Memories of Home

Standing on the outskirts of a sprawling village within the massive stone entry gates, I am reminded of a time before the end of the world. Watching small horned children run across the green fields, and over dirt roads without a care in the world, a sense of wonder and whimsy still within their heads. No thought of mandatory survival or the avoidance of a withering world creeping into any of their innocent minds.

We walk in silence now, within our ears only the sounds of nature, and the children playing can be heard. We follow the dirt path to the village center; looking over at Almza he’s walking with his eyes closed, feeling the breeze hit his face. He seems so relaxed here, so happy…

Stepping into the village’s main shopping center my ears are blessed again by a group of street musicians busking on the corner. They’ve gathered a small audience of one or two passerbys, even adding Almza and I to the crowd as well.

The main melody comes from a musician sitting and playing a large harp. A normal everyday harp you’d find on earth. That question returns again, is this game or is it real, or is it just a dream. It all just feels so real right now.

Using the musical troupe as a backtrack to this beautiful village my eyes begin to wander at the many other completely normal things that I wish were still normal to me. Little shopping stands lining the inner walls, laying out an abundance of fresh fruits, meats, flowers, and gardening tools.

No tool to compare to my trust shovel sadly. Rather smaller ones that appear to be made with a black iron material.

I used to have a family. A loving mother and father, but soon after the black decay began they disappeared. I still believe that they could be alive out there, but worrying about them being gone became a hassle, something I couldn’t focus on if I were to survive. So when I found Gil and Lala all on their own in the dying world, I couldn’t just let them dive into such an unforgiving world alone.

All these distant memories and old ways of life have my eyes tearing up. It's all so peaceful who wouldn’t cry tears of envy for a world they had stolen from them.

Almza turns away for a moment, taking a stop by the florist, purchasing a bouquet of white roses. From the looks of it, he’s a repeat buyer of this particular flower. The florist seems to know him well, but so does nearly everyone else here. Most of the adults have only looked at me a bit confused, while some of the children have expressed a heightened sense of curiosity to my hornless head.

Everybody here has horns except for me, I feel like I missed the memo or something. Even so, all these happy people remind me of home. I can’t believe life used to be like this. And now it’ll never be the same.

Almza returns to my side. Looking upon my teary reddish-eyes, I quickly wipe away my emotional gaze. Although as I drop my hands to my side again, I notice a slight smile on the face of the friendly horned wizard.

We move on, Almza walks me out of the shopping centre back into the fields, leading me toward a shabby looking shack on the outskirts of town.

“That’s my house,” Explains Almza gleefully.

“It's an old building, but it's very flammable, so don’t go erupting any fireballs, aye King.”

“What? I wasn’t going to do that anyways” I stammered out.

“Haha, ahh well come on inside!”

Opening the door to an old cluttered study. Stacks on stacks of books clutter over the remnants of a walkway. Some of the book stacks even tower up to the ceiling like wobbly fortresses. The books are all over the place in subject, from books on flowers, to books on creatures.

“I’ve actually written all these books.” Says Almza smugly.

“Actually?”

“No” He corrects himself.

“Maybe some of them though, I can’t remember to be honest…” He sort of trails off, something else on his mind.

“King, now that you're in my house, you should meet my daughter.”

“You have a daughter?”

“Yes,” he says with sincerity.

Looking past the book towers, I see her. A girl sat unmoving, atop an uncomfortable looking wooden chair lit by the window light. Among much of the clutter surrounding her, I notice these strings shining in the sunlight extending from the joints of her body. Perhaps they are just loose strands of the long white hair extending down just past her shoulders. She’s wearing a fitted dress of pale yellows and lavender accents.

The most normal thing about her, well perhaps probably not normal, is her head,

She has no horns.

“Go on now, up on your feet Eryth!” calls out Almza.

As Almza makes his command, the girl's body begins to spring to life, but in a strange methodical way. Her body glows yellow as magic surges throughout her entire form, locking each arm and joint into place like some sort of… robot.

“Is she um a real person…? Maybe like a doll or something…?” I ask, looking up towards Almza.

“Something like that. She specializes in a type of barrier magic that increases a person's defense and durability. Using it on herself she can move around without the help of anyone. Without it she’d likely crumple into a pile of body parts.”

“Ah ok ok.” Not wanting to offend him or his daughter, I decide to just smile and wave.

Her body shimmers faintly with the magic constantly coursing through her entire form. There’s a slight sound of wooden creaks as she stretches her arms upward, as any human would do upon waking up. Her eyes, the only piece of her body not made of bark, revolve toward my direction. Black glass eyes staring into my soul, I can’t help but shiver in the strangeness of the whole thing. Her mouth opens, luckily like a normal human being; not like a nutcracker or any other odd puppet.

In a soothing, calm voice she says hello.

END CHAPTER 5