Her head throbbed. The grittiness of the ground, uncomfortable as it was, caused her to stir, first opening her eyes to dark surroundings, then sitting up in a daze. Her feet were cold; where were her shoes?
Everything hurt, but she couldn't see any injuries on herself. She blinked a few more times, noting the trees on either side of the road, and how still everything was. Even at night, the lines of the road could be discernible.
It suddenly dawned on her that she shouldn't be laying in the middle of a large road like this. Getting to her feet, she scurried to the shoulder, the asphalt feeling like pins on her soles. Yet no sooner did she do that, did the stillness break.
A dark pool suddenly bubbled on the road. Something large emerged—a hulking figure with an equally large sword. The woman tried creeping behind the trees, but the monster already spotted her and raised the sword over its head.
She dashed to the right as the sword came down, thankful that she was not wearing the heels she assumed accompanied her black dress. The force of the impact caused her to fall on the ground again. She flopped onto her back as the monster approached and raised its sword again.
There was the sudden squealing of tires braking, but neither of them paid attention to that. The woman raised an arm to block the attack, although that was useless. She shut her eyes as the sword came down.
The sword struck something just above her outstretched fingers, and slid off to the side. The woman opened her eyes again to see some kind of purple-hued dome encasing her body. She looked around for any other monster that could have trapped her.
Meanwhile, the large creature was distracted by the appearance of a man, who charged with a short sword in hand. She watched helplessly in her bubble as he hacked away at the monster.
In a flash, the man was picked up by a large hand, which then began to crush him. The woman looked around for something useful, and clawed at her bubble to let her free. When she gave up, it disappeared.
As she stood, she felt a rage well up towards the monster. But what could an unarmed person like herself do to defeat it? Even the armed man couldn't hurt it, finally dropped to the ground as the monster took notice of her again.
Planting her feet in the ground, the woman raised an arm again, although she wasn't sure what that was supposed to do. There was suddenly a flash of green, shooting from her hand and expanding as it approached the giant creature. The green sphere lit the whole area with an omnimous glow as it collided with the monster. It gave a roar over the sound of the orb's deafening wind, which intensified until the orb shrank and disappeared, the monster gone with it.
Everything became still and silent again. The woman stood stunned for several seconds, as if it was a trick of the eyes and the monster would still be there. She even blinked several times, but it didn't reappear. Nor did the orb, as some kind of magic of her own.
The man was pushing himself up carefully as she let it go and approached him. He cradled one arm as he stood precariously. He looked around, surprised to see the threat was gone.
"What did you do?" He demanded, wiping some dirt from his face.
"I don't know." She shrugged.
Looking her over, the man grimaced. "What's your name?"
"I don't know that either."
The woman's answer stumped him. He shook his head. "Let's get out of here before more show up. Can you drive?"
"I think so."
They went towards his truck, still idling in the middle of the road. He got into the passenger seat without help. She took her place in the driver's seat, gingerly handling the wheel and pedals. Following his directions, she eventually began to relax. Maybe she did know how to drive. It was much more dangerous at night with monsters around.
They came to some kind of settlement, where lights kept the monsters away. Both were checked for injuries, the man's arm was set and put into a sling. The local sheriff came by with questions, none of which the woman couldn't answer very well. Even more people were stumped when the woman couldn't identify herself.
They were given a meal, which both appreciated. The man, who had since been identified as Caden, could thankfully use his dominant hand. Others lingered to question the mysterious lady.
She didn't have much to say for herself after telling everyone that she knew nothing about herself. Cadan, on the other hand, filled everyone in on the surprisingly successful hunt.
"The daemon hurt me pretty good, but then she jumped in and used magic to kill it!" He explained to everyone. Quite a few brows rose at that claim.
"Like the Kingsglaive's magic?" A dull-looking man asked, looming over the back of Caden's chair.
"Does a Glaive dress like that?" A passing woman gestured aggressively towards her black dress and bare feet. The woman of the hour felt her face become red. It was a poor outfit for these parts.
"Well, you have a city accent, so that's probably where you came from." Caden leaned back, finished with his meal as he used less table manners than she did. "But you just woke up on the side of the road?"
She gave a nod, and an older woman seated with them—the cook—tutted. She turned towards him. "You know, I've heard the mafia is big in the city. Someone could have beat her poor head in, and dumped her outside of the city. It wouldn't be the first time." She turned towards her. "It may be best that you avoid Insomnia."
If she was right, then avoiding the city was the right choice to make. However, something about that idea didn't sit well with the woman. She felt that it was something else that led her to lose her memories and wake up on the side of the road. But she didn't want to discuss it with strangers.
"Could've been the Nifs," The dull man countered the cook. "They just took a girl away in Cleigne for no good reason. Won't say what they did to her, so I'm guessing they just killed her because she was somewhere she shouldn't have been."
They all looked at the mysterious woman at that, but she kept silent. She once more tried to remember anything. Nothing came to her—especially not Imperials.
"Well, I don't think we're going to figure out what happened for awhile. Whatever you decide to do now, you won't get anywhere without a name." Caden pointed out.
"I can't think of what it was." The woman felt tired of repeating herself.
"Just pick one. You might like it better than your old one."
She thought for a long moment while she finished eating. Everyone else seemed to be waiting as well. Eventually, something did come to mind.
"Layla." She wondered what significance it had to her in her past life. Whatever it was, it would do for now.