I just sat on the bed, dumbfounded. I had no words to say. All seemed frozen in time to me. My mind was closed to the whole world.

"I'm sorry. We were too late.". Those were the words of Captain Mirza. It just kept echoing in my head, sometimes soft as a sea breeze and sometimes hard as a raging wave.

"There was nothing left." Captain Mirza began. "The ground was burned. There were no structures whatsoever. All were reduced to ash".

He hesistated before continuing, "As for any survivors...". He didn't uttered a word. Instead, the guard captain handed me a cartographer's parchment.

What was in the parchment were my fears illustrated.

The parchment dislayed a portrait of several burned bodies laid to the ground. All of them would be unrecognizable if I didn't knew them from their height and build. Aside from being burned, all of them had their necks slit, dried and burned blood staining the vicinity of the wound. Some were gutted open, guts spilling out. I could see intestines and other body parts splaying out. Their faces warped with agony. I could even tell who is who based on what remained of their clothing.

Those were just the small bodies, my siblings. What really broke me inside was the larger body.

I couldn't even look at it directly. Not without my hands shaking, tears welling up, and my chest tightening as I gasped for air. The charred body was nude. Cut, stab, and scorch wounds riddled the entirety of it. The breasts were chopped clean. The face, contorted with misery and torture, was a bruised mess. There was no hair left, not even the scalp. The head was busted open, the top of the skull and the brain missing. I felt my bile rising up, about to throw up all the grilled potato Ruslan and I ate for breakfast. I fought against it as I need to face what reality slapped me with.

"The body was in a... a dying cockroach position." Captain Mirza began to explain how they found the body. "The hands and feet were nowhere to be found as they were probably mutilated. The inner thighs were burned jet black leading up to the crotch... or where it should have been. The whole crotch area was gone, most likely burned to bone if the burned black thighs and the visibly charred pelvic bone were any indicators."

I took another look at the woman in the portrait.

Mother.

The events of that night began playing in my head again. I grabbed my chest as I felt myself struggling for air. My other hand found it's way to my head to quell a throbbing headache. My vision blurred as tears filled my eyes and my throat hurt as I screamed.

***

"Erdem"

"What?"

"Erdem. Why?"

"Who's there?!"

"Why, Erdem? Why?"

"That voice... is that you Mom?!"

"Erdem, come here."

"Mom! Mom! I'm here!"

"Erdem. Why did you do it?"

"Did what, mom?"

"Why did you leave?"

"I... I don't understand, mom."

"Why did you leave us that night?"

"Mom? Smoke! I can smell smoke! Fire!"

"Why did you leave us, Erdem? Why?"

"Mom? Sto... stop! M-mom! Why are you s-strangling me?|"

"You left your siblings that night! You left me!"

"K-khh.. g-grgah"

"We perished because you left us. You killed us, Erdem! Why?!"

"G-grh-gah... mom... I-I can't b-b-brea-breath.. grgh... gah..."

"You killed us, Erdem! Why! Why did you kill us!"

"Mo-mothe... graaghh.."

***

"Mother!"

I found my hands searching for my neck. I looked around the room. "Ruslan's room..." I mumbled. I was drenched in sweat.

After some time collecting my thoughts, I looked toward the window and realized that it was already mid-morning. I couldn't see Ruslan.

"He must be already tending to his shop."

I noticed that he left a cold meal on the bedside table which I assume was my proper breakfast. Grilled potatoes wasn't exactly filling. The meal was some kind of boiled potato that was mashed to a thick consistency with some thick sauce with mushrooms on it. The sweet, sweet treat of milk with honey was also there. I don't really have the appetite, but I still ate it to show my gratitude to the one who made it, and then washed the dish afterwards.

I didn't really have anything to do in the room. I can move decently now so I don't really need another sleep. That, and I also fear having another bad dream like the one I had earlier, so I just sat there, thinking about what just happened. Thinking what am I supposed to do now? Where do I go? What use is running away that night, and why live if it only means that I have to carry this burden, this guilt for as long as I live?

I lowered my head and looked at the floor at my feet. I felt my vision blur as drops of water fell and drenched it. It felt so tight in my chest. I lifted my legs onto the bed and held my knees close to my chest as I quietly sobbed away the pain.

I heard the door swung open and lifted my face slightly only to see Captain Mirza come in. He met my eyes and came to sit beside me.

No words were exchanged. He just embraced me and patted me on the back.

When I settled down a bit, he finally spoke. "I was just at the shop. I was discussing some things with the doctor about... well, about you."

I just stayed silent, looking at my knees. He took it as a sign to continue. "I... I am sorry again for your loss. I wish we had arrived there sooner."

"It's not your fault, Captain." It's mine. The captain just hugged me again.

"I need you to come with me, Erdem. There are some people I want you to meet." I just looked at him. "The doctor will be there too. He will join us later after he close his shop for the remainder of the day. I already informed him." He got off the bed and extended a hand to me. "Shall we go?"

I took his hand and got off the bed. We went outside and stopped by the shop to inform Ruslan that we were heading out. The alchemist motioned me to come close. "I am sorry for your loss. I will be there later, okay?" he whispered to me as he embraced me and ruffled my hair.

"Where are we going, Captain?" I asked.

"Ah, to the Mayor's Office. We need to discuss some things."

I couldn't understand why we were going there. I thought the captain would introduce me to some rich family like mother always used to tell me. But the Captain and Ruslan have been nothing but good to me ever since I got here to Svolsk. I trust them.

We left the shop and went to the center of the town. There was a small open square with a fountain in the middle. In the midde of that fountain, was a statue. It was of a male hunter. The man was wearing fur and hide garments. He has a bow slung over his shoulders, an axe in one hand, a buckler in the other, and a large dagger, almost a short sword, tucked in his belt. A nameplate at the bottom read 'Boris Kovalenko'.

But it wasn't our destination. It was the large building behind it. It was only my second time leaving Ruslan's room, but this was the largest building I saw so far in Svolsk. The two-storey building was made of stone in the first floor, wood in the second. It was painted white with silver accents. One could actually miss it as it blends with the snow on the ground and buildings, and with the snow-clad Frost Mountains in the background, if it weren't for all the people going from and to it. A large sign painted deep crimson above the even larger entrance read:

The People's Hall of Svolsk

Captain Mirza and I went inside. I struggled to follow the captain as he aimed directly at a large staircase at the back of the hall, his strides large and the townsfolk many. After we landed on the second floor, he motioned me in front of him, and we walked along the only hall there, past many office doors, to the single large door at the end of it.

"Here we go. Stay behind me." Captain Mirza told me, so I did. I was nervous as I didn't know what to expect. He told me that we would go here to talk to someone, but not to who and why here. I steeled myself. The reason is behind that door.

Knock Knock Knock

"Mirza Glenn, Captain of the Svolsk Guards. Requesting permission to enter." the Captain declared in his northeastern accent. Not as thick as Ruslan's, but it is there.

There was a small pause before someone answered. "Granted. Come in, Captain." a female voice sounded from behind the door.

Captain Mirza nodded to me as he opened the door. He put a hand on my back as he urged me to go ahead, him following behind after closing the door.

The octagonal room inside is spacious. The walls, floor, and ceiling were made of shiny varnished wood. Bookshelves full with books lined the walls. The three far walls have large glass windows in them, illuminating the room in natural lighting. A large wooden table sat just before those windows.

A woman sat behind the table. She has snowy white skin, her silky-straight ebony hair cut at neck-length. Her blue eyes piercing through us as she observed our arrival.

Captain Mirza stood stiffly beside me and put a clenched fist over his chest. "Ma'am."

The woman got up from her seat. She nodded to him and motioned him to be at ease with a downward wave of her hand.

She then looked at me, "Is this the boy, Captain?"

"Yes Ma'am. I have already advised the doctor. He should be here soon."

"Good."

I tugged Captain Mirza's clothing under his cuirass. "Captain..."

He understood. "Ah, yes. Erdem," he knelt on one knee to meet me at eye-level, "she is Miss Olga Kovalenko," he introduced her with a hand towards her, "the mayor of Svolsk."

I turned to Miss Olga and bowed. "Hello, Ma'am. Good morning."

"Erdem, right? Nice to finally meet you." she said as she patted my shoulders. I looked towards Captain Mirza for an explanation.

"I already told the mayor about you. It's part of my job."

"For formality, welcome to Svolsk, Erdem! What do you think of our little town?" Miss Olga asked me.

"It... it's nice. Mr. Ruslan and Captain Mirza has been good to me. The people at the market were also nice too. Mr. Ruslan took me there earlier this morning. Oh, and the food he makes is also good."

The mayor smiled. "Good to know that then." she turned back towards her table. She pointed a bench at the side. "Have a seat, we're still waiting for two more people before we can begin.

Begin what?

"Uhm, Ma'am?" I asked, and Miss Olga turned to me.

"Yes?"

"Is the man outside your father?" I asked her as I pointed toward the windows. Her gaze followed the direction my finger is pointing at, and then smiled.

"Ah. I see you've already met Boris, huh?" she mused as she stared down at the fountain statue outside through the window. "No, he is not my father. He is my great great grandfather." She turned around to me, her smile and the warming ray of the morning light blending together, "He is the founding father of Svolsk." she explained, pride evident in her eyes.

She sat back to her seat. It was made of heavy, grainy wood, maybe some kind of Oak. It was varnished to a shine, and was also embellished with white bear fur, and cushions colored deep crimson. The last reminded me of the sign outside the building.

For our part, we sat on a long bench made of the same kind of wood as Miss Olga's chair, only ours' was without any decorations or cushion, but at least it has a back rest. There is a matching bench on the other side of the table, just opposite to us.

My curiosity finally got the better of my patience. "Captain, what are we doing here?" I asked.

Aloud.

The captain looked at me, then looked at Mayor Olga.

I looked at Mayor Olga, then back to Captain Mirza.

Mayor Olga looked at me, then to Captain Mirza, an eyebrow raised.

"Ah, you see Erdem..."

Knock Knock Knock

"Mayor?" a familiar thick northeastern accent called out.

"Come in."

---