Lyle began to regain his consciousness, his head was spinning, everything looked blurry, the first thing he noticed was that he was lying on the grass, it was wet, and it was still daytime, so he didn't go off for too long, at least that's what he hoped. He tried to look around from his position but only saw hills and plains, the blur on his sight and the dizziness was of no help to identify where the hell he was. As the senses of the blonde came back, he began feeling a strange smell, the young man could barely recognize it, he knew what it was but right now he could not remember.
Lyle attempted with difficulty to stand up, only managing to kneel where he was, he started to cough, he tried to take a deep breath but it turned out to be difficult as he continued to cough. It didn't take long for him to recover the air, his head stopped spinning, his vision became clear once again, he looked at himself, he had some burns over his body and something else that he didn't quite figure out at first until he noticed it was ash.
"What happened?" Lyle asked to himself, confused, the last thing he remembered, he was trying to find Ascalon to tell him that he did not want to become an adventurer, and the next moment he was lying on the grass covered in ash.
"You should take a look for yourself" Lyle heard Ascalon's voice behind him.
The blonde looked back and saw him sitting on the grass, his axe lying next to him, he also had some burns and was covered in ash. Ascalon pointed his finger for Lyle to look to the front. Lyle hesitated for a moment, he had already made himself an idea of what was going on, and yet, the realization hit hard. The blonde looked at what once was Dawnwood town, now covered in flames that seemed like they came out of hell.
Lyle looked in shock, he was in disbelief.
Who did this?
Why did they?
Lyle stood up, his legs shaking as he took some steps towards the village, but quickly fell to his knees. He wanted to cry, but he could not, there were no tears in his eyes. He wanted to scream, but he could not find the strength to do so. He wanted to call out for his family, for his friends, but he could not articulate any words. The only thing he could do was to show his horror at what happened.
Ascalon continued to sit on the grass, he looked at his friend with no emotion on his face.
They remained there for some minutes, without saying anything, only contemplating the horrific scene in front of their eyes, Lyle was completely horrified, while Ascalon just… looked. Finally, Lyle was able to articulate some words.
"Who…? Why…?" He said, his voice about to break.
Ascalon sighed, he thinked on his words for a brief moment before answering.
"Demons, and if you ask me the reason, I have no idea." The black haired responded.
Lyle was in disbelief. Demons? He knew they existed, but why would a bunch of demons attack them? What had they done to deserve this? Whatever the explanation was, it could not justify such a massacre of so many innocent people.
"I was barely able to get us out. When the attack started I went to your house but it had already been destroyed, then I began running through the streets and came across you, you were just lying there, unconscious, I'm surprised that they didn't attack you. You're lucky" Ascalon told the blonde.
Lucky? He truly didn't feel like it. He looked around but didn't seem like anyone else had managed to escape the attack. Many things were going through his head right now to continue asking questions. The thing he cared the most right now was knowing why in the name of Eternal, demons had attacked his town and reduced it to ashes.
Ascalon looked at him, like knowing what was going on in his head, he began talking. "Those demons".
Lyle looked at Ascalon "They didn't seem like just a bunch of savages, they were wearing some kind of… uniform? I think it's a way to say it because it wasn't armor".
Lyle was confused, what did he mean with this?.
The black haired continued "I've heard some tales of adventurers that have stopped by our town, about a demon empire, making its way into our world".
That declaration was shocking to Lyle, they had been attacked by a demon empire? All of this only made even less sense.
"If I recall correctly, its name is… the Esteller Empire, guided by a powerful demon whose name gives name to his empire. I've heard from those adventurers that most people who face him do not live to tell it, so people don't really know much about him, but what everyone seems to agree with, it's that he is a merciless ruler who causes destruction for the sake of it, he has so much power, that whatever he does, no one has the bravery to put a stop to him for good".
Lyle was even more shocked than he was just moments ago. Did his village get destroyed… for fun? Because someone thought it would be funny to… destroy a town and massacre its inhabitants?!
The horror in Lyle's face was quickly changed into an expression of wrath, he was enraged like he never had been in his life. He wanted to curse, he wanted to scream, he wanted to hit something, but the only thing he could do was to finally cry. After all, what could they do about it? Nothing.
At least that was Lyle's mentality, Ascalon stood up, and told Lyle to stand up as well.
"And for what?" Lyle said in tears.
"What are we gonna do? Go find Esteller and kill him? I can't even cut a tree and you want me to go kill someone who destroys entire towns for fun?!" The blonde yelled in anger.
"Not exactly", Ascalon said, putting his hands on Lyle's shoulders to try and calm him down. "With our current power, It's a lost cause to try, but we can become stronger".
"What would even be the point? It's not like that would bring them back" Lyle exclaimed.
"That is true", Ascalon responded.
"But justice will be finally brought, not only for them, but for all of those that have been killed in cold blood by those demons. Even if you think that is not justice, wouldn't you like to prevent more people from suffering what we have suffered today?" Ascalon said firmly.
That last bit, that… sounded right for Lyle, what they had suffered that day, is something that he did not desire to anyone, and that Esteller's Empire would surely continue to do.
"You're… right, Ascalon" Lyle said.
"That empire has gotten away from the consequences of their actions for too long! Someone has to put an end to it." Lyle declared with determination in his eyes.
"That's the attitude!" Ascalon said with a smile.
"But… What are we gonna do now?" Lyle asked "I mean… we don't have anywhere to go, or rather, we don't know where we should go".
Ascalon smiled. "Worry not my friend, I had actually been thinking of a place to go once we became adventurers, so I think we could go there."
Lyle listened to his friend's words. "The capital of Lisbea, I think that would be a great place to go. From what I've heard of other adventures, it's a good place to get missions and train your abilities."
The blonde was a bit doubtful, everything seemed to go so fast, he looked back at his burning village, he thought of all of his friends and family that had perished under the flames, they deserved to be avenged. Lyle put himself together and looked at Ascalon once again, with fiery determination in his eyes.
"Alright, let's do this" Lyle declared "Let's go to the capital, let's become stronger, and let's kill that demon emperor and make him pay for our friends, family and every single innocent he and his subordinates have ever murdered!"
Ascalon was more than happy to see his friend irradiating this amount of motivation. "We have to get going then. If I'm not wrong we must head west to reach the capital" Ascalon said.
"How long do you think it's gonna take us to travel all the way?" Lyle asked.
"I think the trip takes about… 1 week on foot? I remember that I asked the same adventurer who told me about the capital but I don't remember all that well how much time he told me it took for him to walk from the capital to our town".
"Well, then let's start to walk then, we don't want to waste any time, am I wrong?" Lyle asked with a serious expression on his face.
"You are right, my friend", Ascalon said as he grabbed his axe.
Determined to avenge their people, Lyle and Ascalon began walking to the west, looking to reach the capital of Lisbea, no matter how long it took them, they had an objective set, and they were gonna achieve it no matter what.
As they walked towards the green fields where flowers were blossoming. Lyle had an expression of sheer determination and anger, while Ascalon, he had determination, but anger? sadness? horror? He was smiling, he was feeling excited and wasn't hiding it, almost as if he didn't care what happened to everyone he had known in that town. But Lyle was too blinded by grief, anger and sadness to even notice this lack of empathy from his best friend.
The pair ran into a forest that stood menacingly in front of them, they would have to cross it in order to get to their destiny, Lyle was a bit afraid of going deep into the woods, but Ascalon was not, and seeing the lack of fear on his friend was what he needed to have the bravery to enter the forest alongside his best friend.