Ash opened his eyes.
He looked up, seeing a cloudy grey sky, marked with the red taint of the setting sun. He looked around, noticing thick vegetation around him.
What is thisplace?, He thought.
The place looked like a clearing in a forest. He heard the sounds of birds cawing, and insects trilling all around him. the wet clay beneath his fingers released an earthy smell.
He tried to sit up, but a sharp pain attacked him. His entire being felt sore, it felt as if he had been hit with a sack of rocks over and over again.
He inspected his body, still lying down, and saw that he was dressed in a plain grey tunic. He expected his body to be covered in bruises, but was surprised to see that his hands and feet were completely undamaged. His body was lean and in shape, not overly muscular but definitely athletic.
He tried sitting up again. This time he had more success. The pain was starting to subside. As he sat up, he inspected his surroundings in more detail.
He was sitting in what looked like a small crater, the edges of which were ringed by cracked earth. He also saw a faint glow emanating from the edges of the crater. He took a closer look and saw countless tiny runes, all emitting wisps of ethereal white light, encircling him. The runes were in an unknown script, and the light within them was slowly fading.
The pieces were starting to fall together: the pain in his body, the gap in the trees and the crater.
He had fallen into the forest from the sky and somehow survived without a scratch!
He tried to remember how he had landed here, but to his horror he couldn't. Not only could he not recall memories of the recent past about what had happened to him, he also couldn't remember anything about the past!
Ash had lost all of his memories.
How is this possible? Ash thought incredulously.
The mysterious runes probably had something to do with this situation.
Just as he was starting to ponder on the myriad of questions raging in his mind, his ears picked up a faint rustle in the bushes.
Ash got up with a start.
"Who goes there?", He asked, trying to sound assertive.
WHOOSH
His body reacted faster than his mind. He dodged an arrow from behind, which was aimed at his side.
In his peripheral vision, he caught a figure lunging at him. He crouched and dodged the strike, a vicious dagger nicked his hair slightly.
He wasted no time and delivered a swift blow to the stomach of the adversary.
The figure doubled over, and Ash felt another arrow coming at him, aimed at his back.
He quickly turned around—and caught the arrow.
Before he could even begin to wonder what kind of sorcery had made him this adept at combat, he saw two vine like tentacles launching at him from either side. He rolled forward with inhuman speed and came face to face with the man who had attacked him.
The man was crouched, both hands touching the ground at his sides. Before he could react, Ash stabbed the man on his right shoulder, eliciting a roar. Then, he swiftly silenced the man with an elbow to the nose. The man's eyes rolled back and he fell to the ground.
Of course, Ash hadn't forgotten about the other attacker.
He briskly sidestepped the downward slash of a shortsword, disarmed the woman, and in the same motion, landed a backhanded blow to the attacker's cheek. He let go of her hand and she fell to the floor with a thud.
Both of the assailants were currently on the ground, probably unconscious and were drawing shallow, ragged breaths.
Ash's knees buckled. He felt utterly exhausted. He was about to rest on the ground entirely when he heard voices in the woods.
"It came from there!" a gruff male voice shouted.
Ash stood up again, mustering as much energy as he could.
And then he felt something.
A wave of raw power assaulted his mind. He could feel it in his bones and flesh. The source if it was in the direction of the voice he heard earlier.
He suddenly felt sick and tired. He dropped to his hands and knees, the exhaustion from the earlier confrontation felt even more pronounced.
A man emerged from the trees. He was tall and bulky, looking as if he was cut from a mountain. He shouted something, but by then Ash's head had begun to spin and he couldn't catch what he said. More people followed the man.
The people, most likely being allies of the attackers, approached him, weapons drawn. A few of them broke away to help their friends on the ground.
"Who areyou?"
The large man demanded with a sword to Ash's throat.
Ash raised his chin and pulled slightly away from the cool touch of the blade
"Pipe down Lloyd, Master Vale said not to harm him". A petite woman with red hair dressed in a green archer's cloak said.
The large man grunted and lowered his sword, although still keeping it dangerously pointed at him.
Another figure emerged from the trees. It was a man dressed in the pelt of a bear, he was tall but not as large as the one currently standing in front of him.
With a start, Ash realised that this man was the source of the immense power that he had felt.
As he approached them, the others parted before him, he saw the swords getting lowered as the newcomer approached him.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Ash saw vines growing out of the forest floor, these were thicker than the ones he fought against and moved much faster. The approaching man, presumably their leader, didn't even move a muscle, still Ash was sure that he was the ones causing the vines to grow.
Ash was still kneeling on the ground when the vines quickly enveloped him and bound him from neck to toe, leaving only his head free.
"What is your name kid?" The man asked calmly.
Ash didn't answer, he didn't know whether this man could be trusted or not, but he was sure of the fact that it wouldn't take much for the man to kill him then and there. On top of that, Ash had lost all of his memories so he didn't have any idea on how this man would react upon hearing his name.
So he just resorted to glaring at the man with as much intensity as he could.
The man raised a palm to his forehead and let out a small sigh.
"We mean no harm to you." The man said, looking into Ash's eyes. "And clearly you're in no position to harm us, so please, lets try to work together here".
Ash weighed his options. He really didn't have much choice, not cooperating with this man would definitely not lead to a good outcome, so he decided to bite the bullet.
"My name is Asher Ryker." He said. "And as for who I am, I can't really tell you that, because I don't remember anything about my past. I woke up in this forest when your men attacked me and somehow I fought them off. Sorry about that, by the way."
The man chuckled.
"Asher... that's an unusual name. Never heard it before. And I'm not sure I buy this whole amnesia story of yours. That crater over there—it looks like you fell straight out of the sky. Hard to believe anyone could survive a drop like that, let alone walk away nearly unscathed and take down two trained hunters." The man's eyes narrowed. "Still… I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you can tell me why you reek of divinity." He smirked.
Before Ash could process these words, the man raised his arm and hit the temple of his head with the side of his palm.
His vision swam, and he promptly passed out.