《Condemned (Old)》[Vol. 1; Chapter 5.0] - A Quiet Dawn

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Leor finds himself surrounded by a familiar rock formation. The roar of thunder and rain bounce around the cave. Heat is radiating from the back of his head. He gazes upward to see Ceri sleeping, and realizes the heat on the back of his head is coming from her lap. He turns over and pushes himself up.

He slowly drifts his hand towards his chest. There is no hole to be found. Leor furrows his brow and clenches his teeth as he tightly squeezes his cloak.

What a strange dream… Leor turns to Ceri, who is resting against the cave wall. The woman in the dream… and this warmth...

Leor scans the cave and finds Alden passed out on the floor curled up by the fire.

“How did we get here?”, wonders Leor as he stands up, takes off his cloak, folds it neatly into a square, and places it next to Ceri. He gently cradles her neck and lowers her head onto the cloak. Leor’s face lightens up as he stares at Ceri’s sleeping face.

His eyes shift over to the entrance of the cave. The rain seems to have stopped. “Well, I guess I’ll go out to get some fresh air.”

Leor grabs his swords before exiting the cave into the dark woods.

Alden’s body shakes as he lies on the floor, trying to hide the fact that he was awake and observing the gentle moment. You two… I just can’t… my heart.

A cold wind tickles Ceri’s nose, sending shivers down her body. She slowly lifts her eyelids and sits up. “Leor?” whispers Ceri. The fire is burnt out and Leor is nowhere to be found. She looks down and sees his cloak resting on the ground. She glances outside and sees a dark orange-ish red glow in the sky.

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“Perhaps he went to get more wood?”

A large crash violently shakes the cave. A sudden downpour follows the explosion and it stops as quickly as it began.

Ceri covers her ears in response. “What was that!?”. She sprints towards the nearby waterfall. Her eyebrows raise as she reaches the water.

A gigantic tree about two hundred feet tall lays across the forest floor, stretching from one end of the riverbank to the other. Standing at the base of the fallen tree is Leor, who is stroking his chin while examining the disaster he caused.

Ceri hides behind a tree and continues to watch Leor from the shadows.

Leor draws his sword from his hip and chips off thick branches. He sheathes his weapon, picks up the chunks of wood, and places them on a dry patch of leaves that were shielded from the earlier rainfall.

He turns his attention to the base of the waterfall and walks up to the roaring water. Standing there in complete silence, Leor eyeing the water takes a deep breath. He leaps high into the air and winds his arm back. Thrusts his fist at water as he descends. The surrounding water erupts outward from the expanding air, revealing a large circular portion of the riverbed. Leor lands onto the now revealed bed and jumps back to his original position. Water along the edges overflow onto the riverbank. As the water seeps back into the river, fish flop around the forest floor.

Ceri covers her gaping mouth. He’s still that strong with those injuries!?

“How long are you planning to hide?”

Ceri jumps to attention. “How long did you know I was here!?”

Leor grabs his left shoulder and rotates it. A loud crack emits from his joint. “I sensed something watching me and I happened to spot you when I jumped in the air.”

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“Oh…” She walks up to Leor and places her hand on his left shoulder. ” How’re your injuries?”

Leor looks down at Ceri examining his shoulder. “Ahem.. the injury wasn’t too bad. I just needed a little rest.”

Ceri tilts her head up and glares at Leor. She pokes her index finger into his chest. “You need to take better care of yourself! You scared me half to death when you passed out during the boar incident! You’re lucky Lord Alden was nearby to carry you back to the cave!”

Leor looks away in embarrassment. Those eyes… they feel so familiar...

“Okay. okay. You’re right. I’m sorry. Thank you..”

Ceri instantly switches off her lecture mode into her usual beaming smile. “Good! That’s what I like to hear.” She begins to pick up the branches that Leor collected earlier. “You did all this for us, right? Let’s hurry back to the cave to warm up.” She spins around and walks back to their rocky campsite.

A subtle smile creeps onto Leor’s face as he picks up the fish and trails behind Ceri.

“By the way, where you’d learn how to fight? I was shocked to see you disperse the water like that! It was really cool! I bet Lord Alden would’ve loved to see it.”

“Mmm… my master? I guess that’s what you’d call him.”

“Your master?”

“Yeah, I didn’t stay in the woods alone as a kid. I probably would’ve died a long time ago if that were the case.”

“Oh, that makes sense. He must’ve been really strong too seeing how you turned out!”, laughs Ceri. “Where is he now?”

Leor goes silent.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! If you don’t want to answer, you don’t have to.”

“No…. it’s fine. To be honest, I don’t know myself. He left one day without saying anything. All he left behind were these swords and a note that said ‘Lose these and I’ll kill you’. Knowing him, that geezer is probably in some large city trying to hook up with any female that moves.”

“Oh my! that ‘s terrible!”

Leor looks towards the dawning sky with a smile. “Yeah, he was.”

Despite the chilly winds that rush through the forest floor, a contagious warmth fills Ceri as she’s drawn in by Leor’s genuine smile. However, a hint of sorrow hides behind it. The two walk back to the cave in a bitter-sweet silence.

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