Chapter 1

Humble Beginnings

Wooden swords knocked and clashed against each other, Alex and I laughing as we made a mistake, or mock sighing in dramatic ways when we beat each other at moves.

Her vivid green eyes narrowed in friendly rivalry, her burning orange hair tied into a ponytail. She gripped her sword with admirable confidence, her mouth turned in a wide smile.

My violet eyes only closed as I laughed, my brown hair ruffled from practising with the wooden sword.

"Steve, you said hitting a lady is rude and un-gentleman-like." She giggled after barely dodging a punch to the stomach.

"Well, the enemies don't fight fair, do they?" I replied, chuckling as she failed to try to kick my chest. She collapsed onto the floor as she slipped, and I stole the opportunity to pin her to the floor, fake stabbing her. She made a mock groan of pain, sending her sweet breath up towards me. We paused there, looking into each other's eyes. She was lying on her back, lifting her head slightly to look at me and still holding onto her wooden sword. I was standing over her, with my chest heaving up and down.

She suddenly lashed out with her legs, her right foot landing on the weak spot of every man. Pain surged deeply through my abdomen, and I clutched that area and fell to my side, groaning in pain, but still somewhat laughing at her move. I curled into a tight ball, face scrunched up with Alex in front of me, laughing her head off. The pain finally went away and I got into a sitting position.

"That hurt like heck! Bloody hell, since when were you that mean to me during battle training?" I nervously laughed, my blue shirt drenched with sweat from the two-hour practise.

"I'm so sorry!" she said in bits as she continued to laugh. Tears blurred her eyes from laughing so hard; she was enjoying it.

I rolled my eyes, but I let a wide smile slip from amusement. She finally stopped laughing and held out her hand to heave me back up. I gladly accepted, and with minimal effort, I was standing on my legs again. She didn't let go of my hand. I tilted my head in curiousness and confusion, and then she pulled me into a sudden, fierce hug. My violet eyes widened in shock, but they closed and I smiled again, returning the show of affection.

"It's good to know I have someone to rely on," Alex said, her chin resting on my broad shoulder. I leaned my cheek onto the side of her head; I could smell the scent of the shampoo she used, which smelled like the wild red roses growing in the forest, which surrounded my home.

"I agree," I replied, my deep voice somewhat muffled from my mouth being half concealed by her flaming orange hair. We let go of each other, and she rested her gentle, green gaze on my eyes. The tips of my ears and cheeks started to burn and turn red in embarrassment, and I quickly looked away.

"Aw, I didn't know you were the shy type!" She punched me lightly in the shoulder with affection.

"Shut up," I said, and she flashed me one of her devilish, yet adorable smiles.

"Well, we better head back home. Sunset isn't very far away." I said, looking at the sun's position in the sky. The green leaves from the birch forest around us were tinged slightly yellow from the forming sunset. We were in our favourite spot in the birch forest, which was a vast clearing with much space for battle training. Alex nodded her agreement, and so we made our way, side by side, back to the edge of the forest where a small, player-built town resided.

The streets were bustling with not only players chatting away, but villagers and iron golems too. The houses were mostly made of birch wood and cobblestone; Alex and I lived next door to each other, and both of us owned double story houses that were intricately decorated with carvings in both wood and stone.

She waved goodbye to me and I waved back, and I entered into my house. There was a stunning fireplace carved from stone, and many different working stations close to it. A crafting table, smoker, blasting furnace, cartography table, and many more other needed things for survival was waiting to be used on the ground floor. There were also many torches mounted on the wall to give light.

I walked up to the second level. My wonderfully comfortable and warm king-sized bed was standing at the other side of the room; the rest was just chests among chests of storage space. I propped my wooden sword against the wall and bounced onto my bed. I snuggled in, only my head visible. My pillows practically ate half of my face as I sank into it. Another successful and peaceful day gone.

That's when I heard the distant screaming.