The Adrift Oath

Chapter II: Flora

She ran and ran until her breathing went shallow and her heart was racing, until her feet ached and her muscles felt aflame, yet no signs of advancing were noticed, as if the forest was in a constant state of being looped like a cassette

Holding her pained side she dropped her backpack on the dirt of the forest and leaned against a tree with her arm that helped resting her head, slowly but loudly regaining her breath but her mind was clouded with the events that has just transpired in the past dozen minutes

Was she dead, Is this the afterlife?

If not, is this all just a sick joke that is dragging on for far too long?

Or is she merely in a dream that gave her far too much control for her own good

Thoughts that quickly dispersed into the void of her mind as she put her own hand on her mouth to muffle her breathing, back against the tree with her ears on full alert as they were set on the noise of footsteps beyond the wooden refuge she was against

Gently taking a peek, she saw a steel silhouette akin to the Knight she met first, yet the state of this soldier seemed far worse

The armor he had that she imagined once glinting under the light of the sun was battered and bloodstained, bent and scarred worn as much as it's owner that could barely walk, using his sheathed longsword as a cane that helped take a bit of his weight off his weary legs, a helmet hiding his pained face was on his head, a giant Scar was across the vision port going all the way down, the knight she laid her eyes on was definitely some sort of survivor

Fae wanted to try and make contact with him, she wanted to help him and tend to his wounds or at least help him get to his destination, but the words Archard told her previously still resonated inside her mind, words to not trust anybody in this region

Her life wasn't the only thing she'd be losing if something awful would've happen, she had a duty to execute, the wish of a dying man that she promised to fulfil

Looking at the injured knight not leaving, too tired to move from his place anymore she decided to take the advantage and leave him be, gently stepping away from her cover

But unfortunately for her, finesse wasn't her strong suit as she stepped on a branch that made just enough noise to give away her presence

"Of course..." Biting her lower lip and hoping to whatever god that the knight didn't hear the noise she made, Fae's heart skipped a beat when she heard the sound of a blade leaving it's sheathe

Keeping the longsword at the lower ready, the man slowly approached the source of the suspicious sound, but as he checked behind the tree nothing was there, anxiety ramping up and the pain of his wounds increasing he could feel his consciousness slowly fading away, holding it only by spearing the tip of the blade into the soil and helping himself stand tall, but alas his consciousness escaped his grasp with the help of a heavy impact right in the back of his head

"Sorry" Dropping the heavy rock into the ground, Fae let out a deep inhale as she examined the unconscious soldier, getting to one knee and pushing him to roll over

Laid on his back and breathing slowly, Fae took a keen eye to the emblem of a red rose on his chest, a withering rose with blood seeping from the flower's center and dripping down the crimson petals

"Wait a second..." That emblem was exactly the same one that Archard had on his chest, and it didn't take long for Fae to remember that and make the correlation

"Ahhh, I really did it now" Chuckling nervously on attacking the friend of Archard, she bit the nail of her thumb thinking of a solution of this conundrum that she summoned