Old Dreams Never Die
Brody sat under a tree, gazing at the fuzzy outline of the distant mountains. He had just finished a battle, and the pain in his right hand hadn't yet faded away. A fluorescent blue light on his arm flickered across his face – Brody was always so expressionless, no matter what he was doing.
With battle after battle and countless pains in his right hand, Brody's memory had gradually been filled up long ago. The reckless boy in the small village, the boy who thought he could defeat everything, and the blazing fire in that village.
For Brody, the days after retrieving his memories were a cold and gloomy bottomless ocean. Between the endless Lantis Mountains, the light and shadow of the rising sun and the setting moon were his only remaining boats, saving him from drowning in the sea.
Brody closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, Benedetta was standing not far behind him.
"You're always looking over at the mountains."
"Have you recalled anything?" Benedetta rarely asked about Brody's past. But now, she felt that the young man's condition seemed worse than she'd thought.
Brody was silent.
"I'm taking a trip to Necrocreep. One of my companions is trapped there. It might be dangerous."
"Let's go." Brody stood up quickly.
Benedetta skillfully took out the map and drew a simple and clear route.
Brody looked at the route she drew, his eyes halting.
Benedetta saw some doubts in him: "Necrokeep houses the evil spirit woman Vexana. If you enter Necrokeep directly from the Lantis Mountains, it is very likely that the undead she controls along the way will be alarmed."
Brody nodded.
"Vexana is extremely powerful… Perhaps, you will see some memories of the past." Benedetta paused for a while, then said.
After a speedy trip, they got to Necrokeep even faster than they expected. Since the orc army was besieging the Moonlit Forest, Benedetta and Brody encountered almost no obstacles in the Stormeye Wasteland, and they reached Necrokeep without a hitch.
"The person we want is trapped in here." Benedetta looked at the sky above Necrokeep with a solemn expression: the clouds were dense, and there was flash of lightning. All of this revealed that Vexana's undead summoning circle had been activated.
Brody followed her gaze. Necrokeep was even more gloomy and treacherous than they expected. The two passed through the dilapidated Hall of the Dead and came to the entrance of the Water Promenade.
"I'll go and deal with this quickly." Brody said to Benedetta.
He jumped nimbly into the promenade and disappeared without a trace.
Benedetta looked at the back of her partner in the distance and gave out a subtle smile.
A fog suddenly appeared up ahead, and an overwhelming cold breath enveloped Benedetta, and there was almost no room to breathe. She clenched the long knife in her hand and stepped out more cautiously – it was obviously a clearing, but she found it almost impossible to move a single step, as if something was holding on to her leg.
As calm as Benedetta was, she felt a little perturbed at this. She tugged at her neckline, trying to make breathing easier for herself.
The fog gradually thickened. Benedetta heard the ringing of bells in the distance, and again and again, the distant bells became close one moment and distant again the next, but every ring seemed to strike her heart. Her head felt dizzy. Suddenly, many illusory figures appeared in the thick fog: the villagers she had not been able to save, the first enemy she had killed, and her father…
Benedetta had a keen sense that something wasn't right: "Vexana!" She drew her long sword, trying to break through the fog and burst out of the magic circle. But then she heard a sharp neighing sound. A long-haired knight wearing a red cloak slowly walked out of the fog on a sturdy horse – it was the queen's loyal knight Leomord – blocking off Benedetta's only road of retreat.
On the other side, Brody got all the way to the Water Promenade unimpeded. This place, which ought to have been full of dangers, was unexpectedly safe. Brody never let go of his guarded right hand. His pace got slower and slower as he watched everything around him carefully.
Suddenly, the bell on the Bell Tower of Despair rang and echoed in the distant mountains like a heavy sigh passing through the gloomy Water Promenade.
Brody stopped.
He found he had come to the end of the promenade. The portraits on both sides had long since gone fuzzy. Only the portrait of Vexana at the end of the corridor was well preserved. Right in front of his eyes, the painting was incredibly lifelike and had a weird smile.
Brody stared at the portrait blankly for two seconds, then turned and left – he realized that he and Benedetta had both been trapped. The Water Promenade was not the most dangerous place, but the Bridge of Annihilation at the entrance was.
It was a path of despair where staying or leaving were both hard choices. Surrounded by thousands of undead, Vexana was easily able to hit the most vulnerable place in people's hearts, leaving everyone trapped on the bridge with huge troubles.
He ran like mad the whole way.
Despite knowing that Benedetta was different from the once unarmed villagers, Brody was still very worried. He clearly knew how strong the power of the past was.
If a person does something regrettable, the pain he suffers is far more intense than physical torture.
Brody's pace got faster and faster. With every step he took, memories of Benedetta flashed back to him.
Before long, he thought he was only composed of the past, and the future was a blank canvas. But now, the moment of fighting side by side under the Lantis Mountains also formed a new memory for him.
The shackles with Benedetta began when Brody had not yet found his own "self". Meeting Benedetta was not just a glimmer of light for Brody in his confusion, but also a rare moment when he felt a glimmer of hope on the road to his search for his memory.
Every moment fighting with Benedetta was the beginning of a new memory for him. Two equally silent people seldom communicate. Even if the memories of the past had been recalled long ago, Brody never took the initiative to speak out about his past, or the past that not even he dared recall.
He thought that maybe Benedetta had guessed something before she decided to stay and face Vexana.
However, only one person trapped by memories is enough.
From the moment Brody stepped into this place, his heart began to thump uncontrollably. Some undead gathered around him and tentatively approached him.
Brody tried to use a lightning arrow to disperse them, but there were more dead souls than he thought. They were shrouded in the thick fog, following Vexana's control, changing their forms around Brody at will, emitting weird laughs and weeps of bitterness.
The weeping was sharp and harsh on the ears.
These noises made Brody terribly upset, and he began to lose control of his strength, subconsciously sending a blow to the gathering place for the undead.
"Uh…" The pain caused by fighting with his right hand seemed to intensify. Brody could endure the pain of every battle, but now his body was trembling with pain.
The laughter of the undead suddenly rose.
Brody let out an angry growl, shaking his body and rushing towards the dense fog. He wanted to raise his hand to attack, but found that in the thick fog, familiar faces appeared in front of him: the village chief, the sheepherder next door, Elle, the little girl from the neighbor's house… these people all appeared on the Bridge of Annihilation. They were either crying or laughing, and shouted Brody's name loudly around him.
Brody's body trembled even more severely… He couldn't even do a simple action like raising his hand. Moreover, he was not fighting, but there was a dull pain in his right hand, which was beating him clearly and slowly.
For some reason, Brody suddenly thought of the time when the old man next door brought him along to chop wood for the first time. When chopping wood, one must strike hard and regularly one piece after another in order to save effort.
He thought his right hand hurt even more.
With repeating pain, more images appeared before his eyes.
Some people search for the meaning of life throughout their lives, but Brody knew when he was young that everything he did was to protect the peace of the village. Let everyone in the village worry about the abyss no longer, so that they no longer have to be cautious when cutting wood or fetching water, and beware of the ravages of the abyss demons.
The meaning of his life was destroyed by his own hands.
Brody bent over in pain…
"Brody!" Benedetta's voice moved from the distance to up close.
Benedetta was fighting fiercely with Leomord, Vexana's powerful magic circle and Leomord made it difficult for her to ward off the blows. When she finally had time to notice her surroundings, she found that Brody was trapped.
She didn't know Brody's past. This person would never mention the past.
But continuous battles had allowed them to cultivate enough tacit understanding. She looked at Brody in front of her and looked at his right hand again in pain.
She knew that the most important thing to do now was to get Brody out of the fog.
"Brody!
Brody!"
Benedetta called out loudly. Her voice made the faces in front of Brody turn more quickly: the village chief, the sheepherder next door, El, the little girl from the neighbor's house, Benedetta…
"Benedetta?!"
How could Benedetta appear among these undead? Brody woke up suddenly, took a deep breath, and looked firmly into the mist with trembling eyelids.
It turned out that the mist contained not only the relatives of the past, but also Benedetta and the villagers living at the foot of the Lantis Mountains.
Vexana's power was being able to not only control the undead, but also make people face their deepest memories head on.
The haze in a person's heart was Vexana's best weapon.
For Brody, the small village had disappeared, but there were still many villages at the foot of the Lantis Mountains suffering from the same fear. It was his greatest wish to resist the demons and save more villages from his suffering.
He needed to protect everyone worthy of protecting, companions, villagers…
Thinking of this, Brody's eyes suddenly lit up, and the thick fog gradually dispersed. He stood up straight, and the lightning arrow in his hand glowed brightly.
"You go from the left and I'll go right. He yelled to Benedetta.
With Brody's help, Benedetta quickly got rid of Leomord's entanglement. The undead also gradually dispersed as the sound of the bell weakened.
Brody looked at the Bridge of Annihilation in the near distance. He took a long breath.
The pain that could not be relieved still would not go away, but a stone fell in Brody's heart. This time, he had the ability to protect the people he wanted to protect.
Benedetta patted Brody on the shoulder: "You came faster than I thought you would."
Without looking at her, Brody lowered his head and said, "Let's go and find the person you're looking for, but we might have to go a different way."
Benedetta nodded noncommitantly: "Let's go."
There were bound to be more heroes at the foot of the Lantis Mountains.
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