Why?

The only word that found its way into Susan's mind at that moment.

Why?

The word that never left her mind ever since this madness began.

Why those she trusted, those she admired, those she respected more than her family and any other person, were now burning her village after making sure that everyone was dead, everyone except her.

She who her father woke up after a soldier he knew told him about the orders they got, to destroy the village and kill everyone in it.

That soldier tried to help but he was the first to fall after his comrades saw him helping them.

Then her dad, her mom and her little sister all died while trying to reach the forest.

The forest was a dangerous place at night because of all the monsters that inhabited it. Even soldiers wouldn't dare approach it at that time.

And so, the villagers were trapped between it and the soldiers.

And there she was, stumbling through a place she never dared to get close to.

...

From a distance, a stranger was trying to reach Forest's Edge village, his destination after a few long months of travelling, yet he knew nothing about what was happening there.

Suddenly, he heard the sound of light footsteps.

Due to his origin, his senses were sharper than most races.

He always admired the moments he reached those secluded villages and the looks of admiration and wonder on the faces of children, and sometimes even adults.

Those stares filled with respect, anticipation and even a bit of fear. After all, for most of them, seeing a member of one of the world's strongest races wasn't something that would happen every day, even with the problems his different appearance would give him sometimes...

He also knew that the village he was heading towards was one of the Alpha's protected villages, where most inhabitants were humans, except a few soldiers who were from some minor races working there as guards.

Because of his advanced sense of hearing, he concluded that the one heading towards him wasn't a beast or a monster, but from the rhythm of the footsteps and the intermittent crying, he was able to determine that it was a person, and most likely a human.

"What would lead a human to the forest at this time of night?" He wondered and headed to where the owner of the voice was heading...

***

Running forward!

That was all she thought about, she forgot being barefoot, forgot that she was inside the forest and forgot her childhood's fears, those fears that followed her even to her dreams, and that deep-rooted horror of the forest, all of that disappeared.

Seeing her mom, dad and little sister whom she had always loved getting killed at the hands of those who were supposed to protect them, made her lose all her senses.

And there she was, running forward, without stopping to see what was left behind, surviving, that was what she wanted and that was what pushed her.

It was a moonless night, and the night sky was barely seen through the intertwined canopy, making things even darker, yet, she just ran forward avoiding the towering trees and dense bushes.

Suddenly, to her horror, she caught a sound from behind her.

It was the sound of light, but fast footsteps. Bleaching, she tried to move faster but that sound just kept on getting closer and closer.

'What's happening?' She thought.

The soldiers would usually never dare enter the forest at night, and they for sure would never do that because of her, and why would they? She was but a girl that had a zero chance of surviving alone in there, even she understood that deep down.

So, what would push the soldiers to go after her?

Or, could it be that it was a beast?

That thought, even though she was at her limit, that thought made her explode with a new sense of vigour as she increased her speed.

Even though what awaited her if that that was pursuing her was a soldier or a beast were the same, the idea that she was going to die at the hand of a beast brought back her childhood's nightmares and gave her a boost in speed.

But even with that, those footsteps kept on getting closer to her, as if no matter how much she accelerated, those footsteps would accelerate many times that.

Just as she was about to lose herself in her fears and horrors, those footsteps disappeared, which didn't make her feel any better, because it was just as weird as them appearing at first.

While she was still thinking about that, and with her heart drumming in her ears, someone tackled her from the side.

'So it was a soldier... At least I won't be ripped to pieces by beasts...' That was the last thought that went through her mind before everything went dark and she lost consciousness...

***

On his way to the village after catching the human, the stranger tried to conclude what might have happened there, the closer he got, the stronger and clearer the scent of blood and smoke got.

'Could it be an attack from some bandits? Or maybe a monster that all the runic glyphs weren't able to stop?'

In the end, he decided that he had to stop heading towards the village and wait for the human to wake up, she probably was going to give him more detailed information about what was happening there.

Besides... There was something weird about her herself, he decided to look into it.

***

Opening her eyes, the first thing Susan noticed was that she was sleeping on a simple bed made of some thick clothes, and covered by what appeared to be the processed hide of some type of animal, it was radiating some heat and she didn't feel cold at all, even though it was so thin it gave the impression that it wouldn't even be able to help her preserve her own warmth, let alone warm her.

She tried to sit up and look around in panic, but feeling a stinging pain in her left arm stopped her, reminding her of what had happened to her and that she was tacked while she was running away.

It seemed that her trying to move alarmed whoever it was that caught her because she heard a voice shortly after that:

"Your hand's wound hadn't recovered yet, it's also a bit deep, sorry for that by the way, you were heading toward a cliff, I had to stop you," The voice was calm and gentle.

She put her hand on the wound and tried to look at the source of the voice, but she wasn't able to see anything, everything was dark and she could barely make out a blurry shape in front of her.

"Can I ask you something?" He continued hesitatingly after a bit of silence, "What happened in that close by village? You're from there, aren't you?"

After hearing those words, different memories came rushing in again, the moments her mom, dad and little sister died, the scared, unbelieving screams of her friends and acquaintances as they were cut down one by one in cold blood.

That was more than she could handle and she soon fell into a crying mess as shrunk up and covered her face.

"Did the soldiers guarding you attack you?" after she had cried for a while and calmed down a bit, she heard the stranger ask.

His question hit her at the core, even though she didn't want to speak, she found herself opening her mouth and pushing three words in a crispy cracking voice:

"Wh... Who are you?"

He was asking her about what was happening in the village, so he wasn't for sure a soldier from there. But what was a lone man doing in the forest at night?

"Who am I?" The voice next to her said, "You can call me Adam, I'm... Hmm, a wandering adventurer you can say? Yeah, that would work I guess."

The carefree way in which he held himself and spoke even though they were inside the forest at night gave her a weird feeling, no one she knew ever was this relaxed for even getting closer to it at night, not to mention being in it.

She started feeling a bit of suspicion about him after she calmed down a bit more, so she narrowed her eyes and tried to look in the general direction where his voice was coming from, but as expected she still couldn't see anything.

"Sorry about not setting a fire, we're too close to the village and I didn't want to risk making ourselves a screaming target amidst the dark for no reason whatsoever, and without understanding what's happening there," While she was still trying her best to see him clearly, she heard his calm words again.

'Exactly!' She felt something from how he spoke just as she tried to take a better look at him, so she asked with some guesses already in her mind:

"Are... Are you a human?"

"An origin? No, of course not, I'm a livitus," The stranger, Adam, answered with a hint of amusement in his voice, then he added after a small pause, and with a bit of hesitation, "you're... A human, right?"

"A... A livitus?" She asked with a dry mouth, "one... One of the members of the Pact of Ten?"

Hugging herself tighter as a shiver went down her spine, she tried again to get a better look at Adam as what she knew about the livitus from her grandfather went through her mind.

They were one of the races that stood against the queen of the phas in the Great War, a race well known for their magical and physical strength, perfect war machines with their huge muscular bodies and their silky white hair.

"You know quite a bit," he said with the same carefree tone as the one from before.

Susan though was thinking about another thing, the second part of what he said finally registered to her, she found it quite baffling, she knew that humans weren't that common in Tellor, but for it to reach the point where someone wasn't even able to recognise her as a human, that was a bit absurd.

"Yes... I'm a human," She said after holding back her thoughts, then she added after a bit, "My name... is Susan."

Unseen by Susan, Adam tried to hide the surprised expression on his face at her answer.

"...Okay, listen, Susan, it seems that tonight was quite hard for you, so why don't we leave the rest of our conversation for tomorrow? why don't you take some rest for now?" He suggested after a period of silence.

"Hmm..." She acknowledged as she covered herself in that animal hide cover.

She wasn't comfortable with the idea of sleeping in the woods, not to mention the stranger next to her, but she couldn't control herself, and after a very short period of silence, she fell asleep, as if every single part of her body was tired from what happened to her and couldn't go on any longer…

***

Adam lifted his head and looked at the human laying a distance away from him, her breathing had become smoother after only a short time, showing that she had fallen asleep, it seemed that she was really tired, something to be expected with her running through the forest as she had done...

Remembering that، he couldn't help but shake his head, he had enough time to ask her about all his doubts after she woke up, and after she had taken enough rest. But even with that, he was already sure...

She wasn't a normal human at all.