Syann's Search for Identity

*"Cantus Vindemiatorum"*

The chant was an old one, and the words came easily to her, as if she had known them her entire life. She was sure it stood for something, but she couldn't quite remember what it meant.

*"Vires inimici propulsabunt... et vos eritis victores."*

She held out her hands, palms up, and a glowing orb of white light appeared in front of her. It pulsed gently, waiting to be released.

*"Faciam ut scintillae ignis evadant de manibus vestris... et quodcumque illud tetigerit, conburebitur!"*

A roar sounded behind her and she turned around just in time to see the beast charging forward with its giant jaws wide open. Its breath smelled rotten, like spoiled meat left out in the sun for far too long. There was no way she could get out of the way in time. The creature would be on top of her before she even knew what happened. Her heart pounded wildly in her chest, but she kept her hands steady and tried to keep her breathing calm even though she was sure that any moment now the beast's teeth would sink into her flesh...

*"Vires inimici propulsabunt... et vos eritis victores!"*

The beast stopped mere feet away from Syann and let out a sound that seemed to almost be a moan of pain before slinking back into the shadows from whence it had come. It still wasn't safe though. There were more monsters lurking between the trees, waiting for their chance to strike at whatever looked tasty enough to be worth eating.

"Syann!" An older voice called out from behind her. She turned around and saw a woman standing there with a hand extended out towards her. Syann gratefully took it and allowed herself to be pulled up onto solid ground again. "Are you alright?" The woman asked with a concerned look on her face as she brushed off some dirt off of Syann's clothes.

"I think so," Syann said while looking around at their surroundings. They were still surrounded by monsters, but they didn't seem interested in coming closer any longer - at least not right now anyway. "Where are we?"

"We're at the edge of the forest where I found you." The older woman took one last look around before nodding with satisfaction and heading off towards the direction they had originally started out from earlier that day. She led Syann through what seemed like endless woods until suddenly they were standing under the bright midday sun again. It took a few moments for Syann's eyes to adjust but when they did she could hardly believe what she was looking at: Before them stood a huge castle made entirely out of red bricks - or was it rust? Whatever it was made out of, it sure didn't look very pleasant now that Syann thought about it. They walked towards a tall gate that stood slightly open and passed through without being stopped by anyone along their way towards a set of large double doors that led into the castle itself. Inside everything looked dusty and almost abandoned - especially considering how big this place seemed to be outside - except for one room where they found another man sitting on top of what appeared to be a throne which had three different coloured cushions sitting on top of each other right next to him (although he barely used any of them). He looked up as soon as they entered through the door and immediately jumped down from his seat without saying anything else than "Mother!" before running over to his mother who opened her arms wide open so he could jump directly into them when he reached them.

"It's good to see you're alive again," he said with relief in his voice while hugging his mother tight enough that she started coughing after just a few moments which made him loosen his grip on her again immediately. The older woman next to Syann cleared her throat and both father and son turned around towards them slowly while still holding onto each other tightly (although the boy's grip was much looser than his father's). "And who is this?" He asked while motioning towards Syann with his free hand while taking small steps backwards towards his throne again where he sat down heavily with a grunt while looking at Syann expectantly while mouthing something along the lines of 'you talk'. His son raised an eyebrow as if asking 'what?' silently before holding up one finger which caused his father to sigh heavily before putting on an exaggeratedly disappointed expression for just long enough for everyone else present to get uncomfortable enough for him to start speaking again: "Oh! I'm sorry! My mind must have gotten lost somewhere along the way." He paused dramatically before continuing: "I'm sorry but I cannot seem to remember your name." His voice sounded much too normal for how ridiculous he looked acting like this which only made everyone feel even more uncomfortable than before but also more amused than anything else which led all four people present (including Syann) bursting out laughing once he stopped talking again although none of them actually knew why they found this whole situation so funny or why they couldn't stop laughing even if they wanted too because every time one person started laughing so did everyone else until they were all bent over holding their stomachs and tears were streaming down their faces (except for Syann who only laughed with silent giggles because she couldn't remember ever laughing like this before). Eventually they all started calming down again until finally no one could laugh anymore even though they all still felt like doing so knowing that it would only make things worse if they did because everyone involved knew that laughter wasn't going anywhere anytime soon and neither was anything else because nothing ever does after all when you consider how everything changes once you start thinking about it closely enough which is why none of them tried even though none of this really mattered because after all nothing ever really matters when you think about it closely enough either although there are some things worth remembering sometimes even if you don't know why exactly because who knows maybe someday you'll find yourself wishing you hadn't forgotten about them?