Chapter 1

Fuck! My head hurt, wait, scratch that my whole body is fucked. There isn’t a single square inch on me that doesn’t hurt. It’s a gut-wrenching feeling a burning throbbing sensation. Like I was smashed with a hammer and lit on fire. I don’t think I’ve ever been in this much pain before, at least as far as I can remember.

…

Why can’t I remember anything at all, not my family, a job, hell not even my face. 

Am I handsome? 

Tall? 

Weak? 

Damn it! 

My chest filling with anxiety I attempt to open my eyes only to notice that I feel my eyes opening and closing yet I remain in the dark, alone. The Anxiety begins to bubble up into a full-blown panic. My breathing hurries, my blood pumping through my veins, my hands' tremor. Everything I feel seems to intensify in the darkness. The sensations seem to pour into me as I acclimate to the endless nothing my eyes see. The drips of water around me, the tough rigid texture of whatever I’m currently resting on. Suddenly the realization of dread fills me, I know where I am now but I doubt I’ll find my way, I’m within some kind of cave. 

How the fuck am I going to leave a cave, I can’t see shit! If there is something else here besides me I’m dead meat. In my moment of true devastation, I feel a rush of wind across my face like a kiss from a lover. I have something to follow. Gathering myself to my feet despite the throbbing encompassing my whole body, I make my way forward. Taking shaky steps in the darkness one at a time I make my way to the source of the wind. 

My feet making gentle taps against the stone I follow the feeling of wind. Taking a step forward I begin to plummet as I realize there is nothing beneath me. For a moment I fall through the dark only to realize that the fall was not that far at all. Reaching back towards where I fell I run my hands across the stone. There is a natural smoothness unlike how stone normally feels not to mention that the stone seems to form a set of stairs, well maybe more of a trio as there are only 3. 

With the smooth stone and stairs, I’m inclined to think that this is a civilization of some kind organized group of people. I stand up and adjusting my walk I make my way towards the wind, this time with big sweeping steps, I learned my lesson from that one.

The quiet scrape and tap of my feet are all I hear for the duration of the walk as the wind grows stronger and the stone becomes rougher, suddenly the stone turns into a much softer group of textures of which I can only assume is grass. The wind rushing everywhere, there is nothing left to truly follow. I stand quietly waiting for the world to guide me towards my next ordeal. Almost as if complying with my will I get a particularly strong wind blows to my left. With a shrug of my shoulders, I begin another series of sweeping steps.

The journey I had begun is full of new magnified experiences, the comforting hug of the sun and the sticky humid air, the tickle of grass on my feet. A quiet tap of feet echo in my ears, something is around me it sounds like two legs which is a relief. My head turning towards the sound the pattering of feet suddenly stops I sense a pair of eyes on me. Frozen in apprehension I’m unsure if I should say something or remain silent until the other party does something. With a gentle swoosh, I hear them jump up and from the gentle creak of wood I hear them land in a branch. The noises repeat themselves as he or she moves further away, my head following the sound until out of earshot.

Shaken by the encounter I’m unsure if I should change direction, yet oddly enough my faith in the wind overwhelms my desire for human interaction, which I must admit is at an all-time high. With my sweeping steps, I continue on my way. 

With a sudden grumble of my stomach, I’m reminded of my truest desire, a nice meal. The gnawing in my stomach is so strong I consider returning the way I came. Realistically however I’d just get more lost than I already am, therefore I remain moving forward. 

After what is either an eternity of 20 minutes I am greeted by rushing water, sounds gentle less like a river and more like a stream. If it were a river I’d question my trust in brother wind who pushed me in this direction, yet since it is quiet and gentle by my ears standard Ill cross it. Stepping forward I am greeted to the hurried steps of multiple people, the creaking of wood telling me there in the trees. I turn to face my new company most of them are in front yet I hear several to my left and right, yet none behind me. A quiet whisper rings out, the softness in their voice indicates a female, rather young maybe 18 to 26 is my guess, but who knows maybe old ladies sound cute wherever I am.

“See elder, this man has been walking around our forest. At first, I thought he was some sort of bandit with the marking on his skin”

Markings? I hope there aren’t too many, or too ugly. The girl continues to whisper

“But with the odd patterns they lay and the steps he took he might be a shaman or a marking assisted sorcerer”

My heart raced at the mention of a sorcerer, Magic or at least some type of sorcery exist. And from what this girl is saying I might be skilled in it just wait until I get my memories back, fireballs here I come. While I’m wrapped in my fantasies the girl continues

“And that was all but confirmed when he sensed me and turned towards me. That's when I saw them, his eyes were gray and empty with no pupils, clearly, he is blind yet they seemed to pulse with a swirling green miasma” 

An older voice begins to chime in 

“You’ve done well to notice the intruder Akalia, We will deal with him accordingly, I knew assigning you to this position would be fine, you mother be damned”

A shiver runs up my spine as he plans to deal with me. His voice piped up into a commanding shout from a whisper 

“Trespasser! Do you know where you stand, this is the forest of the Develios tribe, our normal procedures would be a quick killing, but with your current blindness we may be willing to spare you drop to your knees and place your hands in the air, and you will remain unharmed for now.”

At least we are getting somewhere, slowly I fall to my knees and raise my arms, suddenly they leap from their trees falling all around me surprisingly quiet for how high up they sounded. They slowly move towards me, I hear the quiet scrape of metal against metal. 

That's the sound of a sword, I’m no fool, my realization comes a bit late as they grab my hands and tie them behind my back. My nerves are at an all-time high as they tighten my restraints.

A sudden whisper fills my ear. 

“You do it Akalia you found him, and made your choice, take the first step. I hear the signature sound of metal against metal as she pulls out her sword clearly not ready to use it. She walks closer to me a quiet silence fills the air. A strong wind pushes against my head and my hands, with nothing but trust in the wind I move my head to the left and lift my arms with the wind. Suddenly I hear the swish of a bladed weapon and the sound of rope that held my hand being cut.

The wind began pushing my head to the left I get ready to mov...

Bang!

Something hits my face and I fall back my head spinning and my consciousness fades as I hear

“I told you Akalia he wasn’t some blind man, let's find out who he really is”