Chapter I
Lute was a high school student that was always the outcast. He was labeled a loner since freshman year. He sat at lunch in his own corner of the cafeteria, he was always alone on group projects, and he was never with anyone. Girls talked behind his back and the other guys would pick fights with him. They whole school seemed to ridicule him for even existing. It all happened over the summer before freshman year.
Lute's parents both died by an incurable disease. His grandfather, Frey, took him in. Since his parents' deaths, he changed. He used to be so happy-go-lucky then he didn't trust anyone after that. He lost his friends and made enemies.
If Lute was picked on and he would fight until he or his antagonists were on the ground. At one point, he was suspended from school because he sent two students to the hospital.
Today Lute's suspension was up. He woke up to see his clock – 8:34am. He looked again to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. He rushed out of bed and quickly dressed. He ran out the door with a slice of toast in his mouth, rushing out of his house. He had to sprint the mile and a quarter to school, but something made him stop on his way.
In the middle of the street, was a silvery-clear ripple in the air like a water droplet created rings in mid air. No one could seem to see it, but everyone seemed to perceive it as a wall or pole or something.
He walked toward it, but all of a sudden it began to pull him toward the portal. It pulled him in and his arm was pulled into the portal and he felt nothing on the other side then a sudden force pulled him through and he dropped into a black void spinning and flipping over and over again. He closed his eyes as he felt the change in velocity felt as if he was sky diving. He was going to feel sick.
He woke up to see he was lying in a field with torn clothes like he was fighting a rake and lost. He was confused and everything was a haze. All he remembered was that he fell through a portal into a void on his way to school. School was far from the recesses of his mind. He thought he must be unconscious or something it was all in his mind. He tried to stand and his legs felt wobbly. He bit back a scream from a streak of pain that shot through his right leg – it was most likely broken.
He noticed a person sitting on a rock playing a mandolin. He was playing a strangely, eerie, and saddening tune. He stopped playing and didn't look toward Lute.
The musician was dressed in a large hat that a wizard might wear. He wore a long-sleeved robe that ended at his ankles. He wore a pair of leather boots and a pair of leather gloves. His mandolin was made of wood and metal. The musician seemed very athletic. He appeared to do more than just play instruments because of his construction worker like body.
"About time you woke up. You've been unconscious for two days now." said the strange musician. "Where are you from?"
Lute looked at him, but he understood nothing of what he said. He couldn't understand what he said. "What did you say?" He asked.
The musician frowned. "Oh, you are not from here, are you? I don't know how to speak your language, but I know someone who might. Follow me." He stood up picking up his mandolin and gestured for Lute to follow, as he handed him a walking stick to lean on, and walked into a thick forest.
Lute followed the musician and into the forest. He hobbled along to keep up with the musician. Until the forest opened into a large clearing with a giant castle at the end of the clearing.
The castle was giant. It looked like it was made of polished stone. The castle had a wall as taller than the trees. A giant metal gate guarded by guards, but the gate was closed and there was screaming and a loud buzzing came from the castle – there was a battle.
Lute and the musician rushed over to the castle when yellow jackets flew down and tried to sting them. The yellow jackets were huge! They were the size of large dogs and stingers dripping venom. Something told Lute this world was very different from his world.
Lute noticed guards were bloated from the venom and were moaning with pain from their wounds. Some guards were fortunate enough to be stung in the chest and killed instantly. The yellow jackets were strong enough to puncture the guards iron chest plates and shields. Some guards were picked up by the yellow jackets and dropped to collide with the ground.
It was horrific – seeing guards fall, stung, die slow deaths from the poison. Lute picked up a dead guard's bloody chest plate armor.
He began to walk normally. His leg was almost healed as if his leg mended itself in a matter of minutes. Even his bones were almost back to normal, just his joints were a little sore. The musician attached something to his mandolin – a menacing spiked plate on the side of his instrument, that seemed to glow an eerie bluish aura. He smiled eerily and began to climb the wall.
Lute was amazed the musician could climb the wall so quickly. He was already halfway up the wall and Lute barely even climbed 10 feet.
He had an idea – he took tied knives to his feet and carried two more in his hands. The knives helped him climb the wall. He was able to climb up to the guard walkway. Once he got up to the top of the wall, he saw the Royal Guards battle the horde of yellow jackets.
During the battle, an archer, clad in metal armor, was back-to-back with the musician. The archer was notching arrow after arrow and yellow jackets dropped with each successful hit. The musician lured the yellow jackets in and made them dance as they became targets for the archer's arrows. His music seemed to give the tired guards a second wind and fight all they could.
Lute noticed the Royal Guards followed a group of people clad in exquisite armor. The royal family was in the battle fending off the yellow jackets, with the Royal Guards not far behind.
The King was dressed in red armor with an intricately designed coat of arms of the royal family – a hawk carrying a bundle of arrows and a sword in its talons. The King carried a large battleaxe, cleaving yellow jackets with swift movements. His son, the prince wore red armor with the same coat of arms of his father's. He carried a rapier and swiftly and nimbly avoided each yellow jacket and as he passed each one they fell in a heap of cuts and slashes. The princess wore blue armor with the royal insignia of a different symbol – a falcon? An eagle? Most likely a foreign heiress of another nation. What was the royal heiress of another doing here during an attack like this? She carried a lance, while riding a large saddled falcon the size of a car. As the hawk flew by, she speared and slew yellow jackets as her bird flew into the horde.
Lute saw the prince strayed too far away from his father, attacking the yellow jackets, and was an easy target.
yellow jackets began to charge the prince, with the prince's attention on other yellow jackets. The prince turned around to see a horde of yellow jackets charge him.
Lute charged, slashing, and stabbing with his knives in hand. He dropped his knives and kicked up a sword and shield. He threw his shield like a Frisbee. The shield spun and slammed into a yellow jacket about to sting the prince. Lute bought time for the King to reach the prince. The King gave a quick look at Lute, before turning their attention to the prince's safety, Thank you for saving my son's life.
The horde of yellow jackets seemed endless. They kept coming – whenever one fell three more took its place. Lute saw a hive attack someone before in his home world, but nothing like this. The only time yellow jackets would attack anyone is because they bothered them or they are looking for something.
Lute planned an idea. He was going to make a large fire. He was going to calm the yellow jackets with smoke. He found scrap wood and lit them on fire. He made a fan out of clothes and began to spread the smoke to the bees. The bees began to flee and flew away into the forest depths.
The guards watched the yellow jackets disappear into the forest depths and shouted in celebration they had won thanks to Lute and the musician's help.
As the guards cheered with glee in excitement and victory, one of the yellow jackets covered in alcohol made a final charge to sting the prince. His guards were already rushing toward him, but they wouldn't reach him in time. Lute dashed over and slashed the yellow jackets in half.
At first he began to pant because he thought he ran so quickly, but a sharp pain was pricking his chest. The stinger of the split yellow jacket had impaled itself into his chest plate. He then began to feel dizzy and off balance. He felt blood trickle from his mouth and run down his chin. He collapsed and struggled to get up, but his body wouldn't listen to him. His vision began to turn hazy. He saw the King order doctors to aid Lute as his vision turned black.