Chapter 1:

Page: 3

The first sounds I heard were a creaking and a thumping, and they seemed to be coming from all around me. I tried to open my eyes, but my heavy eyelids refused to budge. I wondered if the city had suffered a power outage, but then I realized that I could feel a rough, woody texture beneath me, and I could smell fresh air. As I struggled to open my eyes, I felt the rhythmic acceleration of the vehicle beneath me, and my body rose and fell with the bumps in the road. It was disorienting, and the other sounds I heard only added to my confusion.

There was a strange whooshing sound, followed by the neighing of a horse. Then a man's voice broke through my foggy mind. "Come on, boy! We need to get to Ironspire if we want to sell these goods on time!"

Ironspire? Goods? I had no idea what he was talking about. I started to panic. Had I been kidnapped? Why would anyone want me? I was just a nobody. I forced my eyes open and gasped at the magical scene before me. We were traveling through a beautiful forest, and I was lying on a wooden floor surrounded by crates of fruit and vegetables, some of which I didn't even recognize. I realized that I must be part of a caravan, but I still didn't know why or how I had ended up there.

I tried to stand, but the movement of the cart made it impossible. I crawled on all fours, trying not to fall and get a head injury. As I crawled, I could see the surroundings more clearly. It was indeed a forest, and some man was driving the cart with an unusual and outlandish costume.

"HEY, where am I?" I called out, trying to get the attention of the driver. He looked back at me, surprised.

"Ah, good to see you're awake, laddie," the farmer said in a friendly voice. "I saw ye lyin' down in the forest, and I couldn't let meself forgive if I had let a young lad get eaten by those monsters."

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Monsters? I muttered, wondering if he meant wolves. Why was I lying in the middle of the forest? None of this made sense. I put my hand to my head, trying to remember what had happened before this comical and absurd event. Oh yeah, I was waiting for my bus, then everything went black. But why was I here? Nothing made sense. The farmer looked at me as if I was weird.

"I don't know what ye think, laddie, but ye needn't pay me a single copper. Get yourself a nice inn when we get to Ironspire," said the farmer in his gentle accent.

"What is Ironspire, and who are you?" I asked.

"Well, laddie, my name's Baldwin. I'm a farmer in a village not far away. And even though it seems ye're daft, since every youngling around these parts knows Ironspire, I'll explain. Ironspire is a city we're headin' to. It was once the greatest city controlled by Commoners, which provided many coals, minerals, and gold. The city was rich until those bastards got their hands on it. Now it's a rotten shell of its former glory."

"Oh, HAHAH, nice prank. Let's stop it for real. Where am I?" I asked again.

"I told ye already, lad. We're in the forest close to Ironspire, about to arrive in a few minutes. And what is this prank ye speak of?"

"Nothing," I said, feeling confused and frustrated.

Everything was weird, and I could only respond and not ask any more questions, even though I wanted to. No one would prank me this much and leave me stranded in the forest. The only other ridiculous answer would be that I was in a different world. As much as I didn't want to speculate, the weird fruits, strange forest that wasn't native to the west coast, and the man with an accent that I didn't recognize wearing clothes that looked like they were from the middle ages made me wonder. Maybe I was just going crazy, or I might be in a coma. I was trying to think of more answers to my current predicament other than being in another world when the farmer interrupted my thoughts.

"Hey, lad, what's your name? I didn't get a chance to get your name," Baldwin asked.

"Uhh, it's Freed, Fred Arthur," I stammered nervously.

"Well, Fred, that's a funny name. Anyhow, it seems we'll be in Ironspire very soon," the farmer said cheerfully.

As he spoke, the trees and forest gave way to a long grassland and a beautiful paved road. In the distance, I could see a huge gate and multiple carriages entering and leaving the city.