《Forsaken Soul》 Prologue There he lay. On the cold stone floor as his blood flowed out his wounds. He no longer had the strength to speak and could only gurgle the blood in his mouth. The only part of him that still seemed alive were his eyes. As if a fire burned within his gaze, he glared upwards. A cold numbness slowly crept up his limbs as he neared death ever so slowly. It seemed like eternity yet he did not yet give up on life, or should it be said he could not give up on it. There was so much left to be done. He had yet to even begin his journey to find a way home. What would his friends and family think? That he was dead by now or will they never lose hope and wait for his return? At the final moments of life all he could do was contemplate and regret. That overly righteous, damned fucken Holy Church was to blame for this. They are the ones who started it, yet had the gall to label him as a heretic for exposing their hypocrisy. If he had the chance he would teach them a lesson. He would kill them all and let them bleed out and suffer just as they did to him.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He would show them no mercy and enjoy that ruthless slaughter. Sadly however, he would have no such oppotunity, as he would soon be dead. On his last breath ended he finally lost all sense of feeling and his vision went black. Strangely enough he was still concious. ( What the hell is going on? ) ( Aren''t I dead? ) ( Am I in Purgatory or something? ) He was soon startled as he heard a dark and sinister voice respond to him. [ Boy do you seek power to bestow your revenge on those who have wronged you?] Morgan was too scared to question this mysterious voice so he just gave his quick response. ( Yes ) The dark voice went silent for a while and Morgan was worried he had angered or it or something, but just as he was at his wits end it asked another question. [ Will you serve me as my loyal follower if I do? And are you willing to forsake humanity for it?] This time morgan was the one who was silent as he thought things out, but eventually he came to his conclusion. ( Yes...to both ) The dark voice responded with a single word. [ Good] Chapter One: Crisis In The Air "ring" "ring" "ring" ( Himom ) ( Morganhow are you? Have you boarded the plane yet? ) ( Nonot yet.I''mstill waiting by gate 19. ) ( Oh, Ok. You know you didn''t have to go alone. Me or your father could have gone with you. ) ( Whatare you talking?Hehe. Just enjoy your vacation. I have school which is whyIhave to go back early, just enjoy yourselves. ) ( But. ) ( I''m17mom, I can handle being home alone for a week. ) ( Iknow you are, it''s just that---) [ All passengers for flight 153 fromGuadalajarato LAX International Airport your flight is ready,please board your plane at gate 19. ] ( Sorrymomgottago. They just announced it''s time to board the flight. ) " Beep " After ending the call with his momMorgangrabbed hisbagand approached gate 19 to board his flight. His seat was next to the window on the right side of the planeoverlooking the wing.Waiting, he looked out the window to see the gleaming light of the sun being reflected off the shiny coat of paintthe wing. As Morgan sat there he couldn''t help just looking around the planewhile waiting for the rest of the passengers to board. He rarely ever flew,andeverytimehe did, he was amazed at the wondersofflight.This was his third time ona plane in hislife and hestill found it amazing.Hewas so distracted that he hadn''t even noticed someone had sat rightnextto him. He was slightly startled once he noticed a sudden presence next to him. What he saw was a pretty girl, about his age sitting next to him. She wasn''t at amodel''slevel with all the makeup and work, but she was pretty nonetheless and she looked more like a soft and kind type of beauty. She wore some baby blue skinny jeans, a pink blouse and had caramel colored hair. As she noticed his gaze, she gave him a nervous smile that had a hint of wariness.It wasn''t until then that he noticed he had been staringso brazenly at her. He cursed himself inhis own mind."How fucken great. She probably thinks I''m a creep or something.". At that moment the plane''s pilot spokethroughthe intercom. [ All passengers this is your pilot speaking. Our estimated flight time is 2 hours and 15 minutes and there will be clear skies the whole way. Please get into you seats and place your seatbelts on. Remember to stay in your seats during takeoff and don''t get out until we say so. At this moment please turn off all electronic equipment such as phones, laptops and tablet. We will notify you once you are able to use them. In front of you there should be a booklet describing what to do in case of an emergency. The flight attendants will soon demonstrate how to use the safety equipment before we take off. May you all have a safe and pleasant trip.Over.] Morgan had been through this before so he just ignored it. There was a life vest under the seat and if there was a loss in pressure the oxygen masks would pop out from above,yaddayaddayadda. The chances of an accident were so low, it''s not like anything would actually happen. He had to wake up earlymorningbefore the sun rose to get to theairport,and was sleepy.He just put on some earmuffs he had packed in his bagandlaidback to catch some sleep. He fell asleep almost instantly and slept through the whole takeoff and about half of the flight before he woke up.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. He was woken up by the sound of the pilot on the intercom notifying the passengers that they would arrive at LAX in about 1hours time. Morgan felt extremely comfortable as he laid his head to the left. That''s when it struck him. "I''m on a plane. What am l laying my head on...? Oh Shit!" He immediately lifted his head up high and looked left towards the uncomfortable looking girl. She looked back at him with a face of shock at his sudden movement and actions. Morgan knew he couldn''t just brush this off so he took the opportunity to apologize. "S.So.Sorryabout that. I just kind of dozed off and. Well. You know." The look she gave towards him changed after his apology. It seemed to grow softer and more trusting than before. "Oh. It''s alright. Don''t worry about it." This time he was the one who gave her the embarrassed smile. Trying to change the topic he decided to asked her a question. "Itseems the flight is almost over. Why are you going to Los Angeles?" She was now more comfortable around him so she decided to join the conversation. "I''mjust making the trip back so that I don''t miss school." "Wellhow about that? I''m also on my way back since my winter break is almost over." "Ohreally." "Yeahyou live in L.A. or what?" "No.ActuallyI''m transferring there so that I can get my diploma in the U.S. I will be staying at my aunt''s house in the meantime." "That''scool. I had a cousin who did the same thing a few years back. He did pretty good and is living on his own now. By the way what''s your name? Mines Morgan. MorganCastillo." She giggled at his exaggerated emphasis on his last name before responding. "Myname''s Cristina, but you can call me Cristy." Morgan was enjoying his conversation with Cristy. They talked constantly for nearly 20 minutes before Morgan felt the need to use the restroom. He excused himself and walked down the aisle.He soonreturned, ashe was lowering himself back into his seat a bright light flashed through the window. It was so bright it practically blindedin the plane who had their eyes open at that moment. All the passengers were left temporarily shocked by the light, but it didn''t take long for people to speak up. ( Whatthe fuck was that?! ) ( Whywas there a light? ) ( Mommy! ) ( It''sokay calm down. ) (BOOM!!!) Suddenly a deafening boom was heard throughout the plane.It wasimmense like the roar of thunder.Noteven 2 seconds had gone by before the loud sound was followed by an immense shockwave that shook the entire plane. The plane suddenly jolted to the left and began to lose altitude. Morgan had nearly been thrown right out of his seat, butluckily,he had grabbed ontoittightly since the bright light had flashed. As the plane began to go down Morgan felt his body begin to rise. He immediately grabbed his seatbelt and buckled himself in placeas fast as possible. At this point the intercom turned on again, but it couldn''t be heard over the screams and panicked cries of the passengers. Children were crying, men and women were yelling and some were even hunched over praying as if that could help them. Morgan saw Cristy shivering and crying so he wrapped his arm around her and held her close as he tried to sooth her. "Shhh.Shhh.Don''t cry. It''s okay calm down. We aregoing tobe alright." Of course,he himself didn''t believe any of his own words, but he couldn''t help to at least try to help her. The plane was in chaos and Morgan managed to catch on to a few of the words being said over the intercom. All he heard was that the plane was going down and it seems the pilot was struggling to take control of the descent. Suddenly, he noticed that the planes descent was slowing down. Morgan sighed in relief at the change and tried to calm himself when he noticed it. The plane was no longer descending, it was going right. "What the fuck is going on. How the hell is the plane moving sideways?" Morgan then looked out theright-sidewindow like many other passengers who had the same thought,only to be left paralyzed in shock. The plane was approaching a black vortex, or should it be said it was being sucked in. All the passengers went silent at the sight in front of their eyes including the pilot. The only sound that could be heard was that of the plane''s engines struggling against the force. The black vortex was immensely large. Easily stretching out over a few miles. As the plane approached the surroundings grew darker and darker. By the time it entered it was pitch black inside the plane. Morgan couldn''t see a damn thing. All he heard was the whimpers of some of the passenger. All he could feel was the seat he was on and Cristy in his arms. It was like apitch-blacktunnel with a small light at the end. Wait,a light?Yes,a light!Morgan was relieved to see a small speck of light far off into the distance through the window. It seemed as if it would all finally be over when a thought struck him. "Where does it lead?" Chapter Two: Crash Landing (silence) Everyone on the planewas quiet. They were all captivated by the sight before them. The originally small speck of light was continuing to grow larger as the plane approached it. It was beautiful, like a strand of hope in a moment of despair, their salvation from this horrid ordeal. Then the shaking began once again. The plane violently shook as if it was suddenly hit byaturbulentwindfrom hell itself. The passengers were being thrashed about in their seats like ragdolls. The screaming and crying returned to the scene and chaos began. The only differencewasthat this time there werewails of pain, as people were being smashed into the walls and seats around them. Morganhad his head slammed into the window to his right.Disoriented,he barely got himself back together in time to see a young child seated across the row being flung out of her seat. She was slammed into the wall and laid limp on the cabin floor. All he could see was a distinct blood mark left on the wallas he heard thegirl''s mother''s wailspiercingthrough all of the ruckus going on. "NOOO!!!!!!Lindsy!Lindsy! Are you okay!?Please answer me baby!?" The mother''s tears rolled down her face at her child''s lack ofresponse. The little girl was clearly unconscious,oreven worse,possiblydead, but her mother couldn''t even get out of her seat to help were with all the shaking going on. She could only stay seated and watch as her child was thrown aroundas the plane continued to shake. At this sight,Morgan couldn''t help but feel sadness and pity for the powerless woman and injured child. However, he didn''t have time to think aboutit,asthe plane wasnowwithin 100 meters of the light. Just like the black vortex they entered before, the light stretched out for miles in all directions. As the plane entered the light, peace once again returned. The violent shaking had ended, but it did not last long. The passengers once again felt the sensation of the plane falling. However, this time the plane''s engines roared to life as the aircraft increased its speed and leveled off. The flight had calmed down, and the crisis was now averted. The plane''s intercom turned on one more time and the pilot spoke to the passengers. ( Allpassengers please stay in your seat. We are unaware of what just occurred, but the plane is under control again and functioning. Our navigation systems are currently down, but please stay calm. We will continue on north until we find an airport or a suitable area for an emergency landing. The worse is over now. ) Morgan was relieved by the good news.Lettingout a sigh of relief, he looked over to Cristy only to see her sniffling and shivering after what had happened. He grabbed her hand and started to comfort her. "Seewhat I said was true. We are okay. Just calm down. Take deep breaths." "O.O. Okay I. I Will." "Takeyour time.It''s okay." After comforting her for a bit he looked out the window to his side. He was perplexed at what he saw. There wasgreenforest,as far as he could see in all directions. This didn''t make sense because earlier the plane had been flying over the Pacific Ocean,on its flight path to LAX. Although,the plane had been through who knows what, that didn''t explain the sudden change in surroundings. No matter where he looked he couldn''t see the ocean at all.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Morganjuststared blanklyout the windowuntilhe heard a woman''sscream. "OHMY GOD what is that!?" Morgan looked over to see a large dark figure approaching from the leftsideof the aircraft. It was huge,and at first glance it looked like another black airliner that was about to crash into them. However, it had wings, not like the wings on a plane, it had real wings, scaly flapping wings. It also had large snake like eyes, not as if anyone was looking at them, because all they cared to look at was its gaping mouthfully of massive teethheading towards them. Whatever that thing was, itwas going to hit them. Right before the impact it roaredearth shatteringroar that rumbled across the heavens. The plane rumbledas if it was made ofpaper. The creature''s bite was so large it managed to getsitsmouth across the whole fuselage of the plane.It had bit down right in front of the wings.Morgan could see the man sitting right in front of him had been impaled by a tooth. Thetooth had gone through the bottom of the plane,upthe man''s seat and piercedthe poor bastardright through his chest. The poor man didn''t even have time to scream in pain before he died. He lay limp as his blood flowed like rivers. The plane was no longer descending,it was falling right out of the sky. Morgan was horrifiedand had no idea what to do. He could see the teeth coming closer together as the creature continued to bite downharderon the plane. He could hear the screeching and creaking of metal being bent and splitting. Eventually,the creature managed to bite the plane it half. Both ends of the plane had been split andthetwohalves fell. As the rear end of the plane plummeted to the ground Morgan was finally able to see what had caused the destruction. What he saw left him in awe as he muttered a single word. "Dragon." A Fucken Dragon!? He saw it clear as day. A dragon was flying away after having attacked the plane in midair. A dragon with two large wings and massive horns above the arches ofitseyes like a bull. It was jet black and appeared both majesticyet godly with its huge body. The plane had split right in front of him.Hecould see the whole scene clearly as he fell backwards, strapped to his seat. There was no mistake, whatever just happened was real, all too real. As heplummeteddown to earth strapped into his seat, it seemed as if time had slowed down. In his mind his thoughts were racing, trying to make sense of what had just happened. This couldn''t be possible can it? Would he just wake up right before the impact and find out this was all a nightmare? No that isn''t possible. He had clearly felt the pain when his head had slammed into the window.This was no dream it was real. What did it matter for anyway? It''s not as if thinking would save his life at this moment. All he could do was hold on tight to his seat and hope for the best. Before the plane hit he decided close his eyes and gave a silent prayer. "God. I know I have never been the most religious type, but I offer you this prayer for the salvation of my life. If I live I promise I will live the rest of my life as your loyal follower...Fucken hell.What am I doing? It''s not like you could do anything at this point,huh? What amIexpecting to happen? The plane to just magically stop in midair? As if the gods are real." Morgan finally finished his final thoughts when the plane hit the forest. He could hear the sounds of rustlingleaves, the crunching ofbreaking branches,and the plane being torn apart as he held his eyes closed. Thankfully,it seems that the forest''s trees had helpedslowthe fall of the plane. At the end there was a loud thud and the passengers were jerked towards the back of their seats one last time. "I made it. I''m alive. I''m fucken alive!" Morgan repeated these word in his mind with disbelief of his own luck. He was fine, except for the bump at the right side of his head and his sore spine from the sudden impact. Even with the pain it seemed so minor compared to what could have happened.Unable helpit,helet out a triumphant laugh filled with joy and relief. "Hahahahahahah." However, it seemed that his luck wasn''t meant to last for long. He lookedupjust in timeto seedebrisfrom the plane still falling down from the sky.One of which was aimed right at him.There was only one way to describe the situation in his mind. "Fuck!" Hehurriedlytriedto unbuckle hisseatbelt, but it was jammedstuck. Hedidn''t have the time to get out before thedebricame straight down at him.He was knocked out instantly,layinglimply in his seat unconscious. Silence (Morgan) (Morgan) (Wake up. Morgan!) [ Huh? What''s going on? ] Morgan slowly began to regain consciousness as he heard his name being called out repeatedly. As he opened his eyes, he was momentarily blinded by the sunlight shining above him. He gave out a low grunt as the pain finally hit him while he tried to look over to his side. He felt as if his head was being forcefully split open by an axe and the nausea made him feel like vomiting. There was an annoying ringing sound in his ear that was drowning out the surroundings, but it soon went away. The pain was coming from the top left side of his head. However, when he tried to raise his left hand to touch the spot, he didn''t have enough strength to even move his arm. He could feel a warm sensation on his left side which he could guess was blood. He was semi-conscious however, Morgan could still hear Cristy talking to him. "Morgan. Thank god you''re alright. You were hit pretty badly and are bleeding so try not to move.¡± Cristy said in a relieved voice. ¡°I want you to stay still for a bit while I try to bandage up your head.¡° Morgan only responded with a single grunt. Christy then tore off the sleeve from Morgan¡¯s shirt and ripped it into multiple strips in order to wrap the wound. The pain of having his wound touched caused Morgan to yell out and struggle, but Cristy couldn¡¯t care less as she held him down and wrapped up the gash on his head. He didn¡¯t struggle for long as he soon lost consciousness again. Morgan once again awoke, but this time he wasn¡¯t in so much pain. The sun hadn¡¯t changed much from where it was before so he guessed hadn¡¯t been out for long. From what he could hear, it seemed that some of the other passengers were already getting out of their seats and climbing down to the rear exit of the plane. After crashing through the foliage, the rear half of the airliner¡¯s fuselage had ended up vertical against a tree with the tail towards the ground. At this point Cristy had already noticed that Morgan had woken up and spoke to him. ¡°Morgan. Do you feel better now, can you talk? ¡° Morgan then responded, ¡°yeah im alright. Just a bit disoriented.¡± They were then interrupted by the voice of a man yelling from below. ¡°Everybody we managed to get the door open! Try to get down, but be careful! If you are injured or can¡¯t get down on your own please call for help so we can assist you!¡° Cristy then yelled back, ¡°we have someone with a head injury up here!¡± The man then promptly began to climb up the aisle to where Cristy and Morgan were. When he got there he slung Morgan over his shoulder and told him to hold on as if his life depended on it. When they got down the man laid Morgan on the ground as he continued climbing to help other who also needed help. After a few hours all the survivors were grouped up beside the plane. It seemed as if there was no signal as no ones phones were working. Some people were crying, others talking about what happened and some just stared at the aftermath in shock. Morgan himself had finally regained enough strength to stand back up as he looked at the man who helped him down.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. The man wasn¡¯t very tall but he was well built at around 5 foot 6. He had deep set eyes and short black hair while wearing a dark brown and beige suit. He seemed like the serious sort, but was in fact very kind as he went around checking on the survivors to make sure they were ok. If Morgan had to guess he would say the man was in his mid-40¡¯s. [ I guess I should probably get up and thank him for helping me out. ] ¡°Umm excuse me sir.¡° The man looked over and saw Morgan looking nervous at him while speaking. The man just smiled and said, ¡°Oh it¡¯s you, you¡¯re the boy I helped down earlier. How¡¯s the cut doing, from the looks of it you really bled something fierce.¡± Morgan, glad to see that he wasn¡¯t bothering the man said, ¡°Yeah. That was me and I¡¯m feeling a lot better now. I just wanted to thank you for what you did and all.¡± The man chuckled and said, ¡°No need to thank me boy I was just doing my job making sure everyone was safe on the plane.¡± Morgan looked a bit confused so the man explained. ¡°I¡¯m actually the Air Marshall. My job is to ensure the safety of the passengers under extreme circumstances.¡° Morgan still said thank you and walked back towards Cristy, and sat next to her. She then asked Morgan. ¡°What do we do now?¡± Morgan answered honestly. ¡°I really don¡¯t know.¡° All in all it seemed that there were only 31 survivors other than the Marshall, Cristy and himself. 3 Children one of whom lost both his parents, 11 women, 15 men and an old couple. Once everyone started to calm down the man stood in the center of the group and spoke out. ¡°Hello everyone. My name is Nestor Morales and I am the Air Marshall. I know this has been a very stressful situation for us all but we need to start working together.¡± At this point he was interrupted by a woman who asked, ¡±Why did this happen, what was that thing?¡° ¡°I do not know nor can I explain what occurred. However we must stay calm and work together to get through this. We don¡¯t know when help will be able to arrive, so we must gather our supplies and scout out the area. ¡° Everyone seemed to be in agreement so they then began to work. First and foremost, the survivors searched through the plane and luggage for any supplies they could find. They were able to find some water, toilet paper and packaged airline food. After going through it all the supplies would at most last them 2 days. Nestor decided to make 4 groups of 3 men each to go North, South, East and West in search of help and food. They were to return before sunset, or as soon as they found anything. Morgan wanted to join Nestor¡¯s group, but Nestor told him to rest instead. Morgan kept pushing and eventually Nestor let him join. Nestor assigned Morgan to his group to look over him and they were joined by a young blonde man named Josh. As they headed East Morgan noticed a change in Nestor¡¯s facial expression. He seemed to become more serious and his eyes were sharp as he surveyed the surroundings. Morgan didn¡¯t want to bother him so he didn¡¯t ask. Neither of the three of them really spoke as they continued on. After about an hour they could hear the faint sound of running water. Josh was the first to react as he rushed towards the sound while telling the other two. ¡±Hey guys hurry up there¡¯s water.¡± Morgan stuck to Nestor as they approached to see Josh kneeling on the river bed filling up his bottle of water eagerly. The river was crystal clear and should have been a thing of celebration, yet Morgan noticed that Nestor¡¯s expression grew darker. As they stood together watching josh enjoy himself Morgan couldn¡¯t help but ask Nestor, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡° Nestor responded in a deep and serious tone. ¡°This doesn¡¯t make sense. It¡¯s all strange ¡° ¡°What do you mean?¡± Nestor Just said, ¡°the silence¡­¡± He then continued, ¡°The forest has been quiet. Not a sound at all. There¡¯s no sounds of birds, bugs or animals. It¡¯s as if we are the only living things around. Even the river is empty of any fish. You could possibly say the crash would have scared off some of the wildlife, but not to this extent. There¡¯s just nothing¡­ Nothing.¡° At this point Morgan finally understood what was going on. Even though there were in a lush forest they had yet to see or hear anything other than themselves and the river. The more he noticed the ominous silence the more scared he got. This wasn¡¯t natural and he couldn¡¯t find an explanation. [ What the hell is going on?! ] Nestor noticed the fear in Morgan¡¯s eyes and understood he had made a mistake and let his thoughts slip out. He told Morgan to be calm and to keep secret what he just said, in order to not panic others. It started to get late and the three man team decided to go back and report their findings. When they got back they came to see that the others had begun to build some tents from the emergency slides of the plane. It also seemed that the North team had already arrived before they had. From what the North team reported they came back earlier because they couldn¡¯t continue further after finding a lake. It seemed that the river Morgan, Josh and Nestor had found was one of the lake¡¯s outlets. Near sundown South team had arrived. They had found nothing and had kept going farther which is why they had come so late. However, as time continued to pass and the sun was setting there was no sign of West team. Night Terror ¡°Should we go look for them?¡± ¡°What¡¯s taking them so long?¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Maybe they already found help and were rescued?¡± Gossip and chatter could be heard across the camp as people were wondering about the missing West team. However, it would soon be dark and conducting a search party was no longer feasible. Without the sun it would be all too easy to lose themselves in the forest. It would have to wait till morning. The sun was almost set and darkness was slowly starting to surpass the light. The survivors scared by the disappearances of the three decided to not sleep in the tents they had built, but instead climbed back into the plane and sleep on any empty seat they could. In order to avoid any issues the left rows were reserved for the women and children while the right rows were for the men. Nestor sat on the lowest row next to the door, which he locked, and Morgan chose the bunk right above him. Cristy on the other hand was parallel to him, but on the other side. Seeing the two watch him, Nestor spoke to them. ¡°You kids should hurry up and get to sleep. I¡¯ll be keeping watch tonight so don¡¯t worry, your safe.¡± Morgan responded, ¡°I¡¯ll stay up too then, that way we can make sure the other stays awake.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine Morgan. I¡¯m an ex-marine. I¡¯ve handled missions tougher than this. I¡¯m fine missing one night¡¯s sleep so don¡¯t worry and just relax, I got it covered.¡± Morgan couldn¡¯t find an excuse to refuse so he just accepted it and laid back on his seat. [ I haven¡¯t really been talking to Cristy today. She seems bit lonely ever since I went out on the search. I guess I should at least tell her good night. ] ¡°Good night Cristy.¡± He said. She responded, ¡°You too Morgan.¡± The night was subtle and peaceful as the passengers slept. It had been around 7 hours since sundown and Nestor stayed vigilant throughout. He was completely still and stared out the window. It was pitch black and he couldn¡¯t see a thing. The silence was eerie, but was broken by a snore or mumble every once in a while. There hadn¡¯t been any signs of anything on the outside, yet he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something was beyond his line of sight watching them. Perhaps the lack of sleep was making him paranoid, but he didn¡¯t think so. After having seen action as a Marine he always had a sixth sense of sort. He never knew how he got it, but it hadn¡¯t failed him up till now so he trusted it. He couldn¡¯t help it and pulled out his gun as a reassurance in case something happened. As an Air Marshal he always carried a concealed firearm in case of a hijacking or armed assailant. His Rhino 20DS never left his side. It was a small revolver with six shot capacity and used .357 magnum rounds. He felt safe having it in his hands. Looking at it he was wondering when he would get back home to his family. Nothing that has happened today has made any sense. The black hole, that creature and the crash. He seemed the steadiest and strongest of the group, but what he really wanted to do was get home to his wife. After he found out she was pregnant he retired from the Marines and thanks to his background got a job as an Air Marshal. His son was going to turn 2 in a few days, and this flight was supposed to take him back to Los Angeles.Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. He sighed heavily which woke up Morgan. Morgan seeing Nestor feeling down couldn¡¯t help but say something. ¡°Are you Ok?¡± Nestor was startled by the sudden sound but soon regained his composure. ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just thinking about my family. Wonder what my wife is thinking right now with the plane going down and all. My kid¡¯s birthday is coming up too.(sigh)¡± Morgan didn¡¯t know how to respond so he just came down and sat next to Nestor as they both just stared into the darkness. (AAARRRGH!!!) The silence of the night was broken by an excruciating scream from outside. Everyone was woken up by the scream and some of the kids started to cry in fear. However, there were no screams following the first. After a few minutes they could hear other sounds from outside. There were low growls and rustling. It seemed that whatever it was, it had gotten into the tents and was looking around. They could hear the footsteps getting closer to the door. At this point even the sound of it breathing could be heard. It sounded like a snorting bull. Suddenly it smashed into the door with a sudden lunge. ( BAAAAAM! ) The screams of the passengers started as the creature continued to slam into the door. The door was being visibly bent, but still held on. The slamming continued for over 2 hours before whatever that creature was left. Everyone just stayed where they were until sunrise the next day. Once the light had returned Nestor was the first to step out with his gun drawn. The door had been jammed shut and he had to force it open by kicking it out. Once out he could see the door had major damage from the outside, and there were inch deep claw marks on the aluminum. The camp built yesterday was in complete disarray. The tarps were torn, the ground was dug up and most of their supplies were destroyed. The footprints left behind by the creature from last like were almost a foot wide and had a shape similar to the paw prints of a cat. Morgan was the second to step out and was in shock of the sight like Nestor before him. Most of the survivors decided to stay indoors rather than get out. After checking the immediate surroundings Nestor concluded it was safe, for now at least and decided to make an announcement. ¡°Everyone hear me out. That thing from last light is gone. It¡¯s safe to come down right now. I¡¯m planning to make a search party for East team. I need at least 4 volunteers.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± Said Morgan It was clear that no one else wanted to come down not to mention volunteer to go into the forest. In the end to two set out on their own. ¡°Nestor, what do you think was that thing from last night?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know kid. Whatever it was it¡¯s clear we are in its territory. Once we get back I think it¡¯d be best if we left the wreckage and headed East to the river. Our flight was originally above the Pacific so we should head downstream and see if we can find a beach.¡± Morgan didn¡¯t say anymore and just followed as they continued on. After about half a mile they found a dried pool of blood and torn clothes. Nestor just said ¡°It seems they didn¡¯t make it. Let¡¯s head back we need to leave.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we check a bit more¡­¡± ¡°I said we¡¯re leaving.¡± ¡°Ok¡± When they got back to the wreckage and mentioned their plan to leave it was clear that the majority wanted to stay and wait for help. All Nestor could do was try to convince them one more time. ¡°It¡¯s imperative that we leave while we still can. We don¡¯t know when that thing will come back and I don¡¯t plan to find out. Our supplies are gone and we won¡¯t last long just waiting for help that hasn¡¯t arrived. In you want to stay fine.¡± While Nestor was giving his speech Morgan went to Cristy in attempt to convince her she should go with them. ¡°I¡¯ll be joining Nestor. I want you to leave with me.¡± Cristy was hesitant of the plan. ¡°I really don¡¯t think you should go. I mean what if help arrives and you guys aren¡¯t here? Plus who knows if you cross paths with that thing when you leave.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯ve made up my mind. I¡¯m going to stay.¡± Morgan was disappointed but accepted her choice. ¡°Don¡¯t be it¡¯s up to you.¡± At about midday the group of survivors that chose to leave were ready to do so. The team was made up of Morgan, Nestor, Josh, Dick, Sarah and Felipe. Felipe was the orphaned boy from the flight and had gotten attached to Sarah, so when she decided to leave he came too. Sarah was Josh¡¯s sister, they looked alike with blonde hair and blue eyes. Dick was one of the flight attendants who was friends with Nestor so he came along as well, although he was actually named Richard. The group decided to head East towards the river they had found earlier. I took them about two hours to get there. Nestor then told everyone to take a break and to fill up on water before they continued on. Morgan couldn¡¯t help but miss Cristy. She was the first person he got to know from the group, and was the person whom he had the closest relationship with. [ I made my decision. No use in regretting it now. ] He thought to himself. After the break they followed the bank of the river downstream. The river seemed to head Southeast as they trekked down it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary other than the obvious silence of the forest and lack of wildlife. They continued on for two hour intervals of walking with short breaks in between. Although they were hungry they had water so they wouldn¡¯t die of starvation for at least 5 more days. When night approached they climbed one of the trees in the forest with the help of some vines that were hanging from the branches and fell asleep. Sorry to Disappoint ( hiatus) I''ve recently started college and my studies are my top priority for now. I don''t find it fair to release chapters weeks apart without consistency. I was also aware of my own amateur inadequacies in use of language and puncuation. Originaly Forsaken Soul was supposed to be a short dark novel (<100 chapters), but as I thought about it, my goals for it are beyond what I originally intended. I plan to improve my writing style first and finish this novel at a later date. I will split this story into 3 arcs and will likely complete the first arc on my own before releasing any more chapters.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. R.I.P. Three days had passed since the start of the trek down the river. The sky was darkening as the sun was setting. Without any sign of any other people they had begun to lose hope. It was clear the travels had taken a heavy toll on their bodies. They looked thinner with boney limbs and deep set eyes with bags under them. Currently Morgan was carrying the young boy Felipe. His young body was the most fragile of the group and was growing increasingly weak. At first, he just held Sarah''s hand as she edged him to continue, but the distance was too much for him. It didn''t take long for him to collapse, and the rest of the group had been taking turns carrying him on their back. Morgan just stared down to his feet as he walked behind the rest of the group thinking to himself. [Oh god. I''m so hungry. I want to eat my mom¡¯s cooking again. I loved the enchi¡­] ¡°OWWW!!!, what the fuck?¡± , said Morgan abruptly. Lost in thought he had not noticed that the rest of the group had come to a stop, and had slammed his face right into Nestor¡¯s back. It seemed Nestor didn¡¯t care to notice as he stared off into the distance. Morgan stepped to the side in order to see what the other were looking at. What he saw shocked him, in a good way. A few dozen meters away covered in weeds was an abandoned log cabin. It was the first sign of anything they had seen since the start, and showed what they have been doing is not in vain. Upon closer inspection it was clear it had been abandoned for many months or possibly even years. It was a primitive one room hut with no windows. The door surprisingly had a crude iron latch that had broken from rust as soon as they had attempted to open it. Inside was a simple table, a chair and a wood bed with decomposing dried grasses on it. It wasn¡¯t a nice place as it was covered in dust with dirt floors and a notable draft; not even mentioning the now broken door. Looking at it Morgan couldn¡¯t help feeling it was ugly yet also the most beautiful thing in the world. He felt a pang in his heart as he regretted not having been more persistent in convincing Cristy to come with him. He wondered if that thing had returned after they had left and whether anybody at the crash site camp was still alive.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. [ Never mind. No use thinking about it now. ] The hut seemed as good of a place to sleep as any so they chose to spend the night there. After four days of being together things had gotten very quiet between the group. Life had become a routine of sleep, walk and rest; and there wasn¡¯t much to talk about at this point. If it wasn¡¯t for the occasional request to stop to use the restroom Morgan doubted they would speak at all. The next morning was no different. Like always Nestor had awoken first and woke up the others. However, there seemed to be an aura of new vigor and energy in the group from their discovery the day prior. However, that feeling would soon be replaced with sadness. ¡°No! No! No! Wake up! Please wake up!.¡± Sarah was shaking the boy Felipe roughly. It seemed his body had given up the night prior. He was dead and cold. He had likely passed away last night either from fatigue, starvation or both. [ He¡¯s pretty lucky. At least he got to go peacefully in his sleep. ] Looking at the scene Morgan was disgusted by his own thoughts. Out of either shame or guilt he looked away and stepped out. This was just the sad reality they had to face since the crash. Death was EVERYWHERE. About an hour passed before things had gotten better. Sarah sat on the ground next to her brother Josh as she leaned on him. Her eyes were swollen from the crying and she hadn¡¯t spoken since. Nestor had spoken to her and it seemed he had helped her come to terms with what happened, so now all she needed was time. It felt wrong to leave Felipe there so they decided to bury him. Nestor rounded up Morgan and Dick and told them what to do. ¡°I need you guys to start digging a grave. The soil is loose so it shouldn¡¯t be too difficult. Meanwhile I¡¯ll go down the bank and see if I can find something suitable for a gravestone.¡± They both responded, ¡°Okay. On it.¡± As they dug the Morgan and Dick started on opposite ends slowing digging out the outline of the grave. Once they were around halfway done Dick stopped and spoke to Morgan. ¡°Don¡¯t you care?¡± Morgan was confused at the question and said, ¡°What?¡± Duck looked at him seriously and spoke once again in a harsh tone. ¡°Don¡¯t act stupid I saw your face when Sarah was crying over the kid. You were smiling and since then you¡¯re the only one who hasn¡¯t shown emotion at what happened.¡± Morgan recalled his thought if the kid possibly being lucky by going out in his sleep and remembered he had a small smile at the idea before he had realized what he was thinking. The guilt from that made him feel he didn¡¯t have the right to take part in the group¡¯s remorse over the kids death. It seemed Dick had caught on the that, but mistook it as him liking the death and not caring for others. Morgan didn¡¯t know what to say and looked down without a work and continued digging. Dick continued too and didn¡¯t bring it up again. It seems Morgan had made his first enemy due to coincidence rather than action. By the time they were near completion Nestor had returned with a tall stone, on which he had carved the name Felipe in bold letters. After the burial they said their prayers; a few words, and then they were off. All the sense of hope they had since yesterday gone. The void filled with grief. Natives Five days of travel had come and gone. Their original estimates of how long they would last had been reached. There was no turning back at this point. Without food they would soon die. They had searched the hut before they had left, but other than the few pieces of furniture they found, it was empty. The hunger was really getting to them. Their stomachs were constantly growling and hunger pains were common in the group. They had even started to eat some of the weeds that grew along the river. Strange it was to be in such a large forest, yet there was no berries, fruits or nuts. If it wasn¡¯t for the hunger they wouldn¡¯t have risked possibly eating poisonous fauna. Without animals to see what they eat, they were clueless on what was safe. Morgan sat by the river mid day as he soaked his blistered aching feet. Looking at his reflection all he could see was an empty shell of himself. He looked more like a skeleton with skin wrapped over it than anything else. [ Why.why.why¡­ Why did this happen to me. Look at me, I look like I¡¯m already dead. I wish I never fucken left. Fuck school I miss my family. ] Done with self pity and complaining Morgan leaned over to take a drink from the river when something caught his eye. [ What¡¯s that? ] In the shallow water, camouflaging with the gravel were a few tiny fish. Small they were at about an inch long. Morgan just stared at them thinking he had possibly lost his mind. He reached his hand to grab one and they swam away. This was no hallucination, they were real, they were alive. They were something else! ¡°Guys get over here!¡± Morgan yelled at the top of his lungs. The group looked over and came quickly due to the urgency of his voice. When they saw the little fish they were in shock. ¡°Oh my god.¡± ¡°Fish!¡± ¡°Hahaha!¡± Their reactions were each different, but the meaning was the same. They had finally found an animal. Something alive in this god forsaken forest. The silence that had spread through the group was erased in an instance. They began to cheer and laugh in joy. Using a few sticks, a shoe lace and a Morgan¡¯s shirt they were able to fashion a net to scoop the little suckers out the water. They caught nine. Two for each person and as the for the last it was given to Nestor since he was the biggest person there. Those small insignificant little fish were some of the most delicious things in their minds. At the point of starvation even the fish¡¯s blood was like a sweet elixir of life. Sarah had a bit of difficulty eating them as she was a vegetarian, but hunger conquers all.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. After their quick snacks they persevered on with hope of finding more food. Within two hours they heard a sound echo through the forest. It was the wail of an animal clearly suffering. It was unknown what was going on over there. Nestor was the first to react. ¡°Everybody get down and hide. We don¡¯t know what that is.¡± He said. They immediately ran over into some underbrush and laid low in order to not be seen. Meanwhile, they could hear the animal¡¯s cries getting closer. With a final wail the animal stopped; however, they could now here a new sound. There was murmuring and talking. Yes talking. The sounds only other human being could do. Although, they could not understand the language it was clear that there were people. Together the group rose from their cover and eagerly approached the sounds of other. After getting pass the tree line they could finally see the scene before them. There lay a dead deer. Ir should I say something that looked like a deer. The basic shape was of such, but it was huge. It¡¯s size was comparable to a horse, but it was more muscular and looked quite more vicious and powerful. Around the animal were people. There were five of them to be exact. Three women and two men. They were dressed in strange garments and wore hardened leather armor over their bodies. The men carried swords to their sides, except one who carried many tools. The women both carried bows. Their eyes were dark brown, but their hair ranged from hazelnut to black. Although they weren¡¯t very short, they were under no interpretation tall, even the men. In fact they were shorter than Sarah who was around 5¡± 5¡¯. They were smiling and speaking in a strange tongue, but their attitudes changed as soon as they heard the approaching group. The men immediately drew their swords and the women readied their arrows. Nestor stopped and the others followed as he attempted to speak with the presumed natives. ¡°Umm. Please excuse us, we mean no harm. We are some of the survivors from the plane crash. We are looking for help and a way to contact the authorities.¡± He made a hand gesture for a phone on the side of his head, but the natives just looked at him strangely. They were probably thinking what¡¯s with this fucking weirdo. Wandering in the forest talking in a weird language. Or at least that was probably what they thought they were thinking. In actuality they took it as a threat and approached with their weapons drawn. Nestor frowned as he reached into his shirt. Forced by the situation he pulled out his gun and pointed it at them. ¡°Stay back or I¡¯ll shoot!¡± He yelled at them. Undeterred by his warning they continued to approach ready to attack. To them all he did was pull out a chunk of metal and act like he was a threat. To them this strange man had to die. Nestor quickly shifted his aim to the right and fired a shot at the guy at the front. The bullet grazed his cheek and he screamed in pain as he fell gripping his face. The shock of what just occurred left the hunters paralyzed. They looked fearfully at Nestor unsure of what they should do. This strange looking man that they met in the forest held a weapon that the could hurt them before they could react at range. Not even an arrow was this fast. ¡°Are you willing to go peacefully now?¡± Nestor calmly said. He walked up to towards the man on the ground and outstretched his arm to help him up. It seemed the group understood this as a sign of peace, and decided to back down since it was clear Nestor was capable of killing them, yet didn¡¯t. Once the man was up he beckoned Nestor and his group to follow them. Morgan looked up to Nestor and asked. ¡°Should we follow them?¡± He responded, ¡°do we really have a choice?¡± They stood to the side as the hunters skinned the deer and began to cut it up. The man with the tools was actually the dismantler and work quickly in processing the deer into smaller parts without destroying the pelt or horns. The man Nestor shot stood to the side as a woman pulled a dark red root out of the sack tied around her waist and began to chew a piece of it. After a few minutes she spit out a dark red paste and rubbed it into his wound. She then grabbed a large leaf off a tree and stuck it over before wrapping it with cloth. Morgan and the rest just stood to the side watching the people work. He couldn¡¯t help but think. [ These people aren¡¯t from Earth. ] Once done, the tool packing hunter constructed a simple sled and loaded the deer pieces onto it. Attached to it were ropes on which the others could pull their haul more easily than carrying it. They left toward who knows where with Morgan¡¯s group following close behind. They soon reached a simple dirt trail and were able to move more easily and faster. Within minutes Morgan could see the entrance gate of a tall wooden wall made of logs. Nestor gave the group an order. ¡°Follow my lead and don¡¯t do anything that can cause problems.¡± New Home The village was bustling with activity as people went around doing their things. When Morgan and the rest of the group were approaching they expected tribal huts or primitive housing, but the reality was very different. The log wall alone was very well built with supports, spikes and ditches. It was clear that although it¡¯s looks were simple, it was in fact a carefully thought out construction. The wall surrounded the village in a big circular ring. Along its perimeter was a ditch about 2 meters deep. Watchtowers were placed behind it every few hundred meters or so. There were even guards patrolling it¡¯s perimeters in groups of three. The gate however, wasn¡¯t as large as the rest. Although, very thick and strong, it¡¯s height was just a bit taller than the doors Morgan had in his own house. As they walked over the folding bridge across the ditch and crossed the gates, they were amazed at what they saw. What they were met with was not immediately huts and tents, but fully fledged cabin homes. Just like the wall, almost all the buildings were constructed if wood. This made sense considering how much forest must have been cut down in order to clear up the space for the village and farmland. That is right, farmland. The wall had been much larger than they expected it to be. It surrounded not only the village, but also about ten square miles of farmland. It was truly a self contained society. At the extraordinary sight Morgan could only use one word to describe it. ¡°Wow.¡± As they followed the group of hunter they had met in the forest, the villagers cheered at the sight of the successful hunt. When they then saw the foreigners following the hunters their faces turned to those of curiosity. Morgan, Nestor, Josh, Sarah and Dick became worried at the large crowd which had become to follow them. ¡°Nestor what do we do? They¡¯re following us.¡±, Whispered Sarah nervously to Nestor. ¡°Stay calm. They probably don¡¯t mean any harm. We are the strangers here.¡± He promptly responded. From the size of the crowd following them Morgan estimated the village population to be almost 1,000. If the place didn¡¯t look so primitive he would have called it a town. Finally the hunters stopped and turned towards Morgan¡¯s group. The man whom Nestor shot spoke to them once again in that strange language, and seemed to want them to follow him specifically from now on. They left the rest of the hunters behind and walked towards the town square. The center of the town was a circular area from which all the roads branched out from. At the center stood a marble statue. It was solid white, so much so it almost seemed to glow. It depicted a beautiful woman with wings shining light down at a battle occurring below. In the warzone were wounded soldiers kneeling towards her, basking in her light, while monsters and others strange creatures laid dead scattered about. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. At the base was a sentence written in that once again alien language. The fact that it stood at the center of the village meant that it held great importance to the people. It was surrounded by vases of flowers and some lit candles. Across the center facing the statue was the largest building in the town. It was the only two story building here, and was also the place Morgan and the rest were being led to. The hunter swordsman let them in through the front doors and signaled them to wait. They stood silent as he left up the statue to get who knows what. When he finally returned he was accompanied by an older looking gentleman. If not for the fact he wore a full suit of armor and carried a spear Morgan would have guessed he would be at a retirement home. He had white long hair and a full beard. His eyes were blue and his skin was much lighter than most of the villagers and he seemed more formal. He was also taller than the rest at almost 6¡± 6¡¯. The man approached them with steady analyzing eyes and wide smile. He turned to Nestor and spoke a few words to him. He frowned at Nestor''s confused face until the hunter who brought him spoke to him. He was likely informing the man that they did not speak their language. After what seemed like hours of playing charades Nestor and the man were able to come out with some basic communication. It seemed that he meant them no harms and would be willing to let them stay if they worked in the village. Nestor and the rest still had many questions about where they were and what was going on, but that level of communication was still beyond their capabilities. What they did find out was each other¡¯s names. The man was named Igor and the hunter Raac. It seemed the village was preparing for expansion as there were multiple newly built cabins at the outskirts ready for occupation. Morgan and the rest chose the largest cabin that had four rooms. Nestor, Dick, and Sarah would get their own rooms while Morgan and Josh would share the largest one. Thecabin might have been the biggest available, but it wasn¡¯t all that large. Each room was barely large enough to fit a small bed and a small cabinet. Morgan a Josh looked at the single bed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry bro, but I ain¡¯t gonna sleep in the same bed as you. I¡¯ll take the floor.¡± Said Morgan. Josh responded, ¡°Yeah alright. How about we just switch who gets the bed each night?¡± ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Soon after they settled in Raac came back and once again beckoned them to follow him. When they did they found that the village held dinner together at sunset. Men and children were lined up with wooden plates ready to receive food from the hundreds of women and wives preparing it. Portable benches were brought in from somewhere and the whole village sat and spoke to each other like one big happy family. The atmosphere was great and all, but Morgan could only focus on one thing, the food. It seems they had cooked the deer from earlier. He could smell the succulent meat and wanted to run over and pounce on it. However, he held himself back. His mouth watering at the thought of the upcoming meal. The others were the same licking their lips, mouths open and practically drooling. Raac soon returned with plates, which he handed to them and led them to the shortest line. Their starvation from the past days was clearly apparent with their famished skeletal looking bodies. The villagers took notice to that and kindly let them pass in front of the line. They also served them extra food and stacked their plates high. It seemed word had spread that they were joining, and the people were very accepting of their new found brethren. The villagers kindness had touched their heart. Once they sat down Sarah was the first to cry, followed by Josh, Morgan, Dick and Nestor. Their nightmare was over. Even though they haven¡¯t returned home, or know where they are, they had a home, they had food. They were alive. They ate their fill. Actually beyond what they should have. After having starved for so long their stomachs weren¡¯t used to food anymore. They had aches and pain, but it was a lot better than the constant sense of starvation and death they faced before. At late night they wandered back to their cabin and fell asleep on their straw filled beds. The first true sleep they had where they didn''t fell the cold grip of death. The Town The loud sound of the morning horn bellowed out through the village. Morgan eagerly woke up. He was thinking, ¡°Finally, it¡¯s time for my first real hunt.¡± Seeing Josh still laying down on the floor, he got up and gave him a friendly kick in the back. Josh just grunted a few words. ¡°Let me sleep man.¡± Morgan just laughed at his response as he opened the door and walked out. He saw Nestor getting ready in his farming gear and told him good morning. Nestor responded, ¡°Haha. Aren¡¯t you in great spirits boy.¡± ¡°Today¡¯s my first hunt what do you expect.¡± Cheerfully responded Morgan. They parted as Morgan continued on his way out the cabin. He was heading directly towards the hunters cabin. As he walked through town, he looked at the newly formed township. He felt pride as this was his new home. It had changed so much since they first had arrived 7 months ago. Yes that¡¯s right 7 months. Throughout the 7 months many things had changed. Firstly, Morgan and the rest had gradually come to understand the language people spoke here. They were made to sit in with the children who were being taught to talk, read and write, by an old village lady. It was slightly embarrassing, being adults learning the same as 3 year olds. With their new found communication they finally learned of where they were. This was no longer their world. This place wasn¡¯t Earth, it was instead called Xian. The place they had crashed in was called the forbidden land. Otherwise called the dark forest. It was a stretch of lifeless rotten land separating the monster''s territory from the other continents. Theyhad landed on it¡¯s outskirts where there was still plant life, but was largely avoided by wild animals. If they had gone deeper they would have been met with doom. Lucky they were to have gone the direction they had, down river and towards the village. The opposite way would have led them to deaths door. It seemed that the creature that had attacked the survivors that night was one of such monsters. It had likely wandered off in search of food when it heard the crash. Originally, the plan was to send a rescue party to pick up the survivors Morgan and the rest had left behind, but that didn¡¯t go as planned. They returned with food a few days after having arrived at the village, only to find no one. The door on the plane had been broken into and dried blood was clearly visible. If there was anyone left they would be long gone by now. Morgan was originally distraught by the realization that Cristy was likely dead. It took him a few weeks to finally get over the fact that he would likely never see her again. However, from his time here, he had learned that death was a common occurrence. Without a way to return home, they were left nothing other than to join the village. The village had no name as it was not a recognized settlement by the human kingdom. It was a border territory started by people who could either not afford land, or had troubled pasts. The village leader Igor himself was a disgraced general, having left the battlefield to care for his sick wife. He was charged with treason and incarcerated soon after. During this period his wife had perished. He had not founded the village, but is the man who made it flourish.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. The village itself was on the eastern outskirts of the kingdom. The reason it was unclaimed even though fertile was the dark forest neighboring it. It was common knowledge that a vile beast or creature would occasionally come out for search of prey. From what Morgan learned, the human kingdom was the most populous of all the races. That was something that amazed Morgan. There were more than just humans in the world. Supposedly there were elves, dwarves, beastmen and fairies. He had not met any of the others so did not keep them in mind. Xian had four major continents. The largest was home to the human, dwarven and elven people. The beastmen had their own in the south, as did the fairies in the west. The last was the dark continent to the east of the village. If not for the fact this was their new reality, it would have been impossible for Morgan and the others to accept such a place existing. The most extraordinary thing they learned, however, was of the existence of magic and the gods. Magic was not a things of myth here, it was part of life. The village''s only doctor was also the only mage, a retired water magus. He was able to make wondrous elixirs and heal the injured. Most amazing was his ability to control the flow of blood, stopping fatal bleeding and saving lives. The gods however were beings which had transcended power and mortality. Each element of magic was accompanied by a single god. The gods were beings who had reached beyond the limits of mortality and the peak of their respective elements. They lived in a different dimension, but kept some connection to the world. It was taboo for a god to appear in the mortal realm, but they could let some power through as blessings or artifacts as gifts. People were allowed to worship the god of their choosing except for one. Only two gods seemed truly special. The most revered was the goddess of light also called goddess of life. Her actual name was Mania. The other was the god of darkness. He is universally despised, and often his followers are arrested if not killed in the spot. Rarely is he ever mentioned, and even his name has become long forgotten by the normal people. It seemed he had led dark armies in massive wars which led to disaster. Thelargest if which had occurred over 300 years ago, leading to the destruction of the dwarven and elven continent. It is the now called dark continent. Since then, all of his followers outside of the dark continent had been killed. The goddess if light was the woman represented in the town center statue. The words on the base read, With her light and grace our victory is true and holy. Mania was the god who blessed the warriors against the darkness during the last war. Her element directly opposed that of the dark god, so they were natural enemies. Most gods had churches where their followers worshipped them. The main church of each god was special, with a small gem that was the catalyst for the gods to pass their blessings. This little gem was the prized possession of each church. The church of light was the largest housing over 60% of the population. They held so much power in fact, that although they held no kingdom their pope was treated like royalty wherever she went, and was a personal advisor to any king or queen. Morgan almost couldn¡¯t believe that this world had gods that could actually do things. Unlike those which were blindly followed on Earth. Even the church seemed like a good existence, especially after it had given such an immense gift to the village. The gift was township. Two months ago representatives of the church had come to the village. Their goal was clear. To assist the development of the village and request the queen to recognize it as a township. In return the church of light would become the official religion of the town and be given plot to build their own church there. The people eagerly accepted and the rest was history. Trade deals had been made. The construction of the church, town hall, paved roads all came soon after. This little isolated village was on the path to growth and success. This brings us to where Morgan is now. As he enters the hunter cabin he hears a conversation between Raac and the archer Isa. ¡°We already have enough meat Raaaaaaaac. Why do we have to hunt mooore?¡± Isa was whining. Raac amusingly responded, ¡°Idiot. Today is the feast for the official recognition of township and for the opening of the church. We must make sure we have more than just enough.¡± At this point Morgan walked in. He said, ¡°What¡¯s up guys ready for the hunt?¡± ¡°It¡¯s you who should be answering that question, new boy. Hahaha.¡± Said Raac as he laughed at Morgan¡¯s childish enthusiasm. They readied their things and left the village. Morgan carried a standard bronze sword that was mass produced in the village after the trade routes had started running. He wore clothes made from a cotton like plant, and light leather armor on top. They soon met up at the river with the other group who had left earlier. Dick had also joined the hunters and was already there when Morgan¡¯s group arrived. Because of his age and strength they had decided to assign him as a dismantler. He packed a wide variety of tools and knives in his sack slung over his shoulder. Dick still didn¡¯t like Morgan, but he took no action other than avoiding Morgan whenever possible. They just greeted each other out of formality. "Hi" "Hi" The group ready for the hunt embarked northward to see if they could find some prey.