Alicia  

Bright burning sun was hanging on top of the sky.

But inside of a small village, the villagers did not have time to appreciate that.

Loud screams and chaos filled the atmosphere. Occasional clash of metal could be heard from the distance.

A young woman noticed the commotion outside of her house and hastily start packing her belongings.

"Alicia! We need to get out of here. Fast!"

A young man barged into the house while panting heavy breaths. Streak of sweats soaked his cloth into darker shade. It was evident that he came here as fast as he can.

"Valerio, your stuff…"

Alicia directly called her husband's name in panic.

"There's no time for that. Hurry!"

Even though he said that, he still grabbed and equipped himself with a rusty sword. Seeing that Alicia finished packing her things, Valerio took the bag with one hand and firmly gripped Alicia's hand with the other.

The husband and wife abandoned the village and headed to the mountain.

"The raiders had breached the wall. They raided the nearby villages. Now they're heading towards our village. No, maybe they had arrived at our village"

Valerio explained the news to his wife.

"Can we get away from them?"

Alicia shakingly asked the important question that was pressing her heart.

"I don't know. Things happened too fast. And we received the news too late. They said that the raiders are on horses. We might shake them off if we go off-road, into the mountain trail."

Valerio tried to sound positive and did not directly explain that their chance of escape was very slim, but with the intelligence of his wife, she still got the hidden meaning in his sentences.

The two of them silently navigate through the forest while comforted with each other's presence.

When they reached an elevated ground, they could see dark smokes rose to the sky at the direction of the village. The village was the only settlement around there, so it was confirmed the village had fallen to the enemies.

Their heart fell along with the fallen village. Both of them born and grew in that small village. The people were few and a bit backwater than the town, but people was kind and environment was lovely. Now the village was gone, they were at lost.

Both of them continued heading towards the mountain. Even after running around all day, Valerio still had stamina left. But not the same could be said to Alicia. She was already at her limit.

Valerio looked at his wife who was out of breath with a heavy heart. A few days ago, he was cloud nine to receive the news that she was pregnant. They were childhood sweethearts and newly wedded half a year ago under the blessing of their parents. He firmly believed the future would be brighter.

However, now a crisis came. Valerio internally scolded his unborn child for being untactful. He really wished that his unborn child would not drag his mother down.

Valerio instantly shook the negative thought to the back of his mind. He needs to be optimistic. He vowed that he would do anything to protect his beloved wife and their unborn child.

Alicia did not know that her baby was scolded by her husband. She could only focus on dragging her tired body. They were neither near the village nor far from danger. They still need to go further to be free from the threats.

"Alicia, stop. Get down."

Valerio suddenly ushered Alicia to hide in the bushes. Both of them stayed silent while Valerio surveyed the surroundings.

Not far in front of them was the entrance to the mountain trail. By entering the mountain, they could hide and take shelter inside of it. As villagers that often threaded through the mountain, it was much safer for them to hide in the mountain than being anywhere else.

Unexpectedly, two raiders were lurking in that area. Donning distinctive leather armour and permeating wild aura, the raiders were easily identified. They ditched their horses just to come to this place.

"There're two raiders in front. Sitting on the ground and no horses."

Valerio informed Alicia of his findings. He had to admit, his wife was much smarter than him, so he let her do the thinking.

"Raiders with no horses. What are they doing?"

Alicia found it strange that the raiders appeared in the deep forest, and even abandoned their beloved horses. This was not as simple as a stray raider. Something bigger was happening.

"Seems like, making a campfire. There's a game nearby. Maybe they're guarding the mountain trail" Valerio made a guess.

Alicia nodded at his guess and explained her conjecture.

"For them to abandon their horses means that they did not came here by accident. Making campfire and hunting game means they were staying there for some more time. Maybe they received an inside information about this escape route."

"Yeah. They did not even try to hide their presence" Valerio agreed on her conjecture and gave her some silent moments to process the information.

Suddenly Alicia realized something and spoke her thoughts, "This is bad. If I guess it right, the raiders really wanted to capture everyone in the county. Those two raiders were there to guard the escape route while the main group will sweep through the area and capture everyone."

When Valerio heard her, he remembered the details in the news, "You might be right. I heard that the raiders did not take the food but capture the villagers. Why? I don't know."

The two of them fell into silent.

"I'll distract them away from here. When the chance was right, run to the mountain" Valerio suddenly broke the silent and said with a solemn face.

"No! That was too dangerous. I want you to be with me" Alicia panicked. She did not wish her husband to take the risk.

"It's not that I will die. I'll be careful. Even though I look like this, I, your husband is the best fighter in the village, you know" Valerio tried to comfort her.

He estimated his chances of winning was on the higher side. Raiders were feared because of their fast mobility and numbers. Guarding the entrance were only two horseless raiders. He might win if he takes down one of them in ambush and fight one-on-one with the other.

"No…" Alicia was not as optimistic as her husband. She really did not want him to take the risk.

Just as Valerio wanted to convince her again, they heard a high-pitched scream followed by the sound of struggle. The ruckus was not far from their location.

"Oh no. it's really happening" Alicia's face paled. Although she had guessed it, she did not expect the chase would happen this fast.

"Alicia, listen now. Whatever happen, don't look back, go to the mountain. Wait for me at the cave. I'll surely come. I promised" Valerio hugged his wife and slowly whispered in her ear.

Before Alicia could protest, Valerio gave her a deep kiss, cutting her chance to say anything.

"I love you"

Alicia was still absent minded when he said that. She was surprised by the sudden turn of event and how decisive her husband was.

When she came to herself, Valerio had already dived into the bushes and headed towards the raiders that was guarding the entrance.

Shortly after, a groan was heard. Valerio silently approached the raiders from behind and directly bashed the head of the bigger raider with his rusty sword. The bigger raider was dead with one hit.

Without wasting any time, Valerio aggroed the other raider by wounding him with a slash and lured him away from the entrance.

Alicia saw the action with her own eyes. She was still palpitating for the safety of her husband but she knew, now was the right time to go.

She braved herself and reminded herself not to waste Valerio's effort.

The forest was full with foliage that could provide her with cover and Valerio had lured the raider quite far away. She hurriedly headed to the entrance of mountain trail and successfully enter the mountain.

After climbing the mountain for some time, she arrived at a clearing and saw Valerio fighting the raider. Valerio was having a hard time dealing with the raider. Although the raider was smaller than Valerio, he was nimbler and more equipped.

But Valerio managed to overwhelmed the raider and when for a finishing strike.

Just as Valerio wanted to decapitate the raider, the raider let out a small hidden crossbow and shoot to his abdomen. Wounded by a hidden attack, Valerio missed the head.

The raider took the chance to stab Valerio in the chest and laughed to his victory.

Blood leaked out Valerio's mouth, but burning fighting spirit spewed out his eyes. Though he was fatally wounded, he was determined to take this raider with him.

With a sword sticking out of him and a hole in his stomach, Valerio shifted the tip of his sword and made a second slash.

The raider was still laughing when his head flew away from his body. He did not even know how he died.

After the last strike, powers drained out of Valerio's body and he fell to the ground facing the sky. He used his last bit of power to search the mountain and raised his hand towards it. It lasted only for a moment and his hand lifelessly drop to the ground.

Alicia saw the heroic act of her beloved husband to his last moments.

By the last bit of sanity in her, she muffled her voice with her hand. Alicia silently cried to Valerio's death.

She wanted to go by his side. However, she saw another group of raiders had arrived. It was the main group of raiders.

She felt all hope was lost and the world was crumbling. This life was over. Let's meet again in the next life…

But a small movement in her womb woke her up. The movement was so small that it usually ignored, but to Alicia, when all she saw was darkness, the gesture was a beacon of light.

That's right. She was still carrying the prove of their love in her. She cannot give up now. She must live on and raise their child.

With the new profound hope, Alicia dragged her body to the hiding spot.

It was a hidden dark cave in the mountain. The husband and wife had noticed it when they previously ventured into the mountain.

It was pitch-black when she entered the cave, but she still went deeper inside.

Without any presence of light, Alicia felt her head was spinning. The world was shaking.

When she thought it was only her feelings, the cave wall was also shaking. Without able to see anything, she did not know what was happening.

Suddenly, Alicia stumbled and fell. Instead of feeling the hard ground, she was suddenly blinded by a bright light. She felt something gushed into her body. Slowly, her head felt heavy and she fell unconscious.

While Alicia was unconscious, she sensed that she was embraced by a warm sensation. At the same time, something inside her was growing and wholeheartedly stayed by her side as if relieving her grieve.

She felt like time passed by very slowly in this state. But she did not hate it. After all, what she needed the most right now was time.

At some point, Alicia felt the feeling was gone for a moment but it came back with two tiny hugs shortly after.

Gradually, her mind cleared. Alicia roused and opened her eyes.

The first thing she noticed was that she was submerged in water, so instinctively she sprang to sit upright and held her breath. But it was human nature to take a sip of breath before holding it, so some 'water' entered her lung. She thought she was drowning but unexpectedly she could breathe in this 'water'.

While bewildered by this strange phenomenon, Alicia perceived small movements on her bosom. When she looked down, she found two pair of eyes innocently staring at her. Alicia saw a shadow of her husband, Valerio and herself in those eyes.

The family of three silently stared at each other for a few moments.

Piece by piece painful memories resurfaced in Alicia's mind. The escape, the encounter, the fight and the most painful the out reached hand at Valerio's last moments.

She hugged the twins and cried the grieve out of her. Her emotion was a mess. She did not know what to feel, she just wanted to let out this stifling emotion.