------Market District, Regoir City (Garthrund Calendar, the Year 1089 of the Reign of Gods)------
A year ago, the city of Regoir was shaken by the arrival of a cloaked monster.
Silver hair, red eyes, and donning bloodied clothes that seemed to resemble Druid equipment, anyone who came close to the shambling man knew that one look was enough to kill them.
He trudged through the city, aimless and reeking as if he had lost his purpose and sought only the sweet release of death.
But it was never to come.
He was the last Marsh Druid, a Druid tribe long gone. And by a cruel twist of fate, he was cursed, now doomed to forever trudge the earth and seek the one who turned him into this... abomination, a monster stuck between life and death.
Stripped of his humanity, family, and love, he no longer had anything in his mind but a single objective: Kill the vampire who attacked his home, killed his loved ones and took his humanity, the one who turned him into the same monster.
The pain he went through - the living hell he felt as his Druid lineage rejected the vampiric curse that coursed through his veins - just to get to where he was so great that when he eventually came to, all he could ever recall was his hatred towards a certain vampire and his name: Heath Erhonial.
He will kill anyone who stands in his way, he cared not for the future of his actions, he will do all to exterminate the monster that took all away from him.
All he had was rage. A rage that had long forgotten the cause, but had a seemingly everlasting effect on his psyche.
Of course, no one knew this. And soon enough, a platoon of the city's royal guard came to meet him as he walked through the market of the city.
"Halt, monster!" The captain of the guard called, "If you have some humanity left in you, you will leave this city at once!"
The bloodied man stopped in his tracks and looked at the captain dead in the eye. His red eyes seemingly glared through the captain's very soul.
The captain, shaken but maintaining his control, ordered his men to attack the seemingly unarmed man.
The guardsmen struck and stabbed the man, further enlarging the bloodstains in his clothes until his garments took to the color of his very blood.
The guardsmen laughed in pride. Uttering curses and mocking him for foolishly entering the city that was under their protection.
And when the guards grew tired, they stood around the kneeling man, looking to see if he was dead or alive, but not knowing he was both.
He was wounded fatally, his breathing shallow and pained, but as he lifted his face and glared at the guard in front of him, the guardsmen knew that this was no ordinary vampire.
The man uttered only a single word:
"Die."
The man now had not only his own blood on his garments.
Tendrils of dried, deadwood adorned with thorns suddenly appeared out of man's bloodied cloak, seeped into the bricks of the city, and sprung up the ground the captain's men were in. The thorns cut through the resistance enhancements and metal of their armor with ease and impaled the men through.
The captain can only look in horror at the sight before him, his men writhing in pain and agony, flailing their limbs like ragdolls in midair.
The tendrils seemed to suck the guards' blood dry, up to the point where the men underneath the armor looked like skeletons with skins.
The blood from the guardsmen seeped through the tendrils and went to the man, aiding in the healing of his wounds.
"Who--what are you?!" The captain asked the bloody figure approaching him, who only groaned at each step.
The captain wet his chain-mail pants as the man, nay, the monster now stood inches away from his toes. He cried desperate tears, praying for the gods to spare him the horrible fate that befell his subordinates.
The captain fell down and sobbed, silently begging for his life to be spared but having enough pride not to ask the monster in front of him to do so.
But nevertheless, his prayer was answered.
The creature stopped his breathing and out of exhaustion or something else, collapsed in front of the captain, face-first into the captain's pee that spread through the brick floor of the marketplace and formed a small puddle.
The skies, as though heralding the arrival of a catastrophe, was gray and dark as if it was already in the early evening. It was still eight in the morning.
Rain fell across Regoir while a lone figure stands in the roof of one of the houses in the market district, watching the events that transpired.
The hooded figure smiles, in anticipation of what the coming of this man would bring to Regoir.
Or rather, the world.
-------The Heroes of Change Guild House, Southwest Market District, Regoir City (Farenthia Calendar, the Year 1090 of the Reign of Gods)--------
"Oh, you're awake, Hea."
Heath opened his eyes to a woman looking at him intently. It was the same lass who had yellow hair and long ears. Her golden eyes looked at him with a mix of concern, affection and... irritation?
Yuno. Or as Heath liked to call her: Boss.
A wave of pain engulfed Heath's forehead all of a sudden. In reflex, he held the area in pain, causing Yuno to reach out to him.
All of Heath's memories were the usual he remembered everything before he passed out but only up to the point where he was taken in by the Guild Master. Needless to say, he knew the basics of the situation he was in.
He came into this city a year ago, got into this guild. Before he passed out, Heath was with his guildmates in the Tower doing a quest. They ran into their objective, a snake-woman adept in illusion magic - a Lamia - that cast an illusion spell which caused him to pass out. He then fainted and was bought back here in the Guild House.
He fathomed the circumstances but felt uneasy of the fact that the Tower contained creatures that can manipulate the undead.
Undead, huh, he thought.
He was supposed to be dead. Or rather, he was dead, but not in the sense that one might think.
He was a vampire. Not a full-fledged one that you see in horrorific folktales trying to suck the blood of maidens as you might think. Though needing blood at times, Heath was still "human" enough to be sustained by human food.
By a miracle or a curse, he was only a Halfling - something in between being a human and being something else.
"Halfling" was a general term for anyone that had the characteristics of a monster but the consciousness and tastes of a human.
His Druid lineage must have kept him from slipping into being a fully fledged vampire. Who turned him and why, he couldn't remember, nor does he want to. It seems that every time he thinks it over deeply, he is slowly consumed by an unexplainable rage.
It made him berserk once, when he first entered the city. Now, he's learned to be careful, so as not to hurt his guildmates and the city.
"You, alright?" Yuno asked.
"How long was I out, Yuno?" Heath asked, confirming Yuno's inquiry, in a sense.
Yuno smiled. Glad that the Heath before her was the same. She was worried that the Lamia might have muddled his memory.
"Goodness, answering a question with a question," Yuno replied with a relieved smile, "This is why no one can speak normally with you, Hea."
"Maybe," Heath sighed. He was used to the playful treatment of his Guild Master. "But I'd rather want to jump straight to the point that beating around the bush, Boss."
"You're Hea, all right," she said while stroking her chin, "I guess there's no point in being suspicious of your memory."
Yuno knelt down to Heath's side, looking him in the eyes. Heath saw both relief and love in those golden eyes of hers. He felt himself blushing and looked away as he knew he could never reciprocate the same look for Yuno, his very own Guild Master. It was strange enough, having the person whom you were under look at you in THAT way.
Well, it wasn't strange to see Yuno like this, especially since she outright confessed her love to him in the Summer Festival a few nights ago.
To sum it all up, he turned her down. That in itself made it awkward enough for him.
"Yuno," he said, sliding down to exit the bed, away from her, "how long was I out?"
"Two days," she replied.
Huh, so I got some sleep then, Heath thought. And then he remembered why they were fighting the Lamia in the first place.
"Did we kill the damned thing?" Heath asked, knowing they needed to kill the Lamia for a quest that paid quite good. The money was for a debt they had to pay.
"Yes, Jennia and Horgath's group took it down," Yuno replied. Referring to the woman and her group that Heath saw in the dungeon while he lost his memory.
Speaking of which, it was strange also, he couldn't recall what the Lamia showed him. But for some reason, something told him it was important, albeit only a little. He didn't know why, and so he dismissed it in his mind.
Heath stood up to clear his mind. He needed to find a new quest or errand. Both as a source of income and a way to relax his already throbbing head. Fighting the monsters in the Tower seemed to calm him down, as if his body looked for it, the thrill of a hunt. Of a battle.
Yuno stood up also.
"I'll go tell the others you're up," she said reaching for the door, "Anything you need, Hea?"
Heath gave it some thought. And on cue, his stomach grumbled.
"A decent meal would suffice, Boss," he said to her smiling, embarrassed.
She nodded with a smile.
The door creaked to a close as Yuno came out of the room.
Heath sat at his bed and yawned. It was evening in Regoir. But even so, the Market District was bustling with life as traders and customers agreed with the price, taverns filled up as tired adventurers sat down laughing and talking with their huge mugs with mead or wine, and the street lanterns lit up the city.
Heath opened his window and looked over the view in his room on the second floor of the Guild House. As always, it was a sight common to the city. But it enthralled him all the more. It was as if before he had lost his memories, someone had described how this looked like to him before and it piqued his interest.
It always made him wonder what caused him to lose his past. The painful part was he had a feeling that he was forgetting something important to him, but at the same time, he also felt like losing his memories liberated him from some "shackles".
Heath couldn't put it into words, but knew he had mixed feelings about his past.
But whatever it holds for him, he will deal with it when the time arises. He knows he should. And he will, hopefully.
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door.
"Come in," he called.
The door was opened by a boy with brown hair and ever-so curious eyes.
"Heath! You're awake," the boy's familiar voice said.
His name was Mythral. A hobbit from the Greenlands of the south-east. Despite appearances, he's roughly 182 years old.
"Hello, Mythral," Heath said with a smile.
In the corner of the doorframe popped a feminine face. The green hair, blue eyes, and long ears gave away Venna.
"Oh, Venna," Heath called. Vaguely remembering the fact that this woman looked at her closely two days ago, "You really did well looking at my eyes, huh?"
Venna blushed and stood behind Mythral.
"So you remember, huh?" She asked, looking away.
"No need to look so shy," Heath said, with a twinkle in his eye he added, "You can do it again if you want to."
Heath was greeted by a throwing dagger to the face, narrowly dodging it. The dagger stuck itself in the wooden head of the bed.
He let out a laugh, he picked up the dagger and gave it to Venna, who was now walking towards him.
"Hahahahaha! Didn't think the cold assassin Venna could be this flustered," he teased.
Venna sighed. Out of relief, it seems. She too was worried that the Lamia's magic might have altered Heath's memories. It would have shattered her beyond recognition. Heath was the only one she wished would never forget her, he saved her by remembering her after all.
"Yep, you're Heath, all right," she said.
Heath suddenly stood up and looked closely at her face. Venna felt herself turning red, her heart beating faster.
She turned away, blushing. For some reason, Heath seemed more playful than usual.
"I win!" Heath laughed out loud.
"Shut up," she said.
Sitting down his bed once again, Heath smiles apologetically up to his two comrades.
"I'm sorry, everyone," he said, "I must have worried you all."
"No problem, Heath," Mythral assured him, "I knew you would come through. But the ladies really thought..."
He took a glance at Venna who glared back in return.
"Needless to say," Mythral said, turning back to Heath, "everyone's glad that you're back, Erhonial."
Heath looks to his two comrades, then to Jennia, Horgath, Connie, May-Mai, Foronard and the other guild members that were outside his room.
He cannot thank them enough for welcoming him, despite his current state. Especially Yuno, the one who saved him from his troubles and gave him purpose yet again.
"Thanks, all of you," he said.
"Heath!" A shrill voice made by a girl that had wings and wore pajamas exclaimed. She ran towards him with outstretched arms and tackled him with a hug
"May-Mai," he said, returning the hug.
Jennia and Horgath entered together with the other guild members.
"Horgath really teared up when he found out you got knocked out," Jennia chuckled.
Horgath looked at his wife with an embarrassed face, "Oy, oy, I was worried 'bout our boy here. I know that Lamia ain't enough to take him down but you can't--"
"Hush, hush," Jennia stopped her defensive husband, "I get it, dear. I get it."
Heath couldn't help but chuckle at the interaction of these two renowned knights in pajamas.
"Anyway," Horgath said while slapping Heath in the back, "how about joining us all for some dinner, boy?"
"Sure," Heath answered. It has been only two days, but he felt like he should catch up with his guildmates before going back to the Tower.
"Alright," Jennia exclaimed, "Foro, prepare your specialty!"
The lizardman could only smile in response.
"My, my," Foronard said while shaking his head in mock disbelief, "trying to get me cooking are you, Jennia?"
"You betcha! May-Mai, drag the boy out if you need to! Tonight, the guild eats together!"
The others roar in response.
Heath could feel someone's arms wrap around his.
"Let's go, Heath!" May-Mai said, brushing aside a stray strand of her wavy silver hair.
"As you wish, my lady," Heath replied.
Heath walked through the main hall of the Guild House, adorned with skulls of the strongest monsters the guild has defeated.
Heath looked at the smiling faces around him. For the first time in the longest time, he felt at ease. At ease even if the outside world considered him a monster, even if he had a troubled past and amnesia to boot, and even if he was unsure of why he was like who he was now.
And it was because of them, his comrades, his friends, his family.
It was because of them, The Heroes of Change Guild, that he was sure of his new mission: to protect them, the ones that accepted him, with all his might.
Never will he imagine that the time to test his will to uphold that mission was coming near.
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