Annoyance, as the face and arms were touched by what seemed to be little tendrils and the moving of water over the body of little Levis as his consciousness was reawakening in darkness, yet a high understanding of his surroundings could be felt, although strange.

As his eyes opened, he looked at his surroundings in dismay and extreme lethargy as he found himself standing at the bend between the river and the road.

The sun was a crimson red, the same as the blood on his course tunic and pants, only his was more mix of brown-red from the dusty road.

"Did I fall asleep?”

As he awakened from a tiring sleep, he found himself at the end of his power as even his body felt heavy and in pain. As he was checking himself only to see himself in a pathetic state, worse than even beggars, as he seemed not to have taken a bath in months from the dirt and blood covering him.

“I should wash myself first. And water, why am I so thirsty?”

As he rose to move down to the river and take a dip while drinking from the current, a strange thing was happening as the wind, grass, and water seemed to be more prominent on his skin, and his hearing became more acute as the world was more noisy than usual.

“Am I sick? What is happening to me?”

As his consciousness was awakening from a deep sleep, the memories of his grandpa and other villagers being murdered resurge while making his mood drop.

“No, I can not cry, I have to move to meet the other villagers, follow the river, I am a man whose name is Ato.”

While upping his emotions, the words spoken by his grandpa and village chief reemerge, his goal was evident as he began to walk next to the river while the sun was going down. But as his emotion were stabilizing with a lower head and clenched fist, a dark and somber mood was befalling him as a murderous aura was surrounding him while trying to remember the faces of those bandits.

“I’ll kill you, no matter where you are and no matter the time it will take.”

However, as he was walking, a confusing expression appeared as his lethargic body seemed to grow stronger with each breath and each beat of the hearth. Despite not having eaten anything, the water was helping him more than he could understand.

“There is definitely something strange with my body wha--”

But as curiosity took him, a sound that terrified him could be heard on the road behind as well as dim lights that were growing, as panic and fear struck him he jumped off the road into the tall grass to the south, hoping to avoid whoever was coming this way. As the hoof sounds made by the galloping horses grew, and the light became bigger, illuminating the road, five people on four horses could be seen, four in armor, with blue cloths under, and one in somewhat light brown-green garments. As they approached his location at high speed, to his despair, they stopped right in front of his location.

“Don’t hide. Come out. I am vice-captain Adrian of Forest county. You can come out!”

But the man's words shook him as his greatest fear did not realize, although still afraid.

“If you are hurt, you can come out so we can treat you.”

As the man was still shouting, noise and movement in the grass could be seen and heard as a little head of a young boy no older than seven to ten years old could be seen.

“You---, you are going where the other villagers are going?"

“The encampment!? Yes, you can come out, and we will take you there.”

The surprise could be seen on the five men's faces at the appearance of the boy in ragged clothes as he was making his way out of the grass.

“Are you hurt?”

“Nn-no.”

“Then the blood? Did you see someone else on the road?”

“No.”

“Where are you from?”

“Down River village.”

“Down River---? The last one. Were you there when the thirteen seniors were killed.”

As questions were coming from the vice-captain, in a somewhat flat manner, little Levis shook at the question about his villagers, as he only nodded his head in confirmation, as though unable to say anything from the shame of the fact that he was hidden and done nothing but run away as they were killed.

“We are returning from your village. The seniors have already been buried. I don’t know why you haven't left with your villagers, but if you're fine, let's go as we need to arrive at the camp at the earliest. Someone take him.”

As the words flew from the vice-captain, little Levis had no chance to speak as one of the guards took him as they wasted no time and restarted their journey. The ride was not very comfortable as the wind was rushing at high speed while making his eyes teary, but he could see the river and grass moving fast from the light that was coming from the base of the horse's neck as a round stone glowed in the dark of the night. As sleepiness was taking him slowly, and his eyelids were going up and down the same as his head, evident from a drain of adrenalin and emotional instability as he could feel some security in the presence of the guards, his world went dark again. However, the information about the close surroundings was still flowing as every part of his skin was sending bits and pieces of information about the wind, the horse and riders, as words were still coming into his consciousness despite being asleep.

"He--- sleep--"

"---- arrive at--- by dawn."

"---- alert, we---"

But the words were incomplete and of no use, as they were not even being focused on, as the feeling of his entire body seemed unified and connected in a strange way and his consciousness was in the midst of comprehension of his own state, time seem to be strange as all of the sudden he was being shocked by a hand over his shoulder as the guard was speaking.

“We are here, time to awake.”

As he, awaken, with a still dark sky, that was just starting to have a red spot in the east, his eyes could spot a large space next to endless forest that was missing quite a few trees, as tall trunks of trees made for a wall fence and as wooden spike blockers were surrounding the near vicinity of the wall.

As the guards signaled other guards on tall wooden towers inside the fence and as they signal back, the guards approached slowly the front as a big double door slowly opened and other guards a waited on the other side, only to release tension at the sight of friendly faces as they were afraid of the bandits having found out their signal and trying to surprise them. But even so, the guards did not show much fear, as the young man in almost full metal armor and longsword in his hand that was walking towards them, gave the impression of cutting down anyone that was not of his company.

“So you're done. I was getting bored, so I came immediately once I was informed someone was coming in.”

“Captain.”