The scene was fraught with tension as panicked people gathered around the torchlights, trying to comprehend the chaos that had befallen their city. In the background, screams mingled with the clatter of swords, and the scent of blood permeated the damp air.
An old man, gasping for breath, stood before Adonis and said in a trembling voice, "They have arrived..."
Adonis raised an eyebrow and looked at him sharply. "Who do you mean?"
The man replied, his voice almost choked with terror, "They call themselves the Governor's soldiers."
Adonis paused for a moment, trying to analyze the situation. "The Governor's soldiers?"
A woman from the crowd, her face pale and her eyes filled with tears, interjected, "It is said that the Governor wants to annihilate the city of Vania. They took everything we own, leaving us with nothing."
The atmosphere froze for a moment, then the voice of a small child came from afar: "Mother, Mother!" But his voice was drowned out by the escalating screams.
Adonis took heavy steps toward the child, who sat in a pool of blood next to his mother. His eyes, filled with tears, had not yet wept, as if waiting for the final moment of explosion.
The air was thick with the heavy scent of blood, interspersed with the smell of rusty iron, clinging to the nose and causing nausea. He approached slowly, extending his trembling hand toward the woman's neck, searching for a lost pulse. He touched only the stark coldness of death. He staggered back, his heart pounding under the weight of pain, as if the fires of memories had suddenly ignited within him.
His mother's face appeared before him on her sickbed, pale and withered under a dim light. He heard her faint voice whispering from the depths of his burdened memory: "If you had been faster... you would have saved me." It was only an illusory echo, but it wrapped around his heart like a heavy chain, re-waking a wound that had not healed.
Adonis's blue eyes, usually a symbol of his strength, were now drowned in tears. Every heartbeat made the ground tremble beneath his feet. His blood pressure soared until his head almost exploded. Everything began to fade before him. His senses lost their cohesion, sounds mingled with screams of chaos, and fog swallowed colors and shapes. His body collapsed without resistance, his eyes half-closed, his consciousness descending into deep darkness. As chaos screamed around him, Adonis slowly sank into an eternal silence, as if the earth had swallowed him without mercy.
Adonis slowly regained consciousness amidst overlapping sounds and faint whispers. He opened his eyes with difficulty, finding himself lying on a rough blanket in a corner of a dilapidated house. A small group of villagers had gathered around him, their faces a mixture of worry and fear.
He saw an old man bending over him, examining him carefully, then saying in a low voice, "He suddenly fainted. He was standing there, near the child and his mother... then he fell motionless."
Adonis's memory was initially confused, but he soon remembered the scene. The child sitting beside his dead mother, his eyes empty as if staring at nothing. Adonis had approached them, trying to examine the woman. Her cold body, the look of death in her eyes, and the heavy smell of blood, like a mixture of iron and rust—all of it suddenly brought back those painful memories. The memory of his mother, her voice calling him before death took her, that feeling of helplessness that choked him then, returned to attack him as if it were happening again.
One of the men, placing a hand on Adonis's shoulder to prevent him from getting up, said, "Calm down, my son."
Adonis whispered, his voice barely audible, "The child... where is he?"
A woman standing beside him answered, "The child is fine, but he's not speaking. The shock seems to have left him unable to talk. We are trying to take care of him now."
Anger and pain seeped into Adonis's features, but he curbed his emotions, saying in a firmer voice, "What about those who plunder villages and spread death?"
The old man sighed sadly and said, "They are the Governor's army. They come and take everything we own, leaving death and destruction behind."
Adonis closed his eyes, gathering his strength. His body was exhausted, but his mind began to plan. He had to act, to do something to stop this tragedy.
He hadn't fully regained his strength, but a sharp scream pierced the surrounding silence like an arrow. He tried to get up from the bed, despite his heavy body and extreme exhaustion. His steps were faltering as he approached the door, and when he opened it, the sight of chaos outside overwhelmed him.
In the square before him, he saw armed men attacking mercilessly. One dragged an elderly woman by her arm, and a child screamed, trying to hold on to his mother's dress, while others plundered what remained of the village's provisions. Blood mixed with dust, and screams echoed in his ears like the sound of a nightmare he knew too well.
He gripped his sword lying by the door, his body swaying for a moment as if he would fall. The elder who had saved him tried to dissuade him from intervening: "You cannot face them! You can barely stand!"
Adonis took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his strength. He opened his eyes and said in a resolute voice, "The Governor has not abandoned you. This is not true. I promise you that Vania will return to what it was."
Without hesitation, he drew his bow and arrow, preparing to face the approaching attackers on horseback. He accurately released his first arrow, hitting a soldier and knocking him off his horse. He had no time to think and continued to shoot arrows; each shot meant saving a soul or delaying the catastrophe, but the numbers were overwhelming.
Days later, the horse arrived at the palace gates, exhausted but safe, causing a state of astonishment and concern among the servants and soldiers. When Helibor learned of it, he cautiously approached the horse, noticing the signs of exhaustion on its body, along with remnants of dust that spoke of a long and arduous journey.
He froze for a moment, staring at the horse, then asked with deep concern, "Where is Adonis? Why did the horse return alone?"
Without hesitation, he ordered the map of the empire to be brought, his eyes searching for the city of Vania, where the horse seemed to have set off from. With resolve and determination, he declared in a serious voice, "I will go to Vania."