Like a snake, something shot out from beyond my vision. It almost tore my wooden shield out of my hand, ripping off a head-sized chunk of wood at the corner instead.

Holy shit. Holy, holy, fri-

It came again from where I could barely see it glint in the darkness. A maliciously curved sword, as long as I was tall. It almost seemed alive, seemed further away than I could see at first. In an instant, it curved around in an angled half-circle arc and was upon me once more.

I’m going to die.

It cut the air and I could feel it scrape across the top edge of my helmet as I threw my head downwards.

The arm holding it is so long. I can’t even see the shoulder of this person, this-this creature that’s–

I barely kept myself from falling over another flagstone jutting out of the ground at an unfortunate angle. I didn’t have time to curse it. I could see the blade glinting beyond my sight after feeling it whoosh over my head again.

Run. I have to run.

My instincts were screaming at me to throw everything down and leg it. But I didn’t listen to them, as the blade paused – it always did – before cutting away at Planky.

Again.

If I drop everything and run, it’ll be on me before I can take two steps.

Hold steady Rye, shields up.

Don’t die, don’t die, don’t die, don’t die.

Another sweeping strike. Another piece of Planky, gone.

I can’t retreat fast enough. My shield isn’t helping, I’m barely deflecting the strikes at all with it. My armor won’t help me much; I know what had made the deep cut in my new pauldron now. Whatever this is, it isn’t normal.

Oh gods, please let me live. Please, please, please.

The glinting in the dark tapered down to a short speck. I realized what I was seeing a moment too late, as the thrust came at me faster than I could react or move.

I was hunkered down, giving the smallest target possible. I held up Planky in the vain hope he’d protect me. The curved tip went right through the thickest part.

It hit me in the left shoulder. Sparks flew across my face, but they didn’t light up much and I had my eyes closed anyways. I pushed them open, forced them to stare ahead once the feeling of burning specks of metal spraying at my face stopped.

The thrust had cut into my pauldron, but it wasn’t deep enough. I felt a sharp pain, but only on the surface.

I should run. Now’s my chance. It’s overextended. I can take a few steps, then disappear into the darkness..

What are you waiting for?

Go.

GO!

I couldn’t. My legs wouldn’t move. Fear. Primal fear was all I could feel. The creature pulled its sword back and, as it met resistance against the metal it was biting into, I lurched forward one, two, three steps. Then, I saw him.

At the other end of the sword, there was a massive hulk of a man, nearly two times my size. Wrapped in metal armor on his left arm and shoulder, the rest of his body bulged with too many layers of flayed gambeson. His head was a helmet and a mask imitating the impassive face of a man, lolling to the side. The cloth wrapping it was ripped and frayed all over, hanging in crisscrossed strips over his shoulders.

His whole right arm, shoulder, and all, was tightly wrapped to his torso.

He’s using one. Single. Arm.

I felt my heart drop even further.

But I still have a chance.

Move dammit!

MOVE!

But I didn’t. Not in the right direction, at least. I didn’t quite feel like myself, when I raised my sword and thrust it into his belly. Like my body going through the motions, but without drive behind it, without spirit or reason. I guess it also didn’t feel quite like my fault then, when it didn’t bite deep enough, simply sliding across and cutting a slice of frayed cloth off.

There was another layer underneath it. Of chainmail.

I screwed up. I didn’t even draw blood.

Ah. So that’s what total failure looks like.

The world slowed down as his form towered higher and higher above me.

His body slammed into mine with the force of a mountain, followed by a wild bash with his massive sword. I was still holding my shield up. As it hit it, two thoughts blipped simultaneously.

I blocked it! Yay!

I hope that sound is just wood and not my bones.

It was, mostly. I had the good fortune of being hit by the unsharpened side of the blade and the less than good fortune of weighing way too little.

The ground loosened under me and then disappeared entirely as I was lifted off the ground and flung far. Up and up and up I went. The floor didn’t exist anymore. Only endless void.

Then there was the sound of cracking and twisting, creaking and moaning, twigs, bones, at this point I couldn’t tell what was up or down. Everything was a wild tumble, shaking, shapes and sharp, blunt feelings zipping past my face, in and out, up and sideways. As quickly as it had happened, I felt a second impact and the shades of dark turned to a definite and all-encompassing black.

The smell of wet leaves in autumn. Splashes of water and children’s cries. Of joy. Warm apple pie. A friend to share giggles and creamed buns with. Secrets, too. Great secrets, small secrets, slimy secrets, forbidden secrets. Personal secrets.

“If I work hard, I’ll be a knight of the orders one day!” she said. She knew what she wanted, always.

“You’re an idiot, you know that?” said the other one. She couldn’t bring herself to put trust in others much. She tried.

“Old Bekki said she saw it written in the bark! I’ll walk in shining armor, whether you believe me or not!”

Her friend looked at her, who’s hair was like wheat and eyes like marbles in the sky.

It was a stupid dream. “You’re too gullible, but I guess that’s what they’re looking for.”

Was it envy speaking or was that a familiar voice in her throat? She swallowed.

“True, fair. They probably won’t take me again next year. I’ll be gone by then, after all.”

“And after that, we’ll be dead.” That at least, was the truth.

You’re dead. You’re dead. You’re dead.

I’m dead. I’m dead. I’m dead.

…

I jerked awake to the feeling of falling. Twigs broke, armor scraped. I held up my good hand and curled into a ball. A ball that hit the floor with a thud.

Ow.

Owowow.

Urgh, I’m alive?

Wait, am I? I am! How? Why?

The stars in front of my face were back with a vengeance and I felt like that didn’t speak all to well for my long-term health prospects.

Not like I don’t have enough to worry about with the here and now. Ow. Both arms hurt. Please don’t be broken.

I tried wiggling them.

Left arm: bruises and aches. Still holding my sword. Nice.

Right arm: Ow. Further inquiry required. I’ll sort that out… later.

Shield? Completely and utterly obliterated. Gods, I can relate to that.

A moment of silence for Planky.

The moment passed.

I shifted my body ever so slightly, from lying upside down on my neck, with my back against what sounded like bark, a tree perhaps, to a more comfortable sitting position.

Everything was calm except for my heart. And head. Ow.

That was horrible. Catastrophic. Disastrous. Tragic, minus the fact that I’m still alive. I’m either the luckiest or the unluckiest girl I know.

I blinked as from around the corner, some steps away from me I noticed a faint, glow. My stomach did somersaults, then reminded me that I was still starving.

Luckiest. I’ll go with luckiest. Provisionally. Dreams shouldn’t hurt this much. Ow. Or have other dreams within dreams. I think I might have to start dealing with the possibility that I’m not in a dream. Joy.

I sat up, gathering strength from every fiber in my body. It wasn’t much, but it let me stand, leaning against the trunk of the mighty and dead tree.

I’ll walk towards the light first. Then, I can decide what to do. Who knows, maybe whoever – or whatever – is glowing like that also wants to kill me dead. Double joy. Thoughts like that should be locked up and buried deep beneath the surface. Away, yee treacherous concerns. Into the box you go!

I didn’t have it in me to move much, but I willed myself forward again. I was indeed not willing to let myself get myself down even further than I was. To go even further down, I’d have to start digging, after all. I was not in the mood for digging. Into the imaginary box my worries went! Locked away forever or, if that wasn’t possible, for later. Later was good, too.

Who needs concerns and guilt when you have denial? HaHA!

I think I’m going insane. Concussively insane.

Conschmussivly. Con-heh-con-, con-, con-. Oh, a corner. One, two steps. A rock, dirt, earth. Grass. Roots. It all feels so…different between my gloves.

Why do I need my gloves again? I should just take them off – Pullll! – there we go. Aah, cold, gentle air. Dirt and bugs. Pebbles under my feet. Light.

What was I doing again? Oh, right, light. One lil’ step at a time.

Shuffleshuffleshuffleshuffleshuffleshuffle.

The light got bright, brighter, yet brighter. I opened my eyes more; the stars were getting fewer and fewer.

What, what’s at the end of the light? An angel, a devil, something better or far, far worse? I’ll be disappointed if it’s a torch, y’know.

I think at this point, no matter who or what it was, I was going to cry.

Devil or angel, murderer, thief, or holy man. I don’t care, I don’t, just give me light. I can’t take it anymore; I want to see!

I turned towards it, past prickly undergrowth and over hardened dirt, when I saw him. Her. Them. Lying there, slumped up against a stray tombstone under a rocky overhang, was a person wearing full armor, glowing like the brightest lantern I’d ever seen. I had to avert my eyes; it was too much for me and my world of shades of black.

Everything suddenly had color, even if it just reinforced the already triste atmosphere of grays and blacks. There was some brown and some new dusky shades and were it not for the slow movement of their helmet, cocking to the side, I’d think this scene was right out of a painting. Beautiful.

“Who goes there?” A pleasant, but strained feminine voice echoed from the inside of the helmet. I felt soothed, sedated by the calm atmosphere for but a moment. Then I noticed the quiet, panting breaths and where she was holding a bloody hand to her armpit.

Oh no. That looks bad.

The bloody red put the entire scene into a more alarming frame. Her light was pulsing, flickering like a torch, and I stuttered and stammered like a complete fool.

“I…uh, agh…”

My light, my soul, my everything? Who sent you, where are you going? Be you friend or fiend? Where’s home? Of course, you’re a friend!

Ugh, I wanted to say so many things but pronouncing even a single syllable was nearly beyond me.

“L…light. Goo…d? Bad?”

Woo, what an introduction. Me, the greatest diplomat of them all. Light good.

“H-hello? Can you understand me?” she asked.

Yes, yes I can! Yes, yes! Oh, please just give me a friend in this godforsaken land.

“Y…es.” Yes! I can do it.

I gave myself courage, more and more, as hope welled up inside my dried-out husk of a body. “F-fr..ien…d…s.”

“Friend? Oh, thank the gods. A friend for once. Hello!” She said. It sounded nothing like the false-fancy tone or the even more out of place friendliness of the frog-demon. I was elated.

A friendly soul at last! I quickly limped closer, noticing a few rocks and roots that were begging me to trip on them.

Not today! I have outmaneuvered the fiendish immobile objects this day. Let it be known in all the lands! And curse knee-high objects, too.

“Hello, you. Who, who are you, if I – urgh – may ask?”

That, uhh, is not a question I was ready to be asked. Tripped up once again. But how do I answer that? It’s hard to describe, but all this time, I’ve never really felt like myself. Like what was me now was lesser than what it should have been. Like, my Sarcophagus told me I was one “Elia Rye”­­ – stupid name, by the way. Who names their child after piece of grain, a lesser piece of grain at that? I didn’t really feel like that name belonged to me. It didn’t stick.

Then again, I did feel rather plain. For lack of a better alternative, it was the only name I had.

“El…ia…R…ye.”

“Eliarye?”

No, no! Two words!

The female knight launched into a hideous coughing fit and for a moment, I thought she was going to keel over and die then and there.

Aaand all my hopes died with her. Oh, w-wait, she’s settling down. She’s not dead. Yet.

“N-no, I think just ‘Rye’ will have to do for now.”

Just Rye, huh. Just. Rye. It’ll do. I gave an eager nod.

“You don’t happen to… have burnsalve or red wyckwax on you?”

Nope, no idea what that is.

“N…o” I croaked, as my throat felt like a knife was cutting into it again. I probably should have just shaken my head.

“Oh, poor little Rye. Your face looks something fierce. Here, come closer if you would.”

That I could do. I wasn’t able to speak much and that which I did manage to push out was hardly distinguishable from the inane ramblings of a madman or a particularly articulate burp.

But what about you, doesn’t it hurt you to speak, too?

She noticed the look on my face. It must have been a horrible sight, like a living corpse mimicking the ways of a human. I felt suddenly very aware of how my face lacked any movement, muscles simply not moving, lips barely parting whenever I spoke. I hadn’t even seen my face yet, but one look at my dried up and corpse-like hands gave me a pretty good guess. I tried looking away, feeling shame.

Don’t look at me, I’m hideous. I’m a monster, you’re a-a saint. I’ve killed people! I’m a rotten egg.

She grabbed my chin with one hand and turned it towards her. She gently placed her hand on my nose and with a tear-inducing crunch, she set it right.

I immediately snorted a stream of blood onto her gauntlet. The drops of blood barely made a difference on the already soaked piece of armor and she just gave me a gentle smile.

“There. You look much, much better now. Wouldn’t – Hurk – y-you agree?”

Tears were in my eyes again. She was in so much pain and still the first thing she did was help me. I couldn’t see her face behind the helmet, but I knew now she must be an angel.

“Hush, little dreg. I won’t ask who you are; that… that you’ve not assaulted me is proof enough of your sanity.”

With a hand, she beckoned me to come closer. I did, now sitting directly next to her. The light, I was getting used to it by now, shone easily over fifteen feet brightly in each direction, then fifteen more in a dimmer sphere.

“But no. You are not a – cough – dreg, are you? Let me feel your hands. Gently.”

Trust. I needed to trust this woman. This wounded woman. She wouldn’t break her word, as a fellow knight, as an angel, right? Somehow, the fact that she was evidently too weak to wield a weapon against me was what convinced me to put my hand in hers.

She doesn’t even have a weapon, you idiot!

Her hand was coarse, but it had flesh like that of the living. It was so soft, impossibly soft. I felt my own fingers. They were hard and leathery as they rubbed against each other.

Am I even alive or am I dead? I have a heartbeat. I need to drink and eat.

Can I become like her?

I want to be like her.

“Mmhhh.” She said. I could feel her eyes close, even through the darkened shadow her full helm threw on her face. Her fingers slowly clasping mine, wandering up and down. My twiggy, shriveled fingers.

Is this what a tree or a bush feels like when we touch them? Ugh. But she’s warm, warm and soft, squishy. Alive. I want to be alive as well. I want to live.

Then, something happened. I felt her hand grow warm, pulsing and glowing red and yellow from the inside. I could see all her veins and I tried to pull my hand back, but she held a firm grip. Even half dead, she was stronger than me by a long shot.

“Ah. Aaah!” I said. I didn’t understand what was going on. I didn’t know what it meant and, naturally, I was scared.

Then the light shifted, and I felt my hand warm up. The warmth crept down my arm and by this point I was frantically trying to shake her hand off, to no avail. It settled somewhere above my collarbone and then, the light in our hands dimmed until everything was normal again.

I-y-you… what? I can… think a bit clearer now. My headache. It’s gone. Did you do this?

It’s a miracle. She’s a saint. A true, honest to friggin gods’ saint. I’m saved.

A particularly violent cough shook her body and I flinched. We were still holding hands, but while mine stayed warm in the afterglow of whatever happened, hers was growing rapidly colder. I noticed the circle of light around us was now only ten foot bright. And it was rapidly becoming less.

“L-light.” I stuttered almost perfectly, even getting a hint of worry snuck in there.

She smirked, I heard it in her voice when she said “Yes, I was made with light within me. It is a blessing. A curse.” Her body shifted ever so slightly.

What does she mean, blessing and a curse?

What does anything of this mean? Please, tell me, I need to know. I’m so confused, concussed but not really anymore, and I have no idea what is going on in this damned nightmare. It makes no sense! Please, just give me something, anything. That hand thing you did, was it straining? Can I get you something, stitch your wound maybe? I can stitch a wound. Possibly. Agh, if only I could talk, I could ask, everything would be so easy, it–

Before I could finish the thought, she continued. “Little Rye, listen close. My time is already numbered, my wax is run. I feel withered. Tired. Old...”

A pause.

Ok, but what am I supposed to listen for? That can’t have been all. Oh shit, did she just…die? No. Nonono, that’s bad, you’re the only one who was nice to me, no, nono– she inhaled deeply and sharply – Oh. Yes! Yesyesyes. Please, is there any way I can help? What do you want me to do, to know?

I don’t know if she had a flair for dramatic pauses or she was genuinely struggling to squeeze out what could possibly be her last words. Her wound under her armpit didn’t stop bleeding all this time and as I looked down, her leather glove was soaked crimson to the elbow. Finally, she said:

“Something lurks in the dark. Don’t turn your ba-”

Another string of coughs clattered through her armor, first loud, then growing ever quieter until I felt our pleasant little encounter drawing to a close. Tears welled up in my eyes.

“Mourn me, if you would.”

Oh. Yes. I will. For sure.

I nodded, unsure if she could even see the gesture. She was clearly suffering a lot.

Should I kill her and end her pain? I can make it quicker. If she wants me to, that is.

I took off her helmet – Wow that’s heavy –, taking in the features of her face.

Her eyes are so pretty – a piercing green –, hair dusty red, high cheek bones. She looks friendly and not as old as I thought her to be. More blood on her lips.

She was shivering.

She looked at me, before closing her eyes and slowly slumping to my side.

I caught her, holding her head close to my chest. She was my friend, though we only knew each other for minutes, but I knew a kindred spirit when I felt one. I was shaking too, and crying few, but heavy tears.

“D...on…leave…me…” I said.

I need you!

She smiled and sank heavily into my arms. I sat there for a time, looking out across the pitiful scrubs, the small patch of land that her holy presence had lit up. I knew not what life she had lived, but in my heart, she was a holy woman, a most devout and dutiful person, a light, a great hero, a beacon. My beacon.

I failed to suppress a sob. Tears ran from one of my eyes.

“Shhhh.” She said, quietly. I could imagine her putting a finger to my lips.

Why am I being comforted by a dying woman? Gods, I’m pitiful. Weak. Stupid. Forgetful. Stupid. Arrogant and prideful, too. Who am I, to deserve a fate such as this?

As I watched, the light around us slowly but surely receded with the beat of her heart. Gently rocking back and forth, I tried to breathe in and out, but I couldn’t bring myself to be calm.

“Down… the beaten path… there’s a… road… ring – Hhhhh – the bell… cross the bridge… there lies… a temple...Loften…”

“O…k…” I said.

“Don’t…there… there…” she said.

What is it? What is there?

Her lips drew together into a thin line and her eyes suddenly focused on something distant. I swear, through the tears clogging my sight, I saw a first and last glint of fear in her gem-like eyes.

“Don’t…leave…”

And when the light was smaller than my fist, and only shimmered gently from inside her armor, I felt her voice finally breathe its last.

I never felt so alone in my entire life.