Bound Fate

The three figures hurriedly pulled out their weapons and stood at the entrance of the cave. My guess was they're just as scared as I was when I first met Xymriss. I stood and held my hands out in a placating manner and tried to calm the people down, and then I realized that I had no idea what language it was that they spoke.

"He's casting a spell! Quick, kill the Dragon-kin!!" One of the figures yelled out in a panicked voice before loosing an arrow in my direction. The arrow looked like it was flying in slow motion, and I was able to effortlessly dodge it and watch as it made contact with the wall behind me and released a myriad of sparks.

"S-Shit! He dodged my arrow!" The same man yelled as his companions rushed forward toward Xymriss, who just yawned and looked toward me before saying "Well, at least we won't have to worry about getting you some gear..."

The three figure's gear lit up with a blue light before Xymriss swatted the two charging toward him against the wall, killing them instantly. Before the archer could flee, Xymriss reached out toward him with his mouth and grabbed the man before slinging him against the wall with his comrades.

"Y-You know that the armor they were wearing is probably ruined, r-right..." I said as I held back the urge to vomit as the figure's bodies were revealed by a small floating light orbiting around Xymriss' body; brain matter and blood splattered against the wall included.

Upon closer inspection, however, I saw that the two who foolishly charged toward Xymriss were wearing plate armor with swords and shields that were unharmed by the collision. The archer, however, his leather armor was pretty banged up, but Xymriss assured me that it was already like that before he slung the man.

The good news was that the weapons were in a pristine shape, and that one of the plate armor sets actually fit me near perfectly. As I fastened the straps with a surprising amount of deftness, the image of a young man facing off against a black dragon resurfaced in my mind once more.

Just who was that man...?

I shook my head to rid myself of my thoughts as Xymriss cleared his throat. "Now, there is something I must tell you. These three were most likely Adventurers who were a part of a Guild. If they were, then they should have some type of Soul Crystal on them. A Soul Crystal is the amalgamation of the previous wielder's experiences, and once you possess the Soul Crystal then you can have access to a certain amount of those memories unless you are specifically chosen by that Soul Crystal."

Now that I was intrigued beyond belief, I began to scour the bodies for their Soul Crystals, but only found fragmented pieces of some type of cloudy stone. When I asked Xymriss if this stone used to be a Soul Crystal, he averted his eyes and began to make up excuses or try to change the subject, so I ended up dropping the question in its entirety after a few failed attempts to pry the answer out of the Dragon.

"So, I'm supposed to use these hunks of metal to get food for us..." I mused as I swung the surprisingly light sword around with strangely practiced movements. It was almost as if wielding a weapon came to me naturally...

Before I was able to get too absorbed in my practice, Xymriss cleared his throat with a loud rumble. "Ahem, I think it is time you go hunting since you seem able enough..." I hurriedly sheathed the sword and waved my hand toward Xymriss in a dismissive manner as I began to walk toward the cave's entrance.

The sun's warm rays of light shone down on my body, filling me with a warmth that seemed to drive away the numbing cold clouding my mind. Just having the armor and sword on my body made me feel...complete in a sort of way. Almost like the feeling you get when you have the final piece of a puzzle and it fits perfectly.

As I strolled through the dense forest, I felt myself being lost in the scenery as I looked at the different animals and plants that I had never seen before. Though some of the fauna were less inclined to be friendly toward me, they were some of the easiest kills of my life.

I killed plenty of boars, these weird looking plant-monsters with long vines covered in thorns, and a kind of big bird that I found feasting on the body of one of the dead boars. As I looked at my haul, however, I realized that I would be hard pressed to carry even a single boar back to the cave given its size...

"Well damn. I hardly even remember the way back to the cave as is. I wonder how I'll be able to get all of this meat back safely..." I mused to myself while wracking my brain to find ways to haul these corpses back to the cave. As I thought about this, the crystal I had stored in the pouch I looted from the corpses back at the cave began to glow in a bright purple light.

The bodies the creatures I killed began to glow as well as a large purple-black orb popped out of seemingly nothing and absorbed the carcasses, leaving me utterly confused as to what the seven hells just happened. After blinking my momentary confusion away, I made haste back to the cave to report to Xymriss.

"THEY WHAAAT!?!?"

Xymriss' yell shook the earth for malms around upon hearing my explanation of events. "M-M-Maybe you can say a magic word and make them come back out!?" Xymriss whined as he rolled onto his back and frantically scratched at his head while shutting his eyes and letting out a long "Hmmmm" sound.

"I got it!" Xymriss yelled. My ears were still ringing from his earlier outburst, so that was just adding salt to my wounds. "Try asking for the crystal to let the food out, but very nicely!" I let out a tired sigh and rolled my eyes as I lazily took the purple crystal out from my pouch and said "Oh might crystal, pretty please let our dinner out..."

The selfsame purple 'void' opened up next to me and practically spat out the corpses of the beasts I slaughtered before closing itself and disappearing. Xymriss let out another deafening roar of triumph as he happily snaked his head over and gobbled down all but one of the corpses with a happy grunt.

"Could've left more for me, you know..." I grumbled as I sat down and rested my stiff and sore legs for a moment before I went to fetch wood for a fire.

"I was hungry, how can you blame me after being imprisoned for centuries!"

"Well, I'm hungry as well and I don't even know how long I've lived for! I could be older than you for all we know."

"Blasphemy! Seven hells, you're no older than twenty I say!"

"You don't know that for sure!"

"Oh but I do!"

"Liar!!"

And so we argued for what seemed like a decade as the sun slowly receded and allowed the calming night sky to take its place. After my stomach had begun to growl as loud as Xymriss' snores, I thought it would be an appropriate time to go and gather wood for a fire.

I readied my armor and, after decided that two swords and a bow would be better than one sword, I belted the weapons to my sides and tested the bow's draw before belting its quiver to the back of my waist and slinging the bow over my shoulders.

Though the forest was pitch black and devoid of all light, I could navigate around rather easily. Which was strange, for I could neither see, hear, nor feel anything, but I just knew I was going the right way.

My steps quickened and my heart began to race and my eyes sting from how long I had kept them opened...but I felt that, if I blinked, even for a second, I would lose sight of whatever it was that I was after.

Eventually my steps turned into long strides, and my strides into a full blown sprint. I cared not for the branches and thorns that scraped at my flesh, for my body was...possessed almost. I felt no pain in that moment. I stumbled out of the darkness and the bushes into a large clearing that was completely devoid of all life.

There were no animals, vegetation, nothing save for the large beam of light that shone down upon a lone figure staring up into the night sky. Except...that lone figure shared the same features as myself. His toned, muscled body and tanned skin resembling mine in every way, as well as his pale horns, barbed tail, and black hair with strands of red running all through it.

The man turned his gaze toward me and his eyes widened as tears began to fall down his cheeks. "It can't be..." The man muttered as he took a staggered step towards me. His cheeks were sunken and his eyes bloodshot, and his ribs were showing from under his skin. He clearly had a rough time out here, I thought.

I need to get him to safety. I can't let myself be distracted right now!

I hurried forward and aught the stumbling man as he fell over. "Great. He passed out..." I said with a wry smile on my face. "Well...guess I should bring him back to the cave with Xymriss..."

As I thought about this, a dark purple-black rift opened beside me, like the one I saw when the food was absorbed and spat out, and I could only assume what this one's purpose was. "Guess I'll chance it." I mused as I hoisted the man over my shoulder and stepped through the rift.

No sooner than I could blink, I was back in the cave with Xymriss snoring away and the carcass of the lone boar that Xymriss left for me. 'Looks like I'll be sharing.' I thought as I glanced at the man on my shoulder before propping him up against the wall and setting out for firewood like I had intended to do before.

After I got back to the cave, I went to work and got a fire started after many mistakes and began to cut the boar carcass up into sizable chunks. The smell of the meat must've roused Xymriss, as he lifted his great head and blinked a few times in a lazy manner before literally jolting awake when he saw the near replica of myself laying asleep next to me.

"Its a...long story. I think it will be best told once he awakens and gets some food in his system." Xymriss nodded his head tentatively before shrugging his shoulders and glancing at the many scrapes and punctures on my arms, legs, and face.

"What happened? Get into a fight with a secret lover?" Xymriss asked with a hint of amusement tinging his voice. I clicked my tongue and plopped own onto my back before saying "I wish! After the weird feeling I had once I set out earlier faded, the pain washed over me all at once and I've never wanted to sleep as much as right now!"

Xymriss and I shared a short laugh but, after hearing the unconscious man let out a sharp groan, we both turned quiet as I lifted myself up to my feet. The man began to mutter incoherently as his eyes struggled to open, but his voice began to soon pick up.

"B-Brother...we...we cannot...survive...we have to...run...! Please! Seven hells...its...Bahamut has...awakened!"