It was after the chaos.

It was after the battle.

It was after the everything in the history book. Nothing was ever written after that "glorious" battle.
Nothing was ever recorded about the huntings after that.

He was one of the unrecorded victim. He was a wandering mage, really not connected to any wars around here. He was just in the wrong time at the wrong place.

"Are you okay now?" I asked while slowly releasing his hand,

He panted and slowly answered, "I... I guess... I'm okay,"

At last we had a time to breathe. We barely escaped the huntings.

"I'm sorry. I didn't get to save your crystal ball,"

He took his time to breathe.

"Th... that's okay. I still have my staff... And my life...,"

"Really, though... What were in their mind? They almost...,"

I suddenly closed my mouth.

"...almost... what?" he asked.

I closed my mouth...

"...I dunno, raped you...?"

He chuckled a bit. He actually looked nice with that expression.

"You mean my clothes?"

Yeah, I found him shirtless when I saw the soldiers dragging him.

"Don't worry. I was just...,"

He took a deep breath. It seemed that he just tried to compose himself.

"I was about to wash myself, actually,"

"...taking a bath?"

"Maybe. I might have given it a thought, if it weren't because of the soldiers...,"

I sighed. The soldiers I fought were so intense. It seemed anything that picked their radar was their enemy. I couldn't blame them. The vicious war must have brushed them so bad. But I never thought it was so awful.

"Er... Sir Knight?"

"Yeah?" I dunno if I deserved that 'Sir'. Like him, I was just wandering.

"Thank you for saving my hide back there...,"

"Hey, that's okay,"

"I mean... I can never repay you, though my life is indebted to you,".

And that was the realization came to me. In that dark forest with such magical atmosphere, I could see him clearly under the moonlight.

He did have a well-toned figure as a mage. While it couldn't be compared to the soldiers, he had his own right to be so tempting.

I... kinda understood why the soldiers wanted him so bad.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

His serene face made me wondering about myself. About my sanity. That might differ me with the soldiers back then. Or not.

I... was in a great branch of my life with him.

---

Commission for  tytklme

The step-by-step can be seen in my tumblr.

If you're interested with this commission, feel free to drop me a note