AN: Oh joy, a new chapter. Not much to say about this one.
LOST. That word resonated in his mind. LOST. Every moment absorbed in that one word. LOST. Edwyn woke with a start. Dazed and confused he sat up and began breathing heavily. His head was throbbing and he found it hard to breathe. He felt drained of magic and exhausted as if he hadn't slept in weeks. He rested his head on the tree trying to catch his breath.
After his heart had stopped beating so quickly and he found it easier to breathe he stood up and surveyed his surroundings. To his left, trees, a great forest. To his right was a long road, winding its way through the landscape, and beyond that was a great plain that seemed to flatly stretch on for miles.
Edwyn sighed and stretched his legs. They were sore from the awkwar position he woke up from on the ground. Once he was satisfied he began on his way down the road. As he walked he tried to remember why he was there. Most of his memory was a large blur, the last clear memory being in a park with his friend Roxanne. This only brought more questions to his mind, so he shrugged off the thoughts. Focusing only on walking caused time to mesh together, seconds flowed into minutes, and minutes into hours. Nothing seemed coherent anymore.
He did not stop to rest, he didn't stop for anything. He had no idea where he was going or why. Something compelled him to follow this road though. As if his sole purpose was to follow it. He kept at it, walking, step after step. Feet became yards, yards became miles. Those too, flowed together as time did.
Eventually he was snapped out of this cycle that had become familiar to him. This cycle of non-stop walking. He finally came to a fork in the road. Edwyn decided to stop here and rest. The mage looked to the sky and saw that the moon had fallen low in the sky. "Almost sunrise, eh?" He said with a somewhat saddened grin. Something about being alone and lost like this was peaceful, yet saddening.
He looked down from the sky, back at the fork in the road. He pondered which direction to take. As he was about to step to the right he felt a sharp pain in his head. His vision blurred and he dropped to the ground with a thud. When he regained his senses he heard a group of gruff voices arguing. He couldn't make out what they were saying over the sharp ringing in his ears.
Edwyn quickly stumbled to his feet. He got into a defensive stance and eyed his enemies wearily. "Lookee 'ere. I think 'e is gonna try 'n fight." Yelled one from the back. The taunting and laughing that ensued irritated Edwyn, but he didn't attack. There was a group of about 8 bandits before him, most of them large and brutish. He quickly decided that he wouldn't be able to take them all due to his drained magic.
The mage decided to attack first while they were still taunting and chuckling. He slammed his hand into his palm and yelled, "Shadow Make: Hammer!" Some of his little remaining magic ebbed out as a larg hammer formed above the group. He quickly brought it down upon the bandits. Only one took the full blow, some of his bones cracked and he gasped for air before passing out. The rest had dodged. Edwyn noted that they were quite agile for their size.
Not allowing him to attack again a man charged foward. He was wearing brass knuckles and swung at Edwyn. Edwyn tried to dodge, but didn't get fully out of the way. His movements were sluggish due to exhaustion, and he took the attack to the side. Stumbling backwards from the hit he tried to get farther away. The man with the brass knuckles gave him no time and swung again at his face. As quickly as possible Edwyn crossed his arms in front of his face to block the attack. The man was surprisingly strong and pushed Edwyn back a bit.
Edwyn rolled backwards to get away, then as the man charged he swept him under the leg causing him to fall to the ground. Not wasting any time Edwyn delivered a swift blow to the man's face, knocking him out. Edwyn looked back up to see two more men charging, one with a knife, the other with a large hammer. Glaring at them, Edwyn slammed his fist into his palm once more shouting, "Shadow Make: Thorns!" Once more energy flowed out of him, forming black thorns in the sky. As he sent the barrage towards his enemies, the man with the hammer dodged only taking a few in the arm, but the other man wasn't so lucky. He took the rest of the barrage head on and let out his last breath, he shortly fell to the ground with a dulled crunch of the gravel.
The man with the hammer growled furiously and brought his hammer up into Edwyn's ribs. Edwyn's face contorted in pain as his ribs cracked. He fell to his knee and coughed blood. Taking shallow breaths he tried to get up, only to fall back to his knee. The man above him raised his hammer, ready to deliver the final blow. Edwyn closed his eyes, accepting his fate. There was a slight gust as something flew over his head. Gasping for air his would-be kill dropped his hammer into the gravel of the road and crumpled over soundlessly. Edwyn looked up to see the body, and the confused group of bandits.
Summoning all his strength Edwyn stood up. As he began his escape adrenaline shot through his veins dulling the pain and allowing him to run away. All he could hear was muffled yelling of the confused, scared bandits behind him and his heartbeat. Eventually all sound melted away, besides his heartbeat and the thump of his boots on the gravel roads. Once he was out of sight he laid down against a tree. His head throbbed, his heart raced, and he hurt all over. He laid his head back and thought about his situation. He was alone, injured, and lost.