It was the worst concussion Kiur had in three years. The blood flowed from the back of his head on his face filling the river he was lying face first.

Mud, sand and ash were mixed in the waters as it touched the base of Kiur’s lips. A vivid display of a place that felt familiar yet not at all.

He couldn’t see far from the shallow river and ashen sands but could make out the figure of his delusion. She was sitting on her knees right in front of him, mumbling words he couldn’t understand from the throbbing of his ears.

“I feel tired,” coughed Kiur with the muddy water entering his burning throat. It wasn’t apparent at first, but his entire body was burning, aflame from the inside out starting from his violently beating heart. “I don’t feel like myself. I feel sick.”

A hand travelled gently through his hair or at least it was an attempt to. His delusion’s hand was shaking, her entire body trembling causing Kiur’s to imitate that feeling.

Disappointment, depression and longing were the emotions Kiur felt from her touch. Feeling fresh droplets of tears falling on his head Kiur concluded it was his delusion’s emotions.

“I abandoned those children, I promised to watch out for them,” Kiur tried to move his head, facing his delusion. “You were abandoned too, weren’t you?”

She didn’t answer, hiding her head in her hands and kneeling to cry. Kiur’s hand moved to comfort her but instinctively pulled back.

Behind her manifested the giant figure of a woman who was much more vivid than any of his delusions. She had downcast wings and wore a twisted crown. The aura she emanated felt dark, but her enormous hand rubbed the back of his delusion, comforting her.

“Who are you?” Kiur asked the figure who looked at him and smiled before she and everything else disappeared.

“I’m Xander, now get your head off of my shoulder!” Kiur felt the voice and a hand of a foreign man pushing him away, banging his head against the iron bars of a caged wagon.

Hissing a silent curse underneath his breath Kiur held his badly bandaged head, feeling the blood flowing again. “That hurt, argh.”

“Good, you slobbered all over my mantle,” complained the man, rubbing off the saliva residue. “Wait, you can understand me?”

“What?” Kiur ignored the foreign man, noticing his tied hands in front of him. People of various ages occupied the caged wagon but none of whom Kiur recognized. Outside were more wagons, each pulled by horses with natural chitin armour, horns and flaming legs.

Reiszer slaves followed close behind the wagons on barefoot while the more high ranked soldiers sat on mentioned horses as guards.

“Hey, pay attention to me,” the man snapped his fingers before Kiur’s nose. “I’m Alexandre. I noticed you can speak my tongue, meaning you can speak my western dialect. What’s your name, where are you from?”

“I’m-” Kiur paused, the answer was right on the tip of his tongue, but he hesitated. It was then he had to realise he forgot who he was.

—☼—

Travelling for days on end Kiur concluded several things.

According to Xander’s intel there have been several attacks throughout the central continent.

Years ago, the Reiszer formed one unified nation by absorbing their neighbours and prepared to launch several attacks on its two immediate neighbours Idaris and the Western Kingdoms further south.

That’s where Kiur’s new companion was from.

His pale white skin, blueish hair and eyes, accent and clothing were anything but common. They were typical for the west.

His outfit consisted of a long dress like robe with thick materials, a hood, a shoulder cape and other clothing articles he never saw before but heard from his mother.

“Isn’t it hot for you to wear those clothes?” asked Kiur, seeing Xander sweating profoundly and his face turning red from the blazing sun.

“I’m a wizard from the west, I have to wear it to symbolise my status,” Xander held his chin high and panted for air.

“You will die from a heat stroke if you keep that up.”

Rubbing his head again Kiur felt a stinging pain, he somehow forgot his name but could remember most of the details of the situation.

He knew he failed to keep someone safe. Children came into his mind and it made him insane knowing he forgot who he was supposed to keep from harm. More so than forgetting his identity.

“You still have no idea of your name?”

“No, yes, I think? I can’t tell, it feels like I am lying by answering either way.”

“This sounds like a bigger mess than what we are in,” Xander went with his hand through his long and by now messy hair that fell on his face. “Good thing I have someone who can speak my language, that makes things easier to plan and escape.”

“You plan on escaping? That seems highly risky,” commented Kiur and translated for the other prisoners. “Weren’t you caught like the rest of us?”

“We were surprised when we scouted the territories in the North-East. It was supposed to be my curriculum to finish the academy and now this,” Alexandre gritted his teeth and kicked one of the metal bars which evoked the ire of the Reiszer for a second. “I’m a water mage and a trained wizard. Even in this desert I could pull off an escape with everyone’s help here. I promise to negotiate with my country when you help me get back.”

“So you plan on using us without a proper plan?” Kiur didn’t translate the following conversation with Xander. He seemed smart enough and confident to know what he’s doing but felt like he was arrogant and not particularly trustworthy.

However, they had to stick together. Considering that their caravans occasionally changed wagons and prisoners, the groups rarely stayed the same. It explained why Kiur didn’t recognize anyone with his returning memories but couldn’t find the children he was supposed to watch out for.

“You know, I will take back what I said about planning an escape.”

“Why’s that?”

Having grown up in the mountains of Idaris the only time Kiur saw a different landscape was from the view to the Navarrien desert and visiting the Romantik Sea near Navarre.

They have left the desert plains which made the difference in temperature and climate all the more obvious. Their captors have brought them right into the veldts of the west, the Belize Savanna.

From above the cliffs they could see the magnitude of the entire operation. Caravans over caravans with thousands of people covering every place of land in their view. It was massive, busy and horrible.

Why were they out there capturing all of these people? What was their end goal in all of this? Was it a war against everyone?

“Retribution is coming,” Kiur remembered the voice of someone, upsetting him. “Watch the world getting thrown upside down.”

“Hey, buddy,” Kiur turned to his fellow imprisoned companion, his demeanour having changed from confident to awestruck. “Promise me one thing, whatever happens in those lands, we will work together.”

Surprised, Kiur looked at the pale face of Xander, something about him felt odd. “Are you getting cold feet?”

Xander scoffed, his smile a faint one. “You wouldn’t believe how close you are to the truth. So, can you promise me that? I mean it, I don’t think we can survive without relying on each other.”

“What about the others?” Kiur pointed to the other prisoners in the wagons.

“I can’t say they will be of much help. No offence but most of them lost their heart to keep moving forward.”

Lost their heart? Was he talking about motivation? “What makes you think I didn’t lose heart?”

“Hm?” Xander gave Kiur a dumbfounded look as if he was faced by a stupid question. “How should I know that? I just think having someone who can speak my language here is convenient.”

That’s what Kiur thought as odd. Xander was just arrogant, hiding his true colours by making harsh comments. “I just remembered my name,” began Kiur, gaining the attention of Xander. “It’s Kiur, my memories are still hazy about it but my heart tells me that’s my name.”

“I know that feeling.” Xander simply nodded to this revelation, not questioning Kiur any further. “Call me Xander, that’s what my friends call me,” he offered his hand for Kiur to shake it who stared at his gesture blankly. “Don’t let me hang there or is this not typical in your culture?”

“Not really,” Kiur shook his hand to his prison friend though he couldn’t be too sure how long this relationship would last. Or how it came in the first place, but it was nice having someone on your side to trust.

—☼—

Weeks went by as they settled into the caravans and had to spend their entire time in the caged wagons. They still had to switch with other prisoners from time to time, on some occasions they would end up separated from one another only to end up at the same wagon again.

Kiur’s memories still haven’t returned to him except for the night he was taken.

He remembered the horrible details of the attack on his home city and how he couldn’t keep the two children safe.

His fears and emotions reached an all-time low. Maybe it was apathy, or the entirety of the situation hadn’t hit him yet. It was gnawing on his heart but not as much as he thought it would.

There was something else he couldn’t shake off but didn’t know what.

“Anything new from your side?” asked Xander from the other wagon next to Kiur’s.

“Same as always. Nothing new.”

With the regular transposition of prisoners it was apparent they were searching for certain people.

There were reiszer wizards among the examinations who were hiding their mouths and holding staffs with octagon shaped purple crystals. Their sharp eyes assessing each individual and taking away certain people before putting the rest back into cages.

Repeating the same process over and over.

“I have no idea what they are searching for but there are at least over a thousand prisoners here. All from far away borders and race, whatever they were doing must be worth the diplomatic risk.”

“Don’t mind that but Xander, did you see any of the two kids I described to you?” Kiur pressed the matter of finding them but so far there was nothing. It’s like they disappeared from the face of earth.

“No but there was a strange girl, about our age but younger. She was asking for someone with golden hair. I dismissed her when I found out she is one of the reiszer slaves.”

“Did you suspect she would tattle on us? Why was she looking for one with golden hair?”

“Who knows,” Xander shrugged. “I didn’t trust her, so I shooed her away. She had the meanest eyes you could imagine. Typical for someone from the middle-west.”

As their conversation ended, night had come and Kiur couldn’t fall asleep. His memories were still in shambles, trying to make head and toe on the scenes.

There was constantly one particular woman in the scenes and her heart was either screaming, silent or boiling with emotions as if on fire. It was a turmoil having to experience them, keeping any sane person from sleeping.

Another was a man sitting on a chair next to the woman’s bed. His eyes were cold but listening to whatever she was saying before the memories were cut again.

Nothing was making sense to him but it was the only thing keeping him sane in this unfamiliar place.

“Leave Reiszer, we don’t know who you are looking for!” Hearing a commotion in the distance, Kiur followed the faint signs of light between the wagons. It disappeared from Kiur’s bad position of view so he moved further up in his wagon.

Everyone was sleeping, even many of the more lax soldiers. When Kiur accidentally startled the black horse, he calmed it down by going over its mane.

“Do you know where the sound came from?” Kiur asked the horse, not expecting the answer but the horse snorted in a particular direction.

Light footsteps and the rustling of grass drew his attention to a woman with a lantern in hand.

She was dressed like one of the slaves, rags for clothes that barely covered her knees. No shoes or additional clothing to protect from the usual cold nights. Her long black hair was a mess and she was malnourished to the bones.

When she spotted Kiur she quickly approached him. “You have golden hair,” she said in another strange dialect. “I was looking for you.”

Her free hand suddenly went underneath her clothes. Kiur turned away his gaze from the uncomfortable situation. “What are you doing?”

“I- I can’t find it, give me a moment,” she placed down the lantern and pulled out a piece of parchment underneath her clothes. The material was the same they used in Navarre, a papyrus scroll.

It was a secret letter she carried with her.

“I was asked to find and give this to you. In exchange for helping you escape, please take me with you.”

Character Profile

Name: Alexandre “Xander” Galanis

Age: 23 ; Height: 173cm ; Gender: Male ; Race: Human

Magic: Water

Xander, as he prefers to be called by friends, is a wizard from the south-west. Taken prisoner by the reiszer he finds himself working together with Kiur in order to escape back to his home nation.

Likes: Magic, making theories, winning arguments, shaved ice, cereals with milk and ice cubes