Stratus was furious with himself. How could he have done that to the warrior girl? It was shameful! He was now at phoenix castle, he wanted to clean the evil inside his heart and only the beautiful maple forest could do that. He started to kill bandits one after the other almost without thinking what he was doing. He saved some kids who were being attacked by bandits and when they thanked him he only made a vague gesture to send them home. Why did he fill so complete, so happy when he killed? Why couldn't he control himself? After all he was the good guy, right? He was getting tired so he turned around to go to phoenix city. When he got there he saw something that stopped his heart: a young and beautiful girl was sitting on the floor looking at the forest. After the her stopping his heart started beating so fast he thought it would explode. Reuniting his courage he got near her and asked gently:

"You need leveling?"

"Yes if you don't mind"

"Of course not. So, What's your name?"

"Aerenea"

"I am Stratus. Lets go then?"

And they went to kill bandits. They were too strong for her but she dodged them and he killed them, sharing his xp with her. They talked a lot about a lot of things and suddenly he realized what was happening: he was falling in love. No, he already had fell in love but he told nothing to her. Unfortunately after a while she told him she had to go. He was sad but he still told her nothing. He just said:

"I will take you to the city so you don't get killed"

"Thanks"

On they are way they saw a newcomer walking on the forest. Young and foolish, just as Stratus liked. A terrible smile crossed his mouth as he passed his tongue over his lips. He felt happy, complete as he raised his bow, but when he was about to shoot he felt the touch of a warm hand on his shoulder. It was Aerenea.

"Are you ok?"

His evil smile vanished immediately to give place to a pleasant one as he looked to her

"Yes, I am fine, I just thought I saw a bandit"

"Oh, ok"

But he knew she hadn't believed him. They reached the city gates and before he left her there he asked hr if they could be friends. She said yes and he felt the happiest man on Conquer.

After she left he pushed himself against the wall. Why? He wanted to know why was he so evil and so good at the same time. Just like the fire. The very fire who had destroyed his life years ago. But he didn't remember the fire. Neither he remembered the dark figure who touched his shoulder and asked:

"So, Stratus, you want to know what's happened?"

To be continued

Hi guys it is me again hope you liked it! Leave reviews ok?

And once more forgive the errors...

This one was dedicated to my wife (in game) Aerenea who is also my best friend in game.

If u have ideas or want to be part of the story, don't hesitate and email me to guida_policarpo@hotmail.com or whisper Stratus on Faith server