The Lost Vanguard

Pain. That was the first thing I felt. It raked through my body like thousand jagged blades. My head throbbed, and my limbs felt heavy, as if they had been crushed beneath something immense. The cold seeped into my skin, biting deeper with every breath I took. Slowly, I opened my eyes, blinking against the harsh light that hurt my vision.

I felt... off. Something wasn't right. My body didn't feel like it was my own. My chest rose and I fell in uneven gasps, I could smell the earth, the dampness, the wetness of something... unfamiliar. The ground beneath me was hard, rough against my back.

It took a moment for my mind to clear, and when it did, panic set in. Where was I? I tried to sit up, but my body screamed in protest. Something was... laying on top of me. I reached out, fingers brushing against solid and warm... fur. It was soft, but thick, and it smelled of wildness, of danger.

What the hell?

I froze. My mind raced, trying to make sense of what was happening. Slowly, I forced myself to turn my head, my body refusing to cooperate, pain lancing through my musles. There lying on top of me, was massive creature, a wolf, it looked familiar yet so distant. Its fur was dark and matted with blood, its enormous body still and lifeless. Its eyes, were dim and empty.

The weight of the beast crushed me into the ground, its massive body pinning me down with terrifying strength. Its claws sank deep into my chest being the cause of most of pain. Panic clawed my mind but I forced myself to focus, to find any strength within me, My arms felt like a lead , but I pushed them with everything I had, my hands slipping under the creature's heavy frame. With a heavy grunt, I shoved, the movement painfully slow as its weight shifted, giving me just enough space to pull out its claws out of my chest increasing bleeding yet being my only way to survive, I pulled myself free. My body screamed in protest, every muscle aching, but I couldn't stop now.

I sat up fully, shaking off the remnants of the strange, heavy weight on me. A heavy breath escaped me as the pain flared again, but there was something else, and instinct, a strange pull urging me to move. I pushed myself up with shaky hands, struggling to stand on legs that felt like they didn't belong to me.

My mind was in chaos.I couldn't remember.. anything. Who was I? Where was I? How had I gotten here? None of it made sense. My chest felt tight, and I could almost hear something inside me... anger? Maybe... or hunger. I didn't know. But it was there, clawing its way out.

The forest around me was silent, to silent. The trees loomed, their dark shadowsstretching out like long fingers, reaching for me . I stumbled forward, one step after another, until the faint sound of movement caught my attention. Someone... or something, was nearby.

I turned my head just in time to see a figure break through the trees. A man. His clothes were rough, his face rugged, but what caught my attention was the Axe he carried, massive, sharp and glinting in the light. He was moving swiftly, cautiously, as If he had been tracking something. He froze as his gaze landed on the wolf, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.

I couldn't move. I wasn't sure If I should. The man knelt beside the beast, his expression softening as he pulled shortsword out of beast's chest. Then, he looked at me, his eyes narrowing again.

"Well, what do we have here?" he muttered under his breath, clearly unaware of how far off the situation was.

Before I could say anything or even move the man quickly approached me, his one hand lifting me into air placing me on his back as his other hand went for the wolf's lifeless body. He was strong, much stronger than I would've thought, considering how effortlessly he lifted massive wolf with just one hand.

"Don't worry" he said, his voice calm, though I couldn't bring myself to trust him yet. "I'll get you back to the village. You're safe now."

Safe? I didn't feel safe. I didn't feel anything except for strange hunger gnawing at back of my mind. It was dark, it was painful, and i didn't know who this man was or why I couldn't remember anything.

As the world around me began to blur, I guess blood loss was making a kind reminder of its existence, I couldn't help but wonder, was this just the beginning of something darker? Was I more then just some lost soul with no past?

The man's grip tightened as he carried me away, the forest giving way to the shadows of distant village. A village that I would to have face, but what awaited me there, I had no idea.

As the man carried me through the thick trees, the village slowly came into view, shrouded in the shadows of twilight. The dim light cats long, eerie shapes across the snow-covered ground, the silhouettes of huts barely visible in the distance. My mind was a fog, clouded by the blood loss and the strange hunger gnawing at my insides. Every step he took seemed to echo in my head, but I couldn't focus on it. I couldn't focus on anything.

I felt... wrong. There was something inside me, a primal need I couldn't name. Something darker, something that didn't belong. I struggled to push the thoughts aside, but they clung to me like the cold that seeped through my skin.

The man shifted his grip slightly, as if sensing my discomfort, but he didn't speak. His pace was steady, and his breathing remained even, as if he carried burdens like this every day. As we neared the village, the sound of dogs barking and the distant hum of conversation filled the air. The smell of wood smoke and something savory wafted through the cold air.

"We're almost there" he muttered, more to himself than to me.

I barely heard him. The village seemed so distant, as if I were looking at it through the wrong end of a telescope. My thoughts were jumbled, and my body felt like it was slowly losing its grip on the world around me, finally surrendering to the cold embrace of well-deserved rest as I blacked out.