An Unlikely Meeting

Enir woke with a start. What happened to wake him was a grating sound on his ears. A shrill, youngling's scream. Such a thing did not belong in a forest and thus, Enir was quickly up and running towards the location of the sound. Fully alert and clutching his spear tight, he moved with the speed of the wind, his body giving off a slight whitish glow as he moved through the forest with adept ease, eyes only looking forward to wherever this scream had come from. After running for about 20 seconds, Enir stopped and listened carefully.

The scream this time, was much quieter, it seemed to be muffled by something but at least he was close by. Luckily for the screamer, Enir didn't need anymore hints to burst into the clearing where the little elven miss was being pinned down by a 5-man goblin raid party.

***

It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

Senna was supposed to be visiting her parents in Eras-Aeril on one of her few breaks from the academy. Yet, here she was, kidnapped from her wagon train deep in the Morinth Forest, being assaulted by these filthy greenskins. Senna was only 23, but for an Elf, that was exceedingly young, and they matured slowly compared to their Human cousins. For a Human's standpoint, she was maybe, around 17.

Yet, when she saw a blinding white light appear from the edge of the clearing and skewer the goblin on top of her in half, causing its innards to spill on her prissy dress, Senna could only scream into the gag as tears started to form. She was tied down with her previously nice noble clothing in complete tatters due to her just simply being dragged along on the ground. She had been paralyzed in fear, screaming the first time when the goblins threw her into the clearing and quickly surrounded her. The second time was for when her blouse was cut open by one of their twisted-looking daggers.

She had already been mortified, but now seeing this blinding white light killing one of her captors so easily, it brought he to a new level of fear. Nobody was supposed to be in these woods aside from rangers, and no ranger knew a Knight spell like that. She was scared. Extremely scared.

***

Enir had entered a state of bloodlust after seeing a helpless blonde girl on the ground surrounded by short green men. It doesn't take a genius for Enir to realize what was happening and quickly dispatched the one on top of the girl, continuing to run after he picked up the corpse at the end of his spear, tossing it aside only when he was clear of his 4 companions.

The remanining goblins were equipped with long daggers that looked like swords only in their hands. Not only that, one of the bigger ones had a wooden targe as a shield, speaking some greenskin gibberish that the others reacted to, quickly trying to surround the newcomer.

But, fate was unkind to these four as Enir let out a shout that stunned all of them, imbued with raw mana, stunning them in place. Of course, acting off pure instinct that his previous self knew, he reacted as his body wanted him to.

First, he dashed towards the nearest stunned goblin, running his spearpoint through the creature's mouth and kicking its now limp body away with his foot before slitting the next one's throat with the sharpened tip. Within those few seconds he killed 2 more of their brethren, just leaving the big one and one other one recovering from the stun.

They simultaneously dashed towards Enir wish blades raised, the one with the targe didn't even use it properly, just holding it straight out in front like a novice. Enir's spear glowed with a faint black energy before he stabbed forward. Even though the spear was aimed for the shield, it passed through it like a ghost, hitting the big goblin in the heart, instantly killing him, leaving the other one to try and stab Enir's brigandine. Sadly for him, the Empress protects her troops, giving them only the best armor that a lowly monster could never hope to pierce with their looted daggers.

Enir, now filled with rage, gripped the goblin by the throat, lifting it high above his head and slammed the little creature down into the ground, snapping its next and fracturing the back of the creature's skull on impact.

Afterwards, Enir calmed down, letting a wave of fatigue wash over him as him and his weapon stopped giving off the strange energy. It was only then that he started to walk over to the bound and gag Elven little miss.

***

The fight only lasted around 10 seconds, but Senna watched it like a stop-motion movie, eyes wide in fear as she observed the human kill 5 goblins that she could only hope of running from. There weren't supposed to be any Humans in the Morinth Forest. This was Elven land, far from the Human countries in the east. So why was this one here and of all things, why was he a Knight?

As the man approached her, she whimpered through the gag, trying to worm away from him, eyes starting to tear up again. Even if her dignity as a woman was gone since her blouse was wide open, it didn't mean that she was going to just lay there and wait for whatever to happen to her. At the very least, Senna could use her trump card, Silent Spell, to at least give the man a nasty scar before she was killed and...Played with.

As the man approached he kneeled down and right before she thought he was going to harm her, he pulled the gage out of her mouth and cut her bindings with the tip of his spear. That was a surprise for her, but she still didn't trust him. Covering up her indecency, she quickly scooted away from him, giving him an evil eye.

The man just raised his arms up in defense, tossing his spear a few meters away just to show her he was friendly. Not that Senna really believed him, she was surprised that the awful Humans that her clan warned her about had not only killed her captors but also freed her and thrown away his weapon. She still didn't trust him. She knew Knight spells, she went to a Magic Academy after all, and that's how he quickly killed 5 goblins so easily.

She offered no words as the man noticed her indecency and looked away finally, letting the girl get up and use a Mend spell to quickly patch her clothing together. After a few seconds of looking away, she had conjured an icicle shard pointed towards him. She knew it could do nothing to a Knight, they'd just use a Harden spell on themselves and let it just shatter against their armor. But, it gave her a little peace of mind. Though, his coat of arms on his brigandine didn't look like any of the Human nations and it made her uneasy looking at him. No minor kingdom would send out a brigandine-suited Knight to the Morinth Forest, even someone as ignorant as her would know that. Things just didn't add up for her.

***

Enir had no idea what to do in this situation. He just saved this bit-girl. And now she acted like he was one of the greenskins trying to harm her. As if he could be attracted to this young lady, he barely even knew who he was, and he definitely didn't know where he was. Hell, he was surprised to find these sentient races out here in the middle of nowhere.

Enir had tried to act on good faith, raising his hand in surrended and tossing away his weapon but she had yet to trust him.

[Rightfully so,] he thought, [I wouldn't trust me either, if those goblins were giving me a hard time and someone came by and decimated them so easily, it would make me uncomfortable as well.]

He just sighed and slowly sat down on his knees, putting his hands in his lap, looking at the icicle-wielding young lady with a serious expression. Had anyone stumbled upon them, it would've looked like the Human was being executed for some crime by a little girl.

The silence didn't last long as the Elf spoke.

"Poios eísai? Giatí eísai edó?"

[Oh no.]

He might as well try and communicate with her. Those definitely sounded like questions to him and he couldn't just ignore her and not speak back.

"Uh, I'm lost. Do you think you could help me out, young miss? I'm sorry if I'm tresspassing."

"Ti sto diáolo les? Den xérete ton Elvish?"

[Ah. Elvish. Elf. At least that word I understand. She must have been speaking Elvish then. Come on, Enir, you've helped me out a bunch before, so do you think you can do it again?]

Of course, talking to himself, or even worse, a dead version of himself, was bound to give him no answers. The girl's patience was getting thin it seemed as she was glancing around before quickly casting a spell centered around her head. After he neck glowed white for a few second she spoke once more.

"Do you understand me now? If this doesn't work, I have no idea what else will."

It was strange hearing comprehensible words. He still heard the previous Elvish language but was able to comprehend the meaning of words, even if he didn't know the literal definition. He only wondered in awe what she could have done.

"U-uh, Yes! I understand you young miss, I have no idea where I am, could you help me out?"

"W...What?" *She sighed, seeming to not understand him still and rubbed her temples, pacing back and forth. Enir could only wonder what she could be thinking.

***

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Translation magic was a one-way street! Of course she wasn't going to be able to understand him without using magic! Senna had forgotten such a little mistep about her spell. She could convey the meaning of her own words magically, but if they replied in any language aside from Common or Elvish, she'd be struggling to understand.

"Alright, listen, Human. I still can't understand what you're saying, so you'll only answer with a nod of the head for yes or a shake for no. Do you understand?"

The man before Senna nodded and spoke that strange, almost musical-sounding language again. She was creeped out by the unknown, and this Human was definitely unknown.

"Do you know where you are?" He shook his head.

"Alright...Do you know the geography of the world?" The man paused for a second before slowly nodding and she sighed, rubbing her neck, deep in thought once more. Senna didn't know what to do with him. He proved trustworthy thus far, tossing away his weapon and sitting before her. Only the Gods know what he would do when she turned her back though, Knights were always a pain for Magi to deal with.

Not only were their spells much faster to cast, but Knights could enhance their bodies with those quick-cast effective spells leaving Magi having to conjure attacks and defend themselves at the same time. It was common combat knowledge that only a Knight could match a Knight in a 1v1 situation.

And yet here she was, a Magi student of all things facing a Human Knight, of which she saw slaying 5 monsters in a few seconds. After her deep thoughts had been collected, she tried speaking in Common to him. To which surprisingly, she received an answer.

"Common, is it? I thought even you Elves knew Imperial." The man in front of her had seemed surprised when she spoke to him in Common.

"What do you mean, Imperial, sir? There's no such language like that in the whole of the continent!" Senna almost wanted to laugh, but seeing the man's combat prowess, she found her giggles quickly stiffled.

"Imperial. The language of Her Eminence the Empress's people and all conquered lands. All nations should know it." Once more, he looked confused and so did she. Empress? Senna spent close attention in her politics classes, and knew that no Human nations referred to their rulers as such. Not only that but an Empress? A Human nation would riot at having a woman as their head of state! That's one of several reasons she couldn't understand or like Humans.

"What was the name of your home nation, sir Knight?" She has grown suspicious, backing slowly away from him.

"The Bacchus Empire, under Empress Brina Drachentoter, First of Kings." He beamed with unknown pride at the last title of his ruler's name, but the pride quickly dissipated as he shook his head for whatever reason.

"Sir Knight, there's...No place like that in the world, not anymore. The...Empire, as history calls it, has been gone for hundreds of years. Don't tell me Sir, but do you think that you've read too many history books and hit your head?" He quickly got angry at that and clutched his head as if in pain, causing Senna to back away quickly.

***

Hundreds of years?! What was this Elf saying? He may not remember much of his past, but he knew the world around him! The Bacchus Empire had united the whole continent around 375 I.Y. His head suddenly hurt and a few visions started to flash through his head. Suddenly the visions stopped and his body suddenly seemed to lose all energy as he slumped forwards, passing out.

Enir woke up much later on something made of wood that was moving. He heard the creaking of wheels and the sound of snorting horses only a few seconds later. He slowly sat up, feeling himself unable to move his hands from his back, finding them tied together. He quickly glanced around and found himself in the back of a cart in a long wagon train. Sitting across from him sleeping while sitting straight up was his previous conversation partner, now in entirely new clothing. His brigandine was gone, replaced with a common jerkin that barely fit him instead. His spear was also missing. Luckily, Enir felt the knife tucked securely away in his boot, it seemed whoever captured him didn't check everywhere and just took away the obvious threat.

The sounds of him waking up also woke up the Elf sitting across from him. Now that he finally got a good look, he saw that she looked much older than initially thought, she looked to be in her late 20s as an Elf, equivalent to about 17 for a Human. He features were like they were formed out of smooth clay. Her chin came to a slight point, giving her face a teardrop sort of shape. She had chest-length platinum blonde hair tied back with some sort of pins. Finally, she was wearing a uniform of some kind with the symbol of a rapier crossed over a magic staff. Enir knew it was some kind of coat of arms. When she opened her eyes, he was staring at a set of emerald eyes well beyond their years.

At first, Enir couldn't find anything to say, but once he found his hands a little numb from the lack of circulation he could only frown and speak quietly to her.

"Any particular reason you strip and tie up your savior? This is hardly a way to treat a guest."

"It's just a precaution. Plus, it wasn't even me that tied you up. It was the soldiers that came to find me. When they found you were out cold and my clothes were tattered, they assumed the worst and took you into custody. I was going to free you but the fatigue suddenly overwhelmed me and I fell asleep."

Enir could only sigh and lean against the side of the wagon, closing his eyes and just resting. He had a lot to take in after all, being told that the Empire he thought he served had been gone for hundreds of years. His first day of struggling in the forest and now here he was, tied up in the middle of what he assumed to be an Elven land.

At that, Enir could only ask one thing.

"Where are we heading?"

"Eras-Aeril." Was her only response.