Dear Reader,
This short stroy, although taking place in the same universe as the rest, is written differently as it was written before the idea of this webpage. Thank you for your understnading.
Chapter 1
The darkness was closing around him. Midnight was approaching fast, and John knew not what to do in order to ease his sleep. So he lit a candle and placed it by his front window. Tales and legends have it that any anxious soul, looking for rest, must put a light in their home and the gods will come and look over them.
True or not, the light did ease him. John fell way to sleep, not on his bed, but upon his floor, in front of his door.
The darkness faded away, but John knew he was merely dreaming. He was standing in a throne room, five pillars lined the walls on either side of him and the large, wooden door with iron trim behind him was closed fast. The golden trimmed, red carpet led up to a set of three stairs that led up to a throne in front of a large, stained glass window depicting the creation of the universe.
Sitting in the throne, there was a woman. She was wearing a white gown, with a V-neck, held together by one thread looped four times through the opening, that stopped halfway down her chest. Her golden hair fell over her left shoulder down to her leather belt. Her right leg was set over her left in a feminine fashion.
“John,” she said, “help the people of your village, they are in danger as we speak. I have deemed you worthy of my gift. Go, and help mankind, for you will be rewarded.”
“Who are–” John was cut off as he awoke.
Chapter 2
The door was opened swiftly and hit John in the head. He looked up and noticed a goblin in regular goblin attire, a short, cloth skirt with nothing below; but this goblin was a war goblin. His thighs were thicker from running, arms were thicker from swinging the large sword on his back, and his ears had been cut short.
John tried to get up. “Shtay don,” the goblin said in his heavy Gobil accent. John knew that if he could just get to his sword on the wall, then he would be able to take down the goblin.
Suddenly, he was where the sword was. With no time to wonder how he got there, he ran back to where the goblin was standing. He swung the short sword at a downward angle towards the goblins neck, slicing its head clean off. The wound wasn't bleeding, though, it had been cauterized.
John looked at the sword. It was white hot but not losing its form. He didn't have time to wonder about this phenomenon, though. One look out the window told him that the goblins were not on a peaceful march. They were destroying the village, indiscriminately killing off men, women, and children alike.
Little did John know, they were on a search. The goblins, with slight connections to the ethereal realm, knew that a wizard had come to reside in this village. Little did the goblins know, that wizard was ready to fight and save his village. And, little did John know, he was the wizard.
Chapter 3
John didn't know what to do. He knew he could take on two, maybe three, war goblins at once, but a whole hoard. There was at least a dozen outside, but, when John saw his childhood friends being torn out of their houses, along with their wives and children, he couldn't stop himself.
Lunging through the doorway, John beheaded the first goblin within reach of his sword. Then the second, then the third. He stabbed the fourth in the chest, narrowly missing its heart, but it was the heat that killed it.
The fifth had a chance to retaliate, but John, somehow sensing the goblin behind him, sidestepped out of the way of the goblin's spear. John whipped around, slicing the goblin in half. That's when the goblins got smart.
The rest of the hoard charged him at once, giving him little time to retaliate. Somehow, though, John managed to stab, slice, or behead the rest of the goblins, saving the survivors of the massacre.
Groveling in the mud, a few survivors were still face down, waiting for the death blow from a goblin.
“Get up,” John said, when he was in the middle of most those still on the ground. “I've taken care of the goblins.”
As those on the ground slowly came up to their feet, one old man spoke up.
“John Oliver,” he said, “you have been blessed by the gods, but blessings anger goblins, leave this place, for you shall bring more harm then good before your time is up. If you want to keep your friends safe, and you do want to keep them safe, you will leave this village, for goblins will follow your every footstep.” With that, the man disappeared, only leaving his cloak as evidence that he was ever there.
Chapter 4
John had three choices. The first, to believe the man was wrong and stay in the village he had always known, but John knew he couldn't do that. He had always been told “Better bring food and not eat it, then not bring food and be hungry.” So that left him with two other choices. The first, leave to the woods east of the village, or go across the sea to the south of the village and hope there is more land across it.
Naturally, John chose the forest. He packed his one sac with a the necessities: a loaf of bread, a flask of water, a flask of whiskey, and a small dagger. So, along with his sword, John headed out, in the dead of night, in order to avoid a going-away party.
The forest was said to be old, people said it was nearly as old as the world itself. Something that old, is dangerous, extremely dangerous, unless you stick to the path.
This path was unlike the normal paths in woods, though, for little use makes paths overgrown by the roots of the trees, mossy and difficult to travel. Despite these setbacks, and the ability to get easily lost, John set forth.
He traveled a few hundred meters, the trees gradually getting denser, before the sunlight was replaced by candles. Floating candles. Signature lighting of wood elves. John, though, not looking up, didn't notice the change in lighting, until, that is, the elves attacked.
Chapter 5
Elven attacks are nearly unheard of. Elves are usually peaceful, partly due to the fact that magic is curated by the goddess of peace. Nevertheless, some accounts depict elves as being very territorial. So, when John was hardly paying any attention, the elves that lived in, what the people of John's village call, the East Woods, attacked John.
He was unable to put up a fight, as he was tired from little sleep the night before. The elves were able to capture John and lock him away in their stale dungeon.
The dark brick walls, with only a small window for light, and only worn straw for a floor, sent John into a deep depression that he wouldn't have made it through if it weren't for one elven woman. She seemed a simple wood elf. Dark brown hair, alway braided, always draped over her shoulder. A leafy green dress with a leather belt holding it tight around the waist. Her only accessory was a golden bracelet. However, John saw none of this.
His only communication with her was through the small window in the cell, the same one that let the light in. Their generic conversation went something like this:
“How's the weather out there?” John would ask.
“Quite horrible,” the elf would reply, lying, trying to cheer John up.
“Glad I'm in here then,” John would say.
“Yes,” the elf would reply, “you are quite lucky.”
“So,” John would continue, “how has your day been?”
“Oh, not much to do in this forest,” the elf would reply.
“Why don't you leave the forest, then?”
“That would mean leaving you.”
“What if we left together?”
“You're stuck in there,” the elf would usually say, which typically brought the conversation to a close. Although, our story starts again on an atypical conversation.
The previous dialogue occurred, followed by John saying, “What if I wasn't?” He began to picture the sunlight filtering through the trees, the grass, waving in the breeze, and the face of the woman he had been talking to. Then he was there, just outside his window, standing next to the elf he had come to know.
“How'd you–” she was cut short.
“I don't know,” John said, “but, right now, I need to get out of here.” Not knowing where here was, John asked the elf.
“The Kingdom of Nadron, in the Tork Woods,” she replied.
“Sorry, I don't know where that is,” John said.
“Follow me, I can lead you to the border.”
The elven woman grabbed John by his hand and began to run into the east. John stumbled.
“I'm sorry,” he said, “being cooped up in a cell was worn my legs thin, we must go slower.”
The elf walked back to John. Helping him up, she took his hand once more, leading, again, into the east. It was luckily day, so John and the elf were able to pass, unnoticed, in the crowds of elven passing in and out of the town.
Chapter 6
The forest soon gave way and the overgrown path turned to a well trodden dirt path which soon gave way to a cobbled road at the mark of a sign that read: “The Kingdom of Mondor, 4 foot-lengths” (a foot-length is 1,000 steps).
The cobbled road was not easy to walk, especially for the elf, for she was akin to walking on trodden earth, barefoot. She carried no shoes, she carried nothing. The elf had no time to pack, she only had the clothes on her back and the knife she hid under her dress.
In the distance, about 2 foot-lengths away, John saw the stone wall to the Kingdom. It extended about 3 foot-lengths each direction and about 80 palms (a palm is about 3 inches) up. The large wooden gate was opened but guards stood at each edge, a quarter way in, and in the middle. The wall also had two towers on each side of the gate, presumably with archers in them. The city must have been no stranger to elven attacks.
This means that, when John and the elf got close, the guards were very skeptical when John told them that he had just escaped from an elven dungeon with the help of the elf. He introduced her, learning her name—Fæn—in the process.
The guards agreed to let them in, on the condition that they could conduct a full body search for weapons. John immediately gave up his sword and dagger, and the guards found no other weapons.
Fæn was not so open to the search. She was no stranger to how perverse the minds of men could be. She consented to the search, but then she reached her hand into a small slit in her dress, allowing her to take hold of her knife.
The guards checked her arms, then her neck, followed by her chest. The checking of that took a little too long, so she unsheathed her knife and took three steps backwards.
The guards told her to put the knife down. She didn't. The guards unsheathed their swords. She didn't put the knife down. The guards charged.
She parried the first and second guards blades, jumping over the third blade that was aimed at her leg. The fourth guard was trying to attack her from behind, but John was able to reach his sword in time to save her. Fæn stabbed the fifth—and final—guard when he attacked, finishing the battle.
Four arrows whizzed down, one from each tower. There was no way John and Fæn were going to get past the archers, but there was no way they could take them out either, unless…
BOOM!!!
The towers exploded. John, still not knowing of his powers, was just as surprised as Fæn. All John could do was shrug when she asked him how that happened.
Chapter 7
The city was in mass panic. No one had ever passed the guards and the archers. Except for this one time. The people must have thought this was a planned attack, and it was.
John had forgotten that, while he was in the elven dungeon, the elves had interrogated him, and found out where he was going. They figured that a human would be able to pass through the gates of the city easier than an elf, so they sent Fæn to pretend to be his friend, in order to earn his trust so that he could get her into the city. Now that she was in, John wasn't needed anymore.
John, knowing how to navigate human cities better than Fæn, took the lead, leaving the perfect opportunity for her to stab him. She unsheathed her knife. She got close enough to stab him. Then she got stabbed. John had felt her get close. He had felt her heart rate increase. He knew that she wanted to kill him. So he killed her first.
“I'm sorry,” he whispered.
John still knew little of his powers, but he 'figured out' that the elves were planning an attack. He needed to warn the people. He saw, in the middle of the city, a building of stone, with large, stain glass windows. It had a tower extending towards the sky, with a bell at the top. There was no way that he would get to it before the elves got there. Luckily, he had noticed a trend. Whenever he needed to do some impossible task, he was where he needed to be: get to his sword, escape the dungeon, and, now, get to the bell tower.
He appeared at the top of the tower, standing next to the large, copper bell. He grabbed hold of the rope. He jumped. Through the hole in the floor that led through the stairs, down to the ground level.
The bell gave a mighty tone. Almost loud enough to deafen John, almost. The rope tugged back up. High enough for John to jump off, back to the catwalk around the bell. The vibrations caused by the bell knocked John backwards, making him hit his head on the stone wall surrounding the bell tower.
Chapter 8
“Do not be afraid,” a voice from the darkness said. “Your soul is not able to be taken, you must go back to the Earth.”
“Who? What? Where-” John was confused.
“Shhh, my child,” the voice comforted John. “I am Opifex, maker of all good creatures, and you are John Oliver, one of the few people left on earth that are perfectly torn between Good and Evil. You have no quarrel with either of the gods, and so you have been granted immense power, near equal that of the Angels. The Giver, Dator, appeared to you in a dream and granted you these powers. Our time here is nearing an end. Go, help the humans, save them from my elves.”
Back on earth, the bell had rallied the people to the church (as that's what the building with the bell tower was). The priest didn't know what to do with all the people.
“People!” he said. “I have gathered you here today because… because… because the gods demanded it! I know not what the wish from you, but they want you here, so, my bell ringer rang the bell to get you here. So, the gods, should reveal what they need you to do… any minute now.” A minute passed. “Any minute.” Another minute passed.
Someone from the outside yelled to close the gates. The strongest men of the people followed him and pushed the large wooden gate closed just barely seeing the elves in the distance.
Back at the church, the priest spoke again, “The gods have called these men! Be patient and they shall call the rest of you. Any minute… soon… very soon.”
John awoke at the top of the bell tower. It had been nearly ten minutes. He felt like he had more power. Looking down, John saw he had gotten new attire. He was now in a gray robe stretching from his neck to his ankles. His sleeves were extremely loose. He reached up and felt his face. A long, gray beard had grown. He was also wearing a pointed, large brimmed, gray hat. Not only this, he also felt stronger, physically and mentally. There was one other change. His sword had changed from a stubby, warrior's blade, to an elegant, wooden staff.
CRACK!!!
Lightning came in through the north opening in the bell tower, striking he staff. It began to glow with power. Immediately, John knew how to use it.
Chapter 9
The people that had been rallied in the church saw John float down from the bell tower.
“People,” he said, “I have been sent to you with the blessing of Dator. The elves of the woods to the west are attacking. They have received help from the goblins, for the goblins wish to kill me; but today, we will not die, today, we fight. Not just for our lives, but for our dignity, for our honor, and, most importantly, for our freedom.
“Men! Gather your weapons! Send the women and children to any underground store houses you have, then follow me.”
John flew forward, out of the church and to the gates that were throbbing with the mass of elves outside pushing in. All he was waiting for was the men to grab their weapons. Soon enough, the men gathered at the gate, prepared for battle. In no time at all, after the men had prepared, the gate ruptured, send large wooden shards inward, impaling many of the men. The shards were not their biggest problem, though, now the elves and the goblins were pouring in... (not to be continued)