Zizz! Zizz! pew!

The sound of bullets ripped through the air above, the soldiers cringed behind their cover, tried their best hid all they body behind the cover and prayed to whatever god that would listen to them to protect them from this barrage of gunfire. When the machine gun stopped for reload, Samuel sprung from his cover and rushed across the street under the cover-fire of his comrades.

Bang!

Loud explosions rang Samuel’s ears, his stride hasten, through the debris filled square and the flying bullets, hasten from cover to cover, through the pounding shockwaves and the raining mortar shells, hasten for dear life.

Huff! Huff! Hah! Hah!

Samuel ran, ran, and ran, his heart drumming inside his chest and lungs burning like fire. Rucksack weighted down on his shoulders, his ears heard naught but the sound of gunfire and explosion from afar. Threw himself to the wall corner, Samuel peeked and checked the street beyond the corner, eyes darted from objects to objects, windows from windows, until he felt it was safe and signalled his squad mates to move forward, after his squad passed, Samuel follow through. But, sound of gunfire raged through the air as Samuel left the corner, and the next thing he know was his face smacked to the pavement, a stinging sensation appeared on his left leg out of now where, pulsed across his body and kept increasing in intensity by the millisecond. Then Samuel woke up.

Once again, the morning sun welcome Samuel back from his slumber. He lied there on his bed covered in cold sweat, rubbing his eyes, and with a sigh he welcomed the new day. Two days had passed since the attack of the village, the clean-up effort was mostly done, and everyone were recovering from the trauma. Samuel in the other hand was not, all the fighting and yelling, and the hellish sight of the temple drowning in fire, and those burned victims had triggered his… unpleasant memories of the past. Fortunately, all he felt at that moment was just annoyance, those memories were long passed and he already got over it, but it still unpleasant if they came back. Sat up and rubbed his face to fully woke up, sat on the bed Samuel scanned his eyes over the room and then casted his gaze out the windows, he about to leave this place and couldn’t help but felt like he going to miss this tiny room already. Finally, put on his tunic, Samuel grabbed his luggage and headed down stair.

Came to Samuel eyes, when he reached down stair, Elesil sat on the table in the middle of the inn’s tavern, Samuel couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at the sight of the Elvas, he sat there with a straight back slightly puffed chest, eye’s gaze at a parallel to the ground, very proper posture, made Samuel wondered if he actually was an aristocrat or something. Surrounded the Elvas, on his table were various of things, from a glance Samuel saw a few bottles of wine, jars of jam, entire bag of potatoes and various of other vegetables, freshly baked pies, breads, and an entire roasted Kuuk, all were the thankyou gifts from the villager’s he was able to saved. And shadows could be seen lurking about outside the inn, the village’s girls snooping at the window and watched Elesil with curious eyes, their muffled chatter could be heard, chatter about the Elvas, chatter about how handsome the Elvas was and how his pointed ears made some of the girl felt creepy.

“Seriously, ladies, enough with the snooping already” –Casha’s muffled voice came from outside the door, and moment later the girls outside dispersed.

“Casha, how are you feeling? Are you sure you fine out of bed right now?” Samuel said as Casha got back inside.

“Ah, Samuel?” –Casha said- “Thanks, I fine now, really, although lost a patch of hair like this feel kind of weird” –Casha smiled rubbed the side of her once burned head- “Beside I can’t stay forever in bed like that”

“It’ll grown back, I can saw them budded out already” –Samuel examined the bald part of Casha’s head now already had new hairs spouted.

“Yeah, well, I just wish if it could grow a litter bit faster" –Casha smiled- “Do you want anything for breakfast?”

“You can have mine,” Elesil spoke, pushed the roasted Kuuk on his table toward Samuel

“Er? Isn’t it the thankyou gift, everybody gave you, master Ithilon” –Casha surprised- “you don’t want them?”

“I am very much appreciated their sentiment, but we Elvas do not consume much animal related food, unless the situation demanded” –Elesil explained- “I mean no offend and hope you understand, it is just a culture thing,”

“Oh, I see,” Casha said

“Well, if it’s the case then don’t mind if I do,” Samuel sat down on the table and snapped off a leg and enjoy the roasted kuuk to his heart content.

A few knocks came from the door, Casha open the inn’s door and a little girl about seven to eight-year-old, haft of her head bald with tiny newly grown hair stuck out. She ran inside with a cloth bag in hand, came up to Elesil and presented a steamy pie inside the bag to him.

“Mr. Elvas, here’s my thank you gift for saving my life, mr. Gerrand famous meat pie, fresh off the oven, I hope you enjoy it,” The little girl spoke in Bricatish to Elesil with the widest grin on her face

Caught the pie from the girl’s hand with a gentle smile, Elesil thank her and took a bite while the girl watch in earnest.

“Exquisite, thank you, my young lady” –Elesil put his left palm on his chest and bowed his head- “Uhm… you seem to have something else in your mind?” Elesil asked when saw the curious look in the girl’s eyes.

“Er… well, can I touch you ear, mr. Elvas?” –with great curiosity the little girl asked.

Before Casha could say anything about her request might be inappropriate, Elesil already hunched down and let the little girl satisfied her curiosity, minutes later, the girl bowed politely and left.

“So this is one of those ‘situation demanded’ huh?” –Samuel munched on a kuuk wing, watched Elesil finished the rest of the pie.

“Indeed” Elesil wiped his mouth with his handkerchief.

After stuffed his stomach with the roasted kuuk. Samuel packed his luggage on the velelis, and bade Kranwolf and Casha farewell. The pair set out, but with a little difficulty.

“Perhaps, let me lead the velelis,” Elesil said, watched Samuel fumbled with the velelis’s rein.

“Whoah, whoah, not there” –Samuel pulled on the rein, tried to correct the velelis’s direction- “Don’t worry, I’ll get the hang of it… eventually.”

“you never rode any animal before in your life?” Elesil asked.

“Not…” –pulled at the rein to adjust the animal’s direction again- “not really, I’d tried horse once, back in my word, well… sort of, definably never got on any of this world’s animal before let along this ‘two legged furry dinosaurs’”

“Now could you please, stop walk into any bush you found, your bloody idiot” –Samuel scorned his velelis, finally could tell the animal to walk in straight line right behind Elesil’s velelis, the animal huffed and twitched its catlike ears seem to displeased about Samuel’s attitude toward it.

“Horse? Is that your world common mount?” Elesil curiously asked.

“Well, used to be, we use car now,” Samuel answered.

“Car? Oh, those mechanized carriage?” Elesil said, “Uhm, your sister had told me a lot about your world, very interesting.”

Through the endless wheat fields, they rode. With the splendid sun shine on the great blue sky above, cool wind swept through their hair and rattled the spouting wheat flower, dotted the fields where a few farmers now finally could return to tend to their field. Watched the peaceful countryside scenery, a great calmness reigned over Samuel’s mind. It hard to believe the village just went through a great ordeal, Samuel hoped these folk wouldn’t have to experience anything like that anymore, and looking forward to reunited with his sister. Their journey might be long but the sceneries sure were not boring, kept unfold before Samuel’s eyes kelias after kelias (Kelias = kilometres) on their travel were sweeping green plains dotted with flowery meadows, they stretched far over hills and mounds, high and low. Dotted the land were primal forests that perhaps even older than time and sheltering many secrets and wonderful wildlife. Far, far away, blurry image of jagged snowy mountaintops pilled upon each other and piercing the clear blue sky, where crystal clear rivers came from and lazily carved their way through the beautiful landscape. Absorbed the breath-taking scenery into his eyes and filled his lungs with the freshest of air, Samuel wished he could explore them all, somehow it reminded him the time he was in the Middle East, although the environment there was the opposite of what he saw at this moment, but it was still a great pleasure to him to watched those majestic mountain ranges, pristine and untouched by human civilisation, especially how everything turned a fiery red hue when the sun was heading to its slumber.

When nightfall, they set up camp near a small stream, chewing on his dinner, Samuel’s eyes practically glued to the night sky above him. Three months had passed since he came to this world, and without fail he always spent a good amount of time to just sit and stare on the sky after the sun had completely vanished under the horizon. Thanked to this world low development level of civilisation and of course, zero light pollution, the sky was never dark. The bright moon showered the land with its gentle light and countless twinkling silvery dots replaced the blazing sun on the heaven, being a city folk almost his whole life, rarely Samuel could saw such sight back in his world. Samuel could never get tired of the sight of a silvery river of stars slowly rose from the horizon, still clearly etched in his memory, was the first time he saw a sight like this back in his world, curled up inside a fox hole in the middle of nowhere of Iraqi’s mountain, watched the awestruck silvery sky unfolding above his head.

“Ever wonder what out there?” Samuel inadvertently asked, eyes still fixated on the starry sky.

“Who does not” –Elesil sipped his cup of tea.

“Do you believe in aliens?” –Samuel asked with a smile, still gazed at the night sky.

Elesil only answered with a chuckle.

“Hey, I’m curious” –finally able to pull his eyes off of the stars, Samuel turned to Elesil.

“About?” –Elesil responded.

“Uh… let see…” –Samuel went through his thought- “Well… when we fight the green-skin guys…”

“The orc?” Elesil said

“That what you call them, huh!” –Samuel curious- “Well, can you tell me about them? Eh… this world too, you know the folks I lived with they don’t know much about what beyond their village.” –Samuel shrugged- “Were Orc… evil?”

“Not exactly” Elesil smiled.