《What makes a hero》


 Prologue part I

    ...


    ...


    "So? What are you doing here?"


    ...


    "..I''m not sure"


    "If you don''t know, who knows?"


    "..No one?"


    "Then try to remember how you got here"


    My head ached and I couldn''t see who was talking to me. Who was I? What was I doing here? What should I do? What should I be?


    "Are you remembering something?"


    "Who are you?"


    "You"


    "Me?"


    "Yes"


    The answers I got only made me feel even more confused. How could I be talking to myself? Maybe I was going mad. Or it could be some sort of prank. If it was, I swear It had gone too far.


    "Try to remember"


    Some glimpses and uncomplete images, sounds and feelings of another time had invaded my head, but I felt no nostalgia. It came with quite the pain.


    If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it."Does it hurt?"


    I did not answer. There was too much pain to simply answer. I was feeling like crying and throwing myself on the floor, but somehow I couldn''t.


    "Then give up. Stay here with me"


    "I can''t"


    "Why?"


    "I don''t know"


    "Then try to remember why"


    After an endless moment of pain, it simply ceased. It was an abrupt end, but I felt a relief I did not feel in years. The images did not feel like a thousand photos throwed away anymore. They had meaning. The sounds, the feelings, they were connected.


    "Now that you have remembered a few things. Let''s start from the beginning"

 Prologue part II

    It was cold, but the winter was coming to an end. Images of cold plains and lakes could be seen from the window as I was warming myself inside the train. I left Moscow on board of the trans siberian railway it had been twenty days. There were few clothes on my bag and little to no money left. It wouldn''t take long to reach Ulan-ude, the last stop before going to China through Mongolia. The view of the route was impressive, inspiring.


    I took a photo from my pocket. I smiled as I saw the image of my wife. She is beautiful, or should I say the most beautiful woman in the world. I miss her.


    I remember when she got the news. She was pregnant of a boy, my son. We bought everything we needed. A preparation to what my friends called hell, the first months of having a child. They said she would want to eat strange things, feel pain and think she was getting fat. She did. Well, she is most likely dead now.


    I did not know what would happen. I wanted to be a writter, so I started travelling the world. It would only take a year and I would be back for her. I took a plane to England and tavelled on many trains, going through France, Germany, Poland and Balarus until I got to Moscow, where I got on board of the trans siberian railway.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.Now that I think about it, this trip ruined my life. I gave up on my job to write a book I never completed. I left my wife to go around the world and look what happened.


    ...


    "What happened?"


    "...I... I don''t know"


    "Think harder"


    I was still looking at the photo while thinking about my life. It was hard, but everything was going the right way.


    The train started to shake and I heard some shouts. The sound of the wheels being braked could have made me deaf. The lights started to waver.


    The shouts suddenly intensified and there was a large explosion. I felt my body being thrown with an extreme force. Strange, I don''t remember feeling any pain.


    ...


    "So? Tell me, how did that end?"


    "... I died"

 Prologue part III

    "Is that it?"


    "... I''m not sure... but I died so.. it must be the end"


    "I don''t think so"


    "...What do you mean?"


    "There is still quite a lot to the story"


    "I don''t understand"


    "Death is not the end"


    "If I am speaking with you right now, it probably isn''t"


    "well, you are not dead yet"


    "What??"


    "Leave that for later"


    "Why? What are you hiding from me?!"The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "I am yourself. What are you hiding from yourself?"


    "What?..I.."


    "What is the name of your wife?"


    "...I...She... I don''t.. Why? Why can''t I remember?!"


    "Her name is Karen"


    "Yes! Karen! How could I forget?"


    "Why is she most likely dead?"


    "What? She can''t be"


    "You have said that yourself"


    "..But.."


    "There is still a lot to remember. Let''s begin again. What is your name? Or should I say, what was and what is your name?"

 Chapter one

    "It will be ok. I will come back"


    Now I can''t blame her for not believing it. I don''t know what was in my mind. She shouted for every neighbour to hear and even gave me a nice slap on the face.


    Now that I think about it, I didn''t think about her, how she would feel, when I decided to leave my job and travel aroud the world with nearly no money. I left her pregnant to sustain herself and our son alone. Acctually, I don''t think I considered her feelings most of the time. I blame it on being young, though I know it is only a bad excuse.


    My father had died and left some money. It was not much, but I coould use it to pay for somethings on the trip. After the news of his death, I started to feel some sort of need to live my life. I guess, I just looked back and saw no adventure and felt like I should do something different. I searched a lot on the internet and talked with my friends about it, until I found a way to go around the world through trains, mostly.


    My wife gave me a slap and shouted, but stopped soon after. She saw there was no hope. She nearly fell to the chair and started to cry, saying I was going to leave her alone. I was going to leave her alone, but I planned on going back. It is not my fault I died. Or maybe it is. If I had stayed with her I wouldn''t have lost my life for nothing.


    I started to write a book. I allways wanted to write a book, but it is harder to write than one may imagine. I can''t remember how many times I failed to write the first pages or simply restarted it becouse I saw that it wasn''t as good as I initially thought. Maybe the trip could help me. New experiences and feelings is what people expect when they read a book.


    Every city I had been on the journey was a stop for me to take photos, the best I could. I would go to the most impressive structures and sit to watch things go. It helped me give the first steps, but I noticed that I didn''t need that anymore. A book is written with the simple things. What happened? How did it feel? What happened after?If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    I missed my wife way too much to complete a year away. She did not talk to me, she didn''t want to. I understand that. When I was in Moscow, I changed the flight from beijing to go home and canceled the rest.


    I just needed to go through siberia to beijing on a safe train. It wasn''t much and I had only been around very safe countries so far. I didn''t expect to meet any kind of problem except the fact that I did not speak russian or chinese.


    ...


    "And did you meet any problem?"


    "You already know"


    "Do I?"


    "Yes. If it did not happen I would not be here"


    "I am not talking about that"


    "What else would you be talking about?"


    "Alisa"


    ...


    It is one of the things I regret the most in my life. I just wished I could delete a single moment. I would definetly delete when I met Alisa. Or maybe, the moment when I decided to go on this trip.


    She was very beautiful. Somehow she looked even more beautiful than Karen with her eyes that remembered me of honey sometimes. A russian beauty I met on the railway. I can''t believe I fell for her seduction. This is something I just wished my wife would never hear about and I guess she didn''t.


    Maybe it wasn''t Alisa who was a serpent trying to seduce me away from the right path of loving my wife. It was one of my biggest failures, a mistake I hoped and still hope not to make again.


    ...


    "That''s it? Don''t you think you left quite a lot out?"


    "It is not something I wish to get into details"


    "What do you think happened to Alisa?"


    "Probably died on the train too"


    "And Karen?"


    "I would rather not know.. I don''t have the heart to. Maybe she found another and lived a happy life"


    "But you still did not answer my question"


    "What question?"


    "What is your name. Oh, sorry, what WAS your name?"

 Chapter one part II

    "My name.. I don''t..."


    "No haste. Take your time"


    "But I..."


    "You''ve remembered a lot already"


    "Did I...?"


    "No, not really. You''ve just remembered the first part"


    "Why don''t you help me"


    "Am I not helping you?"The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Why don''t you just tell me things if you seem to know everything"


    "I am youself and you don''t remember. How else would I help you?"


    "So you also don''t know"


    "Mostly so"


    "Ah, I see"


    "We are losing time"


    "Time? for what?"


    "You need to remember things eventually. You can''t stay here forever"


    "I can''t? Where are we?"


    "You can, but when you remember how you ended here, you won''t want to stay"


    "Where are we?"


    "Who knows"


    "Tell me!"


    "You have to answer my question first"


    "Danm you! I don''t know! I just don''t know!"


    "Yes, you know"


    "I don''t! What do you expect from me?"


    "To know who you are. Tell me. Who are you? Who are you talking about when you speak of yourself?"

 Chapter two

    My name is... was.. Noah. At least that''s what I remember people calling me.


    I lived a life that could definetly be considered ordinary. I don''t regret most of it. I stayed in a small city until I got to university to study, maybe find a good job with a nice payment, but universities are expensive. I ended with a lot of debt. I did pay everything by the time I married Karen so I could start paying for a house. We needed a place to live, a place for us. It wasn''t a very big house, but enough to have an extra room for the little man coming.


    It is over now.


    ...


    "Tell me, Noah. After you died, what happened?"


    "Didn''t I arrive here?"


    "I don''t think so. There is a large part missing"


    ...


    The explosion took my consciousness away. I don''t know how much time it took for me to come back to my senses. There are a lot of empty spaces, some images. I remember spending a long time, or it felt like a long time, just sleeping. There was a strange moment where I felt some imense pain and suddenly, I had woken up. I remember some sort of light, but I can''t seem to remember exactly what happened. I was dizzy and tired. Even though I had just woke up, I couldn''t stay much time without going back to sleep.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    There were some clear images. A woman with red hair and light brown eyes. Not the most beautiful woman in the world, but very attractive. There was also another woman that was usually wearing some kind of black dress and had a messy hair and dark brown eyes. The image of the woman in black is clearer in my mind. Maybe I saw her much more than the first woman or she just got stuck in my memory for some reason.


    ...


    "Who was her?"


    "Who?"


    "The woman in black"


    ...


    Her name was Stella and she was the maid of the house. The reason I remember her more is that she was the one who usually took care of me. I don''t remember most part of what happened.


    ...


    "And the other woman?"


    "...My new mother"


    Something I had often wondered about and thought to be impossible acctually happened, though not the way I wished it to be.


    I was back to being a kid.

 Chapter two part II

    "How did you end in another world?"


    "The will of god"


    "What god?"


    "Who knows..."


    "If you don''t know, what makes you say it was a god?"


    "I thought a lot about it acctually. Theory of stray souls and hero summonings, but I found no.. concret evidence of neither"


    "So you thought it was easier to say it was god?"


    "...It wasn''t easier, just... seemed like the only explanation possible"


    "I understand"


    "I know you do, you are myself!"


    ...


    There was another reason why I didn''t remember my mother very well. She died while giving me birth, so her image was clear, but very far. Memories can be deceiving sometimes. Stella was the one who really took care of me.. and became my father''s lover. He often had many woman at his bed and I did feel quite bad about it, but I did not consider him my father. He also slapped me with disturbing frequency. It was a way he showed how he liked me for "killing" his wife. I believe it was only an excuse, a way to feel more powerfull even though he was a coward.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    When I saw on films and series, or even books, I imagined that a noble would study tactics of war, diplomacy, history and geography. That was an illusion. I was barely half of the size of the table when I started having classes. Most of my time was taken by dance and etiquete. Nobility was prideful and it didn''t like wasting their time on sciences. They left that for their ministers or servants.


    The servents... They disliked my father a lot. Can''t blame them. But they projected their hate to me. They knew they would be killed, or worse, if they were to do me harm, but it didn''t stop them from being cold towards me. I tryied to talk to them and be kind, but they gave me no space. Stella was the only one to think and care about me, but I suspect it was because of her affair with my father.


    We were dependent of the sunlight, so we all got to sleep very early and that caused everybody to wake up at night many times and I wasn''t an exception. I woke up and slowly moved the door for it to open. The wooden doors were noisy and I didn''t want to wake up anyone or call the attention of those that were awake. I walked silently through the walls of rugged stones. It was a big catles, but I spent years living there so, I knew the way to wherever I wanted to go. I didn''t carry a candle. I would have to ask for it and I wanted to be alone in the night.


    I hear some whispers and steps. I didn''t know where it came from, but I kept on trying to follow it. When someone is whispering, secrets may be told. The confined spaces ended and I was on some sort of fancy enormous balcony, hidden behind the walls.


    My father was speaking with a minister.


    "It is far away, there is nothing to fear"


    "My king, it isn''t the wisest choice"


    "Who are you to tell me that? You bring me news of a disease from the ends of the world and expect me to be afraid?"


    "No, not afraind, my king. I wish for you to cautious"


    "Cautious? Peasants die of different diseases everyday. I am not going to worry about that"


    I was really young, but had the mind of a grown man. I could see my father waas being a fool, but I got back to my room. I didn''t want to be punched or slapped again.

 Chapter three

    "Aren''t you forgetting something?"


    "I am getting tired of you teeling me that I am allways forgetting something"


    "Not like you can do anything against me"


    "Go danm you. Tell me already, what am I forgetting!"


    "Your name"


    "Are you going mad? I told you my name is Noah"


    "No.. your name was Noah. What is you name, now?"


    "..Ah..."


    ...


    My name is Liam. The worse part of being reborn into a world around medieval times is hygiene. People don''t brush their teeth and often shit on the ground. My case, and the case of most that have some sort of better finantial condition, is that I have to do my needs on a wood container. You can imagine that it often flows out of the wood. And it needs to be discarded. The ones from the castle are thrown in the river and the recipients are cleaned to be used again, but on the capital it is disgusting. People simply throw it from the window and it gets really messy when it happens to have someone passing by.That is the reason why I hated goin to the capital so much.


    Keeping track of time is hard. People don''t have clocks and don''t know astronomy well either. That''s why it is so hard for me to tell most of the facts in order.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    The reason I was going to the capital was because I was invited by the church, the only institution the knew how to watch out for the age of people. I had just completed my eighth sun, meaning I was eight years old. It was a symbolc event. Many chieldren would die early and getting to the age of eight meant that I would probably live up to forty or fifty.


    There had been sometime since I had seen Stella. She had just disappeared. It was strange.


    "My greetings, Prince"


    "Cardinal Berthran, it is a pleasure to speak to you"


    He gave me a smile. I probably gave him a good first impression.


    I met him in front of a crowd. It wasn''t everyday that people could see royalty. The Cardinal guided me through the halls of the church, passing through very thick walls of stone. The church was dark and looked like it could last forever. He stopped and I kneeled, just like I was instructed earlier. I heard nothing from he crowd, that watched silently. Religious rituals were taken very seriously.


    The carninal put water on a bowl of stone and started to say things in a strange language. He slowly poured the water on my head.


    My father wasn''t there. But a minister, Alazar, the minister of economy, was there. He was a good man, someone I could respect. I can say for sure that he cared about me, at least way more than my father.


    The carninal continued to say things that couldn''t make less sense. But when he stopped, the crowd started to commemorate. I wasn''t told that it simply stopped there, but I followed what everybody was doing. People were happy and I was happy that they didn''t hate me like my servants. There was a big festival. People brought wine and some travelling musicians were paid to give life to the event.


    I didn''t expect the city to have such atmosphere. It was.. like home.


    But at midnight, when people started to go home drunk, or carrying the drunk ones, Minister Alazar came to speak with me.

 Chapter three part II

    "You skipped a lot"


    "I was a kid, my memory before I was five doesn''t even exist"


    "What about after you were five?"


    "I didn''t play with anyone. There were no kids in the castle.."


    "And...?"


    "I had classes of etiquete and dance for the most part, but also had a teacher of... does it really matter?"


    "Some details are important"


    "I don''t think anything important happened"


    "Really? There is a detail you are forgetting"


    "What?"


    "The history of your nation"


    ...


    There was one class I found really important for a ruler, and that was history. My teacher was called Baltazar and he was the most knowledgeable man in the realm by far. He often said I was a genious, but that''s because I had the mind of someonet that had years of studying history. I didn''t need any help to sit on the chair anymore and he woult calmly wait for me to be ready.


    I was taught that the name of our nation was Lorn. It meant native land in our language.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    It seems like it was once an union of tribes. They unified under a military leader, but it didn''t last long. The nation was invaded and anexed by the empire of Lion and then became a part of the empire of Abassind. During the time conquered, we suffere accutulration and formed a kingdom after gained independence.


    ...


    "Why is it important that I remember that?"


    "Well.. It is not the part you told that is important"


    "Come on! If you know, tell me!"


    "What happened to Abassind?"


    ...


    Our independence was a part of a major crisis. The kingdoms of Marat and Naska also gained their independence. The empire lost a third of its size. It was renamed after a coup d''etat and became the Empire of Aldan. There were some very strong emperors, at least that is what is told. They managed to anex the rich plais of Simsa and the coastal lands of Pontus. They expanded their influence on the east and growed to be four times bigger.


    ...


    "Did they forget about the west?"


    "No..."


    ...


    They often decreed sanctions and prevented us from doing commerce with the nations on the south. It was a problem, but the nations were still on feudalism, so the commerce wasn''t that important to the rulers or aristocracy. The land was power.


    Marat and Lorn have a very friendly relation since they were formed, but Naska was the black sheep of the family. The nation to our north was constantly at war with Marat, Lorn and Aldan. It was also constantly in food crisis. We can see that the rulers didn''t think much about their people.


    ...


    "I still don''t get how that might me important"


    "You don''t? Maybe you don''t remember it yet"


    "Remember what?"


    "If you continue, you''ll see"


    "I hate you sometimes"


    "We all hate some sides of ourselves"


    "...True"


    "It is good that you remember things better from your eighth birthday"


    "Yeah.. tragedies are harder to forget.."

 Chapter four

    He looked at me and gestured for me to follow him. I saw his expression and knew that, whatever it was, it was serious. I followed him, leaving the central plaza behind. There weren''t that many people anymore. It wasn''t silent and there were still some people around, but there was privacy. He took me to a building, the judicial center of the city. I was very young and I know that he was thinking about that and I saw the conflict in his eyes. I thought that maybe something bad had happened and wanted to shout for him to tell me, but I knew that it was for the best to give him time.


    "..The plague.. it.."


    "The plague what?"


    "It arrived on the outskirts of the realm"


    "What? how is that possible? wasn''t it very far away"


    "Yes it was.. and still is"


    "What do you mean?"


    "There is no nation we know of that isn''t suffering with the disease"


    "And what are we going to do!?"


    "Your father ordered a complete lock down. No one gets out, no one gets in"


    "But weren''t there people on the realm infected already?"


    "...your father, he.."


    "He what? what did he do!?"


    "He ordered them to be exterminated"


    His words hit me in a way I never felt before. The idea took its time to sink and I still don''t how to feel about that. I felt like shouting with him, but he was going through the same pain. He waited for me to say something and I just stood there, looking at him.


    "Why did you let that happen?"The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "I wasn''t there. He just ordered the minister of war after the news came and I wasn''t there"


    "He didn''t seek council from anyone"


    "As far as I know, he didn''t"


    "He is a fool!"


    He widened his eyes when he saw my reaction. It isn''t something we see everyday. My father or not, I had just offended the king and it could mean death for most.


    "You know, prince..."


    "What?"


    "I have allways seen some intelligence in you. Something beyond the years you lived"


    "What?? Are you crazy?"


    I was pretty nervous. I thought he knew who I really was and feared the consequence of it. But, he was a wise man and wouldn''t do any harm for no reason.


    "Don''t you want to come with me?"


    "Come with you? Where?"


    "To my mansion. I want you to study more than dancing and etiquete"


    Again, his words surprised me. I still think he was a man with a mind far ahead of the time he lived in. His invitation was all I wanted. I got very good education on my last life, but I knew there was allways much more to learn. Much more so on another world. I couldn''t deny that chance.


    "I accept your offer"


    He smiled. Maybe he thought I wasn''t going to accept it.


    It was time for us to go, but there was still an issue. My father was prideful and liked to see me grow to the ways he wanted me to be. It woudn''t be easy to tell him and angering a king is not the wisest idea.


    ".. Who is going to tell my father?"


    He frowned. For sure he had not thought about that and started to struggle, finally giving up as he saw me watching his expressions.


    "It is not something for you to worry.I will take care of that tomorrow. Now, go to sleep"


    I slowly walked out and met a few servants. They were the ones that were ordered to attend to my every need and they weren''t happy at all, but they didn''t make effort to hide it either. They gave me a coat to warm myself in the cold night and guided me to my carriage.


    The carriage was made of dark wood and very comfortable inside. But there was something strange. No servant got in with me and I sawthe face of Alazar while he was met by many guards and led way. He looked extremely serious and I started to see the soldiers dressed the same way in many spots of the city. I was paying to much attenton on them and ended up noticing it too late.


    They were carrying me the wrong way. I couldn''t jump, because the carriage was going too fast. I punched the wall behind the driver"


    "Stop the carriage! We are going the wrong way! Hey! Stop this danm carriage!!"


    I saw the city to one side and the castle to the other as we started to go up the hill.


    The wisest man I knew had just made the worst decision of his life.

 Chapter four part II

    I saw the city as the carriage got up the hill. I thought of jumping out, but it was going to fast. From above it seemed like a show of red lights. The shouts that came soon after still haunt me today. Don''t mistake me for a hero. I was thinking of myself. It wasn''t about my father and it wasn''t about the ones shouting, the ones burning, the ones losing the lives they built. I was thinking about myself. I was scared. Nothing bad had happened to me so far, but uncertainty made me feel like anything could happen next.


    ...


    "I don''t want to continue anymore"


    "What? You have to keep going"


    "I can''t do this anymore"


    "Of course you can!"


    "Leave me alone! I don''t even know why I started doing this. It''s not like I will ever meet Karen again"


    "You might"


    "How!?"


    "You need to remember"


    "Remember what? Tell me!"


    "Everything"


    ...


    Uncertainty made me lose my sleep, but didn''t stop me from getting tired and giving up. Those kind of trips take days and I knew that. The carriage did lose speed, but I didn''t think it would be wise to simply get out and try to run. What if they persued me? I didn''t know what could be done to me. We stopped in the middle of the night near a stream in the woods. The driver jumped off and I peeked into the window until I saw he was coming to my direction. He openned the door to see me looking at him with weary eyes.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    "My prince"


    "...Who are you?"


    "Me? I thougth the minister had told you. I am liutenant Malkuh, at your service"


    "...Where are you taking me?"


    "To the house of Lord Alazar"


    "Why?"


    "Because it is safe there"


    "Safe from what?"


    "He didn''t tell you?"


    "Told me what!?"


    He didn''t make effort to hide that he was conflicted. He looked at me as if to make sure I wasn''t making fun of him and openned his mouth. He wanted to say something, but stopped before even starting.


    "...come. There is a stream just ahead and you must be thirsty"


    "Answer my question!"


    "...I.. You have to understand that I wasn''t aware that you didn''t know a thing.."


    "Tell me already!"


    "...It was inevitable. The minister saw potential in you and decided to save your life"


    "Be clear! I am not in the mood to hear nonsense"


    I tired to sound agressive and imposing, but let''s not forget I was a kid. I probably failed. I was very scared and unstable and I think he could see it in my face very well.


    "Come, you''ll need some water..."


    I decided to accept his advice and followed him. We walked to the stream, but I was very cautious. I didn''t trust him and no one can blame me for that.


    "Your father wasn''t very popular"


    "..I know"


    "He often did things that the nobility didn''t like"


    "That''s probably right"


    "When he oredered the complete lock down.. the few merchant and the noblity we have refused to accept"


    "His decision was probably right... but he didn''t need to..."


    "It doesn''t matter if the decisioin was right or not. The nobles decided to put a new king in place"


    "Then why did Alazar get me out of there"


    "..I am not sure. You''''l have to ask him. Maybe he saw what I see now"


    "What do you see"


    "Some starge intelect for a kid"


    I stared at him, but turned to the other side and kneeled to drink water from the stream. I heard a crak and nearly jumped to see him unsheathe his sword. I looked everywhere and was prepared to run at any moment, but I didn''t make any reckless movement.

 Notes

    So... I need help.


    english is not my native language (I thought I was pretty good at it, to the point of not making one mistake..... but, well, corrected the wrong things I could find)The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Any correction is welcome, but if the composition of the phrase itself is wrong please explain why


    I would also like to know if the story is good.


    Is it?


    Is it as original as I thought?


    What can I do to improve?


    Any thought, any comment is helpful.


    Thank you.

 Chapter five

    My heart was beating as fast as a horse could run. He charged at me and I let a girly shout scape. I closed my eyes and tryied to defende myself with my hands, but no pain came. I felt he holding me and pull me to his direction. I nearly fell.


    "Show yourself!"


    The liutentant ordered, but there was no response. He continued in defensive posture while holding my arm strongly. My eyes looked everywhere and I saw nothing. Not a single shadow. The woods weren''t dense and it was still day. There was no way a large group could have hidden themselves there.


    We heard another step. We turned to the opposite side he was expecting the stranger to be. The steps continued and he pointed his sword to where the sound was coming from. I heard the steps and looked to the ground where it was coming from. The leaves were being crushed and the kindling were breaking with a cracking sound.


    I didn''t know what it was, but it was invisible. Again, uncertainty made me fall into the abyss of my mind. My breath became faster and faster, following my heart andmy legs started to tremble as if saying they were ready to run.


    Some sort of very strong wind hit me and I was sent flying a few meters. I think I hit my head, because I became dizzy and couldn''t see things correctly, but I saw that Malkuh had fallen just ahead of me.


    The images beacme blurry.


    I tried to get up, but I was too dizzy and fell to the ground. I lost conciousness.


    ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................


    My head ached. I openned my eyes to see a dark place. It looked like a normal room, made with wood and floor of stones. I was over a bed that was basically some sheets over the hard wood. It was dusty and very silent.


    I moved slowly as my eyes analysed everything in the room. I tried to be silent, but the bed creaked at any exerted force. I decided that it was too late to be afraid of making any noise. I got up and walked, still as silently and as slowly as I could. I opened the door, just enough for me to pass and not making considerable sounds.


    The rest of the house was also very dark. It was a strange feeling I never expected to feel. Now I know what the characters of horror movies experience. My breathing became slower and I stopped moving.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Somehow I could hear everything. Every breath and every beat of my heart were too loud to be comfortable.


    I let my eyes wonder through the room. I Found nothing, but at that time we couldn''t see anything either.


    "What if whatever it is... it can''t see us? It makes sense in science. Maybe it smells us? Maybe it hears us?


    My mind started to run through the possibilities...


    "What are you doing here boy?"


    I jumped and throwed myself at the floor. My breathing was erratic and I stood up in a speed I didn''t know was possible.


    "Calm down, not gonna hurt you"


    I looked to see the image of the wall become blurry and suddenly there was a man there, taking some sort of sheet off.


    "Shit.."


    I hadn''t seen any form of magic in my old world. And I don''t think I had seen any real magic up to that time. It seemed like an illusion, a lie.


    "..What..?.... Was that magic!?"


    "Magic!? I am no trickster!"


    "No, that''s not what.."


    "Shut your mouth, little man"


    Magic. I stared at him with widened eyes. He was mage. It didn''t seem like it was impressive for him. He didn''t boast or made a show of it. He ignored my presence and walked slowly to open a door.


    I stood there. I needed time to relax my heart and continue.


    He had entered on the kitchen, or some sort of place to cook and make things with plants.


    "The other will soon wake up"


    "...What are you going to do with us?"


    "You spoiled brat! Shut youself before I do it myself!I won''t do anything with you, neither with that man"


    I took his advice to the heart and decided to speak no more. I still wanted to ask why he took us, but thought it was better to leave him.


    He took a book from the shelf and started to search for something. He looked into every page slowly before leaving it open and get many ingridients, plants that were placed in bottles of glass.


    Every ingridient was cut into very small pieces and put on a recipient with water.


    I stood looking at it, but he didn''t seem to mind. He lit the fire in some sort of oven and put the recipient there, to boil.


    "Tell me, boy. What''s your name?"


    "Liam"


    "Just Liam? I doubt so. Your fancy clothes say otherwise"


    "..Liam Rondelern"


    "....Family Rondelern. Never liked them"


    "Are you.. perhaps.. a mage?"


    "A mage? Don''t mistake me for those travelling fools. I am a Druid and it''s the second time you offend me today"


    "I beg your pardon"


    "Beg more. Go on. I don''t care about you, about your status. Never liked the likes of you"


    His words were rude, but there was no hint of agressiveness. His weary eyes looked at me for a while. He turned around to lit a candle. I could finally see how he looked. He was old, somewhere around the 60s, and had gray hair. His eyes were green and his robe was made of a dark brown textile. His beard was still light brown and it was big, covering a great part of his face.


    He was the Druid of forest Camupel.

 Chapter five part II

    "Tell me boy, what are you?"


    "what... what do you mean?"


    "Don''t try lying to me, I can feel you are different. Are you even human?"


    "I am human!"


    I heard a small sound and looked to the side to see Malkuh looking at us with a very serious expression.


    "Look, the other princess just woke up"


    "Why did you attack us, mage?"


    "Mage!? I am going to show you what the hell is a mage!"Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    "You were the one who attacked us first"


    "I did and don''t regret it"


    "Why did you do it?"


    "Because I wanted. And shut your mouth, I am the one that can make questions here"


    This druid seemed mad. He told me to shut up and then asked for my name, he said I wasn''t human and attacked us for no reason. I don''t think anyone would have trusted him.


    "Now, boy, let us continue.."


    "With what?"


    "I already asked my question. Answer me. What are you?"


    "A human!"


    "Lies"


    "What?"


    "Every human have a form of energy that we call humanitae and you don''t have any"


    "I don''t understand"


    "You are not human. In fact, I don''t know what you are. You are not an animal either"


    "..Am I not just an exception?"


    "There is no exception. Now, Answer me, demon, or I will make you answer."


    "I am no demon!"


    "And I am not the man you travel with for you to fool me"


    He raised his starff and I started to see some sort of blue aura form around him. He looked serious enough for me to be scared. My heart started racing and I took a deep breath while glancing at Malkuh for help. He also looked confused and we didn''t have time to react.

 Chapter six

    "I think I am going mad"


    "And why is that?"


    "Well... I am talking to myself and... I am speaking of a mage and magic like they are things that exist"


    "And why do you think they don''t?"


    "I think you should stop your mind games. I am sure those were not true memories"


    "Why?"


    "It is fantasy! It is a hallucination! There is no way it exists"Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    "But you are talking about a different world"


    "That might be an illusion too. It simply can''t be the truth"


    "I think it is real"


    "You are probably no real youself!"


    "Hey, stop this"


    "No! Go to hell!"


    "What??"


    "I don''t need you! I don''t want you!"


    I continued to speak until I realised there was no one. I was used to getting an answer, to hear someone tell me that I needed to remember, but I was alone. I tried looking everywhere, but I still could not see properly.


    "Hey!"


    I kept on trying to call for him.. for myself, but there was no response.


    "Shit!"


    I started to concentrate. He had told that I needed to remember.. remember everything. I could still see Karen again.


    "Remember... remember.. remember"


    I repeated the same thing over and over as I was swallowed by my memories again.