The morning meal was plentiful, almost a feast, to supply enough energy for the ensuing night of festivities. They would not have time to eat while putting on their performances. They were not far from Liofeld, a quarter day of travel if that. They were located in a hotspot of the surrounding farming villages and were planning a grand gathering.

  It was not yet time for the dregs of summer festival, but after the major war that consumed summer and the fifth season, merriment was in dire need. Channao had passed, and they were alive.

  “We’ll be safe here, right, Daddy?” Her sister asked. She was particularly beautiful that morning, on the cusp of adulthood. Ever popular with the men her age, but still actively searching for the one she wished to marry.

  “Of course. Those foul beasts did not even make it into Welkia. Besides, we’re close to Liofeld, and no Uxson scum would try something this close to the capital.”

  “She’s just worried, dear. There was a lot of fighting recently,” Emerii’s mother said.

  “This is one of the safest places in the world. We’ve been near plenty of conflicts before, and its all been fine. Brutes rarely touch merrymakers.”

  “There will be peace among the Kingdoms soon, right, Dad?” Her older brother asked.

  “Of course, son. Then we can finally kick the Uxsons off our continent. Then I might not mind spreading merry to them on their own land.”

  The family laughed in unison. It was a ridiculous concept, a merrymaker going to the isle by boat to spread joy to the Uxsons who had been invading for a thousand years.

  “By then I’ll be the best dancer in the world,” Emerii said.

  They all continued chuckling, and her mother responded, “Of course! But not the best merrymaker?”

  “As long as you and dad are around, I can’t be the best.”

  Her elder sister scoffed. “What about me?”

  Emerii blushed slightly.

  The family continued their raucous and pleasantly loud breakfast. Once they were finished, they all set off to complete their own assigned tasks.

  Emerii admired the view before her. It was as if a city had popped up from nowhere. Their troupe was large, but not nearly that big. They had set up all their tents, and the rumors of merriment had spread, conjuring other large and small troupes alike to this once open field. She was on her way to practice with other younger children for their dance routine.

  Her brother would be balancing on a ball and juggling while her father led a menagerie of animals and played instruments. He even had a golden grizzly tamed, though she was not allowed to go near it. Regal, but it was still a temperamental animal.

  Her mother would be preparing for her tight rope and acrobatics performance. That was always terrifying to Emerii.

  Preparations, securing of anything that could go wrong, and practice. The first enjoyers would be arriving after midday. It was a day of merriment seared into Emerii’s young mind.

  “People who don’t pray and are bad go to hell, Emerii. A place of fire that is inhabited by all those Uxsons we hate. Always remember to be good.” Her mother had told her once.

  If that was true, she had been a very bad girl.

  She wished God would forgive her.

  The shrieking had begun but a moment ago, but already their newfound city was flooded with red and orange hunger that touched everything, uncaring for the feelings of others.

  Her mother had already snagged Emerii up in her arms, then passed her off to her sister with words that were lost on the ashen winds. Her sister then ran toward their personal effects. She didn’t have time to shield Emerii’s eyes from the horrors that were laid before her innocence.

  Monsters with different-sized axes attacking troupe members. Swinging on those who had come to make merry and forget their daily troubles, forget the weight of the world that was upon their shoulders. Those shoulders now sagged with a different weight, one forever binding.

  Emerii spotted her kind older brother, who always patted her head and was but three years her senior, lying in a puddle. The red liquid reflected the glow of the fire, illuminating his blank stare. That scene would be what she remembered the most about him, no matter how much she railed against that fact.

  She could remember the roar of her father’s fury over it all, as he let loose their prized animal. The regal golden grizzly, an animal with a kind face that held a hidden strength. The fur was entrancing, and even in the midst of slaughter, it demanded that all eyes be set upon it. Her father unleashed that, setting it free and barreling toward the monsters wielding axes. There was no hope to control the grizzly in combat, but at least he could point the weapon in the correct direction.

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  The sun collided with the monsters, shredding them to bits as it sought escape. The blood and wounds tainted the pure gold, dirtying it. Nonetheless, the bear was still majestic and ferocious, the sun clouded but unsullied.

  Her sister did not run for the tree line like others who were fleeing; that distant forest was too far. Whatever salvation one sought, it was likely to be snuffed out before actualization. Turning away from the false hope, her sister ran for their wagons.

  That decision worked in their favor, as the mass of people trying to escape were mercilessly hunted down, creating a distraction. They made it to the edge of the encampment without any issues, and her sister began to search. An old, decrepit wagon, barely standing, and that was no doubt due for dismantling sometime in the near future. Packed in tightly was rubbish and old wood. Someone of a normal size would never be able to hide there.

  But a small child?

  Trash was moved and planks parted as her sister shoved Emerii’s small body into the narrow gap. Then a random assortment of wood and useless things piled on top of her, filling the space in the gap, trapping and hiding the young child. All except for a tiny slit that she could see out of.

  “Be silent, be good Emerii,” Her sister said. “Not even the Uxsons would find reason to loot or burn this trash. They will not find you.” The fire pierced the night, illuminating the young girl, almost an adult to be wed, the flowers in her hair accenting her innocent beauty.

  As she turned to leave or hide, two monsters sprang upon her, one male and one female. The male was surprised by her sister’s ferocity as she dug a knife into his face. Enraged, the woman monster launched her axe into her sister’s flesh. She plummeted, her hair untied as the flowers fell to the ground. That pained face was what Emerii saw when she thought of her kind older sister.

  The two stalked off, leaving Emerii to herself and her dead sister. The fires gorged on the tents, erasing them from existence. She had never realized how easily those staples of her life could disappear.

  Her brain could not process everything that was occurring. Pain and anxiety welled up inside, and the moment of her permanent scarring occurred. Too young to realize what she was doing, too young to handle the trauma that was befalling her. Instinct took hold. A cold sweat broke on her neck as her deity was summoned.

  Then her suffering truly began.

  Searching for someone to help, her deity reached out as she unwillingly shared with those amid the flames. The hand of an axe coming down, the pain of burnt flesh, the sound of unnatural noises, the feeling of one’s final release. Her mother and father appeared before her, cradling each other in death. The pain and anguish on their faces was all she could remember of them.

  If Emerii could have screamed, she would have. Her body would not allow it.

  Convulsing as she shared the most wretched terrors, many, even her family, had escaped in their demise. Jumping rapidly to each new nightmare, unique in the cruelty of each different shared experience.

  Her deity cursed her.

  Emerii’s mind shattered, and there, hidden away, she waited. Sure that no one would ever find her.

  There were more people in the ruins now. Emerii could no longer see, but she could hear their hallowed whispers and searching shouts. Footsteps on ashes passed around her, but she could say nothing. Not that she wanted to, they were just more monsters.

  Suddenly, the wood and garbage shifted above her. She had been completely silent; there should have been no way for her to be found out. Not that it mattered now. Perhaps she could finally have peace.

  “So you’re alive!” The voice said jubilantly. “Thank God.”

  Two hands wrapped themselves around her gently. They reminded her of her father when he would pick her up, but that memory was now a defiled existence. Carefully, she was pulled from her hiding spot.

  When she first saw the man, she did not recoil. The armor he wore was different and proudly displayed the crest of a white dragon. More than that, the smile he held was open.

  Despite everything that had happened, she found herself looking at his hair and whispering, “Golden… Grizzly.”

  The man erupted in raucous chortle, “That’s the first time I’ve ever been called that Emerii.”

  She looked at him blankly. His hair was not that of pure gold, but a dirty blonde. It reminded her of the bear that had fought for them.

  “Oh, how do I know your name? We’ve met before, though you are probably too young to remember. Your family is a very distant relative of my wife.”

  Broken, she could not say anything in return.

  He still gave her a warm smile. “You’re family.” Then he said no more as he held her and walked away from the remnants of her past life. Emerii still remembered it clearly, even though he was gone now, too. She still sees that open smile in her chosen friend.

  Tears would flow eventually, and she would be put back together, piece by piece. It was all thanks to the man who was her second father.

  Just as they had on the field that day, Vice covering her eyes as they went, she walked. Though she did not avert her eyes this time. She needed the rage and indignation to keep standing.

  Vengeance had been meted out not long after the incident. She had still been left feeling hollow. A meager offering to a tragedy. Revenge was useless. It never should have happened in the first place.

  She reflected on when she had finally discarded her previous dream and became determined to become a strong knight for Welkia. The strongest.

  A home collapsed next to her as she pulled her blade free from a soldier’s back. Royce was correct that they had not expected an attack from behind. If they had more warriors, perhaps they could have had more of an impact.

  But this would have to do.

  She worried for him and knew the feeling was mutual from Royce’s careful tone, which he had employed. Arty as well, though he could still not blow past walls as easily as his father quite yet. Worry would do him no good. A lesson that was taking him quite some time to learn. Perhaps it was the four-year gap of living in Haoggen, or that she was older and had more hindsight. Though in a way, she thought Royce might be the most emotionally mature of them, counter to his appearance.

  Emerii pressed forward, her prey near, not surrounded by warriors who would get in her way. Confidant, aren’t you? Can’t say I’m not the same way.

  She wiped the sweat from her brow and the drool from her mouth. Weakness was, after all, for the weak. And she was anything but.

  Only those thorny memories remained, but still the warrior pressed forward.