Memories

The oversized club of the ogre smashed into the earth, missing Calum by a hair. Tilaya, the elf that was at Calum’s side since childhood, cast a fireball that struck the ogre in the side. Its metal armor protected it from the majority of the attack, but the impact still left it winded.

Enraged, the ogre turned on Tilaya and launched a sweeping attack with the club, successfully throwing Tilaya several meters. She yelled out in pain from the attack. She struggled to get up, but her body was still weak from the strike.

Calum glimpsed Erik on the ground behind him, bruised and beaten. He still held onto his weapon, but he knew there was nothing else he could do in this battle. As the son of the Captain of the Royal Knights and the most skilled knight in all the northern region, he volunteered to join Calum on his journey to defeat the Demon Lord. Like Calum, he was human, which means he was not as agile as an elf, or as strong as a dwarf. However, his skill with the greatsword made up for his disadvantages.

Calum looked back to Tilaya, who was still struggling to stand. The ogre stood over her with a killer look in its eye. It lifted its club, preparing to finish the job.

“No!” Calum rushed in front of his friend and party member, raising his sword above his head to block the attack. The club crashed down on Calum, knocking him onto his back. Pain filled his body, and his vision blurred.

“Calum…” Tilaya weakly called, reaching out to him.

The ogre raised its club again. ‘This is it,’ Calum thought, ‘This is where my journey ends.’

Before the club reached him, he saw someone jump in front of him. His vision faded, and his consciousness went with it.

Information of a faraway world called Earth flooded his head. The life of a boy who was always bullied and outcasted because of his deformities played in his mind in great detail. The boy died in a hospital at the age of twenty-three from a condition that he had his entire life. ‘Oh right… These are my memories… from my past life… I remember now…’

…

Calum woke up to a wooden ceiling. Confused, he sat up and checked his surroundings. To his left, Erik rested on a bed, with bandages covering his chest and abdomen. To his right, Tilaya was sitting up, with similar bandaging. There were other beds in the room, signaling to Calum that he was in an infirmary.

The memories of his previous life lay in the forefront of his mind. He also remembered being summoned by the Goddess to have a second chance at life and live as a hero. He still didn’t know why the Goddess chose him, but he didn’t want to disappoint the Goddess that gave him another chance, nor did he want to let the Demon Lord bring suffering and misery to all the people he had met in this world.

A sudden pain caused him to put a hand to his head. He felt bandages wrapped around his skull and looked down to see bandages around his abdomen. He made eye contact with Tilaya, and mumbled, “What happened…?”

“That ogre was too much for our party to handle. We definitely aren’t ready to take on the Demon Lord yet,” Tilaya responded. She looked down at the bed with a gloomy expression.

“If we lost, how come all of us are still alive?”

Calum heard shifting come from Erik’s bed. “Because someone jumped in and saved us.”

Calum turned to face Erik. “Someone saved us? Who?”

“That would be me,” a new voice piped in. A dark-haired girl walked in, dressed in an assassin’s robe. A couple daggers hung on the belt loops of her shorts. She stopped in front of the three and bowed. “My name is Kia Elarin. I came to join your party. I’m glad I found you when I did.”

Erik narrowed his eyes. “Thanks, but we don’t need another member.”

Calum’s eyes widened at Erik’s sudden hostility. Did he forget that she just saved them? “Actually, we could use another member. Thanks for saving us back there.”

Erik got off the bed and leaned in to whisper in Calum’s ear. “Don’t trust her. Look at her eyes.”

Calum did as Erik instructed and stared deeply into Kia’s eyes; the magenta color was almost enchanting.

“They’re magenta. That means there’s a high chance she’s at least half-demon.”

“But there’s also a chance that she’s not,” Calum whispered back. He turned his attention back to Kia. “How about you join us for a few days and show us what you can do, and if you prove a valuable member of the party, we’ll accept you full-time.”

Kia nodded excitedly. “Thank you, hero. Oh, could you all introduce yourselves, please? I don’t know much about you other than the fact you’re destined to stop the Demon Lord.”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Calum Kameris, the hero. I was raised in an elf village. This here is Tilaya Marleth,” he gestured to his childhood friend, “She’s been my friend for as long as I can remember. She graduated from the academy early, so I can say she’s really good at magic.”

Tilaya dipped her head in greeting before she went to work putting her golden hair in a ponytail.

“And to my left is Erik Ganzole. Please forgive his attitude, he’s not normally like that. He’s quite a good guy once you get to know him.”

Erik clicked his tongue and looked away. He sat back on his bed and started putting on the armor that sat at the foot of the bed.

“Calum, Erik, and Tilaya. Got it. It’ll be a pleasure to work with you all!” Kia smiled. “They said there’s no charge for your care, since you’re the hero and you need to be healthy to defeat the Demon Lord.”

“Oh, that’s nice of them,” Calum responded. “Anyway, I think we need to head back to the capital for now and get some better gear.”

“I agree,” Erik concurred. He stared at a broken gauntlet he held in his hand.

“My staff broke when I was hit,” Tilaya mumbled.

“The capital is quite far… We’re still near the southern border…” Kia noted. “Oh well, it’s not like we’re in a rush to defeat the Demon Lord.”

Erik glared at her. “If we attack the Demon Lord with broken equipment, we’re definitely going to die.”

“I know, that’s why I was saying we’re not in a rush. If we rushed things, nothing good would come from it.”

Calum slid off the bed. “We should be heading out, don’t you agree?”

Erik and Tilaya simply nodded.

“I’ve never been to the capital before!” Kia mentioned. “This will be fun!”

Calum smiled at the energy his new companion had. “Let’s go, team!” He led the group out, and thanked the people that took care of his group while they were out.

The bright sunlight forced Calum to squint as he left the building. “Kia, what town are we in?”

“Argwan. We’ll need to go northeast to get to the capital.”

Calum nodded, impressed that Kia knew where the capital was in relation to where they were, even though she had never been there before. “Then let’s go.”