with blood having spilled all over my blade. My hand and body became covered crimson in its blood. Its yellow eyes were still staring at me even when the light of its life had faded away.

"Fucking beast," I started breathing wildly as I gave out a grunt of victory.

Some of my senses came back to me as I felt the beast laid on top of me. Its body was warm, very warm. I tossed it over to the side and knew I had something now to survive throughout the night. I looked at the beast closely, and I could see that it was a Black Wolf. They littered the forests in between Bareth. Some claw and teeth marks were scattered across its body. It was alone, so its pack probably abandoned it, I knew the feeling all too well.

I got up on my knees, and I started using my knife to do work. The young butcher Martin had taught me well, once, long ago. I carved out its skin meticulously; its pelt was going to give me warmth throughout the night. Tomorrow, I'd use its meat for a meal before having moved on. I felt some sympathy for this creature, so I was not going to waste its life.

The wolf was big, far larger than most I've seen, but the leader of its pack was probably bigger. I wondered if this wolf ever thought about not challenging his leader. Would he still be with his pack alive today? I never stopped wondering how different my life would be if I didn't kill mine. Perhaps it was nature's fault for the weak to challenge the strong. This wolf was like me, except, win or lose, we both were failures.

I peeled off the pelt, it was still sticky with blood and a mild stench. I didn't care about that as I wrapped it around my cold body. All I cared about was that it was still warm and I needed to feel that again. My body seemed to crumple away while wrapped in the pelt. I was tired, and I could finally rest.

The moon appeared back in the sky as I laid down. My breathing slowed, and I felt my eyes go heavy. My mind slipped back to a pitch black nothing. I dreamed again, and I remembered about that time when we talked, it was the beginning of the end.

I still remembered what he told me through those god forsaken fields.

"I died once you know," the Hero said.

The bodies were piled high around us while flesh and earth burned.

"You? Don't make me laugh, who could kill you?" I chuckled.

The clink of armor and the sound of dragged bodies echoed.

"It's true…I died," he said.

The smoke filled sky looked like a sinister overcast.

"Oh yeah?" I tried to humor him. "So Hero, what happened when you died?"

The Hero smiled again and faced me.

"I came here," he voice was stoic, and I knew he was serious.

I remembered looking at his face and how his eyes seem to pierce my soul when he said it.

"I didn't come from this world...I was reincarnated from another."

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~The Raven Queen waits in the underworld. Her raven's claw and nip on the dead. They call for her to come take the souls of the departed less they walk among the living again.~