I opened my eyes. I was lying on the floor, on my back. Everything was spinning, my body ached, and the only thing in my vision was a moldy ceiling made of worn-out wood. A ray of light was hitting me directly in the face, passing through one of the many holes in the roof.
After one or two seconds of staring at it without thinking about anything, I decided to get up, something that cost me greatly because of the pain. Once I was fully standing, I looked around the entire room, which was practically empty except for a door and what appeared to be a completely shattered mirror.
I approached it, and what I could make out through the combination of its fragments left me somewhat bewildered. Standing there was a young man... or child, with relatively long dark brown hair, moderately sharp features, and eyes as green as jade. His clothes were somewhat worn, consisting of trousers, a gray long-sleeved shirt, and leather boots.
I didn't understand who he was. Was that me? It couldn't be... or could it?
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember anything; memories simply wouldn't come to me. Where I came from, what my name was, what or who I was.
It was a strange sensation because I could think clearly, not like a newborn child, since I could understand things and their meaning; I was even clearly thinking in a language. I simply couldn't remember my origins.
At that moment, I heard a noise from the other side of the door. I pulled the sleeve of my clothing slightly over my hand and grabbed a considerably large shard of glass from the broken mirror. I pointed it toward the door.
"Is someone there?"
The door opened, and what appeared to be a person peeked inside. "Hey, hey, wait, calm down and lower that. I won't do anything," said the man as he slowly entered through the doorway.
I hesitated for a moment. "Do you know what's going on? I just woke up in this place and I don't have the slightest idea what's happening," I said.
"The truth is, no. I'm in exactly the same situation. I don't know how it is in your case, but I can't even remember who I am," said the man, who, now that I observed him more carefully, looked quite similar to me. He also had dark brown hair, only considerably longer than mine, green eyes, and similar features, though different enough that I wouldn't call him my twin.
"I'm the same..." At that moment, I lowered the shard of glass, though I didn't let go of it. There was nothing wrong with being cautious.
The two of us remained staring blankly ahead for a few moments, absorbed in our thoughts. A few seconds later, he spoke. "We should leave, see if we can figure something out."
After observing him for a second, I replied, "Alright, let's go." I walked over to him, and we left the room, making our way down a long hallway until we reached a rather large hall. The entire place had been completely destroyed by the passage of time. It had clearly been abandoned for a very long time.
"By the way... What's your name?" I asked.
"I don't remember. And you?"
"Neither do I." I shook my head. The question had certainly been stupid; we had just said that neither of us remembered absolutely anything, but it was worth making sure.
As I inspected the hall we found ourselves in, I could deduce that it was some kind of mansion or something similar. We were in the entrance hall. There was a staircase in the middle leading to the second and apparently the third floor, though I couldn't tell very well since that part had collapsed.
We looked toward the large front door, or rather, "door," since there was simply a huge hole where the door should have been. We walked toward it to step outside.
The moment I set foot outside, I felt a warm breeze. It certainly wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold either. We were probably in spring. Looking at the exterior, I could see that we were in the middle of a fairly dense forest. There were other structures that appeared to be auxiliary buildings belonging to the main house. It was obvious at first glance that the vegetation had reclaimed the territory after the place had been completely abandoned.
"It's strange. The place is mainly in poor condition because of the passage of time and abandonment, but... I think this place was... attacked?" he commented.
"How do you know?"
"The destruction here is strange. There are holes in odd places, like the one at the entrance. That clearly wasn't caused by a natural collapse. It's as if someone or something forced its way through."
Now that he mentioned it, he was right. That hole in the main entrance was very strange. At that moment, I tightened my grip slightly on the fragment in my right hand, though not enough for it to tear through the cloth and cut my hand.
A moment later, I loosened my grip and asked again, "Uhm... and also... How can you—or we—deduce that? In theory, we don't remember anything."
He looked at me in disbelief. "I... I don't know."
I shook my head. "In any case, we should leave quickly. I don't know what happened here, but honestly, I don't want to find out," I replied.
"I think the same. From what I can make out, there seems to be a path among those trees on the right. We should follow it and see if it leads us to other people."
We moved away from the grounds, following that stone path. It was worn and overgrown with plants, signs that no one had used it in a long time.
After walking for about ten or fifteen minutes in total silence, we passed through some trees and found a wider, well-maintained road. This one seemed to be used regularly.
"Which way should we go?" I murmured.
"It doesn't matter, I suppose. Either way, it'll probably lead us somewhere."
We headed to the right and kept walking.
As I walked, I became lost in thought. I wondered if, perhaps, if I tried hard enough, I could remember something—anything—but no memories came. It was as if my mind were blocked. I simply couldn't remember who I had been, and that angered me greatly. Without realizing it, I pressed the shard in my hand too hard and gave myself a small cut. It was superficial, but it bled a little.
"Stop," he said in an alarmed tone. "I think I saw something moving in the forest... and it was fast."
I raised my hand with my improvised weapon. At that very moment... something leaped from one of the trees and pounced on my companion. It was an enormous beast, the size of two or three adult humans.
It tried desperately to bite him, but fortunately, he had a dry branch he had collected while we were walking, which he quickly shoved into its mouth to block its jaws.
"Help me!!!" he shouted from beneath the beast. I was truly in shock at what I was seeing, so I hadn't reacted quickly, but as soon as I heard him scream, I snapped out of it.
I gripped the shard tightly and rushed toward the animal. I stabbed the fragment several times into its upper back, behind its neck. The beast shrieked loudly and threw itself backward, allowing the man to escape its jaws.
It was bleeding profusely from the wounds I had inflicted.
At that very instant, the beast lunged at us again. I felt fear—an overwhelming amount of fear. The "weapon" I had been using had shattered completely, cutting my hand rather badly in the process. I had been left unarmed, completely defenseless before such a monstrous predator.
I was about to close my eyes, but then my companion stepped forward, held the branch in front of him as if it were a sword, and... swung it. I certainly thought it was rather foolish to face such a beast with nothing more than a dry branch, but I was completely wrong. A pale blue wave traveled through the branch, from his hand to its tip. When it struck the monster, a shockwave burst forth toward it, sending it flying several meters before it crashed into a tree.
I stared in disbelief at the branch and at my companion. I didn't understand in the slightest what had just happened. Clearly, neither did he, because he looked at his hand in astonishment.
The moment of peace didn't last long, because the beast began to rise again. Even after being thrown several meters away, it was still enormous. A blow like that had been far from enough to kill it.
"C-can you do that again?" I stammered.
"No... I mean, I don't know. I don't even know what just happened."
At the same time, we both looked toward the beast, which had fully risen to its feet. It was much angrier than before. We instinctively stepped backward, and I desperately tried to think of what to do or how to escape, but at that precise moment, something surrounded by a bluish aura flew right past me with a sharp whistle and struck the beast. It was an arrow.
Then another followed, and another. After the fifth arrow, the beast collapsed to the ground, staining everything around it with blood from its heavy bleeding. When we turned around, we saw a much older man with a thick beard. At first glance, he appeared to be in his fifties, perhaps approaching sixty.
"Are you boys alright?" the man asked.
"Yes..." we answered in unison.
"What the hell are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere, without horses or a carriage and completely alone? These roads are far too dangerous to travel like this," the man scolded us.
"We don't know, sir. We woke up in a cabin in the forest without remembering anything, so we followed the road in search of civilization," I answered sheepishly. My companion looked at me warily upon hearing my response.
"Do you seriously think I'm going to believe that?" he replied.
"I-it's true. We were following the road until that beast attacked us out of nowhere," I said desperately.
"He's telling the truth. We really don't remember anything, and we're very grateful that you saved us, but if you don't mind... could I ask if you could tell us where the nearest town is, or wherever it is that you're headed?" my companion unexpectedly added.
The man frowned and studied us carefully. "Tsk, fine... I'll take you with me. I can't just leave two children on their own. My granddaughter would kill me... climb into the back of the cart."
"Thank you very much!" we both replied at the same time.
The man went toward the front of the wagon to handle the horses, but before climbing aboard, he glanced back at us. "And well done back there. Panlagors are formidable beasts."
Now that the beast was dead, I was able to observe it more closely. It was some kind of reptile combined with a feline. It was truly strange. Some parts of its body were covered in scales, while others were covered in fur. Its head was elongated like that of a lizard, and its face had the features of a panther, with extremely sharp teeth—especially its two main fangs.
"A Panlagor..." I murmured.
After that, we followed the old man and climbed into his cart.
***
A few minutes later, we were on our way to who knew where, sitting across from each other in a cart filled with food. I tore part of my sleeve and improvised a bandage for my hand. Fortunately, the wounds weren't very deep.
At that moment, the young man sitting across from me broke the silence.
"You know... when I managed that strange 'attack,' a few faint memories came back to me, like my name—Rowan."
Before I could answer, he spoke again.
"I also know yours."
Surprised, I replied, "And what is it?"
"Luke. Also... I think we're... brothers?"