The first thing he saw was a man struggling to stand, digging his unsheathed sword into the small cracks in the ground to push himself up. His body seemed to be painted by war; scarred skin and fresh wounds accompanying him. Blood dribbled down his arm like tears, yet he still mustered the courage to stand; prepared to lose his life for some cause not yet known to the one who watched on silently.

He heard a maniacal laugh from behind and turn to find another man, paler and old from the looks of his skin, wrinkled like parchment. He raised a hand and summoned dark magic, shadows coiling around his arm like vines and what appeared to be purple lightning crackling across his skin. Suddenly, the ball of darkness he had created left his hand, growing larger as it rushed towards the one who had finally managed to push himself off the filthy ground.

The one who watched called out a helpless 'No!' and raised his hand, as if he could simply reach out and grab the powerful magic from the air. He summoned his own magic; extreme lightning power he had once read about in a tome. Even as he called upon the power, he wasn't sure he would be successful. But as the lightning cracked from his hand and shot out towards the old man's cluster of shadows, he let forth a small smile of relief. Their magic collided and for a moment all he saw was white. When it faded, he saw the sorcerer's dark, red eyes boring into his own. There was sense of familiarity in them that he could hardly comprehend. In that moment of mere staring at one another, the younger magic user summoned a strong fire magic and flung flames and embers at the other. As the man was swarmed by the raging fire, he dashed to the swordsman.

"Are you okay?" The words fell from his lips as he wondered whether or not they were allies; perhaps he had just attacked his partner and this man was the enemy. The man merely nodded, a half smile on his face as he glanced towards the now dying sorcerer. The flames died and the man fell, patches of skin burnt to black. In his final moments, he gathered his strength to send a weak bout of magic towards them. The young sorcerer pushed the swordsman aside, letting the magic he knew as Nosferatu fling him across the room. He landed with a dull thud, a fresh wound on his shoulder.

He heard the thud of heavy boots as a pair of legs carried the swordsman to where he was. He helped the sorcerer stand, a worry in his eyes but a smile on his face due to their victory. The body lay motionless on the ground, folded into itself.

"Are you alright?" The swordsman asked. The magic user was about to respond that he had a dull headache when he suddenly felt a surge of pain in his chest. The other didn't notice, eyes on the dead man. Finally, he had become like everyone else. "Thanks to you, we carried the day. We can rest easy now." He barely heard the other, hand flying to cradle his forehead as the pain of the headache suddenly tripled. "...hey, what's wrong?" He stared into the swordsman's eyes, now plagued with a small fear. "Hey, ha-" He was cut off by his own scream of pain, stepping backwards and holding his stomach where a bolt of lightning was now lodged. The sorcerer looked down at his own gloved hand, gentle lightning magic cracking across his skin, barely tickling him. He wasn't sure why he had stabbed the man who had expressed worry for him, but it felt right. The swordsman fell to the ground, joining the other dead man.

The one who remained stared at them both, hearing a laughter in his head that was not his own.

Everything went dark and he thought, maybe this is just a dream.

-

"You idiot, we have to do something" He heard the voice, small and youthful but filled with a slight annoyance.

"Well, what do you suggest?" The second voice was deeper, and far more familiar.

His eyes slowly opened, blinking away the tiredness he felt. Two figures stood hovering over him and he realised he was lying on the ground, grass tickling the back of his neck. The one to his right had unnaturally blonde hair and was taller than the other. He held a healing staff in his hand and was clad in white and blue robes. The shorter man had one arm covered by a sleeve and the other bore a strange looking mark on his shoulder. He had his hand placed over the hilt of his sheathed sword.

"I... I don't know" It was the first voice again, and he noticed it had belonged to the taller, blonde one. "Oh, hey there" He held a gentle smile upon his face, though his eyes twinkled with mirth.

"There's better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know" The second one spoke, his honey coloured hair gently waving in the breeze. He didn't bothered to hide his amused grin. "Here, give me your hand"

The one who lay on the ground briefly raised his arm in order to offer his hand to the other but a pained groan left his mouth at the attempt and his arm fell back to his side. "Ugh" He winced, feeling a pain in his stomach.

"Hey, are you okay? What's wrong?" The taller asked, quickly kneeling down beside him. "Are you hurt? Where?" There was no answer and the man on the ground's eyes began to close. "Hey, hey. Stay awake." He placed the healing staff on the ground began a search for any apparent wounds. He undid the ties holding the near-unconscious man's black hood together and ripped it open with fervour. "Oh my gods."

Blood spilled from his stomach like water gushing from a waterfall. He who bled could, however, only see black and he felt himself fading away. He wondered briefly, this would be the only mark he left on the world. A bloody stain on grass and wildflowers that would easily disappear when it next rained.

He felt fingers gently grasp onto his and soothing words of 'you're going to be alright' before strange and foreign words were chanted by the healer at his side. The man on the ground blinked away the lightning swarming in his mind as he tried to stay awake "Thank you, Daehyun” He manages to whisper.

"Wha- How did you know my name?" But the words faded away with the last of his strength and it was simply darkness. He was but a moment away from death, he was near certain. "...Hey....wake up. Please..."