Divine Warriors - Irene the Matron

Scene 1: Born (POV: Irene)

I woke up, my head hazy, my vision blurred. With a great heave, I struggled to stand, but instead fell back onto the warm soil. There were only a few things in my mind.

My name is Irene. It means peace, it means forgiveness.

It contains emotion I will never lose.

Before my mind ventured farther, my body betrayed me and forced me to lay on the ground, silent and still. I felt the world drift away before my eyes. And I didn't understand.

2 days later

I blinked my eyes open, and immediately saw a low ceiling above me. The roof was made out of brown straw, and the walls look old and ragged, like they had been standing there for many years.

Seeing myself in an unknown place, I panicked inwardly, but my instincts told me to remain quiet, so I forced myself to wait on the bed until I finally heard voices.

"Do you think she's awake now?"

"I hope so. I wonder what happened to her. A pretty young maiden left in the woods alone? And she's been asleep for a while..."

There was a pause as both of them stopped outside of the door.

"You wait here, I will go to check on her." The same man spoke in a smooth voice.

I opened my eyes slightly and saw a white haired young man with emerald green eyes, walking into the dimly lit room.

He had a sharp metal dagger strapped to his waist and a book in his hand, I immediately noted, my heart beating quickly in my chest.

I waited until he neared the bed, his disappointed voice flowing to my ears as he thought I was still asleep.

Just... a little, bit, closer. Adrenaline rushed from my legs all the way to the tips of my fingertips. One, more, step. I thought.

The man looked over me, and in a swift motion, I grabbed the dagger from his belt and held it up threateningly. It felt surprisingly natural to be holding a dagger.

"Where... am I." I asked slowly, my voice betraying the confidence I had wanted to emit.

"My my," the man's deep green eyes became slits as a small smile appeared on his face.

"I mean no harm, I promise. You were laying in the woods all alone when the village guards found you. The man outside offered to take care of you so they brought you back to this village."

A shiver ran up my arms at his seemingly deceiving voice.

"What's your name, Lady....." the man said, his gaze never leaving my own.

I stared back at him hesitantly, then said quietly the word I had heard in my mind when I first arrived into this world, "Irene."

The man dipped his head slowly. "My name is Enki, and the man waiting outside is Harith."

I lowered the knife cautiously, and my surroundings came rushing back at me. The small room seemed to suffocate me.

I stumbled off the bed, and pushed past the stranger towards the door of the room.

An elderly man was waiting outside in the hallway and reached out a hand to stop me, but I ran past him, my head whirling.

My feet finally stopped moving as I reached clean air. Then I saw the outskirts of the village.

It looked like the village had been recently attacked. The crops were trampled over and the land was picked bare. The village well was broken and crumbling. Strange ghost-shaped spirits floated up from the soil.