Adam woke up. He found himself being dragged by a silent and injured Sophia back to the wall where the door was. He sat silently; his body was aching, and he felt broken down and beaten. He just listened to her quiet sobs as she dragged him. She knocked on the door once more.
She uttered the phrase again, but it was dead quiet, so she slammed her body against it. Again and again, nothing happened, and she slid down the wall and sat there. The sun was falling into the night sky, and she looked up at it for a moment before lifting herself up again.
Slowly, she dragged him into one of the nearby houses. The painting of a family on the wall gave Adam a deep sadness that clung to him. The thoughts of that family still clung to his mind; he couldn't think about anything else. His reckless decisions had made people die.
Rain spoke up in his mind once more:
"It was not your fault. Neither of us could have known that a family would still be hiding within this area. No one is holding that event against you."
Adam sat for a moment, looking down at his hands before speaking to him.
"Yes… I will never be able to forget what has happened. My heart will never forget what I could have prevented. I hope to carry it with me until I can make amends to that creature."
Rain spoke nothing more.
Adam found himself trying to speak, and yet he couldn't. He could barely do anything.
Sophia slammed into the door once more, and it finally gave way. The latch broke and the door swung open. The men inside were already dead. It seemed they had died from a disease; they were frozen in place, staring off. Sophia dragged him slowly up the stairs and found a bedroom for a guard station. She sat on it for a moment, sighed, calmed herself down, and then rested him on it.
"Adam, you gave me a purpose. A purpose that let me find and collect myself once more. A purpose to uphold my knight's vow and continue to escort you to the kingdom of Bant. I thank you, Adam, for without you I would not have moved."
Rain vibrated on his wrist but said nothing.
At first Adam was confused, but he figured Rain wanted him to talk to her. His body ached so badly he could barely move at all, let alone speak. He ever so slightly shifted his head, but that was all he could do.
She sat for a moment more on the floor before the bed and found herself falling asleep, leaning against it.
Adam looked upon the flooring, hoping that by tomorrow everything would be fine for him to speak and at least move around.
The sounds of the creatures at night and the moonlight flooding through the stone tower made him slowly drift into sleep alongside her.
His eyes drifted shut, and suddenly he had awoken not in the same place as before, but in a new land, standing before the throne.
A lady dressed in crimson red, followed by a great many beasts, looked down upon him. He sat there gazing at her. An evil smile crept across her face, and she laughed.
"Are you the final holder left within these city walls? You? I am the newfound queen of these lands. A world I create has no place for you. I give you only one opportunity: leave this land before you are taken into my ranks and serve under me, forever loyal to my cause.
I give you this one warning as someone who is closely similar to me in my young years. This is your one and only chance."
Adam stared at her in disbelief but remained steadfast. He stretched and grabbed his jaw, hoping he could speak.
"Can we please talk about this when I'm actually awake?"