Darun woke with a start.
It wasn’t the kind of awakening that slips gently into your consciousness, like the morning sun tickling your eyelids with soft golden rays.
No—this was sudden, violent, as though he had been ripped from the depths of sleep and thrown onto solid stone.
He blinked several times, struggling to adjust to the brilliant light stabbing into his eyes.
The sky.
Clear.
Pure.
Endlessly blue.
No matter how hard one searched, not a single wandering cloud could be found.
He stared for a long moment.
Green fields stretched endlessly in every direction, as though the world had decided to remain green forever.
No rocks.
No sand.
No barren earth.
A gentle breeze swept through the grass, sending waves across the plains like a silent ocean.
Everything was quiet.
Too quiet.
There was nothing else.
No buildings.
No roads.
No familiar faces.
Not even a distant sound to suggest life existed somewhere beyond the horizon.
He tried to remember.
Nothing.
He searched for a name, a face, a song, the scent of a place—anything he could hold on to.
Nothing.
A complete and suffocating void.
As though his memories had once been a magnificent mansion, only for someone to sneak in during the dead of night, steal everything inside, and lock the doors behind them.
“My name…”
He stopped.
Reaching into that emptiness, he searched for even a single fragment.
“…Darun.”
The word emerged slowly, heavily, as though it were the sole survivor of a shipwrecked memory.
As though some part of him had clung to that name the way a drowning man clings to a piece of driftwood in a shoreless sea.
He frowned.
Why did his chest feel so heavy?
Why was there this strange tightness, this anxiety wrapping around his soul like a dense fog that concealed everything beyond it?
It was as if his body remembered something his mind had forgotten.
Where was he?
Who was he?
No answer came.
Only the void, rising and falling within him with every breath, gnawing at him from the inside with silent, relentless teeth.
Suddenly—
A voice.
Soft and clear, yet carrying an undeniable authority beneath its warmth.
It was the voice of someone accustomed to being heard…
and obeyed.
“Hey.
What are you doing over there?”
He turned reluctantly.
There—
A young woman.
Perhaps in her late teens or early twenties.
She stood with quiet confidence, looking as though she belonged to these fields far more than he did.
Her feet were firmly planted, like someone who had been born and raised here.
She was of average height, with a lean build that concealed trained muscles beneath her clothes.
Her rich brown hair was tied into a short ponytail that reached her neck, a few loose strands dancing in the breeze.
Her eyes were brown as well—sharp, intelligent, and filled with unwavering determination.
She wore a simple dark leather armor with no unnecessary ornamentation.
Beneath it was a dark shirt, paired with practical trousers suited for movement.
A medium-length sword rested at her left hip, sheathed as naturally as if it had always been part of her.
He blinked slowly.
Then looked down at himself.
The same clothes.
The same dark leather armor.
The same sword at his waist.
Even the style of his boots was nearly identical.
His frown deepened.
What was going on?
Her voice came again, this time carrying a hint of curiosity, as though she were examining something peculiar.
“What are you doing standing there?
We’re about to leave.
Come on, help out.”
Leave?
We?
Leave for where?
Questions piled up in his mind like autumn leaves caught in a sudden storm.
No answers.
No context.
Nothing to cling to except a single name:
Darun.
He hesitated for a full second.
Then decided to play along.
Something deep inside him told him he had no better option.
“Alright…
I’m coming.”
He rose quickly.
His legs felt steadier than expected.
His body moved naturally despite the confusion clouding his mind.
Yet the heavy emptiness still followed him like a shadow.
Then he followed her.
They crossed the fields together.
The silence between them was noticeable, but not uncomfortable.
She walked with confident strides, clearly knowing where she was headed.
He followed behind, curiosity mingling with quiet unease.
Several minutes later, every step seeming heavier than the last beneath the weight of the void inside him, they finally arrived.
The sight stunned him.
The area was crowded beyond anything he had expected.
Faces everywhere.
People moving, talking, preparing.
All of them wore the same practical clothing, the same dark leather armor, and the same swords.
It was as though someone had decided the entire world should be painted in a single color.
There were too many of them to be a mere group of travelers.
Yet too few to be called a full army.
They existed somewhere in between.
Darun furrowed his brows and asked cautiously,
“How many of us are there?”
Without turning around, she replied,
“A little over two thousand.”
He looked at her, then at the organized groups already moving into formation, each heading toward a designated location as though orders had been given long before he arrived.
“Where exactly are we going?”
She shot him a strange look.
A look mixed with surprise and something else he couldn’t quite identify.
Then she said,
“Where do you think a large group of armed and armored people in formation would be going?”
She paused, perhaps taking pity on him.
Then added in a calmer tone,
“Isn’t it obvious?
It’s a war.”
His eyes widened slightly.
A war?
Now?
And he was part of it?
She let out a small sigh, softening somewhat when she noticed the shock on his face.
“Well…
not a full-scale war.
Just an armed conflict between two provinces.”
Then she continued firmly,
“Our province—Veron.
And Spark Province.
Those bastards.”
He froze.
Fear crept into him like cold rain on a winter day, touching his skin before he fully realized it.
He didn’t know where he was.
He didn’t know who he was.
He knew no history, no context, not a single familiar face.
And suddenly…
He was expected to fight in a war he knew nothing about.
They marched for a long time.
Mostly in silence.
He tried to organize his thoughts, but the emptiness inside him gave him nothing to work with.
The only thing he knew for certain was his name, and that this girl—whose name he didn’t even know—at least knew where she was going.
Then suddenly—
They appeared.
Far on the horizon stood another force.
Small from a distance, yet remarkably similar to their own army in its organization, equipment, and formation.
They waited with calm confidence, like people who had known this moment was coming.
He didn’t need to ask.
Those were the enemy.
A chill slipped through him, soon becoming a crushing dread that tightened around his chest.
Without realizing it, his grip tightened around the hilt of his sword.
His fingers moved before his thoughts did.
The feeling was awful.
Awful enough to make him desperately search for something stable to hold onto.
A few minutes later, a campsite was selected.
Several kilometers away, the opposing force established their own camp.
Between them stretched an empty expanse of land.
A battlefield.
One that had not yet awakened.
Tents were erected.
Supplies were unloaded.
Guard patrols were assigned.
And when night finally fell, the soldiers gathered into small groups around campfires whose flames danced against the darkness.
Tomorrow…
The war would begin.
Darun sat beside one of the fires.
He stared into the flames, searching for something—anything—within their shifting patterns.
Then he suddenly realized something embarrassingly simple.
He didn’t know her name.
Turning toward her, he saw her calmly watching the fire.
With slight hesitation and more than a little embarrassment, he asked,
“Sorry for asking so late…
but could I know your name?”
She laughed.
A genuine laugh.
Warm and natural, rising from somewhere deep within her and filling the air with unexpected comfort.
For a moment, it lightened the oppressive atmosphere, as though someone had opened a window in a room that had long been closed.
“So you finally asked.
I was beginning to think you never would.”
Still smiling, she added,
“My name is Amy.”
He looked at her and felt a trace of embarrassment creep into him.
“Darun.
It’s nice to meet you.”
She looked at him.
Then smiled.
A bright smile.
Warm and radiant, carrying a faint light of its own.
For a brief moment, he could have sworn the darkness around them had taken a step back.
“It’s nice to meet you too.”