5 Hunger

'I'm hungry.'

This was the one prevailing thought that occupied Fen's mind. With his body already done consuming all the remaining energy, he could only force himself to take one step at a time. Even speaking those thoughts out loud, even if only silently under his nose, would be a waste of the energy he required to push his body for this one more step.

'Eat…'

Thinking back, it was already three days since he last had something in his mouth. The food Fen found back in Beyar's hut, lasted him for two days. A chanced bird he managed to strike down from the skies with a weak fire of his allowed him to last for two more days. Yet as soon as the young man placed the first step on the road, all signs of possible food disappeared.

At times, he even thought that losing his life to some predator back in the forest would be a better way to go than starving himself out on the road!

But as if one execution was not enough, the fate allowed him to get through the forest without even a single encounter with a dangerous animal or monster. Maybe after he had to die from someone else hand, now it was time for Fen to kill himself?

Step.

Who could've known that moving forward could bring so much pain? If not for the occasional rain, he would be already dying on the side of the road, but the fate wasn't as merciful to keep his suffering even a bit shorter.

Step.

Hanging his head low on his neck, Fen's eyes were constantly forced to look at his battered body, already showing the signs of malnutrition. Even though it was something strange in itself, to lose most of one's muscles and fat in such a short period of time, after seeing his entire village disappear, Fen no longer dared to make any assumptions as to what was normal and what was not.

Thump.

With the last bit of energy leaving the young man's body, he felt weightless for a moment, before his face buried itself in the mud of the road. Looking for the good points, at least the track here was still far enough from the cities to be just a simple clearing rather than a proper roadway, saving Fen from having hard rocks smash against his skull.

'Just kill me…'

Bared of the ability to move even an inch further, Fen could only curl himself up. Lying on the side of the road, he brought his hands close to his heart, before invoking a small fire on top of them, to at least keep his torso warm. Even if it would only prolong his suffering, keeping this fire would at least shield him from freezing to his death. While that might seem to be against what his lips wanted to say, with the opportunity to live again given to him after his execution, there was no way he would just let himself die!

After all, hating one's life was classes apart from actually taking it yourself!

But even this small fire of his was unable to keep Fen's consciousness in the rational state. With the meaning of time swiftly lost in the neverending torture of starvation, he didn't know how long has passed when something extraordinary happened.

Tap, tap, tap.

At first, it was just a whisper. Yet, despite initially disregarding it as nothing but a hallucination of his dying mind, this sound continued to bother Fen's ears. It seemed that even his mind was unwilling to just waste away.

But in just a few more minutes, this tapping sound turned into the clear noise that horse's hooves would produce while hitting the wet mud of the road! And just a few moments later, it became clear that it wasn't just a single horse, but at least a few of them!

Sadly, as joyous as this notion could be for someone else, Fen was way beyond the point where he could give any hint that he was still alive. With his fire barely holding on in this moist environment, even the thought of moving appeared as a challenge worthy of the kings, not some random pleb like him.

"Hey!"

A voice. Human one at that. That in itself was already a huge surprise!

"Hey, are you awake?"

Slight thump on his side made Fen realise that this voice was actually directed at him! It was a huge pity he was too exhausted to even move his lips at this point though.

"Mark, come here! He seems to be a young acolyte!"

With the conversation starting even without Fen's input, the number of noises that permeated the area only continued to increase. Despite his eyes ceasing their function long ago, he could still recognise that at least five more horses were close, with way more of the following in the distance. Even in his current state, his hunter's experience was enough to tell this information from the lacking information he could derive from the sounds alone.

"What do you want with me… Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?"

As much as Fen wanted for the words he could hear to give him some hope, the annoyed response of the man called Mark quickly made him accept his inevitable fate.

"Wait, what?"

Surprisingly enough, rather than getting kicked away by the clearly annoyed man, Fen suddenly felt someone forcefully prying his arms open!

'So they just wanted to see my flame… I guess it's over anyway.'

Considering how he was executed for being able to use the flames before the initiation, the fact that those strangers only paid any real attention to him once they spotted his source of heat, clearly spelt the end to his struggle. At least, dying in the flames seemed to be a better way to part with this friggin life than wasting away on the side of the road!

BURN!

Out of nowhere, a sudden burst of energy entered Fen's body, revitalising his muscles, bones and mind. As if someone injected him with the essence of the food, his senses regained their usual sharpness, while his body regained its ability to move!

'Run!'

Unwilling to waste the precious time at wondering about what just happened, Fen instantly used this newfound strength to turn his body around, rolling away from the men. Using the momentum of his stupid escape, the young man raised to his feet, instantly scanning the area for an avenue to run… Only to nearly instantly fall down to his knees, before slamming facefirst against the ground!

"Calm down! We are not your enemies!"

This sudden burst of the energy ran out as quickly as it appeared. With no choice left, the young man could only hope that those words he heard were actually true, as escaping didn't seem like a viable option anymore.

"Listen, I will infuse you with flames once again, but promise me. Rather than trying to escape only to die like a dog in the fields, use this energy to actually eat something, would ya?"

Those words didn't matter. And how could they? What was the meaning of those stupid sounds coming out of someone's mouth, when a delicious aroma of a smoked jerky invaded Fen's nostrils?