We ventured deeper into the forest. I didn't know where I was going, there was nothing to guide us, not at the moment at least. I had no map nor a compass, and I was sure that he also didn't. If we find a river, we could follow it out of here, that would be fortunate.

The forest was enormous, that much I knew but I have no idea how long it's going to take us to clear it on foot. Going around it on the roads to a city would take days on horseback if you have a reasonable pace but on foot, it could take us much longer, maybe a whole week, less if we get lucky and quickly find an exit out of here.

We must have already been walking for some time, four to five hours I'd guess because dawn was already approaching. I was exhausted, he must have been too, so we searched for a good place to rest for a bit and then sat down on the grass. We still haven't spoken to each other. I didn't really look at him in all these hours. He has dirty light middle-length hair, and he is tall, much taller than me, at least a heads worth was between us. He seemed strong, I bet he could have lifted the debris I couldn't back at my house. I thought back, could he have been under one? No, stop, calm yourself, look what's in front of you, you can't afford to be an emotional wreck at the moment.

I didn't wait until my stomach started to growl. I need to keep my strength up these next few days so I took out some meat from the bag. I gave some of it to the boy too, drank a bit from the water skin, and then handed it to him. He had no supplies of his own, at least nothing I could see, would he be so stupid that he would run away without any food or water? I took him with me; he was under my care. I had enough misery around me. I wouldn't let him go starving or die of dehydration. He mumbled thanks while chewing on the meat. I wondered what he was thinking of me.

After eating in silence for a bit, he began to talk, “What do you think those guys would have done with us if we stayed? We could have been slaves or maybe they wanted to conscript us. They own this land now, so we may be their citizens, I think? They didn’t seem like the friendliest bunch, though. Crazy that they just attacked the village all of a sudden."

I knew a bit about geography and politics but even the dumbest person would have known that living in a village near the border, it would have been only a matter of time until something happened. But seeing what I saw I couldn't understand their reasoning. Why burn down a part of it and kill the inhabitants?

It didn't matter, I don't think I ever want to return there, “I don’t know,” I said dismissively. "It doesn't matter now."

While lying on the grass, I looked up. I couldn't see the sky because of the trees.

He then lay next to me and began to talk, "sorry if I upset your plans when I woke you, but you don't have to worry about me. I can look after myself. There's plenty I can eat here and I know how not to die of thirst."

He sounded cheery, maybe he was even smiling. I didn't look over nor did I respond.

After resting for a while, he went on, "I think I met the leader of the soldiers that attacked us."

"What?" I said shocked, "surely you can't be serious"

"No, no, I'm serious. He approached me and my friends."

So many questions were popping into my head I didn't know what to ask first, "What did he want? What did he look like? Did you catch his name?" I asked eagerly.

"I'm not sure what he wanted from our village, but at the time he wanted to talk to the village chief"

"We don't have a chief," I interrupted.

"That's what I told him," he agreed with me, "I took him to my father who told us that he would band together some people he could talk to and then later in the day when the soldiers caught me. He gave other soldiers orders, and I'm sure anyone can do that. If he was just another soldier, the other ones would have just told him to fuck off."

He put it crudely but still was correct. I assume that the majority of men in the army are not friends with each other and if you try to give orders when you're not a higher rank most would just not obey or even react hostile.

"He also looked weird, he has this weird armor with curly gold stripes,"

"Flowers," I interrupted again but he didn't react and just went on talking, "and that ugly beard, nothing on the sides, just a bit in the middle. Did he forget how to shave while he was doing it?" he said while giggling.

I chuckled a bit too, "It's called a mustache. It's meant to look like that."

My desire to know more relented. At the moment I didn't have to know everything, I had time, days even.

"There should be two cities near us," I explained to him after we finished resting, "one to the northeast, Karia, and one southeast, Prore, but I'm not sure how long it will take us to get to either of them while walking through the forest without anything to orient us."

"Yeah, we can't even see the sun, the treetops block any direct light so we can't rely on the cardinal points," he added."

"We just have to hope that we find an exit then a road." He nodded in agreement. We stood up and then went on.

After walking a short while he suddenly pointed at a bush, "Oh! I'm sure we can eat these," he picked a handful of berries from the bush. They were small, dark red and there were a lot of them. "Are you sure that they aren't poisonous?" I asked worryingly.

"Only one way to find out."

"Don't-"

Before I could finish saying anything he put his hand to his mouth and ate the berries.

"Oh yeah, I remember this taste. We can eat these without any problems."

I was shocked. Did he really just do that?

"Are you sure you're fine?" I said concerned.

"Yeah, stop worrying so much. These are the berries my mother used to bake pies with. I forgot their name but I wouldn't forget the taste. Here have some."

He held out his hand and gave me some berries.

"No thanks," I wanted to see if he's going to get sick in a couple of hours.

Until then I couldn't be sure if they have poisonous properties, but if he's fine I can eat them too, I wouldn't refuse free food in a situation like this. If we find more I could indulge myself in them. I can't be sure how long we're going to be here and my supplies won't last us forever.

Midday, it started to rain; it completely showered us. We had to search for shelter, but as far as I could see there was nothing around. We ran and ran looking, searching for someplace dry. It didn't take us long because after briefly running around we found a small cave.

It was moist, and there was a strong smell of rain. There was a word for that, what was it again? Petrichor? It was much better being inside the cave than being completely soaked outside.

"We're wet to the bone," he said angrily while wringing out his clothes, "let's stay here until it stops raining," he suggested then lay down on a less wet spot in the cave.

I also searched for a drier place and sat down.

It rained the whole day. It subsided later in the day and completely stopped when it was evening.

"It's dark already, let's stay here until sunrise," I proposed.

"Sure," he replied.

"Were you orphaned in the attack?" he suddenly asked, "something must have happened to your family if you were with us after the attack."

I didn't think that he would instantly ask something that hit me so deep and I still haven't talked to anyone about what happened, I started tearing up. I had to tell someone, someone who would listen, "my mother died in the attack, she was caught under rubble and died in my burning home," I said trying to not completely burst out crying.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he sat up, "what about your father?"

"I don't know what happened to him, he wasn't with my mother but something bad must have happened to him too, he wouldn't abandon her." I wiped the tears that came down my cheek away with my hand, "sorry, what about your family?"

"Don't know, anything could have happened to them. Do you have brothers or sisters?"

"No," I said with a runny nose.

"I had a little sister, she's called Vira," he looked very sad after saying her name. "She can't even speak yet, I have to return to the village someday to see what really happened, but I don't worry too much, my father strong and so is my mother, they can take care of themselves and neither of them would let anything happen to my sister. You also shouldn't worry about your father too much. I bet he's safe and like all fathers, he's strong, right?"

Him trying to assure me that everything would end up right angered me. I knew that nothing of what he said was true. "You should worry, I saw the corpses in the streets. I saw my burned mother, do you think they would spare your oh-so-strong father if he resisted even a bit?" I stood up.

I was furious, "Do you actually believe anything of what you're telling me? You too have to confront the truth. Your family is dead just like mine!"

He stood up too, "You don't know them! You don't know anything about me or my family!"

"What I know is that your an idiot which would eat berries he isn't even sure are poisonous or not!"

"You know what, fuck you, at least I have hope. If I'd listen to what you say then I would have nothing, why even go on? Why are you going on, huh? You have nothing, no? Why not off yourself with that knife you brought?" he yelled at me.

"Because just like you, I will go back, but not for my family. I will go back and kill that whoreson that did this, the mustached man in armor."

"So you will live on just to take revenge? You know that you sound like you are a head case. I have a feeling sort of like respect for you, saying that you will dedicate your entire life on one cause, but you really can't be serious," he already calmed somewhat but I was still fully mad.

"I am serious! I've never been more serious in my life. At the moment it's the only thing that keeps me going."

"Then you completely lost your mind," he threw up his arms and stormed outside.

He didn't know anything. How can he not feel the same way I do? His family was murdered by those bastards too and yet he doesn't want to do anything, was he not boiling with rage? Burning inside with his inability to change this situation? I sat back down and took the dagger out of my bag and looked at it. The dull blade, the swirling grip, the worn-out sheath. It's all that remains of them, remains of my family. I couldn't just die here after everything that had happened. I stabbed it multiple times into the wet ground in frustration. Calling me a head case, laughable. He doesn't want to avenge his family, and I'm the one out of his mind?

After brooding for a while, I saw him come back to the cave. I was still angry and didn't want to talk to him, but he looked serious, "What do you want?"

"You have to come outside right now," he said out of breath.