A breezy night carrying the calming sound of wind that was passing by a bridge seemingly abandoned

One person leaning forward on the bridge's rails let out a sigh, staring at the river of the likes of a black abyss only betrayed by the white pure reflection of the moon

Letting out a slow exhale with eyes staring at a phone's screen dim enough to barely discern the texts that it displayed

Lifting a hand to put the cigarette between lips to be able to type back as a slow inhale pushed the smoke down

"Heyyyy, me and colton tried to look for you everywhere, where were you?"

The contents of the message couldn't help but prompt a chuckle

"I'd rather not be a third wheel, thanks"

"Oh shut up you, did you get your grades back?"

"Yeah, passable"

Seeing the other person typing to let the sender take another puff of their cigarette, only stopping at the notification's sharp sound

"Yay! I'm so glad we both did!"

A smile gently appeared, only to fade away as quickly as it came

"So what are you taking as a course? did you decide yet?"

"Anything is fine by me tbh"

Another puff of the half done cigarette

"What? that's kinda dumb though, you need to do something you enjoy "

The fingers that were typing so fast immediately stopped, unknowing of what letters to press to reply with, until a slight pain slowly starting surfacing from within

"I can't even get myself out of bed everyday and you're telling me to enjoy a college course that won't even get a job with today's job market?"

Staring at the screen for a couple of dead seconds, the delete button was held and a sigh was let out

"Yeah, you're right, i'll think about it"

Immediately locking the phone after that with the eyes drifting away into the flowing river below the bridge

Lifting a hand to rest an elbow on the rails, the same brown eyes narrowed to be lost into the moon's reflection, a gentle chest pain cutting that daydreaming carried by the overthinking that passed through, acting as a catalyst for emotions that only added to the heartache

Regret for paths not taken

Self loathing for dying ambition and childish dreams

Misanthropy for a misunderstanding world that had no place to fit in

Pent up feelings that made the invitation to join the river tempting as the staring eyes were enamored of it, flicking the cigarette away followed by the enamored eyes that watched it free fall into the water

All problems could be fixed with just a small push...

....

Squinting eyes seemingly attacked by a ray of light the likes of divine entities assaulted our protagonist, and with a grunt those same eyes opened to let in the sun's blessing of vision and the curse of being temporarily blinded by its might

"Ah..." Hands holding head to try and appease the rising headache while eyes looked around in search for clue, but merely finding more questions

A beautiful green prairie was the place the eyes gazed at, light green trees with the smooth texture of the grass caressing the palm of the hand that was on the ground of the viridescent hill

"What the fuck-" Suddenly a stab of pain ignited within the stomach, sending the whole body in a violent fit of coughing that only went away after a couple of seconds of recovery, now on knees and wiping mouth with forearm, a deep inhale was taken in to further take in the situation that just happened

Barely able to utter a word or to create a thought that could help assessing the situation, our protagonist got up to stand on the grassy hill, sheltering eyes from the flaming sun

"Is this my first lucid dream? Is that it?" Words came out, words neither their owner nor the surroundings had answers to, and before anything else could be said, Sheer curiosity pushed for exploration

A dirt path laid down to merge within the forest was in front, crouching down to notice some footprints that were seemingly engraved in the mud

Taking in a breath to crouch down and take a closer look at them resulted in the knowledge that multiple people walked into the woods ahead, some footprints however looked more like they were made by horses rather than humans

Deciding to move forward to follow the tracks, driven only by the desire to receive some answers that maybe could stop the chin rubbing

"I don't remember going to a festival..." Words were muttered alongside eyes that slightly squinted as they analyzed the unfamiliar forest that was surrounding them

Wide eyes soon followed that thinking as they were met with a fallen silhouette of a horse, carefully stepping closer the blood could be seen leaving the carcass to mix with the muddy road

And on further inspection, the cause of death was finally found, a singular spear shoved inside the animal

The scene alone made our protagonist's heart skip a beat alongside an anxiety that ignited like a lit matchstick thrown into gas, the lunch was almost deciding to leave the body it was in only kept inside by pressuring on the mouth with a hand

Seeing a blood handprint on a tree, it was like an invitation to enter the woods and leave the path that was laid down

But if a horse was killed and a human attacked on that path, how safer was it than the woods?

Only few seconds were needed to decide what to do next as leaves were pushed to the side to open the way forward, with a beating heart and an anxious mind, the chase for answers was kept

And it wasn't hard to continue the chase with the blood on the ground that sullied both the dirt and the nearby leaves

It seem as whoever was assaulted couldn't keep up as handprints was seen on scattered trees

"You..." A shallow voice called out and was immediately responded with a quick turn to wherever it came from

A fallen man dressed in bloodied and dirty mud plate armor was sitting down against a tree, his pale face showing off the exhaustion his body gathered and his eyes slowly letting the little life in him slowly slip out of grasp

Frozen in place from the scene with uncertainty taken place on the mind it took a bit of fake courage to answer the dying man

"I- Are you okay?" The knight couldn't help but chuckle at the meek answer he was given, a chuckle that was only followed by coughs of blood soon afterwards into the palm of his armored glove

"Haa... never have been better lass" he gave her a smile that could get through the wall of pain

"Come, please..." He added on, and with fear striking her she couldn't but accept his pleading as she slowly stepped up towards him

"What's your name?" he asked, his barely open eyes diverting away to grab the satchel next to him that was carrying just as much blood on the surface of its leather as his armor did, no answers given to him resulted in him looking at the young woman again right into her eyes

"Fae... my name is Fae sir" He smiled

"You seem reluctant... is it a lie?" he tilted his head to the side with a raised eyebrow that even so couldn't break her silence

"Ah it matters not..." He grabbed her forearm and gave her what seemed like a scroll with slight stains of blood

"Forgive me to burden you with this but you have to deliver this to our queen-" Fae opened her mouth immediately after as the answers she was hoping to find were replaced by more questions

"Wait, queen? what queen?!" The man only tightened his grasp on her forearm, not as an act of violence but more of a shamed pleading

"The kingdom of Flora, I beg of you lass... this-" Fae cut his last words again

"But you need help-" Feeling the blood stop flowing into her hand, she looked into the man with the sour expression as he took a wheezing breath through his mouth

"And you would help me greatly with this" Seeing no words come out of the woman, the knight lifted his hand away from her arm and presented the scroll to her

Fae on the other hand looked around begging and pleading to see any other person, camera, any indication that she was the butt of a sick joke that only she didn't understand

But nothing, nothing but the shallow breathing of the man in front of her and the sound of foliage sway around them that couldn't comfort any of the two

"Take it, take it and run as fast as you can towards the west and do not stop for anything" His stern words engraved the content of his speech into her brain, her hands took the scrolls out of his hand and seemingly all of his burden away from his shoulders

"Thank you... take these as well, may they help you as you have helped me" Presenting her what seemed like a leather coin purse alongside a tiny blade in a bloodstained engraved sheath

Putting the given things in her backpack, Fae stopped for a second as she looked at the pale man

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you?" Staring at his smiling pained face for a moment as he stopped chuckling to receive a wave of pain coming from his wounds, leaving him speaking through gritted teeth

"You are doing more than your fair share young lady" taking in a deep breath, he continued

"I am not familiar with these lands, but I am certain if you keep heading west you will find our nation" Clutching his stomach tightly, he looked at Fae one more time

"Do not trust anybody, you're surrounded by only xenophobes that would hurt anybody bearing a difference from them" Eyeing Fae from down and up, he locked eyes with her again

"And you are anything but familiar" Clutching the strap of her backpack with her right hand, she gulped and slowly nodded

"Alright, I understand" A smile escaped the pain and appeared on the knight's face, but it quickly disappeared as his drowsed senses picked up yelling from the distance

"Be on your way now, and hurry with your duty, it is imperative that you see it through the end" He said with slightly furrowed eyebrows and a stern face that fitted somebody of a high rank

Nodding quickly Fae slowly backed up and gave him a hesitant stare, a stare that was replied by no words other than the stoic eyes of the knight, his mind unchanging of wanting no help other than Fae turning into a temporary courier

"You never told me your name" Words breaking the silence were finally uttered as they softened the expression the dying knight had

"Archard, it was a pleasure to have your company Fae" A few seconds of silence reappeared

"I'll remember it" And a few more before Fae finally turned around and ran, she ran with each step picking more pace and with her back behind never to turn back