The sun rose above the horizon, painting the sky an orange hue.
A soft breeze blew through the woods, leaves rustling as it brushed past them.
The day was beginning.
Birds flew between the trees, filling the forest with their lively songs.
Awoken by those songs, many animals scurried about, looking for their morning meal.
Others, meanwhile, stubbornly went back to sleep.
Amidst this beautiful scene, two strange figures wandered through the forest.
One was a man with a hole in his chest, and the other was a boy with a wounded face.
Raymond was heading to his home town, with the Child of Death following behind.
It was just the two of them now, the horde of undead was nowhere to be seen.
In hindsight, walking around with a skeletal army in broad daylight wasn't the best idea. So, Raymond had asked the boy to send them away.
Besides, he didn't need an army to get his revenge.
So now, they were by themselves, walking through the forest. Well, they were walking for the most part, at least. They had to make many stops along the way.
That was because the Child of Death had a habit of stopping just to look at birds or to help a random animal.
Or at least, he would have helped them if they weren't deathly afraid of him. So, he made Raymond do it instead.
The ghostly girl, following from the shadows, couldn't help but smile when she saw that.
Their speed had been slowed down considerably because of the constant stops— they had already spent a whole day traversing the forest.
But Raymond didn't mind, because it gave him more time to sort out his thoughts, which were in turmoil due to what was to come.
Thinking about it made him grim once more.
It wouldn't be long now, before he would see his wife again.
What would she say when she saw him? What would she do? Apologize? Make excuses? Would she blame it on him instead?
The next moment, however, Raymond's thoughts were interrupted by a small hand tugging at his sleeve.
"Huh?"
He looked to see the Child of Death holding fruits in his hands.
He pushed one of them towards Raymond, insisting that he ate.
It seemed that the boy, noticing his grim mood, had found something to distract Raymond from his painful thoughts.
"Thank you, but I don't want it—", he tried to decline, but he was interrupted by the sound of his grumbling stomach.
Spirits seldom felt hunger, but it had been years since Raymond's last meal.
He was famished.
Soon, the two of them were sitting on rocks under a shady tree, filling their bellies with fruit.
For a moment, Raymond was stunned by the fruit's taste, losing himself in its sweetness.
He had forgotten many things in that maddening void, and tasting fresh fruit was but one of them. So, it was strangely pleasant to be reminded of it.
Suddenly, Raymond heard a small, feminine voice shouting from a distance, "Niko~!"
He turned in its direction, only to see a blur pass by, slamming straight into the Child of Death's face.
It was a small, glowing bird with blue and black feathers.
Another spirit, by the looks of it.
She clung to the boy's face for dear life, hugging him with her wings.
"Niko! There you are! I thought I told you to wait for me! Where did you wander off to?!", she scolded him, her voice full of concern.
The Child of Death, Niko, promptly pointed towards Raymond, as if it explained everything.
And indeed, it seemed to do just that.
Looking at Raymond, the bird spoke, "Oh, I see now. Hello there~ I'm Leta, a friend of Niko's. And you are?"
"Uh...Raymond, nice to meet you, Leta".
Raymond took a moment to respond, still dumbfounded from seeing this small bird scolding the frightening heir of Death like a five year old.
Leta, meanwhile, returned her attention to Niko, looking over his body to ensure he was fine.
Raymond's expression grew a bit wistful seeing it, because it reminded him of his own child— of his own family...
Snapping out of his thoughts, he noticed Niko looking at him with concern.
He seemed a little confused about Raymond's behaviour.
"Right, I haven't really explained what happened to me", Raymond sighed, "Alright, settle in. This will be a bit of a long story."
And so, Raymond started recounting his story. The story of how he had met his wife, how they had lived, and how he had died.
****
The Sun was at its peak, spreading golden radiance through the blue sky.
Fallen leaves covered the ground, painting it a similar golden hue.
Animals hurried across the ground, the leaves crunching under their feet. They had to find as much food as they could, before it became scarce.
The world around was slowly drifting into a tranquil silence as life prepared for a long slumber.
It was autumn, and winter was just around the corner.
Yet Raymond had no time to enjoy any of this beauty. He stared into the distance with his sunken eyes, struggling to stay awake.
His long shift at the border was almost over, yet he still had to remain vigilant, keeping his hand at the hilt of his sword.
The neighbouring nations, Silinar and Virelis, were at war, and their violent battle could spill into the Erethean kingdom at any moment, turning this peaceful place into a bloody battlefield.
He heard a beeping sound, and the runes on his badge shone with white light.
His shift was finally over.
He could finally get some rest.
He looked at the other soldiers around him.
Some were barely lucid, they couldn't wait to reach the barracks and sleep.
Others really couldn't wait for that, and fell asleep right at the spot instead.
They had all been standing watch for three days straight, so it was reasonable.
Raymond turned to head to the barracks, but stopped when he saw Wallace approaching him.
"Nice to see you working hard as usual, old friend", Wallace gave Raymond a firm slap on the back, nearly making him lose balance.
"Just doing my job, sir", Raymond replied with a yawn.
"Oh, come on, why so formal?", Wallace rolled his eyes
"Well you're technically my boss now after that promotion, and rules are rules", Raymond shrugged.
"But you'll probably be getting yours soon too, so it doesn't really matter, does it?", Wallace replied confidently.
"Sure, whatever, but for now, all I want to get is some sleep, so I'll be off", Raymond rubbed his eyes as he spoke.
With that, he bade Wallace farewell and prepared to leave for the barracks.
However, a scream from below made him stop in his tracks.
It was a woman, bruised and battered, who was being chased by a Virelian soldier.
She ran as fast as she could, but fatigue caught up to her, and she fell to the ground. The soldier wasted no time making use of that, and soon caught up to her.
He said something in a foreign language. Raymond couldn't understand his words, but his murderous grin told him all he needed to know.
"Shouldn't we do something?", Raymond looked at Wallace.
"There'll be hundreds of incidents like this, I'm afraid", Wallace sighed, "We should just stay out of it so long as they stay away from us."
Raymond clenched his fist. He didn't like hearing that. In fact, he hated it.
After all, that was how his father had died—brutally killed while people who could have saved him stood by and watched.
The woman pleaded to the soldier, perhaps begging him to spare her life, yet the vile man only grew more ecstatic upon seeing her desperation.
He let out a loud, mocking laugh before raising his sword high above his head. He brought the blade down at frightening speed, aiming to kill the woman in a single strike.
But instead of feeling flesh parting before his blade, the soldier felt solid steel collide against it with a deafening clangor.
His bones shook from the impact, and his blade broke into two.
The soldier looked to see a man with brown hair standing between him and the woman, his grey eyes looking at him with utter contempt.
Raymond brandished his sword at the soldier, a faint light enveloped its blade. He didn't say anything, yet his intentions were clear.
Back away if you want to live.
The soldier's grin vanished, replaced by a panicked expression.
He wasn't expecting to run into a Sword Expert, and it seemed he had already done something to offend this one.
Without wasting a second, he turned around and ran for his life, not daring to look back.
With the soldier gone, Raymond turned his attention to the injured lady.
She was a young woman, but she seemed to have aged centuries after the horrors she had been through.
Her golden hair was covered with dirt and blood, sticking to her pale, sunken face. Her grey eyes, perhaps once striking and lively, were now dull and listless. Her clothes were riddled with holes, and her body was covered by countless wounds.
She flinched when he approached her, still wary after brushing with death just moments ago. Raymond put his sword on the ground and raised his hands in the air, assuring her that he meant no harm.
Seeing that he was unarmed made her feel slightly at ease, but she was far from convinced about his intentions.
Not wanting to take the risk, she stood up, bowed and started walking away.
She would rest once she was far away from these people, but not a moment sooner.
Alas, her body had other intentions, because she had hardly taken a few steps when she fell unconscious.
When the woman next opened her eyes, she found herself in an infirmary, covered in bandages.
A nurse saw her wake up and hurried out, soon returning with Raymond and another man.
They approached her and Raymond said something, but she didn't understand the language he spoke.
The other man, a mage by the looks of it, spoke some arcane words and suddenly, she could understand what Raymond was saying.
"Hello, it's good to see you awake. I'm Raymond, from the Erethean army. May I know your name?"
Raymond spoke in a rather stiff manner, not used to talking to women, let alone one who had escaped from a bloody war.
She hesitated, still not sure if she could trust these people. But, seeing as she didn't have much of a choice for now, she decided to go along with it.
"Qulia", she responded, "My name is Qulia".
Raymond nodded and spoke again, "Miss Qulia, we want to help you get back to your family, but we'll need you to cooperate with us in finding them. Is that alright with you?"
Qulia lowered her gaze, tears streaming from her eyes. She bit her lip, refusing to speak at first.
The images flashed before her eyes. One by one, she recalled her family members— how they had all died.
She remembered the horror in her mother's eyes as she looked at the blade piercing her stomach.
She remembered her father, staying back to buy them time to escape. He had tried to protect them, just like he had always done, only to be hacked to bloody pieces by the merciless soldiers.
She recalled her little siblings, unable to outrun the army's bloodthirsty hounds, who caught up to them, ripping them apart as they screamed in agony.
She recalled her peaceful village being razed to the ground.
"Dead— All of them are dead. They were killed by those madmen!", she gritted her teeth, her voice filled with rage and sorrow.
Raymond's eyes widened, before he too lowered his gaze.
He suddenly regretted not killing that soldier there and then. It would have only been fair.
But he shook his head, banishing those senseless ideas. The world had no need for more bloodlust. Rather, he should focus on what he could do.
First, he needed to arrange a place for Qulia to live, seeing as she had lost her home. So, leaving the infirmary, he met up with Wallace to ask if he could help with that.
"Give me two weeks and I'll see what I can do", Wallace shrugged, "But I can't guarantee anything".
"That's more than enough. Thank you!", Raymond squeezed Wallace's shoulders.
At least there was some hope. It wouldn't be easy for Qulia to lead a normal life after losing her family, but at least this way she wouldn't have to go back to her war-torn kingdom.
With that done, there wasn't much Raymond could do for the time being. So, he resumed his duties at the border.
He often visited Qulia in the infirmary during his free time to keep her company.
They didn't talk much, even when there was a mage nearby to translate for them. But the short conversations and brief interactions were still a nice change of pace for the both of them.
Qulia, while still a little wary, was rather friendly and cheerful, which was a nice change from the tense atmosphere Raymond faced at the border.
And although Raymond was a bit uptight, he was a kind person, and did his best to help Qulia overcome her trauma.
Before they knew it, the two weeks Wallace had asked for were up, and Raymond went to see him, hoping for good news.
However, his hope wavered when he saw Wallace's dejected look.
"I'm sorry", Wallace sighed in exasperation, "But we just got orders from the higher-ups. They refused to grant her a house and said we should send her back".
"But Silinar lost the war. That area is full of Virelian soldiers now. If we send her there now, they'll imprison her, or worse!", Raymond shouted with rage.
"Well buy her a house yourself then. But, of course, you can't. So you should just give it up if you ask me", Wallace shrugged.
He waved his hand in the air and turned around, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work, and you should do the same. Stop wasting your time over some random girl."
Raymond stood there, motionless. He couldn't believe that everyone was just abandoning Qulia, simply because her fate didn't affect them.
She was a person, just like them. How could they all turn a blind eye to the suffering of others just like that?!
And even if they could, he could not. Not after having been on the receiving end of it himself...
He gritted his teeth and headed towards the infirmary, where he explained the situation to Qulia.
Her face paled when he delivered the news, and she trembled at the thought of being handed over to those lunatics.
"But don't worry", Raymond sighed, "I...I'll figure something out. I'll try arrange a house in the Erethean kingdom for you, and in the meantime, you can live in my house with my family."
Qulia hesitated, she had started to trust Raymond over time, but she was not too keen on living in someone else's house. However, she did not have the luxury of a choice. It was either that, or sharing the same fate as the rest of her village.
"Alright", she sighed dejectedly, "I'll accept your offer."
She thought for a moment, before speaking again.
"And...thank you...for all your help", she smiled warmly.
"Then I'll go and inform my family about it", Raymond nodded before leaving the room.
Once he was gone, Qulia let out a sigh.
'It's alright. it will just be for a little while, until we can arrange for a different place for me to live', she thought to herself.
Outside the room, Raymond took a deep breath.
'It's alright, it's alright.'
In truth, he wasn't too happy with the decision he had to make. He was quite uncomfortable around women, and the thought of having one he barely knew living in his house...it was discomforting, to say the least.
But it was something he had to do for now, until he could find a different place for her to live.
'It will only be for a little while'
Or so he had thought...