Aria ducked and weaved through the alleyways and half constructed buildings, trying to lose her pursuers. She’d gained quite a bit of distance, and if she kept up her current pace, she’d no doubt give them the slip.

  But then her Ether ran out.

  She tumbled to the ground as her body suddenly slowed and the momentum from her prior Ether enhanced movements made her trip and fall, the armor she wore not helping in the slightest as it suddenly felt far heavier. She rolled along the ground before quickly shooting back up to her feet and continuing to run.

  To the void with it all! Aria thought with frustration at how slow she now moved in comparison to before.

  She hastily removed her armor, even using her sword to cut off the straps, to help her move faster and save on her dwindling stamina.

  Her earlier grief, which was still very much present and potent, made her forget to refill her Capacity. She breathed in both oxygen and Ether as much as she could as she continued running. Unfortunately, without the power enhancing her body, she could only rely on her natural stamina. And considering she’d spent over a month doing work at Adele’s estate that wasn’t very labor intensive, her skinny body, already weak from the paltry meals given by her slavers, had gotten even more out of shape.

  Which is to say she grew exhausted quickly, yet still she pushed her body in spite of her lungs and leg muscles burning. She kept running until it felt as though her entire body was on fire, and her breaths came more as desperate gasps than actual breathing.

  Keep moving! Keep moving!!! She screamed at her body.

  She turned a corner, only to bump roughly into someone.

  Given her skinny frame, Aria had been sent to the ground while the other remained standing. She gasped for breath as she propped herself up using her elbows, and looked at the one standing over her, her eyes wide.

  She frowned a bit as she saw it was a hume, but one that looked to be around her age. He had brown hair, brown eyes, wore elaborate dark robes and had a sword strapped to his belt. Her eyes went even wider as she realized that, with such extravagant clothing despite his young age, that this must be the Champion that had been summoned from another world.

  Her despair from her mother’s death, which she’d been repressing, flared and began to consume her as she realized, I’m going to die…

  She had a frail body and was without Ether. And in that state she was before the Champion himself. She was done for. Aria would never make it to Vindanna to warn her people. She’d already failed her mother, who’d pinned not only her hopes, but the hopes of all their people on her.

  As pathetic as she found it, she couldn’t mask the despair she felt as she began to cry looking up at the hume that would be the harbinger of her people’s destruction.

  Aria was so wrapped up in her own feelings of failure and grief that she didn’t see the Champion’s expression. Which was one of complete and utter bewilderment.

  ***

  Galen hadn’t expected to bump into the elf he’d been looking for. He’d have appreciated a heads up from Redian.

  In the sword’s defense, however, the elf’s Ether signature had disappeared as they got close. Redian had explained they either suppressed it or simply ran out. Galen wondered how on Earth he was going to find the escaping elf now. But, as luck would have it, he literally bumped into them turning the corner. He’d started to move to help them up, and the elf looked up at him as they propped themselves up on their elbows.

  He had not been ready when he saw the elf’s face.

  He’d frozen on the spot, his eyes widening and his mouth agape, Wh-what…? How…?

  Redian sensed his sudden distress, “Boss?! You alright?! What happened?”

  However, Galen was too shocked to properly process the sword as he looked upon the elf girl. She was very skinny. Alarmingly so. She had golden blonde hair, and sapphire blue eyes. Eyes that welled with tears that ran down her dirtied face like a waterfall.

  She looked younger, skinnier, and had much longer, dirtier hair but…

  But…

  She was identical to the young woman from his dream.

  How? Galen thought again, his mind unable to process the revelation, HOW?!

  As she looked up at him, he saw her features twist into the saddest, most despair filled expression he’d ever seen.

  To see her make such a face…

  It broke his heart.

  “H-hey, now…” Galen tried to say in a soothing voice, “it’s okay! I’m not going to hurt you.”

  The girl didn’t look like she believed him.

  He didn’t know why, but he felt desperate to comfort her. To get rid of her sorrowful that caused such a horrible stabbing pain in his chest.

  Please… he thought, please don’t cry...

  “Boss, what’s going on with you? You seem distressed all of a sudden. You alrigh-”

  Galen cut Redian off, I’ll explain later.

  “Really,” he tried again as he knelt before her, “I won’t hurt you. And if I can, I won’t let the others bring you any harm. Please, I… I want to ask you some questions.”

  The elf girl furrowed her brow, looking at him with ever increasing confusion, as though she hadn’t expected him to act as he had at all.

  He tried to give her a disarming smile, as he slowly reached out a hand to her. She looked to relax for a moment, but Galen had to stop, his smile melting, as she suddenly shook her head and scrambled back a bit.

  “Why?” she asked with a shaky voice

  “Why wha-” Galen began before being cut off.

  “Why aren’t you killing me?” she glared at him, “you’re a hume. And the Champion at that! You’re meant to be the harbinger of destruction and death for my people. So why aren’t you killing me?!”

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  Though she glared at him, she seemed more confused than anything else.

  Galen frowned, “Because I don’t want to kill you.”

  Her eyes narrowed with suspicion, “I don’t get it. Why try to deceive me? You can simply kill me here and now. Don’t tell me… you want to give me a false sense of hope before taking it away? Is that it?!”

  His eyes widened, “What?! No!”

  “LIAR! That wouldn’t work anyway. Your kind have taken EVERYTHING from me! You… you humes killed… my mother…”

  Fresh tears poured down her cheeks as she shut her eyes tight, her voice faltering, “She was all I had…”

  Galen’s heart felt like it was being stabbed with a searing hot knife.

  “I… I…” he began, before he too faltered.

  What on Earth could he say to that? In the elf girl’s eyes, he was part of the Dominion. What could he say or do to convince her to at least hear him out?

  Just then, a shout was heard, “The tree hugger is over there!”

  Another one yelled, “She’s with the Champion! Quickly! Move!”

  “The Champion caught her?! Marvelous! Just what we’d expect of him!” yelled another voice.

  Galen and the elf girl both looked to the side. He saw the guards the captain had sent to scout running towards them. Damn it! Not now!

  ***

  Aria didn’t understand why the Champion hadn’t slain her. She didn’t understand why he tried to placate her rather than finishing her off.

  He was a hume, a bloodthirsty, savage creature that took glee in causing her and her people suffering. Yet… he didn’t seem like the rest. Aria found herself surprised when she considered reaching out to the hand he offered her. She quickly reprimanded herself. Reminding herself that not only was he a hume, he was the Champion, the sword of the Dominion that would cut down her people and help Athanasius conquer all the Realms.

  That reminder was challenged when the Champion seemed genuinely flabbergasted when she questioned why he hadn’t killed her. She first suspected he was trying to get her hopes up before sinking her further into despair by crushing those hopes. But… he just seemed so… genuine in his surprise to her accusation.

  Stop it! He’s with them! These humes took Mom from me! And they’re going to try to take the rest of my people and my ancestral home too! She yelled at herself.

  As she continued to shout at the Champion, he seemed genuinely taken aback. Aria had been about to yell at him some more, until she heard approaching footsteps. That made her freeze, and moments after, those humes shouted, drawing both her and the Champion’s attention.

  Just then, a shout was heard, “The tree hugger is over there!”

  Another one yelled, “She’s with the Champion! Quickly! Move!”

  “The Champion caught her?! Marvelous! Just what we’d expect of him!” yelled another voice.

  So that’s it… Aria realized, looking back at the Champion, he was trying to bide time for reinforcements. Why? To capture me?!

  One of the humes walked up with arms spread, “Ah! Honored Champion! So you’ve managed to catch the knife ears that has eluded us thus far. Magnificent!”

  “No, I-” the Champion began before another hume cut him off.

  “Praise be to Athanasius! Now we can deal with her as we will soon deal with the rest of her kind for what they did to Ignis!”

  Aria shut her eyes once more, resigning herself to her fate.

  She was going to die, having failed so soon after Anila entrusted her to reach Vindanna.

  At least I’ll be with Mom soon… Aria took more comfort from that thought than she probably should have.

  She heard footsteps, and she opened her eyes to see what was happening.

  The sight that greeted her was completely different to what she had been expecting.

  The Champion… yes, the CHAMPION stood before her, his back facing her, almost in a protective manner.

  “No…” she heard him utter.

  What is he doing? Aria wondered with widened eyes as she got up to a kneeling position.

  The guards looked as surprised as she was, as one of them asked, “Champion? What are you-”

  “I said no!” the Champion said with a far stronger voice this time.

  ***

  Galen could see murder in the eyes of his guards. He had a feeling that if he handed the elf girl over to them, her death would not be a quiet one. Her dying at all was already was out of the question, so that only made it all the more so.

  He glanced back at her, and saw that she was looking at him with an expression of complete bewilderment.

  “Boss…” Redian chimed in his mind, “you’re treading on dangerous ground here. You know that, right?”

  I know, Redian… I know…

  In spite of that, he simply couldn’t allow the elf girl to die. He couldn’t explain it. He simply knew he couldn’t allow that to happen. That he shouldn’t allow that to happen. Was it because the elf girl was identical to the young woman from his dreams? Or was it because-

  Realization struck him.

  That’s it… Galen thought as he stood a little straighter, his resolve strengthening, that’s what I’ve been trying to avoid realizing, not just with this situation, but with everything.

  He realized now that he refused to hand the elf girl over because it simply was not the right thing to do. Neither was working with the Dominion. He’d suspected for a while now that their true goal was to conquer all of Avani, yet he’d selfishly avoided confronting that fact because of the decision he would have to make. One that he now found himself facing.

  With everything that he knew, with how the Dominion enslaved the other races and their clearly evident discrimination against them, he knew that working with them would mean spreading that all over this world. All under the oppressive heel of the Dominion and Athanasius. Could he really help them accomplish that, simply to have the chance to go home?

  The answer, he realized, was no. Because it was not the right thing to do.

  Something that was made more evident as he saw the guards look to each other with confusion, but also with rising anger.

  “Champion, please,” one of them said, “you know what her kind have done to Ignis!”

  “And what about everything that was done unto them?” Galen challenged, “centuries of slavery, abuse, and discrimination. Many of them weren’t even born when the Dominion enslaved the first of them! I’m not condoning what was done here today, but don’t act like you all are innocent victims in all this!”

  That seemed to rub the guards the wrong way, but to their credit, they still tried to repress their frustration and tried again, “Champion. You are still new to this world. You are unaware of how things work here. Please, step aside!”

  He closed his eyes, and took a shuddered breath.

  I’m sorry… Mom… Dad… looks like I won’t be returning home.

  He took out his bottle filled with pills for his Ether Intolerance. He took out one, put the bottle away, and popped the pill into his mouth before drawing Redian. As he downed the pill, he immediately began to feel some relief from the anxiety and stress he’d been feeling, but current circumstances didn’t allow him to dwell on it.

  “I’m with you, boss,” the sword said reassuringly.

  He smiled in gratitude, Thank you, Redian.

  The guards looked floored by his actions, with one of them growing red in the face and yelling, “Seriously?! For Athanasius’s sake, that’s a filthy knife ears you’re protecting!”

  Galen simply glared, “No. She’s a person! One that I’m choosing to protect. You all can either respect my authority as the Champion, or I will cut you down!”

  He’d suspected for months that the people of the Dominion hadn’t respected him. They had respected his position. And now that he’d acted completely contrary to how the guards expected him to act as the Champion, his suspicions were proven true as they all drew their weapons, all of them red with rage.

  He took a deep breath, drawing upon all the training he’d done with Aleksi, and even the brutal time he’d spent under Arawn’s tutelage. For this would be his first genuine battle in this world.

  And of course it was a disadvantageous one vs six.

  Just my luck...

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