A curious crow perched on a slender branch of an old oak tree, with its claws tightly gripping the wood. Its shiny eyes, as its head moved and twisted, observed and caught every movement that the wind, flowing through trunks and shrubs and herbs, instilled in the forest.
The dark bird had its stomach full, and was now enjoying a comfortable rest. Its feathers fluttered under the light breeze, as it observed a small human underneath itself: that beast moved wildly, in a tremendous rush. Not something a classy bird like itself would do.
Kona was still running. His eyes, frightened and empty, didn't see the black bird above his head. To be more precise, the boy didn't see much of anything at all. In that moment, with heavy legs and a much, much heavier heart, the kid could barely think, as panic and anxiety totally overwhelmed him; but he kept moving.
----
"It's been a great harvest so far, don't you think Junas?"
Kona's dad, Junas, was working in the fields with another farmer, Rult.
"Oh, yes, definitely, but this heat is killing me!"
Junas, using a white handkerchief, one of Eve's gifts from when they were yet to be engaged, wiped his sweaty forehead.
That summer, the crops were growing well, and the fields were producing in abundance for the whole village. Perhaps - thought Junas, while adjusting his long, dark hair around his hair tie - this year they'd have enough to go sell it in the city. Maybe - oh, that was a great idea - he'd bring Kona along, so he'd start to learn the ropes of the trade!
Yeah, Kona...
When he'd woken up that morning, he'd immediately realized that his son was missing. And soon enough, he'd found out that his kid wasn't alone: Gunn's and Layla's family were in the exact same situation.
What the hell were those kids doing, disappearing in the night without saying anything? Surely they were fine, they'd been doing stuff like this all summer long, but the former mercenary couldn't help but feel worried.
The man didn't know it yet, but his gut was unfortunately right.
----
As the trees started thinning out, and the labyrinth of branches and leaves left room for a clear midday sky, the blood-stained boy reached the edge of the forest.
Kona was out of breath, tired, cut and bleeding, but he'd made it back. In that moment, his only objective was finding his parents.
Slowly but surely, all the houses, sheds and stalls started appearing behind the last few trunks. Kona saw the old windmill, where they'd decided to meet just a few hours before. In front of his bright, empty eyes appeared his friends, laughing and running there, right before him.
The pale kid lost all his balance, slipped and fell. The green, fresh grass welcomed him, and for a moment, Kona imagined he could rest there and never get up again.
Then, while he was still face to face with the ground, he felt it again. That raging storm, inside his head, exploded again for an instant.
The pain shook him, and the albino kid got on his feet once again, sprinting past the windmill.
After going around an old stall, Kona found himself on one of the small hills that surrounded the village of Gerga. Further up, just below the forest line, the kid could see the little square with its well, and as his gaze slowly descended on the fields, those pale, empty eyes encountered a man, standing amongst the crops.
There he was.
His father.
Kona sprinted down the hill, racing through the bushes and shrubs.
"FATHEEER! FATHEEER!"
The pale boy started yelling.
Junas, who was busy examining some of the produce, suddenly raised his head, looking around. Just now, he thought he'd heard his son's voice.
"Junas! Junas! It's your little one, but…"
Rult had seen the boy, who was now rushing down the fields, yelling with all of his might. However, the farmer had noticed some weird stains on the boy's clothes. Some red stains…
"Kona! What happ-"
Junas almost choked on his own words. His boy, his little, innocent, joyful boy, was running towards him, shouting and crying at the top of his lungs. Tears running down his eyes, his sweet son was all cut and bruised, and his clothes...
He'd been a mercenary for 15 years, before meeting Eve. At the sight of those red stains, he instantly knew that the red liquid covering Kona was, indeed, blood.
As the boy jumped into his father's arms, Junas held him tightly. His son's face was covered in blood, and tears were now running down his pale cheeks.
"Boy, hey, calm down... Calm down. Your dad's here, hey! Are you ok?"
The boy gulped.
"Kona, listen..."
Junas' words echoed through the fields, as panic and despair twisted his son's face.
"Hey, I can see something happened, I can see it. I'm not mad, alright? Look at me, Kona. I'm not mad at you. Just tell me what's going on, and we'll work it out together, ok?"
His dad didn't want the boy to know, but now he was starting to get really worried. That look, that cry. This wasn't normal. His son couldn't think straight at the moment, and had returned running and shouting, all bruised and covered in blood. What the hell happened to him?
As he was making these evaluations, Junas' mind came to a halt.
Wait a minute. Kona is here. He's so worried he can't even speak, but he's here. But what about the other two? What about Gunn and Layla? I'm sure they were together, I heard Eve talking about this with the other parents. Kona, please don't tell me...
Junas, who'd been hugging his son tightly, now grabbed him from the shoulders. Kona was still shaking and crying, but he had to ask:
"Kona. This here, it's blood, I'm sure of it. Hey. Look at me."
Kona gulped again.
"Look at me when I speak to you! This is blood, but you're not bleeding. Was it them? Your friends? Where are they?"
He didn't want to scare the boy, but if someone was in danger, he had to know. His son was there, and he was grateful for it; but Gunn and Layla, where were they?
The albino boy's brain was reaching its limit. The pressure of all the things that happened was really taking a toll on him: the mind-storm, the weird kid, the... Lake of blood...
Kona almost threw up.
However, despite all of this, he needed to tell his father.
Gathering all of the strength he had remaining, the pale kid lifted up his gaze, towards that black-haired man.
"Da-dad... The ru-r-ruins in the for-forest... Layla and G-G-Gunn..."
In that moment, vivid images of the chamber flashed in his head, and as that blinding white glow replayed in his mind, the boy fainted in his father's arms.