"Sakura. Sakura! Wake up, you are in great danger! You have to wake up and get out of here before they come. They are on their way, don't let them get you, you are the only chance for this world, you will save us."
My eyes burst open as I wake up from what I thought was a nightmare, but I still can't see anything. I got blindfolded and tied up, I can't move; can't see anything. I try to feel my way around the room, trying to find some way to get out of this situation. I can feel something big and sharp. I don't know what it is but I still try to cut open the ties that kept pressure on my wrists. They are finally free and I can take of my blindfold.
But, where am I? By having a closer look at my surroundings, I can tell that I seem to be captured in some kind of wagon. It's kind of dark in here, some rays of light getting in through a few slits in the wood. It looks old and dusty. A few empty barrels, one wooden bucket. Everything is so dry, the air, the wood. Even my breath. I suddenly have a strong and pungent smell in my nose. Fire? Burning meat? I've got to get out of here. I shout for help, no response. I try it again. I am getting hysterical. Although I am still drowsy, I try to open the door into freedom, it's jammed. I hear screams from outside, crying, the sound of flames. It sounds like hell brought upon earth. I've got to get out of this wagon, that is everything going through my mind right now. I keep kicking the door as I try to break it open, which it eventually does. The burst of light coming in, pushing the darkness away, is irritating me for a moment. But as soon as I regain my focus, I see the terrifying scenery in front of me. The pictures I am witnessing right now are way more disturbing than I could have ever imagined.
A charred forest, no life seems to has survived in this ravenous fire storm that has apparently raged in this place. There are bodies hanging from the black arms of the trees, some pierced by the sharp branches, others lost parts of- if not their whole- limbs. It was a massacre. I step out of the wagon, staring into the endless fire, trying to remember anything. Nothing much comes up. I just know that I talked with a man at a tavern. He did seem kind of sketchy, a black top hat and a long coat. I can't remember anything else though. Who am I? Where am I and why am I in this situation right now? I take my first steps on the dead ground, every step making more and more noise than the other. My whole body is trembling as I keep looking around me. What the hell happened here? -
I look back into the wagon, looking for whatever I cut the ties off my wrists. There is a sword stuck in a corpse; it is not a human-like creature though. I try not to vomit as I struggle to get the weapon out of the carcass. It doesn't move at all. The steel seems to have melted together with the white and dry flesh of the creature. I suppose I have no other choice but to go out there without any protection at all, I will just have to be lucky.
I hear a gurgling sound in front of me. I look down and see a soldier lying on the floor, he only moves his fingers for a few moments. He tries to tell me something, he tries to speak. His lips are moving, not really making any sounds, it's just more blood coming out. I finally understand the words 'help me, please'. I am trying to help him, trying to stop the giant bleeding wound but it is too deep. A massive cut, almost tearing his body in half.
I can't do anything. I can't help him. He takes his last breath as I see the colors of his face fade away. It looks as if I see his soul crawling out of his chest into freedom, it flies off into the forest. I want to follow it, but I suddenly hear a voice telling me to follow the trail of destruction and death. I don't want to, but my legs just started to move on their own. I hear voices shouting my name, telling me to keep on going. I hear whispering but I can't make out which words they are saying. I hear screams, screams of help, screams of pain and agony. Screams of devastation and sorrow. I hear men begging for their lives. The scenery of horror keeps on going as I walk through the forest of death.
The voice shouting at me, the voice whispering to me, is that my voice? Are these my screams of help? What is going on? What is keeping me from stopping already? I don't want to keep on going, I want to stop. I scream for help, I keep telling me to stop, but I just won't. I see an enormous cave entrance in the horizon, building up even higher as I come near. It's pretty rough around the edges, screaming coming out of it. There are no trees, no grass, no live-in front of it. Everything burns, it's getting hotter. Pearls of sweat fall off my face, off my body. All that noise around me stops, but not my legs. I need to stop right now. I try to scream but my voice gets more and more muted as I come near the cave. I am almost in front of the entrance as I finally stop. I still can't move, but at least I am not walking anymore. I look around me, looking behind me, looking at all the burning or still breathing bodies I have passed without even noticing them. I haven't noticed their guts hanging from the trees like icicles in a cold winter night.
Suddenly, something tells me to close my eyes. My eyes closed but I opened them back up immediately. Everything stayed dark. I see sparks around the corner of what appears to be a stone wall, I hear shouting and the sound of some kind of creature. I need to know what this is all about. I decide to go there, but I take my steps carefully, not to wake anything up that doesn't want to be awakened. It isn't as hot anymore; the air is quite humid to be exact. Then, a puddle of some liquid. I can't really see what it is so I better just ignore it. The dripping sound of water in here is actually quite soothing, if it wasn't for all these other background noises. Looking at all the stalactites suddenly reminds me of something I used to be told:" Stalactites are the manifestation of our tears coming from heaven." Why do I remember this? Who told me this? Why is it 'our tears'? What does it mean?
But before I could get my thought to end, I blinked and suddenly am in the middle of a giant hall. I am still in the cave, I can see that, the room is being light up by some torches lying on the floor. In just a few seconds, I hear screaming, shouting and fire noises again. This time, I only hear 5 voices. They are not mine though. I suddenly see a giant claw coming in my direction. I want to run but I seem to be frozen out of fear. The claw is about to hit me, but it doesn't touch me. A shimmering barrier has appeared before my eyes. I see some lighting coming from the left corner of my eye. I look over there in awe, I can't trust my eyes. A man? He saved my life in the last second.
"What the hell? How did you just- Never mind, run already! Come on, hide!" I run behind a rock and hid. "Sol, what is it?" "Someone just appeared in front of my very eyes, I could not believe it- She is hiding behind that rock over there. Something feels off about her. She seems lost and afraid.
Tris, would you please check on her? She is in great need of our help; I can feel it.
I casted a strong lightning spell at the monster, we will have a few moments until it gets up again.". I hear more footsteps coming directly at the mage. I look over the edge in order to get a glance at the situation. 4 people are surrounding the mage. They don't seem to be attacking him, not at all. They seem to be his companions.
The mage, a tall man with porcelain-like skin, whose name is Sol, or at least his party called him this. Blue eyes, deep as the ocean, deep enough to drown in them. Is he an elf? He is the one that saved me. The rest of his crew looks rather peculiar. There is an archer, a short warrior, one giant person and another one in a robe with long hair, Sol called her Tris. "That will give us time to prepare for its next attack. Good work, Sol." Someone says. The short woman comes at me, asking me whether I was okay or not. Her voice is so soothing, it makes me a bit sleepy and the next thing I know I lie on the floor next to Tris, getting ready to cast a shield spell for the next incoming blow.
"Watch out!" Shouts the archer. The Beast that attacked me a few moments ago starts to get back up and looks even scarier than before. A giant serpent-looking creature arises from the ground, breathes fire out of their nose and gets ready to attack. It spreads its giant wings, flashes its red burning eyes and looks furiously at the party.
"Can't you do that lighting-thing again, Sol? The dragon is coming at us again!" says the archer, drawing an arrow from his quiver, getting into position to shoot, knowing very well that the steel arrowhead won't be able to pierce the thick scales of the creature. "I am afraid I cannot. It was a quite forceful spell; I have not regained the power for recasting it yet. We might need your help for this one, Tris!" The woman tells me to hide behind that rock and to make sure that this creature doesn't notice me. She shields the stone with a weak spell, she needs her power for the upcoming battle. The group is starting to spread out again as the giant fangs come nearer. They know that they will only be able to dodge its attacks scarcely. The giant- who is about as tall as the beast itself- charges at it, trying to do any damage but it has no use. The monster lashes out and tears the giant body open. Blood splashes out of him, covering the cold stone walls and floor. Screams coming from the group, cries. Tris is running towards the body, trying to save him, trying to at least keep him alive until all of this is over. The dragon gives them no break and starts attacking again. It starts breathing fire. The flames are coming my way, is it targeting me? I try to find cover behind the rock where I sit and watched everything from. The flames break the barrier, melt the rock and hit me directly in the back. The fire doesn't even hurt, it is not painful by any means. I feel nothing but a pushing feeling. Although it doesn't hurt, I still burst out in shouting and crying uncontrollably as I see a blazing white light in front of my eyes.
Everything goes dark as I fall to the ground, but I can still make out a giant screen of black smoke that rises from the dragon, into the ceiling, leaving a stain. The dragon's eyes turn from the furious red into an emerald green and it becomes unconscious. So do I as I see the world around me fade away. I faint and don't remember anything else.