The gentle fog slowly dissipated as the rays of the rising sun touched my skin. This was the last day I will wake up in this very comfortable room. I stayed in bed for a bit more - hoping to hear the sound of my father yelling at me for sleeping in. I couldn't believe he's gone. I rolled on my side, faced the window and let my face bask in the warm sunlight. “I need to go to Orvelia…” I told myself. With a heavy heart, I forced myself to sit up in bed. I stayed sitting while facing the window until my body was ready to stand up and face reality. After I turned around to face the door, I saw the sword and the shield, just by my bed. The memory of digging my father’s own grave flashed through my head. “Father, I miss you already…” 

I walked to the kitchen looking for something to fill my empty stomach. Even though I haven’t eaten since the afternoon of the incident, I was not feeling even a bit hungry. Maybe it was the depression setting in. I knew that I needed to eat something before heading out. My father would be disappointed if he saw me like this. I needed to compose myself and do what needs to be done.

I found some old bread, a bit of leftover cheese from the other day and about half a pitcher of milk. I checked the bread and cheese for mold or some funky stuff; I sniffed on the pitcher to check if the milk has gone bad. “Yeah, this is no good.” The milk smells sour and there were solid stuff floating on it so I decided to go for the water, bread and cheese. 

The house was all the more quiet without Father sitting and eating breakfast with me. I tried to lessen the silence. “I guess I’ll eat something when I get to town.”

I already prepared for the journey the night before so I have some spare time. I decided to go to my father’s grave; I thought it would be nice to say goodbye. I picked some fresh flowers along the way and prayed in front of the headstone of his grave.

“I promise, I’ll do everything to avenge you, Father.” I looked up and shouted with all my might. I returned to the house after my ‘ceremonial goodbye’ to my father. I took my rucksack and went out. I was greeted by Howl who was tied on a wood sticking out of the ground.

“Let’s go, boy. Adventure awaits us!”

To be honest, I felt a bit of excitement when I thought about being on an adventure. It was the first time I was going farther than our village border. I decided to stop by the top restaurant(proclaimed by the chef) in our town(the only one so I’m not sure if it counts, really). I asked for fried frog legs and some potato salad. I bit into the juicy leg and remembered how my father loved this stuff. Tears rolled down on my cheek as I ate  in the corner of the restaurant. I wiped the tears off and finished the meal.

I went out of the restaurant(?) and stood in front of the north gate of our village. I knew that it will be dangerous the moment I leave for the capital. There were no extremely dangerous monsters or demons around our village so it will be a little safe, I guess? I tried to convince myself and pushed myself to go on and fulfill the promise I made with my father.

“Okay. If ever we are in danger, I want you to run as fast as you can, okay Howl?”

Howl neighed and pushed me with his head. “Okay! LET’S GO!” I shouted as people looked at me. I was a bit embarrassed by what I did, but I heard some people, friends of the father, saying “Good luck, boy! Make your old man proud!.” It did encourage me a little and decided to begin my journey to the capital.

I walked north to Orvelia. Beside me was Howl, my only companion. The skies were clear, warm winds blew behind me as I walked under shades of trees. The path was clear, no clear signs of any monsters. To be honest, that day it was a bit slow; I’ve only seen two carriages pass by me and a couple of walking merchants - going to Gobble-Bark. One of them nodded at me: it was Merrick. He used to sell my father cheap but quality seeds. He’s a good fellow.

I stopped for a bit and took the map out of my rucksack. I checked my current location or where I should be(it was my first time using a map). 

 “If I am correct, we can reach Orvelia by midnight. Or we could camp somewhere and push on by first light. What do you think, boy?”

I received no reaction from Howl who looked bored. I placed the map inside my rucksack again and placed it on the back of Howl, who seemed annoyed. We continued to walk towards Orverlia, resting every once in a while to avoid any unnecessary injuries. We arrived at the clearing before the Forest of Ancante.

The Forest of Ancante was the home of the elves. The only non-demon race that has longevity. Their lifespan is twice of the dwarves and compared to humans-- well let’s just say an entire lifetime of a human was just a fraction of theirs. Elves don’t show themselves too much: probably because of humans. Because of greed, some humans abduct elves and study their anatomy. Those monsters(humans) want to unlock the secret of their lifespan and do not care if the elves who are captured suffer in the process. Well I don’t blame them but I hoped to see one, even just a glance; they said elven women are like goddesses. Beautiful as flower fields during spring and as radiant as summer sun. While my mind preoccupied by the elven dream, Howl stopped and looked a small clearing,

“What’s  the matter boy? Don’t tell me you’re tired again?”

Howl stomped on the ground where he stood. He refused to move even if I pulled him. He’s one bossy and lazy horse. Well, since Howl gave me the “I’m a lazy as fuck” attitude, I decided to rest. It was too late anyway, so I figured it was best to set camp and just continue tomorrow. We went to the clearing the dumb horse was looking at. It was nice: the grass on it was not sharp and it was just high enough so it acts like a cushion on my back. I noticed Howl looking at me.

“Fine! You’re right! This is a great spot to rest.”

Howl stopped looking at me; he walked beside a tree and rested there. I decided to get some bread and eat before sleeping. “Orvelia’s not that far anymore.  I will find this Randgris woman and get the answers I need.”

After I ate, I laid down my portable bedding and laid down on it. I thought the thick grass would provide a bit of comfort on my back but I was wrong. I felt the huge difference of my bed back home(which has dried hay under the bedding) compared to when I laid down the fields. It was uncomfortable but I eventually fell asleep, maybe because I was also tired that day.

My consciousness faded as I fell asleep, deeper and deeper.

I was walking in a familiar meadow. I saw Madonna grazing on the grass and different colors of chrysanthemums were spread randomly everywhere: I was home. I saw my father working on the fields while my mother was watering roses that were in flower beds in front of the house. My mother was wearing a gray dress, her hair was dark purple - like the color of the precious stone -- Amethyst, and was tied in a side braid pony. She was smiling though I am unable to exactly see her face. Howl was walking around the fields -- carrying two baskets on both sides. They were filled with great crops, all of them have vibrant colors of summer.

“What? Why --”I was stunned by the amazing scenery before me. I never thought in a million years that our family will be together like this. 

I walked towards my mother; she had her back on me while approach really carefully. I was about to touch her shoulder when I suddenly heard a woman shouting at me:

“Hey sir?! Sir?! Please wake up, this is an emergency!”

I opened my eyes and saw a kid. He looked terrified as hell and he was shaking me to wake me up. 

“What’s the matter?” I noticed that his white shirt had blood all over it. “ You have blood on you, are you okay?”

“Goblins attacked our caravan. My father told me to run away. We need your help, Mr. Knight!”

Wait, Mr. Knight? I looked at him, confused; the kid noticed that I don’t seem to understand what he’s talking about.

“You are a knight, right?” 

“Err, no?” I scratched my head and stood up. “But let’s go, I’ll do everything I can to help!”

 The kid nodded and ran towards the location of the caravan. I took the sword and shield and followed the kid. I was not sure if I could be of any help since I have no idea on how to use this but I intend to do everything I can to save as many people as I can. The kid suddenly stopped and ducked behind the bushes.

“Our caravan is behind these bushes.”

The bushes in front of use were a bit high. I couldn’t see what's on the other side, but I could hear screams and the sound of metal clashing.  The kid looked worried and was pointing towards the location of the caravan. I nodded at the kid, told him to stay put and run if ever things go worse than it already is.

I carefully crawled under the bushes, hopeful that I will be able to launch a surprise attack, when I suddenly grabbed something warm; it’s a fucking arm! A fucking arm! I threw the thing away from me which caused a bit of noise. I stopped and I checked if I was somehow discovered. Phew! I guess they’re busy fighting.

I resumed crawling and noticed that the sound of metal clashing was replaced by the sound of goblin screams and the sound of flesh getting slashed.

“What the hell is happening?”

I quickly cleared the bushes and stood up. I drew my sword and raised my shield but all I saw were the corpses of massacred goblins and merchants. The surviving goblins were running towards the cover of the woods. I looked at the opposite direction where the goblins were running from and saw a beautiful woman. She was wearing a woman knight's armor(short skirts and long sleeves) and over it was a black cloak. Her face was covered up to her nose with a hood, some of her straight red hair can be seen coming out of the hood. She was like a goddess that stood in a battlefield. I was staring at her with awe. She was one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen in my life.

“Uhh… Excuse me?”

She suddenly unsheathed her rapier and pointed it to my throat. She didn’t look surprised at all. I think I was the one who got surprised. She intently stared at me; I was panicking and started stuttering.

“Uhh.. ahh… H-H-H-H-I… uhh… ehh… How...you..are...doing?” I put my hands up in surrender  and asked her nicely. She gazed at me as if she was about to kill me but after a few seconds, she removed the end of the rapier off my throat and sheathed it again. She looked at the corpses.

“Give them a proper burial…”

I looked around the aftermath of the attack; guts were spilled everywhere and different body parts were scattered around. Heads, hands, legs and even eyes. They were all around me. The horror of the gruesome scene eventually caught up to me. I felt as if all the contents of my stomach were pushed out. I knew the inevitable so  I tried my best to run to a corner without any corpse or any body parts.

After I collected myself, I helped the kid and the woman collect the pieces of both humans and goblins. We dug a big hole for human remains and another for the goblins. The beautiful woman said that even the goblins deserved a proper treatment as they were also living creatures who were fighting just to survive.

“Aren’t they part of the Devil King’s Army?” I asked as I carefully threw a goblin arm into the mass grave.

“They are not. Goblins around this area are just regular goblins, the ones that’s under the Devil King are hobogoblins. They are goblins under Goblin Lords that were blessed by the Devil King.”

“Wait, isn’t their leader called Goblin-Leaders?”

“Yes, but after they were blessed by the Devil King, they evolved into Goblin Lords; they have higher intelligence and more cunning than Goblin Leaders. Oh, and they can also wield elemental weapons.”

“So basically, the Devil KIng only employs badass monsters?”

She nodded as she She wiped the blood off her armor. I felt a spike of electricity rush down my spine. I would need a seriously strong mentor if I want to even pose a threat to that Devil.

“It seems that the Devil King really is serious in taking us all out, huh?”

She looked at me with a serious face. I was fazed; she really was beautiful. I was getting sucked in her flaming red eyes. I bet she also smelled amazing. Wait.. what am I thinking? What? I heard her chuckle as I tried to compose my sentences and myself.

“What’s your name, by the way?”

“It’s Jaimie Knightsword. I am a Holy Abecedarian Knight”

“Abese-- what?”

“It just means that I am a Knight training to be a Holy Knight.”

“I see.. How about you kid?”

“Trench…”The kid muttered. 

He was still in shock, I can’t blame him though, his entire caravan was almost wiped out by the Goblin tribe. I patted the head of the kid.

“Hey, everything’s gonna be alright. You need to always remember the bravery your dad displayed and make sure not to disappoint him, okay?” The kid nodded and I smiled at him.

“My dad was a warrior!”

“Yes, he was!”

Jaimie smiled at both of us and looked at the direction of Orvelia. We then decided to travel together to the kingdom’s capital. We rested for a bit while Trench paid respect to the corpses of his companions.

After walking for about 3 or 4 hours, I saw huge walls on the horizon and an even bigger castle behind it. The walls had a lot of red cloth hanging on them, it looked like flags. Dead-straight on the path was a drawbridge; there were also a rampart surrounding the walls and deep trenches that were filled with water. Under the High Walls of the drawbridge was a huge red flag; it has a golden insignia which looked like a lion. It seems that this is the flag of this nation. The Lion insignia fits the kingdom properly; their military prowess was strong as the damn beast. 

When we got near Orvelia's wall, the drawbridge was half drawn, there were soldiers parallel to the bridge -- it looked like a checkpoint. We approached the checkpoint and stood in line. 

“Hey! Submit all the things you carry for inspection! NO EXCEPTIONS!”

One of  the guards shouted at one of the civilians standing in line. It looked like a problem so I turned my back and tried to tell the people with me to prepare their things to be inspected so things would go smoothly. One of the knights shouted again; “If you are against the inspection then begone! This is a requirement of the kingdom right now! Hey.. What.. STOP!”

At that moment I already knew someone tried to do something stupid -- he tried to take the side weapon of the guard and threatened them that if they don’t lower the bridge, he’ll slit the guard’s throat.

The guy looked like he’s no ordinary civilian; from how he moved, one will know that he was an ex-soldier or mercenary. The man was taller than the soldier and he had his arms under the soldier’s armpits and his hand was at his nape, while the other hand was holding the dagger near the soldier’s throat.

There was something odd with the idiot though, his eyes seemed different; his pupils are dilated and there were black spots on his arms, neck and face.

“Watch out! He’s been bitten by Ragehounds!”

“BITTEN BY WHAT?!”

“Ragehounds, they are like cousins of Silverback-Wolves. They are like Silverbacks on drugs, though. They are extremely aggressive, especially to humans. They normally roam the Forest of Ancante. Their bite will cause the unfortunate victim to go berserk. At first, the victim will not feel anything different but as the venom makes it way to the victim’s brain, they turn into something like a rabid animal. Some say victims’ pain receptors are being shut-off by the venom so even if you chop their legs or arms, they will still go wild. In fact, they become more violent the more they are hurt. Victims will not stop until they are either killed by the people around them or the venom reaches their brain which will kill them.” Jaimie explained. She looked at the man as if it was hopeless. Well she did say that he will either die from the venom or killed by the soldiers. I think he would be finished off by the soldiers.

“He’s not on the berserk mode yet but he’s getting there. Look at the spots on his neck. Those indicate that the venom is crawling to his brains, and fast. He will turn berserk anytime now.”

“That’s scary.” I looked at the man who had veins popping out of his head. He looked very angry. “Oh… he’s drooling on the guard… oh… man…”

The guard tried everything to break free from the rabid man; he kicked the man’s leg, hit his side with his elbow and he even hit the man’s face using his metal helmet -- but the man didn’t even flinch. The black spots on the man grew twice its size in mere minutes. I looked at Jaimie who remained her steady hopeless face. The guard struggled further, but the man’s strength grew as the black spots get bigger. Eventually, there were sounds of bones breaking and the guard’s neck was slashed due to the sudden loss of support from the shoulder.

We helplessly watched as the guard bleed to death. The other soldiers tried to contain the rabid man as they formed a circle around him and pointed their spears, it was as if he was a dangerous animal that needs to be captured alive. The black spots eventually covered the entire man’s body and he just fell to the ground lifeless.

“Was there no cure for that thing?”

“No, and even if there were any, it would most likely be exclusive to the nobles.”

I let out a deep sigh and watched as the guard drag the man and the guard’s lifeless bodies. The guards then asked everyone there to form a line again, there were no issues. Everyone walked and formed a line, the unbelievable thing was  they were in the same spot as before. I was amazed by that.

We waited in the line until it was our turn to be inspected. I saw Jaimie pull out a thing that looks like an emblem. It was gold and was shaped like a shield -- a Gryphon was engraved in the middle of the emblem like thing

“My Lady Kingsword -- welcome back to the capital.”

The guard offered salutations to Jaimie. We were all surprised -- it seemed like she was a really important person. 

“Please, there’s no need to be formal. We are both soldiers serving our proud nation.”

“Understood!”

“These are my companions.” She nods in our direction. “Kindly inspect their luggage.”

“Yes ma’am! You, you, hurry and inspect what they are carrying!”

The guard commanded the other two other guards and they scrambled to complete the inspection as soon as possible. I stood there and wondered who the hell was  Jaimie -- wass she a noble? A princess? Part of the Royal Family? 

Shit! I have been talking casually to her all this time: could I get executed for that?

The guard smiled at us and let us through. “Welcome to Orvelia, travellers!” They even bowed to us -- maybe because we were with Jaimie? Well I don’t dislike this kind of treatment though. We walked past the checkpoint and crossed the drawbridge. I was stunned by the sheer size of the structure. I was like a kid looking up as I walked across the bridge.

“So what brings you to Orvelia?”

“I was looking for a person my father asked me to look for… I don’t know where to start, though.”

“I see. I might be able to help -- what is the person’s name?”

“Hmm… my father told me that her name is Randgris -- that’s the only thing I was told though… I guess there are a ton of people here who’s named like that in this town...”

I scratched my head as I laugh to hide my embarrassment. Jaimie’s eyes got big --  was she surprised that I am a person who is looking for someone with so little information? 

“I know that person… I want to help, though, I am not sure if it would be wise to meet with her…”

“Why?” I tilted my head a bit as I ask the question. Jaimie looked at me with very serious eyes and said. 

“Well actually… that woman is…”