Chapter 1 : strange dream

Arni village, home world, 1020 A.D.

The sun had risen several hours ago upon the small fishing village of Arni. In his bed, Serge was twisting uncomfortably. He woke abruptly and sat up in his bed. His heart was beating furiously and images were flashing rapidly in his mind. A gigantic building, a girl with blonde hair tied-up in a ponytail and dressed in a short red skirt and jacket and white shirt. A strange faerie-like creature… and blood. It was dripping from the dagger he held in his right hand to his forearm and to the floor.

"That's got to be the weirdest dream I ever had." he muttered to himself. "But she was hot though."

However, it was all more like a nightmare. Serge pushed the covers aside and got up. He pulled on a black shirt and navy shorts. He also put on his red bandana and shoes and left his bedroom. In the kitchen, he met his mom.

"Ah, you're finally awake, sleepy head." she said in a soft voice.

Serge mumbled something under his breath that sounded like: 'morning.

"By the way, Leena dropped by to see if you were awake, but since you were still snoring loudly, she left for the pier." she added.

"Got it." Serge said lazily while fumbling in the cupboards for something to eat for breakfast.

"There's some bread and jam in the cupboard to your left. I'll be leaving for work now." she said.

"What?" Serge said, startled.

Remembering the hour at which his mom usually left for work, he quickly glanced at the clock and saw that it was indicating one hour p.m.

"Oh shit", he exclaimed, before grabbing some slices of bread and quickly pouring some jam on them. He hurried away trying his best not to choke himself while running and eating at the same time.

When he got to the pier, he spotted Leena and went toward her

"Hey, Leena!" He called to her.

"Well, well, if it isn't mr. sorry-I-overslept-for-the-millionth-time-even-if-I-promised-

not-to." She said in a mocking tone.

"Oh, come on, you know I don't make it on purpose…"

"Yeah, sure, so that's why you were still at Bertha's by 3 a.m. this morning talking about that magical dreamers concert coming up and drooling over the poster of that dancer with Devan and Stanley?"

"What the?..." His voice trailed off.

"Your mom told me when I came this morning. Why don't you just get over it. None of us is going to see the magical dreamers' concerts anymore now."

Damn, man, why do women always team up against men to make us feel ashamed of ourselves?

"Look, don't get mad. We can still go fetch those scales for your necklace."

"I'm afraid that we can't go get the scales Serge. Since you weren't showing up, I was asked to baby sit the kids, so I'm stuck here for the rest of the afternoon."

She turned to the kids who were swimming and put her hands to her hips. Serge sighed and looked to the ground.

"I'm sorry. I'll go get those scales and then, maybe we could meet at Opassa beach."

Leena slowly turned around and gave him a weak smile.

"It's ok Serge. I wasn't mad at you… well, maybe a little, but it's ok. I'll meet you at Opassa beach.

Serge just smiled and walked away. Suddenly, his stomach gave a loud gurgling sound.

Geez, man…Arguing with Leena sure gets one hungry.

He headed for Bertha's to get a real meal before going hunting. He went to the counter to order some fried fish and then spotted the old Sam staring at the poster of Miki. He went to him.

"Hey, Sam! How are you doing?"

"Oh, just fine, m'boy, just fine." He said, returning his gaze to the dancer.

"Look at her, isn't she gorgeous, boy? I can't wait to see those jiggle at the concert… ahem, her arms of course!" he corrected himself as he saw his wife coming over to serve Serge his fish.

"Oh, for crying out lout!" Bertha said in a pissed off voice. "Men are all animals. A tight outfit showing some skin is all it takes to make them lose it!"

She went back to the counter shaking her head disapprovingly. Sam stared at her for a moment and turned to Serge.

"As long as there'll be pretty women in this world, I'll be smiling, boy." He said, winking.

Serge smiled back. Finishing his fish, he went to the counter to leave some money before heading home to pick up his swallow.