The book suddenly swung open, fluttering through a number of pages, and then it stopped. Jake's eyes lit up as he leaned closer to the pages. Jake skimmed through the words on one of the pages, but one of them caught his eye. "Arrico". He felt like he remembered that name, or that surname, rather. He also read something about a family named the Arricos being a line of " Fire Warriors". 

He was just about to put the book back, until his mother suddenly entered his room. "Ah." she said, her voice sounded half relieved, half upset. "You had to find out someday, but I just wish I could've told you this myself."

"You're talking about the book? You know this stuff has to be fake." Jake asked. Silence filled the room. "Jake, you're.." She sounded like she was holding back tears. "I'm not your real mother."

Jake's heart sank. This had to be some kind of cruel prank, right?

No. Jake knows his mother would never pull a trick like this, she's too kind. Which means she's telling the truth.

"I-i wanted to tell you when you were older. I hid the book so you wouldn't find out, but it looks like I failed at that." Jake had to sit down and take in everything that was going on. The strange dream he had, the spacing out and hallucinations, and now this? He realised now that this couldn't all be a coincidence.

"Your parents, you see," his mother continued "They were great people. They fought nobly against great evils, but they died tragically, at the hands of a creature known as Ragmar. He was defeated eventually, but their deaths had great impacts on everyone who fought against this evil."

Jake still had no idea what to say. "Read the book, it will tell you everything you need to know." He continued to flick through the pages of the book, and while doing so, more things started to connect in his head, like puzzle pieces. "Ragmar The Destroyer" was written in big letters at the top of the page, next to an oddly styled painting of a giant dark figure, with deep, red eyes and black horns.

"I saw him." Jake stated. "What?" his mother replied. "This Ragmar person, i saw him. In a dream." The dreams- no, visions, he had that night were replaying in his head like a flashback.

Silence filled the room. "Jake." his mother said. "You have to promise not to tell anyone about this."

He continued to stare blankly at the pages of the book, and it felt like his heart had shrivelled up into a raisin.

"I promise." Jake replied, reluctantly.

His mother walked towards the door, to be halted by Jake. "Wait." He said. "You're not really- not really my mother. So how did I end up here?"

She sighed. "I was your mother's sister. She had to fight in a battle against Ragmar and his forces, so she asked me to take care of you for the time being. She never knew that would be the last time she saw you."

"What about my dad?" Jake asked. "You said both of my parents were great warriors."

"We never really spoke much, he was the head of the resistance against Ragmar and the " Demon Army", so he was never around much."

Jake decided that the best way to forget about this was just to go to sleep, and hopefully realise that all of this had just been a dream.

Before his mother left, she asked him to give her the book. He didn't know how that would help, but he did it anyway.

Jake lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, trying to process everything that had just happened. 

Jake turned off the lights, but just as he was about to drift off to sleep, the door slowly creaked open, seemingly pouring even more darkness into the room than there was before.

He opened his eyes, assuming it was just his mother, but when he moved his eyes towards the door. But when the door was fully open, something else had emerged from the darkness. Something foreign, but also familiar.

Ragmar.