1. A Boy & A Dream (part 3)

The entire village being bathed in massive flames made me realize that my family's wishes for me will never come true. As the screams of the village people was heard loudly, my blank mind deletes every core memory that I have of every good moments I had within this village and replaced them with the grim future that I will have to live through.

Down there, above the massive pile of bodies, stepping on the endless pool of blood that is replacing the vaporized lake on this oasis, stood a single monster bathed completely in blood. His height looked about two meters tall, and his whole body is covered in pitch black armor. His hands are holding two blades, both glimmering bright and dark at the same time.

His helmet was tilted upwards to where I stood at the balcony, and my entire being was frozen in time. I can feel the energy leaving my body when he turned his gaze at me, and I can sense only death to be my future.

But before I could cry, scream, and peed my pants, a certain warmth suddenly envelopes my entire body. I turned around and noticed the pair of hands hugging me from behind. I found my mother's crying face as she smiled softly at me, and I became very confused.

"Mom…" I tried muttering any word to say, but only that came out. It was very pathetic of me, considering my mother was trying her best to keep me company, but it looks like that was all I had to do.

Mom caressed my hair and held both of my shoulders, and she spoke only a single sentence to me.

"Nathan… I--" Mom's mouth was opened, speaking the one subject that she truly wanted me to hear.

Her words was heard to me loud and clear. However, for whatever reason, my memory was not able to successfully process the things she were saying.

It came through my ears, and it left the same way it came from. The words she said passed through me as if it meant nothing, and I couldn't do anything to fix that.

Before I could say anything to her, our world turned much brighter than it ever was. I can feel a powerful heat coming from behind me, where the powerful monster was previously standing at. Mom quickly hugged me very tightly, not allowing me to turn around at all.

The next thing I know… everything around me became very dark.

I was lying down on the ground, clueless of where I am and what happened. I tried grasping for anything on the ground to try and help myself, but I can't get ahold of anything other than the cold floor. I noticed that the floor seemed very hard, which means I must still be in the house.

But… why is everything around me very dark? What happened to Mom? The village!?

Panicking, I stood up hurriedly and tried looking around. I found nothing because the world around me was completely pitch black, and it does not have any sort of light whatsoever. I noticed that this must be the acts of a powerful darkness origin, based on what my teachers have taught me at school.

To put me into such a dark world like this… who has the ability to cast a powerful dark origin technique?

I tried to think of anyone from the village, but I can't bring myself to guess. I know that there are plenty of capable fighters in the village, but I know nothing of their abilities since I've never seen them all fight or anything. I was too young to know anything like that, after all.

Then… what happened to Mom?

If I'm here, then she…

"Mom!!!!" I tried shouting to the empty void around me, but nothing replied back. My voice didn't even feel like a shout, and it's almost like there are no walls around me for the sound to echo back.

This world feels so lonely. I hate it.

I need to find them. Mom, Dad, Grandpa. What happened to the village, I need to know.

I tried making the first steps forward within this dark realm, but I quickly noticed that my footsteps feel heavy. I didn't know my body was this weak, but for sure it feels as if I had just did a marathon run for over an hour.

I was sweating bullets, and I did not understand how my body came to be like this. I was alone in this world, and who knows what evil lurks behind all these darkness surrounding me. If something does come out, then I cannot outrun it since I'm so weak.

Help… please, someone…

I don't want to be here, anymore!!!

After wishing it really hard, the world around me finally changed. My eyes were reopened as if it was closed before, and my body was lying down on the nasty rough dirt ground. 

"Huaa--!" I panicked and quickly lifted my body up, but a hand quickly grabbed my shoulder to stop me from moving.

"Hey, hey!! Calm down… please." The voice of the person who held me was heard right next to my left ear, and I realize that his voice was unfamiliar. "Take a deep breath, boy… stay calm."

I turned my confused glare to the man right next to me, and I found his attires to be rather lavish. Golden ornaments can be found all over his fancy clothing, and I can tell from the golden crown he is wearing that he is a very important individual. His old face made me wonder if I have ever seen him before, but the fire crest drawn on his chest made me realize his identity.

He is… someone from the fire kingdom.

"Calm down, boy… What's your name?" The mysterious man asked me, and I could only stare at his face blankly.

From the corner of my eyes, I can already tell where I am currently. My nose picked up the scent that I never wanted to smell, and my lungs subconsciously stopped breathing. All of my questions was answered the moment I stared at this man's face, and I did not dare to turn my eyes to the world around me.

Everything… everything is…

M-My village… the smoke…??

Everyone…!!?

The sun has rose, and many hours has passed ever since the last scene I remembered. Smoke reached the skies and flew away due to the strong wind, but small bits of the flames still exist on many parts of the ruins around me.

I finally gives myself the courage to turn my neck around, to glare at the ruined village around me. And once my eyes have studied the world around me, I finally embraced the answer inside my soul.

The entire village was burned down. There are still sounds of wood cracking after a long night of burning, but the smell alone already told me the answer of what truly happened last night. Many corpses of people are found everywhere, and there's even a pile of them at multiple places.

Next to me, the man knew that this is the first time I am seeing this grim scenery, and he quickly realized what he needed to do. He simply left me be so that I can understand the situation on my own, considering the weight of the news was not something I can bear.

Now that I am staring at the reality around me, I now realize exactly the state of the world. Everything and anything that has been with me from the very beginning of my life has changed. Everyone and anyone that has been beside me from the moment I was born has disappeared.

And even though I have seen, smell, felt the proof of it happening, my mind still… refuses to believe it.

"Is there anyone… who lived…?"

Despite everything. Despite all the pain that I felt inside me. Despite how much I just wanted to disappear and take my own life.

I still somehow asked for a simple glimmer of hope.

And yet,

"Everyone is… gone." The man answered with his sorrow voice, and my mind finally decide to process everything. I tighten my fist very hard, and I let go of all the pent up emotions that was stacking inside of me.

I simply… let go.

That day was the beginning of the wave of change. The wave that will awaken the dark history of Avenor, the wave that will cause chaos and make the future unpredictable. It was the wave that broke the peaceful livelihoods of the people on this land, and it was the wave that started an 

imbalance.

The wave of wars, chaos, weakens, dishonor, inequity, imprisonment, and instability. 

The origin of conflicts in the world of Avenor for many years to come.

"Mom… Dad… Grandpa…!!" My voice came out pathetic and hoarse due to the sore throat and tears inside me.

Hearing the voice, the man next to me held my shoulder tightly. He hugged me from behind as if supporting me, and I could not stop him from continuing.

"Come with us. We will support you to the best of our ability." The man said with a soft voice, something I was not expecting from a tough looking man like him. And for some reason, I found his voice to be rather comforting.

"I… want to stay--"

"I cannot allow that. My knights as well as other government officials are currently conducting an investigation of this… tragedy. It will be difficult for them to work if you are around."

The man said reasonably, and I fully understand his intentions. He is using the investigators as reasoning to keep me away from the corpses of my people, because he knows that I will only break further if I continue to torture myself.

"Then, please allow me to say good bye to my family." I tried bargaining with him, but it seems like he came prepared with his reasonings.

"We will round up all the corpses we can gather, assuming they are still… gatherable." The man said after hearing my request, and truly, what a horrible thing to say. "Once we are done gathering them, I will bring you back to see them again."

The man returned an offer to my request, and I understood his reason. That way, I can still see the remains of the village people when they have all been gathered into one place. Because right now, everyone is probably scattered all over the place and some might even be buried underneath the buildings. I also won't be bothering the investigators from learning the events that happened, because I too wished to know what truly happened.

I will just wait for them to be gathered. I can also say good bye to them once and for all in one go.

I'm sorry… everyone. I will see you all soon.

After that, I ended up allowing him to take me in. He pulled my hand into a rather fancy carriage that was not too far from the burned down village, and he picked me up as we got into the fancy carriage.

Ever since that day, my life changed. Every aspect of it, starting from the place I live to the people surrounding me, all of it was different.

But, one thing was much clearer than before. My goal, when previously it took me a while to decide that I was going to become the village chief. Now, it is very clear for me what I needed to do next.

Become stronger. Become smarter. Become so strong that no one in Avenor can rival me.

After that… find the man who did this to my family.

And kill him.