Chapter 4: Was....

Commoner, Zed, Human

Imperial Calendar: Year 1596, Month 2, Day 14

Shadowy Forest, North of the Imperial Territory

Seriously, damn it, why am I in this place? It's so scary, its walls, the little light in the surroundings, it's cold, this place is very gloomy... Some pieces of rock that were once part of the temple were scattered around the enormous corridors, they could be about 10 meters tall, I don't even want to think about their total weight...

My hands were gripping the low-quality sword tightly, the only one I could and was able to buy... Looking around, I felt like a damn ant in this immensely large place, it seriously seems like it was built for giants. I couldn't see where the ceiling ended, it was dark, it looked like a bottomless pit. This whole place was dark, full of shadows. The only light visible was the torch in Adam's hands, who, as the leader of the party, was leading.

I was a little surprised, I looked attentively at my companions. They were all calm, as if it were a walk in the park. They had bored expressions, some of them even yawned... Was I overthinking it? I don't think so... Maybe it's because they have the power to defend themselves from any surprise attack, it's a bit unfair, I was the only weak one, almost like a rat compared to them... But still, they treated me well, they never criticized my mistakes or the silly things I sometimes did due to my nervousness.

Somehow, I felt very comfortable, even though I always had the feeling that I was nothing but a burden... My name is Zed, yes, it's a strange name, I'm not really sure why I was given that name. According to what the church caretakers said, that was the name that was written on one of my hands... Those were tough times, I was only 10 years old and my sister was 5... After our parents abandoned us, they left us at the doors of a church.

It was during that time that I met Adam and Emily, although we are not childhood friends since we met when we were 10 years old. Who cares? They were the only friends I could make...

Creak... Creak... Creak...

The small tinkling of stones falling from above broke the eternal silence of the temple. Hesitantly, I looked ahead, but there was nothing... Only darkness. The torchlight didn't provide much illumination either... But still, the group moved forward without any concern. Huge smooth-forged stone pillars rose upwards, their thickness could easily reach about 50 diameters. Sharpening my eyes, I remained silent for a few moments...

(Run!) (Run!) (Run!) (Run!) (Run!) (Run!) (Run!)

Abnormally, those words were written in red ink. From the way it was written, it can be said that whoever did it was desperate. Some words were even impossible to read... It gave me chills all over my body, it was creepy.

Adam approached with a smile.

- Great! Great! We're on the right path, LET'S GO!

He was excited, even happy. His steps quickened a bit faster than usual, the others shrugged and followed him. The hallway he took was different from the usual, we were in a slightly secluded room. Adam took an artifact from his bag and began to walk around the room. A few moments later, he stopped, staring intently at a wall that seemed the most normal in the world.

Placing the artifact on the wall, a dull noise began.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound was as if a terrible beast were wildly hitting the wall. Zed's senses went crazy, he felt extremely uncomfortable now, his heart started pounding, and cold sweat began to run down his back. A premonition, a terrible premonition.

Bang!

With this last blow, the door finally opened. A thin dust smoke spread around the room, then settled on the ground. Behind the opened door was another room.

Upon entering, I could see there were two paths, right and left... respectively. Zed felt incredibly uncomfortable, his hands started to sweat, but he didn't understand what was happening. Was he going crazy? He touched his forehead with his hands, frowning, he didn't have a fever, which was a good sign for now... So what was happening? Since he entered this place, he felt very uncomfortable.

The place became terribly silent, Zed felt strange, he looked again at his team companions. They were gathered at a point, murmuring some words... Hesitantly, he wanted to approach. Did they forget about him? No, wait, he was too deep in his thoughts, that must be it. If they had called him, he didn't hear it. Every step he took felt heavy, it was like he was walking straight to his own... Death?

- Zed, my friend, how are you feeling?

Adam was the first to look in Zed's direction. He had a warm laugh, it was the same smile Zed knew from the first time they met. Emily also gave him a charming smile, everyone in the group smiled at him...

- Huh?... Yes, I'm fine... a bit scared, you know...

Zed's heart was heavy, he felt very small, much smaller than usual. They all surrounded him, like he was some kind of small animal... They all smiled at him, their smiles were nice, they were charming, especially Emily's smile. They were... Terrifying?

- Brother, we always had to take care of you, in fact, we almost died on an expedition because of you, right?

Adam got close enough to Zed, put his hands on his shoulders, and applied a little pressure. Zed felt small, Adam's hands were very large, he could even think they would crush him at any moment.

- Huh... Yes, it was my fault, I was aware...

Zed hesitated, in fact, that happened almost two years ago. Because of his fear, he activated a deadly trap. With no other choice, he and his group had to abandon the expedition... He apologized deeply back then, as much as he could, but the strangest thing was that none of his companions criticized him, they just told him not to worry. So... Why was he bringing it up now?

- Die for us...

- Urggg!

Zed gasped in terrible pain, he desperately watched as a silver metal pierced his abdomen. He felt warm moments later, his own blood was providing some warmth...

Looking ahead, his eyes widened. A beautiful feminine face, with golden wheat hair and pink eyes, looked at him like he was a damn rat, trash.

- You have no idea how much disgust I felt every time you breathed the same air as me.

Emily ferociously pulled the sword from Zed's abdomen, he screamed in pain and fell to the ground. His mind went blank... He didn't have time to process everything that was happening...

At one point, he felt someone grab his head while dragging him. Zed looked ahead, Emily and his other companions didn't even glance at him. In fact, they were laughing, yes, they were enjoying it a lot. Each of them even held their belly while laughing...

- That damn low-born bastard really thought he had the same status as us... WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS! It's just an insult for me to have him in my presence.

- Just looking at him every day made me so disgusted... It's better if that kind of trash dies, after all, it's for our own benefit, hehe.

What is happening? Why are they insulting me like this? Why did they do this to me? No, I didn't do anything to deserve this, I... I just wanted to buy a cake for my sister's birthday... ahh... ahhhhh... my sister, her smile crossed my mind. It was bright, it was innocent, it was the best thing I could have seen, my sister...

- Don't worry, I'll take care of your sister.

Adam's smile was sick... it was perverse...

It was...

His true face...