Somewhere, a little blonde girl slowly opened her eyes
A bandage was wrapped around her head
She rubbed her sleepy eyes and looked around
It was not her house
it looked like an old wooden hut, yet the room felt strangely warm
A soft bed cradled her small body, and simple furniture filled the room
A cabinet by the wall, a small table near the bed, and little decorations neatly arranged around the corners
Suddenly the door creaked open, an old lady stepped inside, carrying a plate of food on her hand
"Oh my, you are awake"
The little girl immediately pulled the blanket over herself
The old lady paused for a moment before slowly walking closer and sitting at the edge of the bed
"It's alright, dear. you don't need to be scared" She placed the plate gently on her lap "here I brought some food for you, you must be hungry after sleeping for so long"
The old lady tried to persuade her, but it no use, the little girl remained hidden beneath the blanket, trembling
The old lady smiled softly
"It's fresh from the farm. I picked the vegetables myself this morning"
But again, it was no use, the little girl kept hid and shook faintly
The old lady gently patted the small lump beneath it
"That's alright. I'll leave it here for you. You can eat whenever you feel ready"
She carefully placed the plate on the table and stood
Before leaving, she gave the blanket one last gentle pat then quietly left the room
Outside, an old man was waiting
"So how was she?" he asked
"She's awake, but she looks terrified. Poor thing wouldn't even say a word"
"Did she eat?"
"Not yet"
The old man frowned
"Where exactly did you find her again?" The old lady asked
"In the forest, she was unconscious, with that wound on her head"
"And you found no one around?"
He shook his head
"Yes, I've checked around several times but I found no one"
The old lady glanced toward the door
"What kind of child ends up alone in a forest like that?"
The old man sighed
"I don't know, maybe she came from one of the nearby villages, I'll go ask around" The old man suggested
"Yeah, you better hurry"
Inside the room, the little girl slowly peeked out from under the blanket
Her stomach growled loudly
Grrwwwlll….
She was hungry and looked at the salad on the table
Her tiny hands gripped the blanket tightly
At first, she hesitated to eat it
She looked toward the door
The back at the food, then at the door again
After several nervous glances, hunger finally won
She carefully crawled out and reached for the plate
She ate cautiously at first, then quickly
Soon, the plate was empty
She stared at it for a moment before quietly placing it back
Then her eyes drifted toward the door
Slowly she stepped closer and tried peeking from the key hole
But the key hole was too high
She stretched on her toes, still too high
Then
Creak…
The door slowly opened, the little girl froze
But nothing happened
The she peeked at the gap between the door, she saw no one inside the hut
After a moment of hesitation, she pushed the door wider and stepped outside
Her eyes widened
The inside of the hut looked incredible
Simple wooden shelves, framed cloth decorations, a proper dining table, chairs, a woven carpet, nothing luxurious
Yet to her, it felt like another world
She slowly wandered around, staring at everything in wonder
Then she heard something, it was from outside
She looked at the front door
At first, she thought to peek at the door but after what just happened, she looked around the hut
Then she dragged the dining chair quietly toward the window, tried to not make a sound
She climbed the chair and peek outside from the window
It was a farm
She looked at the old lady working there, harvesting the farm
She stared at her for a while and then remembered something
Her face turned pale
Without another thought, she climbed down
She looked around the hut and found the back door
She immediately ran toward back door
Gently opened it and then she sneaked out from the hut
She ran through the forest
Turning instinctively through narrow paths as though her feet already knew the way
Then she found a way out
She found a village, her village
But something was wrong
It was silent, too silent
She walked through the empty streets, looking for something, or someone
"Mama…" she called
But nothing, the village was really quiet
She kept searched through the village, but nothing
What she saw was a broken building lined the path, scattered clothes and weapons lying on the ground
"Mama…" she called louder
Nothing, no answer
As the sun began to lower, she slowly turned back toward the forest
The little girl walked back to the hut
Her head hung low as she wandered through the trees
Before she could leave the forest, she heard something
"Little girl…"
It was the old lady
"Little girl, where are you?"
Then the old lady spotted her and hurried over
"Little girl, there you are"
The little girl instinctively stepped back, fear filled her eyes
But instead of grabbing her roughly, the old lady gently wrapped her in a warm embrace
"I was so worried"
The little girl stiffened
This feeling… it was unfamiliar
Tears slowly rolled down her cheeks
"It's fine, I'm here for you"
The old lady gently stroked her hair
The little girl began to cry
The old lady held her closer
"Let's go back to my house, ok. You must be hungry right? I'll make food for you"
They came back to the couple's hut and the old lady prepared another meal
The little girl sat quietly at the dining table, her small legs swinging awkwardly above the floor
When the plate was placed before her, she immediately started eating
Then the front door opened, it was the old man
"Oh dear, you came back, did you find anything?" the old lady asked
The old man sighed
"Yes, one village said they're missing a little girl"
The old lady's eyes brightened
"Really?"
"But they described her differently. They said the child have a black hair"
The old lady frowned
"Did they give you her name?"
"Yes, it's Liz"
Then the old lady slowly approached the little girl
She bent down and asked her
"Dear… can you answer something for us?"
The little girl didn't answer, but then she nodded a little bit
"Is your name Liz?"
She shook her head
The old couple exchanged glances before asking another question
The old lady smiled gently
"So, what's your name?"
The little girl lowered her head
"E… rin"
Another part of the world, deep inside the forest, Auel and Rikka
Right behind them Sihr stood still and wore a wide grin
They both froze as someone could appeared behind them without them even notice
Auel's chest tightened
I didn't feel anything at all, how?
"So, you guys killed the nightmare, that's amazing" Sihr said casually
His grin widened
"And you know what surprised me?" His eyes gleamed "No one of you were dead"
In an instant Rikka pulled his blade and thrusted toward him
But his blade stopped in the air
Something was blocking it, an invisible barrier
"Hey, calm down, I just wanted to talk"
Rikka pulled his blade and stood up
He ignited his blade and strike again
But Sihr lazily raised his hand and pointed his finger toward Rikka
BAM!
A violent force pushed Rikka across the forest
He slammed into a tree and collapsed unconscious
"Geez~" Sihr sighed "I really hate hot blooded men; they are really hard to communicate"
His glance shifted to Auel
"But you look different, how about we-"
"Shut up"
Auel put his stance while blood kept dripping from his wounds
"Shut the hell up"
"Hey~, language, what a rude?"
"Why do I need to stay polite in front of a fucking Batara"
A big grin appeared across his face and started to laugh
"Wow, you're really something, I thought you're just an ordinary smart guy but I think I'm totally wrong"
"So yeah, what if I'm a Batara, the problem here is you"
Auel gripped his blade
"Isn't this strange, how could an adventure know about god magic, even if someone heard the rumors about god magic, nobody would recognize that mark instantly"
"But you, somehow you could guess that the mark is from god magic, or should I say~ you remembered"
Auel bite his lips
"I really want to know more about you, you already know that I'm a Batara, but I don't know who are you, even your friends seem didn't know, am I right?"
"Just what the hell do you want from us?"
"Well~, nothing" Sihr's eyes drifted elsewhere "But I think you need something with her"
A smile slowly spread across his face
"What are you talking-" Auel eyes followed
Then he froze instantly
Right in front of him a girl appeared
A pale skin
Long brown hair veiled her face
Her dress fully torn up with a lot of burn mark on the dress even on her body
Auel dropped on his knees, his chest tightened violently
His breath shattered into ragged gasps
Cold sweat poured down his face
Sihr just gave him a little small
"I'll let you two have a talk while I'm going to take care these two"
He picked Erin and Rikka's body and walked out the forest, leaving Auel behind
Auel remained frozen
Then the girl walked closer to him
Each step made his body tremble harder
His vision blurred
His head pounded
She stopped before him, then slowly crouched
Slowly her lips moved
"Liar"
The word pierced him
A sharp pain exploded through his chest
His stomach twisted violently
His throat burned
His breath hitched
His vision spun
Then, he vomited, everything inside him came rushing out
His body convulsed as he clutched his chest, gasping desperately for air
His head throbbed like it would split apart
When he looked up, she was gone, only silence remained
Aule staggered to his feet, barely able to stand
He gripped his blade and walked out of the forest
By the morning, Erin opened her eyes
It was Sihr hut, he wasn't there at this time
She was sleeping on his couch
Across her couch, Rikka was sleeping
She slowly looked to the side, Auel sat quietly, stared at her
"Ah… Auel did you-"
She looked at his condition
His skin was pale, and bandage covered all of his body
"I-I'm sorry, I-I-" her voice trembled
"It's fine, you're the one who almost die here" His voice was flat
Auel kept staring at her
A long silence
"So, what are you?"
"W-what do you mean?" Erin stiffened
"Are you also Batara?"
"N-no I'm not, I-I'm just-" Her voice shook
Auel's stare sharpened
"So how come you could use the god magic?"
Erin shocked and slowly turned her gaze away from him
"I-I-"