《The Fallen》


 The Fallen Rise Once More

    An army of soldiers, mages and slaves head for an abandoned field in the midst of the kingdom of Buhl. With them they bring many cages of all sizes and materials. As the army tramples forward, they find a crack in the sky that seems to be pulsating with magic. The General of the army peers at the crack and lets out a sharp whistle, while rotating his hand in the air.


    "CIRCLE UP! I WANT THIS PLACE LOCKED DOWN IN TEN!" The General is an older man, whos become quite grizzled in his age. He is a tall man, standing 6''6" in his armor. His grey hair and well groomed beared add to the testament of his age. Hopping off his horse and taking the blade from the horses satchel he smacks the horse on its rear, causing it to jolt forward, speeding away. Sheathing the massive, ornate blade upon his back he turns to the female mage that accompanied him.


    "Alright get your mages in line and have them begin the ritual. I want to be out of here before the sun sets." The woman a shorter, fair haired elf, a beauty to behold by all, with her shining blue eyes, white, almost porclein like skin, glimmering in the rays of the sun. She nods to the General and slams her staff in the ground, causing a red flare to shoot in the air. Within seconds she is surrounded by twenty Elven mages.


    "Alright, form the circle and put up your barriers. Remember do not take any risks, they may cost you your life." Each mage nods to the woman and slowly takes their place around the green crack in the sky. Each mage pulls out a colored crystal and begins chanting. The crystals glow and float in the air a good foot infront and above their heads. A few moments later and colored beams, matching the crystal, attack the crack. The General seeing this lets out another loud whistle and tosses on his winged helm.


    "Alright, Towers upfront and catchers behind em!" Four lines of thirty men form up on the eastern, northern, southern and western parts, infront of the mages. Each brandishing large shields, dwarfing their body size by atleast a foot. With the slam of metal Each line slowly walks toward the center and haults. Coming up behind them are soldiers with long metal poles with a sort of rope attached to the end. The General nods.


    "Archers at the ready!" At his signal, a hundred archers take aim toward the center of the magic circle. "Golems up!" 4 mages nod and with glowing hands, point to the center. 4 large creatures made of whitestone walk forward with thunderous steps, standing at the corners of the formations. Like a cornered animal the crack in the sky reacts violently to the attack on it. It sends a green lighting bolt to the ground and a black portal opens up. The General unsheathes his sword and yells.


    "AT THE READY! HERE THEY COME!" As if on queue monsters from every walk of life being pouring out of the portal and engaging the knights. The General notices nothing of importance and calls for the archers to unleash their volley, felling the wave of creatures. Not a breath later more and more pour through.


    "WE''RE HERE FOR THE STRONG CREATURES! CAPTURE THOSE OF UNCOMMON QUALITY OR GREATER! KILL THE REST!" A Catcher manages to snag a vampire broodling that had slipped past the shields and begins shocking it. With screeches of pain and terror it passes out. A few men holding a gold collar, run up and attach it to the creatures neck. Slowly they walk it to a cage and toss it in. The general noticing a few more captures, whistles twice and the Tower Soldiers slam their shields into the ground, creating a barrier and begin attacking the hordes of creatures.


    The center of the magic circle soon develops into a blood bath on both ends. A werewolf managed to break free from its captor, ripping into the soldiers throat and peeling away his armor as if it didn''t matter. Turning it''s attention to the mages it breaks into a mad sprint. The Elven mage noticing the oncoming creature throws up a mana barrier, causing the werewolf to crash into it, sending the Elf flying. Out of fear the Elf begins to run, invigorating the beast to chase. Looking back the Elf can see it''s quickly gaining and tries to cast a spell, but alas was he too slow. The werewolf was on him in a second and was gnashing at his body, turning it into a pile of flesh and blood. The General seeing this barrels into the wolf, knocking it off the remains of the Elven mage. The wolf bears it''s teeth at it''s attacker and immediately charges him. Unfazed by the beasts vigor, The General runs at it, letting it jump at him, but stopping mid run and impales the beast on the edge of his blade.


    It writhes angrily, struggling for its life. The General looks at it, as if pitying it. In one swift, smooth motion he removes his sword and cuts the beasts head from its shoulders. It''s bloodied body falls to the ground and the General turns his attentions back to the center. Seeing that the portal has closed he ventures toward the bloodied field, assessing the damage.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Twenty dead, thirty-three injured." The female elf from before appears before him and bows.


    "Two dead and three injured. I''d say we got off lucky." The General gives her a smile.


    "Lucks got nothing to do with it. Whats the haul?" The Mage gestures for the General to follow her. walking over to the cages are various sleeping creatures. The General walks from cage to cage inspecting the monsters.


    "10 humans, 4 elves, 3 dwarves, 2 vampires, 4 werewolves, 2 demons, a shifter and an angel?" The mage nods.


    "Yes and an unidentified species." The General raies an eyebrow and folds his arms, looking at her.


    "Ooh? Where?" The mage points to the center of the circle and two soldiers carrying a huge body walk slowly toward a giant cage and put it in there. The General and the Mage walk over to the cage and inspect the beast.


    "What the hell is that?" The General looks at the beast with disgust. "Brown fur? Like a werewolf, but it has horns like a demon? And four arms! What the hell kind of monster is this?" The Mage''s hand begins to glow and she waves it over the cage slowly, as if scanning it.


    "You''re right. It''s part werewolf/demon and a little bit stalker." The General spits into the cage.


    "Fucking mongrol is what that is. Alright put it with the others." The two men nod and slowly push the cage near the other, sleeping monsters. At that same moment a wave of heat passes over everyone present and the crack in the sky begins to turn red, while violently shooting out lightning. The General turns toward his men with wide eyes.


    "GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE! WE''VE GOT A SECONDARY CONVERGENCE! GET THE FUCK OUT OF THERE!" Soldiers drop what they''re doing and begin sprinting up the small hill away from the bloodied field. Too late for some as a red streak of lightning crashes into the ground and a portal opens up, spewing liquid magma from its center. Those too slow to escape are caught by the lava and scream out in pain. Those too close to the convergence were instantly swallowed up by the magma. The General looks on in horror.


    "LEAVE THE WOUNDED! TOO ARMS MEN!" Those left standing, turn back to the now pool of lava and ready themselves. The portal closes up and the crack in the sky slowly disapates. An earie calm settles in as the men listen to the bubbles of the lava.


    "On your guard! This could be anything!" The General pulls a shield from the ground and slowly steps forward, toward the lava.


    "Sir I think I see-" Before the man can finish a chain of molten magma appears from the center of the pool, wrapping itself around the man, cutting him in half with ease. Slowly the chain disappears back into the pool, only for another to whip out and incinerate another soldier. Fearing for their lives the soldiers turn tail and sprint away from the pool. The General looks on in horror as a being slowly emerges from the lava.


    The General''s jaw falls open as what appears to be a man made up of black molten rock, oozing with lava that seems to pour from cracks in his skin and the ever so dangerous chains, wrapped around his arms. The General shakes his head from his daze and points his sword at the creature.


    "HALT THERE OR I WILL CUT YOU DOWN!" The creature pauses it''s advance and slowly turns it''s head to the General and what sounds like rocks breaking apart and crumbling, the creature opens its fiery eyes, staring at the General. Seeing the old general before him, the creature laughs.


    "Ha-haha-ha! Your blade can''t hurt me!" Moving his right arm back and quickly forward, the chain attached to it whips forward, snapping the Generals shield and sending him flying. The shield quickly melds to the Generals arm as he screams out in agony.


    "AGGH! ARRRGGHH! AHHHHHH! GET IT OFF ME!" He begins to flail in pain as the molten metal begins to sizzle and meld to his skin. The Elf mage quickly runs up to him and in a quick motion severes the arm and cauterizes the wound. Gesturing to some soldiers, they quickly come to their General''s aid and take him away. The crack of the chains is heard and the Elf mage instinctivly throws up her barrier, causing the chain to hit it and a resounding boom is heard, causing all near to cover their ears.


    Looking on the Elven mage sees the creature ready another attack and quickly throws off a few ice lances in it''s direction. The lances collide with the creature, causing it to lose it''s footing and fall to it''s knees. Not letting up the mage throws out a few , more powerful ice spells at it, causing steam to shoot up in the air, surrounding the creature. Exhausted from spending so much mana in such a small window, the Elf looks on , breathless. As the steam clears, the creature begins to laugh.


    "Pitiful." The creature stands to it''s feet and begins walking in the direction of the mage. Tired and breathless the mage looks on as the monster comes ever closer to her. She smiles.


    "Gotcha!" The Monster looks down and sees a sudden blue magic circle appear bellow it''s feet. Letting out a roar of anger, the monster begins to scream as its impaled by many icespears, jutting from the ground. A minute later and the Elf slowly stands and walks over to the impaled creature. The Elf waves her hand over it and smiles.


    "Hard to kill." She smiles and slaps a collar on the creature, causing it scream again in pain as the electricity from the collar zaps it. Darkness takes him and the last thing he remembers is her smiling face.

 Just a dream.

    Feeling as if an army of ten-thousand men beeting drums is happening in my head, i slowly open my eyes, but I''m not met with sunshine and rainbows, just darkness.


    "Hello?" My voice echoes through and through causing a slight chill to shoot up my spine. I try to stand, but the moment I put any sort of pressure on my legs I''m met with great resistance and am forced back down. I turn to my left and right and giant silvery chains with glowing red markings are attached to my wrists and ankles. I follow the chains only to realize that they''re bound to a small metal square that I''m kneeling on.


    "What the hell?" Slowly I hear a humming sound coming from the chains that gets louder and louder with every passing second. Unable to cover my ears to block the noise I trash about trying to break free of the chains, my suffering echoing throughout this black abyss. Suddenly the humming seizes and the only sound is the clanking of the chains and my heavy breathing. I look around and in the distance I see a white sploch.


    "Hello? Hey you!" I try to wave, but the chains seem to tighten more and more. Fighting as much as I can the chains pull back until my arms and legs are stretched behind me and I''m painfully floating within the air. I look to the white sploch again and blink. The moment I open my eyes the white splosh is infront of my face and I see that it''s a white mask that''s smiling ominously. It backs up from my and I let out the breath I hadn''t know I was holding. The mask tilts itself sides ways and back up a few times as if it''s trying to communicate with me or dance or I don''t know what the fuck it''s doing.


    It does this for a few minutes until I realize that more masks appear each with a different expression on it''s face, but all are white. The hairs on my neck stand on end and suddenly the chains let loose of their hold, dropping me to the ground harshly. Wincing I look back up only to be surrounded by hundreds if not thousands of white masks. I look on in both horror and amazement at the display before me. I shake my head and begin to rock back and forth.


    "This isn''t real. It''s just a dream. This isn''t real." I do this until I hear a voice or voices? It sounds like many-many voices ontop of one another both male and female, child and adult. The masks part a path infront of me revealing what appears to be a very giant frowning mask floating.


    "Who-what are you?" All the masks turn to me and the big one slowly bobs it''s way over to me.


    "We are ''The Fallen''. " Annoying. I close my eyes and let out a breath. Calm down, think rationally. This isn''t real. I open my eyes in the hopes that I would be back in my bed, but nope. I let out a sigh and sit in a sort of pretzel like position leaning against my arms.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    "You say that like I should know what the hell that is?" The giant mask begins slowly floating around me speaking in it''s creepy, ominous voice.


    "Every great tale has it''s mighty hero. Every great hero has his or her own mighty tale." Oh, great it speaks in riddles. "The Fallen are the souls of those that never made it to the Well of Souls. With no place to go we wind up here trapped, isolated and cold." I look around me at the many masks.


    "What is the Well of Souls?" The Mask shimmies and what sounds like bells chimes off it.


    "It is the birth place of all that is and all that ever will be. Outside time, space and reality. It is both constant and never moving. How it came to be is unknown, but it is a place of birth and rebirth. A place all souls seek, one we cannot reach." I look down at my hands and notice pink skin, instead of the molten rock.


    "Then what am I?" The giant mask briskly appears infront of me and stares at me.


    "You are us and we are you." More riddles.


    "And what does that mean?" The mask floats into the darkness and flies around some.


    "You are our way out, our way home." I ponder this information, if one can even ponder the impossible.


    "But, that doesn''t answer what I am? My memories their...fuzzy." The mask floats back down infront of me.


    "Think. Remember. Focus." I close my eyes and relax. Sweat drips from my brow and small images flash before my vision. I''m back in my bed, but then I''m walking somewhere and then - darkness." A realization hits me.


    "I''m dead." The mask seems to laugh.


    "As are we all. But we saved you and with your memories and our own, we remade you. The motlen rock is and was us remaking you, a pod or a second skin if you will." I stare down at my hands, flexing and extending my fingers.


    "What is my purpose?" The mask shrinks and begins to spin around me.


    "To live, to love and to die." Ominous.


    "What do you mean?" A black hand stretches from the mask and pushes itself into my chest. I suddenly grow cold, so very cold.


    "You are us and we are you. You our are anchor to the realm of the living and you shall be our bridge to the Well of Souls. Your destiny is to die, so that we and any Fallen can have a future." The coldness continue and I begin to shiver.


    "Wh-why m-m-me?" My teeth chatter as I speak.


    "Because we are you and you are us. The journey is improbable, maybe even impossible and should you fail you will be stuck here with us. Each mask you see is a person that has failed this journey, time and time again." Emptiness, cold, darkness are the only things I see when I look into the eyes of those that surround me.


    "And how do I do this impossible task?" The masks frown turns to a grin.


    "You find the Tree of Life and you jump." A shiver goes up my spine and I shake. Suddenly the mask reaches out and taps me on the head, causing me to fall into the blackness. I jump awake to the sun shining and the birds chirping. Taking in my surroundings I rub my head.


    "Just a dream."

 A leap of faith

    "What''d you say, freak?" I hear a harsh voice to my right. I turn to look at him and am met by the back end of some sort of pole to my cheek. I flinch and glare at the man.


    "Do that again I DARE you!" He smiles and I see him touch some sort of glowing rock on his wrist, causing me to be floored to the ground from some sort of shock. Heat and pain spread throughout my body as I try to catch my breath. A few seconds later and it stops with the man laughing wildly to himself.


    "An''t so scary without all that rock on ye now are ye?" I look down and see a small pile of dirty slowly blowing away. Second skin. My dream seems to replay through my head and I let out an audible breath.


    "Where are we going?" The man touches the crystal again and again i''m left being shocked to the floor of my cage. He takes his hand off and it stops. I feel like I should kill this man.


    "You don''t ask questions, freak! You''re property of his majesty-" A commanding feminine voice causes the man to hault mid sentence.


    "DO NOT FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" The guard''s eyes widen and he salutes the oncoming female rider. She''s sporting robes of some sort, but my attention is brought to her sleek, beautifully pale face with light saphire like eyes that are hidden behind thick lashes. Her beauty leaves me wanting, but once I realize who I''m staring at. My eyebrows furrow and my mouth goes into a thin line. She turns her horse and rides alongside my cage, replacing the guard.


    "Ahh, you''re awake." I squint at her and cross my arms.


    "Yes and your alive. How, unfortunate." A smile appears on her face.


    "You''re strong. If you hadn''t been in that berserk state I would have been torn to shreds by you. But, alas your there and I''m here." This. Bitch. I want to rip her off that damn horse and slam her pretty little head into this cage. Another shock comes from the collar that causes me to wince with pain. She begins to laugh.


    "Ha-haha! No bad thoughts about your captors or my little friend there-" She points to the collar on my neck. "-will just keep zapping you." No bad thoughts? Hmm, what about sarcastic ones? I feel another zap and I click my tonque. She raises an eyebrow in my direction and stares at me.


    "You''re not a quick learner." She smirks and begins to trot her horse around the carriage carrying me, almost like shes taunting me. I swear to whatever god or gods or deity that exists in this fucking hellhole of a world that I will have my way when i''m out of this FUCKING CAGE. I feel my heart beating rapidly and my breathing begins to quicken as my muscles tense up.


    "Oooh, you''re quite handsome with out all that rock. That short mussied up brown hair, with those dangerous green eyes that seem to be glaring at me to those bulging pectorals , you''re quite the looker. You''d make one hell of a consort and I bet any woman would be happy to see those abs put to good work." An almost animalstic snarl escapes my mouth and I whip my head to stare at her. This causes her horse to buck and almost throw her off. Once she has it settled she glares at me.


    "I''m not some damn show pony. You want some male eye candy go somewhere else." I wave her away and sit my legs in a more comfortable, pretzel styled position.


    "Show pony? Apt. More breeding mare, but show pony will do for now." Her remark catches me off guard.


    "You can''t be serious?" She laughs.


    "Hahaha-ha! Deadly serious. You''re all slaves and those of you that don''t serve a combat role will be put to work. Depending on a few things that work could be menial jobs or it could be things such as a consort. All depends on to whom you''re sold." I rub my head. I realy fucking hate slavery. My carriage begins to slow down and I notice we''re nearing some sort of fort or castle. I turn to the witch beside me and see she''s smiling.


    "This is where we depart ways, but don''t worry, we''ll be seeing eachother shortly." She gives me a fake pouting face and trots off with a laugh. Yep, I''m going to kill that witch. Soon we''re in some sort of tunnel that leads to an open courtyard. As soon as the last carriage is in I look back and see that a massive stone gate has slammed down where the tunnel was and I frown. A few more minutes later and the guards have the carriages opened and are ushering out it''s inhabitants. Let''s have some fun.


    I see about 5-6 guards per cage, but when they get to mine there is at least twenty. I smile and begin laughing. I see this causes the guards to slowly tense up and point their weapons in my direction. Swords, spears, bows? How medieval.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Go unlock it!" A guard pushes another one infront and the man slowly walks towards the cage shaking. He manges to get to the cage, but fumbles with the keys and looks at me.


    "Boo." i jump forward and the man drops the keys and falls back. I quickly, dexteriously catch the keys and bring them into my cage. In that moment the collar activates and begins shocking me, but I resist and slowly try each key on the collar until one fits. I twist the key and the collar drops to the bottom of my cage with a thud. Finally! I slowly unlock the other chains and the door to my cage. I jump down and begin stretching.


    "Alright let''s fucking party!"


    "STOP THAT MAN! ARCHERS SHOOT TO KILL!"


    I hear another commanding feminine voice yell from a distance. I see a couple of bolts shoot in my direction and swiftly dodge them as I run towards the group of knights. The group seems to get into some sort of formation like a shield wall and I smile. Breaking into a dead sprint I run up the shields, jumping off the top, grabbing onto the wall and swing myself over the butresses. On top of the wall I see an archer arming his crossbow and I rush him. He drops his crossbow and goes for the sword at his side. Smart, but too slow. I use my entire weight and momentum and push into his hilt, keeping his sword in it''s sheethe. We wrestle for a bit before I decide to headbutt him in the nose. A satsifying crack is heard and he drops to his kness clenching his nose. I follow up with a kick to the side of his head and he falls to the ground with a clank and a thump. I pull out the short-sword and quickly prepare myself for the oncoming soldiers.


    "GET HIM! DON''T LET HIM ESCAPE!"The female voice roars in anger.


    I look over the wall and see it''s an incredibly steep drop into some sort of moat. Quickly thinking I hoist up the unconcious man and lift him over the wall and grab onto his belt, using his weight to pull me over. We quickly meet the ground, but I use his body to soak up most of the hit as we smack the rockface and tumble into the water. I shoot up for air and begin swimming to the other side.


    Not a moment later I feel a sharp pain in my leg and surmise that I''ve been hit by an arrow. I cringe at the pain, but the adrenaline high I''m currently on blocks most of it out. I reach the otherside of the small moat and hoist myself on the rocks. In the distance I can hear the gears of the gate opening along with a lot of shouting.


    Not waisting a moment I scale the small rockface and shoot up and over the last bit, landing on solid ground. Not wanting to get shot again I bob and weave as more bolts and arrows whiz past me. I feel a few more ticks as arrows enter my body. Wincing and feeling incredibly hot, I continue sprinting toward the thick forest that surrounds this place. I hide behind a tree and begin panting breaths. I hear a few clicks and the sudden beat of a bunch of hooves.


    "Great, now i''ve got the cavalry after me." I suck in air and sprint more into the forest, heading for the thickest parts. Not really paying attention to where I''m heading as this way is away from the many knights. The loud clomping of hooves behind me has me worried, but I dare not look back.


    "There he is! Get him!"


    I hear the men whip their horses harder and harder. Quickly scanning the forest I suddenly adjust my path, causing me to slide in the foliage and almost lose my footing. I manage to get myself right and head towards the sound of water.


    "HE''S HEADED TOWARD THE FALLS! DON''T LET HIM ESCAPE!"


    I smile and brace myself for the jump that I''m making. I hear the roaring of a waterfall as a thought appears in my brain. I don''t know how deep this waterfall drops. I feel a part of myself begin to hesitate. Ignore that, it''s either the falls or you become a breeding mare. I see the edge of the forest and I leep off the edge as far as I can. I look down and my heart sinks. That''s a long drop. I suddenly plummit down and hear the sound of a horse screeching. Oh this is going to hurt like a BITCH. Trying to lesson the pain I whip the sword in my hand into the water bellow me in the hopes that it breaks the surface tension of the water, allowing me better access. I hit the water with very hard smack. I push myself up from the water as I eagerly and desperately suck in air.


    Treading water, I tilt my head and see that the soldiers are staring at me from the top of that cliff. I can barely see them as i realize that that is a VERY large drop. I swallow a lump in my throat and let myself get dragged by the current of the river. After a few minutes of drifting down the river I slowly manage to swim my way to the edge of the ever increasing river and flop on the edge. My body now finally able to relax, begins to feel the pain of the arrows imbeded in my flesh and the pain my lungs have been through in the last stretches of my day. I examine each arrow as I figure out how to deal with them.


    Two in my leg, calf and thigh. One in my shoulder and one in my forearm. Calf and forearm are through and through, but the thigh and shoulder isn''t. The through and through''s I can push the rest of the arrow through and patch the wound. The other two are going to need some sort of rudimentary surgery orrrr. I brace myself for what i''ve thought of and grab the arrow in my shoulder. I take in a few quick breaths trying to hype myself up. Alright on three.


    "One. Two annnnd-" With all my strength I push the arrow the rest of the way through my shoulder, but making sure that there is still enough wood to block the wound.


    "-Three." Wincing and taking in a breath I snap the arrow head and shaft of this arrow. One down, two to go. Looking toward the other two arrows I snap the barb and shaft on those as well, but leave the one in my thigh alone. Don''t wanna nic something and bleed out even faster. I sigh and scootch my way over to a tree, pressing my back to it and slowly, but surely manage to stand up. Fuck yeah, now I just need to get out of these damned woods. I let out a sigh and begin painfully hobbling my way through the forest. A thought suddenly enters my head.


    "A mare is a female horse. Wouldn''t I be a stallion?" I laugh to myself. God I''ve got a long way to go and I don''t even know where i''m going!

 The end of a long day

    Slowly moving through the forest is a pain in my ass. I''m starting to feel a bit cold and my skin is feeling clamy. Some sort of instincts kick in and I check my heart rate by putting two fingers against my throat. Yep, my hreat rate has slightly increased. Stage two of Hypovolemia here I come! Blood loss is a bitch. But, how the hell do I know this? As far as I can remember, which by the way isn''t fucking much, I was some sort of shut-in. I''d go to work, come home to eat/sleep and the rest of the time was spent playing games or reading. I don''t recall ever learning about blood loss or the stages therein. I hear a whisper that causes me to free dead in my tracks and scan the forest.


    "We are you."


    My eyes widen and I frantically limp toward a tree and peak around it''s edges. Nothing? I shut my eyes and focus on my hearing. Again, nothing besides the sounds of trees rustling and small animals scampering about.


    "And you are us."


    I shake my head while smacking the sides.


    "You''re just hearing things-" I try to recall my name, but nothing. The sudden realization causes me to drop to my ass and lean against the tree. "-Who am I?" Feeling my breathing speeding up and my heart beating faster I put my head between my knees and take in deep breaths.


    "Don''t panic-calm down. Freaking out will only make us bleed out even quicker." Shutting my eyes I begin to rock back and forth until I feel my heartbeat drop and my nerves calmed. Good, good don''t freak out! Don''t freak-


    *snap*


    The sound of a twig or branch snapping nearby has my heartbeat raising again. Great! I stand as quickly as I''m able, using the tree as some sort of cover and peek my head out. The person I see has my blood boiling and my teeth grinding against eachother. That pale skin, the long blonde hair woven into a braid and that getup It''s her-that god damn witch! In my anger and hate I forget all about my wounds and my situation and bolt straight towards the woman, tackling her to the ground. In my rage and fury I pull back a fist ready to beat the shit out of this woman, when her hood falls off and her face gives her away. It''s someone else. Her hands go up to protect her face and she looks away with an expectant look.


    I close my eyes and take in deep breaths yet again and slowly climb off the startled woman, falling back to another nearby tree, staring at her. Slowly she comes to the realization that I''m not here to hurt her and she to sits up staring at me. I watch as her eyes dart to my wounds and a small frown appears on her face.


    "You''re hurt."


    Ahh, good she speaks english. Or atleast I hope it''s english we''re speaking? Sure as hell sounds like it. I sit up with a groan and look down. Blood now covers my chest from the shoulder wound and the ripped up black pants are seemingly soaked with blood. Woo, great first impression! I smack myself inwardly. Sighing I manage to stand once more and turn tail, continuing my journey through this damned forest. If that lady wants to backstab me and kill me, let her.


    As I walk I hear footsteps behind me. Great, she''s following me. Speed up some, maybe she''ll go away and I can continue this journey of self thought. Slowly I pick up my pace only to hear her do so as well. Ugh, can''t she take a hint and either kill me or leave me alone? With frustration I stop and feel a small thud against my back and hear her fall to the ground. I turn around and stare at the woman that''s now rubbing her head.


    "That hurt! Why''d you have to stop?" I glare at her and she glares back. Content to win this pseudo staring contest, I cross my arms and plant my feet. I see her blush and turn her head. Inwardly I pump my fist.


    "Why are you following me?" She stands up and brushes her robe/cloak off and gives me a displeased look.


    "Oh fine don''t help the lady up. Jerk." I barely hear her whisper the last part and shrug.


    "You bumped into me while stalking me through a forest for I don''t even know HOW long." She glares at me again and puts her hands on her hips to try and make herself seem intimidating.


    "I wasn''t stalking you! I followed a trail of blood thinking it was an injured animal." She eyes me up then down and smiles. "Looks like I was right." Dumb founded at the sort of balls on this chick to insult someone atleast a foot higher then her while being within arms reach I laugh.


    "Haha-haha!" I hunch over from the laughing, but the pain comes back and I hiss, bringing a hand to the bolt in my shoulder. I look to the woman who''s face has contorted into one of anger/confusion and want to laugh again. She just looks so cute, I can''t find this situation not funny!


    "Do you want my help or not? Because, the way I see it you''ve got maybe another hour or so before you pass out or some animal follows the very large trail you''ve left and eats you." She makes a point and I could really use a rest. I frown and rub the back of my head.


    "Lead the way then miss." I gesture my hand towards her and she hops in the air, twisting around giggling. Ugh, this better not bite me in the ass.


    25 minutes later.


    Slowly we start coming up on a village that has a farely large wooden wall and from what I can tell they seem to have some treehouses. Interesting, if it wasn''t for me slowly dieing I''d be a bit more impressed and maybe even awed. We come up to a ramshackled gate and this sort of creature made up of wood, vines and other foresty parts pulls itself from the wall and stops us. The little lady speaks a different language to it that sounds a bit like spanish, but with a lot more S''s and A''s. Beautiful, but at the same time kind of sounds like a mouthful.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    She nods and I saunder over to her and poke her in the side. She jumps at this and looks at me with a very red, shocked face. Little miss saviour has a sensitive spot!


    "What the heck was that for?" I shrug.


    "What''d the freaky wooden wall creature say?" She gives me an odd look and shakes her head.


    "It''s getting the clan healer and a couple of guards with a stretcher."


    "Bah!" I wave her down. "I walked all the way here! I don''t need a damn stretcher." She walks over to me with a mean glare and points a finger up at me, not breaking eye contact once again.


    "You will get on the stretcher or so help me godess!" I smile at her.


    "What? What will you do?" She smiles and pulls on the arrow in my shoulder, causing me to fall to the ground in pain, gripping my shoulder. I give her a mean look and throw up my hands.


    "Alright! You win! I''ll get on the damn stretcher." She puts her hands behind her back and gives me a big smile. I really hope annoying me isn''t an inborn racial trait. She and that witch are REALLY good at it. Soon a small platoon of maybe ten guards comes with a man with large pointy ears, sporting long blonde locks (go figure) and a very neat white robe. Two men lower the stretcher and as best as I can manage, I hop on.


    A very shakey, disorienting walk later and we''ve arrived at some sort of house built into an incredibly large tree. I mean this thing could easily fit a hundred people around it''s trunk. How the hell did I not notice this thing from the outside? The guards put me on some sort of wooden table and pull out the wooden sticks that they used to carry me and nod to the ''healer'' . He nods back and quickly begins examining me.


    "This is going to feel wierd, but I need to do it." I look to the woman that followed me and she just shrugs. A lot of help she is right now. I look back to the man and see his hands are glowing green and my eyes widen with shock. I try to back away, but he forces me down and shakes his head.


    "Sit still."


    I nod, not really sure what else to do, but stare at his hands. Slowly he waves over each wound and finally my head. I don''t know how to really explain what it feels like, but it kind of feels warm? I see him frown and walk over to some sort of green orb sitting in some sort of makeshift stand and he touches it. It glows and I sit up, trying to get a better look. I think he sees me trying as he grabs it and brings it over to the table.


    "It''s a medical device that allows me to input data that I took from you and gives me an analysis back." I nod. He scans it for a bit, then gets up and puts it back on it''s stand, walking over to me.


    "You''re banged up, but very fixable." He waves over the woman. "By the way, I''m Keeper Sy''lasin Valtas and thats my daughter-" He gets cut off by the woman.


    "Elise Valtas!" She gives me a giddy smile and I shake their hands.


    "I''m-well I don''t know." Both of them give me a confused expression and I manage to shrug.


    "A hundred percent honesty?" Both nod. I suck in a breath and sigh. Here we go. "I came from something called a converegence point? I''m not sure what that is, but some people found me and took me to their castle or fort or something and I escaped. I was wounded escaping and now I''m here." Both seem taken back by this and I frown. Great, I realllly hope they don''t try to turn me in or something. I hear a sigh leave from the keeper.


    "That''s okay. I''m guessing you don''t have a name then?" I shake my head and I hear Elise clapping.


    "OOOHHH! Can I pick one?" I shrug, why not?


    "Go ahead." She claps again and begins pacing around a bit as The Keepr goes about mending my wounds.


    "This is going to hurt-well a lot." I brace myself for whats about to happen as he pulls the arrow from my shoulder. Warm pain shoots throughout my shoulder as I slam into the table with a grunt.


    "Thomas? No, Vulker!" Really now? I shake my head at both. She goes back to pacing. I watch as The Keeper goes to each arrow and painfully removes them and the blood starts flowing. He motions for Elise and she comes over to me and her hands begin to glow as well.


    "What are you doing?" The Keeper looks at me and gives me a wry smile.


    "We''re using healing magic to clean the wounds, then we''ll apply a poultice to it and wrap each section. After a couple days we''ll finish it off with a restorative magic and you''ll be as good as new!" Elise coughs.


    "Buuuuut, you''ll still have minor scarring. Healing magic is great, but it''s incredibly hard on the body." Healing magic? Just nod you''re head like you''re in full understanding. I give them a nod. A few minutes go by and the pain from the wounds fades and I begin to feel tired. A yawn escapes me and I apologize.


    "Sorry, I must be tired." Elise laughs and the Keeper gives me a smile.


    "Healing magic is very soothing , but I imagine with all the running you''ve been doing and the amount of blood loss that you would be feeling a bit tired. Try to fight it for a bit longer, we need to get some fluids and a bit of food in you to aid in the healing." Again nodding, I kind of feel helpless all I seem to be able to do is nod. I rest my ahead against the table and let the two of the finish up.


    "What about Edward? Or Jack?" I shake my head. I hear her huff out some air clearly annoyed. The Keeper laughs and I let a smile creep on my face.


    "What about Terryn?" The Keepr chimes in and I kind of like the sound of that.


    "Alright Terryn it is! Could be Terry for a nickname." Elise sighs and lets out a grunt.


    "I was suppose to come up with a name!" Both the Keeper and I let out a laugh. She soon joins in and the two end their healing magic and start applying this smelly goopy shit to my wounds. They then wrap it and back away, inspecting their work.


    "Alright you can stand up, but do it slowly." I hold out my hand and he helps me up. Once up I stretch a few times and give them a reassuring smile.


    "I don''t really know how I can repay you?" He waves me off.


    "Just stick around for a bit. We don''t have many young men that can help with some of the more difficult tasks. We could surely use your help." I mean they''ve done nothing, but be helpful to me so far and I do owe them, buuuut I don''t really know them? They could just be keeping me around until those slaver bastards get here. I frown. I think the Keeper can sense my thoughts as he chimes in.


    "We''re not going to call the fort, if that''s what you''re worried about. You''ve done nothing to hurt or attack my people, so you''re okay in my eyes." I let out a sigh and nod.


    "Okay, I guess I''ll stay for a bit. I do owe you after all." Elise gets excited and jumps into my arms, giving me a hug. I smile and hug her back.


    "Good, but you have to promise to not agitate your wounds!" She backs away from the hug and gives me a stern almost motherly look.


    "Alright, but I was promised food and I''m pretty sure I don''t know how to cook." She laughs and the Keeper shakes his head. Today turned out pretty good.

 The Proposal

    Two weeks later.


    Shielding my eyes from the invading sunshine I sit up in my bed. Looking aroud my room I see the smiling face of Elise.


    "Well good morning too you too!" I throw the blankets off me and sit up with a stretch and a yawn. I give her a quick wink and she blushes.


    "Good morning! The clan is all having breakfest on the long tables and of course you''re invited!" I smile and walk over to my farely large closet. I look back at Elise with a smile.


    "Might want to leave or you''re gonna get an eye full." I watch as she tenses up and quickly scurries out of the room. She''s fun to tease. With the slam of the door and the sounds of her feet pounding on the stairs I turn back to my closet and grab my clothes. With the Elven population being mostly women their sense of style for men is simple, usually a tan or green shirt with a foresty design in it and some tan leather pants. They make for good all around clothes if I ever need to do manual labor and being one of six men here at the town, I do a lot of manual labor.


    Tugging on the clothes and throwing on a leather armor chest piece and some simple leather boots, I give myself a last look through in the mirrow and nod. Bounding down the stairs I''m greeted by the Keeper.


    "Mas''seloras, Terryn." He bows to me and I bow back.


    "Mas''seluris, Keeper." He shakes his head at me.


    "ORAS not URIS. A child would know better!" He gives me a playful smile. I rub my head and smile back.


    "This language is a lot harder then I thought it''d be." He glares at me.


    "Maybe if you actually attended your lessons, you''d know it by now!" I sprint out the door and hear him laughing behind me.


    "WHAT WAS THAT I COULDN''T HEAR YOU!" It''s not that I don''t want to know the language, It''s that the language is fucking impossible! So many words have different meanings, but those meanings are only known based on the composition of the sentence and/or how you''re or who you''re speaking to. It''s confusing and i''ve managed the basics. Slowing down to a walk I look around and see a few more guards posted then usual. Shrugging I see Elise and a few others setting the tables and jog over to help.


    "Mas''selORAS, ladies." I bow to them and the group of women each bow back.


    "Mas''seloras!" They say in unison. From what I gather it simply means: "Good Morning.", but I''m not quite sure, I just know its a greeting.  I grab a basket full of bread from an elder and place it on the table, quickly running back to her for more work. I''m not quite sure how they tell who''s older, the damned elves age at an extremely slow pace and when The Keeper told me he was 210 I nearly lost my mind. He doesn''t look a day over thirty! I shake my head and grab another basket. Usually the clan doesn''t eat breakfest like this, but I''m betting with the added security and the breakfest, there''s something going on that I don''t know about. I furrow my brow and stare at Elise whom seems to be whispering to someone suspiciously. Walking over to her I grab her sides softly and she jumps into the air with a screech.


    "EEEEK!" She turns to me with a glare and slaps my chest, I just laugh. "Jerk! What was that for!?"


    "You were whispering secretivly and I could have none of it!" She rolls here eyes and sighs.


    "Girl talk!" The other woman looks at me with a smile.


    "Yeah! Girl talk!" I roll my eyes and lean down to them in a whispering tone.


    "What''s going on today? Did I miss a meeting or something?" They both look to eachother then back at me with a laugh.


    "Today is the day we''re hosting the other clans in the area. The Keepers and their circles are meeting for breakfest then we''ll move into the forest near the shrines for the night events. Surely someones told you by now?" I rub my head and begin to think. Did anyone tell me? Not that I can think of. I shake my head.


    "I think i''ve been too busy? Just been me and Seloran hacking away at trees for the last three days." I see Elise rub her chin and shrug.


    "Oh, well. It''s a big event for the clans as this is when the twelve clans get together. We do it once a year to catch up on news, play games, share in tactics, train together and for the lucky few, meet their future spouses." Wow, that''s one hell of s festival.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "And it only lasts one day?" They both laugh.


    "No-no-no! Today is the meeting day where the clans will eat and talk. The second and third days are the days we reserve for the games and training with the fourth day being a sort of dance and a continuation of the previous days."


    "Neat! Where do I fit into all of this? I''m not EXACTLY part of the clan?" Elise smiles and throws her hands into the air.


    "Thats what the banquet is for! To welcome you into the clan. You''ll be recognized by the other Keepers and then we''ll under go the process for your entrance into the clan." Simple enough.


    "Isn''t me being a human going to complicate things?" She blushes.


    "That is something we will talk about with my father later!" She grabs the other girls hand and quickly wanders off.


    "We need to go somewhere and continue our girl talk!" I wave them off and continue helping with the set-up. An hour later and we have four tables that can easily sit 100 people in the middle of the town with 1 shorter table infront of the tables on a small hill. I''m guessing that''s where the Keepers are going to sit, but I''m still not one-hundred percent on how they run things around here. From what I can tell the Keeper is something like a President, but instead of being chosen by the people their chosen by the previous Keeper. The waiting Keeper or "Priest/Priestess" will take over when the Keeper feels they are ready. From what I understand theirs a whole huge ceremony and then there is something about tattoo''s , but like my language lessons I kind of tuned it out.


    "Terryn!" Hearing my name breaks me from my thoughts and I look up to see Seloran jogging to me. He''s large for an elf, average for a human. Standing at 5''8" with a slim, but yet muscular build, he stands out a bit from the average elf as he has brown eyes intead of blue/green/purple and his hair is brown, not blonde. Apparently he is a half-elf with his mother being elven and his father being human. He''s probably my best friend here if it weren''t for Elise, as he was the one that showed me the ropes on my first day and ever since we''ve pretty much done every job with eachother.


    "Seloran! What''s good, buddy?" We give eachother a quick hug and he grabs me by the shoulders.


    "Big day! I''m guessing Elise told you?" I nod.


    "Yeah, I''m suppose to be intiated into the clan today!" He pats me on the shoulders and crosses his arms.


    "You know what that means right?" I raise an eyebrow to him.


    "That I''m going to have to grow out my hair? Put on big fake pointy ears?" We both laugh and he shrugs.


    "Who knows? You might look good with golden set of lockes!" He punches me lightly in the shoulder and I try to picture myself with long blonde hair and well...I just can''t.


    "Naw, i''ll leave that to you." He shakes his head.


    "But, on a more serious note. No one''s told you what being intiated means?" I cross my arms and shake me head.


    "No, I think Elise was going to tell me, but she ran off with another woman and I''ve been here setting up for the breakfest." He opens his mouth to speak, but the Keeper yells for me.


    "Terryn!" I turn to Seloran with a smile and tap him quickly on the shoulder, jogging to the Keeper.


    "See you at breakfest!" I watch him nod with a smile as I take off. Entering the Keepers house I see Elise standing next to him in an incredibly long-green dress. I stop dead in the doorway and before I know it my eyes drift to every corner of her. Her long blonde hair is tied into a large braid with a small golden circlet placed on her head. The dress hugs her just enough to let her curves pop. I shake my head from my staring and find my face turning red.


    "Ahh-you called for me Keeper?" I see Elise''s face has turned a scarlet shade as well and the Keeper smiles.


    "Yes, I wanted to talk to you about the ceremony." I close the door realizing I''ve been standing in the doorway and walk over to him. As soon as I''m past him I watch as Elise scurries quickly out of the house and disappears. I shrug it off as we walk over to a table and sit down.


    "What''d you want to talk about?" He sighs and begins drinking from a cup of tea.


    "Well, as you are human we can''t just invite you into the clan you need to either have blood ties like Seloran or you need to marry into the clan." I nod to him.


    "As you are not a half-elf you will need to marry into the clan and-" My eyes widen and I realize where this is heading. I feel my heart begin to race and my face heat up.


    "You want me to marry Elise?" He shimmies uncomfortably in his seat and smiles.


    "Yes." I stand and begin to pace. The Keeper notices this and frowns.


    "Is this not something that is agreeable?" I stop and turn to him.


    "No-no it''s-it''s wonderful! I just-is this okay?" He smiles and waves me down.


    "It was her idea." I sit down and stare at the table. Two weeks and I''m going to be married to a woman I barely know. What about my quest? I''m supoose to die!? How am I suppose to tell her that? Suddenly I hear a voice that causes my hairs on my neck to stand on end.


    "To live, to love and to die."


    So I''m suppose to do this. To live and to love, but why? Why wouldn''t they just force me to complete the quest and just sacrifice myself? Why the need to live and to love? Hell, I don''t even know where to begin in the first place! All of these questions have me pacing again and the Keeper looks at me with concern.


    "I know this is a lot to spring on you, but I hope you don''t back out." I stop and walk over to him, kneeling to him with my head bowed.


    "I would love to marry your daughter and become part of your clan, Keeper Valtas." He smiles, placing his hands on my shoulders and nods.


    "Good, then we will meet with the other Keepers and have breakfest. By noon we will start the ceremony and by night you and my daughter will be wed." I feel my heartbeat pick up again. God this world moves fast.