The Aftermath

Chapter 5: Mind

[We travel to the border with another character of this story. Sorry if the writing isnt good enough, I'll make up for it!]

Tauren woke with a start. His head was filled with nightmares of the dark. Things that emerged from cracks on the ground. Vile creatures that only one could command and a name was repeated over and over in his nightmare, but at the same time, it was blurry. Not the blurry as in sight but when you cannot pinpoint a word in your head. That kind of blurry.

He sat up on his bed with sweat on his body. The only way to get back to sleep, was to start off his day early with a cold shower. He gathered his things from the small house he lived in for most of his life and started to head for the door. His father had passed only a few years ago and Tauren had vowed to take care of his farm after he died. It was his family's legacy, he had it in his blood to be a farmer... from his father's side at least. He never knew his mother, not that it bothered him in the most minimum anyway. He opened the main door to the warm air of dawn. The Border, only being a few kilometers away, expelled heat from the raging river of lava that divided Xadia and the Kingdom of Katolis. He thought about his nightmare a bit more, to try and recollect as much as he could. All he could remember was that army that sprung from the ground and invaded his mind.

"...all commanded by...?"

He dived into his mind to try and find the answer, but he couldn't. It was too late to take any details that were in his dream.
These details started to vanish in his mind and became vapor in the wind. He arrived at the town's water pump where he took a wooden bucket that was lying there beside it and walked over to a pond where he could take an early cold shower. He took off his clothing and revealed his lean but bruised body, the life of a lone farmer was harsh. It wasn't that there were no townspeople there, it's just that he usually took to himself to do everything and really didn't interact much with the people. He entered the pond and shivered a bit on the touch of the cool water. He felt it sizzle on his skin a bit. Perhaps he really needed a cold bath after that nightmare. As of a few months ago, the nightmares began and some strange things had been happening to both the town and himself.

Before, he could do most of the chores with ease, but now he struggled to do some tasks that before he could do easily. He felt a bit out of energy, as if something was draining him. He shook off his thoughts and submerged his head into the water. The liquid helped him focus. He had always hated the water, but learnt to take advantage of it, it helped him cool down his emotions and be decisive. Kind of poetic since it helped him be more fluent in his decision making. And yet somehow, he knew it might come handy soon...

As he emerged from the water he heard the yell of a woman down in his village and the thuds of feet on the ground. As if there was a lot of people and animals running. He turned to see his Village. He couldnt quite make out the figures that were attacking but he needed to protect his people and farm. He struggled against the water and ran towards the village. As he got to the first houses he froze and stood in horror as he saw pale humanoid creatures with no eyes running around slashing and cutting through waves of women, men and children. He quickly went to his cabin and grabbed his axe, then turned to the creatures as they looked at him hissing. He yelled out and started to hack and slash at them. He could've sworn that after a few creatures he killed some seemed to yell out his name. He made nothing of it as he kept going, exterminating the creatures that plagued his town. He saw a dark figure from time to time on the corner of his eye. The figure had a purplish glow. And seemed oddly familiar, like he was from a dream.

He turned to see that his town was on fire. Everyone was dead. He had been too late. The creatures had erradicated everyone. And he was responsable for this.