ă€ŠAt Death&#x27;s Door: Legacyă€‹


 Chapter 0.1: What Was Once there.

    At Death''s Door - Legacy

    Chapter 0.1

    What Was Once There.

    *-*-*-*-*

    "No...No no no no. Impossible. This isn''t right, what is with this? What is going on!?"

    He knew that something was wrong. Very wrong.

    ''What the fuuuuuuck!''

    A high-pitched scream came out through the window, from the inside of a large tower, placed in the middle of a certain forest. Bears would join their prey and run in fear. Men and women alike would TREMBLE on the spot! DRAGONS WOULD SCREAM IN AGONY! GODS WOULD WAIL WI-

    *cough*

    ...

    Of course, if there would have been anyone around to actually hear the faint little cry that came from within the abandoned tower.

    Letting out another whimper, the panicked person in question ran with tiny steps towards the window and looked out. He didn''t like where this was going.

    "Oh my god! What the hell!"

    His breathing grew heavier.

    ''What is it with this situation!?''

    The tower itself, 20metres high, was built in a square formation with dark bricks -often used around the magic formation of a lengthier ritual to absorb surrounding magic that could potentially disturb the delicate process- that seemed to have been witnesses to many battles and sieges, yet stood proudly intact even after centuries of forgotten maintenance. All alone in the middle of a lush forest. Abandoned.

    Apart from the trees of said forest, of course. Good for you, tower!

    Backing away from the only window within this tower with haste he was back at the same corner of the room as before. Trying to calm himself down and find out more about his situation, he inhaled and exhaled two deep breaths, and then looked around the room made of stone.

    The room to which the screaming window was attached to -not that it was actually the window screaming. Windows don''t scream... Often...- was decorated with a simple bed made of stone, a bookshelf filled with books and ancient tomes, and a wooden desk with even more tomes on top of it. All nicely rounded up with a COMPLETELY normal and harmless circle -that looked like a circle with two lines, one going from north to south, and the other from east to west- painted onto the stone bed with the color blue.

    ''Just where am I? This can''t be... Right..? What? No! Really!?''

    The poor desk was in a bad shape, as carved onto it was inconsistent and weird old symbols that indicated that nothing but a mad scientist had been here long ago. Further proved by the content of the tomes, containing various experiments and old text that he couldn''t understand. It was all gibberish to him. It was something that no one but a madman would manage to read, or even dare touch for that matter. And who knows how sane the person that wrote them still was, if even alive.

    He had his doubts.

    The books held within the bookshelf was also connected to this madness, containing more documented walls of gibberish, but he knew they were linked to the tomes that showed drawings of experiments on living beings. And, of course, the blue circle that covered the stone bed -more often known as a stone floor- too, must have been the work of this madman, whatever that was used for.

    The real bed, made of oak, was somehow scattered in thousands of small pieces in the corner next to the bookshelf because of who knows what,or why, for that matter. He had his pointers though, if the place he woke up at was anything to go by. It was most likely the result of the experiments written in the tomes and books, all linked together in some twisted way with the blue circle underneath him.

    He too, felt some connection to it, as it then struck him just where he had seen it before.

    ''This is impossible after all! No way! No!''

    "Not with this! And that! Yes! No! No... And those!"

    ''What the fuuuuuuuuuck!''

    Standing within the circle while rambling to himself incoherently, he looked down on his own body, and for a few seconds, his mind''s processing ability was lost before he regained what was left of his sanity. Looking up to the stone-covered ceiling, he laughed at the same time as tears came to say hello to their new world from the corner of his eyes.

    "Ah.. Ahaahaha... Jus- Just what in the world did I do last night?"

    Broken down, his mind fled to the safety of his past memories, trying his best to recollect just what had happened in an attempt to understand.

    *-*-*-*-*

    ~Flashback~

    On the road that led up to one of many buildings within the vicinity of the campus, a sluggish creature slowly but surely made its way forward with its own two sophisticated legs. A magnificient sight.

    "Good morning..."

    Having stayed up the other night, John groaned out a sorry excuse towards a familiar blur in the corner of his deprived eyes while dragging his feet barely above ground as not to stumble and fall on the hard concrete.

    "More like good night! Did you stay up and play games all night again, you idiot?" the friend retorted jokingly while slowing down his pace, -letting John walk next to him- already knowing what the answer would be. They had been friends and attending the same schools for almost eight years now. He knew how his friend reacted to certain things at this point and there was little he didn''t know, whether he wanted to or not. This time, however, he was wrong.

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    "Ah! There you go again. But no Max..." John yawned. "I played games all day yesterday, forgot the assignment, and spent the whole night until a few hours ago to finish it."

    ''That was an unexpected order..''  Max thought as his left eyebrow raised just a little bit, surprised. His guess was not completely wrong, but in the wrong order.

    Max, willingly forced upon the job as childhood friend, have kept John company ever since grade school. His curly dark brown hair and 190cm''s tall, well-trained body as well as the light-green colored eyes that blessed his well-proportioned countenance made him a sight to behold. If not for his incredibly straight personality, unable to hold most thoughts in, -which mostly ended up being unnecessary remarks that would  be better off being hidden deep within ones thoughts, never to see the light- he would be quite popular with the ladies. The female students, of course, knew otherwise at this point and made an effort to only gaze at the man from afar.

    Honesty was a sin, in his case.

    "Right... Well I didn''t expect to live to see the day where the great time-lord John Eriss¨¦ would neglect his duties."

    Max smirked over his chosen words, then looked over to his oh-so-great childhood friend.

    John, with a normal height of 175cm, -which looked rather short in the presence of Max- had black spiky hair that was easily mistaken as a generic hairstyle from anime -well, except without the whole standing up part- and a pair of hazel-brown eyes, together with his slim but untrained body, -damn you, metabolism!- he looked like an average person at nineteen years of age.

    Now frowning, with a hint of embarassment in his raspy voice and a tinge of blush on his freckled cheeks, he uttered as silently as he possibly could to his dear, tall friend:

    "Don''t call me that. ''Time-loord''." John emphasized the word. "It''s embarassing to have that nickname follow me all the way to university, man. Just because I can somehow balance my hobbies and school doesn''t mean I make everything-"

    "Somehow balance your hobbies and school?" Max interrupted and laughed for a second before making an even wider grin. "With the amount of assignments we get nowadays i''m surprised- no, BAFFLED over how you can so easily stay online, gaming the whole day, and yet seem to always get a passing grade that would make even our dear project leaders fluster if they would compare their grades with yours. You really must be jumping back in time in order to pull that off! Time-lor-pffffahahaha!"

    "..."

    John was not amused after already explaining his reluctance towards the nickname and he didn''t hesitate to show it in his expression.

    "Alright, alright! I won''t call you that again, oh great ruler of the t-ahahHAHA! I just can''t! No! What the hell were you thinking back then?! Going all ''Imma be the immortal ruler of-''Ouch! Alright! I''ll stop! ahaha! It''s just too funny not to... Hey, we''re here."

    ''Real smooth...'' John never said, already satisfied with the damage caused by his elbow and fueled by the desire to also drop the conversation.

    Rubbing his left rib cage while trying to change the subject, Max glanced at a sign that was placed on the right side of the door to the white building they were just about to enter.

    ''Lets see what John will show the SunSpark University this time''

    *-*-*-*-*

    Meanwhile, a completely harmless and a not-suspicious-at-all book was in its place in a bookshelf at the university''s library. Unmoving -because, it''s a harmless book after all!- and helpless, fearing the next predator that would dare to reach out with filthy hands and consume its content. Knowing that no one would do so, the book mentally sighed.

    Maybe, just maybe! It was feeling a little bit lonely, but it couldn''t say that, no. It would be a disgrace as the self-proclaimed master to feel lonely. It would proudly stand and intimidate anyone not worthy enough of its presence.

    Maybe just a little bit lonely.

    Then the tremors came! Shaking its whole foundation, the book wouldn''t dare to look around. What was going on?! Slowly but surely the book scurried unwillingly to the outer edge of the mass of heaven it stood upon. Looking down, the horrors below would mentally scar any book for eons to come! Down there, some unknown mass of land was scattered across the self-proclaimed''s landscape! The book knew that would it fall, only death awaits! Moving closer and closer to the edge because of the ground-shaking vibrations that reached heaven itself, the book started panic. It was so high up!! -well... for a book. They have it pretty tough up there.

    That day, within the library, the scream of a certain harmless and not-at-all-suspicious book could be heard -if one concentrated hard enough.

    ...

    What really happened was a student lightly bumping into the bookshelf. The student decided it was a good idea to do ballet inside a library for some reason. But the self-proclaimed master couldn''t have known.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Right, so... If you''ve gotten this far. Hi!

    Thank you for bearing through the first part of the prologue. It turned somewhat long so I gently cut it into shorter lengths.

    There are more tags to come, but I am unsure whether I should add them already, or as they turn relevant.

    Any feedback as you read along is appreciated, I''m not that confident in my Writing and wish to grow. So go ham! =)

    Once again. Thanks!

 Chapter 0.2: Priorities

    Chapter 0.2:

    Priorities

    *-*-*-*-*

    "...And that is how technology regarding gaming will continue to flourish the future market, and thus improving the standards of gaming as a whole."

    With a room full of applauds, -some forced, while others a bit more enthusiastic. Some too excited, even.- the class wrapped itself up -three hours after it began- as the last project group finished their speech and everyone within the hall each went their own ways in preparation for their remaining day.

    Among the last people to walk out of the building were John and Max.

    "That was a pretty interesting concept your group had, young lad!" Max said with his best impression of an elderly professor. "But have you thought of this and bla bla bla that bla bla..."

    "Yours wasn''t all that bad either, what with the relative income of the gaming industry and its improvements and all. How does the rest of your day look, by the way?"

    Curveballs out of nowhere.

    Max stood still and put his right hands thumb under his chin and the index finger under his mouth -the thinking position he always naturally ended up doing, and thus his most comfortable pose- while looking down onto the grass below them. It was still wet from yesterday nigthts rain.

    "I got two classes in the evening so... I think I just might head home until then." He looked up and into John''s eyes and smiled devilishly while narrowing his eyes. "Ehh?! Why? What about you? Feelin'' lonely without me are ya?"

    John frowned upon seeing the weird -but usual for his friend- expression that happened in front of him and spoke in a dead tone. "I plan to head to the library to finish everything for tomorrow and didn''t want you bothering me. Now I know, great!"

    As if expecting the reaction from his friend, Max instantly turned around, straightening his back and laying the back of his right hand in front of his eyes.

    "How cruel! Fine! I''ll just have the time of my life at home! No! Don''t go! I won''t have anything to do without you!" Max cried out while playing out his one-man show.

    The wind was slowly but surely taking up its pace that would most likely mean another cloudy afternoon with rain on the income. A fragrant scent drifted on the fresh air from the flowers nearby which snapped John back on track from his friends show. Deciding it was important for the well being of all other forms of life in the close proximity, especially his own, John decided to explain:

    "No but leaving the projects aside, I was wondering if you had time for some games tonight? I found this really cool place yesterday and-"

    "You mean this morning." Max interrupted.

    "...I found this really cool place yesterday. Remember that I did the assignment over the night? This place was what distracted me, you must see it, I''ll take you there! I promise it''s worth it, it''s like, ''Woahhhhh!'' and ''Uooooooh!''. Really, really cool!"

    Max silently stood and stared blankly into John''s eyes. Then after rebooting his nerdy side in order to understand the fast-paced words that flew out of John''s mouth he simply answered like usual. "I guess I got time at nine o'' clock tonight." Before he left his friend standing there for a few seconds while Max himself, casually walked down the path they both earlier came from, towards his home.

    *-*-*-*-*

    Walking down the narrow path that leads to the library, John stopped in his tracks every now and then to observe the walls. They were covered with paintings that could often be found around inside churches -although not really as religious- which looked rather old for this day and age, yet it had its own charm when painted in a hallway like this. On the right wall there was a tiny humanoid shape in shining metal armor pointing its sword towards a large black dragon. ''The evil dragon... Killed by the hero... Saving his princess...'' John thought as his eyes continued along the wall. ''And the hero''s comrades... A priest?.. An archer... And the...''  His eyes stopped for a moment on the last little figure, clad in a generic dark-blue robe with golden trim around the edges and a pointy hat in the same color -the trademark for any kids'' fantasy tale.

    "Magician..." John whispered with awe as he kept looking at the fantasy of his childhood dreams, completely forgetting his original goal for walking down this hallway. John loved books, or rather, he loved the stories they contained. He could lose himself in the tales that brought life to never-before-seen places and excitement to even the most mundane situations. That was also a reason why he played games so much outside of reasing and studying; he could create his own story, or relive anothers.

    Later parting from the painting with reluctance, John glanced onto the left wall while once again walking towards the library. It was an open landscape, with a sunrise in the horizon at the beginning of the hallway. The sunrise changed into day, and then turned into sunset the closer it got to the library doors. Not really any deeper meaning behind the painting, John still liked to think of it as a symbol for adventure, as he got closer to the sunset, and thus the destination of his haven.

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    The doors to the library always stood open, and this time was not an exception.

    Walking between the bookshelves, picking up various books listed from ''The Tale of Darkness'' to ''Great Gaming History'' -fantasy and gaming genres alike- for his next upcoming assignment, John noticed that he was the only one inside the library. With the access to information through the internet, one would question why personally reading text in the form of a book still ocurred. For John, it would be because he liked the touch of something in his hands that the computer just couldn''t compete with. Also because he easily got distracted once in front of his computer, with his online gaming addiction and all.

    Passing a bookshelf on the way to a table -where he''d copy important or interesting text for later- he noticed a rather thick book sticking out.

    ''What''s this?''

    After taking the book out -lighter than what it looked like- john read its cover.

    "ADD: Legacy..."

    ''What does "ADD" stand for?''

    The black book had golden-colored leaves attached to the edges of it. The title, written in white, had lines -looking like white roots, had they been real- branching out towards each leaf.

    ''But it''s from the fantasy section eh... And such an interesting cover. Might as well look into this one as well.''

    Bringing along the books to the table, John started reading his newest finding after laying the others aside -stacked up next to him just within arms reach.

    Forgetting his original object, -or subcounsciously ignored it- John was lost in his own world as he kept reading the mysteriously interesting book -who wouldn''t judge a book by its cover after all? Time flew by and by the time his last classes had ended, the un-attending student had gotten halfway through the novel.

    "Heeh... What''s this?"

    Interrupting the immersiveness and pace of the fiction, halfway through, was a drawing. A circle with two lines -something akin to a scope from shootergames- that was drawn eerily with red paint which made it almost look like a bloody ritual had taken place inside the book. Maybe the immersion wasn''t interrupted after all.

    Taking a break to rest his eyes, John glanced at his watch. It was a rather cheap watch he had gotten on his fifteenth birthday, and four years later he still wore it every time he went outside. But that was not important, no, not as important as the time it showed. Shocked over his own forgetfulness John slowly glanced over to the other books with a tensed smile -are the books going to scold him?- and then back to the one in front of him.

    "Shit..."

    ''But I want to find out more about this symbol!''

    Sating his thirst for knowledge, John decided to compromise. Drawing the same symbol on a post-it then putting it in his small bag -He hadn''t played tetris for nothing!- before closing the fiction and hurriedly put every book in their respective shelves and then running out of the library on campus.

    "The assignment comes first when I get home!" John shouted to no one in particular.

    Running out from the building he had entered earlier to reach the library, John almost crashed into the janitor -an old shriveled man nobody knew the age of, or why he still worked.

    "Sorry!" John said as he bowed down to apologize, then taking up his former pace and started running home.

    The janitor could only silently look at the spectacle while he forgot that he almost was run over by the very same kid.

    "Youth... Ah where did I put the mop again?"

    *-*-*-*-*

    Once home -John still lived with his parents, as the university was quite close already- he took off his shoes and went upstairs to his room. Tossing the bag under his bed John sat down in front of the computer.

    "The assignment comes first! Let''s see now..."

    Wasting hours on finding information and fiction of both gaming and fantasy genres the time-lord exhaustedly stretched his upper body while still sitting in his comfy chair and then looked at the clock shown in the bottom right corner of the computerscreen.

    "eight o'' clock..." A yawn came out as he mumbled to himself in order to not fall asleep. "I guess I can take a nap before showing Max that awesome view..."

    Stepping away from the computer, John walked over to the other end of his room, where the bed stood. Too tired to take off his clothes and too tired to lay under the blanket, John decided to lay on his stomach, preparing the route in his mind for when he and Max would meet online. He didn''t wake up at 9 though.

    He accidentally forgot to set the alarm.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Too much? Too little? Let me know!

 Intermission 1: Fates Wheel Turns

    Bit of a longer chapter.

    Ideally I want the other chapters to reach this length or longer, but with the way they''re written it got a bit hard for me to cut somewhere in the middle.

    I''ll try my hardest! Any feedback helps!

    Well then, good day!

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Intermission 1:

    Fates Wheel Turn

    *-*-*-*-*

    "Zzz...grhnk!" The majestic sound of a snoring demon lord echoed in the chapel he resided in.

    "Nnh...?" He turned his head to look around with tired eyes -still half asleep. The roof was high enough and the columns that aided the walls in holding the building intact was spacious enough to let a creature with wings such as himself fly around. The absense of the usual banners hanging down from torches pinning the walls made the <del>sleepy he</del>Demon lord uncomfortable

    "Elgor..." The deep voice echoed, and another demon -looking like a 2metre tall human with a crooked back and large wings which extended from where the scapula normally would be on a human and bat-like features that cursed its face- came flying in.

    A gargoyle.

    The gargoyle didn''t speak, however, as it landed and kneeled in front of the red four-poster bed that belonged to its master. It would be unforgivable had it done so, and wouldn''t end with just a missing limb. Even if it was possible to regenerate over time for the gargoyle, the pain just wasn''t something it wished for.

    "I felt..." The demon lord yawned, then looked at the kneeling figure in front of his bed. "a great magic power just now. What do you think?"

    "I shall organize thy clothes immediately for departure, master!" Elgor couldn''t assume anything else.

    For three-hundred years his master had been sleeping. And now a power recognized by him had appeared? It was obvious the current demon lord wished to depart and find its source.

    "No... No... I shall go back to sleep for now." The demon lord yawned once again. "Geez, it''s bloody cold outside!"

    "..."

    "And try to see if you can decorate this Place a bit more... welcoming. When you got time, of course."

    "Master?" Elgor was perplexed, but still looked down on the stone floor in order to not infuriate its master any more than for just now having spoken without permission. Nothing happened either way.

    "You... Go find out about the source and bring me the results. I... Shall... Zzz..."

    Silence filled the room for a moment.

    "...Master?"

    The gargoyle looked up and saw the ''sleeping beauty'' with his right hand''s thumb in his mouth. An evil grin crept up on Elgor''s face, who then bowed and left the chapel by flight after announcing in a sneering voice. "As you wish, master."

    *-*-*-*-*

    "...And for the hero''s celebration on the twentyfourth nigth of the fifth moon we have..."

    Andrigor the third sat on the throne as he burrowed his tired face into his large hands, doing the best he can to stay awake from his advisors long informative speech. Becoming king at the age of sixteen, Andrigor have tried his utmost in political matters for the sake of his people. For twenty years it has been peaceful. For twenty years, his kingdom had prospered. But for twenty years, it has been boring. With no friends or family at his side, the king couldn''t help but call his current life mundane.

    ''But there was that one old man... whatever happened to hi-''

    "M-M-M-MY L-LIEGE!"

    A walking brown robe reported in. No, something, someone, was wearing the robe, albeit in a very weird way.

    A smile formed on the kings countenance

    ''Oh right! That''s what he''s been doing! Speak of the devil...''

    Excited for something unexpected as well as an easy excuse to postpone his duties, Andrigor rose up from his throne to greet his only friend. Despite almost double his age, he couldn''t see the only person who treated him normally as anything else. A friend was what the king needed. ''I might need to find myself a family soon, too...'' Andrigor thought, then spoke out in a happy and sturdy voice, beaming with confidence.

    "Larsus! My dear, old, friend. You look exhausted. Calm down and explain what it is that is important enough to make even you grant me honorifics."

    "Y-YOUR EXCELLENCY! SIR!"

    "..." The king gave a reprimanding look.

    "...Andy..." Larsus said quietly while looking around to make sure nobody tried to make his old body one head shorter, then turned his head back to Andrigor as an excited smile creeped up.

    "The bed blew up."

    "..."

    "..."

    "The bed did WHAT!?"

    Andrigor couldn''t believe his ears. Even the three guards -wearing a weapon of their training. Clad in simple chainmail and an iron helmet probably related with a bucket somewhere- that was stationed around the room aswell as the kings advisor that still stood next to the red, cushioned throne looked confused over their liege''s outburst.

    Forming an even greater smile, Larsus confirmed joyfully -now almost shouting. "The bed blew up! Ah! You know the experiment I told you about five years ago? The one with the mysterious glyph marked on the ground? For five years now I''ve been-"

    Andrigor put up his left hand in a motion to stop, while planting his face into his right.

    "Tell me in a way I... We, can understand." He motioned with his left hand towards the four other people in the room -all still with their mouths agape from the unthinkable scene infront of them. "Even if you are still considered a prodigy, no- ESPECIALLY because you are still considered a prodigy, even among the other generations, telling me your bed suddenly blew up one day will not make me understand. You have kept silent all these years. Start from the beginning."

    "Right! Well, since I parted from your side..."

    *-*-*-*-*

    Finally having a clue for where a world-rune was placed, Larsus walked slowly inside a forest. Even if he was a sage, the forests of Egitar were not a joke.

    The world-runes, named for their existence that dated back even before his own grandfather, were definitely man-made. But as old and indestructible as the stories had told, nobody had any idea of who or what could have made them, thus believing the earth itself created these national treasures, and along with it, the name world-runes were brought up.

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    The average human couldn''t know any better though. Education was scarce -and so reading- which meant that children stories about the legendary world-runes was all they had access to. Larsus knew better. Having heard it directly from his grandfather when he was still a brat, Larsus knew that such elaborate and permanent markings around the world most likely was some great tool used in the age of war.

    ''But inside a tower? And they still don''t believe the runes where man-made? And a tower inside a forest? I should spot it soon right? Aren''t towers supposed to be t-''

    He didn''t expect the own answer inside his head to be so correct. Almost missing the black structure, Larsus looked up at a tower that dwarfed the trees.

    "...And I''m supposed to be climbing that... Right! Let''s get to it you old man. You''re close now!" Larsus encouraged himself with his most youthful attitude in order to ignore his old shaking knees. Unbeknownst to all, he was afraid of heights.

    Grabbing ahold inbetween two bricks, he started climbing and close to fifteen minutes later of playing the ''Don''t-you-dare-look-down, you-old-man!''  game, he found a window large enough to enter. It was only once inside, he realized he could just normally have taken the stairs, as he looked straight onto a door inside the room with a dead-pan look in his old eyes. Later that day he began inhibiting the tower, and then, the research began.

    *-*-*-*-*

    "...Three years after I began inspecting the blue circle inside the room I have come to the conclusion that it is most likely used for teleportation magic. I do, however, not have any strong evidence besides a theory that the two lines symbolize north, west, south and east in order to navigate where to teleport, as during all these years nothing had actually made it activate."

    "Until now..." Andrigor chipped in with an awestruck tone, completely immersed in the story.

    The five listeners had gathered around the old man in a half-circle. Three knights, one advisor and one majestic friend -all listening with enthusiasm and fully opened eyes. It was a peculiar sight to see. Had anyone tried to enter the throne room, they would see a bunch of kids gathered around a campfire telling stories during their slumberparty, on the ground in the middle of the kingdoms most revered place. The knights had to stand up though, both to quickly assess and eliminate any potential threat, as well as because of their outfit, which was a shame.

    Not something one would see every day.

    "Until now." Larsus confirmed. "For three years I tried casting various kinds of magic onto it, all with the same result. Then for two years I tried using blood. Monsters from around the forest; bears, wolves and even small wyverns. They also gave the same result. Then, I tried human blood. Mine."

    "And that worked?" The advisor asked this time with a thrilled voice -completely forgetting he was in the presence of his king.

    "It had an effect." The old sage continued, nodding towards the man who asked. "The ring glowed for a second, and I thought the answer had finally come, but..." Larsus closed his eyes and sighed, hanging his head low. "Nothing happened... At this point I assumed it must have been broken, knowing well how old it might have been. So for the last six moons I have been writing my experiments and discoveries for the sake of passing them down should I not live through to see it. At that point I also re-organized the room, and moved my bed over the world-rune."

    "Then..." One of the knights had opened his mouth. All five listeners gave off a sad feeling, realizing they may never live to see the miracle -completely forgetting the original reason for why the sage had stumbled into the throne room in the first place.

    Larsus noticed the change of atmosphere, and grinned. He was waiting for this opportunity to drag out the best of their reactions.

    "And then... Ten days ago, while I busily wrote away with the hot air seeping in through the opened window, I exhaustedly whiped off the sweat that had accumulated, and scattered it backwards. Some of them touched the edge of the magic circle that was not covered by the bed and lo'' and behold! With the sound of a crack! A blue pillar of light was shining from the formation and my bed was destroyed and flown into the next corner before stopping! I, of course faithful to my friend and king, hastily ran down the stairs and out of the tower to report this as quickly as I could!"

    Larsus couldn''t have known that at the same time of the phenomenom, someone was drawing the same circle on a small, yellow piece of paper.

    "..." Andrigor stared silently into Larsus eyes.

    "..." The sage followed suit.

    "...And you left this blue light, completely alone in the tower?"

    "Why yes? I was the only one to research on this." Larsus was confused over Andrigor''s question. Not that his expression showed that.

    "YOU FOOL!" The king blurted out. "You damn old fool! What if someone else reaches the tower before us? It is impossible for us to be the only ones that know about this!"

    "Ah! I-I D--Didn''t T-Thi-"

    With a sigh and another motion with his hands, similar to the one he gave earlier before the sage''s explanation, Andrigor tried to express to his only friend that there was nothing that would happen because of the minor detail the sage missed, even if he was upset.

    "Frieg..."

    "Eh? Yes!?" The advisor snapped out of his shocked state -caused by no one else but the king''s sudden outburst- and turned his head towards his liege that still looked into the sage''s eyes.

    "Get the hero here immediately, and send word that I need him personally for this mission."

    "Straight away, Your Majesty!" Frieg stood up, bowed, and ran out of the throne room.

    "And Larsus..." Andrigor looked at his aged friend''s outfit. "How do you even manage to wear your robe upside-down? I''m amazed you could even get here within ten days. My friend... Let us go and catch up a bit more before the hero arrives. I have not seen you since forever."

    The sage looked at his clothes. His eyes flared open, then sank down to their originally tired state.

    "How about that... How indeed!" Larsus said with a raspy voice as he nodded, still looking at his own state.

    *-*-*-*-*

    Fifteen days after the strange sapphire blue light had ocurred, the elder of a close-by town at the outskirt of the vast forest, decided -unknowing how likeminded the other elders of various villages were- to send out a request to knights or strong villagers for investigation. As humans, they couldn''t feel the strong magic which pulsed out of the forest on that fateful day, and now only remembered it as ''That heavenly light''.

 Chapter 0.3: Abysmal Nightmare

    Chapter 0.3:

    Lucid Nightmare

    *If you stare long into the Abyss, the Abyss stares back at you*

    *-*-*-*-*

    ''A dream.

    A dream where I can still move and feel the touch in my hand, on the tip of my fingers.

    A dream with no sound? And I am all alone.

    Is it a good dream? I do not know.

    The smell of summer.

    For now, I will call it a weird dream.''

    John stood in the middle of an open field, with tall grass reaching up to his knees. All he could see around him was grass and more grass -swaying back and forth by the soundless wind- yet somehow the scent of flowers was brought forth.

    Small birds would spontaneously form themselves from smoke and then just as spontaneously dissapear into thin air like the smoke from a blown out candle, as if they were merely a mirage from the beginning. They too, didn''t cause a single sound to his ears.

    It all had a serene feeling, but he couldn''t help but feel something was amiss.

    ''A bit too quiet.''

    Two larger figures appeared -the same way as the birds- a distance away from the dreamer. He could somehow tell that one of these two were human. With their backs turned towards him though, John had a hard time to make out their appearance, apart from their outfits.

    ''They are..?''

    The one believed to be human, standing to the left looked to have a small stature, as the reddish hooded cloak, with a blooming white flower painted at the center of the cloak with thin white roots protruding out towards each edge, seemed too large on its wearer and the hood looked more impairing than what little it helped with, as if made to be an ornament decorated on the back, extending the decorations of the six petals on the cloak. This oversized hood, however, was worn -completely covering the face of the small figure. He felt like he knew the person, but couldn''t quite bring forth the answer in his mind.

    Another mildly blown wind brought with it the scent of... Dirt? Wood? Rocks?! There was no such thing within his eyesight!

    John could feel his heart beat twice, but he didn''t hear it. The soundless pounding of his heart still reverberated within is head though, as his memory easily made up for the lack of sound within this weird dream.

    The other figure was double the length of the human, yet because of the dark and hazy shadow around it, it was hard to tell exactly how long its hooded black robe -the only thing clearly visible- actually was. Floating close above ground -John had a hunch that this was the case- the shadowy figure looked similar to the ghosts of some movies. The hooded robe was trimmed with silvery white at the end of its sleeves and along the edge of the hood, connecting with the robe''s similarly ashen trim that continued all the way down to the bottom, almost shimmering in contrast to the dark, void-like, robe that screamed of death.

    It was nigh impossible for John to remove his gaze from the shadowy ghost and the more he kept his eyes on a spot, the more it would become a dark and hazy blur, causing one to question if the malevolent being really was there.

    His heart skipped a beat. A muffled voice came from the two''s direction.

    ''Sound...''

    John could now hear his heartbeat, echoing even louder than what he assumed before, yet it was still drowning in the muffled mumbling from afar, which honestly made no sense with how far away they were, but he paid it no mind. He was curious.

    What was the ghost saying?

    Missing how unrealisticly real his dream had become, John tried to run forward towards the two figures. Running for what felt like hours to him, the distance would not seem to change. Exhausted, bending down and extending his sweaty hands to his knees, the only thing he could do was wishing to hear what they talked about. Of course, nothing happened.

    ''One... More try!''

    Taking a deep breath, John leaned forward, and then ran, -without thinking twice- as fast as he could and as long as his legs would still bear him. Then, as he later laid down in the tall grass that quickly bent under the pressure of John''s body -panting heavily as imaginative sweat was running down his forehead- he heard it.

    "...And yet, here you are once again... Like always." The conversation ended like that as the shadowy ghost and the human dissapeared into thin air, slowly, like the smoke escaping the wick of a recently blown out candle.

    Even if it was the end of their conversation, John had heard it. Still laying on the ground, he began smiling as tears streamed down on his cheeks.

    The deep, echoing voice felt like it touched John''s very soul. The sadness in it brought tears, but the bottomless feeling of the ghost''s voice also caused him to feel a raw, cold fear creeping in on his body. Yet he couldn''t help but smile. Until the next thing happened.

    His whole dream turned pitch-dark.

    The sleeping student still felt his conciousness within the dream, but he couldn''t see. He still felt a connection to his hands, his legs, fingers, toes, and he still felt a hard, rock solid sensation underneath him. All of it, yet he couldn''t move an inch, let alone utter a voice.

    ''What is going on!?''

    The frequency of his heartbeat increased.

    Stuck in this nightmare, an icy feeling crept up on his unmoving toes. He felt the air around him turn colder -and at a distance away even freezing into floating icicles mid-air, completely visible in the otherwise dark space- and now even his arms felt the icy touch creeping up from the tip of his fingers.

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

    He couldn''t help but recall his memories of the book he found in the library at a time like this.

    ''Who was that ghost? Is this not my dream? That book... Why am I thinking of that symbol at a time like this?!''

    Then, the ghosts deep voice resounded. This time, different from the sad yet horrifying experience he first got from it. Now, it felt like thousands of souls empowered the voice -screaming in horrified tones- as they tried to escape their master''s wrath, crushing anyone and anything that dared stay against them in their path.

    "...Death...Right...Die...Isn''t that right?...Right...Right!...Vanish..." Thousands of voices wailed from deep within his head and a stinging pain hit him over and over every time another voice reverberated in his mind.

    Then a cackle -clearly recognizable- came from within the echo of crying souls. The ghost''s real voice. The sadness, its own fear, and the lust for death was still there, making the unbearable feelings of horror brought by the sound literally cause even dead people to shiver in fear.

    The well alive John was no exception.

    Frozen stiff from fear for who knows how long, John could only use his eyes to look around in the darkness, with the same sight no matter how much he tried to turn his head. Nothing. Then, his hands felt warmer and a few minutes later the dreamer felt his body relax as the light returned slightly.

    He wasn''t out of the playful ghost''s nightmare yet though.

    Dropping to his knees with a sigh, the student felt relieved. It was the first time he felt fear that even surpassed his arachnophobia.

    ''How did I not wake up from this?''

    Questioning his nightmare, praying for it to be over, John felt a hairy sensation poking is left cheek. Not wanting to know how jinxed he felt, John froze on the spot in his sitting position.

    ''Nope! There''s no way. I am NOT turning around. Nope. No.''

    A few seconds went by as the petrified boy did not dare do anything right now. Then, as if on queue, he felt something ruffle his black hair and a wet sensation dripping onto the back of his neck. Stiffer and paler than he thought was humanly possible, John turned his head upwards. It got worse.

    Above him, hanging up-side-down with six giant legs on a spiderweb that seemed attached to thin air -with its two front legs lifted up in the air after Johns sudden movement- was a giant orange, fuzzy spider, looking right into his eyes with an excited air around itself.

    ''Is it mocking me!?''

    Not thinking twice, with the constant sound of his heartbeat, John turned around immediately to run.

    Then it dawned upon him. The ghost.

    Standing just a few centimetres away, was the hooded ghost, staring right into John''s very own eyes. The dreamer felt an even greater fear. Under that hood, there was only darkness, and a pair of red eyes, sucking the very living essence out of those who met its gaze. Listening to an even more intense cackle than before, John realized, as his breaths grew heavier by the second, just who exactly this ghost is.

    With a heavy breathing, John woke up from his nightmare and rose -half sitting- on the bed. Grasping air with his left hand, and holding the blanket with his other.

    Except there was no blanket in his hands. In fact, there was not even a bed underneath him. Sitting on a stone floor inside a cramped room with only one window, a bookshelf, a desk, many books and wooden splinters, John blinked quickly with his eyes in denial.

    A high-pitched scream came forth before he realized it.

    ~Flashback End~

    *-*-*-*-*

    "And that''s how I got here... And my body was in this state..."

    ''...Right...''

    Abusing the poor wooden desk with his fists -getting himself more hurt than the desk itself in the process- while catching up to his current situation, John stopped to take a look at his body again, then letting out a deep sigh before continuing his ''abuse-on-wooden-desks'' streak.

    "Right... I''m still dreaming after all. There''s just- just no way. I''ll just go back to bed and wake- wake up at home, ready for classes in the morning."

    ''Yes... It''s all still a dream after all''

    John said so, as he stopped abusing the desk, and walked over to the cold stone floor with blue markings. Once there he laid down with his face towards the ground. He didn''t want to look at anything but the stable existance underneath him right now.

    "There''s just no way I''m in another world... And I can''t possibly be female... I saw my little one before I went to bed after all!"

    ...

    Groaning, then turning her head to the side, facing one cheek up, she looked at the earlier abused wooden desk. It seemed to give her a look of pity from where it stood.

    "...And I really need to find some clothes or I''ll catch a cold."

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    And theres the end of the prologue! *clap* *clap*

    It also means most of the tags are there. (I sneakily added ''Action'' for the future)

    I''d love your opinion on what you''ve thought so far.

    (And I hope nobody got creeped out by spiders.) -Would this mean this fiction is suited for the ''psychological'' tag??

    And what classifies as Martial arts? :c

 Chapter 1: To Survive

    In respect for Edward, this chapter is released a few hours earlier! I hope this answers some unsatisfactory feelings and possible side-tracks

    (I have no idea what I just wrote but yes!)

    I originally plan to release one chapter roughly at the end of each day, but it might take up to 2, and possibly result with up to 3 chapters in ONE day

    (but I doubt this).

    I hope you''ll enjoy to continue reading this fiction, and as Always, any feedback and critique is welcome.

    (This goes out to you other lovely reader too!!)

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Chapter 1:

    To survive

    *When do people die? Is it when they get shot through the heart? No.

    Is it when they get an incurable disease? No.

    Then, is it when they drink the soup of a poisonous mushroom?! Hell no!

    It is when they are forgotten!!*

    *-*-*-*-*

    The smell of forest leaves bore itself into John''s nostrils. It was morning.

    As another school day came, birds were tweeting a harmonious melody from somewhere in the far distance. Wind blew softly, rustling the leaves and once again, brought the scent of grass, wood and dirt to John''s vicinity. It was a good morning.

    And for some... It was a lesser good morning.

    ''Shit...''

    "It really wasn''t a dream..."

    Tired of fighting the inevitable truth, John woke up in a daze.

    The stone room looked the same as yesterday, apart from a few scattered tomes on the ground whose torn pages fluttered mid-air by the window, then slowly declined back to the ground.

    He still fought it in his... Her mind, but she just didn''t care to make a fuss out of it anymore. Not that anyone could hear her anyway.

    Subconsciously beating the poor wooden desk after waking up -it had become a habit after a day of denial- with her small clenched hands, John mumbled convenient answers as to why she really didn''t care.

    "To survive out here, I can not get embarrassed or scared of my own naked body!"

    ''Uooooh!''  An imaginatively large crowd of people caused a loud cheer which roared in the back of her mind as she reassured herself. ''Yeaahh!!''  A slightly behind voice came.

    "To survive out here, I must be able to adapt to any situation!"

    ''A-oh! A-oh! A-oh!''  Three consecutive roars along with the sound of hands banging against numerous shields came from within John''s mind.

    She could get into this.

    "To survive out here!" She was now standing straight, banging her left hand on her chest and raising the other towards the roof, shouting. Then, after an inspiring pause, she continued.

    "TO SURVIVE OUT HERE! I MUST BE ABLE TO ACCEPT MYSELF!"

    The crowd went wild! Stomping their feet on the ground and raising their weapons and shields, the hysterious cheers had turned into a deafening noise! Breaking any spirit the enemy might''ve had.

    Perhaps a little bit too into it.

    ~Groooooowl~

    John snapped out of her world and silence filled the room

    "To survive out here... Perhaps I need to find something to eat first..."

    "And another name..." The embarrassed one added. "Can''t go around calling myself John while looking like this... No! To survive! I will need a new name in case I meet someone capable of speech!"

    John thought on the current problem. Reluctant to completely dismiss her old name, she tried various combinations. Later reminding herself that she indeed had a last name, she combined the both.

    "Eriss¨¦... John... Eriss..Eris.. Eri- AH!"

    Clenching her fists and raising them to her eye level, she flexed her arms and announced confidently to herself.

    "Eriss Jo¨¦hn!"

    The loud crowd within her mind cheered at their prominent leader, repeating the name over and over.

    Now determined to leave the stone tower, Eriss looked out of the only possible escape-route. She hadn''t noticed it during her panicked approach, but vines were clinging along the outer side of the tower all the way up to where the window was.

    ''...Right. Here goes nothing!''

    Having a hard time getting up to the same height as the window, the confident girl gripped the poor desk and started dragging it, which wasn''t easy. She didn''t have the strength to lift it and her hands were not large enough to get a grip around its edges -though she blamed that on the size of this ''darn desk''- so instead, the self-proclaimed leader decided, that dragging was the only option.

    Once placed against the wall underneath the window, Eriss ascended the desk and from there she once more climbed up and then through the white window connected with the outside.

    It was a different feeling to look down now than when she was still standing on safe ground.

    ''So high up!''

    With unwavering courage, taking a foothold between two bricks further down and grabbing the sturdiest looking vine within her grasp, she began her adventure of descending from a 20metre tall tower.

    *-*-*-*-*

    It took time.

    After what Eriss assumed to be roughly an hour of climbing down with closed eyes

    -don''t close your eyes- she glanced up and noticed she was quite far away from the cause of her future hellish nightmares. Glancing the other way, however, was not an option for the frightened man.

    She was not  scared of heights.

    Encouraging herself with speeches of power and glory, the brave one continued to take small and tensed steps downwards.

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Then, when she assumed she would finally reach ground in a moment, her heel touched something other than stone. Happily withdrawing her hands from the tower wall John jumped outwards to the green grass underneath her.

    A big mistake, but it was too late when she noticed.

    "WEEeeeeeeeooOh- fuck!"

    In front of her a bushy tree branch was closing in, full of red and brown leaves -Autumn was closing in- and hidden branches capable of harm. Bellowing a high-pitched war cry

    -which sounded more like a timid scream- Eriss stopped her momentum by unintentionally flailing her legs towards the massive bush of doom, which caused her short pain on her right leg and to fall straight down on to a lower branch.

    Embracing the tree''s limb stiffly, Eriss opened her eyes and looked down for once. It was still high up for a human, but from where she had landed it would be possible to climb down the last three metres with ease. The branches were thick, numerous and reached down very close to the ground.

    With determination Eriss continued her descend. This time, with the help of trees.

    Reaching safety, she assessed her condition. She wasn''t unhurt, but with only scratches all over her body, and the only bleeding being a minor one, on her right calf, Eriss considered herself lucky.

    Looking back towards the tower with a smug grin upon her countenance, the lucky one saw something she had completely overlooked and the second-long smile turned into a dropped jaw on the floor.

    Right in front of her, attached to the tower along with a wooden door, was an entrance.

    The tower had stairs.

    Really lucky.

    Taking a moment to register the overflowing feeling of ineptitude, Eriss'' eyes became foggy, and soon a line of tears covered both her lightly scratched cheeks.

    "What do you mean?!" The girl cried out as her knees slumped to the dry dirt. "What was the point in all this, idiot!?  Now I''m hurt and-" Her stomach growled. "-And still hungry..."

    ''No! Don''t stop now! You were doing so well earlier... And you still need food!''  She thought to herself as her mood swing caused by hunger went for the up-beat turn while her imaginary army continued to shout encouraging words one after another.

    A stinging pain came from the right leg were she had earlier hurt herself, but she didn''t care. She didn''t have the luxury to care, as all that was on the girls mind right now was finding something edible.

    "I need food." Eriss confirmed to herself, as she stood up and walked into the thick forest.

    *-*-*-*-*

    The breathing grew heavier.

    Eriss didn''t mind it before, but the wound on her leg only stopped bleeding for what she believed to be roughly five minutes ago, which meant it had trickled away slowly but surely for who knows how many hours. Now, a dirty red crust occupied her right calf and muddy leaves had found their way up on her fair skin otherwise covered in dirt and bruises.

    Even though it was occupying her mind, she could probably go without food for at least another day, but the fatigue had hit her, and if she passed out now without something to eat -be it now or for later- she knew that she wouldn''t be able to gather it afterwards.

    With these thoughts, she continued forward.

    Panting heavily, Eriss was too tired to utter a single word. Running forward with a blank mind, she stumbled many times over both large and small roots emerging from the ground, and just as many times, she raised her unrecognizable body with shaky hands, and stood up to once again run forward in search for something edible.

    It only took a moment of carelessness for Eriss to stumble upon another root, this time sending her rolling down a sudden hill that had hidden itself, or she was just that tired. Either way, doing her utmost to avoid sharp and harmful objects, she kept rolling down the slope. Unable to avoid every single thing in her tired state -not that she would manage better while awake- some of the scratches caused by falling through and climbing down trees earlier had started to open up.

    ''This... All your fault... f''king idiot... Take... It like a man... Just bear with it... Soon over... Don''t die.''

    Relieved of running because of the current situation, she relaxed her body ever so slightly and a bundle of thoughts came crashing in. Hoping the nauseating feeling of rolling down a small mountain wouldn''t last for much longer, Eriss embraced herself.

    Luckily, it wouldn''t.

    Feeling the rolling stagnate, Eriss opened her eyes after she was sure that the feeling in her head was not another roll down a hill. Staring straight up, she noticed something.

    No trees.

    Instead, a large grey moon was visible in the distance, and the sun was burning with an orange color as it was closing in on the horizon, dying the small amount of clouds that occupied the sky purple with a tinge of pink.

    Sitting up, her eyes locked on to what was in front of her. A small lake with crystal clear water, shimmering with orange from what little light that came through the dense forest that proudly occupied the other side.

    Muddy, covered in leaves and dirt, with a bit of blood running down her back, the idiot was awestruck.

    Something good happened!

    ''Heaven? Did I die?!''

    Not taking any second chances, she ran towards the lake. Once there, putting down her dirty hands in the cold water, she felt a cold sensation that she had prepared herself to never feel again for a long time.

    A smile crept up on her face as another set of tears formed in her eyes.

    Pulling her arms out of the water, the girl looked at her hands while clenching and unclenching them over and over. They were still not clean, but it was definitely possible with an amount of effort to make them so.

    "The food can wait!"

    Enthusiasticly shouting to herself, she ran into the water to wash the dirt, leaves and blood off her new body.

    She was still hungry, but mentally she was in paradise.

    It couldn''t possibly get any better.

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Ps. I think I got something against desks. Not sure why, though.

 Chapter 2: Muster your Courage

    Chapter 2:

    Muster your Courage

    *Tonight! We diiine! IN HELL!*

    *-*-*-*-*

    ?~"in the jungle, the mighty jungle"~?

    Skipping through the dense forest -full of large roots and dangerous monsters- in the middle of the night, while picking up berries, dry wood and various mushrooms, was a girl with no clothes.

    Crazy? No.

    Alone.

    It was the very night that followed the crazy evening she had experienced firsthand.

    ?~"The lion sleeps toniiiight"~?

    Now, a bit more visibly cleaner -but still unclothed- girl was merrily making her way through the place where no desk possibly could exist, apart from the wooden desk''s forefathers, but that didn''t bother Eriss one bit as she continued forth in the dark that was somewhat lit up with the help of large fireflies, that was the size of a grown up man''s head, glowing with a red behind. Luckily, they weren''t carnivores. The glow they emitted, though, painted the trees struck by the light with an eerily deep red tint.

    ?~"in the jungle, the quieeet jungle"~?

    Eriss had noticed, after an unexpected heroic charge towards one of these creatures she first thought might be her death, that the large flying lightsticks flew towards all things edible.

    And it wasn''t just grass.

    Content with the guidance she had one-sidedly contracted on her own accord, Eriss had followed the fireflies and later found herself singing to their wavy behaviour while picking up all sorts of unknown things.

    But the floating fireballs didn''t die, so it must be alright to eat.

    ?~"The lion sleeps toniiiiiiiiight"~?

    The twigs, unexpectedly, was not for eating. Naturally when following such a brightly glowing ass, one couldn''t help but wonder if it was capable of producing fire in one way or another. Curiosity prevailed.

    With these thoughts, the curious one continued picking up dry and sturdy twigs alongside the black, red, blue, and purple berries that came in different sizes -from the size of a thumb all the way to the size of an apple- as well as the camouflaged, hand-sized mushrooms, that literally looked like a miniature soldier from Earth if one would not count the legs and hands of a human, while still following the comforting natural source of light inside the forest.

    There was just one slight problem.

    With her hands full of tonight''s ''hunt'', Eriss felt it was time to head back to the peaceful lake she called the beginning of her conquest. Turning around to track her way back, however, proved difficult in the dark.

    She was lost.

    ''...Great.''

    Turning back to face the fireflies, Eriss had an idea. Shuffling everything she held to her left arm, she then took one of the twigs from earlier -with her right hand- and made her way to the flying red group that looked like blood floating in mid-air.

    It was definitely for survival and not because of curiosity.

    Reaching the twig out towards one of the fireflies, Eriss awaited the inevitable contact. Poking the glowing area, a spark flared up.

    It did indeed burn things upon contact.

    The unprepared firefly was not as amused in this situation though, compared to the easily pleased girl. It would have its revenge! The world shall burn in its wake! In the end IT would have the final laugh!

    Instantly turning its body around to charge towards the gleeful sinner with its most powerful bite, the firefly stared into nothing but darkness. The thoughtless perpetrator was already out of the bug''s sight, quickly tracking her way back to the lake with a burning stick.

    Fireflies'' reaction time wasn''t the best.

    Easily finding her way back with a light source, Eriss noticed there wasnt any other fireflies than the group she had followed earlier. The route back wasn''t completely uneventful, however, as when the fire had almost consumed the twig she threw it forward in a careless panic. Unknowing what she had just done, the twig flew for a good distance.

    And landed in the lake.

    ''That was cloooose!''  Eriss sighed in relief as she slumped to the ground.

    Today was not a day she would remember for burning down a forest. Standing up with shaking knees, she then picked up all things edible -which she had dropped after trying to rush forward and catch the fire- and made her way to a more comfortable place than inbetween an eerie forest and her salvation

    "Let''s not do that ever again..."

    The food could wait until tomorrow. It wouldn''t dissapear under a nights sleep -though she did munch on one of the smaller red berries, just in case- and she was too tired after the day''s ordeal. Reflecting on it, she felt she had acted a bit immature as her mood swings turned to the other end in a matter of seconds, and with no control over her situation, she only felt powerless.

    ''I can''t halfass this if I want to live. Crying won''t help me here. I need to...''

    With these thoughts, Eriss -lying on her back- closed her eyelids and was sound asleep.

    *-*-*-*-*

    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    It is hard to change immediately.

    Munching on what she called a ''Military mushroom #1''  -a mushroom with a small camouflaged hat and an equally camouflaged foot that looked just like a generic military helmet and suit in green nuances- was a happy-go-lucky survivor of two  days in the wilderness of a world unfamiliar to her.

    She hadn''t forgotten about her resolution, but not being in a dramatic situation anymore, Eriss just couldn''t stay gloomy. It was against her personality. That said, she did seriously assess the potential danger of each and every berry, mushroom and grass she had acquired during last night''s trip with the overgrown <del>bumblebe</del>Fireflies.

    "And what about you, Professor Plum? What do you taste like!?"

    Well... As seriously as she could.

    Holding one of the larger sized purple-colored berries between her right index finger and thumb, the carefree girl inspected her next meal before carefully taking a bite. She flared her eyes open and quickly leaned forward to face the ground in front of her while coughing.

    The taste was sublime.

    It really was. The plum-sized berry that also had the color to fit the description, could be the star of any meal! The sweet scent from within was nothing short of a miracle. But...

    "It tastes like banana!"

    Betrayed by her old expectations due to appearance, Eriss decided to avoid the other berries, for now. Nothing good could come out of them at this point, but as they were food, she decided to leave them close to the lake as tonights dinner, and keep the largest black berry with her.

    Reaching the lake to abandon the thumb-sized berries, she saw it. The sun was standing at its peak straight above the lake, giving a clear view of the surface.

    Her reflection.

    The reflection showed a girl with long, unkempt, hair with the same black color as before -reaching down to somewhere around her shoulder blades-, a slightly rounder face with matching features -the freckles were gone, though- and green eyes. The slim body was troublesome to make out completely in the water as her lower body did not reflect itself. That was also the reason she couldn''t make out her length, but that hadn''t posed a problem earlier, so she simply didn''t care to find out. Erris assumed she was close to 160cm, though. She had seen her hair the moment she came to this new World, but now it was clear as day. That, together with the smaller hands and feet, it reminded her that she did not look like this before. It didn''t bother her anymore, though, as she had already made peace with her mind. She wouldn''t be able to move forward if she hadn''t.

    She would have to check her body again some time later, if only to get more familiar with herself.

    Putting down the embraced berries, Eriss walked away from her haven and into the deep wilds, with only a black berry the size of an apple in her left hand, and a handful of ''Military mushroom #1''s in her right. She didn''t have any direction to go in but forward. She wanted to get out of this place. And to get somwhere, anywhere, the best option is to keep moving forth.

    And forth, she walked.

    *-*-*-*-*

    The wilderness had other plans. As Eriss kept moving forward in a place she''s never been in -a place she''s never seen- the trees weren''t as densely packed as the ones closer to that tall tower. With a bit of sunlight intruding, it looked rather homely.

    That was wrong to think. Others had the same thought.

    Slowing down her steps in the area, howling wolves was heard in the background. The wind was getting rougher and the climate was no longer suitable for someone without clothes. After seeing what a simple firefly looked like, Eriss tried to tactically forget about the presence of wolves. She could deal without something the size of a car growling at her. Slowly continuing forward, within the strange sudden silence, she regretted ever leaving the lake.

    But it was too late.

    Hearing that frightening growl she couldn''t come close to imagining, she slowly turned her head as to not appear full of openings for the hunter. Behind Eriss, a grey-colored monster double her size, with the appearance of a wolf with yellow eyes that glared hungrily at her, was growling.

    ''I''m dead...''

    The ferocious wolf slowly made its way towards its next meal in the afternoon with hungry eyes. The prey backed slowly while leaning forward, to show its inferiority compared to the mighty beast. The wolf only howled as it saw the cowardly behaviour.

    "Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

    Taking this opportunity to flee as that -in her mind- would currently increase her survival, Eriss quickly turned and ran for her life into the only direction that wasn''t covered by the wolf-like monster. The wolf was quick on the turns, and growled loudly as it leaped after the girl. She didn''t turn around to the intimidation and only kept running into the forest full of beasts as she nervously looked for something, anything, that could save her just this  once.

    But that never happened.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    ...Aaaand Another chapter!

    Tell me if you would like to read about the other characters progression next chapter, or have one more with the MC Before that happens.

    I won''t bite, really.

    And as always, I appreciate you reading this!

    Edit: Changed some descriptions around about her body, so feedback regarding that is welcome as any other!

    (Oh and I still wonder about which chapter to release next.)

 Chapter 3: Theres Always a Bigger Fish

    Conveniently finished as  all the chapters have reached at least 100 views!

    Thanks for having read this far, and I''ll hope to continue entertaining you with more.

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    Chapter 3:

    There''s Always a Bigger Fish

    *-*-*-*-*

    The sun stood high in the sky and was slowly starting to begin its descend towards darker hours. It was roughly three hours after noon and the forest happily recieved its share of sunlight. The soil was moist, yet it hadn''t rained within these woods for several days. All was well inside this monster infested territory that was nothing short of a paradise.

    Except for humans.

    Eriss was panting heavily while running so fast that the environment in her sight was blurry and obscured by large tears. She was out of the wolf''s reach for now, thanks to the black berry that she had tightly been holding until five minutes ago, but unsure of how long it would help her, she kept running. Having thrown the large fruit right onto the beasts face, it had blindly entered a frenzy and demolished every obstacle in its vicinity. Glad she didn''t eat it, Eriss kept running. She wasn''t part of the annihilated group of obstacles, yet, but some stones, resigned to their fate, came flying at an amazing speed which had grazed her arms, causing them to bleed.

    The monster was too strong for her to take on, and she increased her pace if only to live another minute.

    ''I''m... Not sure.. if..-''

    She lost her thought as she stumbled upon a root sticking out close to the moist ground and fell knee-first before dampening the fall with her hands if only to get up one second earlier.

    "Why now!!!" Eriss hissed as she quickened her steps in order to retake lost time.

    The dirt from the fall had seeped into her wounds and the stinging pain made it harder to concentrate on what was under her feet. Taking only a step was like letting fate decide where she''d end up, and she was not  happy to let that happen ever again. But for now, it was better than turning into an unrecognized pile of intestines. And thus, she kept running.

    The forest was still a massive blur around and even in front of her the colors of green and purplish brown mixed together with light blue from her tears. The only thing still resembling shapes were the respective shadows of each object, albeit a bit distorted due to the lack of concentration on that part.

    Not knowing when another beast might show up to bare its fangs, she kept running forward. Not knowing when -she had no doubt about the ifs- the wolf would appear to crack her neck with its teeth, she kept increasing her pace until she''d die from exhaustion. She didn''t want any of this to happen, but if she would die now, she''d rather not go through the gory path.

    Heartbeats kept echoing in her head as she ran. Trees, more trees, and never-ending hills of dirt passed her as the minutes grew. Then her heart skipped a beat.

    ''Fuck!''

    Wishing it would have never happened, Eriss heard a loud howl in the distance. She might have ran for some time, but the beast would close up soon, and then the same slaughter would continue, this time, without any black berry to save her.

    ''Something! come on! FIND-''

    Stumbling over her own feet she realized what she was looking for while rolling a good metre forward in the dirt. She needed to dissapear  from the wolf''s radar in order to get out of this alive, which meant: its nose, eyes and ears. Dirt and leaves would help solve two of those problems.

    Two howls came from the background. Three. Four. The number of supposed wolves increased as they answered the call of the frenzied one. They would be here within a minute at most.

    "THERE''S MORE!? Shit! I need to hurry. Somewhere to hide.. Tree!? No. Cave? The echo.."

    ''Hide a tree in the forest... Dirt...''

    Eriss decided that as close to ground as possible nearby a tree would be the smartest choice, since the wind would have a harder time bearing the scent, and dirt was -hopefully- most common on the ground that it might have a higher chance of tricking the monsters. Rolling intensely in the moist dirt, she then ran to the closest tree that had some fallen, brown, leaves lying around and dug a small ditch underneath with her hands, just large enough for her to sink a little bit further to the ground. She then made it look as natural as possible as she laid down in cover.

    ''This better work, you damn nature programmes''

    Not moving, Eriss felt her pulse beating hard from the marathon. Relaxing just a little bit, it felt like she would die from nausea and her body tensed again under the quick rhythm of her heart beating against the moist ground underneath. Her arms hurt, her whole body ached and her pounding head felt like it would explode any second, but she couldnt relax. The smell of dirt and leaves along with the fear of being torn apart by hungry beasts was the only things keeping her sanity alive as she prayed for her life.

    Another howl came from the distance.

    *-*-*-*-*

    ...Hunger...Pain...Food...

    ...Blood...Agony...Smell...

    The smell of fear...

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    Prey.

    The bloody female ape child had dared to escape! Its days have been counted. Its life will be forfeit!

    ITS WHOLE FAMILY WILL PERISH UNDER THE GREAT WOLF''S NAME!

    ''HEED THY LEADER''S CALL, BRETHREN! FOR TODAY, WE DINE ON FRESH BLOOD AND FLESH!''

    The hysteric wolf let out a howl that filled the air with terror. The ambient sound of the forest had turned completely silent for a moment. Then, the responses came from the distance. One, two.. Nine howls echoed back and forth as the sound came closer.

    there weren''t as many as usual, but it was enough to have a feast on bones. The leader let out another howl as to answer those invited.

    The grey beast didn''t know why it wasted its time on a mere monkey, but its primal instincts couldn''t be wrong. The feeling it had gotten after crossing path with those frightened, almond-shaped, eyes that seemed capable of bewitching anything, was otherworldly.

    ''...Danger...Kill...Kill...Power...Find the prey...Eat it...''

    That creature didn''t belong here.

    The wolf didn''t know exactly what that meant, but that monkey-child''s existence had to be erased. Running with nine other wolves, whose black fur made its own color look illuminating in comparison, a familiar scent bore itself into its nose. They were close. Sneaking forward in order to not give away their presence, the wolves halted in the middle of an open area full of leaves within the forest. The smell stopped here.

    ''...Danger...Blood...Find...Prey?..''

    The grey wolf growled as it turned its face towards the other nine and then moved back and forth around the area while still growling, as if looking for something.

    ''FIND! BLOOD! CLOSE! FEAR MY ETERNAL WRATH!''

    All the wolves split up, and searched for whatever being that was capable of angering their leader to this extent. The smell of blood was fresh. It couldn''t have been more than a minute since their prey had been here, yet their eyes saw no body, no pile of blood being dragged into the dark, and smelled nothing unfamiliar compared to earlier. The wind was starting to slow down as the bright ball in the sky had turned orange and the leaves had stopped fluttering mid-air as a result. Only some leaves close to a few trees kept rustling.

    ...

    The smallest black wolf that noticed this, stopped its growling, and silently moved towards the leaves that rustled intensely behind the nearest tree. Crouching down, it was ready to pounce the leaves. It looked too unnatural as the leaves quickly moved back and forth. The prey was most likely in there. Consumed by greed, the cub leaped forward within a second to strike, then howled to let its guardians know. It had found the prey.

    A rabbit!

    The dissatisfied grey wolf snarled at the young hunter, causing the little black wolf to let out a small whine. It was the wrong prey!  Going back to searching, another growl from the distance joined the group.

    *-*-*-*-*

    ''There are TEN of them!?''

    Eriss was looking straight at a grey-colored wolf -followed by a pack of nine black wolves- that just recently entered into her vicinity. Getting out of this forest alive  felt nigh impossible. Closing her eyelids, she thought that somehow passing out now would be a great idea.

    ''They can''t see me if I can''t see them! Nope! What wolves? here''s only-''

    Opening her eyes, she saw the smaller black wolf glare right at her. Unable to move from her ditch -or it would completely give her away to the other wolves- Eriss looked at the small beast that would still probably fit inside an average box -and look cute while inside it too- making its way forward slowly, but surely.

    ''Shit... Shit! Fuck! No!''

    The cub crouched, made itself ready to pounce, and then leaped. Frozen by fear, Eriss kept her eyes wide open as the predator, for what felt like hours to her, was airborne. Then it landed -just a few metres in front of her- on a rabbit. With its claws out, the little moster reaped the poor soul''s life with a single strike of its right paw which ripped the rabbit''s left ear off, causing it to die from unexpected stress shortly after.

    Unconsciously holding her breath while the scene in front of her happened, Eriss slowly breathed out, mentally sighing in relief.

    ''Even that cub can kill me as I am right now...''

    Eriss knew she had no clothes or a weapon to protect herself with, but even so, there was a clear difference between her and the natural killing machine that looked only a few months old. Lying still in the pile of leaves and dirt, she looked at the searching wolves, hoping they would retreat. Instead, another growl came from the forest behind her.

    ''What no-''

    A really large bear had appeared behind her, growling straight at the grey wolf.

    ''...Great...''

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \o/

    Edit: I''m unsure if this would soon count as drama... Know any missing tags? Let me know! <3

 Chapter 4: Natural Selection

    This is not a nature program! I swear!

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Chapter 4:

    Natural Selection

    *-*-*-*-*

    ~Splish~

    ~Splosh~

    *Roaaar*

    The female brown bear was not amused.

    Trying her hardest to catch fish in the stream, the bear was flailing her front paws back and forth into the water, but could only glare intensely as every time, the fish slipped away. Her cubs needed the nutrients, and she would get those nutrients! But currently, those nutrients did not want to pay a visit to her lair. The blue-colored fishes'' scales sparkled in the setting sun as they mockingly jumped up in the air right in front of the bear. They would pay for doing so!

    Succumbing to her anger, the brown bear stood up -as straight up as her body would let her- on her two hind legs, and then, after lifting her forelegs, she used her body''s mass in hope to crush any of the lowly fishes still swimming within her reach.

    It paid off.

    The trees turned purple as the orange-red sun came closer to the horizon and the bear''s wet, brown, fur glistered occasionally as she walked into direct sunlight that shone from between more trees.

    With a fish as long as her body in between her teeth, the mother of three cubs proudly waddled towards the current cave they resided in. It was close to some of the ape tribesˇä territory, but they never seemed to enter hers, so she avoided doing the same.

    Because staying with her cubs was more important.

    Then, she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes widened and turned completely black as she smelled something in the air. Blood. And it came from the direction she was walking in. The cave was in that area!

    Bloodlust filled her as the thought of her cubs being hurt by somone passed by. She had to hurry!  Dropping the large fish, and without looking back, the mother ran through the forest with unrelenting steps. The ground tremored and leaves fell from the shaking trees as the bear stomped forward, forming visible footprints deep within the dirt. She didn''t care about other wildlife that might hear her, they couldn''t dream of hurting her when she was specifically out for blood. Possibly theirs.

    The smell of blood got closer. It was right behind these trees!

    Ten wolves came into sight -nine black beasts and one grey- and her growling turned louder. The smell came from them. Staring at the grey wolf that looked to be the strongest with intense eyes, she growled again, then jumped over the large heap of leaves and dirt in front of her, to charge towards a massacre.

    The grey beast let out a howl and stood back. Within a second nine black wolves formed a ring around the bear and took turns to try and bite her legs or rip open her stomach. The enraged mother didn''t care for her own safety and quickly swiped her left paw against the first predator with no defense in mind. The first wolf didn''t even reach its target before the large paw tore its head apart from the momentum. But the others wouldn''t just sit and watch as one of their brethren fell to the ground in a pile of blood.

    And neither would the alpha male.

    The grey wolf had taken a liking to that now headless female during the pack''s search for the monkey-child.

    Snarling loudly, he joined the other eight wolves'' simultaneous charge. Within her bloodlust, the bear didn''t notice the constant bleeding from her left flank, and simply turned to bite against the nearest wolf with deadly precision. The black beast''s neck broke under the pressure of her teeth and slumped lifeless to the dirt. The one-sided massacre continued. Brocken ribs...Legs torn off...Cracked skulls... Any limb destroyed was fine as long as she could exact her revenge.

    She didn''t know that the scent of blood was not from her cubs, but at this point she couldn''t care to find out, as the thought of her little ones being hurt overwhelmed her rationality and she once again struck with her right paw in a downward motion towards the last black wolf. The cub that was savagely trying to bite through her neck didn''t make it, but didn''t die without causing a bleeding wound.

    It was dark by the time that all nine black wolves had been killed by her paws and teeth, and their remains still lay scattered over the field of leaves. With only one perpetrator left, the bear with a lust for blood roared loudly into the sky. Her fur had turned crimson a long time ago from the blood of her enemies as well as her own. Both her flanks were bleeding slowly, and all the seemingly minor wounds took its toll after all this time. She had lost too much blood -especially from the wound under her throat- but was not the only one. Breathing heavily, she roared again and charged towards the last, grey, beast.

    *-*-*-*-*

    Disengaging from the slaughter after dodging an attempt to bite his head off, the grey beast assessed his situation. His brethren had fallen one by one, and now, even the youngling had died under the bear''s anger. He wanted to howl, to mourn his comrades, and to just let rage take over as his final hours drew near.

    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.But he had to survive.

    For his brethren... His comrades! His family! All of it!

    And for the youngling...

    For their sake, he had to survive, and he knew rage would not help him overtake this seemingly hopeless situation. His wits and speed was all he could rely on against the brown monster that stood in a sea of blood. The bear roared, and charged towards him with heavy, limp steps, which it didn''t even seem to have noticed, and if the beast already had, it showed no signs of being just as close to death as him. He took up the pace, and sprinted towards the closest tree. He knew this could be his final moments, and he wasn''t going to make any mistakes.

    Stopping in front of the wide tree trunk, the grey wolf unmovingly awaited the incoming heavy mass of fur. Once it was almost within reach, its pace increased. He assumed the bear had seen the tree behind him, but still stood in front of it as if time had frozen. He recognized such easily read behaviour and knew the enraged beast wouldn''t stop in hope of crushing him in between. With a second to spare, he easily moved out of the way as the bear came crashing in with its front legs held high. The tree wouldn''t be enough to even scratch the thick fur that rammed into it.

    But the thick, broken branch that he had covered would.

    With a loud crack, as the branch shattered into splinters and forcefully penetrated itself into the fur, the beast fell next to the slanted tree. It was still breathing, but its front legs could no longer carry the heavy body.

    Unsure if this would be the end, the grey wolf slowly made his way to the fallen body to inspect. As he reached closer, assuming he had prevailed, his sorrow and rage finally took over. It would suffer  for the fate of his brethren! He wanted to rip every limb apart as slowly and agonizing as possible.

    That, would be his mistake.

    As the wolf was close enough and ready to slash at the immobile beast, the brown bear flipped around onto its back, and kicked towards the wolf. But the wolf would no longer restrain himself. Losing his right ear in the process, he bit the bears left ankle, causing the taste of blood to fill his throat as his fur on the right side of his head was dyed red. But just one leg wasn''t enough for him. Jumping towards the other hind leg in a blind rage to completely cripple the bear, he missed the motion of the first one. It could still move!

    Flying back from the impact on his left flank, the wolf landed on the ground. He was still alive and standing from the weakened hit, but he couldn''t move an inch to finish the brown beast that had slaugthered nine of his kin.

    With both monsters unable to move, the wolf glared intensely at the bear''s breathing as the night grew darker. The white shining counterpart of the flaming ball in the sky stood high above him. Then, the bear''s final breaths was drawn.

    And so, the tired wolf howled in sorrow for his fallen, and then fell on to the leaves.

    *-*-*-*-*

    ''Run... Hurry!''

    "Come on! RUN DAMMIT!"

    Panting heavily, Eriss ran away from the blood-filled area as fast as she could. Though it felt like running to her, in reality, she slowly walked through the forest with strained legs. Her arms had stopped bleeding, but the pain still lingered.

    She didn''t know how long it had been since the massacre, but it was too dark for her to see anything beyond five metres at this point, and she often tripped as she didn''t notice the shape of a root underneath her. Tired, she wanted to just lay down and sleep, but couldn''t in fear of another beast feeling specifically hungry for some human flesh, so she kept moving.

    A rustle came from her right.

    ''Shit!''

    Eriss hurriedly turned to her left to run away, but a rock in her way made her stumble and fall. The damp dirt felt nice and soft underneath her as she felt her consciousness slipping away.

    ''No... Can''t... Not yet!''

    Standing up, she glanced back to see one large eye the size of a football shining in the dark. She didn''t question the strange light it emitted as she ran the other way. She had seen too much and knew well that the residents of this forest were not inviting her for tea.

    The light seemed to follow her, and made a strange sound every few seconds. Glancing back to make out the shape, she tripped on another root, and this time, she didn''t have the strength to get up.

    Lying face down in the dirt, she gave up. Nothing could save her now, and she knew it. Hearing the heavy footsteps behind her, Eriss closed her eyes as tears dripped into the already moist ground. It was hopeless. With her first and last act of bravery, she opened her heavy eyelids to see what would be her doom.

    But even that wish wouldn''t be granted.

    The last thing she saw was a shadow cast upon her as she fell unconscious.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Thanks for reading!

    Next chapter will be about one of the other characters'' whose story will later intertwine.

    And I''m thinking of renaming the numbers of each chapter in order to not make anyone mistake another character''s story as they DO hold relevance!

    Tell me if I should keep it as it is (X.5 etcetc,) or change it up?

 Intermission 2: "Demon Lord"

    2nd Chapter for today!

    A bit on the shorter end! (sorry!)

    It felt like it really ended well as it was, so I restrained myself!

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    Intermission 2:

    "Demon lord"

    *-*-*-*-*

    Smoke filled the air around him and the sun stood high up in the sky. Fire burned down the village secluded from any contact with the known human capital. It was built at the foot of a mountain alongside a stream running down from the very same overfed hill. With no other towns built close to the miners'' village, it would be hard for the residents to call for help. That didn''t stop them from trying, though, as tormented screams of pain came from the lowly humans that writhed in agony on the ground.

    It was a good day.

    "Hah.. haha! a-HAHAHAA!"

    A three-staged laugh escaped the perpetrator that was positioned high up in the air. He decided to fly upwards, covering the sun with his spread wings, in order to make for a dramatic scene.

    "BOW BEFORE ME! FLEE IN FEAR! AND SCREAAAM AS THE FATE OF YOUR KIN IS HELD WITHIN MY GRASP!"

    Elgor looked proudly upon his first creation in many years as more smoke -which brought the scent of burnt flesh and blood- filled his nostrils. ''The demon lord has awoken! Run for your lives! The doom is upon us!''  Is what they would say about him. He didn''t dislike that thought.

    But he is no demon lord.

    Elgor, the first servant to answer his master''s call four days ago, had been sent on a mission far away from the demonic plateaus. He would normally take his sweet time to follow the sleepyhead''s command, but this time, he too, was curious about the power which the demon lord had felt that day. He wanted to find it, crush it and forcefully take it.

    But he didn''t plan to give it to his master.

    No... He is no demon lord... His power was not near enough the absolute fear he always felt when kneeling in front of his master. As he was now, he couldn''t dream of disobeying while in that monster''s vicinity, even though he tried so hard to gain enough power to do so. For now, all he could do was jeer and plot the demon lord''s downfall outside of his vicinity. But this flicker of hope might be able to change that. Elgor wanted to believe so.

    Elgor wanted absolute power. He  wanted to stand at the pinnacle of fear as others would tremble before him! But that SLOTH of a demon lord just happened  to affect others naturally.

    ''It was in his blood''  Elgor would always be told.

    His master was his greatest aspiration AND fear. He couldn''t wait until the day he  would become the demon lord after annihilating the sleeping one. But accummulating power took time, and the power of his carefree master wouldn''t simply perish, so he bided his time in order to strike at the right moment, whether that meant he would continue to slaughter innocent humans for thousands of years to rile them up, or simply go face to face after getting the strange power emitted four days ago.

    The gargoyle pondered upon his question as he looked at the tiny ants burning from afar. They were getting rowdy. Some even tried to take advantage of the situation to steal, only to perish a moment later by the ever watching gargoyle''s words.

    "...Right!.. I need to keep a few alive in order to spread the words! Oops... Not good... Not good..."

    Elgor furrowed his forehead and looked down upon the streets in between all the burning houses, searching for people that might have survived.

    "Lets... Ah! That will do! Yes...EheheEh... That will do indeed!"

    Laughing crazily to himself, the tall human-like creature with a cursed bat-like face descended down into the burning village made of clay, wood and dirt, and stopped himself right infront of a house made of stone that had not caught fire. A still legible sign above it burned slightly. It read: ''Will o'' Blacksmith''

    "Alright... Is this how they do it?~ Ahem... Knock knooOOoock!~ Anybody hooOOME?~" The gargoyle said in a sneering voice as he broke down the reinforced door. "Ah! No... Right! I should not break while knocking! Right! Sorry!..Ehehehe..."

    "M-M-MONSTER! G-GET AWAY FROM US!"

    Elgor stared at the family of three that crouched on the dirt ground in the middle of the extremely hot building. Stone may not burn, but they would still heat up. Though, it wasn''t hot for him, thanks to his rather resistant skin, but he knew what temperature he himself had created. He locked eyes with the muscular man that had just a second ago cried at him and made a frightening smile which reached up to his bat-like ears. This man was probably the smith and owner of the shop.

    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

    "Ohhooo~ But today is your LuckyDAYyy!~ For I,  The demon lord RUBRIS  have decided to Spare. Your. Lives!~"

    ''How sneaky you are, oh great me! Now master will take blame for this!''

    "...Ah!.. But then... He will take the credit for... Ngh.. Kh.. DAMMIT! JUST THIS ONCE!"

    Elgor accidentally thought out loud as he started to discuss with himself of how he would execute his perfect plan, right in front of the burly man and his wife and their daughter that were all shocked over the word ''demon lord''. The smith''s knees shook in disbelief and he tried to cover his fainted wife and daughter.

    But their condition didn''t matter to Elgor one bit, as long as they were alive long enough to tell the tale.

    "I''ll let him have it, just this once! Nnghh but then!.. Ah... Eh... Nghh... AGHH- YOU! The still conscious human!"

    The gargoyle walked with his long, thin legs over to the crouching father that embraced his dear wife and daughter in his arms. Elgor towered above him and a shadow was cast due to the light from the fire that still devoured houses outside. He crouched down, and stared intently at the human.

    "What do you  think? Should I tell MY  name? Or use that sleeping idiot''s? ...Wait... Ah shit! I''m not supposed to NOT  be the demon lord! Why  do I disclose this EVERY  time!? DAMMIT!"

    "De... Demon... D-D-Death... Help..."

    The man still hadn''t recovered from his last shock, and only mumbled nonsense in disbelief as his arms were held around his family. It would take some time until he regained his senses.

    "This might still work... Yes! Now... HOW  do I make the others believe these runts?.. Hm.~ Ehhehehehe! YEES!~ Yes. That will do! I''ll do JUST  that! Kh- ahAHAHA! GREAT! YOU''RE A GENIUS, ME! Good job! Yeah!"

    Elgor lifted his arms up to the roof -which he could almost touch just by standing straight- and began uttering the words to one of his favorite spells.

    Teleportation.

    "khehehehe.... Bye BYE, lowly ones! ~Oh find my time and flow through ME! Let the past be the present, and I''ll teleport THEE!"

    The gargoyle waved his hands with glee as a pressure of air began forming around the ones chosen by himself. A second after they dissapeared and Elgor cackled at the thought of others seeing a pair of pale humans appear out of thin air, talking about him.

    "Ah! But... DAMMIT! What if they DON''T  end up close to humans?! Fuck! I''ll have to do ALL this work again! Ehehehhe! Yes...~"

    While pretending to be discontent, Elgor couldn''t have been happier unless the demon lord himself decided to die right on the spot, but he didn''t think that would happen anytime soon. This was exactly what he wanted. More of slaughtering innocents to gain power for the current demon lord''s demise, and more of teleporting them away! He truly, truly, LOVED the teleportation spell.

    He loved it exactly because he didn''t  know how it actually worked and just sent the target to a random destination. He probably didn''t even use the right words for chanting the spell, as many words could still roughly mean the same thing, yet have different effect as a whole.

    "Alright then! Enough fun for now! Time to go and continue my flight towards the source of that power."

    This had only been a stop for him to relax his wings after having flown for four days straight. There was still quite a distance left to catch up to what he believed was a forest. Close to eight days, in fact, but he had been wrong before. Standing up and then after walking out of the stone building, he looked back at it, then turned and walked away in a dramatic fashion while uttering one word.

    "Burn."

    The stones went up in flames and cracks appeared in them as they later started to melt. Elgor looked back again with a devilish smile before he stretched his black bat-like wings, and took flight into the skies and onwards to his next playground.

    Elgor is not a demon lord.

    But he would damn soon be one.

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    Thanks for reading! Probably the MC''s view tomorrow again!

 Chapter 5: I Come in Peace

    Some small headaches incoming!

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Chapter 5:

    I Come in Peace

    *-*-*-*-*

    ''Ah...

    It is that dream again...

    Standing right next to Death, looking over a field of flowers.

    The scent... The serenity...

    This...

    This is a good dream.''

    Eriss kept thinking those words -even though she felt this was not exactly as she remembered it- as she stood in the middle of a flowery sea. The wind blew mildly from the front, which brought a strong scent of vanilla and strawberries. The shadowy figure that stood no more than two metres to her right, wore a thin -almost translucent- black robe. Along its edges, a stream of white, silvery, liquid continuously flowed from the top of the hood, to the bottom of the thin robe. The loose sleeves had this pattern, too, but the streams instead flowed to the opposite direction of each other: one to the left, and one to the right... Around... And around...

    "I see you''re just in time. Had any... Fun?"

    She felt a shiver down her spine as the words easily rolled out of the hood containing nothing but pure void and a set of red eyes. Eriss felt an intense stare from the shadowy blur, even if she couldn''t exactly see how Death managed look at her while still facing the field of flowers.

    "Why am I here?.." Eriss felt a headache arise from the back of her head as she heard her own, high-pitched voice, and immediately tried to hold her head while crouching down.

    ''Ah... Right, I was...''

    A reverberating cackle came from the robe. What was the sound bouncing off of?  Death then turned his face to Eriss and she could clearly see the outlines of the countenance this time. The discovery scared her, and another headache came as she could only continue to hold her head while looking down on the white flowers underneath her.

    "Why... Do you... Look exactly like..."

    The pain subsided and she sighed in relief. The hazy shadow cackled again for a good minute -must have been something really funny- before his deep voice escaped the hood.

    "Like you?... Ah! My apologies. Like you used to?" I...- He cackled again for a while until he decided to continue. Will he ever tell the joke? "I think you know the answer to that. Is this not... Your  dream?"

    Death spoke in questions, and it started to piss Eriss off, but she showed no signs of retaliating. The shadowy robe let out a deep sigh that sounded closer to numerous wailing voices echoing upon each other, as he then turned back to face the serene flower bed. Eriss, still crouching down, wanted to say something, but Death interrupted her before she even opened her mouth.

    "Everything is but an illusion, just like this dream. Eyes decieve, and ears hear lies."

    "..."

    "Oh but I''m real." Death answered the girl''s thought with a cackle as he seemingly dissapeared and then appeared right in front of her. "I''m just as real as the next illusion is not. And that ''illusion''  is just as real as me. All it takes... Is just a bit of imagination."

    "Then... What am I?"

    A sensation entered Eriss. A feeling that the dark hood smiled at her question. That he wanted her to ask this.

    "Oh.. You don''t know that yet? Then I guess it can''t be helped huh... I guess I have to..."

    With the flick of his hand, the landscape changed, and Eriss now stood, together with Death, in the middle of a grassy field that reached up above her knees. The scenery confused her.

    "What if I told you... That we have not moved an inch? Yet, the field of view is completely different, right? Flowers... Then grass... How do we know that this is the illusion, while the other is not? Because you saw that first?"

    Another headache creeped up on Eriss as the shadowy figure cackled maniacly right next to her. Irritated and confused over what he had said, and over what it could be that was so funny to him, Eriss cried out.

    "This doesn''t tell me anything! What about an illusion!? What about a reality!? What I see is what I-"

    "...And yet, here you are once again... Like always."

    The next words uttered by Death was exactly what she didn''t want to hear. She hastily tried to turn around, screaming ''wait!'', but the dream turned pitch-dark as she only heard a faint, echoing, laugh in the distance.

    *-*-*-*-*

    "Dear! Dear! She woke up! Hurry!"

    The plump woman ran down the stairs in her red dress and into the kitchen where her burly spouse currently stood naked, only clad in a white flowery apron -hopefully doing the cooking and nothing shady- that reached down to his feet.

    "Is that so! Well then, Magda! Let''s see what the little mud monster did in the Red forest!"

    "Not like that! Now hurry up and get dressed or I''ll put an attire on you myself!"

    Magda watched the man walk out of the kitchen, chuckling ''hahaha! Is that so... Is that so!''  while turning left to enter a room by the foot of the stairs. The woman mentally sighed while walking back up the stairs, towards the room she had once dashed out of.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    ''Someday his negligence will get his head chopped off...''

    She thought he had already done something dangerous when she found her husband walking in with a muddy girl in his arms two nights ago. In the middle of the night, no less! But after his explanation she had calmed down and took the job of taking care of the unconscious girl. The girl may only be fifteen, but that was even more of a reason to care for her looks.

    Opening the door, Magda glanced at the bed in the corner. A girl -clad in an oversized white dress- sat up in the bed with a dazed look in her green, almond-shaped eyes. The back of her black, luster hair -thanks to the bath Magda had given her- covered her ears and reached down to right under her neck, while her bangs reached down to each side of her eyes, which framed her delicate countenance that sat upon the slender neck connecting with her shoulders. The thin arms that were currently holding her head seemed to hold more strength than Magda could assess. The rest of her body was under the blue blanket, but during the washing of her body, Magda had seen her modest chest and all the scars on her slim, curvy, body, not to mention the dirty wounds along the slender legs. Once cleaned, her fair skin contrasted with her dark hair.

    Looking at the body hidden beneath the blanket, Magda assumed that she couldn''t have been taller than 165cm.

    *-*-*-*-*

    Waking up, Eriss felt a lingering pain in the back of her head. Still trying to make sense of it all, she mumbled to herself, completely ignoring where she currently was, or who the round woman that ran out of the room while spouting gibberish was. Later coming to her senses, a tall, muscular man with a fuzzy-looking moustache, sat on the other end of the bed, wearing nothing but red trousers -probably running around saving princesses, too- while staring at her. Eriss decided to ask her supposed saviors.

    "Where... Am I?"

    The man ignored his wife''s comment about ''his attire is scaring the litte girl senseless''  and the follow-up ''Look she already lost her ability to speak!''  and spoke in a soothing voice towards the girl in front of him.

    "Are you okay? Do you remember who you are?"

    Eriss only heard gibberish, then understood the problem as she looked at the frantic woman yelling something at the man.

    ''Of course they can''t understand me! Something so convenient as no language barrier doesn''t exist! Shit... I must be calm in these situations to not make any misunderstandings. Let''s see...''

    She waved with her hands to get the two residents of this world to stop, then point at her and spoke slowly.

    "I... Come in... Peace."

    Eriss smiled as she saw the look in the man''s eyes. It seemed like he might have understood! The man then furrowed his brows and repeated something that she recognized she herself had just recently said.

    "Aiiee... Kamin... Peeees..."

    Then the man''s face lit up, as he rose from the bed and screamed joyfully to his wife, who also looked happy with the words.

    "KAMIN! Kamin Peeees!"

    ''No... No no no no! What is with that broken english!? Who''s Kamin!? No! What are you doing?! HEY! WAIT!''

    *-*-*-*-*

    "Aiiee... Kamin... Peeees..."

    Matt furrowed his brows as he pondered on the three words the little angel had uttered. She seemed too calm to be hurt, so she must be fine for now, even if her language was definitely not from this country.

    ''Could she have been an escaping slave, then? I don''t know what "Aiiee" means, but Kamin... Kamin... I feel like I''ve heard that from somewhere...''

    "Kamin Peeees... Dear! Isn''t that the neighbouring country''s current ruler!?"

    ''Is it now?... Kamin... Peeees... Wait!..''

    "YOU''RE RIGHT! KAMIN! Kamin Peeees is indeed the neighbouring king! If he hears that our liege is in possession of his runaway child I am SURE that he''ll be overjoyed! And we would be rewarded with fame! Andrigor the third and him always seemed to be on good terms during the coronations!"

    Running out of the room, Matt left the girl related to Kamin in Magda''s care, and made his way out the backdoor of the building and then turned right to the main road, passing the front of the building he owned. A sign that read: ''Matt''s Moon Inn''  was hanging over the wooden door.

    ''That soldier... Where is he?.. Where- Ah!''

    "Hey guard! I have a promotion for you today!"

    The guard, puzzled over the eccentric behaviour, turned around to face the burly Innkeeper.

    "Matt! What may I own the pleasure of talking with you today?"

    "Stop the formalities! Quick! I have a message to the king, and I need someone I can trust to keep this confidential up until that moment! You see! It seems we have found-"

    "Oh!" Matt''s trusted friend interrupted. "If it''s to the king, then why don''t you just put it on the next carriage towards the capital? It should arrive any hour from now, actually."

    "...Do you have some shackles?"

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    I had a hard time to think of how I should have conveyed the two languages.

    Your convenience came first, which mean I''ll probably go back and explain further along the road if anything ever feels unclear!

 Chapter 6: Bound by Fate

    Sorry for the late chapter!

    Was spending all day drawing and forgot to write, so here''s a little longer chapter (just by like 1.5k characters)

    Anyway! The journey has begun! \o/

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    Chapter 6:

    Bound by Fate

    *An old saying goes. A new one takes flight*

    *-*-*-*-*

    Sitting comfortably in the backseat of a horse carriage -with an open roof- on its way to the capital, was a short girl clad in a white oversized dress that reached down to her feet. Her hair fluttered slightly in the mild wind and the sun stood high up -releasing a perfect temperature for her beautifully white skin- which reminded her of the summers at home. Around her sat four retainers of the king, two seemingly identical boys around the age of ten, one old woman and an even older man who looked about to die any second now. She decided to have gone along with this little charade of being related to some foreign ruler ''Kamin Peeees'' and was now travelling on the somewhat bumpy road in a relaxing manner compared to her earlier days. She could, after all, just simply leave if she had had enough.

    Is what she would have wished, at least.

    "Why won''t this fucking lock break!?  Hahh... Im in deep  shit again..."

    ''And hungry... Didn''t they try to feed me anything while I was out cold!? And just how long was I sleeping...''

    In reality, Eriss couldn''t have been worse off than if dead.

    Sitting on a hard wooden plank that -because of the really  rocky road- gave her a slight back pain, in the back of a horse carriage on its way to the capital, along with four seemingly apparent slaves, Eriss was cuffed by a wooden plank over her wrists. There was a storm in the horizon, and the strong wind together with rain was already hitting their current area. It was cold, and she had no hope of escape as long as the <del>fucki</del>Lovely lock was still intact.

    "Do you need help with that, little miss?"

    "If you can get me out of it then YE-"

    "..."

    "...You..."

    "...Yees?~"

    Eriss stared blankly at the old man who spoke to her in a friendly manner! Not everyone was greedy! But the most important thing was, Eriss understood him! And he seemed to understand her, seeing what topic he actually opened up with. His old wrinkled face carried the eyes of a veteran, which were glaring at Eriss. She felt like her soul was looked through, searched, and completely scrutinized by the hawk-like, yellow iris. Snapping out of her trance, the harbinger of misfortune inspected her possible savior. His body was clad in a simple -but tattered- brown-ish tunic attached with an unworn hood that currently covered around his throat like a neck piece. Eriss'' eyes turned glossy from the miracle in front of her, although she and everyone else was already soaked in the weather.

    "...Can understand  me?.."

    "Hmph!" The old man snorted, then showed Eriss a serene look from his countenance -It was such a loving smile that only a parent would otherwise give her- before answering her question in a slightly milder tone. "I would be a disgrace as a Litogarian citizen if I would be unable to recognize one of my own kin."

    "Lito-...? Ah! Ahh... Yes..."

    ''As long as he can understand me, I don''t care what part of the world I end up in anymore!''

    The old man seemed to look at Eriss with slight pity. Such a young slave, and a Litogarian girl at that. He then looked over to the twins, and made a sad face. It did not suit him. Then he closed his eyes, seeming to have made up his old mind about something, and spoke out, but the voice didn''t come through the ears.

    *~Do you wish to escape, and get rid of the life as a slave?~*

    A croaked, yet soothing voice reverberated through Eriss'' skull -which made her jump slightly- and by the looks of the other slaves'' reaction, theirs too. The old woman whose face appeared to have gotten wrinkles within her recent days, closed her eyes, and simply nodded before opening her eyelids while turning her face towards the old man. Her brown eyes, though, were looking straight at Eriss who sat to the left of the mysterious man, bearing the feeling of pity. The two twins looked at each other, and then simultaneously shifted their heads towards the girl that looked roughly five, six years older than them, before locking eyes with each other again, nodding once this time. During the quick second they had stared at Eriss, she saw their large, round eyes.

    ''Red...''

    Realizing that she had yet to actually give the old man an answer, Eriss turned her drenched head and looked at him. There was no hesitation in the girls eyes that was slightly covered by strands of soaked, black hair, as she, the only one to actually speak out her wish, spoke out in a low voice that was further muffled by the weather.

    "I wish to escape."

    Smiling as he heard the quiet words, the old-looking slave opened his eyes, and looked to the grey sky.

    "Blood is in my body. Iron is my pain. Shatter these bonds, as time is your gain."

    As the last words were uttered, the hinges attached to the rectangularly shaped plank broke, and the two pieces of wood fell down on to the wet floor for all five that sat in the carriage. Eriss and the others were free of bonds!

    ''There is magic!? No, wait, how else would I end up here? Of course there is!''

    But that was the only thing pleasant to the ears and eyes that happened.

    Although no harm came to any of those transported, the guards that sat on horses, protecting from behind, and the rider which led the way, all screamed in agony as their whole body turned paler and paler before falling lifeless to the moist dirt ground, stopping the movement of the horse carriage. Eriss saw the whole process.

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    It was as if their bodies dried out from within.

    "...Remind me to never make you an enemy."

    She wanted to throw up, and was now glad for the blessing in disguise of not having eaten for a while. So all Eriss could do in the situation was joke about it, as her mind had already ingrained the image of live mummification. She could live without it, but it was already too late.

    The middle-aged woman took the empty reins of the horses in front, while the twins picked up the weapons and shields of the corpses laying in the dirt. When the two boys was back in the carriage, it started slowly moving forward, towards the next town they were about to reach anyway. This time, as fugitives.

    Free fugitives.

    *-*-*-*-*

    Since taking over the carriage an hour ago, nobody had uttered a noise in the heavy rain that poured down on them. Looking in the young girl''s eyes back then, he felt compelled to help the poor soul that continuously swore and desperately tried to break free from her shackles. He had asked her if she wanted freedom, which he already knew the answer to, but asked nonetheless. Perhaps it was simply to get rid of his sense of guilt, if anything would happen to her because of the choice, but he still wished to do his utmost to save her from her hellish future.

    He just hoped he hadn''t made it worse.

    The other three: the two half-demons, and the Egitorian woman, were also a cause of concern for him, but for a different reason. Thinking back at it, he had asked them something despicable. Something they would do right in hating him for, if not even trying to take his head as an answer. But they simply stayed silent, and nodded in agreement. And that, was heart wrenching to look at. They had all made their decision. He, too, had decided to do what he felt was right.

    The growling of a stomach suddenly intermingled with the sound of rain, and the old magician simply looked at the perpetrator before asking the owner of such a stomach as loudly as he could in the thick rain.

    "...Hungry?! We''re soon at the next town! It''s called Ret''iva! I think we can get something for you to eat there!"

    The old man didn''t have any food to offer the hungry girl, but at least he could offer his comfort, albeit while screaming. He probably didn''t even need to scream, but felt like it would ease up the heavy mood which surrounded the carriage. And it did, as the drenched girl moved closer to him and replied in a corteous manner.

    "You do not need to scream, sir. And thanks... For both the question and risking yourself to help me out of that mess."

    A smile came after hearing the word ''sir''. He felt more and more that the choice he and the three others had decided to make, was a good one. Wanting to escalate the conversation in this sulky weather, and seeing as they still had some time to go, he continued the talk.

    "No need to be so stiff. I''ll... Always welcome you as part of my family. Say... What''s you name, miss?"

    "...Eriss."

    ''Hiding her surname, or simply never had one?''

    Slight pity filled the old man as he pondered on his thoughts, but it wasn''t the kind of pity given towards a stranger.

    Something else was occupying his mind...

    Then, he sank his frail body down on the ground in order to face Eriss at eye level, and made a wide grin while closing his eyes before speaking in a happy tone, devoid of any other emotions.

    "Then now you''ll be Eriss Granse! How about that? My name is Gherd Granse, and your name is Eriss Granse! Cool huh?"

    "...Granse... Family..."

    Gherd didn''t miss as Eriss'' mouth seemingly started to quiver after she had said those two words, probably remembering her already dead parents home at Litogaria, or simply overjoyed from finally getting a surname in her life after escaping slavery, or.... No, whichever it was, it was currently impossible to see if she was crying under the heavy rain that had already drenched her cheeks, but Gherd decided to silently sit aside as the young girl bent down and covered her face with her small hands.

    He really wanted to make life better for this one, after all... To not end up with the same fate as him...

    "I- I''m sorry, I..."

    Reflexively rubbing her eyes -which didn''t change much- Eriss continued to stutter out apologetic words, which to Gherd, was something uncomfortable that he didn''t want to hear, not because of the words per say, but because of how the girl behaved when trying to utter them. With a loud sigh, Gherd simply shook his head with his eyes closed -causing Eriss to stop- and then reopen them to look at the feeble girl next to him.

    "I know you may not always want to be with the rest of us... But I have decided that I want to give you the chance to be able to survive once you are alone again, and will for that reason alone, ask you this:" The old magician took a deep breath before asking his question. "Do you... Wish to learn magic from me?"

    "...Please."

    A faint smile creeped up on her face as she asked for permission. This was a side Gherd could not say no to, however devastating the aftermath might become. He simply nodded in silence at her words.

    Nothing else was said during the remainder of the two hours ride. But with how the rain was getting louder as the town appeared in the foggy horizon, it would''ve been hard to hear anything anyway. As they were minutes away from the town caught inside the storm, Gherd thought back at what he had asked of the other three. He felt bad, but he didn''t regret his decision, and it seemed they did not regret it, either, as silent as they were during the jorney.

    He just hoped it would turn out for the best.

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    Ps. I am planning to keep the story flowing through each perspective from where the "first" one ended, as in this chapter.

    So any feedback regarding this is welcome! (As well as any other!)

 Chapter 7: RetIva

    Citycruisiing!! .-. And some integration from earlier parts of the story!

    I tried new ways to express the Environment, so if any sentences or descriptions feel badly worded or plain confusing, don''t hesitate to tell!

    Ps. Sorry for the slow progress, I just feel that some of these things will be important later on, which means they need to be fleshed out ''-''

    -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Chapter 7:

    Ret''Iva

    *Live Long, and Prosper*

    *-*-*-*-*

    "...Halt!"

    Eriss didn''t really understand the words that was said by one of the two guards stationed outside the gate to Ret''iva, but judging by the motion of his hand, it would most likely be something akin to an inspection. They stood there, under the rain, clad in some kind of raincoat on top of the heavy looking chainmail, along with a sword -sitting in its respective scabbard on each of the mens hips- which became visible once the second guard had lift his right hand above his head, holding a lantern, which in turn caused a frightened reaction from the girl drenched by the rainy evening.

    ''Oh shit! What if they see what we look like!?''

    But what a baseless worry that was, as the old man... Gherd, decided to shout out into the rain, with the same gibberish words Eriss had heard earlier before capture.

    "Our caravan was attacked on the road! We are the sole survivors of this cruel evening, and wish right now only for a place to sleep, warm ourselves from this terrible weather and somewhere to eat! Where is your nearest inn?!"

    The first guard turned in order to look back at the one holding the lantern. None of their facial expressions could be seen under each''s hood, but the first guard''s voice carried a slight worry as he replied to the old man.

    "Your ordeals must have been heavy, but currently there have been sayings of a demon lord waking up, so we may not let you in without the identification papers! I am personally sorry for the hassle!"

    Gherd kept silent after the guard''s gibberish ended. It was hard for Eriss to question why, but looking at the old man''s cheek that was still visible to her, she realized something ridiculous must have been mentioned. It had only been a few seconds since the guard and Gherd got silent -which felt like an eternity, as the cold rain kept pouring down- before the whole atmosphere turned a little bit eerie. But the smell of moist earth reached Eriss, and she couldn''t help but feel slightly relaxed in the fresh, natural air that always seemed to appear during and after a downpour.

    Gherd seemed to run out of patience, though -as his jaw suddenly tensed up- and decided to continue their conversation.

    "Guard..."

    "Hahh...Yes, sir?"

    "You believe a demon lord, a being strong enough to destroy a kingdom, would travel on a horse carriage? In this weather, no less? In fact, five  of them?"

    "..."

    "...Well?"

    "We''ll let you in immediately, sir! Sorry for the inconvenience!"

    Eriss had no idea what just happened, but looking at the dumbfounded faces of the guards once their carriage got closer to the gate, she knew that whatever was said in the rain, the five of them wouldn''t be in any trouble. At least for now. She decided she would ask later, though. Right now a shelter from the rain was more important.

    The wind didn''t blow inside the town, as surprising as Eriss had thought it was at first, and only a concentrated smell of fresh, damp air came from above. It was then the girl saw something she hadn''t noticed from the outside which boggled her even more.

    "Wha-"

    "Quite interesting huh? Ret''iva used to be the subject of conquest many times in the past because of how close it is to the bordering countries, and so they deployed a barrier to protect the town. As a result It became a peaceful place for trading."

    ''This is a freaking city! It''s a city, isn''t it!? Just how large are ACTUAL cities in this world, then!?''

    From outside the gate, a few buildings seemed to be the only thing within the stonewalls -seemingly abandoned- but once inside, the roads were bustling with humans: short, tall, tails and ears!?, and some that looked as short as the children, yet had an adult air around them. Eriss knew that if they would be described from one of the fantasy novels she had read at home, they would be called just like one from a story like that.

    Dwarves.

    Enormous activity between what looked like three different races on the roads was not all that changed from the outer appearance. Aside from the ordinary stone houses and some made of clay that she had seen in the first town, large buildings made of some smooth-looking -but hard- white material were reaching up towards the sky, which should''ve been visible from miles away, yet Eriss hadn''t seen a single one during the trip. The size of the "town" could not be measured from where she stood right now, but from the looks of the entrance district in front of her, this was only a small part of everything.

    Looking up from where the fresh smell had protruded from, the stunned girl saw a blue, very thin-looking, and almost transparent husk cover it all. No rain fell, and no strong gusts of wind. Only a mild damp smell here and there, and a tranquil atmosphere, came from above.

    "I''m dreaming..."

    Gherd chuckled at the rather late but appropriate response. It was the first time Eriss had heard him laugh. She had always seen him smile, but a laugh never followed. It suited him, though, compared to the sad face he had given to the twins before.

    "Hahah! This is definitely reality! I remember the first time I- No that''s not important right now... Let''s go find the nearest inn to warm ourselves! I''m sure that I am not the only one starving, right?"

    A simple nod was given by everyone present. Eriss, the two ten year old twins with red eyes, the middle-aged woman that seemed to be familiar with this place, and lastly, Gherd, in acknowledgement of the others'' nodding.

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    The stone roads were full with activity, yet they were still wide enough to fit numerous carriage even with so many beings around. After travelling for roughly five minutes, Eriss had had her focus the entire time on what existed on the ground level: Large white buildings, smaller houses made of clay, some of stone, and a lot of merchant stalls set up along the road, selling bread, cheese, chicken... Some rings, necklaces, jewelry in general... But no weapons or armor. It seemed they were only made and sold through a blacksmith.

    The only thing left that caught her attention, was the red beads of light that seemingly floated above them. It reminded her of the fireflies in the forest, although not as strongly lit. Eriss felt like she could just stare at them for hours upon hours. They looked beautiful as they innocently floated in the air. When she looked at them, a feeling of serenity, comfort -a sense that everything would be alright- filled her. It felt like...

    "...That there is still hope around here, somewhere. Right?" Gherd chipped in, as he looked at the girl that was lost in thoughts with a quivering mouth and glossy eyes, ready to cry any second. "They''re one of the reason that Ret''iva has its name. They''ve existed around these parts for as long as mankind have been walking upon the continents of An''ir."

    Snapping out of her trance, Eriss saw that they had stopped, and the three others beside Gherd and her, had already descended upon ground. They were already in front of a large building that reminded her somehow about different taverns that existed inside the game she used to play online. She didn''t say anything, as the five drenched existances walked into the tavern, but her red face showed clear signs of embarrassment under another tinge of red that the rain had caused to the cold travellers.

    Walking through the opened door, another level of warmth hit Eriss, which was much welcome to her cold skin. Around the ground level it was full of humans and dwarves. Some were clad in various kinds of leather with leather scabbards on their hips or their lower back, while others were simply wearing a robe with either a book or a wooden stick placed nearby, and a third group wore normal attire and nothing besides that.

    As normal as this world seemed to allow, at least. Red, black, green or white shirts with an equally colored pair of shorts. No sense of fashion at all...

    But Eriss couldn''t really complain as the oversized white dress was already too heavy with all the accumulating water it seemed to have absorbed.

    "...Hey... Have you guys heard? You know... About that..."

    "Yeah... They say that the three of them just simply popped up in the middle of the Count''s living room, all eyes devoid of any hope, while muttering: ''Demon... Lord... Help...''. Some scary rumors, I tell ya''."

    "I heard the kid and wife had already kicked the bucket when they arrived..."

    ''...What are they saying? Got to ask Gherd sometime, he seems to know a lot of things.''

    Eriss snapped up a conversation in the corner of the room. Although she didn''t know what they had said, the message sounded eerie, like when the guard had talked with Gherd before. Then she realized something crucial.

    "Hey Gherd! How do we-"

    "Hello and welcome to Red Moon Inn, how may I help you?"

    "Ah, yes. Two rooms, one for three, and one for two, please... And a bath for all with a set of simple clothing."

    ''Gheeeerd! The moneeyyyy! How do we rent a room without moneeyyy!?''

    The panicked girl quickly looked back and forth between the receptionist and Gherd as they talked in the <del>idio</del>Easily understandable language. Then, the receptionist simply smiled as she bent down under the counter, and came back up with five sets of white ''simple'' attire and afterwards handed Gherd two gigantic keys. Eriss had a bad feeling about it.

    "Gherd. Hey, Gherd! How did you get us the rooms!? You didn''t sell my body or anything, did you!?"

    "Nothing of the sort! I wouldn''t have it in me to... No, but I told her our story, and gave us a night for free. Breakfast included."

    "THAT WORKS!?" All other sounds broke into silence as Eriss voice filled the room. Embarrassed for the second time tonight, she waved with her hands, trying to get the onlookers to mind their own business again, before she said in a significantly quieter voice towards the old magician. "...That works!?".

    The old man chuckled as the five of them walked up the stairs to the second floor. They stopped in front of two doors as Gherd handed one set of clothes each to the middle-aged woman and then to Eriss, followed by a key.

    "This is our rooms for the night. Now go and take that bath, I''ll bring something to eat in a bit, although it might just be a loaf of bread, but it will do until tomorrow morning."

    "How do you always seem to know so much?"

    The sudden question surprised Gherd, but the look on his face then turned into a smile as he looked at Eriss.

    "I''ll tell you after we''ve eaten. Now go and get clean."

    Doing as she was told, the rest of the evening went by quickly, as she finally got to wear something warm -and incredibly comfortable compared to the oversized dress- around her body. As they ate, the group sat inside the larger room that was for three, and once after the ''meal'', Eriss decided to ask again.

    "How... Do you know so much?"

    "Ah... well... It is rather late tonight, so tomorrow would be a better day. But... You remember the name of this town, yes?"

    "Ret''iva?"

    "Yes. That name is in ancient tongue, which nobody really knows who created. But in your case, it seems to hold something... Else... The real name behind it is..."

    With the last words, Eriss and the middle-age woman went to their room to sleep. As Eriss laid in her bed, she repeated the words in her mind, before she closed her eyes to sleep.

    ''To live long... And prosper...''

 Intermission 3: Time Moves On

    A Little shorter chapter! But another will come later today! Thanks for reading!

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Intermission 3:

    Time Moves On

    *Time waits for no one*

    *-*-*-*-*

    "Come on Max! Don''t slack your feet like that, we''ll be late!"

    "Shut up! I know  already. Nobody will want to see me there anyway."

    "Hahh... Such an ungrateful kid... Do as you wish once we''re there, but right now we''ll be late!"

    It''s been a week since... John''s ''dissapearance''... And today, his funeral has been scheduled for. Max grumbled as he followed his dear  mother out of their house in order to enter the taxi that would drive them to their destination. His mother had become acquainted with John''s mother through the students'' connection with each other, and was now clad in a black unfashionable dress that covered all the way from her neck down to her feet, slightly showing the red high heels that she wore to anything considered extraordinary.

    As his mother sat down in the passenger''s front seat of the black vehicle, Max reluctantly followed to sit down in the seat behind her. He didn''t want to attend his only true friend''s funeral for... Reasons, but he could just not disobey  his motherly parent so easily. Some part of him also made him feel like he had  to attend, what kind of a friend would he have been otherwise?

    Even if Max was the cause of his death.

    ''I should''ve stayed in school by his side that day... Just WHY did it have to be him?!''

    Looking out of the car''s window, the nineteen year old student looked up at the clear sky. Not a single cloud in sight, the sun shone as bright as ever, and bumblebees could be seen flying from flower to flower that sat along the narrow road that the taxi currently drove on. To Max, this bright weather felt like it was mocking him, suffocating  him, which was a clear difference from the stuffed air inside the car that didn''t seem to have any air-conditioning in the back.

    ''It''s as if the world doesn''t even recognize the loss of John...''

    The peaceful weather annoyed him. The happy bumblebees annoyed him. The driver, his mother, the funeral, the school, he despised it all.

    Max despised himself.

    He knew he couldn''t think like this. It wasn''t their fault, they had nothing to do with John''s death, and Max knew that, but how does one explain that their beloved straight-A student, the pillar of light, the best friend, had died because of a promise?

    Max cleared his thoughts for the rest of the trip, as the sight of trees, parks and pedestrians passed by right outside the window. And then, an hour later, his mood got worse as he saw the tranquil graveyard appear as if sliding in from the left. The car stopped, and his mother stepped out in order to open the door for her son, before paying the driver for his service.

    "Come on, Max, you can''t make a face like that  when attending his funeral. I don''t think your friend would want to see you irritated during his last good byes. Here, smiiileee~"

    Standing on the pavement, the 179cm tall doting mother of Max the giant, grabbed her son''s cheeks, and tried to bend them upwards into a smile.

    "He''s already dead! And there''s not even any body to say good bye to! Only ashes of a burned up room, and no trace of him!"

    The attempt failed.

    "Hahh... Fine! Have it your way... But show at least some  respect once we''re there, it would be rude to the others, if nothing else."

    Leaving her last words as that, she walked in advance, followed a few seconds later by a grumpy son. Alongside the road up to the graveyard stood trees as green as ever, rustling their leaves back and forth in the mild wind, which brought a fresh scent of lemon.

    *-*-*-*-*

    "Our sincere apologies. I''m sorry for your loss, mrs. Eriss¨¦."

    "Please Maria, you''re making me awkward in this already heavy mood. Our sons were friends, speak as informal as you want with me... Ah! I see you came too, Max. I''m sure John would be glad."

    Max didn''t say anything, and only nodded as to say hello. He tried his utmost to not let his irritated mood become visible, and decided silence would be the best answer.

    Over fifty people had gathered on top of a hill looking over the silent graveyard: Some girls and boys that seemed to be students from the same university, old people, some parents, John''s father and mother, his own mother.

    And Max himself.

    Not all the girls were clad in black dresses, but all the men, Max included, seemed to wear a black suit with a white shirt underneath, and then either black or dark blue jeans. He didn''t pay attention to every kind of shoes worn, but he himself wore what he''d usually wear: his really comfortable black sneakers.

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    Walking next to Maria, his mother, they made their way forth to the top of the hill. They had to stop many times to offer and recieve condolences with the others mourning. One thing kept making Max more and more irritated as he watched the sulky expressions he recieved from the others. One thing that was even worse than not being able to tell that John had died because of him.

    Nobody seemed to condemn his presence.

    He knew deep within that he didn''t literally  kill his own friend. But as deeply burrowed in self-told remorse and hatred as he was, it would''ve been better if he had. At least then he would have a real reason to hate his sole existence. No... He knew that wasn''t true, he would never do anything to hurt his friend, even if his words sometimes said otherwise, John was his closest -and only real- friend.

    ''I wish I could just dissapear from this world... I''m the worst...''

    Once standing on top of the green hill, the large group surrounded a pair of adults. A man that looked exactly like John -if he had shaved a little- and a woman who Max recognized as the woman his mother had greeted earlier. John''s parents. His father opened his mouth in order to speak. It was a deep melancholic voice that filled the air.

    "I want to thank every one of you who have managed to take the time out of your lives to come here. My son... John,  would be happy to see that so many faces are gathered at the same place for his sake. It would be stupid of me to tell you all not to look so sad, for that is natural. John, however, was always the kind of raskal to leave a sunshine in his wake."

    Tears came from John''s father, and he had to stop himself for a second to wipe them off before continuing. Max felt strangely moved by the speech, as if everything he had thought, done, up until now, had been insignificant.

    "...John he... His curiosity for knowledge was always something I respected. He managed well to balance his life with the things he loved around him: Books, games, people.

    Stories.

    He loved the stories, the ones of others, the ones he read, played, and the story he himself would create. But... His story has sadly come to an end, and that is why we are here..."

    Others than just John''s father and mother were crying now, including Maria. Max didn''t cry, he felt like he wasn''t allowed to cry, he couldn''t cry. Until the words that followed after the deep breath taken by John''s father came, finishing the speech.

    "And that is why... We are here to not only say good bye to John''s story, but also continue it. Within our hearts, he will always follow us. He will experience what we experience, see what we see, watch over us and... Live on."

    Max was shocked as he saw the ashes spread out over the graveyard. Even in John''s last moments, he created something beautiful, as the ash danced around in the wind like it was meant to be. Tears began to well in his eyes. He knew that the ash was not John, his body was simply disintegrated in the fire that had suddenly engulfed his room seven days ago, with nothing identifiable left. He knew that this was not John, yet his tears wouldn''t stop. His friend was gone. John wouldn''t come back, he couldn''t  come back. But even so, the ashes that danced in the air seemed to give Max the feeling that everything was over, that it was fine to let go of his self-hatred now.

    That he was forgiven  for whatever he never did.

    *-*-*-*-*

    Once home, Max spent the remainder of the monday lying in his bed, thinking of what he would do from now on. He couldn''t hate himself anymore, it felt wrong after the funeral.

    Then, taking up a nostalgic book lying on the wooden floor, Max began reading the only thing that still was intact in the rubble of the half-burned house his friend used to live in. He had read the mysterious book every night since he recieved it six days ago, and always seemed to keep rereading its content. It felt like the book itself always changed content depending on how much, or in what way, he read it. He confirmed that the text was always the same, but the view and feelings was somehow... different, every time he read it, as if it wanted to hide its secrets deep underneath a thick layer of lies.

    His sight also stopped every time at the symbol that was drawn in the middle of the book. It looked like a circle with the number five drawn through it, like some bad version of an old rune.

    Putting down the book under his bed, Max tried to sleep for the night, but his thoughts kept wandering to how his dead friend actually managed to accidentally take home a book from the university''s library. It wasn''t forbidden, but he knew his friend well enough to say with confidence that John never once took home the books.

    ''And just how does one lonely book survive such a destruction?.. Luck... I guess.''

    Max closed his eyes, and slept soundly. But he wouldn''t wake up the next morning in time for university.

    Tomorrows Tuesday was a day off.

 Intermission 4: The Kings Decree

    Aaaaaaand the amount of text is increasing ever so slightly! \o/

    This is a "Flashback" from the other''s PoV, still new text, resolutions, and some foreshadowing though!

    Ps. I''ve decided to rename the .5 chapters into "intermission" to have an easier time naming them.

    They''re still just as important to the story, though!

    ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Intermission 4:

    The king''s Decree

    *-*-*-*-*

    The faint taste of blood came as Mari clenched her teeth, readying herself for the next hit that was already in motion and about to reach her cheek. Her hazel-brown eyes displayed no sign of emotion as the large hand belonging to her master came in from the left. She Looked up at the despicable man who had just hit her twice, which made him flinch slightly over the emotionless eyes, that even though showed no hope, also showed no will to break, and quickly retracted his hand.

    "B-Be grateful! I''ll let you off with only this much today! But if you ever dare disobey me again, I''ll have you sold off in a heartbeat!"

    The fat man, dressed in a combination of purple and white, slowly walked away -as fast as the flustered man''s heavy body could move- from the hay-filled shack. Mari spat out the red saliva which painted her bed and floor crimson, and quickly assessed her dire situation. Tricked and stripped of her income and saved up fortune, she became a slave for the despicable man and have now worked in his mansion for fifteen years. She would have escaped Egitor -the country that had betrayed her hopes and destroyed her life- in a heartbeat, but... Chained down and observed everywhere she went, it would be easier to slay a dragon with her bare fists, than to fully escape the country. Even now, during bedtime her left ankle would be-

    ...

    Not sensing any restriction on her feet, Mari looked down and saw to her surprise, that the fat idiot had indeed forgot to chain her down after hitting her cheek. Not hesistating, the middle-aged woman dashed out of the shack and ran towards the west wall. After spending fifteen years in the same manor, she knew possible places where she could escape through, and the large crack in the wall was her obvious answer. her blonde hair flung up and down due to the fast-paced sprint towards her freedom.

    But she did not seem to be the only one to know about the escape route.

    "Kah! Khahahahah! SEE GUARDS!? I told you she''d be betraying me again if she had the chance to! Detain her!"

    This was a god-send. Not because she would be caught, but because the one she wanted to kill at least a hundred times had foolishly decided to join the front that would stop her. Mari made a wicked smile, the taste for blood was unquenchable. She lowered her body in order to increase her speed, and ran straight towards the hateful man, then jumped just two metres away, twisting her lower body mid-air, and landed a strong kick on the haughty master''s countenance, causing his round body to twist left in accordance with the head, and fell stunned to the ground. Mari saw at least two teeth fly out of the mouth accompanied by a mass of blood.

    This moment alone was worth every second of her life. Actually, it was worth it because  of the treatment she had got every second of her life since fifteen years ago. Laughing like a maniac, Mari didn''t stop there, as she threw herself over the stunned man''s body, forgetting her ticket to freedom, but the freedom could wait when she had finally found her peace.

    Her freedom didn''t come though, as the guards -some laughing over the unsightlyness of their lord''s deserved state- still had to apprehend the perpetrator, or lose their own comfortable life as a result. Snapping back from the previous kick, the man tried to spit out some blood before he noticed his missing front teeth, causing him to spout hateful words against the woman.

    "Shevss shou righch, bich! Jow Jesh''s shee who hash che jash jaughsh ash I shejj shou choo a whoshehoushe! Whash''s sho fujjhy!? Guarchhs! Shof jauchinsh!"

    The unintepretable gibberish just caused the guards to laugh louder as they held the smirking woman in her arms. She didn''t make an attempt to escape at this point. She knew better than to worsen her situation further than this.

    Dragged away by two of the guards, Mari wondered what the next step in her life would be, but that thought got interrupted as one of the guards spoke out.

    "It seems he had planned for a long time to sell you off to somewhere within the capital. I can''t abandon my position because of my family, but I''m happy someone managed to do something towards that slug. Thank you, it was great to see."

    "Yeah!" The other guard entered the topic. "That bastard won''t be talking for a loooong while! Makes our job a lot easier. Thanks, Mari! And I''m sorry that we can''t really help you out other than ensure a safe travel towards the capital."

    She had known the two guards since four years back, and ended up getting their support and help whenever it was their shift for the night. The moon stood high up in the clear night sky, still free of any stars. A slight wind was blowing from east to west and the taste of iron filled her mouth again.

    ''Seems like my trip will be starting with a storm...''

    Starting her travel in the middle of the night -in a carriage dragged by one horse- hours flew by and night turned to day, as the next town came into sight.

    Jen''in, ''Treachery and Demise'', appeared on the horizon.

    Jen''in was a small town on the outskirts of the large forest of Egitar, often known for its hospitality, contrary to the ancient meaning behind the name. But once in a while, their extraordinary greediness that defies all moral senses would appear, and during those times...

    ''Yep, and there''s one of those poor bastards, all ready to be picked up... A...teenaged girl this time? Gee, what could she have done in order to warrant a trip to slavery?''

    "...Hey! Hey hands off! Where are you taking me!? ahh shit!"

    ''Litogarian would explain half of it... Better not talk to her, she doesn''t seem capable of speaking my tongue.''

    Staying silent during the rocky trip, the two never exchanged any glances or anything else that could be taken as an acknowledgement of the other''s presence. the wind was roughing up and the sky had already filled itself with dark grey clouds which looked ready to bombard them with rain any moment. The girl kept screaming words that Mari only understood half of, such as ''fucking lock''  and ''deep shit''. Then a third voice entered her ears. But only the two of them except for the guards were transpo-

    ''When did he get here!?''

    Sitting next to the young girl, was an old man that had an air of authority around him, even though his tattered attire would say otherwise. He conversated in the girl''s language, she was sure of it, yet Mari had understood every single word that was said since he appeared out of nowhere. The old man suddenly looked next to her, and showed a sad face which did not suit his dignified presence at all. But nothing was next to her. She could not see what the old man had focused his gaze on for just a second.

    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

    Then a deep and majestic voice reverberated in her mind. It was impossible to mistake it for someone else. The old man then said something which Mari did not expect. It was not a mistake that the old man spoke the truth, but the despicable words that followed after felt like they were tearing her asunder from within.

    In any other scenario, this man''s life would be forfeit by her own shackled hands, but right now, it felt like the traitorous words was already meant for her, as if this was the calling which she had searched for. Mari nodded as an confirmation, while she looked towards the girl she had decided to follow and protect with her own life.

    Only one sentence filled her mind with determination.

    *-*-*-*-*

    ''We done fucked up now, Lari.''

    ''You''re damn right about that. We done fucked up.''

    "Kill the beasts!"

    "Burn them!"

    Walking openly with shackles around their wrists, in the middle of the road, accompanied by two guards specialized in magic -a blue sigil was inscribed on the back of their cape as confirmation- was two boys who did not look any older than ten. Their brown boy-ish looking hair swayed slightly back and forth as the wind blew from behind. The smell of rotten tomatoes filled the streets they walked on, causing their red eyes to twitch slightly.

    Using telepathy -a basic magic they learned through discovery, and the cause for this mess- the two half-demons conversated between each other as the guard from behind narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

    "No magic under my  watch! you demons have already blown half of the town into smithereens! Be grateful that nobody was gravely injured, for then you two would each be one head shorter. I would personally slice those red eyes off if you hadn''t been the lord''s sons!"

    The two looked at each other, then nodded and kept silent for the remainder of the walk until the carriage that would take them both to hell came into sight. They were both too mature for their age, which luckily meant they wouldn''t throw a fit, possibly endangering anyone else''s, and in turn, their own lives.

    The reason they warranted two specialized guards to accompany their trip to the capital''s dungeon, was because of their blood. Those unable to percieve magic, would not be able to sense their presences, even if they would still be right there. The carriage was empty. Their trip to the inevitable hell awaited them, yet they didn''t feel afraid. They had accepted their coming fate ever since the day they had realized their origin six years ago.

    If anyone had been able to percieve them as something else than monsters, the sight would be heartbreaking, to see two such young boys being dragged away across the street, and towards their end. But perhaps an even sadder thought was, that nobody exactly didn''t.

    As the guard in front of them sat upon the horse that would be dragging the carriage, the other spoke in a rough voice towards the twins while forcing them up and to their seats.

    "I regretfully can''t join you two in the rest of the trip. It really is such a missed opportunity to humiliate you both even more, but my service is needed elsewhere. Instead my right hand man will gladly do it for me, don''t think that you can pull any tricks just because I''m not there."

    The carriage started moving, as the two boys, clad in tattered clothes, once again began using telepathy. It wouldn''t be an exaggeration to say that it was the only thing besides each other that they had left.

    ''Lari... Is it possible to get out of here?''

    ''Neri, I would''ve sacrificed myself for your freedom if that was the case.''

    The two looked at each other, then simply snickered at the "older brother''s" statement. They both fully knew that the other would do the same, either causing both to end up free, or dead, lifelessly on the cold, hard ground.

    The carriage reached the first town on the outskirts of the great forest in order to pick up a middle-aged woman. Her swollen cheek looked awful as she climbed up and almost sat down on Lari, the more insecure twin, causing him to yelp in surprise. She didn''t seem capable of noticing the pair.

    The wind was taking up its pace, and clouds could be seen forming in the horizon. It was still rather warm temperature-wise, but that seemed to soon change abruptly. The smell of blood came from the woman, and Neri''s demonic side almost took over. Lari had no trouble forcing his older to glare at him in order to avoid such a temptation, though. Spending hours upon hours while holding each other''s head -staring into the other''s eyes- during the journey, a second town came into sight as they then noticed it was already a new day.

    ''Lari, another girl is joining us...''

    ''I bet she looks like a monster!''

    ''She looks about six years older than us.''

    ''...''

    ''...Lari?''

    ''The fuck...''

    Lari stared at the young girl who shouted a language he did not understand. He didn''t notice that his mouth was agape, as the godess walked up and sat on the other side, across the middle-aged woman.

    ''...Lari do you think she can see us?.. Lari?...''

    Neri''s twin simply kept staring at the elder sister in front of them, and a thought struck Neri. Hugging his older twin brother, he tried to bring him back to reality. It wasn''t until a deep voice filled with authority echoing within both their heads, that they stopped their actions and simply stared surprised at each other.

    An old man had joined the fray. Although he looked like an old man, something felt youthful within him. And the question asked was a godsend to both of them. Even though the content within felt rather eerie, Lari had instantly made up his mind, while Neri would simply follow his brother to the world''s end if he so chose.

    It would mean their end, but at the same time, something less suffocating than some dungeon in the capital. And with that resolution, they decided to follow and protect. The man who had asked such an otherwise horrifying question, asked it with determination, ready to bear the consequences of his actions. It was something that only a few would possess.

    Not the old man, but the girl.

    With a single sentence, unknowing how likeminded the twins currently were with the middle-aged woman next to them, they thought to themselves, determined of their future.

    ''For the undying king, his eternal majesty.''

    This would be the start, and soon the end, of their new hell.

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Havn''t proofread, so if anything is rather suspicious looking, please do tell!

 Chapter 8: Answers

    And the length increases!

    Hope some of this makes the current events feel more relevant/understandable, feedback is Always appreciated.

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    Chapter 8:

    Answers

    *-*-*-*-*

    Waking up to the heavy sunlight coming through the window to her left, Eriss yawned and stretched her arms in an upwards motion. The room contained nothing more than two beds, a drawer, and a wooden desk occupied by a bottle of ink with its respective pen, a stack of roughly ten parchments and a candlestick. Reminiscing of her glorious but short time as a desk slayer, the girl clad in nothing but a white tunic and a pair of black shorts underneath, walked out of her small, but comfortable bed.

    Too tired and exhausted, Eriss had fallen asleep with her clothes on, which did not seem to be a custom even if it was the second time she woke up in clothes since coming here, as the middle-aged woman, who the small girl assumed was called Mari because of how she pointed at herself and kept saying those words over and over, walked out of bed completely naked.

    ''I just realized... But I don''t have any underwear.''

    Looking at herself, the self-conscious girl blushed slightly before she made her way towards the desk to punch it with a small, clenched fist, completely ignoring the problem in front of her.

    Reflexively yawning, Eriss stopped her undeserved abuse of the desk, and looked towards the bed. She would''ve liked to sleep just a little bit longer on the fluffy mattress she called a bed, but something else occupied her mind.

    <del>Breakfas</del>The old man had promised to give some appropriate answers.

    The girl filled with some slight suspicions towards Gherd, hadn''t noticed it during the stormy trip towards Ret''iva, but it was clear as day that he had dodged her questions yesterday. He seemed just a bit too  secretive, telling only what benefited him. After surviving in the woods, and then betrayed by the nicest looking couple that Eriss would not have suspected of doing what they had done to her, the world-traveller could not help but hold some suspicions.

    She didn''t want to distrust him, but knew by this time just how golden the words "every man for himself" was in a world like this.

    A fresh breath of air came in to replace the stuffed room. Mari had already put on her black tunic and trousers along with making her way across the room and opening the window. Not using any words to speak with, the elder woman used her hands to motion that it would be time to walk out of the room.

    She would be a beast at the game charades.

    But now was not the time to contemplate over something meaningless. Eriss walked out first and banged on the thin board that separated the two groups. Hearing the door unlock from the inside, the energetic girl slammed the door open and walked in to the sweet scent of freshly baked bread and various dairy products, swiftly followed by a taller woman -seemingly just as hungry.

    Two identical looking boys with red eyes glared straight forward, stunned over the sudden scene of two women snatching the hot bread from the table in the middle of the larger room, and eating it before even greeting the other party. Gherd, however, simply chuckled and took one loaf of steaming bread for himself.

    The boys'' room was more spacious than Eriss and Mari''s, filled with three mattresses, a round table which they were currently eating from, and two drawers.

    No ink or parchments or something to write with, though.

    Believing this would be a silent breakfast, Eriss closed her eyes in bliss as she chewed on what was served. Suddenly the old magician''s voice fill the room instead of the slightly crunchy noise of bread.

    "So... With this we''ll need to find some way in order to earn mone-" Gherd stopped himself for a second, as the glares from the older woman and the two boys burrowed themselves into his hawk-like eyes, then rephrased his words. "Mari, Lari and Neri will be earning us a place to sleep and eat, while I will be teaching you, Eriss, magic within three days."

    ''How did he know their names? No, the two boys have been with him since yesterday night, that is not weird. But Mari?..''

    The old man had slipped his tongue. Something felt amiss in his seemingly never-ending and weirdly convenient knowledge. Eriss narrowed her eyes slightly as she inspected the face of the old man, but decided to let it go for now. It didn''t seem like he would answer anything she asked right now, and the promise from yesterday did not seem like a lie. The old man would not run away from her questions for too long. Besides, something more important came up.

    Learning magic!

    A man''s romance! Casting great balls of fire from the tip of a finger, or soaring through the sky with levitation!

    Well, her fear of heights did not help in that case, but still! Who didn''t want to learn and explore the wonders of magic!? Given that she was already in another, mysterious world, but that oddly didn''t strike her as unfamiliar, for some reason.

    She felt strangely at ease here.

    "Let''s get to it, Gherd! Teach me!"

    Excited over finally learning the wonderful arts of self-defence, the magic trainee didn''t want to waste a single second longer, and stood up, ready to leave through the door.

    He was not as surprised over the behavior as the other three were, and simply smiled with his eyes closed, before standing up to walk with the girl.

    Walking back the way they had used the carriage for yesterday, the streets seemed almost empty, even if the sound of some merchants and buyers could be heard. There were no visible red beads of light floating in the air, and the town seemed like any other medieval town Eriss had seen through games: the ordinary houses here and there, a blacksmith over to the left, stalls with jewelry, potions and food.

    "Quite different from the night, eh? The red beads only appear during the night, and after all the intermingling between different races, the night became the day and vice versa for many around here. It''s been an nocturnal city for roughly five centuries now... Walk left here."

    Eriss snapped up the words that seemed as if the old man had gathered this knowledge through his own eyes. He knew something big. Something that Eriss felt would affect her greatly depending on how it''s handled. Not knowing how to approach the subject, though, she kept silent.

    reaching the outer gates after roughly forty minutes, the pair walked out, and a strong wind hit her right in her face, interrupting her breathing for a second before adapting to the new pace.

    ''Oh right, there was a storm! Forgot about that one...''

    But there was only a strong wind, as the sun shone brightly and two guards with raincoats greeted them with smiles. They had been out here all night. Eriss felt a tinge of respect for the guards as she and Gherd passed by and walked out into an open field. The old man was the first one to say something.

    "So! For seven hours a day, for three days straight, I will be teaching you the fundamendals of magic out here. I will wait here each morning, and walk you back in the evening!"

    the surprised girl wanted to question the sudden behavior, but stopped herself as the magician opened his mouth again, amplified by the blowing wind.

    "Magic exists within every person! Every being that walks upon An''ir! The talent for maj-"

    He bit his tongue.

    There was an awkward silence in the air as Eriss stared at Gherd in confusion. The abashed one opened his mouth again to speak. This time, not as enthusiastic.

    "The talent for magic exists within every being, yet because it is not often trained up enough to be used, many humans live their entire lives without the ability to perceive the static flow around them.

    The beginning of each advanced skill is understanding the basics! And so, we''ll be spending the remainder of today to run in that high grass over there, and during the breaks I''ll be telling you more about each element!"

    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.Eriss had no chance to protest at the spartan training as Gherd forced her forward until she started running by herself. Every hour there was a fifteen minute break, and the panting girl was already out of it after the first hour. Droplets of sweat ran down the exhausted girls forehead as her knees fell to the ground while she gasped for air.

    Not showing any mercy, the old man who seemed awfully energetic for no reason, asked questions about what he had told Eriss just an hour ago.

    "So! Who possesses magic?"

    "I- *hahh*  I-"

    "No stuttering! A magician must be able to think clearly under exhaustion! That''ll be a five minutes shorter break."

    ''Not any more! This devil! I''ll...!''

    "*Hahh*  Every... Being around us..."

    "Good! Now, the three basics would be offense, defense, and environmental magic. And..."

    The rest of the day continued in this manner, as Gherd would ask one random question he had talked about before, and then explain a new element, technique, or history, before it would be time to start running again.

    Eriss was already exhausted after the first hour, but out of pure frustration and willpower to wipe that smug expression off of Gherd''s countenance, she kept running, as long as her legs made out of spaghetti could carry her. her pace slowed down after every break, but she was still moving forward.

    "That... should be enough for today. Let''s head back."

    It was impossible for Eriss to even stand, of course, as she lied down in the grass, gasping for air. Seeing this, Gherd walked forth and picked her up. His strength and posture suddenly struck her as odd, but as tired as she were, the eyes soon closed themselves as Eriss fell asleep in the old man''s arms from exhaustion.

    The next day she woke up in her bed in the same room as before, with a new set of clothes next to her, lying folded on the floor. Forgetting about the questions she had, this training repeated itself for three days as she -this time alone- walked out to meet the old man who was already out in the field.

    Until the third day came to an end.

    *-*-*-*-*

    By the end of the third day, as Gherd was about to walk back in the sunset, Eriss suddenly took the initiative to speak. It was incredible how fast she got used to the excruciating amount of running, as even though her forehead was running down with sweat, not once did she excessively gasp for air.

    "I think it''s time you explain. Not once have you taught me how to use  magic, and just what are you? Who  are you? Why do you-"

    A loud sigh came from the old man -who suddenly looked as if he would be only twenty years old- as he faced Eriss, and sat down on the ground. His youthful appearance carried a worried expression, as his yellow eyes looked at the irritated girl in front of him, still standing up.

    Another sigh escaped his mouth.

    "I do  know who you are. Or well- Where you came from. Earth..."

    "How do you k-"

    "...Because there''s no way I wouldn''t know where I myself came from, even if its been such a long time since then. And...

    I''m speaking english, right in front of you."

    "Not that Lig- Lit- thingy then?!"

    "Similar, but still a difference. No, I''m from Earth. And I understand the perils you''ve must have faced since coming here."

    She couldn''t believe it, no, it was impossible not  to believe it. In front of her, sat the closest thing to a sane conversation partner. It was preposterous even if she herself had gotten here in some way, but there he was! All Eriss did was stare with eyes widened in wonder towards the person calling himself a human from Earth.

    It was all she could do.

    "Let''s see... You asked before how I knew so much? World-travellers tend to end up being at the center of history here... There are three countries that currently reign over this world:

    Egitar, the country we currently reside in.

    Litogaria, the neighbouring country southeast from here that speak something similar to english.

    and then Infar, a country to the northeast, full of mountains and greenery as well as the place where the demonic plateu exists, housing thousands upon thousands of demons."

    Gherd took a small pause to collect his thoughts on just where he should begin, and then continued the explanation. Eriss know that she had asked how he knew so much, but did she really need a lecture? It was hard for her to interrupt, though, so she kept listening in case something important popped up.

    "These countries, had an ongoing war of conquest five hundred years ago. Ret''iva, who is placed close to the border connecting all three countries, automatically became one of the most important towns... I guess city would be more accurate now.

    Currently, because there is peace between Egitar and Litogaria, Infar has yet to try anything new, but it would only be a matter of time before the triangle war breaks out again.

    On the topic of your magic..."

    Gherd paused as he was about to change the subject from history to Eriss'' magic question, and then continued.

    "This training you''ve done for three days now, is but the foundation. The rest..."

    He lightly tapped his index finger above his right temple. The attentive girl understood exactly what he meant.

    "World travellers don''t seem capable of utilizing the magic caused by specific elements, which require some kind of incantation to work, whether those chosen words are long, in order to specifically create the exact existence of an element, or short, to effectivize the output and speed.

    What we, those who do not originally belong here, use, is the very same magic that put us here... Ancient magic. It does not require anything other than focus and the imagination to go with it. However, the effectivity won''t increase until the words, the true understanding of such an imaginated spell, are thought, or said."

    "But then, if it''s through the mind, are we able to wish ourselves back?"

    The words that followed was something Eriss expected. She didn''t know why, or how she knew that. But the fact of how calm she was in that moment, told her something that it wouldn''t be so easy.

    "...In my life here of five hundred years, I have never  come across something that can bring us back..."

    She knew how calm and weirdly accepting of all this she was, but those words still crushed something within her. Only one more question came up as she saw that the sun had already settled and the sky was shimmering with stars.

    "Why... Now?"

    "I just guess that the time had come. Now... I''ll see you tomorrow morning, I''ll teach you a final thing then."

    Watching as Gherd stood up, and walked towards the city gates, Eriss stood in the silence. The was no wind, and the stars looked otherworldly.

    Closing her eyes, then drawing a deep breath, Eriss walked back towards tonight dinner.

    *-*-*-*-*

    Somewhere, standing in an open field of grass and flowers, was a familiar shadowy figure. He had no sense of smell, yet the smell of vanilla and strawberry engulfed him. He had no ears, but the sound of a windmill and dripping water still reverberated within his head.

    A smile creeped up as he looked out over the field he stood in. Twirling around, laughing like a maniac, the sound of anguished souls gushed out of him, causing a shock wave to fly out like the ripples from a droplet of water.

    Death made a devilish smile as he looked up to the sky.

    "And so... It begins."

    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Edit: Tomorrow will prob be 2 chapters, one Intermission, and one main chapter.

 Chapter 9: Her Last Moments of Peace

    3.2k Words exactly! \o/

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Chapter 9:

    Her Last Moments of Peace

    *The Calm Before a Storm*

    *-*-*-*-*

    Waking up a later time compared to the last three days she had spent in Ret''iva, Eriss rose out of bed and walked towards the only window in the room. The sun shone as brightly as ever, and the streets below were not as occupied as it would be during the night. A yawn escaped the unclad girl and she looked back to the mattress she had slept on, and then over to the undecorated wooden desk where a letter was written.

    Eriss didn''t know at what hour she fell asleep, but before then, she had spent the whole night awake, wondering over the things she had learned over the last three days.

    And the last words from Gherd.

    That morning, after first waking up at the usual time, neither Gherd nor the other three was around. She had first found it strange that Mari was not in bed, and a sense of fear arose, until she noticed the letter written on the desk. It was a letter written by Gherd. She knew that because the written text was not some complete gibberish, but genuine english... And the name at the bottom signing the letter off, of course.

    Originally, there was a stack of round, shiny metal lying on top of the parchment -supposedly coins of this counrty- which Eriss had put aside in order to read the message underneath. After reading its contents, she had calmed down and gone back to bed for just a little bit longer.

    The message written told Eriss that Gherd had taken the others out to do something seemingly important, and she was now free to spend the day around the city. It also mentioned that the final thing Gherd would teach her, would be taught in the evening, along with receiving some items.

    It sounded like a farewell, yet Eriss couldn''t think of it as one.

    She didn''t know why, but something told her they would always be together. All five of them. Or maybe it was because she didn''t feel like laughing or crying over it, that it was so easy to accept, whatever it would be.

    Eriss'' personality had taken its toll after constantly getting herself into dangerous situations, from falling off the tower, all the way to being betrayed by a nice-looking couple. Well they couldn''t understand Eriss, and she couldn''t understand them, so they probably had their reasons, and with that she hadn''t thought too ill of their actions. Maybe she had accidentally insulted them, after all.

    But with all the change happening so suddenly, over what Eriss assumed was a little more than one week -if her counting was correct, disregarding the unknown amount of time she had spent passed out- her personality had changed from the unstable up and downs, to something inbetween.

    It would be more accurate to say that all the horrendous happenings made her emotionless, but that would not be quite correct, either. She could still feel  joy, just that... It was as if she had stopped caring and just accepted everything as they happened.

    But maybe that was for the best.

    Getting dressed and ready to head out, Eriss smelled a sweet scent coming from her clothes, something she always thought peculiar. She had out of sheer curiosity, thought of creating a set of clothes and underwear for herself with magic, which... Did not end well. Not only did nothing appear no matter how much she imagined herself wearing it, but just a few seconds after she had stopped her attempts, her whole body had ached tremendously, which rendered her unable to move for the next hour. With a pounding headache, Eriss decided to simply wear what was available, for now.

    Walking out of the room after grabbing the money and then continuing down the stairs connected to the ground floor and area where customers would eat and drink to their hearts content -whether it was night or day- Eriss was greeted by numerous men and women who frequented the inn as she ran out on the streets and then right, towards the main road.

    She still had no idea what all of them said -except for a few who seemed to talk in some broken english- but she didn''t need to know what they had said in order to understand that they tried to greet her a good morning.

    Once out on the main street which continued forward, even further than what she could see, Eriss took the way that did not lead towards the by now very familiar gates, and instead walked slowly down a slanted road that, even if not as occupied as it would seem to be during the night, still bustled with activity.

    ''Bread... Fish... jewelry... Oh! A blacksmith!''

    following her eyes along the right side of the stone-laid road, Eriss'' sight came to a stop as she reached the spacious marketplace that connected main roads from the other districts with each other. On the right end of the road that would lead to the inn she currently lived in, as well as the entrance gate, stood a building that was just a little bit larger than the others. Eriss could not read the sign that hang from the flat stone roof, but a crest underneath the text, symbolizing a hammer and an anvil, told her enough to know what it could be.

    Entering the building, hot, stuffed air came to greet her face which she almost choked upon when trying to breath it in. The sound of metal hit by another metal clanged from inside a room placed behind the counter, which Eriss recognized all the hot air protruded from.

    Another clang reverberated through the room, then the sound abruptly changed into that of when hot metal is engulfed by cold water, and another wave of steamy air came out of the room, along with a muscular giant clad in a thin, brown vest and trousers, holding a hammer in his right paw of a hand. Hopefully, this man wouldn''t decide to suddenly attack her, would he?

    Looking down at the slightly frightened girl standing in front of him, the man''s tensed expression lifted slightly and a loud sigh escaped him as he crouched down to face the shorter one.

    "Are you here to hear the tale about what happened to me with the awoken demon lord, too?"

    Eriss didn''t understand his words, and simply stood still in dread and confusion over what would happen if she did something rash.

    The beefy giant narrowed his pale-green eyes and furrowed his brows, then after three seconds, spoke out in a slightly lower voice than before.

    "Are you here to hear tale of demon lord, yes?"

    She understood it! The language was broken, but she understood it! Her muscles relaxed just a little over not becoming minced meat tonight. But she had to respond quickly, or her fears might actually turn true.

    "No... I wanted to browse through your works..."

    "You buy a weapon? Not too young?"

    The giant of a man stood up and inspected the girl that stared back with an irritated look in front of him. She was still rather short, but the blacksmith''s eyes did not deceive him upon a closer look. Even if it seemed to still be in the early stages, her muscles were perfectioned towards speed and agility.

    "No I only want to-"

    "Wait here."

    The giant ran off into the room he had earlier appeared from, and the sound of metal struck by metal, along with waves of heat filled the room where Eriss still stood. Two hours went by as the scared girl had wondered whether she should leave or not, but at the same time she was too intimidated to dare disobey the bear''s command. These two hours though, she somewhat managed to glance around the shop where swords and iron flails were decorating the stone walls.

    On the ground, a mark which she''d rather have not seen, was painted with a red color. It was a circle, just like the one she had appeared from, but instead of two lines drawn through it, this one had some distorted version of the number five cover it. It was still impossible to mistake this symbol as something not related to the one in the tower, though.

    ''But why the number five?''

    Eriss didn''t get much of a chance to keep thinking upon this question as a sweaty smell entered her nose. She looked at the entrance to the other room. The muscular man came back, waving a short knife in his left hand along with the hammer in his right. Her eyes flared up and stared in horror at the dagger that wasn''t there before.

    ''He''s going to kill me after all!''

    Frozen in fear right on the spot, she just stared as the blacksmith walked up to her and crouched, just like he had before. Differently from before, however, he dropped his hammer on the ground and held forth the dagger with both of his big palms turned up. It looked like a dagger in his care, which in turn meant it was not as small as an ordinary dagger would usually be.

    It was still smaller than a short sword, but larger than the other daggers that was lying in a neat line on top of a red blanket at one side of the room. It was also thinner, with only one sharp edge, curving slightly upwards. The hilt was clad in a black-colored leather strip which seemed to have been quickly attached in a hurry, loosely hanging at the end. The metal reflected a slightly dark blue tone on the otherwise grey surface, and a small piece of gibberish text was inscribed on both sides of the dull edge. Eriss thought of that mysterious text as gibberish, but along this piece of metal, it seemed like something majestic and powerful. But what captured Eriss'' interest more, was the small, black gemstone embedded in the hilt.

    The onyx emitted a light, which to Eriss, looked like a flickering white fire, dancing in the dark shadows, keeping the darkness away.

    Mesmerized by the weapon in front of her, she had completely forgotten her fear for the man, until he spoke.

    "I trade, how much you got?"

    ''Wait! Do I have enough!? And did he make a weapon before making sure I had enough!? Ah... But It really looks good...''

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Showing her left palm with ten ornamented coins, Eriss stood silent as the giant stared at her hand, seemingly pondering over something. He then reached out with one hand -causing the scared girl to flinch ever so slightly- and grabbed eight of them.

    "Wait here!"

    Running off again, Eriss simply stood and stared at the blacksmith who had just taken almost all of her money. She didn''t know how much it actually was, but that was almost everything she had!

    ''Am I unknowingly being robbed!?''

    This time she had another reason other than fear that caused her to stay and wait for the muscular thief. It didn''t take longer than an hour this time, though, before he came back with the dagger in one hand and a decorated scabbard. The leather strip had been fixed and was no longer loose, except at the end of the hilt, but this time it felt like it was part of the decoration, as a piece of white cloth tied to the leather was hanging as well, contrasting quite well with the black color.

    The scabbard was colored white and trimmed with a thin layer of a golden color around the open end where the dagger would supposedly enter. On each side, the scabbard was inscribed with the same kind of letters that was on the dagger.

    The intimidating giant crouched down in front of Eriss, slid the dagger into the white scabbard, and then pushed it onto the stiff girl before shoving her out of the shop. It took a moment for her to realize just what had happened until she looked down at the scabbard with a black-leathered hilt protruding out of it.

    ''...Maybe I should just go back and wait in the inn...''

    *-*-*-*-*

    It''s been six days since the horrific tragedy hit Brin''s village. The demon lord had "spared" his family and teleported them to safety, but only he was still alive after appearing inside the mansion belonging to the lord that is currently overlooking Ret''iva. It took him four days to recover from the mental instability, but the blacksmith renowned back in Infar was still alive.

    Ret''iva had been welcoming and gladly let Brin stay as a resident, in exchange for once again picking up the hammer. It was an easy task to just simply create weapons and armor, but the quality he once smithed, had yet to be achieved after losing his wife and daughter, and might never return.

    Hammering on a large piece of metal armor, Brin noticed that someone had entered his blacksmith for the hundredth time this morning.

    ''And here we go again, interrupted in the middle of work... Not that this metal scrap would ever become useful.''

    Walking out to greet his "customer" -a girl clad in a simple white tunic and black short pants- Brin asked outright.

    "Are you here to hear the tale about what happened to me with the awoken demon lord, too?"

    The girl seemed to stiffen up by the words, and simply stared at him. Her green eyes shook slightly in fear, causing the muscular man to feel a little guilty over his aproach.

    ''She might not even be from Egitar... Let''s take a closer look... Litogaria, perhaps?''

    "Are you here to hear tale of demon lord, yes?"

    A slight twitch came from the girl in reaction.

    ''Seems like language was the problem.''

    Then the next words came. She wanted to look at his wares.

    ''A customer this young? Hmm but her legs seems like they could become a great asset in a few years if she ever needs to fight, or run. A dagger, perhaps?''

    Asking first if she wasn''t a little bit too young for owning a weapon, Brin noticed the intimidated girl simply standing there, and a similarity between her and his daughter crossed him, and then rage.

    ''I won''t let that bastard take more of our lives! Even if it''s just this once, I''ll make a weapon that can defend this girl from the same to happen to her!''

    Telling the horrified girl to wait, Brin rushed back and started upon his greatest work yet. A weapon was specifically made for slaying, but still there to protect the owner.

    Once done, he inscribed for the first time, one of the few ancient words he had learned during his lifetime at home onto the dagger''s both sides.

    Ess''Irr -The cause and solution.

    It was an ominous meaning behind the name just as much as it could mean the opposite.

    Running out with the finished blade, Brin showed it to the girl who had obediently stayed right on the spot. After receiving money, he ran back to fix a scabbard and tighten the hilt''s leather strips. Coming back with the finished product, Brin crouched down in front of the girl and sheathed the dagger before giving it to her, then pushing her out of his shop.

    ''I''ll leave the cause and solution of our future to you, miss.''

    *-*-*-*-*

    Nothing eventful happened as Eriss waited in the room, lying on the mattress while holding her newly obtained weapon above her. She grinned every time her eyes looked at the black gem with a mysteriously dancing flame inside of it. Then a knock came from the other side of the door, interrupting her blissful moment. Gherd came walking in alone, holding a thin, black piece of cloth that almost seemed see-through upon first glance.

    "Where''s the others?"

    "They still had work to do, I just came back early. Now, first, take this robe and wear it at all times."

    Gherd handed the surprised girl the black piece of cloth. Holding it up, she noticed the sleeves and hood that was hard to notice from afar. Without asking any questions, Eriss put the robe on and inspected it once more. the hood had a silvery white trim along the edges, reached down to the bottom. And the sleeves... The black robe which seemed to sometimes blur the longer she stared at one place, reminded her far too much of something she''d rather not deal with.

    ''Apart from an ever-flowing trim, it looks identical to-''

    "And the last thing I will teach you... Or perhaps give, is a better term. You might have noticed that you have a hard time understanding your surroundings without knowing the language, right? This world have a bad habit of not waiting for further explanations, so language is important. Therefore, I''m giving you this ring that''s been in my possession for quite some time."

    Getting a slight deja vu from earlier, the one interrupted in her thoughts received the ring that had recently been sitting on Gherd''s finger, and quickly put it on. Nothing changed.

    Until Gherd spoke again.

    "This ring will help you both understand and communicate with the four current languages that walks upon An''ir: Infarl, demonic, Egitarian, and Litogarian."

    Eriss understood what he said, but his speech didn''t sound like the way he had talked before. It sounded more like...

    "How old did you say you were?"

    "fivehundred and thirtyseven."

    "...That''s pretty old."

    ''No wonder he knows so much... But four languages... Isn''t there...''

    Gherd sat on Mari''s bed, silently looking at the robed girl that would seem to be coming from the future to him, kept pondering upon something. The curiosity took over as she decided to ask.

    "Doesn''t that mean I''ll understand the ancient language too, then?"

    "Sadly not. Finding out their meanings through experience seems to be the only way."

    Quickly denying the possibility, Gherd kept glancing towards the window, as if he was stressed about something. Eriss sat quietly on her mattress as her thoughts fell back to the black robe she was currently wearing. Then, a third time in the middle of her thoughts, a loud noise filled the outside air, sounding like an alarm.

    "Not again! Don''t I get to think!?"

    "Tch! Seems like it was inevitable after all..."

    "What was? What is the sound for?"

    "...A necromancer. The city will become a battlefield."

    "One? Can''t you kill something like that alone? Or can''t we just escape?"

    Gherd looked with serious eyes onto Eriss. It didn''t feel like a good bye at the time, but something nagged at the back of her head from the look he gave.

    "You don''t understand, we''re most likely surrounded already. A necromancer may work alone, but she''s never lonely... Quick! We need to hurry out of here!"

    Eriss simply gave a confused look as Gherd stood up and tried to drag her with him. Then the last words came, the words she would never forget, as they made their way out on the street and towards the exiting gate in the opposite direction of where they had first entered four days ago.

    "Undead, lots of them."

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    Important!:

    On hold indefinitely.

    Stuff happened and later on I completely forgot about it.

    I am planning to write a new story, and the reason Im doing that rather than continuing this one first, is because I currently feel out of touch with this story.

    Sorry for anyone that enjoyed reading up until this Point - hopefully the other story might entertain you just as much.

    Sorry, and thanks.