When I came to, I was surrounded by fire.

The scorching heat kissed my sweat-glistened skin as I rose from whatever state I was in before.

Both my arms felt numb. As for my legs, both felt like they were being pierced by millions of needles. My eyes were heavy, the feeling was very similar to that of just waking up. I wanted to go back to sleep but the roaring flames outside my shelter kept me from doing so.

After giving myself half a minute’s time to acclimate, I moved to one of the gaps in my shelter.

Peeking out, I could see a stone paved street. It was wide. Big enough to fit three or four carriages in a single lane. Brick-laden buildings, wood-paneled buildings, or combinations of both lined up the massive street which was decorated by tall coniferous trees on both its sides.

I imagine that it could be a beholding sight before. But now, everything that made up that former beauty was now burning down. The buildings, the light posts, the benches, even the tiniest leaf from the largest tree, all of them was burning up. Even the depressions at the edge of the road - which I assume to be canals - were filled with a dark liquid and was afire.

Fortunately, I wasn’t lying in the street, but near one of the buildings that were yet to be set ablaze. To be precise, I was by its right side. Surrounded by boxes and barrels made of wood. These wooden containers were piled up in an orderly manner and judging from this, I presume that the building I’m staying near at could be a shop of some sorts. And these were the only things that kept me alive moments later.

Peeking from the gaps in my fragile refuge, I could see people wearing steel armour.

I don’t know them, nor the reason they’re doing this but one thing was certain. They looked menacing. The thickness of their armour, combined with the jagged edges and the occasional spikes that decorated it only added to their savage appearance.

They were equipped with large swords, spiked shields, and an ungodly helm that beheld a terrifying visage. The eye sockets of their helmets were hollow and their nose stubbed but the most noticeable feature of it was the ghastly mouth, made to look like it was howling in pain.

As I stared at them, I noticed that a few of them, instead of holding their terrifying weapons, were holding large torches instead. It would seem that they’re the ones setting this once beautiful place afire.

The assortment of their armours, helmets and weapons made for a diverse looking group but one thing each of them uniformly had - and consequently made my blood crawl - was the belt of heads that hung from their waist. It seems they were indiscriminately choosing their victims, judging from the various heads of children, teenagers, adults and old people, regardless of gender. However, the one thing that revolted me the most was the small head of a babe, with eyes wide open, tongue hanging loose and fresh crimson dripping from where it was severed.

The moment I saw them and their decorations, I understood. If they found me, I’m dead.

I almost threw up.

Suppressing the urge, I moved away from the gaps. Afraid they’ll notice me and then have my head included in their belt decorations.

I rested my back on the building’s walls, huddled my feet close to my chest, wrapped my arms around it then shut my mouth tight, attempting to be as small and as quiet as possible. The only thing that moved was my eyes, darting back and forth between the gaps of the wood that hid me from the monster’s sights.

I stayed in this position for a few minutes until I’ve made sure that the soldier’s footsteps were gone. Collecting my courage, I decided to peek back. Slowly. I wouldn’t dare imagine what fate would befall me the instance I fall under their gazes. So I moved. Slowly.

Seeing the empty streets before me, I heaved a sigh of relief then gazed upwards.

It was night.

I could only catch glimpses of the stars above due to the intense brightness that came from the hellish surroundings, nevertheless, in the gaps of the flames, I could still see heaven’s sparkling gems high above the skies. There was also something that looked like an aurora hovering around the city. I was unsure of what it is exactly but it was beautiful.

A stark contrast of beauty amidst the terror that lay under the evening skies.

[Ugh. Oww.]

The faint sleepiness I felt just moments ago suddenly vanished. Jolted awake by the voice that suddenly came from nowhere, I swear I could almost feel my heart leaping out of my chest. In cold fright, I moved my head near-instantly towards the direction the voice came from.

I caught the owner of the voice in my vision and when I did, I saw the figure of a young girl, no, a young woman.

She had long brown hair that swayed unsteadily as she rose from lying prone on the ground. Her slender hands rubbed her almond green eyes whose colour was reflected in the flames as she attempted to clear her vision. Her small pert nose struggled to collect the burning evening air as she hurriedly breathed deeply in, fully ignorant of the toxicity that lined each breath. Her small plump lips moved in preparation for the words she was going to speak,

[Where are we.. Oh.. right.]

She fixed her posture while her head swam around as if looking for something. As soon as she saw me, her shoulders slumped in relaxation before asking in a weakened voice,

[Hey? You okay?]

Vigilant against the sudden appearance of an intruder that disrupted my peaceful hiding, I thought better and refrained from answering. I don’t know if that was shown in the way of how I look at her but she seems to not notice it as she just kept on asking,

[Hey Ysil. Are you hurt?]

“Huh?”

While I was wondering who this girl was, she crouched up then moved slowly towards me,

I told her in a small tone,

“Don’t come near me.”

Disregarding my words, she kept on shortening the distance between us while saying,

[It’s fine. Let me check on you.]

Annoyed at her persistence, this time, I spoke in a voice with a stronger force,

“I said, don’t come near me.”

She appeared to be shocked as those words hit her ears as her next words were spoken in a shaking tone,

[..why?]

“I don’t know you.”

Her eyes looked like it glistened with something but I guess it’s only my imagination. She then slumped on the ground then proceeded to stare at me. I’ll never know what was behind those eyes she stared at me with.

This stalemate of some sorts continued for a few minutes.

We just sat there staring at each other until she finally broke the peace with a murmur,

[... memory loss?]

I couldn’t hear her previous words properly, but fortunately, this time she spoke up. Her hands gesturing in a pleading manner,

[I’m.. a friend. My name is Enli. You’re Ysil. I won’t hurt you. Trust me.]

[If you noticed, right now, this city is burning down. Anywhere here isn’t safe. The enemy may have already infiltrated, or worse, this city could already be lost. We need to escape.]

‘How am supposed I to know you aren’t an enemy?’ Is the question that popped in my mind but I ignored it. The idea of asking an unknown person in front of you if they were the enemy sounded stupid. So I let her continue,

[Although we fell from the third floor, I’m glad that we’re both unhurt. And it’s lucky that we fell behind these when the ground trembled earlier. I think nobody noticed the two of us behind these crates and barrels during the siege.]

[Hey.]

[You woke up before me, right?]

I nodded, she continued,

[Did you see anyone? Are there still people around? Were you seen?]

I kept silent. This woman, maybe she’s asking if her friends are around,

[Ysil this is important. Please, trust me.]

I pondered for a bit before replying,

“Yeah. I saw a few people.”

[What were they wearing?]

“Sharp-looking armours with sharp-looking swords. They had decorations on their belt, too.”

[..we really need to run.]

Were the words she said as she resumed crawling towards me,

I on the other hand,

“I don’t think I trust you.”

With those words, her slow approach went to a halt. She looked indignant, and the following words left her mouth in a near screeching manner,

[That doesn’t matter! We need to run soon! We’ll only get caught if we stayed here!]

Dumbfounded at how my calm-and-collected image of her got shattered instantly, I reflexively cursed and responded, bearing in mind the appearance of the patrolling knights earlier,

“Keep your voice down, idiot. You’ll kill us both.”

She appeared to have calmed down after hearing those words, then,

[I don’t!- *sigh*, okay. I understand. I’m sorry.]

Giving me and her a couple of seconds to compose ourselves, I continued,

“Now. You said I’m Ysil?”

[Yes.]

“I don’t recall any memory of me being Ysil.”

[Thats... maybe it’s because you fell..? Maybe you lost memories because of you hitting your head as you landed? I don’t know. Trust me. We really need to go.]

I pondered for a bit. She does look sincere, and her voice that was near hissing earlier suddenly turned mellow, but I can’t be too sure. My life depends on this after all.

Conveniently interpreting my silence as a sign of her words getting through, she continued,

[Believe me. You’re important to m-, to this country. I can’t and I won’t harm you even if I wanted to. ]

[Besides, you were even with me the whole day! Before they attacked, we were inside this shop.]

Seeing her monologue appear useless, her eyes looked desperate and her voice turned into a pleading tone,

[Look. I don’t care if you don’t trust me or if you can’t remember. What’s important right now is we get away from this city.]

[It’s only two hours before midnight.]

She spoke before pointing towards the sky,

[You see those unnatural lights hovering above the city?]

I hesitated for a bit, before finally glancing towards the sky. It was then that I understood what those beautiful lights I saw earlier were.

[That’s a huge spell formation. The faint light emitting from it means that there’s only at least two hours before the spell is complete. By then, this city would completely fall.]

[No one will be left alive. Nor will there be any remains. Please, Ysil.]

After hearing all this, and considering it’s better to place my hopes on this delicate looking woman instead of taking my chances with those knights earlier, I decided I’ll go with her, for now.

”..okay.”

Hearing this, a smile blossomed on her face -

“But I still don’t trust you.”

- which was immediately lost afterwards.