Content Warning: Action starts to take the stage.

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Light began to crawl over the fields and pastures of Rex’s farm as morning arrived. It was about sun-up as Li looked back at the farm in the distance. The group leaving for the World Fair had already said goodbye to Rex and left. The caravan they were in was currently on its way to the World Fair located in Etheski, the capital of Dysi.

The caravan consisted of 10 supply carts and 8 wagons, along with around 30 soldiers on horseback hired by the nearby villages to help guard the caravan. Two of the carts and one of the wagons belonged to Irema’s group. The rest of the carts and wagons were owned by various villagers who lived throughout northern Dysi and had arranged to leave for the fair from Rex’s farm. Irema knew many of the villagers because they conducted this trip every year with each other.

The caravan moved down the dirt road in a single column with various men on horses scattered around them. The people on horses consisted a mix of the guards and the villagers. Irema’s carts were situated near the middle of the caravan, surrounded by many horsemen. Li was sitting beside Irema in their front-most cart when he saw a man in leather armor riding a brown horse down the column, occasionally stopping by carts and talking to the villagers. Li watched this man the entire time he did this, it piqued Li’s interest. For all he knew, the horsemen escorting the caravan were the first warriors he had ever seen.

The man riding the brown horse wore a complete set of weathered leather armor with a leather helmet along with a leather cuirass and greaves. The man had a quiver full of arrows and a bow strung across his back. On his left side he wore a scabbard with his sword sheathed. As Li looked around this seemed to be the favored attire by the guardsmen. As the man eventually made it closer to Li’s cart Li saw that the man had a massive scar below his left eye. The man rode over and had his horse trot alongside the left side of the cart where Irema was holding the reigns.

“Hello miss my name is Captain Tomar and my men and I will be escorting you to Etheski on this journey, can I ask your name?” the man asked.

“My name is Irema and this boy next to me is Li, nice to meet you” Irema replied with a smile.

Captain Tomar looked over at Li and gave him a nod. Li nodded back.

“It was nice to meet you folks, I’ll be on my way” Captain Tomar said as he continued to make his way down the column.

“Well he seemed like a nice man didn’t he” Irema said as she turned her head to look at Li.

“Yeah, are all warriors like that?” Li asked.

Irema let out a little laugh, “Actually most warriors that you’ll meet on the roads have no manners whatsoever, usually there are only a few warriors who carry themselves the way Captain Tomar does. He reminds me of Rex back when he used to be a ranger.”

Li was shocked, “Your husband was a ranger? Is that why he's so strict?”

“Haha” Irema let out a louder laugh this time.

“Yes he used to be a ranger but no that’s not why he’s strict with you. He’s only strict with you because you just showed up at our farm so suddenly, but don’t pay him any mind okay.”

“Okay.”

As Irema spoke of her husband Li tried picturing the grisly man with the beard named Rex as a ranger.

“My husband doesn’t like to talk about his past as a ranger, he had a lot of experiences that he’s not too proud of along with ones he is proud of. The life of a soldier is a chaotic one no matter where they’re from” Irema said in a solemn tone as if recalling the past.

Li looked at a nearby horseman riding a grey spotted horse. The man had on the same attire as Captain Tomar but the man’s blue long-sleeved shirt stuck out from beneath his cuirass. The man didn’t look too much older than Li himself. As Li looked at this man he thought of this man’s life and wondered what had happened in this man’s short lifetime. Had he killed people or even watched people die. ‘Did I live a life similar to his’ Li thought to himself. The only thing that Li was familiar with was his own body. It was very toned and muscular for a boy of his age and he was able to get any physical chore done easily around the farm. ‘Well I can only hope that I find out something about myself at the fair, then I’ll know the truth’ he mused. A voice suddenly broke his train of thought. He looked over at Irema who looked as if she was waiting for him to say something.

“Im sorry did you say something?” Li asked her.

Irema chuckled, “Looks like you were caught in thought again. You do that a lot you know.” She said smiling at him.

“Im sorry, I tend to get carried away in my thoughts, I’ll try to work on it.”

“Don’t worry it doesn’t bother me, it means you’re mind is active that’s all. Besides if you stop getting lost in your thoughts you’ll lose another part of who you are.”

Li understood what she meant and nodded. This was a part of his “new” identity and he shouldn’t change it for her sake.

“Earlier, when I was thinking, I wondered if I used to be a soldier like that young man over there” Li said as he gestured towards the young man with the blue shirt under his cuirass.

Irema looked over at the young man Li gestured towards and then asked him, “What would you do if you were?”

Li was perplexed by this question. “Um I don’t really know, I guess just go back to what soldiers do.”

Irema looked at Li, “The gods took you’re memory for a reason Li, it would all be a waste if you just went back to being who you were before. Even if you were a good person, there must have been parts of your life that they wanted you to forget because you couldn’t change them once they happened. I don’t know if you were a soldier, nobleman, farmer, journeyman or any other things. All that I know is you are a nice young man and that from now on you should live your life the way you want it to be and to not regret anything that you do. In the end just be satisfied with who you are and what you do.” After she said this she gave him a big smile.

Li looked at Irema taking all of her words to heart. He had only met this woman two days ago and yet he felt as if she were his own mother. He smiled back at her and then looked up into the sky.

“Thanks Irema, it means a lot,” he said while staring at the sun.

It had already been two days since the caravan left Rex’s farm and there was still four days until they would reach the fairgrounds in Etheski. Over the two days they had been travelling Li had been introduced to many of the villagers who travelled in the caravan every year with Rex’s family.

There was a man named Gregg and his ten-year-old son named Tom who lived in the same village as Dal, the mysterious doctor who saved Ruki. They were the two who were manning Irema’s second cart. Rall and his family had ridden in the supply wagon. Li also met two women named Lauren and Sasha who were sister merchants from a village in the northern part of Dysi named White peak. There was also a boy who looked around the same name as Li named Rinnar.

Li and Rinnar usually went and fetched water for the caravan together while traveling. Rinnar was the son of a carpenter named Hal. They lived in a place named Brookridge Village. Apparently it had been built on a ridge over a river delta and that was where the villages name came from.

Li was happy to meet new people and expand his small world. Li would occasionally strike up conversations with the people he had met when the caravan rested but he mostly stayed around Irema, doing whatever she needed him to do. The sun was going down and the guards signaled the caravan to once again make camp for the night. The caravan was led off of the road and into a clearing surrounded by trees a little ways away from the road.

The wagons and carts were put into a circle and the villagers set up tents within the circle. This was to protect the camp from bandits. Each cart was covered with tarps just in case it rained overnight. Li’s group had lined their carts right next to each other in the circle and set up their tents next to their carts. While Li was helping set up the two tents they had brought, he saw that about half of the soldiers were on the outside of the cart circle standing watch. He looked the other way at the temporary camp and saw the rest of the villagers and guards setting up tents, sitting, chatting, resting, eating, and sleeping.

Once Li’s group had finished setting up their tents they got situated in their respective tents. Irema, Tina and her two sons stayed in one tent while Li, Rall, Gregg and his son Tom stayed in the other. Li’s spot in the tent was right on the left side as you walked in. He put his bag down onto his sleeping mat next to his wool pillow. He saw that everyone else was still getting situated so he went and sat outside the tent. Li watched as Lauren and Sasha fought while putting up their tent. They were causing quite a commotion. He then turned to watch various other villagers carrying out their tasks to prepare for the night.

Nightfall soon came and Li was still sitting outside his tent. Gregg and Tom had just gone to bed and Rall was over by a fire eating and talking with a couple of the other villagers. Li hadn’t been able to fall asleep and so he just sat outside staring at either the sky or the camp. “Camp sure has quieted down” he thought to himself as he looked around. Li looked at Irema’s quiet tent and assumed that everyone had fallen asleep.

He heard the shuffle of grass and turned to see Rinnar walking up to him carrying two wooden buckets.

“Hey Li, want to come with me to fetch water for the morning that way we don’t have to get up as early?” Rinnar asked while smiling goofily.

Rinnar had a goofy side to him and loved to go explore while the caravan was stopped, it was no wonder he was happy when his father gave him the choice to either get water now or in the morning.

Li looked up at him, “Sure Rinnar, Im having trouble sleeping anyways.”

Rinnar’s eyes lit up, “Haha I knew you would say yes, lets go tell Captain Tomar so he’ll let us through the cart wall.”

Li got up and followed Rinnar through the camp, walking towards a gap in the carts that had guards posted at it. This gap acted as a walkway to get in and out of the camp. Next to the cart on the right side of the walkway was a tent with its flaps open. Behind this tent were the temporary pens that they had built to hold all of the livestock.

As Li and Rinnar walked closer to the tent Li overheard Captain Tomar discussing something with a couple of his men and pointing to a map on the wooden table in front of them. Li had previously realized that his senses were extraordinarily better than most of the people around him and was able to pick out part of what Captain Tomar was saying.

“…and if we take that road around the river we can avoid any bottleneck ambushes that could happen should we attempt to cross a river at this bridge that is surrounded by forest. The road we would take will take about a half a day longer but it will probably save that many more lives” Captain Tomar said in an orderly voice towards his men.

“I received a hawk earlier today from Captain Tiller of the Redguard Brigade relaying information that a couple of bandit groups were recently seen in these areas.” Captain Tomar said as he once again pointed to the map.

“Now if we take the longer way around the river it will be safer. Not only because its further away from the places bandits were last seen, but because the bridge is located in a flatland area without trees giving us a wider range in sight.” As Captain Tomar finished talking the men around him nodded their heads in approval and went to their respective positions and tents.

A guard approached Li and Rinnar as they neared the tent. This guard wore the same attire as all of the others. He was about a head taller than Li and had a short fuzzy blond beard.

The guard looked at the two boys and then at the buckets asking, “What do you boys need?”

“We were wondering if we could ask Captain Tomar if we could get some water from the stream west of here” Rinnar told the guard.

The guard nodded and led them to the table where Captain Tomar was still standing. Hearing the approaching footsteps Captain Tomar looked up seeing Li and Rinnar and a smile appeared on his face. “Hello Li, Rinnar, how could I help you boys?”

“We were wondering if we could go fetch some water from the stream thats to the west of here?” as Rinnar asked this he and Li showed him the two buckets they had brought.

Captain nodded and said, “Well it is after dark, however I am pretty positive that there are no bandits in these woods. Tell you what, have Muhler here go with you”, he gestured over at the guard that had escorted them in, “just in case there are any wildlife around, make sure to make it quick.”

“Sir” the guard named Muhler nodded and said, turning to lead the boys out of the tent.

Muhler led the boys over to the walkway entrance and exchanged a few words with the guards there. The guards looked over at Rinnar and Li and then let them through.

Before they left camp, Muhler, who was walking in front of them turned and said “Okay boys, Ill lead the way to the river. You two stay close behind me.”

“Yes sir” Li and Rinnar said in unison. Muhler then turned and led them west of the camp.

As their small group of three walked through the woods west of their camp moonlight shone down on them through various spots the canopy of the trees didn’t cover. Muhler led the boys while Rinnar was looking around and pointing stuff out to Li. As Rinnar was pointing at a small set of glowing eyes in a tree to the right Li thought he saw a shadow jump from one tree to another off to their left. Li looked at the tree where he thought he saw the shadow. He heard a slight rustling as he peered closely at the tree.

“!” Li jumped as Rinnar patted Li on his shoulder.

“Don’t be so tense Li, nothings going to happen out here, relax. You heard what the Captain said”, Rinnar reassured Li as he smiled.

Rinnar turned away to look into the forest once again, leaving Li to look at the suspicious tree in the distance. ‘What is this feeling, am I just scared’ Li thought to himself. He had never felt this way before, it felt like his senses had heightened and his body was on high alert. 'I have a weird feeling of danger and something else.'

After a while Li had calmed down. They had walked quite a ways until they finally heard the rushing of the stream ahead of them even though they couldn’t see it. The soft clanging of the buckets could be heard as the group approached the side of the stream. The stream looked so peaceful as the moonlight reflected off of the water.

“Okay boys go fill your buckets and make it quick” Muhler said.

“Yes sir” both of the boys replied as they turned and knelt beside the river to fill their buckets with water.

As Li was kneeling beside the stream all he could hear besides the clanging of the buckets was the rush of the stream. As Li filled his bucket up with water beside Rinnar he heard a small noise that didn’t quite fit with the sound of the rushing stream and then a sudden grunt and thud come from behind him. Li stopped filling his bucket, turning to look behind him. There in the moonlight was Muhler lying on the ground. Li nudged Rinnar and stood up. Li walked over towards Muhler as Rinnar followed, confused.

“What’s up Li, What’re you doing?” Rinnar asked as he followed Li.

Li pointed towards the arrow that was stuck in the chest of the lying Muhler. The boys both looked at each other, Rinnar had wide eyes. They both then immediately started scanning the nearby area. All that they saw was darkness and trees. Li then made his way towards Muhler, Rinnar followed suit. Muhler was motionless; blood had stained his leather cuirass around where the arrow had pierced his chest. Blood had also come out of his mouth and had dyed part of his beard a dark crimson. Li knelt down and felt for Muhler’s pulse. There was no pulse.

“Muhler’s dead” Li whispered to Rinnar.

Rinnar looked at Li and then at Muhler’s body. “Are you sure” he whispered back.

“Yeah i'm sure, go ahead and check for yourself” Li replied as he gestured towards Muhler’s body.

Rinnar put his head on Muhler’s chest and listened for a heartbeat. “He’s definitely dead” Rinnar confirmed.

Rinnar had a scared look on his face as he scanned the area once again. “What do we do Li?” he asked.

“Well first off, I don’t think that the one who shot Muhler saw us or else we’d already be dead. Second, we were kneeling in the darkness down by the stream whereas Muhler was here in the moonlight” Li said.

‘I wonder if it was one of the bandits that Captain Tomar spoke of earlier. Had they followed us here?’ Li thought. ‘The archer could’ve been the shadow that I saw earlier.’ Suddenly with a realization they both looked at each other. ““We need to hide”” they both said at the same time.

Rinnar nodded and pointed towards a big green thicket of bushes. “There” he said as he pointed. Li nodded and went to follow Rinnar, but before he followed him he unsheathed Muhler’s sword from its scabbard and took it with him. There they lay beside one another in the thicket of bushes whispering to each other about what they should do.

“We should run back to camp and get help” Rinnar whispered to Li.

“We do need to get back to camp, but running straight there doesn’t sound smart, there could be more than one archer out there” Li replied.

“You’re probably right. How abou- mfff.”

“Shhh.” Li shushed Rinnar and covered his mouth.

He then pointed towards the stream. There in the moonlight that was being reflected off of the stream were three figures making their way across the rocks. They arrived at the same side of the stream where Muhler’s body lay and Li could hear them talking.

“I tol’ ya I’d git’em in one shot Mor, you seen it wit your own eyes.”

As the three figures walked into the moonlight that surrounded Muhler’s body Li saw that it was the shortest man of the three who was talking.

“Yeah, yeah, just check him for loot will ya.” The fuller man to the let of the short man responded.

The short man knelt down and searched Muhler’s body. He suddenly stopped, looked around and then looked back at the tallest man.

“His sword’s gone” the short man said.

They all looked at each other and then looked around. Li and Rinnar looked at each other. Rinnar then looked at the sword in Li’s hand and started shaking in fear. Li put his other hand on Rinnar’s back to reassure him. The three men then drew all of their weapons.

‘What are we going to do, think Li, think’ Li said to himself. The fuller man had a two handed axe, the short one a bow, and the taller one a sword.

“Keep an eye out, there are rats about us” the taller one said.

Li could feel Rinnar shaking beneath his hand as the three men spread out in different directions. The fuller man walked away from them down the stream, the short one walked off to their left and the taller one walked the closest to them, just slightly over to the boys’ right.

Li handed the sword to Rinnar and said quietly “If any of them get close enough, ambush them with this. I’m going to go take care of the bowman.”

Rinnar looked at Li and shook his head, “Don’t leave me, please.”

Li could see tears rolling down Rinnars face. As Li looked at Rinnar he realized that he perfectly embodied the word 'afraid'.

“I’ll be right back, if something happens just stay here until day okay” Li said, and with that he crawled through the thicket quietly and left.

While sneaking through the dark words Li started thinking about his current status, ‘No, it’s not fear of danger that I’ve been feeling, it’s excitement.’ As Li confirmed this strange new feeling he blended with the darkness.

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