The next morning Gamlen sat at the table again, recalling the events of the last night. Did it really happen? Or was I just dreaming? Lost in thought he did not see his best friend Charlie sit down at the table next to him. Sean? What is the matter? Charlie signed to him. Charlie was deaf and a chosen mute; something happened to him as a child that he eventually lost his hearing. Though he could read lips he couldn’t do it very fast. Nothing really, Gamlen signed back slowly, still distracted by his thoughts. "Just thought I had a nightmare again."
Charlie nodded knowingly, Gamlen always told Charlie when he had a nightmare, and he was the only one who hadn’t treated him badly after knowing about it. Was it the same one again? Or was it worse? Charlie gestured quickly. Charlie decided to grab a piece of paper and pen so they could write instead, coming back he wrote something down. Dragons again? Gamlen nodded and rubbed his eyes. He stared at Charlie for a second, Where is Jed? He gestured to him. Charlie wrote again, I think he left to meditate again; he said he’d meet us at Powell’s; he had something he wanted to show us.
Charlie and he cleaned up their room area and packed their things for the day, Gamlen made sure to grab his pens and his grimoire. Though he knew his spells probably wouldn’t work it comforted him to write down incantations and rituals he created in his thoughts. Finishing up, they walked out of the shelter and started the hour-long walk to the massive bookstore. Gamlen checked to makes sure he brought his wallet and money this time. Jed usually asked him to buy the things he wanted to show them, being as he was the only one with a somewhat stable income. Gamlen was a college student; he studied metaphysics at a local university. He really wanted to become an ordained pagan priest. But it was still years away and thousands of hours of training, just to be able to get into the priesthood. Gamlen wanted to create his own religion, something similar to Heathenism and Viking Shamanism. One of these days, he always told himself. Arriving at Powell’s he walked with Charlie up to the usual room where Jed always met them, the coffee shop. Jed was already there reading from a stack of about five books, a huge leather bound book sitting in the middle of the table. Great there goes the last of my money, Gamlen thought to himself.
Jed looked up from his book and smiled, waving them towards him. Gamlen held up his hand telling him to hold up a moment, while he went to get his own set of books from the occult section. Pulling down a few books, he walked back to the coffee shop. Sitting down Charlie and Jed were already pouring over the pages in the leather-bound tome. What is it about, Charlie? He wrote down on a piece of scratch paper in his book bag. Charlie looked up at him and signed excitedly, it seems to be about this made up world called Aramanthia, place where evolution took humanity down a different path and instead of technology, Sorcery reigns as the way people get by. It has tons of fantastic creatures, and people of many different races and ethnicities, all enjoying leisure and study because of magic. Charlie went back to read the book, his face glowing with excitement.
Jed moved the book closer so Gamlen could read from it also; in the first chapter it stated the history and creation of this world. Gamlen started to read slowly, trying to read all the information.
In the time before the light the Midgard Serpent, Jormuundgand was there. He felt lonely in his darkness so he decided to create his progeny, the Dragons. Giving each a name and task they set about creating the world of Aramanthia. The eldest Bahamut created the earth itself so that they had somewhere to walk when they tired of their divine duties. The land became Vera, the first continent. The next dragon was Aquanus, the blue. He created the oceans and rivers, so all things living could drink and bathe. He created the great Well of Wyrd so that the dragons could maintain the knowledge of creation. Next was Bachinos, the forest. He created the plants and flowers; in him was the knowledge of foraging and farming. Then finally Humanus, the Life bring-er. He created all the animals and creatures of the earth, including humans from which we are named. In the early days the dragons loved us, for we were their children, we learned much from them and they learned to love from us. But there was a fifth dragon, Tiamat, the destroyer. She unlike her brethren hated mankind, for they were evolved from apes, which made them inferior creatures to the scaled creatures. She sought a way to corrupt humanity enough to where the others would turn their backs on the world, allowing her to rule uncontested. It took the Midgard Serpent's intervention to end Tiamat’s reign of terror on Vera. Sealing her deep in the earth’s core she was sentenced to forever dream, now someone found a way to awaken her. Three heroes of various lineages will rise to stand against this new evil. What will you do?
Gamlen scoffed at the end of the first page, it was obviously a choose your own adventure book, similar to Dungeons and Dragons. He really did not like that sort of book and pushed it away from him. You have got to be kidding me. He signed to Charlie.
“Jed, this is a kid’s book, I thought you found some book of arcane lore. Not a measly Adventure book.” Gamlen got up and started to leave.
“Gamlen wait, can you buy this for me? You still owe me for bailing you out of trouble with the shelter.” Jed reminded him of a time he was caught messing around with a girl.
“Come on Jed, I always buy you these books, they always just pile up in your locker, and you never read them again.” Gamlen already knew he would end up buying the book for him and Charlie anyway. “Fine, hand me that book.” He took it to the cashier at the counter and handed him the money needed to buy it and his own books. “Be happy Jed, I am getting tired of supporting your book habit and my own.”
Gamlen dreamed of a land unlike any he had ever seen, it was beautiful and yet mysterious. He walked the streets of an unknown city and listened to the talk of the town, people all the while staring at him like he was something dangerous. What is wrong with this place? It feels so ancient and weird here, and I am having these weird sensations.
As he walked he heard murmurs of monster and dragon-blooded, he sought out the well in the town square and peered at his own face, covered in scales and a deep violet hue. Then he saw them, wings, he had wings. He stretched out his arms and the wings unfolded into a nine-foot wingspan that tensed with his own muscles. Realizing that he could control them he flapped them hard and he rose off the ground to almost a whole person over him, scared he stumbled in the air and fell hard down to the ground. As he let out a sharp breath of air, a dark vapor came out of his mouth and fell to the ground melting the grass in a fizzle. Acid, he just spit out acid onto the ground, he was in shock, and what was he? What is happening to him?
He started awake to find a shimmer of purple on his arm that faded away slowly, stunned he woke up Charlie frantically.
Did you see that? He signed hurriedly.
Charlie yawned, See what? I was asleep. He signed back slowly, then stopped mid-yawn and stared at Gamlen’s pillow. What happened there? He signed worried.
Gamlen turned to look at his pillow; half of it was melted into the plastic form of his mattress like some acidic item fell onto it. He looked to Charlie scared stiff.
“I Think I was drooling in my sleep.” He mouthed to Charlie slowly, Charlie trying hard to understand from lip reading. “What is going on?”
Jed at that moment stormed in with the book, “Check this out Gamlen.” He handed the book to him and Charlie at a page with a photograph of the two heroes and the friend they would lose in an attempt to return home from Vera, the mythical land inside the book. It looked strangely like them, almost exactly like them in fact.
“This can’t be real, they are us, I mean me and you, and the way it describes the lost friend it sounds a lot like you, Charlie.” Gamlen looked at the pictures more and he stopped, did he just see the pages glimmer in vibrant colors? It must have been his imagination.
At that moment everything around them seemed to freeze, Gamlen stared out the window and gasped, the world just froze. Dropping the book it rippled in color again and all three friends blacked out.
Victoria sat quietly on her throne, she was extremely bored. Nothing in her realm satisfied her anymore; the undead around her was mindless and lacked the ability to even hold a conversation with her. She tired of ruling a country full of the undead and yearned for some sort of companionship, albeit just for a temporary time. She had to find a way to spread her rule to the living, not just the undead, the best way she could think of was bloody conquest. The easiest and yet most unsettling choice so far, she really wanted to skip royal marriage because no one interested her. She was Alu, a spawn of a succubus and a human.
Her birth meant that most men distrusted her and even less could satisfy her fully, she grew bored with her own kind and left to seek out her own kingdom, though so far she could only rule over the dead, and undead. But soon she would be able to rule over all of Vera. She just needed an army.
Sitting there thinking to herself she felt a cold chill raise slowly up her spine, what just happened? She thought to herself. Did something just hit Vera? She slowly stood up and walked over to a great stone cauldron in the middle of her throne room, slowly chanting and adding ingredients to the water inside. The water began to bubble and steam, and soon a picture formed inside the reflection, the image of a man with dark hair and pale ivory skin, dressed in a deep crimson set of robes that denoted him as a mage. She stared in wonder at this new face and wondered truly who and what he was.
Seeking to find him, she set about gathering her most provocative clothing and a robe; she left her throne room and walked towards the stables. Fixing an image of his face in her mind she summoned a globe of light that radiated his image, she cracked the whip on her carriage and her driver began to drive her out of her castle’s gates.
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