An Archer's Promise

Chapter 11: Freed

Beta read by n1ch, Shigiya, Solitary heart and 8kagi

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-Unknown area-

His head hurt like hell.

That's what Freed was feeling the moment he regained consciousness. It felt like a horse hit him full force. It was like when Kaur and Ganj took him out to drink with the rest of the boys and they got hammered by consuming half of the tavern's rum stock. Considering Maia would accompany them most of the time, then nothing aside from alcohol would be able to drown his senses to the point of ignoring her existence.

When he tried to rub his face, he found that he couldn't move his hands.

"What?"

He seemed to have trouble standing up, something was holding down his legs!

With great effort, Freed managed to open his eyes and with the sunlight assaulting his pupils, this wasn't an easy task whatsoever.

"Ugh, my head is fucking pounding! Feels like it's going to explode at any moment." He even felt his right eye burn, as if someone had coated it with some sort of chili paste. As his vision slowly came back to him, he noticed the right side of his sight was completely red; as if he was looking through a red haze.

"A ruptured eye vessel?" He groggily wondered out loud.

"Looks like it." An unfamiliar and annoyed voice spoke up.

"-!" Freed's senses came back to him and he forcefully got a hold of himself. "Who the hell are you!?" He tried to grab his sword but was once again reminded of his bound limbs making him fall forward to the ground, face first, getting smeared with dirt and grass.

"I expected more from a former Templar... Can't remember what happened a hours ago?"

A few hours ago? His memories were blurry, he could hardly think let alone remember the past. Taking a deep breath and relaxing his body, the headache slowly went away, and Freed regained the ability to think clearly. It all started coming back to him...

"I remember..." He, Ganj, and Kaur were riding on their horses while following the main group back to the Kingdom of Ken. Maia had been abnormally pissed that morning, apparently, she had a talk that did not go so well with someone. Later in the morning, she tried searching for him but couldn't find that particular person; so she decided to return back to Ken. He remembered following the Kuroinu at the back, making sure to guard the rear till they reached the forest and that is when everything went south.

"We... we got lost, you used some kind of magic to lure us into the deepest corner of the woods and attacked us in surprise." He winced at his throbbing head, his head still pounding, with the fall not helping. "Who... who are you?"

Looking upwards, Freed finally saw the face of his assailant. A man who looked to be in his thirties, with white hair, gray eyes, and tanned skin; he certainly didn't look like a local. If it wasn't for the fact that his ears were human, he would've thought that he was a dark elf. He was sitting near a campfire, with a single piece of black armor on him and an arm-hand sleeve hung on a tree branch.

"For someone who got captured you certainly have a calm disposition. As for my identity... you don't need to know."

Freed looked around.

"Where... What have you done with Ganj and Kaur?" The fact he was alone when the three of them got captured initially did not bode well for him. Something must have happened to the others.