It was a quiet day at the park, almost too quiet for Caspers liking, no birds were singing, no insects were buzzing around. Not even the wind rustled the trees.

“What is going on here, there are always people around.” Casper thought. 

“This doesn't feel right,” he muttered. Casper wanted to turn around and go back but it was like he was compelled to continue forward.

He had a weird feeling that he couldn’t shake, it was like something was up ahead, something that pulled at him. 

The further Casper walked the stronger the pull became and harder to resist.

“What is that?” he said in complete shock.  He couldn't understand what it was, it was something he had only seen in movies or video games.

 Up ahead Casper saw something in the trees that looked like a rift or a tear in space. The rift was darker than night, completely black, like someone had ripped open the very fabric of the world.  It was floating about a meter up in the air.  It was something that shouldn't exist.

Casper was about thirty meters away from the rift, the pull was so strong now it felt like hooks were pulling him forward. Now Casper was so compelled to continue that he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. 

 He walked right toward the rift, his clothes snagged at branches and bushes, he stumbled on roots poking up from the ground, Casper was so fixated on the rift he didn’t care where he walked, he just needed to get to it as fast as possible.

Casper was so close now he could reach out a hand and touch it, and the urge to do so was unbelievably powerful. In a stupor Casper reached out to the rift, the moment he laid his hand upon it he, everything started spinning, his vision darked until he couldn't see anything. Casper felt himself lose consciousness as he was being pulled into the rift.

“uugh, what just happened ” groaned Casper, he had just woken up from unconsciousness and his body felt bruised and battered. Casper tried to open his eyes but the light blinded him like he hadn't seen daylight in days. He laid there feeling something cold and damp under him and he felt the wind brush his face. Casper took a deep breath and was surprised how clean and fresh the air smelled, nothing like the air he was used to.

Casper was finally able to open his eyes, the light no longer made his eyes hurt. What he saw wasn’t what he was expecting. He expected to see the smaller trees with yellow leaves he had seen in the park. But what he saw was large tall trees with a thick green canopy. Casper forced his aching body to sit up. “Where am I?” he muttered in confusion. 

All around him was a sprawling forest. He had never seen a forest like this near his home. “I must have hit my head or I was drugged and someone dumped me here” he thought. In a panic Casper checked his pockets for his phone and wallet, he was relieved when he found everything. He also still had his pocket knife and lighter. “If someone did drug me, they would have taken my stuff” he thought in bewilderment. Casper didn’t understand how he ended up in this forest all alone, there were no roads nearby he could see. 

Casper took out his phone “damn” He said in frustration, his phone was dead. He saw his reflection in the blank screen, what he saw surprised him, his skin was much paler than usual, his blue eyes and blonde short hair looked like they always had but what surprised him was the black mark on his throat. 

Casper had never seen a mark like that before. It looked like a tendril moving down his throat. He Stared at it and suddenly he thought he saw the black mark move and slither. “WTF” he almost shouted, and  accidently dropped his phone ín surprise. “Dammit” he said as he bent down to pick up his phone. As he looked at his reflection again the mark was completely still, “I must have imagined it, but  I'm sure I saw it moving” Casper thought. 

Casper decided to stop thinking about the mark and to find his way out of the forest.

He didn't know where he was or where he should go, his phone was dead and he had no map or compass. Casper knew that no one would be looking for him for a few days, as he lived alone and he had no were to be the next few days. So he had to get moving if he wanted to get out of the forest. Casper looked up at the sky and there he saw a flock of birds flying in the cloudless sky. With no idea how to find civilization he started following the birds in hope they would lead him somewhere.  

While trying to make his way between the trees and undergrowth, he noticed that the forest around him looked old, like civilization had never touched this part of the world. Suddenly he heard the undergrowth begin to rustle, Casper stopped when some kind of animal came spriting out in front of him, it was an animal he had never seen before or even heard of. It looked like small deer with brown fur but it had six legs and it had horns instead of antlers.

“What was that?” Casper said in shock, he didn’t think such an animal existed. After seeing the weird animal he remembered the rift he was pulled into. “The trees and the animal that shouldn't exist, maybe I’m not on earth anymore” thought Casper. After thinking about some more he thought that idea was absurd and there is no way he could have been pulled into a magical portal. The only explanation was that he was hallucinating. Right now if it was real or his mind playing tricks on him didn’t matter he still needed to get out of the forest.

After a while Casper came upon a stream, with gusto he bent down, scooped up water in his hands and splashed his face. He was hot, tired and thirsty, so thirsty he scooped up more water and took a long drink, the water tasted clean and fresh. While he sat there and rested Casper began to doubt that he was still on earth, while walking he had seen more things that made his doubts come out more, it was small things like plants and other animals. Everything was so real and vivid, hallucination became less and less likely. 

After Casper had rested he looked up between the trees and what he saw made his heart jump, there was a line of smoke rising up. Excited to see another person and maybe get some food, Casper rushed towards the smoke.

The sun had started going down and the forest became darker by the hour, the birds had stopped singing, while the light disappeared it became harder for Casper to see where he was going, but he was in luck because the darkness made it easier to see the light in the distance.

Casper could see a small campfire, there was a tent made out of some kind of hide. Sitting by the crackling campfire was a man, the light was too dim to see the man's face, but he could see that the man was wearing some kind of leather and fur outfit. The man had a sheath dagger on his belt and a bow and quiver lay against a rock. Casper was about to call out to the stranger when he stepped on a branch. Casper winced at the loud crack the branch made.

The man shot to his feet and grabbed his bow and knocked an arrow. He aimed in the direction Casper stood but he couldn't see anything beyond the firelight. The man said something in a language Casper didn’t understand. But the tone of voice made it seem like the man had just given an order, most likely telling whoever it was to show themself. Casper took a chance and held his hands up and stepped slowly into the light hoping he wouldn’t get shot. When the man saw Casper he said something else and did a stopping motion with the bow. Thinking it was useless but he needed to say something, Casper said “I don’t understand you”, He was surprised when the man with the bow answered, 

Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

“Stay there!”  Said the man in heavily accented english.

“Who are you and what do you want?”the man asked, “My name is Casper and I need help.” The man looked at Casper with suspicion and asked “Are you alone?” “Yes, you are the only person I have met in these woods” answered Casper. “What are you doing out here all alone?” Casper thought about lying and telling the man that he got lost, but this man might have valuable information. “I don’t know why I’m here, I was pulled into a portal and ended up in this forest” Casper thought the man would call him a liar or crazy, but the man did neither. The man actually seemed to relax at those words. “Run afoul of a mage did you?” said the man in a serious tone. He lowered his bow and waved Casper forward. Name’s Ryndor, take a seat by the fire. Did magic exist here, Casper couldn’t believe that this man spoke about mages so nonchalantly like it was a common occurrence here.

Casper sat down by the fire and warmed his hand and asked “What are you doing out here?” “Hunting” Ryndor answered shortly as he picked up some dried meat.

“Thank you Ryndor” said Casper as the man handed him some meat. “I figure you must be hungry” “ Yes I’m starvin, i haven’t eaten anything the whole day'' Casper answered as he wolfed down his food. After being lost in a forest the entire day, even the dried meat tasted heavenly. “So Ryndor, where are we?” Casper asked “We are in the forest of Naror in the northern part of the kingdom of Naror” Now Casper definitely knew that he wasn’t on earth anymore. “Are you from one of the bigger cities?” asked Ryndor, “Yes” lied Casper “How did you know?” “You sound educated and I have never seen clothes like your’s” Said the man. 

Casper thought about what Ryndor said, clearly this world had some kind of english language, Casper didn’t understand how they could have similar languages but he didn’t want to ask questions that would show how little he knew about this world. “Do you live nearby?” asked Casper, “aye I live nearby.” Casper waited for Ryndor to continue but apparently he didn’t want to say anything more. Casper didn’t blame him for not telling a stranger where he lived. After they had finished eating, Ryndor stood up and said “You can stay here tonight, in the morning I will give you directions to the nearest village.” “Thank you” said Casper gratefully, “Yes, you’re welcome” grunted Ryndor back. That night Casper slept like a rock, everything that had happened to him that day really took it out of him. 

Casper woke up feeling rested, he yawned as he stood up and stretched, the sun already rose some time ago and he wasn't surprised that he slept so late. Casper looked around the camp, the fire had burned itself out and was nothing but a pile of ashes. Ryndor stepped into his view, “Good you're up, you will need to go soon if you want to reach the village before sundown.”  Casper nodded, but he was feeling dirty and sweaty, and he really wanted to clean himself up. Casper looked around for the stream he had followed last night, he hadn’t paid attention from which way he came from, “which way is the stream? I followed it last night, but I can’t find it now.'' “You can’t see it from here, but it’s about fifty steps that way” Ryndor said as he pointed towards the left side of the camp.

 The thick bushes and trees really hid Ryndor’s camp well, if it wasn’t for the light from the campfire, Casper would never have found it. Casper headed towards the stream with Ryndor following behind him. “If you follow the downstream you will reach a dirt road, follow that and you will soon find the village Trenk” As they reach the stream Casper took off his black leather  jacket and grey t-shirt and hung them on a nearby branch. 

He was about to scoop up some to wash when Ryndor made a Strangled noise. Casper turned around quickly and Ryndor was staring at him with a horrified expression. “What's wrong?” Casper started saying but he looked down to see what the man was staring at. The mark on his throat continued down his shoulders and torso in a slithering pattern. “Demon spawn!” shouted Ryndor, his face was a mask of hatred, He looked at Casper like he was the most revolting thing he had ever seen. 

Ryndor pulled his dagger free from its sheath and rushed at Casper with a scream and nothing but hatred in his eyes. Everything happened so fast that Casper barley was able scramble away from Ryndor’s wild slashes, Ryndor came slashing the dagger again and Casper tried back away but he slipped on the wet rocks, he fell backwards into the stream, Ryndor was upon him in an instance and tried stabb Casper in the chest, but Casper got a hold on the man's arms tried to keep the knife away, but he knew it was only moments until the dagger reached him, When Ryndor had attacked Casper felt only fear and confusion, but know when his death was upon him, only anger burned inside him, with the anger came a sense of power within Casper, The power wanted to be released. “FUCK YOU!” He Screamed as the power came crashing out of him and the world around him exploded.

 Ryndor was blown away by a massive force, water and dirt flew in every direction. Casper lied there feeling completely spent. Casper wanted to rest but he had no choice then to get up before his attacker came back. Casper forced himself to stand up, All around was destruction, the ground was torn up, rocks had crumbled into pieces, branches had torn the trees, it looked like a bomb had been set off. Casper didn’t see Ryndor at first, he had expected him to attack again, but he saw Ryndor’s body lying a couple meters away in a broken mess.  Casper carefully walked forwards, he could now see that Ryndor was dead, his body was a broken mess, his limbs were twisted into weird angles, his skull looked like it had been crushed and blood ran from his eyes and mouth. 

Casper barely looked at the dead body as he smiled and remembered the power he had unleashed. Never in his life had he felt something so glorious and empowering, it was like a part of him that had been missing his entire life had suddenly returned, even now he could still feel the strange power within him, before when he used it against his attacker, the power burned like a bonfire but now it felt more like embers. 

His excitement disappeared and his smile changed into scowl as he looked down at the broken body at his feet, he realized that he just killed someone for the first time in his life. He expected he would feel remorse or guilt for taking this man's life but he felt neither, Ryndor had tried to kill him without any hesitation and seemingly without any reason. The only thing Casper could see as the reason for Ryndor’s attack was his new mark. He looked down to see his mark, this time  he wasn’t surprised when the mark was moving around like a slithering snake.

After contemplating the recent events, Casper decided he might as well search his attacker's body. He bent down and untied the seath and tied it to his own belt, now just needed to find the dagger. He also found a few coins, he smiled as put them in his own pocket. Luckily for Casper the dagger hadn’t flown far. He walked back towards the camp and left Ryndor’s body lying on the cold forest floor. Back at the camp he began gathering dead branches and tinder for the fire, now he really felt lucky that he still had his lighter. After starting the fire he sat down heavily and let out a long breath, he still felt exhausted from using his power. 

He looked around and saw a backpack made out of leather, in it he found more dried meat which he ate and he found a waterskin, he had never used a waterskin before but it was not difficult. The water was a bit tepid but still drinkable. When he looked inside the tent he found a cloak made out of coarse thick cloth which he put on, it fit him rather well.

Casper packed up the tent and strapped on the backpack, he picked up the wooden bow and the quiver. When Casper was younger he used to shoot with a bow and arrow, with a little practice he could easily use this bow. He left the camp then and walked with determination.

After a few hours journey he reached a not so well traveled road, overgrown thicket covered part of it. He made his way past the thicket but now it was far easier to walk without the undergrowth and roots sticking up.