I was fighting with wizards in my dream, shouting spells and summoning monsters from the ground, and as for me, well I was running. As I kept on running, I quickly looked back to see 4 wizards on skeleton horses chasing me while waving their wands and hands and I quickly went back to running, and as I kept on running from the madness, I fell inside a hole and hit my head on the ground. I slowly stood up dazed to assess my current situation and still hearing the skeleton horses clopping above ground, "Well, this is a problem..." I said with a sarcastic tone, "It truly is one..." A mysterious voice said to me, covering the cave in darkness and silence, "What? Who's there?" I curiously asked the darkness, "You do not know me, yet I know who you are..." The mysterious voice replied, "You must be prepared for what's to come now, wake up Zach... A new adventure awaits you..." That voice, who could it be?
As the dream ends, I quickly stood up from my bed and felt something cold creeping up my back as if someone's watching me.
"Hello, anyone there?" I asked the darkness enveloping my cramped room and was answered by silence. Thinking that I wasn't going mad, I sighed in relief.
I steadily rose up from my bed and the sun, as if waiting for my signal, rose up as well. I quickly wore my clothes and my red scarf before going down.
When I got down the stairs, I saw that everyone was already there. My father and mother, my two brothers, and of course my pet dragon 'Tohor'. They all stared at me as if entranced by something before snapping out of it.
"Oh, good morning Zach!" My mother was the first one to greet me, and was followed by grunts by my other family members. Rolling my eyes at them, I greeted my mother a good morning before sitting at our family table.
"Well you better eat up now, today is going to be a busy one." She told me. I slumped at my chair and let out a loud sigh, wishing that something interesting will happen today. I was sick of seeing the same old sight in this old town of ours. My mother raised her eyebrows at me and I quickly ate what she has prepared for me. While eating my breakfast, she told me today's itinerary.
"Okay Zach, I need you to go to the brewery in town and get some potions, got it?" She again raised her eyebrows at me, waiting for my answer and I muttered, "Okay.
As I went outside, the sun rays blinded me temporarily and when my sight became normal again, I saw the trees swaying with the wind, butterflies flying and the road clear. Everything was normal. After a few seconds of staring at the beauty before me, I quickly strolled down the road to get to town.
The moment I stepped foot in town, everything was bustling. "So many people.." I muttered to myself. I tried my best to get through as many people to get to the brewery, and after a few moments of pushing and muttering obscenities to the crowd, I was finally standing at the doorway of the brewery. I shivered at the sight of the place. Why must my mother send me to this kind of place.
I pushed open the door and was greeted by darkness. I gulped and had to take a few short breaths. Everything about this place gives me the creeps. When I had finally calmed down, I asked "Hello, is anyone there?" A high pitched laugh answered my question and with a snap of a finger, the room was lit. Instantly, the cold feeling I felt this morning was back, but this time I was feeling it all over my body. It took a lot of courage to look at the source of that laugh and when I did, all the blood drained from my face. Sitting on a wooden chair was an old woman, with features so horrid that she almost looked inhumane. But what made all the hair from my body stood up was the scar across her right eye.
She must have seen the look on my face because she again laughed and grinned at me. "What might be your business here, boy?" She asked with a high pitched voice. I almost peed my pants. Her voice was enough to give me nightmares for a week.
"Um, I-I'm here to pick up some potions" I replied with a nervous voice trying my best to give her a sly grin but I'm sure it looked like I was trying my best not to hurl at my dad's cooking.
"Oh, you're right on time then, I just finished making them" She put them in a small pouch and walked closer to me, as she was about to give it to me she stopped and stared at me. Damn, she looked scarier when she wasn't talking. "Um, is anything wrong?" I asked.
"I see your future..." She started and I was rooted to my place, wondering if this lady was crazy. I mean, scary face, laughs like an evil witch when you enter her shop and starts sputtering random words at you, that's enough to make you think a person's crazy right? She continued, "...you will find a land lost in time. There will be death and sorrow in your future." I was waiting for her to continues her crazy talk but she just stared at me.
"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, not really following to what she was telling me. I waited for a few seconds, waiting for her to reply, but nope, she just kept on giving me that weird stare of hers. "Well, thanks for the potion lady." I turned my back and just I was about to open the door, she grabbed me by the wrist, her nails digging in to my skin. I hissed at the pain and she started screaming, each word getting higher and higher until my ears couldn't bear it anymore. "Be wary boy, everything for you will change, everyone you love will die!" And in an instant, she was gone. I was once again greeted with darkness.
Once I was outside again, I saw fewer people than this morning. I looked at my wrist and let out a loud hiss, that lady sure knows how to hurt someone. Deciding that I need to process what just happened in the brewery, I went to the plaza, just to clear my head a bit. On my way to the plaza, I accidentally bumped into someone, someone wearing a black cloak.
"Oh sorry, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going." I apologized to the man, and he gave me a quick nod before hurrying away. As he was walking, I titled my head to the side and watched him. For a few seconds I just stared at him before shaking my head, "This day keeps getting weirder and weirder." I muttered to myself before heading to the plaza.
I sat at the fountain, thinking why I couldn't get the old lady's words out of my head. It was clearly just a joke right? Heaving a loud sigh, I stood up and decided not to let this get into my head. The cathedral's bells rand and I knew that it was time to head back to my place.
Humming to myself as I walked down the road, I passed by an alleyway and saw a hint of black. I almost went passed it when I realized that it was a black cloak. It was the man from a while ago. Thinking it was weird to hide in an alleyway, I propped myself against the corner and peeked at what he was doing.
"Okay kingy, let's see where this forgotten land is...". The moment he said those words, my curiosity peaked and I knew that I had to find out more. "Here's the map" He said.
I grabbed a rock and threw it to the side. Alarmed, the mysterious guy looked around him before asking, "Huh, who's there?" He quickly took out a dagger from his side . I grabbed another rock and readied myself to hit his head. "Show yourself before I put this dagger up yer throat!" He threatened. Once he was close to where I was, I quickly appeared before him and hit him on the head before he can even recognize me. He fell on the ground with a thud and I quickly ran to where the map is. Just as I was about to grab the map, I heard him groan. Muttering a few curses, I grabbed the map and ran to other side, but not before hearing him scream "Hey you! Get yer hands off my map!"
I ran as fast as I can and as I turned around, I saw that he was already catching up, dagger in hand. He almost slashed me with the dagger but I quickly dodged it and kneaded him in the stomach. He fell down to his knees. I was already tired from running, but I knew that I couldn't stop there, so I kept on running til I was back in the plaza, and I quickly went in to an old inn.
Taking a seat, I opened the map I stole, or borrowed if you asked me and gasped at the map's content. "Woah! The Forgotten Land.." I said quietly, not wanting to attract any attention from the three men drinking at the other side of the inn. Inside the map was a guide to where the mystical Gem of Power can be found. I laughed, thinking this was some kind of sick joke. The gem was just a legend, at least, that's what everyone around here thinks.
The moment I set foot outside the inn, everyone was screaming, the whole place was a mess. I was about to ask someone what had happened, when I saw the black smoke emerging from the outskirts of town. My eyes widened and without even realizing, I was already running back to my house.
A few feet from where our house is, or was, fire was everywhere. I got down on my knees, I couldn't register what was happening right now. The old lady was right, everyone I love will die. The fire was crackling, as if laughing at me for not believing the lady. Just as I was ready to give up, to just go to where the fire was and join my family's burnt corpses, I saw something flying out of the burning house, it was Tohor.
He then landed in front of me. I pet him and said. "Don't worry buddy, I'm still here." Before heading back to town to ask for help, I saw a couple of figures at side of the burning house, then saw a notable person, it was the the black cloaked guy from a while ago.
Suddenly, anger surged into my body. I stared at his retreating figure, gripped at my knuckles til they turned white and said, every word dripping with venom, "I will get my revenge on you, just you wait." I called Tohor and together we returned to town.
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