Chapter One || An Unexpected Visitor


Long ago, in the region of Ru'ann, there lived a small village known as Phoenix Drop. A few months ago, the village had suffered the loss of Lord Malik, due to unfortunate and mysterious circumstances. Now, it was running low on resources, and due to the bad decisions of the previous Lord, they had little contact with any other villages nearby.

Two guards of the village stood on the border, amiably chatting with one another, unaware of a figure clad in ragged green and brown garments, listening in to their conversation from the forest. One was taller and was wearing the old O'Khasis training uniform, and the other was shorter and wearing generic armour.

"It's been hectic now that the Lord's passed. I mean, there's barely any resources left, we have little to no contact with the other villages and I think the villagers are going crazy!" the shorter guard sighed.

"Fear not Zenix. I think I have a plan." the taller guard patted Zenix on the shoulder.

A twig snapped under the figure's foot and they muttered a curse. The two guards stiffened and Zenix turned to face the forest, his hand on his sword. The figure cursed again and fled through the forest.

"Did you hear that?" Zenix hissed, his dark eyes wild with anger.

"Whatever it was seems to have gone now. Well, that teaches us not to talk about our village's troubles when enemies could be listening in." The other guard sighed.

"That's true Garroth." And with those words, the two began their patrol.

Meanwhile, further in the forest laid a young man, who was battered and bruised. His mahogany hair was slightly tangled, and there was a cut on his pale face, and blood gently trickled down his face, staining the grass.

The figure apprehensively approached him, fearing that he would wake up. He did not stir. They inched closer and closer, before laying a beautifully hand-crafted obsidian sword next to him. Magic swirled around the prone figure and rose to the air before disappearing. Hearing footsteps, the figure took an orb from their bag, threw it down on the clearing floor and disappeared.

Zenix and Garroth broke through the trees, only to find the young man lying there on the forest floor, the sword next to him as well as the remnants of the figure's orb. Zenix picked the broken orb up and gently placed it in his bag. Garroth knelt next to the man and gently placed the sword in his empty sheath.

The man stirred and Garroth internally panicked. He gently took his gauntlet off and felt for a pulse. Having not felt one in his wrist, he felt for one in his neck and nodded at Zenix when he felt one. Garroth then replaced his gauntlet and stood up.

It was at that moment that the man woke up. He gingerly sat up and groaned, wiping the blood off his cheek. Garroth and Zenix looked at each other in panic. The man looked around, slight panic in his alluring green eyes, before staring at the sword in his sheath.

"First of all, where am I? Second of all, what is this sword doing in my sheath?" The man's voice was croaky and hoarse. He cleared his throat.

"You're in the forest outside the village of Phoenix Drop. And, anyway, we thought that sword was yours." Zenix crouched down next to the man. "What's your name, by the way?"

"Oh. My name's Elliot, and I think some big Jessie nicked my sword. Ah well, this one's mine now." Elliot shrugged and accepted Zenix's hand. "Thanks."

Garroth blinked. "Which village are you from? I'm only asking so that way we can tell the Lord of your village you're here and they can collect you."

Elliot furrowed his brows in thought."I… don't remember. I don't think I'm even from a village."

Garroth and Zenix looked at each other, before Zenix turned back to Elliot. "Do you… remember anything else?"

Elliot fiddled with a loose thread on his tattered shirt. "I know I have two children who've gone missing. I think their names are Cylla and Gabriel, and I know my wife died a few years back after an attack in her village. Um, I think that's all."

"Hm. If that is all, then perhaps it's best if you stay in our village, though I do have to warn you, the more you interact with our villagers, the more aware they become, and nature may shift." Garroth looked at Elliot.

"That's fine. I'll come with you anyway. It's not like I really have anything else to do." Elliot shrugged and followed the two guards to their village.

As the trio neared the village, Elliot realised something about Zenix didn't feel right to him. He just couldn't put his finger on what it was. The lad seemed friendly enough, but he also seemed to have ulterior motives, and what those were, Elliot had no clue. But Elliot knew that no one in his new village would believe him. After all, he was an amnesiac from Medea knows where, who'd only just arrived at Phoenix Drop. People were bound to think he was just stirring up trouble and would want him out of there, fast.

Dispelling his unusually morbid train of thoughts, Elliot realised he and the two guards were at the village. He smiled at them and began exploring. The first problem he noticed was a lot of people trapped in the well. The second was a large hole right next to the well that people could fall into. He found his way back to Zenix and Garroth, brows furrowed.

"Do any of you have any dirt I can use to patch up that big hole near the well?" he asked. "It's just I don't want me or others to fall in it and get injured."

Garroth searched his bag and Zenix soon followed. After a thorough search, Zenix had found at least 16 pieces of dirt in his bag - much to Garroth's chagrin - and Garroth had found 1 piece of dirt - much to his surprise. They passed them over to Elliot who grinned and thanked the two before rushing over to the hole and patching it up.

Grabbing a worn iron pickaxe out of his enchanted bag, Elliot destroyed the two blocks of stone trapping the villagers in the well and helped them all out, before patching up the well with stone. The villagers all thanked him and he smiled awkwardly, not used to the attention he was receiving. A couple of women giggled at him, before rushing over to a house in the west of the village.

Elliot groaned as he noticed the setting sun and walked over to the house nearest to him. Knocking on the door, he realised that asking to stay in a stranger's house probably wasn't the best way to introduce himself. Before he could turn around, a blonde woman opened the door.

"Uh, hello. I, uh, was wondering if I could stay in your house until I have the resources to build my own." Elliot grimaced as he stumbled over his sentences.

"Of course you may. Come on in. My name's Emmalyn." The woman smiled at him as he gingerly stepped over the threshold.

"I'm Elliot." he winced, suddenly aware of his slightly torn clothes and dirty face. "Uh, do you have any water I can wash my face and arms with?"

"Yes I do." Emmalyn smiled again and brought a half-full bucket of water over along with a cloth. Elliot gratefully took it and began washing his face, wincing again as the clean water entered the cut on his cheek.

He then used the cloth to dry his arms and face before placing his bag on the floor. His brow furrowed as he took out item after item from the battered satchel. Emmalyn and his eyes widened as he pulled out a massive tome from the small bag.

"This thing really is enchanted." He was breathless.

"H-how did that book fit in that tiny bag? Why are you taking things out of your bag?" Emmalyn asked, her voice slightly higher pitched than usual.

"I believe my bag is enchanted to fit a bunch of things in here. Anyway, I'm looking for my sewing kit, so I can sew up my shirt." Elliot smiled at Emmalyn, before wincing as his injury protested against his smile.

He soon found the little box, which was embossed with buttons, thread and needles in silver. He smiled and a blurred memory of a smiling girl with strawberry blonde hair handing him the box freed itself from a cage of amnesia. His smile fell and his brows furrowed.

Emmalyn tentatively approached him. "A-are you okay?"

"Yes, it's just, I think I got one of my memories back. I think my sewing kit was a trigger for the memory." Elliot frowned fully before shrugging and unbuttoning his shirt, leaving him with a white undershirt that was elegantly embroidered with flowers, and his black trousers.

He placed a silver thimble on his thumb, threaded his needle with a pearlescent white thread and began sewing. Emmalyn watched him for a moment and then grabbed a spare bed out of a nearby chest and placed it on the floor. Elliot paused his work for a second and gave her a thankful smile, before resuming his quiet sewing.

Emmalyn quietly took off her glasses and lied down, afraid to disrupt Elliot from his work. She turned over in her bed and promptly fell asleep. Their quiet breathing filled the house, ignoring the darkness outside, blocked only by the soft light of the lanterns in the librarian's house.

Once Elliot had finished his work, he gently laid the shirt on the end of the spare bed and packed everything back up into his bag, which he hung on one of the bedposts, ready for the morning. Then, he lowered himself on the bed, thankful that there wasn't a full moon, though he wasn't sure why, and fell into a deep sleep.