Diaries of Origins

Chapter 1

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Enjoy, please!

(Had to make a small edit to the chapter)

Allumos's POV

I groaned, as I woke up, slowly. My arms felt stiff, and my head hurt...

And...

I could smell smoke. I opened my eyes quickly, sniffing the air.

I coughed almost instantly, doubling over. I was sitting on the floor, my arms behind my back. There was thick smoke in the air, clouding my vision, and filling my lungs.

I tried to stand up, and grunted, as I realized my hands were tied up behind me.

"W-what the?"

After a few minutes of struggling, I managed to snap the ropes, and scrambled to my feet, running out

I froze in my steps.

My home, my whole village, was on fire.

No. No no no no.

NO! my son, where's my son!

"PATRICK! PATRICK, WHERE ARE YOU?" I scrambled through the town. Burning bodies everywhere.. absolutely everywhere.

As I came to the center of town, I stumbled to a stop, and fell to my knees.

"M-my lord.."

The lord of the town, my close childhood friend, was strung up by the well. .. or. Her corpse was.

Blood dropped down herface, and she had a large slice in her chest. And an arrow through her neck.

"N-no.. no, no, n-no.. n-n-n-no NO NO, N-"

"NO!"

I jumped up, blinking in confusion, as I awoke from the memory. I blinked, and fell back onto my makeshift bed, burying my face in my hands.

It had been over a year since my village had been burned down. The first few months, I was just wandering, but, since about six months ago, I had been camping out by a lordless town, which, based on my maps, was named Dragon's den.

But my maps might be outdated, since none of the villagers ever called it Dragon's Den. They seemed to be.... In a near constant daze, of confusion, or just obliviousness.

"Mr O'Connor?"

I jumped, and looked up. A young boy from the town was standing in front of me. I knew him well. His name was Mario, he was 11, training to be a knight, and... he was tragically an orphan. He was holding a basket with fruit and vegetables in it.

"Ah. Mario, hello. And, you can just call me Allumos, please." I said, standing up. I shivered as I did, and glanced around. I had the unshakable feeling I was being watched.

He blinked.

"Okay Mr O'Connor." I sighed, but he just kept talking, smiling up at me. "I brought you some of our harvest. As a thank you." He offered me the basket.

I sighed again. They had been doing this for 5 months, ever since I started helping out around the town.

"Y-you really don't have to keep bringing me things. It's my choice to help you." I said, smiling nervously.

Mario blinked.

"The farmer insists we should help you." He said, firmly.

I sighed, and took the basket.

"Alright, well, thank you.."

He smiled widely, bouncing up in joy.

"Yay! Are you coming into town today?" He asked, as I put the basket down by my bed. I hesitated, but nodded.

"Yeah, sure. I'd love to help out wherever I can today." I said.

He smiled, and started heading off towards town, before pausing, to look over at me. "Sir? Are you coming?" He asked.

I nodded slowly, and followed him.

He led me to the town well, where people were gathering, chatting quietly. I paused, and looked at the well.

My friend's body, strung up by the well, blood pouring down, making a large red puddle.

I took a shaky breath, closing my eyes.

"Mr O'Connor?"

I opened my eyes, and looked at Mario, who was frowning in concern. I smiled at him, and ruffled his hair.

"I'm fine. Just., thinking. D'ya know who might need a hand around here?"

Mario shook his head. "Sir Brandon said he was patrolling today, he might know."

I had only met Brandon a few times, the knight having helped me settle in when I first arrived at Dragon's Den after...

I shut down the thoughts quickly with a small shake of my head, before asking Mario where the knights' 2nd in command was. The small boy pointed towards the direction of the farmland and I thanked him before heading off.

I walked to the farm and saw Brandon talking to one of the farmers, Selma, while her brother, Meri, hammered at their fence which looked like it had been broken. I walked over to them, a memory of the scent of burnt food and wood filling my noise for a second and making me wince slightly.

I sighed, shaking the memory out of my head, answering the greetings the two farmers directed my way. Brandon turned toward me, and smiled.

His armor was slightly scruffy, and I noticed it needed to be cleaned.

Of course, they couldn't afford anything of higher quality right now, I understood that, of course I did. It couldn't be helped after all, this town was far smaller than home..

I blinked tears out of my eyes as I remembered polishing Patrick's armor on his first day.

I shook my head, and smiled at Brandon as he walked up to me.

"Hello Sir. Let me guess-" he started, and I nodded before he even finished it.

"D'ya think there's anyways I could help?" I asked, smiling politely. "Really I don't mind who, I just want to help you out." I continued, rubbing my neck nervously.

He laughed, and started listing off what each villager was doing today.

I sorta zoned out partway through, my eyes drifting towards the woods.

I couldn't shake the feeling I was being watched..

I saw a flash of brown, and red, behind a tree, and I tried to focus on it.

For a brief moment, I felt like I was making eye contact with the... person?

And then, I blinked, and the feeling of connection, and of being watched, the brown and red, all gone, in one moment.

I squinted at the tree, and shrugged, focusing back on what Brandon was saying.