Shiori woke up groggily. It took a few moments for everything to come back to her. She was in the field training with Akira. She was a bit tired but nowhere near her limit.
The ravens were flying in her field one by one, and she had to dodge them while also identifying which raven it was. For the sake of exercise, she simply referred to them by a number.
The ravens were careful to fly in her zone in a way she was sure to dodge. They didn't want to accidentally hit her, but they kept her on her feet. One moment everything was going well and the next she lost control.
As she was sensing for the information in her zone, and processing the information, her attention turned towards herself for a second. Her seal, to be more exact. She could feel the tight energy, held back by the seal and ready to burst.
But for a second, she felt something else—another energy trying to hide its presence in the much larger one. It felt ancient and sentient, foreign yet familiar as if it was meant to be there.
She tried to focus on the energy to get a better read. She stopped moving in the outside world and focused solely on the energy, trying to chase it. She tried to corner it, wrap her senses around it, trap it, and then bam.
There was an explosion of energy, and she was thrown out of herself. She was barely conscious enough to notice Akira holding her, shaking her, and everything went dark.
She could remember a few lucid moments of Akira taking her to her room, giving her some sort of medicine, checking on her, and staying by her bedside. She could vaguely remember a hand running through her hair and a gentle hum.
Her body was too out of it to show any reactions, and her mind wasn't lucid enough to grasp anything besides the fleeting moments; then, she fell asleep one last time.
And now she was awake. It was dark outside. She couldn't reliably tell the time without looking out since she didn't have a watch, but it was clearly well into the night.
She wasn't allowed to venture out at this hour, and she didn't want to cause any disturbances, so she decided to stay in the room. She felt a bit hungry since she had only had breakfast that day.
She went to her backpack quietly and found the scroll she was looking for. She had some dried meat that should do the trick. She unsealed the food from the scroll and went to the table to eat.
She was a bit groggy and didn't want to do anything else besides finish the food and go back to sleep, so she ate in silence. That is when she heard it—the sounds of murmuring.
It felt distant but was unmistakable. It sounded like a person in pain, but there were clearly multiple people. She tried to focus on the sounds, which were coming from multiple directions.
Her heart rate increased due to the possibility of danger, but the voice in her head warned her against going out and checking the sound. She was supposed to stay in but didn't want to cause problems.
She also didn't want to involve herself in things she shouldn't. While it was against her medic instincts to leave people in pain, she also had respect for people's boundaries.
She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She would not leave her room. She finished her food and went to her futon to lie down. Suddenly, a chill ran down her spine.
There was a presence—something large and dangerous. She froze in place. It was behind her but not inside the room. There was a wall between them, but she felt as if the presence was looking into her soul.
She didn't dare move a muscle or look back to see what the presence was. She stayed put, ready to bolt but hoping she would be left alone. After what seemed like forever, the presence left.
She didn't dare move for a few more minutes, not wanting to risk the presence coming back. But when nothing happened, she finally rushed under the covers and closed her eyes, not daring to move again.
When he woke up, it was well into the evening. The sky was beginning to get dark. Something was wrong, and he could feel it. He decided to rush back home. He ran through the fields towards the village, his vision limited by the tall foliage.
Then he reached the end of the field and saw it. The fire. His village was burning. Everything was on fire. There were no sounds of fighting or shouting. Only the fire. This could only mean that people had already run away or that they were attacked and murdered.
He had to find his father. His small feet pushed him as fast as they could. His mind solely focused on the destination. He barely noticed the dead bodies of his clansman.
He was suddenly grabbed and tossed into a wall. The impact knocked the wind out of him. His vision blurred, and before he could even move, someone was kicking him around.
"Hey, stop that. Can't you see his clothes? Eiji will want him alive." A man said. The one who was kicking him stopped with a huff.
Suddenly, he was grabbed from his hair and dragged across the ground. He tried his best to orient himself, but it was useless. The man was jerking him in different directions and using force so he wouldn't be able to do so.
He was suddenly thrown into the ground in front of them. he landed on all fours and avoided getting face-planted into the ground. "wrap this one, too." The man who hurt him said, and immediately, two men grabbed him and stripped him down to his underwear. He was then tied with thick ropes and thrown into a cage with other children.
He recognized the five other kids as his clansmen. They were all about his age. They looked roughed up and were in similar shape to him.
If he had to guess, he would have been the eldest since none of their sixth birthdays were as close as his. Were the attackers only looking for children? They all stayed silent, as they were always taught.
If they were ever captured, they would stay silent and not say a single word. To not sell their clan's secrets. He could still see the tear tracks on their faces. Was everyone dead?
He could see the bodies littering the street from the cage. Three guards were around them. One stood at the door, and two walked around the perimeter.
He couldn't see any clan symbols on them, and they didn't look like each other. They could be bloodline thieves. He knew that they tended to hunt clan children and then sell them to the highest bidders.
They were also known for attacking and killing smaller clans, so the bloodline would become rare. That was why most clans didn't let their children wander out of their villages before they were ready for battle.
An hour passed, and three more children were brought to the cage. The guards' chatter didn't reveal any more information. He desperately wanted to see his father. He couldn't be dead. He was their best warrior. Even if the attack had happened during the day, he would have still been able to defeat the enemy.
His hopes were crushed as the cage was attached to two horses and they started moving. There were so many. He estimated more than 200 warriors around him. Even if they lost some warriors, the sheer number could explain how they got the upper hand.
He knew his clan was not ready for a battle since they had recently lost some fighters in a big battle, and so many were out of commission. The attackers must have known about it. No one was talking to them, and they didn't dare make any noise.
They had been on the road for three days, and besides the occasional water and bread, they weren't given anything. They were sitting in their own filth, waiting to reach their destination.
They finally reached a camp. It was so much bigger than their village, the only place he could compare it to. There were so many people. Their cage was brought to a large tent.
A guard entered their cage and tied their ropes together. He then pulled them, and they all had to walk one by one and follow him in a queue. They entered the cave. A man was sitting on a big chair while two women fed him from a plate of fruits. He had a glass of some red drink in his hand.
He was large and muscular, a warrior with sharp eyes. He assessed them one by one. He did his best to stay his ground and not look as afraid as he felt. He didn't look at the other kids; he looked straight into the man's eyes.
The man gave a signal, and at his signal, the two women approached them with small knives. They tried to move away, but another guard grabbed the rope holding them when they entered from the other side, and there was no getting away.
So he didn't struggle. The women grabbed them one by one and cut their underwear off—their last article of clothing. He stood his ground. The man got up and inspected them one by one without saying a word.
He would check their bodies and open their jaws to check their teeth. When it was his turn, he didn't resist. Once the man was done, he went back and sat in his chair. He pointed to the three girls.
"Get them ready for sale to brothels." He didn't know what a brothel was, but it couldn't be good. He then pointed to four of the other boys. "Get them ready for sale." Lastly, he pointed to him and another boy. "Keep these two, get them ready for training." He then got up and left the room.
One of the women took the girls now bounded with a separate rope and the other took the four boys. He and the other boy stood there for a second before the guard took their rope and dragged them to another tent.
A man was waiting for them. "Clean them up. They are being sent for training," the guard said, and the man bowed before taking their rope.