▌│█║▌║▌║Chapter 26║▌║▌║█│▌

In the darkness, I saw a sudden light in the distance, and I felt compelled to go towards it for some reason. I ran through the darkness to the sole light in the distance. I could feel wind passing my face as I ran, and I felt a sweat perspire from my skin.

When I finally reached the light, I saw multiple groups lined up in a row. The first group was my foster parents and someone I didn’t know. It was a little girl probably a kindergartner with black hair and blue eyes. Did they already move on from me? I always knew they were heartless, but now this only confirms they only adopted me for the government check.

I bent down and looked at the little girl, and to my heart’s dismay, I already saw bruises on her face those two sorry excuses of human beings have given her. I felt a deep hatred welp up inside of me as I thought about all those times, they beat me, all those times they locked me in an uninsulated room during winter, I hate them.

My thought was suddenly interrupted by an Old man coughing beside them. I turned my gaze over to him and walked over to him. His skin was pale, had a white beard, and white long hair. He wore a grey cloak covering most of his body with a hood over his head. I thought that was it until I heard little whine come from a bundle of cloth in the center of his body. I looked a little closer, and when I moved the cloths apart, I saw a small baby.

His skin was pale, had brown-black eyes, and the only noise it made was small whimpers. I could tell it was on the verge of death. Now instead of hatred, as I looked at the old man and child, I felt a deep sadness welp up inside of me. My eyes began to get teary eyed as I looked at the figures. I tore my gaze from them because I felt so weird crying about two people I have never seen before.

I moved toward the third and last figures that was lined up in the light. There was a man standing to the left of a woman. He wore a golden crown on top of his golden hair. He had a short beard, and his eyes were sky blue. He had a strongly built body, but instead of wearing kingly robes, he had leather armor and light cloths. He had a proud and warm face, but it was definitely saddened.

To the right of him stood a beautiful woman with long, raven-black hair and blue eyes. She wore a long, loose-fitting, light-blue dress that covered her entire body. Her face was very fair, but there was also a hint of sorrow in it as well. Her hands clasped her very clearly pregnant stomach. She had a powerful aura about her, but I could just feel that it was extremely weakened for some reason.

As I looked at them, I felt a strong sense of longing to be with them. There was something about them that I felt that I belonged. I walked closer and closer to them to where I was almost touching them. I reached out and to touch the woman, but right when I fingers landed on her, I was shot back into reality.

I stood near the edge of the woods, both hands on the hilt of my sword as I held it straight, as beads of sweat ran down the side of my face. I found myself breathing heavily as I stood there motionless in the silent lake front. Wait…Silent?

I turned around to the biggest shock of my life. Everything was dead! The only ones still breathing were Garen and Sasha sitting down with a look of shock in the exact position they were in when the barrier opened up again.

The golems were all crumbled, Nessy and her family is dead, and the light coming from the island in the middle of the lake had disappeared. I tried to walk toward Sasha and Garen as I asked, “W-what…Happened?”

As I uttered the last word, my legs gave out, and I went crumbling to the ground. I felt totally exhausted, and I don’t know why. I heard two pairs of footsteps running over to me as I started to fade back into unconsciousness. “Cody! Cody!” I could hear Sasha say when she finally got to me.

She turned me on my back and lifted my head up, and I kept asking her in an exasperated voice, “What happened…what happened?”

She eventually put her hand over my mouth and my fore head. I looked through my half-closed eyes to see Garen kneel down next to me and say, “We’ll explain everything later, you just get some rest for now. Everything is fine right now. When you wake up, we’ll be in a safe place okay?”

With my last effort to hold onto consciousness I nodded my head and told them, “Okay…” as I drifted off to sleep. I dreamt about the old man, king, and the lady I saw while everything was black. This time I could see them interacting with each other off in the distance in the middle of a forest with huge trees with a bright blue lake in the middle of the lush green grass. I felt at peace in this place. It was a comfort that I haven’t experienced in my life up to this point.

I started to walk towards them, but when I got to the distance to where I could be heard, my dream ended abruptly. I woke up from my sleep laying on a bed with a wet rag on my forehead. I looked around my surroundings, and it seemed like I was lying in a comfy wooden cottage. There was a fire place in front of me, and sunlight coming through two windows that a door lay in between. I sat up in bed and asked myself, “Where am I, and where is Sasha and Garen?”

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