Compass

Damian felt the grip in his hand vanish in an instant as if there had never been a sword in his hands at all. He had finally done it. He had managed to somehow kill someone far more powerful than he could properly imagine.

"I actually did it…" Damian whispered to himself, bewildered.

Throughout this encounter, he had been wishing to kill this man. Even more so when he insulted him, but now Damian just couldn't help feeling dissatisfied and empty. He had killed a man today, but this didn't evoke anything out of Damian. All but one word sat in his mind:

'Pathetic.'

He never truly wanted strength. Everything Damian had ever achieved had been through his talking, his bluffing, his conning, and most importantly his cowardice. Although 'achieve' would be too strong of a statement, it was safe to say he had more or less barely survived with these cheap tricks. It had never been through force. Maybe he didn't need to, but he also simply couldn't. He was far too weak, his constitution was brittle, he was spineless. And now, Damian must face this.

'Maybe now, things will be different.'

After a momentary rest, Damian stumbled to a stand—barely keeping his balance. Trying to remain standing, he mindlessly observed his environment—almost as if waiting for something to happen. For a long and labored silence, he stood unstable; nearly falling twice.

Now on his feet, where does he even go? Breaking his train of thought, however, was a horrific screech echoing in the direction of the campsite:

'Oh wow, I suddenly know what to do now.'

Damian chose to trudge in the opposite direction.

— —

'How long had I been walking for?'

Damian couldn't exactly tell when, but at some point, the noise of battle eventually faded into an ambient forest silence. With nothing to do, Damian couldn't help but constantly fidget with the eerie glass as he aimlessly journeyed through the unknown land. Without anything to do, it especially doesn't help that the glass had stopped glowing along the way as well.

'Hmmm… I've been going forward to the right for quite a while now, now we head left!'

Pivoting, Damian finally changed his course—occasionally spacing out in the process.

'Had I even been going right in the first place? At some point, I must've easily trailed off from where I had originally planned on going. Not that I really had an objective direction to head anyway. All that matters is that I don't encounter that disgusting monster from earlier.

This continued for another mundane eternity of walking before something finally changed. It was barely noticeable, but without any stimulation; Damian immediately picked up on the subtle shift: The glass had finally started lighting up again.

Stopping, he grew elated at the new development:

"Hah!"

'Finally, you've returned my friend! The question now is why?'

Resuming his pace, Damian carefully inspected the relic. However, as he walked, the glow slowly began to dim again.

'What, no, come back! Why the hell is it… changing. Wait a minute.'

Quickly, Damian attempted to retrace his steps, and slowly but surely, the glow had actually returned. Finally discovering a connection, he extended the shard forward slowly rotating in a full circle. And there he had found it. Ever-so-slightly, when pointed in a specific direction, the glow had grown subtly more distinct.

'So that's how you use it!'

With this new development, Damian finally had a clear objective to an extent. With this in mind, he continued his expedition through the tall and dense forest—following the glow of the mysterious glass.

However, even after solidifying his direction, the journey will still endlessly remain a quiet jog through the empty forest.

— —

'God, when the hell will I ever get a chance to look at something other than a bunch of damn trees? Let alone reach the end of wherever this strange relic is leading me. I feel like I'm just constantly running in circles at this point, but that doesn't make sense because the glass continues to glow brighter as I jog. Am I going crazy?'

While Damian now had a guide, this did not improve his mentality as his path simply felt so remarkably tedious. And Damian couldn't stand it—constantly uneasy at the sight of the dense trees and fog. This lack of danger was something he couldn't exactly comprehend. Something everyone inevitably learned growing up in the city always followed one major theme:

Fear beyond the walls.

Everyone must fear what lay beyond as we were always taught about the unimaginable horrors and monsters roaming the land past the city. And this theme while Damian felt must've been correct, did not follow the reality before him. Out in these barren wooded lands, there wasn't a single monster to be found—all but a single strange horrific beast. What could this possibly mean? Were all those stories simply an exaggeration? Well, no. There had always been constant announcements made in recognition of those who have lost their lives traversing the outside. So where is it? Where are the dangers? It may seem ridiculous coming from him, but how long had he been running without cause for concern? Choosing to ignore these oddities, Damian lifted his eyes to the sky. The sun is falling. Soon, he'll be running in pitch-black darkness and the glass will be all he could rely on.

Exhausted, Damian persisted in his jog, desperate for any sign or change of scenery.

And it was then at sundown, did he finally he something.