My ears pricked up at the sound, Fidget had told us to search for a waterfall, this was where Sy was.We had finally found him. Or we were nearly there at least. I closed my eyes and listened intently for a moment as if there was nothing else around us, honing in on the sound of the crashing water. At first it was hard to pinpoint, the accoustics of the forest throwing the sound of the water out but there was no mistaking it, there was a waterfall nearby.

I didn’t have time to prompt Raven, she set off into the trees at lightning pace, I took no time wasting in following her. Skipping through the bushes and hopping over broken branches and vines that would try to snag me with the focus and agility of an athlete. This was the most enthusiastic I had felt since I landed here and hopefully Sy would be able to help us and shed more light on what I was supposed to be doing. It was hard to have a conversation with a talking dog sorceress who would keep vanishing part way into a conversation.

I had missed human interaction, that is if Sy is a human, I didn’t want to assume given that all manner of creatures lived in this world. My mind went down a rabbit hole as I continued to follow Raven through the last of the dense forest until we hit an opening and the sight took my breath away.

“Wow,” I said as I looked out over what could only be described as a forest oasis. Water the bluest I had ever seen cascaded over the side of a fall into a beautiful lagoon, decorated with large Lilly pads. The sound was hypnotic, almost soothing as the water crashed into the lagoon below and given how much my body was aching, I could only imagine how nice it would be to let those waters beat into my muscles. In fact just having a swim would be amazing. At the top of the waterfall sat a ramshackle hut that was simply perfect, made from the materials of the forest it had wooden walls, with a big bar like opening at the front, giving the best panoramic vue of the oasis. A string of different glowing bottles hung down on pieces of string or rope by the side of the window, but what ever was ins side looked like they were moving. The bottles chimed lightly in a melodic tone as they glanced of each other, like a wind chime. Thick felled branches, although uneven, braced up against a canopy made of large leaves and dried grass which then connected to a slightly raised, circular roof, moss was growing over patches of the dried grass as if the building its self was becoming its own eco system. The ground in front of the house was covered in thick moss, it looked spongy and comfortable, almost carpet like.

“I wonder if it has a bed inside.” I said as I continued to look down at the lagoon below us. I noticed a rope ladder trailing down from a small walkway, that reached down into a patch of land by the lagoon, it must have been at least fifty feet down. I wondered if it would be big enough to be able to jump from without hurting myself. The water was that inviting, whatever this place was, I never wanted to leave.

I continued to look over the lagoon, exploring every detail, even the smell in the air was soothing, floral, with a hint of sweetness that just pulled you in. People would pay good money to be in place like this with kicking back with a cocktail.

“Is that a hammock.” I pointed at the trees at the base of the lagoon, sure as anything a hammock was set u, pulled tightly between two robust trees. Where in the hell did this guy find the materials he needed to make a hammock. As I looked closely it looked like it was made of some sort of parachute. The edges were frayed, with bnits of material hanging from it but I didn’t care. The first chance I got, I was going to have a swim in the lagoon followed by a sleep on the hammock.

Raven led the way as we waved around the outer edge of the clearing towards the house which was on our level, all the while I fought that increasing urge to jump of the top and into the lagoon below. I could practically feel the cold waters an my skin. We crossed a makeshift bridge that crossed over the water that led to the falls, it wobbled when we got on but it was sturdy enough for us both. I was in awe at what I was seeing.

When we reached the door to the house there was no sign of anyone so I called out.

“Hello?”

There was no answer.

“Hello?”

“Who are you? And what do you want?” A voice called from behind me.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I turned round but what was stood there was not it.

I was greeted by a man, he was of a strong build, wearing an oversized peach coloured hoody, he had a pair of pastel blue shorts on that were probably bait shorter than they needed to be, revealing heavily tattooed legs. His face was one that had seen a lot of sun, tanned and worn, I think I saw another tattoo on the side of his face, near his eye but I was too far away to make out any discernible detail. His face was matted in a thick brown beard, one that was big enough to nest some birds in and his thick neck was also covered in tattoos. A thick, khaki coloured beanie hat sat on his head as he stood in front of us, I couldn’t help but noticed one of his hands were clenched. Then I noticed he was wearing a pair of slippers, with a single duck etched onto each of them.

*Quest complete*

*Reward 1x health potion*

*1x stamina potion

“I’m sorry you're just not what I expected?” I said as I took a step forward, towards him.

“Woah there brother, that’s close enough,” He said, it was clear that despite wearing an oversized hoody this man was built like a monster. “Let’s not just go diving in like that without any introductions.” His accent was recognisable, he was English, it sounded northern but I wasn’t one hundred percent sure.

“Sorry,” I didn’t mean too, it’s just a relief to see someone who is,” I paused for a moment, “Well like me.”

The man smiled, as I accessed my menu to see if it would let me confirm if it was who were looking for but I was greeted with a bunch of question marks where his name should be.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“I’m Silas, this is Raven.”

“Get that fucking thing away from me,” The man said, it was part fear part hostility and instinctively I stepped in front of Raven, shielding her from him in case he attacked.

“Woah there, she’s with me.” I said, confused as to why he would react like that. “We mean you no harm whatsoever. I am lost, you see I am not from around here I just kind of landed here.”

The man’s eyes remained fixed on Raven, deep blue eyes bore into her with anger and distrust, andI had no idea why.

“Raven means you no harm, she saved me, if not for her I would never have found you, I would likely be dead.”

“Am I supposed to thank her for that? You still haven’t told me why you are here?”

“As I was saying, one minute I was home, then the next minute I was here, lost and miles away from home with absolutely no clue how I got here or how to get back. Then I had this sorceress Fidget contact me-”

“Fidget?” The man said, “You know Fidget?”

“Yes, that s what I am trying to say, she is the one who told me to look for a man named Sy who lived by the waterfall, she said you would be able to help you.”

“Did she now,” he still had an untrusting look, albeit slightly softer than before. “And why would I do that?”

“I don’t know, she didn’t go into that much detail all she mentioned was that I was brought here as her champion to help defeat some evil warlord called Belzebere, or do something like that and I needed to find the fragments of the chaos blade to do this.”

There were so many words that were spilling out of my mouth that I was like the conversational equivalent of a waterfall.

He continued to stare at me before looking at Raven then back at me.

“There’s a lot to dissect there,” he said.

“You are Sy aren’t you? You are the person we have been looking for.?”

“I am,”

‘quack, quack’ my attention was brought to a couple of full grown ducks that waddled out from behind Sy’s thick, tattood legs. These were full sized ducks but more like the ones you would see in a bath tub, they were bright yellow, with orange beaks like they had been painted by an artist. One of them hissed at us in disapproval.

“It’s ok Magenta,” Sy said, “Apparently, Fidget sent these two to find us.”

The other duck let out a loud quack.

Sy laughed as if he understood what they were saying. “I agree,”

“What’s that one called?” I asked, interrupting them. “Magenta and?”

“This right here is Malachi, but he likes to go by Mal.”

“ And you can talk to them?”

He looked at me like I was the crazy one. But then again, who was to say he couldn’t have a conversation in this place, I have genuinely seen stranger things happen.

“Fidget said you would be able to help me, I am new to this place and as much as Raven has been able to help me, she can’t speak, so I have kind of been guessing how everything works.”

“That’s why she sent you here then, she wants me to train you.” Sy slapped his hands on his hips, “There is no chance, I haven’t trained any body for years.”

“You have been here for years?” I asked. I dont know why I was so surprised to hear his say this.

“As long as I can remember, or at least ten years, everything before then is like my mind has been wiped clean.”

“Well you dress like people from where eI am from so I am guessing you are from there.”

“Word of advice, what did you say your name was?”

“Silas,”

“A word of advice Silas, I am going to tell you something that I was told when I wfirst got here by a man who died not long after. You should never guess, never assume. You see if you assume it makes an ASS-out of U and ME.”

I had heard the saying before and for a second I thought I was watching a parody training video that HR would make us endure as part of our mandatory training. The kind where people just talk through the most basic things that even a child would know all so they could tick a box and make sure that there insurance was clear.

“Thanks for the advice,” I said, I offered my hand out to shake. “I was hoping you would be bale to help me because as of right now, I haven’t got a clue what I am doing.”

“Isn’t that all of us?”

“Well I was hoping you would be able to shed a little bit of light. If I am honest it’s nice to have a conversation with someone, without being in imminent danger.” I looked down at a disapproving Raven. “No offence,” I said.

“Let me think on it, the last person I trained, well,” Sy paused for the briefest of moments, “Well that didn’t end well shall we say. After that I Tod Fidget that my training days were over, the question is why would she send you here, to me knowing this. Besides weren’t they off on their quest to go and fight Belzebe-,” he stopped himself mid sentence and the world looked like It had just Allen onto his shoulders.

“Are you ok?”

“I just need to sit down.” His legs wobbled as he staggered past me and towards his house, Mal and Magenta followed closely behind.

We followed him into the house where ehe took a seat on a large tree stump that had been carved very poorly into a stool.

“That means they are all gone, they must have failed.”

“Who has failed?”

“The Guardians,”

He was talking no sense and I had no clue as to what he was talking about. “I don’t know who these Guardians are, or what happened to them?”

“But you say you know Fidget?”

“Yes she reached out to me with some form of telepathic projection, I could see her in my vision like I was watching a movie screen. She Tod me she had summoned a champion and that that was me. That here is dangerous but he is too far away to help me and that I should find you, that you would help me and I assume keep me safe.”

“You do know she is a Guardian?”

“Who is?”

“Fidget is, one of the newest recruits, it's rare you get two members in the Guardians of the same class type but, Zurin he believed in her.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, interrupting Sy, I was worried that the conversation was getting away from us and wanted us to keep on track. “Who is Zurin?”

“He is Fidget’s master, her mentor, the dude who trained her in the art of sorcery.” He wiggled his fingers around like he was casting a fake spell. “If Fidget has tried to summon a new champion then she must hope that you cn potentially become a Guardian. But that means that the Guardians must have been defeated, they must have failed.”

“And what does that mean?”

“It means that we are all fucked my friend.”

At least he referred to me as friend, that was a good sign given the circumstances.

“I just want to get home, and if I can survive along the way that would be great, I will help as many people as I can along the way.”

Sy stewed on his thoughts for a while and I took the opportunity to look around the house from where I stood. It was perfectly neat and tidy, everything was perfectly placed, or placed as best as they could be given he had a house made of raw materials sitting at the top of a waterfall.

“Be right back, I gotta go take a pee!”

Sy just stood up and left, leaving me and Raven stood in the equivalent of his living room with Mal and Magenta just staring at us, Mal gave a quack as if he was inviting us to sit down. I didn’t, choosing to stay standing, Raven remained by the opening at the front, she was on guard, I could tell she wasn’t at ease being here, the question was why.

“Sorry about that,” Sy said as he returned to the room, “Now where were we?”

“I was just telling you that I wanted to find a way back home.”

“That’s right,” Sy said, sitting back in his stool. There was an awkward silence that filled the air when he didn't say anything else. I looked at him blankly, still not knowing what the next steps were.

“What’s the plan then?” I asked, choosing to take the lead. “Fidget said you would help us, it wasn’t easy finding you and I was hoping she would be right, I mean you seem like a nice guy.”

“What did I say just a short moment ago? You should never assume, if I am going to train you, you need to start listening to what I tell you.”