I woke up in a bed. I seemed to be whole. my wound was gone. i looked around and it was a large room that i was in. back home it would be given to someone of importance. i walked over to the window and it looked over a beautiful forest. i turned and scanned the room. there was some food sitting at one of the table. i devoured it all. how long had it been since i had a good meal? hell it had been over a day since i ate at least. and probably 2 years since i had a good meal. when i had flown to canea i hadn't really thought it out. the entire continent was covered with vord and their croach. there was no other food available. so i had started eating the croach. and finally when desperation kicked in the vord themselves. After 2 years, this wholesome food made me feel like a human being again. I was going to venture out of my room to speak to whoever was in charge but i decided to go to bed again. it had been 2 years since i had one of those as well. and i quickly fell into a deep sleep.
When finally i woke up, i was feeling more human than i had in a long time. this time around, my brain was working better too. the crafting can make you stay awake and alert for days on end. even weeks. but when you let go, your body collapses. we are only human. and human body is not meant to be pushed too far. too much crafting can keep you alert but your brain still needs rest. after a while your brain simply stops working on the level that you know it should be working on. I learnt that long ago and this was a reminder. first time around, i hadn't noticed a single thing about this place. but now? I saw that the door was locked. the window was barred. this beautiful room suddenly felt like a prison. my belongings were all on the table. so i dressed back in to my clothes and strapped my belt and sword on. when i unsheathed the sword, i found out that it was broken. only half the blade remained. a problem for another time. i might be able to break free with fury craft but i wanted to meet the person who put me here. although they had imprisoned me, they had also saved me.
while i waited for the door to open, I studied the room and what i could see outside the window. I was roughly 100 meters high and the forest was only 150 meters or so away. unless there was a lot of this property in the direction i could not see. it wasn't especially large. so it can not be a castle. if i had to guess, it might be a home of someone wealthy. i was brought out of my thoughts when the door opened and behold it was my captor. the man i had saved.
"Prince Alric" he said as he bowed,"you saved my life. i am in your debt."
"and you repaid that debt by healing me. am i your prisoner?" I asked.
"oh you are not imprisoned, my prince. the door was shut so that you wouldn't accidentally hurt yourself" he replied.
"let me introduce myself, I am Korias and I am a wizard. and i have a few places in my humble home that if handled incorrectly could hurt someone."
he seemed genuine enough. although i still never believed him.
"perhaps we can talk more at the dinner table. you must be famished since you slept nearly 3 days."
3 days i thought. and then i thought of alera.
"I beg your pardon but i must leave. i have to find someone."
"Alera? is that who you want to find?" he smiled at my confusing look. how could he know about her. i doubt she was stupid enough to reveal herself to a complete stranger. granted she did that with me. but that must have been because i was partly responsible for her existing at all. and also i was the only person, she could have revealed herself to at that time.
i smiled at him. two can play this game. "well, you seem to know where she is then?"
"last time i checked she was in this room with you"
hmmmm..well this was getting annoying.
"Alera" i said softly and she was there instantly.
"you are harder to kill than i thought, little one" she said looking me up and down.
"yes thank you. now lets go and get something to eat. and then we can figure out where we are."
the wizard seemed to perk up at that. he said as he started walking away gesturing for me to follow, "maybe i can be of assistance? i have maps of course. but i am also very well learned."
"we sure do not know where we are. to be honest, you are our best chance of find that out"
"well, i hope i can help and repay some of the debt i owe you" he replied.
"there is no debt. you were surrounded. i am sure anyone would have done what i did."
he looked back at me with a spark in his eyes and started laughing slowly.
"what is so funny? was it something i said?" i asked him.
"my dear prince, you do not know what you were fighting did you?" he looked at my confused look and continued"the creature that stabbed you was a wraith. once a wizard. but some wizards who do not want to die with age choose a darker path to remain in the mortal world. the cost is high. they become less human and over time they become wraiths. feeding of animals even humans. but most of all they crave wizards flesh. to devour our magic to feel some of the old strength that they had."
"that sounds disgusting," i said. he laughed again as he ushered us to a large table. we sat and soon a few servants brought us food.
they bowed and left.
after a pleasant meal, we retreated to the wizard's study. it was the largest room in that place, i would learn later. he presented me a large map on the wall and said"lets find out where you are from, shall we?"
I stared at the map. there were 4 continents it seemed. but none of them seem to resemble the map of Alera.
"no, this map doesn't have my continent on it. do you have any other maps?" i asked him.
he stared at me for a while and replied,"this is the map. it contains the entire world that i live on."
"what? really? are you sure? because my home is not on it. and i know my home like the back of my hand. so there must be some area that isn't on that map."
"no. that's not possible. wizards have mapped this entire world. I was afraid this might be the case."
"you thought so. how?"
he pointed at alera and said,"because of her. we have also studied all the life forms on this planet. i doubt it that we could have missed someone like her. so it stand to reason that she is not from this world."
"and also because i can't understand your language at all. it is not of this world."
"what? but you are speaking to me."
He pointed at his bracelet and said,"because of this. it is enchanted so that the wearer can understand any language and my words seem to you as if spoken in your language."
we argued back and forth but he never gave me an inch. this was the world. all of it. i stared at the map. but how could i end up in some other world. that was impossible. i flew one way and if i flew back we should be able to go back. right? but the wizard doesn't seem to think so.
this argument went on and on for 5 days. on the 6th day, the wizard said after we finished breaking fast that he has a theory on what happened.
"Lets hear it then. nobody else can give me a rational explanation."
"From what you have told me of your home world and how you came to be here. there can only be one explanation. I always thought there were more than one world. As you explained, you flew so fast that everything became invisible to you. that was the only thing you were doing at the time. I think you might have broken through some kind of a barrier. a barrier of reality if you will. and that allowed you enter this world from yours."
i stared at him. this can not be. "so if i flew just as fast, i might be able to go home?"
"you might be." he replied with a stone face.
"i know when someone is trying to mask their emotions. what aren't you telling me wizard?"
He sighed,"you might be able to go home the way you arrived here. but you may also end up in a completely different world again."
he held his hands up and said "this is just a theory. i have never had visitors from another world before."
I sighed. it wasn't actually his fault that we were stuck here. I started pacing the room.
right.
"lets look at it rationally. either your theory is true. or its not." i looked at him and alera."if we test it and its not true. then we end back here. or at least just far away from here but still in this world. but if its true then there is a small chance that we can get home."
"we have to try" i said looking at alera,"unless you want to stay here forever."
"if you stay here, then she must remain hidden forever. or some wizard sooner or later, will try to take her power."
"well that decides it. we are leaving first thing tomorrow morning."
they both nodded and the rest of the day was spent planning the trip. the wizard was king enough to provide me with all of the necessities.
I lay awake in bed that night. i couldn't fall asleep. I kept thinking of my family every time i closed my eyes. if i do not reach home they might assume i died. And alera was here because of my fault. it was me who was controlling the furycraft. so i was responsible for bringing us here.
I kept pondering the same questions in my head and i fell into an uneasy sleep. i woke up in the morning not completely refreshed. but to hell with it. i put my clothes on and left to say my farewells. I pulled on some metal from my broken sword and the tiredness washed away.
I called for alera and together we left to find the wizard. he was in his study.
"ah, my prince. i see that you are ready to leave. would you not like something to eat before you left at least."
"i don't think i can stomach anything right now. better to get it over with." i replied.
he studied me for a while and said, "in that case, i have some parting gifts for you." he reached behind his desk and produced a sword.
"you have been gracious enough. there is no need for gifts." i said.
"oh this is not the gift. this sword is merely a replacement for yours. since you broke yours trying to save my life." he said. and with that he handed me the sword.
it was beautiful to say the least. the scabbard was white and light blue. it had fine art work all around it. as did the handle. the pommel had a large pale pearl on it. I unsheathed the sword. it barely weighed anything. it felt light as air. the blade was the exact replica of my own blade. a hand and a half sword. not too big and not too small. i could use this as well as my own blade.
"Thank you," i said to the wizard.
he waved a hand. "its the least i can do. now before you go. i should tell you about the sword. its spelled by me. so its nigh unbreakable. only way you will be able to break this is with magic stronger than mine. and that isn't easy to find." he said.
i was just staring at him as he continued " also i hope you do not mind but as i was fixing your wound earlier, i took a drop of your blood for the forging of your sword. now it will only ever work for you or those that carry your blood. if anyone else stole the blade, it will betray them sooner or later."
"thank you again" i said,"i do not know how i could ever repay you for something so valuable."
"no no. its only fair. you broke your sword trying to save me and i should be the one providing you with a replacement."
"but any ordinary sword would have done that" i replied.
he smiled and replied "yes, it could. but i wanted to show my gratitude"
i couldn't think of anything to say. so i simply bowed.
he bowed back and said,"now as for your gift."
"seriously, this is more than enough gift."
"nonsense, a sword for a sword. and you took a blade through your guts for me." and with that he took off his bracelet and held it out for me.
"with this you will be able to hear any language you wanted as if it was your own and they will only hear their own language from your lips."
he must have seen the hesitation on my face because he said,"take it. you will need it if you end up somewhere other than your home world."
"are you sure you can afford to part with something like this?" i asked him. and he just laughed.
"I am a wizard, dear prince. i will simply create another one. it will take me a few days but i will have another one. this one is also indestructible."he said.
i took the bracelet form him and put it on my left wrist. it clasped shut as if it sensed it was being put on. "can you understand me now?" I asked the wizard.
"let me speak first, so that the bracelet would know the language and translate it when you speak." he replied.
"how about now?" i asked him.
"that's perfect. its strange being on this end of the spell. i normally am the one wearing the bracelet. but its nice to hear my own language from your lips even if its through a spell."
we walked to the balcony of his study. I stepped into the open air and called upon the furies as i took to the air.
"that's still a sight to behold" the wizard said smiling."remember if you find yourself in a inhospitable world. just keep going and you will skip away from it. and if you don't find your world within first 5 attempts, simply find a new home."
"I will and thank you for these wonderful gifts. farewell wizard."
"Farewell, my prince." he said and i took to the air.
when we were high enough, i asked alera,"shall we?"
she simply melted into me and we took off. when i thought we had been going fast enough for long enough, we gradually slowed. I looked around and we seemed to be in a hellish world. everything seemed to be on fire. Alera hadn't parted from me still as we agreed that we might need to do so again.
"can you feel canea?" I asked her.
"no, i cannot" she replied. well this wasn't home. so we took off again. one by one we went through 18 worlds. one all water. one where people were blue giants. one where people were surrounded by machinery. they wanted to kill us when they saw us. but we left quickly. we figured if we were going to reach home then she would feel it immediately. but every time we tried, we ended up in a different world.
on the 19th try, we came to a world that was cold. snow covered mountains to one side of us and snow covered plains to one side. i didn't even have to ask alera. "no" she said.
I was about to take off again when alera said,"I don't think i will be able to keep doing this, without my land. i will eventually perish."
"then lets get you home" i pressed.
"the more we press on like this, the faster i will disappear. I will eventually anyway without getting back to my land. but at least i should try my best to get you a home." she said."no point in both of us dying, little one."
"why are you saying this to me? it was my fault. i was the one who went too fast. not you."
"i am saying this so that you do not feel guilty if this form melts away."
"you wont. i will get us home."
"remember what the wizard said. try 5 times only. otherwise just find a world you can make a new home in. we tried 19 times. maybe you should make this place your home now. i will be with you for a while. but when i fade away, you will at least have a home. what if we keep trying and when i suddenly fade away leaving you are in an inhospitable world. like the very first one we found."
I landed on the snow. i had my head in my hands as i sighed. she was right. the wizard was right. there could be millions of worlds out there for all we know. maybe i should give up. i had already taken her away from her home. i shouldn't be the one to kill her because of my mistakes.
"little one" she asked.
"just tired, Alera" i replied truthfully.
"Rest for a while" she said. "i will keep watch."
I woke up after i do not know how long. it was still semi dark. maybe it always stayed like this in this world. i was just about to tell alera that maybe nothing lives here and we should try for a more hospitable world. then i remembered the risk i would be taking with her life. she wasn't human, sure but she was a friend still.
I was hungry. so we took to the air and flew towards the mountains. after a few hills, we saw a fire. I told alera that i would go and have a look. we agreed that her presence shouldn't be revealed to anyone unless we absolutely trusted them. the wizard was right about that. people would try to control her. so i landed far enough away from the group around the fire under my veil. then i started walking towards them after dropping my veil. if not for my firecrafting, i would be frozen to death by now. i slowly approached the group. they were very large beings. even hunched around their fires, they were as tall as me. I stood at a safe distance and cleared my throat. i had no idea what language they would speak. they noticed me and suddenly reached for their clubs and such. while shouting.
the bracelet tingled a little and i heard,"white walker? run while wun and thurn and me hold him off."
white walker? what in the hell is that? never mind. there were about 10 of them standing facing me while the others were running. some of them had young.
I quickly held up my hands and said,"I just want some food. I didn't mean to scare anyone. if i am not welcome, I will simply leave."
everything stopped. I had air crafted my voice to be a little louder. so that most would hear it over the commotion. the one who had spoken first stepped forward and said,"you speak the true tongue?"
it felt like it would be too much for him to understand the true explanation so i lied,"yes i do"
he came closer now. he must have been 12 maybe 13 feet tall and covered with hair. they all were. they reminded me of ice men of Alera. but icemen were covered in white hair. these had hair black as night.
"you are not a walker. or a wight. your eyes are white."
"no, i am not. just a man looking for some food and shelter. my name is Alric." i said.
"I am called mag the mighty. king of the giants. we can spare some food and a place by the fire." he said.
"thank you. I'd be honored to share food with you." i replied politely. i didn't want these big giants angry. i'll be able to kill them. but if i am to stay here in this world and it seemed like i might. then it wouldn't do to make an enemy of everyone. besides they seemed kind enough although intimidating. we moved over to the fires and mag bellowed,"false alarm, just a man looking for shelter and food"
"did you say a man, mag. how did a man get this far north." another one asked.
"i am from a far away land. i simply had the misfortune to come to this land this far north." i answered before mag could say anything.
"you are fortunate. and you are coming from the lands of winter. did you see any walkers or wights?" asked another as we settled around the fires.
"no", i replied as a bowl with some meats was offered to me.
one sitting across from me at the fire was eyeing me curiously. he got up and motioned for mag to join him. I did not like this. i didn't want to start my life in this world by killing the first people i came across. especially after they just offered me food. right food. i quickly wolfed it down. if everything goes to shit, at least i will have a stomach full of food. they walked a good 50 feet away. I used air crafting to listen in. he asked mag,"how do you know he is not a walker?"
"come now wun. he has white eyes instead of blue. and have you ever heard a walker speak?"
"true. but tell me this. how is he not dead when he's not even wearing any furs. no man would be able to survive this far north without furs. if he is not a walker then he could be working with them. that's why the cold doesn't bother him."
mag looked back at me and i pretended i was busy eating. soon he waved over a few more giants and they all seem to agree with wun. shit i thought to myself.
mag walked over to me and soon they had me surround with a good 50 of them around me. the others were quickly grabbing their belonging and departing.
"tell us true now. how is it that you are not wearing any furs and you are still alive?" asked mag. he seemed to be tense. they were all tense. i was tense myself. i had enough metal and air pulled into me that i could fight out of here or fly out of here. but then i reached for water and felt their emotions. even those that were fleeing. they were scared. i had to put my hand on my sword to steady myself as i reeled from how powerful their emotions were. and they reeked of fear. fear of me. they must really be afraid of these walkers. and they thought i was one of them.
"i am not your enemy. i am not a walker. i have had your food. i will not harm you or yours. you have my word." I replied.
"if you think that we will believe the word of a walker or one of their worshipers, you must think us fools." replied mag.
shit this wasn't going the way i had wanted it to. well, i can just fly out of here and leave them to themselves. they took one step towards me and i launched myself into the sky. i could have killed them but what would that accomplish. I was floating 200 feet above them. they were all staring up at me. i turned and took off south. maybe i'll go somewhere warm. i hadn't gone too far until i heard the screams. i stopped in the air. they must be a mile or two behind me now. but something pulled at me. maybe it was their fear that i had felt. these weren't predators. they were families running for their lives.
I created a lens between my hands with air crafting to have a close look. suddenly i could see them clearly. there were other people coming from behind them. the only place they will be able to run is north towards where i came to this world. the other beings seemed to be in ragged clothing and they were a mixed bunch. it seemed that they had animals as well as giants and men with them. mag and the other giants who had me surrounded came forward and the fight began. the giants were powerful. they threw the others tens of yards into the air. it seemed like mag would win this fight. but then i saw the walkers. I knew they were walkers because they had pale white hair and they seemed to be not wearing anything at all. that explained why the giants thought i was one of them. what with my white hair and fire crafting keeping me warm. one of the walkers went towards the fleeing giants. one brave giant stopped to face the walker so the others could flee. i truly never thought the walker would win. the giant was twice his size. the giant swung the big wooden club he had at the walker. but it shattered to pieces as it came into contact with the walker's sword. before the giant could react the walker put his sword through its leg. the giant fell hard to the ground. the bastard of all things was that the walker didn't finish him off. instead it walked around him as if he had all the time in the world and went after their families. I broke the crafting and started moving towards the fight.
As i was flying, Alera suddenly appeared next to me.
"they just tried to kill you. or have you forgotten?" she asked me.
"they thought i was one of these creators. you didn't feel their fear like i did. they were scared for their families. i would have done the same if i was in their place." i replied back without slowing down.
"I see. if you are not going to stop then maybe i should assist you." she offered. but i turned her down. no need to over do it, i thought. "let me try first. keep watch from above. i will call you if i need you."
Walker was headed for a small giant that had fallen behind the rest of the group. he was human size. a child i thought. I put on more speed. As the walker swung down to chop the giants head off, i landed behind the giant. my sword already in my hand. i intercepted the walkers blade mere inches from the giant.
"killing children? have you no honor?" i asked. usually i like to insult and provoke those i fight. i just cannot help it. its like my mouth is an independent entity. it just doesn't check with my brain sometimes before speaking. but i was actually angry now. the walker looked surprised. i stepped over the giant and swung my sword around to strike down on his shoulders. he brought his sword up but reeled from my blow. he wasn't particularly skilled. in 3 blows i took his head off his shoulders. the darnedest thing happened when i did that. when my sword made contact with his head, instead of his head rolling off like it should have. he shattered into tiny specks of ice. it took me by shock. but i quickly gathered my bearings and went over to assist the other giants. when i joined the fight, i could see why they were so terrified of these beings. they were fighting what looked like walking dead men, giants and animals. there were probably over a thousand of them and exactly 5 walkers after the one i killed.
this would terrify anyone i thought. A father could be fighting the corpse of his own son. or brother or daughter. how do you kill your own loved ones? no wonder they were reeking of fear. afraid of becoming these and afraid of killing those they once knew. speculate later i said to myself. there is a fight going on. so i went to work. it wasn't all that hard i thought as i went through the dead. dancing this way and that. chopping heads and limbs off. until one of the bastard that i had chopped up in half, dragged himself up and stabbed me through my leg. i screamed and kicked him away. i pushed hard using earth and launched myself in a backward leap. i landed behind the giants. the alive ones. staring down at the blade that was in my leg. i yanked it out and thanked all the gods i was surrounded by snow. water is essential to healing. so i just pulled on the snow and healed my would before i could bleed anymore. looking around i saw the giants fighting them with fire and clubs. all of those that i had cut through were simply crawling on the ground instead of dying. it seemed only fire worked against these creatures.
that was no problem for me. but before i joined in i reached for metal and became metal. right now that i can't be back-stabbed again, i thought to myself. i firecrafted my blade and took another leap. this time forward into the middle of the dead. my right hand had my firecrafted blade and the left had a fire fury on it in the shape of the eagle. i willed the fury to take flight. and it went from one dead to another. lighting them all on fire. they swung at it but you can't stop a normal fire with that much less a firecrafting. before long i had killed more than a hundred of these. some by my blade but most by the fury. but before i could celebrate a walker stepped before me. it seemed to be eyeing me weirdly. so i just waved it over.
"come now, i don't have all day" i said.
it came gliding towards me. i hadn't really paid mind to the first one i had fought. so i really looked at this one as it walked towards me. it seemed male with pale white hair just like me. it wasn't wearing anything but its skin was covered with ice as if it was armor. maybe it was. lastly i noticed its blade. it was also made of ice. it leaped at me with a downward swing from 10 feet away. i lazily put my sword up to block him and then i punched him in the face. he fell down hard. i had been pulling on earth the entire time my feet were on the ground. a habit i had picked up from fighting the vord. 2 years of fighting with everything i had to barely survive made this feel easy. before he could stand up i shoved my sword through his skull. again he shattered into ice. but this time i noticed a lot of the dead fell down as well. huh.. so if i kill the masters their pets die too.
so i took to the air and landed before the remaining 3 walkers. before they knew, i was among them. i smashed straight into the first one i saw. both of us falling hard tangled with each other. he came out on top. as he made to stab down at me. i said,"hello lover" and pushed up with all the earth craft i could manage. he went flying off of me. i stood up laughing. i mean it was a bad situation but you have to find laughs where you can. my time on canea taught me that.
the other 2 were coming towards me now. I pulled in even more air and they seemed to slow down. i waited for them to strike at me so i wont give away my speed. the one on the left came at me with his blade again high. i stepped aside and opened him up from shoulder to groin. or i would have if he hadn't shattered into ice again. i turned around with my sword held level with my head. i came to face with the second one as his sword smashed into my blade again.
"did all of you went to the same sword master?" i asked "there are other ways to swing a sword you know" and i kicked him in the balls. or i hope so. i wasn't sure if he had balls.
either way, my earth crafted kick was bit much. he went 5 maybe 6 feet into the air and before he could land my sword went through him dead center shattering him into ice. i looked around for the 5th walker and i found him staring at me from 20 feet away. most of the dead were just lying on the ground because their masters were dead. I looked at the giants to see them making quick work of the remaining dead. so i left them to it as i walked towards the last walker.
"sorry about earlier lover. i hope i wasn't too rough." i asked him as i approached. He just stared at me for a while he started circling me with his sword at ready.
"going to show me some new moves lover?" i taunted him. making anyone angry before a fight always throws them off their game. that's how i had beaten those that were actually better at sword than me at the academy. my teacher always said my tongue was sharper than most blades. but this one i just wanted to know if he could speak at all.
it didn't turn out fruitful. he charged at me. at least he tried something new at least. i was getting bored. he tried to drive his sword straight through me. i spun on my feet and as his sword went by me, he lost his balance. he tried to recover but i was beside him now. i pushed my body into him and as he lost his balance, i grabbed his hair and yanked back hard. he was bent into an awkward position legs falling under my legs. his body was curved like a bow with me looking right down into his eyes.
"goodbye lover" i said and i drove my sword straight down his throat.