"The Flames of the Heart" fantasy bakugou x reader

Chaper 1 "Grim Circumstances"

"huff... huff... huff.."

You were gasping for air, helplessly out of breath from running for so long. Your breathing grew heavy against the cold wind whipping at your face.
It was dark, and cold. Your feet burning in agony with your legs trembling from fear, and pain as you raced through this dark forest with nothing but the moon to light your path.

Between the beating of your heart, and your heavy breaths you could hear the shouts of men behind you...

"She ran this way!"

" bring her back!"

They were getting closer. You tried to quicken your pace but it was no use, your bruised and mangled legs just couldn't keep up. You had started to lose footing and in an attempt to stay upward you grabbed onto the nearest branch hoping to regain your balance, but it was to late. You had began tumbling down the side of the path.

The dirt was loose and gravely, adding more pain to your already sore wounds. The mud getting matted into your(H/L) (H/C) hair. And the branch you had grabbed  snapped, and broke into several pieces. You rolled on the ground trying to keep the dirt out of your eyes.

"I SEE HER, THERE SHE IS!"

One of the men shouted. A wave of panic flew through you, as you rushed to your feet, and began staggering forwards. They were gaining on you and fast. Was this it? You thought. Were you going to be caught and dragged back with these horrible people?

Tears started forming in your eyes making your vision even blurrier than it was. As more men roared behind you, all you could think about was how you didn't want to go back. It was now when your mind went blank, and you started thinking about all that had happened through the past few weeks, and where it all had gone wrong...

Your village had been a peaceful one, small and usually going unnoticed, except for a few passing travelers. Your village lived mostly off of the harvest and gathering because of the warm rainy climate you lived in, so there was little need to learn how to fight, which added to its serenity.

Your village was not directly a part of any kingdom, and wanted to keep its peaceful lifestyle, so it had decided it wanted nothing to do with the war that was raging over the lands...

That was until they showed up.

A group of mercenaries showed up in the village one day demanding that we hand over our money, and people to help aid their side in the war. They claimed that they were doing us a favor and offering protection once we gave them what they wanted. These snakes lied through their teeth as they slithered about the town making more outrageous claims in an attempt to woo us to their side. But we were not naive people, and the village elders of course refused this ridiculous offer.

That didn't sit well with the mercenaries. Enraged that we dared defy them, they tore the village apart, taking everything including the villagers themselves. 
Houses and shops reduced to ashes, while our crops and life's work was torn from the ground, and destroyed. They then started taking the people one by one, shoving them into their carts, and bounding them, so they couldn't run. And as quickly as they showed up they were gone. And all that reminded of that peaceful life, is a pile of ash and rubble.

After two weeks of being imprisoned and escorted to their empire, you had somehow managed to get away, getting very badly injured in the process. But you got away at least, and now, that all was going to be for nothing, as you barely had the strength to keep running. The men were practically on top of you at this point.

Suddenly you were brought back to your senses by a sharp sound.

*SNAP*

You felt a rope break against your ankles, sending you spiraling forward to the ground,and suddenly you were being lifted into the air. You had been so caught by surprise by being shot up that you started squirming about, but quickly stopped when your injuries started aching even worse. You reached your hands out feeling the rope walls that surrounded you. You had been caught in a net.

You again heard the voices of the men, but this time they were several feet below you.

"What the hell was that!"

"I don't know, looks like a-

His sentence was cut off with a loud "shhhk" and was followed by a choked out scream.

"WHAT THE HELL!"

You heard another man yell in confusion. Followed  by the same sound of a knife entering flesh, only to be ripped from its victim once more.

Again, and again, you heard the sounds of swords clanking, feet shuffling, and  of stabbing. You could only assume there was a fight going on. But you could not be for sure, as the men's lanterns had been cast aside, and nearly put out in the chaos.

Although it gave you some sense of security not being involved in that fight, you still felt helpless as you swung up in the net, barely able to move thanks to your injuries.

After a few minutes of struggle from below, you could no longer hear the clanking of their swords. You held your breath as a million thoughts filled your head. Who or what attacked those men? Why did the fighting stop? How will I get down? What's going to happen to me? Will thi- your thoughts were cut off by another sharp sound.

*Chink*

Suddenly you could feel wind rushing from beneath you, as you started plummeting to the ground.

You hit the earth, landing on your back.

Now you could feel yourself blacking out. Your adrenaline rush was over and you couldn't keep consciousness. It was then when you saw it, the silhouette of a man shadowed over you. The last thing you remember was his spiky ash blond hair blocking the moon, and his deep crimson eyes staring into yours.