Ersia: Raven Dawn

Randia is on the run. He is in so much panic that he doesn't even realize Viena has snuggled inside his cloak. The little girl held onto Randia as tight as she could by slipping her arms into his backpack straps.

"Left!"

"Right!"

"Go on straight!"

Viena navigates Randia's path, trying to shake the pursuers off their tails. After a few turns and dashes, they finally arrived in a shabby shack wedged in between two buildings.

"Why are you following me?!" Randia scolds Viena.

"Because you are just circling around aimlessly like an idiot!"

Randia rubbed his face in exasperation.

"Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?!"

Now that she thinks that the two of them are far enough from the pursuers, Viena releases her grip and jumps to the ground. She crosses her arms with eyes as serious as Randia.

"I don't!"

"Then why are you-!"

"But I know how to get us out of here!"

The little girl quickly moves her little legs and packs her belongings. Now that Randia had calmed down a little, he realized that the excessively humble abode was no one but hers. He couldn't comprehend how she intentionally brought him here even amidst the heated pursuit.

However, it doesn't take a lap of mind jogging to understand what she wants, and he is against that idea since he knows that being with him only brings ruin and misfortune. Everywhere he goes, sadness always follows. They care not for age or gender, the way his fate draws pain and suffering to those around him is blind and rabid.

"There will not be us! Only myself!"

"Then I will not help you!"

As Viena puffed her cheeks in annoyance, the thundering sounds of hooves were closing in. People are yelling, and clearly, the guards are just a few blocks away from the two. Sooner or later, they will be found out. Randia knows this and that is the last thing he wants.

Feeling out of options, Randia kneeled and grabbed Viena's shoulders, hoping that she would take what he was about to say seriously and change her mind. The two are seeing eye to eye, but each with their own dance. Randia with his solemnity and anxiety, and Viena with her bubbly zest.

"Listen, Viena. Listen carefully, you hear me? Traveling is not easy. It has never been, and it will get harder and harder each day. So please, do me a favor and think clearly. A long journey is harsh and unforgiving to anyone, be it a half-century-old man or a newborn baby. Do you really want this? Have you considered all the hardships? The diseases and the wilderness. The soundless and the weariness."

"Your life will get better eventually once you try to connect yourself with others properly. Even those knights will give you a second chance to make it right if you can prove your worth! Everyone is equal in Aramia, and no one will care about your birth or your eyes. There is absolutely no reason for you to come with me. There are lots of ways for you to live if you look closer to your surroundings."

Viena takes a closer look at her surroundings. However, it's not because of the sway of her resolve, but rather to reminisce the day with her mother and eternalize them to the back of her head. After that, she looks Randia in the eyes with a fire of her own.

"I don't want anything else! I want to be with you!"

That's the kind of eyes that Randia despises so much. They were the same ones as his brother's. Bold, strong, unrelenting, and unwavering. Though he knew very well that those eyes often lead to tragedy, Randia could not turn them down.

". . . You foolish little girl."

Randia sighed and buried his face in his palm. Then he stood up and took Viena's small bag with him. He has no idea what will happen, but he makes a promise to himself in silence that he will never let anything bad happen to the little girl in his care.

"Lead the way," Randia ordered her.

Viena nodded cheerfully and she guided Randia to the back of the shack and pulled up a rug covering a secret entrance. At first, she had trouble opening it as she hadn't gone down there for years, but Randia lent her a hand.

"Where does this lead to?" Randia asked.

"To the sewage that ends at the western side of the town."

The two finally went down the drain. During their travel in the dark, Randia constantly nags Viena to watch her steps. Sometimes, she couldn't hold herself and punched him angrily to the extent that at some points, their quarrel was almost heard by the guards standing by on the above grounds.

"That's why I told you to focus."

"It's YOU who makes me lose my focus!"

"Mind your tone. I'm telling you for your own good. This is a dirty place, even a small cut on your skin can prove to be fatal considering the probability of infection."

"I have covered all my body in clothes exactly as you told me to! There is no way such a thing will ever happen!"

"Still, you can't be so sure of-"

"Ughh!! Can you just shut up?!"

Randia had never been this talkative for the last ten years. For now, he is still not aware of the fact that he, who had been alone during all of his journeys, unconsciously adored the company of Viena. He firmly believes that all that has come out of his mouth are nothing more than warnings and teachings so that Viena won't become a happy-go-lucky who can't even properly look after herself. While in truth, it's but a caprice of his heart that yearns for more than the wind to talk to.

"Instead of persistently bugging me and questioning my unquestionable skill, why don't you tell me why the guards are after you?" Viena stopped and looked at him with curious eyes.

The ex-hero is reluctant to answer, but if he doesn't, then Viena will not move a single step. She demands an explanation, and it shall be given by him in the most subtle way possible.

"Because I have stolen important things from them."

"Hm. That's definitely weird. You don't seem like someone who got the balls to do so."

Randia's eyes are contorted and the veins in his temple surfaced. He, who really despises unrefined words and manners, grasped Viena's head and lifted it up.

"Aw aw aw aw! I was kidding! S-Stop! Put me down!"

"One more unladylike word, and maybe I'll just throw you to the guards up there."

When the girl kicked the air as she regretted her words, Randia put her back down.

"Kuh, just you wait till I'm bigger!"

"Move."

They continued their walk and soon, they found themselves at the mouth of the sewage. However, a squad of four guards is on patrol on the other side. They lurk around the exit and seemingly have no interest at all in going somewhere else.

"(They are posted to guard this area. They will not move any time soon.)" Randia whispered to Viena.

At first, Randia and Viena decided to wait. Unfortunately, after quite some time has passed, they can hear heavy footsteps and clanks of iron behind them.

"No stone left . . . unturned! . . . Them!"

When they heard the rally from afar, they couldn't be any more certain that the ones behind came from the knights who found the entrance to the sewage. Randia didn't think that they would go as far as to scour such a place. He shouldn't have underestimated the competence of the Aramian officials and their loyalty to their Emperor's orders.

"(What are we going to do, Ran? They are coming!)" Viena is getting distressed.

"(I will take care of this. Wait here and stay hidden.)"

Randia took the hardest-looking stone from around him. With Viena staying behind, he stood at the edge of the sewage exit. He threw the stone with a powerful swing to the back of the head of one of the guards. The stone hits so hard that the helmet is heavily dented, and the knight is knocked unconscious.

To follow in sequence with the throw, he jumped another knight and buried his elbow deep into the nape, regardless of the metal plate. Now that two men have been knocked out, the fight is down to two against one.

"On guard! We are under attack!"

The leftover guards brandish their swords and hold their scrolls. When Randia saw what lies beneath their cloaks, he was taken aback. What he thought were merely town guards on duty, turned out to be a band of scouts of mystic knights sent from bigger cities of Aramia.