Crash!

I fell on the floor; the stale, dust-filled air lifting around me as though someone had just set a blanket upon the ground.

I stirred, my eyes fluttering open, gradually adjusting to make out the room I was in. It was dark, barring a few strands of light sifting through the cracks in the dark stone bricks. 

I could make out what seemed to be runes, still glowing in a faint purple light carved in the stone in a circle around me, their light rapidly diminishing. 

There were stairs leading up, hopefully out of this dark place, a few meters in front of me. For a time, I dazedly looked, almost hypnotized, at the dust dancing through the air where the rays shone and tried to recall how I got here. My memory was a complete mess. 

Scenes of a boat and a man with slick blonde hair flowing in the wind coursing rapidly through my mind for what seemed like minutes until a splitting headache tore me away from my thoughts, making me reel. 

Letting out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, I slowly got up. Disregarding the pain in my knees and ribs that had surely sprouted from the fall, I made my way to the only thing of note in the small room. 

The table was almost empty, and within this darkness one could easily have overlooked the piece of parchment sitting on top of it.

Read this if you wake up before I come back.

I'm sorry for doing things like this but I knew you wouldn't have listened to me had I told you to say put. You're not nearly strong enough to be more than a liability on this mission, Skeron. Anyhow, I stilled you so you wouldn't get bored in here, though I don't expect to be gone for long. That wench isn't strong enough to take us all at once, no matter how good her mastery over essence. There's a village nearby so you can go and say hi if you're bored.

-Maximilian

"What?" I said unwittingly. 

'So my name is Skeron?.. And this man, Maximilian, is.. who exactly? My friend? A mentor perhaps? Was he the one on the boat with me? And why can't I remember anything since waking up?' 

Too many questions. It somehow felt like forever had passed since I had been brought here by that man. I looked at my hands, feeling estranged in my own body.

Though I didn't know what was going on, one thing I was fairly certain of was that this man didn't intend harm to befall me, and that my losing most if not all of my memories was most likely an unintended side effect of whatever spell he had cast to sedate me. I would have to meet with him to try and reverse the effect, if there even was a way to do so.

Deciding I wouldn't get any answers by staying here, I took a steadying breath to calm my churning mind and started toward the stairs. 

I climbed at a slow pace, still acutely aware of the pain with which I had woken up. I wasn't sure where the exit lay given the dark environment, as I was too preoccupied with not tripping on my own feet. In fact, one would normally expect a staircase leading to the surface to have daylight pouring in. 

I didn't get to formulate any hypothesis on the matter though, as upon touching the last step, my vision shifted and I was instantly assailed by nausea. And then, as swiftly as it had come, it disappeared like a mirage. 

I found myself in the middle of a dense forest, with no sign of the professed village anywhere I looked. Nor for that matter, did I see any steps leading back down; though I did see from the corner of my eye what seemed like a shimmering dark portal closing before it completely vanished from existence. 

Thinking the village couldn't be far from where I'd arrived, I scaled up the closest tree – making sure not to trip and fall back to the ground far below – and found myself looking not at a village, but a sprawling city. 

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The city, I observed, had two rims: an outer rim filled with common houses and buildings that never exceeded three stories and an inner rim that appeared much more grandiose, at least from what I could make out on top of my tree. 

Tall silver buildings and towers that seemed lined with gold from the way the sun reflected off them going ever upwards as one got closer to the center made up most of its layout. Confused, I looked around again but it really was the only thing in sight. 

Thinking the man must have made a mistake, I climbed back down and made my way toward the town.

The journey took the better part of an hour, the city slowly creeping closer as I strode forward. I combed my brain, trying to remember about who I was, but to no avail; the only reward a throb in the back of my head. 

By the time it subsided, I found myself already stepping close to the gates, my feet hurting from the march. 

The comings and goings were aplenty. On the right side, people that seemed dressed for war made their way out in a trickle, the guards not bothering to check them as they left. 

On the other side was a long line of what looked like merchants, and a few of those same warrior-looking people, I surmised, looking a bit worse for wear compared to the ones leaving the city. 

Those, I assumed, were the ones returning from killing whatever made them like this in the first place. Still gazing at everyone I came across, I went to stand in the back of the line and waited. 

It took about twenty minutes for my turn to come. A bored, gruff man in plated armor that showed signs of wear looked at me with one eye while he read a parchment given to him by a messenger that had departed as swiftly as he had come.

"Reason for entering?" He said sternly. "Uhm.. Visiting a friend I guess." I replied, unsure of what exactly I was going to do inside the city while waiting for the man, Maximilian, to show up. He looked me up and down and scoffed. 

My clothes, it appeared, weren't in what one might call a pristine state. The events of the day had been so disconcerting that I was only now gaining awareness of the fact that I had been wearing little more than a tattered linen shirt and pants, as well as torn leather boots. 

"Fine," He said, still looking as bored by his job. "Let him through. Welcome to Evershade. Next!"

The guards manning the gate let me in and I was now looking at a broad street about forty meters wide, with a line of trees and flowers cleaving it in half. It spanned from the gates all the way to the entrance leading to the second rim of the city. 

Making a conscious effort to not gape at the sight, I gathered myself and proceeded forward, taking it all in. Both sides of the street were lined with high class restaurants, shops and the like, though one could distinctly see the increase in quality in both the wares and the fronts as they strode toward the heart of the city. 

The place was crowded, as one could expect from a central walkway, and not few gazes lingered on me, sticking out like a sore thumb among the fancily dressed and warriors. Beggars, it appeared, were not common sight in this part of the city.

My mind turned for a few moments as I looked around, and I concluded that since I didn't know when the man, Maximilian, would be back to get me – nor for that matter, did I know how he would find me in this gigantic city – I needed a place to crash for the night. Though most of all, I needed information. I didn't even know where I was, my only knowledge that of the town I was in.

Looking as shabby as I did, I figured the best way I could get directions would be to ask someone who might not care much for my clothes, and that would be either ruffians and beggars, or one of those mercenaries I kept seeing roaming about. 

Suspecting the last option might be my best, I approached one walking slowly down the street, eyeing the wares of what appeared to be a slightly upper class armor shop. 

He was a tall, buff, somewhat handsome man looking to be in his twenties. He wore a bandanna to prevent his eyes from getting covered by the huge mane of brown hair he sported down to his shoulders, as well as a tight-fitting boiled leather armor and a pair of twin short swords at his hips.

"Hey, do you know where I could find information in the city?" I asked, trying to sound as polite as would sound normal to such an individual.

"Huh?" He said, his head pivoting half-way to look at me. He frowned. "I mean I guess there's the library up on Second Street, but they won't let you in looking like.. that."

"Ah. Yeah, I figured. Do you know of any way I could earn some money and get a change of clothes? Name's, uh.., Skeron by the way." I answered, still hesitating somewhat.

A booming laugh ensued "Well! In this outfit you could always sit down somewhere and wait!" He replied, looking quite amused by what must have been a joke. 

I half-laughed in courtesy. "Although.. You know your way 'round a sword?" He asked, a glimmer of something that could've only been skepticism lighting up in his eyes, as he looked me up and down. 

"I.. I think so, yeah?" I said, unaware of what it was that made me confident.

"I think so? HA! If that's not the most half-hearted answer I've ever heard! Come with me lad, we'll try and get you a job fitting for your conviction, and you can tell me about how you got into those clothes."