Into the shades of a dense forest …. Some rumbling movements are seen. Let's get a closer look -

(Speedy running and panting sounds) No! No! Ohh God!

An elderly person of about 60 years of age with soiled and torn clothes, a camera hanging from around his neck and his hand clenched in a fist. A weird reddish blue glow coming from the slight gaps between his fingers. He tries climbing a tree but slips and goes unconscious. When he wakes up he's on a chair in his lawn. It had beautiful scenery, the best in town (one of the perks of being a high ranking army officer) suddenly he remembered that he was in a forest a few moments ago. He was confused and thought it was a dream as his clothes were clean and there were no signs of any injuries on his hand, unknowingly he got his hands in his pocket and found a strange crystal in his pocket. He then went to his bedroom and inspected his body but found no evidence of what he felt moments ago but clutched his head in pain. He was confused and decided to go to the doctor, who is also his friend from the force.

After around 15 minutes he reached a clinic. The attendant told him that the doctor went to bring something from a nearby shop and he will call him when the doctor is back. The old man went to sit in a park a bit away from the clinic. Kids were playing and some couples were having a walk in the cool breeze. After some time he saw a girl who was looking confused in the far end of the park. He felt some kind of magnetic pull and started to go her way but before he could reach her she took out something similar to a smartphone and disappeared. Meanwhile he got a call that the doctor was back so he went back to the clinic.

The doctor saw him as he entered.

" Ahh! Old chap Barros! What brings you here?"

"Hey Barney! I just suddenly got a severe headache and was about to pass out. But you know how tough I am"

He served as a soldier for the country for 46 years of his life. Then when he turned 60, he retired and started a life of peace. He also spent most of his time taking pictures in forests or mountains or drawing paintings. His new life had been quite peaceful until….. Today.

"Come here, lie down. Let me see what happened", said Barney.

"You're completely fine", said the doctor, " you just need some rest. Here, take this and go to the medical shop and get this tonic. Take it once a day for a week… You'll be fit as a fiddle within a week."

" Thanks", Paulo says and leaves.

The next day he got an urge to paint. One of his hobbies was painting so he had the supplies so he started painting just as he woke up. After some time, when he finished he realised he made a kind of big portal and there are small spiral shaped disoriented things and a beam of light passing through their exact centre. He got even more confused and decided to go to that place again.He took his old but trusty rifle and some bullets and went to the forest. He tried to remember and follow the same path again. After around 2 hours of searching he finally reached what looked like an ancient cave. He inspected the surrounding with his sharp instincts, his rifle loaded and ready to fire. After being satisfied that there's no threat he went inside carefully taking each step. A drop of sweat falls from his face in concentration. Suddenly he heard a faint voice of a girl singing a melodious song. He slowly and cautiously approaches the source of the sound.Then it suddenly stops but he keeps on going, a girl appears out of nowhere and hits his rifle with her sword and his rifle falls on the ground far from his reach.

As he was a master hand to hand combatant he turned and swung his hand and her sword was on the ground. But the girl won't give up. At that moment the crystal in Paulo's pocket started glowing, seeing this the girl relaxed and extended her hand as she said

"I'm sorry. I thought you were the enemy. But now I'm sure you're not."

"How can you be so sure?" Paulo asks.

"The crystal in your pocket….. If you can carry it safely, then you're not the enemy, Mr Paulo," she says.

"How did you know my name!?" asks the old man, astonished.

"You have your name embedded on your rifle ….. By the way, I'm Hayley Zicktor."