Alone

[Adanu]

Twenty years ago

Black...Why is everything black? My eyes are open, but I see nothing.


Wait... am I in water?. I look up, and sure enough, a tiny bit of light shines onto the surface. I switch to darkvision and look around. As sure as my skin is blue, I'm deep underwater.

What? I start to swim up... but the armor slows me down, and the sword I had is in it's sheathe barely. I pull it out, and a faint hint of blood comes out... then a trail. DId I.... black out? What happened to the other children? Looking at the blood though... it was obvious what had happened to them. Zyrus, the outcast freak who had to do double the effort just to be tolerated, had killed six other children... and he has no idea where he was now. Barely six years old, and I had committed my first kill... the northmen would probably hang him if I went back now. Alone... actually alone, now. I looked around to the silent oceans about me... and sigh into the water. I can't go back... and I don't know where I am... what am I going to do now? Fear was not new to me, but this was different. I had nothing but the fighting and survival skills I had learned, along with the equipment I had from the training spars.

No instructors to berate me for being different, and no children to try and torture me with taunts and fighting... why did I feel completely lost though? I had felt a desire to go into the oceans for as long as he could remember, but my home was Norland. Now I had a chance to explore, and yet I hesitate.

Then I stop just before the surface, and it is night time. My swimming is sluggish, but I make it just high enough to see nothing is around me. I don't know who to trust out here though, and I have no idea where I am in the ocean... I could be anywhere. For the first time, I want to go home to Norland. I was born a warrior to the northmen and trained to that end. It's familiar... but the feeling of curiosity is just as strong now. Even if I did go back though, I would certainly be blamed for defending myself. Mother... what do I do? The question sat in my mind for a few moments before I felt a sudden wave of exhaustion. I remember what the instructors told me then about adrenaline... the rush keeps you awake and alert for a while, then it pulls away. Then suddenly blinding pain came over me, and I screamed into the water.

I finally looked over my body, and saw the severity of the wounds I had. in the span of a moment, my body was on fire with pain. I had been stabbed, slashed, and beaten. I looked under me to the trail I left while swimming...

I had lost a lot of blood as I went up, and anxiety flooded into my senses. Pain. Anxiety does not help pain. Calm down... but it's no use... I felt the blurry stars come into my vision. I was given a potion by mother just in case I was hurt bad. Need.... to...

I reach for my belt and bring the vial to my lips. The pain is just getting worse. I can't swim to the surface without blacking out, so I have to drink this here. I uncork it, and the vial rapidly escapes into the water. The contents go into my throat somewhat though... and I can feel the relief flood through me just before the stars give way to the black again.