Thin tendrils of smoke still simmer from the ruined village. Houses lay wasted on the ground, the earth blackened by a strange force. In the middle, near the rumble of stone that used to be the church, lay a series of small makeshift crosses on bumps of earth. A small village that barely no one knew of its existence, save for a few merchants and villages, now completely erased from the surface of the map.

A few miles off the village, a solitary figure wanders slowly through paths that have been used often through time, although thin and barely visible to the unknowing eye. His walk is slow and staggering, his form hunched over each of his steps.

Elric, a young boy of 16, has finally found the courage to leave behind all that he's known. He could have sat down and wait for death to come, but such a prospect chilled his bones. To die of hunger and thirst would take a will power he didn't possess. His thirst for vengence, though, burned in his chest painfully. He saw the strangers head this way, now a few days ago, in a direction unknown to him. He had never left the village before.

The young man's fingers were still black from the earth and ash he had to dig through to bury the corpses of his family, friends and everyone he had known through his short life. His muscles ached, and his stomach growled in protest at the lack of food in his body. Yet, he kept driving himself forward in hope of finding clues... Clues of what? Even he didn't know. He had no idea what he would do if he found them... Those murderers that nobody could stop from destroying his life.

The village had not just been destroyed--it had been purged. Not a single building had remained standing, not single villager left alive. There was little left to bury, even--many were in pieces, others had nothing but skeletal remains...and all that remained of some was a pile of ash.

Paths to the village were few, and the trails small and obscure. Trees, bushes, and general overgrowth covered the path, often making it difficult to see far ahead.

It was for this reason that Elric was able to hear the voices behind him before they spotted him:

"Are you sure you saw someone?" a gruff, masculine voice asked. "I thought they were all dead, and this trail could be weeks old for all we know."

"I know what I saw!" snapped a lighter voice, this one feminine. "And the trail's fresh, you dolt. You stick to swinging big heavy things and let me do the thinking, alright?"

"Hey, no need to get touchy," the man grumbled, followed by a very unnerving sound indeed: the sound of foliage being brushed aside as they continued forward, unaware that their quarry was just ahead...

Elric turned around and quickly hid himself in the thick vegetation surrounding the path. The voices seemed to be only a few moments behind him, so he had little time to waste until they would be upon him. His mind, numb from the events that had recently arrived, labeled the strangers as dangerous right away.. But the young boy didn't have any means to fight. He could only cast a few feeble spells... Spells! An idea formed in his tired head.

As he was about to begin, he noticed that the travelers were closer than he thought, and he dropped the idea. He was slow at casting, and the best he would get from this would be to cast a root in their feet as they would pass in front of him. Not the smartest, to say the least.

What to do, what to do...

His heart raced heavily in his chest. What if they were part of the group that had attacked the village? The mere thought raised a wave of heat through his body, but alas he didn't have much time to think through the matter, for in the next moment, he felt a brush of air near his ear.

He raised his head just in time to see a big object swinging by his head, freezing his body all over from the shock. He couldn't help but give a little yelp of fear, followed by a scrambling of his legs to move backward.

Damnit..!

The pair had just stopped in front of him, noticing that the trail had ended abruptly, when they heard his gasp. Immediately they turned to him, hands on their weapons. Upon seeing the somewhat pathetic figure, the man relaxed his grip though his hand didn't actually leave it. The woman didn't even relax.

They were a near completely mismatched pair. The woman was small, not much over five feet, and thin. She had the look of someone who was at home in the wilderness, and if that weren't enough the bow on her back, along with a quiver of arrows, and the longsword she current gripped in its sheath at her side were a dead giveaway. Though her eyes never left him, they nevertheless seemed like they were scanning all around her. Her dirty blonde hair was kept out of the way via a ponytail, and the top of her head was obscured by a green cap.

On the other hand, the man was nothing short of a giant--he stood at over six and a half feet, and on his back was a sword nearly as tall as he was. He was broad, too, and well built. In fact, his entire frame screamed "strong." Looking around carelessly, as though the boy in front of him wasn't much of a concern, he brushed a hand through brown hair that was short enough to be considered a military cut if it wasn't standing nearly straight up.

"Hey, kid. You from that village back there?" he asked, jerking his thumb in the direction they'd come from.

The youth, even though in a mild state of panic, could tell that these weren't the strangers who had destroyed his home town. Nevertheless, Elric wasn't used to dialect with strangers, and found himself averting his gaze from the woman and the man. He couldn't say that he wasn't from the village, or else, what would he be doing out in the middle of nowhere? He bit his lower lip, unconsciously, searching for a right answer.

If they weren't the ones who attacked his village, he didn't know if they were dangerous or not. The big man scared him, and the young woman looked ready to leap at any moment... He couldn't run.

'' Yeah.. I am.'' He answered, with his eyes locked on a patch of grass. He had to focus on something, so that his voice wouldn't quiver.

'' Or, what's left of it. '' His shoulders gave a little jerk, and his fists clenched tightly. He couldn't stop the flow of images that ran through his mind's eye. Elric lowered his head a bit, so that his hair would cover his eyes from the sight of the strangers. There was no need to bring pity on him, so the less they could see, the better it was.

"Good," the man began, "we're--" He stopped abruptly when the woman drew her sword and took a step towards Elric. "What the hell are you doing?"

Without taking her eyes off the boy, the woman replied, "What we were hired to do."

"You said the job was to find survivors from that village." An edge crept into the man's voice.

"That's part of it. The rest is that we have to kill them," she stated calmly, as though she was just adding another item to a shopping list. By now her gaze occasionally darted to her partner.

"You didn't mention that when you offered to make me a part of this job."

"What does it matter to you? You're a mercenary, and I'm going to pay you." When he didn't reply she turned to look at him, only to be met by a gaze that would have sent any normal person scattering for something to hide behind.

'' What the hell is wrong with you! '' The young man's outrage was clearly apparent. His scream came seconds after the woman mentioned they were here to kill him, his whole body trembling at the thought of having another massacre.

The eyes of the young man reflected his anger, which he held towards them and towards himself for being unable to stop the skilled adversaries standing in front of him. He barely knew enough magic to maybe stun them for a few seconds, but it didn't matter now. He would die, as everyone else did. His fists clenched, gathering pebbles and grass, with an odd aura around them.

Much to his surprise, he looked at the man when he didn't answer his female companion. Why? It only took moments for Elric to find out. The eyes of the man, the set of his jaw- everything about it inspired a great fear inside the innocent young boy. A fear he couldn't contain.

'' Ahh..!! '' He suddenly exclaimed, shoving himself backwards and up on his feet, attempting a run for it. If anything, he at least knew the area around his village very well and could run quite fast in the thick vegetation. His heart was beating very fast, and he found himself almost incapable of coherent thoughts.

Get away..!

"What the hell's your--ah, dammit!" the girl exclaimed as Elric made a break for it. She shot a dirty look to the larger man as though it were his fault (neither of them realizing it actually was) before taking off in pursuit.

It wouldn't take her long to catch up. Elric knew the area better, but she was used to moving quickly through forest and was overall much more nimble. With her size, she had to be.

She grabbed his arm mid-stride, attempting to stop him or at least throw him off balance so that she draw her sword again to finish him off.

Elric was panting hard. He was running for his life, or at least, that's how it felt like.

He pushed every joint and muscle for a dash, but with dread he quickly realized that it wouldn't be enough. He cast a quick glance behind him and was very surprised to see how agile his pursuer was. He couldn't match her.

Elric had never seen anything like it. Sometimes they'd hear stories about such creatures from very old books at the village, but they were thought to be stories to scare the children. But now, he was face to face with one of those creatures.

I won't make it..! Elric was panicking, dread cursing through him as he imagined his death at their hands.

His heart skipped a beat as he felt the woman's hand on his arm, surprising him. Losing his footing at the small shock, Elric's torso lunged forward and his hands shot out to break his fall on the ground.

Although while she was fast and nimble, Elric had worked the fields all his life. From that he gained a very strong pair of arms from all the physical labour, But it was hidden underneath his sleeves. He didn't seem quite as muscular while he wore long-sleeved shirts like he did now.

In his fall, he hoped he could pull her down and stun her for a moment so he could put distance between them. Enough to lose them, at least.

"Gotcha!" the woman cried in triumph just before she felt a hand grab her arm and pull her down. While maybe not as strong as the boy, if there was one thing she had going for her it was good reflexes. As she came down, she landed on Elric's stomach with her knees--probably not doing any real harm to him, but at least knocking the wind out of him.

"Sorry kid, it's nothing personal," she remarked as she drew her sword once more, raising it to strike a killing (or at least maiming) blow.

A shadow fell over the two of them, and Elric would make out a large silhouette towering above them just before the woman was yanked off of him, emitting a cry of alarm.

"W-What the hell are you doing?!" she screamed as he grabbed her by the collar and lifted her up so they were eye to eye--which resulted her in being a good foot off the ground.

"Swinging a big, heavy thing," he remarked with a smirk, slamming her against a tree with an audible crack. He held her there for a moment before letting her slump to the ground, where she lay unmoving.

He regarded her for a moment before sighing and turning toward Elric. "You alright, kid?" he asked, extending a beefy arm to help him to his feet.

Elric stared in amazement at the big man. How could someone lift a body with just one arm? Such a feat amazed, and scared him. He followed the woman with her eyes and winced as he heard the crack of her body. He couldn't help but lift frightful eyes to the man. He could do the same with him, but why wasn't he? Hadn't he been paid to kill him?

He jerked a bit backward when the man extended his hand out, and studied it for a few moments. He was still shaken from the run and the events at his village, and was confused as to what he should do. But, he would've killed me by now if that's what he meant to do... He thought and finally reached out to take the hand.

He marveled at how big it was compared to his, lifting his eyes to the face of his 'savior'. He felt light as a feather while he was being pulled up.

'' Why are you doing this..? '' He asked, his voice still trembling from the lack of his energy that had followed his mad run. '' You didn't kill me, and you even protected me from her. What's going on? '' His eyes moved to the side as he looked on the body of the woman. Elric tried to quell the panic that was knotting his stomach by taking slow, deep breaths, and bringing his sight back up to the man.

"I'm just doing my job," the man informed him. "I was hired to find survivors from here and bring any back to my employer. I told her--" he jerked his thumb at the fallen form of the woman, "--that I was looking for survivors and she said she was as well. She'd even pay me if I teamed up with her. Never thought we had opposite reasons for finding them," he said with a shrug. The life of a mercenary could be strange at times.

If Elric looked close enough, he'd find that the woman was still breathing, though it was slightly labored.

"Well, let's get moving," he said abruptly, not really giving Elric any say in the matter. He figured after what just happened, the boy was in no position to protest. Besides, if he were in the kid's shoes, he'd want to meet whoever was interested in saving him.

Scrambling up to his feet, Elric decided it was in his best interest to follow the strongest man around him, even if it was giving him a false sense of security. Was he really safe? He thought he was in his village, and now it lay in ruins.. The grim thoughts suddenly came back at him after this small bit of action, giving his eyes a dark gleam.

''Where are we going?'' He asked, his tone flat. He didn't have any particular qualms about going to a different location, but he wasn't as dumb as to not try to get any information about it.

''And why would someone help me? Couldn't they make it in time to save the village?''

Elric was pretty sure that the big man probably could've helped them... He bit his lip, swallowing the question. Why didn't you help? The thought hovered, and he remembered that the man had been hired. This made the young man wonder if the big warrior had any morals of his own... Or was it better left unknown?

"We're going to the mage academy here in Algeroth--that's where my employer is. You'll have to ask her the other two; all I know is I was to come defend the village if it was still here, and hunt for survivors to bring back if it wasn't."

It had likely taken Elric several days to bury all the bodies in the village, especially as he hadn't been using any tools to aid him. It was awfully quick for news of such a secluded village to travel so fast, but not unheard of.

The warrior sighed. "Wish I would have gotten here before it happened. I'll take a fight over a rescue mission any day."

To be told of such a place, a gathering places for magic users? The boy, in his bewilderment, could only have his jaw drop for a few seconds as he tried to grasp the meaning of the man's words. He knew bigger towns existed, but it still amazed him.

His pace slowed when he heard that the man had been to late.

''You could've saved us?'' His voice trembled with strong emotions. '' Mom and dad, my sisters and my friends?''

His body then began to tremble, and he stumbled upon his knees with his hands over his face. You could almost see the weight on his shoulders, slumped as they were. Deep inside, anger consumed his spirit.

''Someone knew this and yet..'' he choked upon his words, unable to go on. He felt his chest tight, almost like something was crushing on his chest. He had to calm down or else he would faint, his mind still frail from the whole incident.