Hazy Nightmare

The flames grew larger every second as the fire raged on, illuminating the hill brightly in the middle of the night.

Most of the rooms had already been overwhelmed by the flames, only a few walls left standing in the carnage. Burning debris fell around him every now and then, a few barely missing him. A red and grey banner fluttered on a distant wall before the fire consumed it and it slowly faded away into nothingness. Everything seemed blurry and hazy through the smoke, and he felt as if he could collapse at any moment.

But he had to go back in; Irvene and Edwin were still in the fire.

Desperation welled up within him as he checked every possible room, all the while yelling, "Irvene! Edwin! Where are you?"

Luck seemed to have deserted him as everywhere he looked was desolate and empty save for the blazing flames that rapidly cornered him at every turn.

Why was this happening to him?

Once or twice, he had thought he heard something but it was most likely just the heat making him imagine things.

No, there it was again, a faint call, carried by the wind. This time he was certain it was definitely real.

Specks of embers scorched his clothes as he recklessly dashed towards the sound. Every step felt as if he was walking on hot liquid metal, and his shoes did little to lessen the heat.

"I'm coming, hold on just a few moments longer!" he yelled with difficulty, his breath now coming in short ragged gasps. Charred remains of rooms rushed past his vision as he desperately searched for the source of the sound. "Where are you?"

"-ere... I'm over here..."

A young girl lay propped up against a wall limply in the distance. He recognized her instantly as his sister; Irvene. Her usually auburn hair was blackened with char and she seemed to be struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Irvene!" Relief washed over him as he rushed to her side, taking her hand in his as reassurance, to confirm that she was really his sister and not just another figment of his imagination.

"Brother... ?" Her eyes fluttered open slowly, revealing her emerald green eyes that reflected the brightness of the fire in them.

"It's alright, I'm here Irvene." He looked her over, checking her body for any signs of wounds or burns. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

She coughed slightly before shaking her head. "Just the... smoke getting to me... Edwin... Check on Edwin, he seems to be in worse shape than me..."

She shook her head again and gestured towards another room. A large pile of debris, mostly stones, roof tiles, and a large wooden beam blocked the doorway. "He... went in there."

"I'll get him out, don't worry." He patted his sister's head reassuringly, before looking increasingly concerned at her shallow breathing. "Will you be okay?"

"I'm fine, it's just the... [cough] smoke."

He nodded, before turning to the blocked doorway quickly. He didn't have time to waste worrying. If the fire got any bigger, all three of them would be goners.

The pile of rubble seemed to be immovable, even after quite a few pushes. Being just a kid of 13, he doubted his small weak arms could manage to push it out the way. But if he couldn't find some means of getting into the next room, he could be too late to save Edwin. He had started feeling increasingly dizzy and nauseous for a few moments; Irvene was right, the smoke was dangerous.

Desperately, he kicked the rubble as if it was at fault for being in his way. A small rock shifted, exposing a small opening on the bottom, the wooden beam precariously hanging over it, keeping the rest of the debris up.

Without stopping to think, he got on his hands and feet. The opening was just wide enough for him and he poked his head through the gap, peering through the smoke around the room. The figure of a young boy, also with auburn hair, lay in the far corner of the room, clutching what seemed like the scorched remains of a chest. Gold coins littered the ground around him; it seemed that Edwin had tried to salvage the gold from the fire, unsuccessfully.

"Edwin! Are you all right?" he called, trying to breathe the smoke as little as possible.

"B... brother... " Edwin turned to look at him, his voice rough from breathing in the fumes. His face was pale as a sheet of paper and alarmingly purple. "I... unable... to breathe..."

"Hold on Edwin! Just a little more!" Hastily, he tried to crawl through the gap, his mind full of worry for his older brother. "Agh-!" The wooden beam above him moved suddenly, its sharp end sticking into his back and pinning him to the ground, the sudden pain making him cry out until he bit his tongue.

Gritting his teeth, he pulled himself forward, the splinters scraping into his flesh. Finally, after a painful moment, he managed to wriggle free. However, he was just a second too late and he watched in horror as a pillar above Edwin snapped under the strain, overwhelmed by the fire. Broken stones, burning wood, shards of glass, and roof tiles fell with a deafening BOOM, engulfing Edwin and the area around him in a blazing inferno.

"NO!! EDWIN!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~

Four years later. . .

Somewhere in the town of Sefrath, a boy in his teens with red auburn hair jumped awake with a start from a nightmare. Wide-eyed and panting, he looked around the room in a panic- half expecting something to happen or jump out at him.

The room was dark and dimly lit by a small trickle of moonlight that streamed through a small window beside his bed. Everything was quiet and still except for the quiet occasional chirp of the sparrows waking up early. By this, he estimated that the time was around 4 in the morning or so. His breathing eventually quietened down to slow and regular intervals, his initial fright was over.

"A dream... Just a dream..." He murmured and reassured himself. "Huh... That's strange... What was I dreaming about?"

He had already forgotten just what he had been dreaming about, that had woken him up in a cold sweat. The dream seemed too real and made him freak out, but aside from that, he couldn't seem to recall anything else it. For some reason, he had a strange feeling that he's had this particular nightmare quite a few times before.

'Must be one of those nights...' He thought, rubbing his face.

Slumping back into bed, he told himself not to make a big deal out of it and instead tried to get some more sleep before the morning, the softness of the bed and the warmth of the blankets pulling him back in and the comfortable sensation of sleep crept over him again...

After what seemed like seconds to him, a loud voice woke him out of his snooze.

"Audrey! Just how long do you think you're going to sleep?"

He opened his eyes and squinted at the room as bright ray of sunlight streaming in from the window hit him directly in his eyes. It took a moment to adjust to the blinding light and the first thing he focused on when his vision returned to normal was the bright braided auburn hair that was glittering in the sunlight.

Irvene, Audrey's younger sister, a beautiful girl of 14 or so, was standing beside his bed, her green eyes looked at him with a hint of annoyance. She was wearing a blue dress this morning, and her favorite white bracelet which she wore almost every day.

"Jeez, how much can you even sleep, brother?"

"Ugh... Morning already?" Audrey rubbed his eyes sleepily before snuggling back into the bed. "Just a few more minutes of sleep..."

Irvene sighed and put her hand on her cheek dramatically before turning to open the window. "You can sleep as much as you want but won't you be late for your Adventurer registration?" she turned to look at him skeptically trying to judge what he was thinking. "Or have you changed your mind already?"

Audrey sat bolt upright suddenly. "Oh right- I've forgotten about that!" He climbed out of the bed groggily and stumbled out of the room in a rush, almost falling over twice. "How could I even forget..."

"This was all you had been talking about the past week, but you forgot all about it on the big day?" Irvene giggled with a smug look. "You need to take things more seriously."

"I do take things seriously, you know." Audrey said in a huff, scowling a bit but couldn't bring himself to get annoyed at his sister.

She was, after all, the only family he had and Audrey was quite caring for her. Though, most of the time it seemed like she was the older one with her personality.

She followed Audrey to the doorway and called after him, "Elder Dunehal should be waiting downstairs. Good luck, brother!" She waited until he had gone down the stairs and out of earshot before adding with a pout, "Geez, would it hurt to say a good morning to your sister?"

Dunehal, or to be precise, Master Dunehal, was the person Audrey and Irvene lived with. Known as a powerful warlock in his early years, he now lives in the small town of Sefrath, hidden from his past as he took on the role of raising two orphaned children as his own.

He was a stoutly built old man with greying hair and a white pointy beard. There was an experienced air about him as he sat at the table in the living room, sipping away at a mug of herbal tea forlornly. He would've preferred ale or even beer but the young lass, had strictly forbidden him from drinking any kind of alcohol around her or her brother.

Audrey knew nothing about his former parents except that they had abandoned him and his sister. However, Master Dunehal had taken them in while they were still young and given them a place to call home.

He had taught Audrey various aspects of the world, and had trained him in various types of combat and the ways of an adventurer. "One must be ready for anything in these times." He always used to say. Though he was a bit weird at times, he was a good mentor and guardian and had always looked out for them.

Dunehal looked up as Audrey sleepily clambered down the stairs, raising his hand in a respectful greeting. He seemed to have gotten out of his pajamas in a hurry and still looked sleepy as he frantically combed down his bed hair.

Normally, he would've been sleeping in when Dunehal called him for training, until he got dragged out of bed by the ear. However, he was in a lot more hurry today even though he still did kind of slept in. Dunehal knew the reason behind this rush.

Today was the day Audrey would be turning 17. But it wasn't just because of that. Turning 17 was a big deal in Ergaldia, it was the age when boys and girls were officially recognized as adults.

However, celebrating this was something only the rich nobles and the families with higher status could do. Though Audrey and his Master weren't poor, they were just like every other commoner in the small towns and couldn't afford a celebration. Still, Audrey didn't really care about those frivolities.

In Ergaldian laws, people had to be at least 17 or more to legally apply as an adventurer to keep people safe. However, Audrey thought this was a really idiotic law since he had roamed plenty of dangerous areas since he was just 13, though he was with Master Dunehal most of the time.

Becoming an Adventurer and traveling around the land had always been one of his ambitions. And today, he would finally be able to realize that dream.

However, life would never be easy for him, even as an Adventurer. Today would be the starting point of it all, and the darkest day of Audrey's memories.