Kai did not know how long he had been walking.
The Fern forest looked the same in every direction.
Tall black trees, bare branches, old snow pressed into the ground.
No paths. No voices. No signs that people had ever lived here.
His feet were numb.
He couldn't feel his toes anymore.
Every step felt distant, like the ground belonged to someone else.
He was thirsty. Very thirsty.
He tried to swallow and felt nothing in his mouth.
He kept walking anyway.
He didn't remember deciding to.
He just did.
Sometimes he thought he heard something behind him and would turn quickly,
but there was never anyone there.
Sometimes he thought he heard Welbeck his guardian knights voice.
Sometimes his parents.
He walked faster toward it.
It was only shadows.
He stopped reacting after that.
His face stayed blank. His eyes had become void.
He walked like someone who had no reason.
He tripped over a root and fell hard.
I should just stay here.
The thought came calmly.
No panic. No sadness.
Just a quiet idea.
If he stayed, he wouldn't have to walk anymore.
He wouldn't have to feel the cold.
He wouldn't have to remember.
He closed his eyes.
A memory came back anyway.
Fire.
Smoke so thick he couldn't breathe.
Welbeck pushing him, shouting, Run!
The sound of fists hitting swords.
The sound of something heavy smashing into stone.
The sound of a massacre.
He opened his eyes again.
He pushed himself up, slowly, like an old man.
He didn't know why.
He heard voices before he saw them.
Men talking.
Laughing.
Kai stopped walking.
He didn't hide.
He simply stood there and waited for them to come into view.
They stepped between the trees one by one. Rough clothes. Weapons. Mercenaries.
One of them pointed at him.
"There he is Boss."
Another laughed. "That's the survivor we were tracking? A kid?"
They spread out without thinking about it, forming a loose circle.
Kai looked at them without expression.
He didn't feel scared.
He didn't feel anything.
One of the men scratched his beard.
"You alone, boy?
Where are mummy and daddy?
Oh didn't they die in the red death expedition"
Kai didn't answer.
He stared at the man with anger.
"Oho,
A Fernaedeth is after all a Fernaedeth.
However you're far too young to fight with us
Maybe your father could save you if he were alive"
The men started laughing
"But He's dead!"
The leader drew his blade lazily.
"With this we can end this wretched bloodline and claim rewards from Arcazar for our deed"
Kai lowered his head.
He didn't think of fighting.
He didn't think of running.
He was tired.
Very tired.
It's fine, he thought.
I can stop now.
I can die and maybe get rid of this despair.
I again saw a memory
"Remember Kai
There will be a day when you stand alone.
Stand Properly.
That's what it means to be a Fernaedeth and My Son"
I immediately ducked and grabbed a stone from the floor and threw it at the leader.
Bam
It was unexpected.
"Aaaaaggghhh"
It hit.
He started bleeding from his forehead.
His face was overcome with fury
He swung his sword at me.
I stood there.
This was all I could do
After all I was just a 10 year old.
The wind suddenly paused.
The sound of horses were heard.
A banner emerged with A Skull and Two swords behind it.
The mercenaries immediately straightened up and started shivering.
All at once.
The trees stopped moving. The air felt heavy.
The mercenaries saw an old man emerging.
A few turned their heads.
The Old man was riding a beautiful black Ardenian Horse.
One of the mercenaries faces changed fearfully he fell down on his knees.
"Itt
It
It's…..
The Deadland Regiment.
Ru….."
He didn't finish the word.
The old man dismounted from his horse.
Silence fell all over the forest.
A blacksword hanging at his waist.
No one saw him swing.
No one heard him move.
The mercenaries simply fell with their heads severed.
All of them.
As if something invisible had cut them down at the same time.
They hit the ground almost together.
Some still standing when they died, then collapsing sideways into the snow.
It was so fast that Kai didn't understand what had happened.
He just stared at the bodies.
Then at the man.
The old man walked toward him slowly.
Kai didn't feel relief.
He felt afraid of the calamity before him.
Because the man in front of him felt more dangerous than anyone he had ever seen.
The man stopped in front of him and looked down.
Up close, his eyes were tired.
Just tired.
"You've suffered enough Albert's child
What is your name?"
Kai's lips moved before he could think.
"It's Kai…
Kai Fernaedeth"
Another large figure dismounted from the horse,
Broad shouldered full of muscles and markings.
A tattooed Red Barbarian wielding a long axe.
The old man said
"Haksha take the boy to Ardenheim"
The barbarian replied
"Understood.
Grand Commander"
His voice sounded heavy and deep.
Another black cloaked man appeared.
The other stood there silently but I could feel he also was a monster like these two men before me.
He said in a resounding voice to me
"Don't tell anyone your clan name from now on until you're strong enough to embrace it back"
The old man nodded.
"You will go with Haksha"
Kai didn't know who they were.
He didn't ask where they were going.
When the barbarian lifted him onto one of the horses, he didn't resist.
The barbarians group consisted of various well armed barbarians.
As they began to move away he turned his head back toward the forest watching the old man and the cloaked man move towards the Fern Duchy his now destroyed hometown.
Towards Fern.
He didn't feel anger.
He didn't feel sadness.
He felt empty.
But somewhere, very deep inside that emptiness, a small thought remained.
I will come back.