As the clouds move through the floating island that houses the library and the sun begins to set giving the sky an orange and purple hue, a big white wing cuts through the air at amazing speeds. What onlookers from the ground could see was a large creature flying near the capital of the country.
However, this creature was no ordinary monster or animal, for it was a White Dragon. The most ferocious and animalistic of the chromatic dragons.
For people from this country, seeing a dragon was a common sight, still it did not diminish the fear that the toothy grin and icy vapor emanating from the mouth of the dragon caused in the hearts of those that looked at him.
As the dragon approached the city and prepared its frost breath to attack the specialized forces known as Dragonriders, which had a reputation among all the other dragons felled by their lances, he smiled to himself, with the foolish draconic confidence common to his species.
Most probably, the White Dragon was thinking of causing chaos and killing civilians, stealing some shiny treasure from the multiple magical implements stores that were commonplace in this country, and then killing some more before retiring to his cave somewhere near the snowy hill tops.
Shortening the distance between the capital's tall fortified walls and himself, he was now fully visible to everyone; the Dragonriders, the adventurers that lived there and the commoners.
He was, however, visible to the wizard that lived in the library as well.
Had the dragon forgotten about the reputation of the wizard? Had he forgotten about the multiple heads, wings and tails a single man had bisected? Had he forgotten that the gods do not forgive?
This was not the case, he did remember it all.
The reason for his foolishness was in his blood, his parent's blood, and the blood of all of his people.
All the chromatic dragons that sought to destroy the mighty capital met the same fate, and still more and more tried to be the one that gets to stand atop the body of that wizard.
Dragons were just that greedy, confident and foolish, even if it costed them their life.
The white spot in the sky deep dived, closing its wings to gain greater speed, and when it was just some hundred meters above the Magic Implements district of the city, it extended its wings, projecting an equally beautiful and terrifying shadow over the people beneath.
A feral and almost animalistic laugh echoed through the dusk of the sky as shards of ice covered the commissures of its mouth.
And then, the sound of a blade.
"The wizard had appeared behind the dragon, used a 10th level spell to cut off his head in a single hand motion, and as the blood from the neck fell, a portal opened up beneath it and swallowed the body whole..."
"Wow, what a great story, Wizard. You really seem to be a great inspiration for poets and Bards that happen to see your feats of power"
The crow, now holding a thick book titled Krulik's Crux with two magical hands, is perched at the top of a small bookshelf talking down to the man standing on the floor.
"You little... it's embarrassing having it read out loud" said the man in his typical white and gold robe.
"Then why do you keep it, Wizard? Should you not just dispose of it?"
"Because I keep everything here, that's the point of this library"
The man gave a long sigh and then pinched the space between his eyes with his fingers.
"So, I suppose you have something to ask me yet again, don't you?"
The crow, now having closed the book and put it back to where it belongs, prepares his inquiry.
"How does it feel being the smartest person in history? Well, the second smartest after Nevermore"
"What do you mean? I don't consider myself to be the smartest. Besides, I created you so that must mean something"
"Answer the question, Wizard" said the crow curtly.
"Hum, well I still think, after all these years, that my master was the smartest person in history, he thought me magic and got me to where I stand, besides he helped create the bases of levelled magic as we know them"
"Are you talking about Hosh Huxley, Wizard?"
"Master Hosh Huxley for you" said the man, indignantly "Why do you ask, though? It is a strange question, even coming from you"
"Well, Nevermore just wanted to determine the state of your knowledge, Wizard. It seems it is deficient in more than a handful of topics"
After saying this, the crow prepares for flight.
"Huh? What do you mean with that?" asked the man.
The crow, ignoring him, takes flight with the sound of crystal bells ringing as it flap its wings and the man yielding his doubts to the apathy of his creation behind it.
----------------------------------------
I am now standing in a completely black place, there are no light sources that can be seen but it's not like the place is pitch black, it is more like being in space without the Sun in sight.
I look around me and there appears to be nothing besides myself and a red strand of yarn neatly tied to the little finger on my right hand that extends far into the darkness where it disappears.
If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
As there is nothing else to do in this place I decide to follow the red string.
Is this heaven? I thought it would be more light-themed than this. Unless this isn't heaven... If that's the case, where is this place?
I tried recalling what I had seen before finding myself here.
Well, what I remember was being chased by various Goblins, or what I know as Goblins at least. They were attacking me and then a group of people came and killed them, then I fell unconscious.
I wanted to think I was still alive and this was just an interim, since I haven't had been hurt by their arrows or swords.
Maybe the ones that saved me weren't really my heroes but thieves that were searching for my money and have already killed me and taken my stuff.
That sounded like a reasonable explanation as to why I was in this limbo looking like place, all things considered. However, my theory crumbled the moment I remembered that I had no money with me, nor valuables.
I gave up with racking my brain looking for reasons as to my current situation and continued on walking to the "end" of the red string, if there even was an end to it.
After some time that felt equally long and short in this strange place, I arrived at the end of the string. It had been tied to the handle of a fancy looking door.
Upon closer inspection, the handle looked like it was made up of a straight cut transparent rock that reminded me of diamond. The frame of the door had golden rivets and the wood had beautiful streaks of silver that could be barely seen with the ominous light of this place.
As if being given an order, I felt the urge to open the door.
Reaching my hand to the beautiful handle I opened it but, before I could see what was on the other side, a flash of light filled the place and blinded me.
✦✦✦
Opening my eyes, I notice an old looking dark wooden roof above my head with pieces of straw peeking through the cracks in the boards. A soft feeling coming from my back seems familiar, though what I am comparing it to seems leagues softer. Looking around I notice that the room I was in was fairly small. It had a window located at my back and barely any decorations whatsoever. The other furniture I could see from my bed were a small table with a vase on it, the vase had fresh purple flowers that emanated a sweet aroma. There was also a painting hanging from the wall near the only door in the room, though I couldn't see what the painting depicted.
The last piece of furniture was a chair made out of wood, like everything in the room, although this one had something peculiar on it. There was a man with long black hair and a horizontal scar on his neck sleeping on the chair. He was wearing a white long sleeved shirt and some gray pants that were rolled up to his knees, showing his muscular and scarred legs.
Not only did he look like someone strong because of his physique and battle scars but also because he was hugging a sheathed sword while sleeping, and had a set of armor beside him on the floor.
Should I be careful around this man? Had he been that one knight in shining armor that saved me from the Goblins?
Thinking this while still laying horizontally on my bed, I remembered: This is not a dream anymore, and I did not die.
Starting to feel panicked because of the strange situation that I'm sure no other person has found themselves in; being in a different world from the one you are originally from, and not long after arriving having being attacked by a band of monsters.
Yeah, I'm sure I was the only one in this situation. I've read multiple stories about reincarnation, isekai and stuff like that, most of them are popular really, and I would be lying if the idea didn't excite me, but being in the situation of those characters myself, I feel that I would rather skip on the experience.
Anyways, I decided that before spiraling into more anxiety, I should get up.
"Ugh, uhh...."
Groaning as I was getting out of bed, I could see the knight beside me open his eyes and unsheathe his sword in a flash, pointing its tip towards my throat.
I stood cold in my place, gulping loudly as beads of sweat started forming on my forehead and hands.
"Oh, sorry, sorry. Force of habit, didn't mean to scare 'ya" said the man while giving me a small smile and sheathing his sword which still had stains of purple on the metal.
We both stood awkwardly there, looking at each other in the eyes but not talking to one another. I could notice he started to get a little uncomfortable.
I decided to break the silence. "Uhm, sir were you the one that saved me from those... creatures?"
I didn't want to call them "Goblins" as I didn't want to out myself as someone weird in case in this world they weren't called like that.
"Oh, those shitstain Goblins? Yeah, it was me and my party, mostly me though" he said while giving a strange emphasis to the words "my party".
Well, at least they were indeed called Goblins. Maybe some other monsters I knew also existed here, which was both reassuring and terrifying.
"I give you my thanks, then, sir knight. I would love to pay you back but I have nothing on me to do so" I said, trying to be as polite as possible, just to be sure.
"Bah, there's no need to be so formal! You can call me Neill"
The man extended his big hand towards me in a manner I could only interpret as a handshake.
I shook his hand and he drew his face near to mine, staring at me with his intimidating yellow eyes.
He whispered "About payment, well... since you have no money, you should work until you can gather enough. Right, kid?" while giving me a toothy smile that sent shivers through my spine.
As I was getting more and more anxious, the door of the room opened, allowing me to see two new figures that I did not recognize. The taller one was a mature woman, maybe in her thirties, with long braided blonde hair and hazel colored eyes, she had a bow on her back and a small short sword on her belt. The shorter one was a young looking girl, probably my age, wearing a red robe with a leather breastplate beneath it. She was holding in both hands a wooden staff with a small gem in the middle, wrapped in colorful strips of cloth.
"Neill, stop trying to scrape up what little coin the young man may or may not have. We all know we need money for our plan but don't go harassing who we just saved, yeah?" the woman said, entering the room and approaching me while the girl stayed on the doorframe.
"Hello young man, are you feeling better? You had a tough time with those Goblins you know? You were very lucky to still be alive, considering you don't look like an adventurer"
I looked at the woman, mesmerized by the strange beauty of her face with nothing to say.
"Young man, if you don't mind me asking, what were you doing in the middle of nowhere by yourself? From which town do you come from?"
As more questions started entering my ears, I understood I had two options: lie or tell the truth.
I had no idea of the geography of the place, much less the names of any of the nearby towns so if I decided to lie it would have to be something ambiguous and maybe that way they would be sufficiently satisfied. However, if I told the truth it would be a lot easier for me, nonetheless I had no idea if being a person from another world is something they are familiar with. They could even kill me if there was an existing stigma around people like me, if there even has been someone like me.
"Well kid, she is asking you a question. Answer" said the man with a slightly bored tone in his voice.