3 months had passed since our hero has come to reside in our home. His appearance was a surprise but we are glad that he appeared in our mountains rather than the enemies lands. Honestly, when I first saw him,it was hard to believe that he was the hero we were waiting for, the one who would save our country and end the chaos. He had a mop of dark curls that was cut short, like the people of the far east. He was shorter than our average male but had a rather muscular build. However, what made me doubt his legitimacy was that the hero in the prophecy and the man himself was very different. I must admit that we were naive to believe that the he or would speak the same language, after all he did come from a world unlike our own. He seemed short tempered and stubborn at first but slowly he proved himself to be friendly and strong willed. What made me to believe he was the hero we were waiting for was his eyes. They were a forest green. No man has ever seen such color of eyes in our land. He had the blessing of the mountains and forests. It was foretold that he would have an exotic feature to disguise himself from normal people. In his case it must be his eyes.. He must have been shocked to arrive here on the first day. I thought he would have left that day but when I came to his room he other morning, I was greeted with those pair of eyes, renewed in spirit, as if it was glowing like the night trees. He has started to learn our language and customs. He is a studious learner and adapts quickly. Today I will ask him, his mission and choice.
***
Aaron looked at his tray of food. There were vegetables, meat, some sort of bread related thing, and soup. Aaron gulped as he lifted up a piece of meat. After living here for 3 months, Aaron thought he had gotten used to all the strange things but the food still proved to be a challenge. Aaron drew the piece of meat closer to his mouth.
In an instant he popped the meat into his mouth, attempting to swallow it in one go. But the moment the meat touched his tongue, Aaron immediately reached for the water but he was too late. The meat tasted salty and spicy to the extreme. Almost every food here was either super salty or super spicy. The flavor of the meat was not the worst thing. the worst thing was the texture. After coming in contact with his mouth the piece of meat turned into mush. the texture after that was similar to oatmeal plus water. Once again, Aaron was reminded of how different this world was compared to his. Aaron choked out the piece of meat and washed his throat with water. At least water tasted the same.
Giving up on the meat, Aaron turned his attention to the bread-like object. It looked like bread, it felt like bread, but it was not bread. Aaron ripped off a tiny piece and ate it. The bread had a very sharp taste, it was hard to describe, but if Aaron had to compare it to something back on Earth, he would say that the bread-like object tasted awfully similar to window cleaners. (Not that he ever attempt to taste it of course) The texture of this food was what earned the nickname Aaron gave it; The Dissolving Bread. The thing dissolves the moment it is in contact with moisture. It was easier to eat them than the meat but just as nasty. Aaron decided to skip the soup. A wise decision that was. The soup was freezing cold and for some reason there was sand mixed inside. And Aaron could not tell if it was meant to be eaten or not.
Aaron gave out a deep sigh, it was vegetables again. Their texture was fine but like water, they were also tasteless. Munching on the greens a light tapping sounded at his door.
-Come in, I mean- “Come in”, Aaron corrected himself. He had started learning the language used here but he had a hard time using it normally. At first, the language was just a jumbled up string of syllables without any grammar. The lessons in the beginning were excruciating. Mindlessly memorizing the sentences was torture. It was difficult and very very different from the languages on Earth. It bore no resemblance to any language Aaron knew of, and that was why it was so hard to learn. Learning new words and everyday conversation was frustrating but what was even more frustrating was Aaron’s own inability to converse with the people. To obtain information about this world and clues to get back home. So he learned and studied strenuously. Slowly, Aaron began to love the language, love the pattern less sentences, the double or quadruple meaning words. This mindset allowed Aaron to learn quickly. Even though his pronunciation was as bad as the food here and speaking like a normal person was still a level beyond him, he could still get by.
Shadrwf came in the room and greeted Aaron cheerfully. This old man seemed harmless but Aaron knew there was more that meets the eye. There was something fishy about him and Aaron made it his goal to find that out.
“Would you like to accompany me for a walk?” Shadwrf asked.
Aaron raised his eyebrow at this. Whenever this old man asked for a walk it was always an excuse to talk about something important, concerning himself. One of the things he found out throughout these few months was that there was a war happening between two countries, the East and the West, countries that Aaron had not grasped their names yet. There were also other factors concerning the war but it was a bit too hard to understand. Anyways, Aaron himself was supposed to be a Hero from a prophecy or something that would end the chaos and bring peace to the world. All of which were not included in Aaron’s goals. His sole purpose now was to go back home but he did not know how. It was best to first go with this nonsense first and then find the way home. But Aaron was getting impatient and awfully homesick.
Grasping the locket that hung around his neck, Aaron followed Shadwrf out his room. The stone floor felt cool under his toes as he walked from corridor to corridor. Although he had been here for 3 months already, he didn’t have much time to explore the fortress. The people were tall here and liked to wear their hair long. The fortress itself was all brown and grey but once outside, you would be greeted by the beauty of nature. The lush greenery outside was breathtakingly beautiful. The scenery at night was also different.
According to this world, trees can glow at night and they classify trees by their color at night. So technically there were only 8 different types of trees here. This mountain mainly had trees the color of yellow and orange. When seen from afar the whole mountain really looks like a blazing fire at night.
Aaron glanced at the sun to tell the time. The sky in this world was also a very curious thing. Not only are there no stars and there are three moons but the sun waxes and wanes like the moon. The largest moon of the three covers the sun at night time slowly gives way to the sun at dawn. At noon the sun is half covered by the moon like it is now.
The two of them strolled around the woods in a pleasant silence. None of them spoke for several minutes. Finally Shadwrf broke the silence.
“Do you...want to go back from where you came?” he asked
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Aaron nodded firmly without hesitation. He had a family and home back at Earth. He had ties and bonds and promises to keep. This world was not for him to stay.
Shadwrf looked a bit uncomfortable with his direct answer and struggled a bit to answer back.
“I...understand. I believe you are the one sent to save our world but...you also have your own priorities...here sit down, i want to show you something.”
Aaron obediently sat on a slab of rock as Shadwrf pulled out a rolled up piece of paper from his robe. He unrolled the paper to reveal a map. Unlike the map Shadwrff used to teach Aaron about the world, this one had red dots all over the map. Seeing Aaron confused look at the map, Shadwrf coughed to begin explaining.
“Let’s just say that although we have different goals but the means to achieve it is the same… Okay, so in our world we mainly have 2 continents, the east and the west which is at war now. We are on the west side. The military power of both sides are basically equal at the moment”
Shadwrf pointed to the west. It was old information to Aaron already but he patiently listened and nodded for Shadwrf to continue.
“We also have [Estu-Denir], which are independent countries but are smaller, like a city.”
Shadwrf moved his finger to the red dots. The definition sounded pretty much like a city-state. There were city-states all over the world though. Aaron estimated the amount of city-states numbered up to several hundred.
“These City-States are very strange and most are pretty powerful. We need an overwhelming amount of power to win this war.”
Aaron nodded. He could guess where the old man was going. He and his country needed an alliance with these city-states but Aaron couldn’t tell how it was relative to him.
“These city-states bypass what is considered normal. They’re very secretive and mysterious. They can use magic and other supernatural things. In fact it wouldn’t be strange for them to be able to teleport or summon things….”
Aaron got it. Shadwrf was trying to say that one of the city-states might be responsible for his appearance in this world. And if he wanted to be back home he would need to knock on every door of the several hundred city-states scattered across the world conveniently giving Shadwrf and his people a chance for negotiating an alliance.
“It’s your choice to believe me or not but we are setting off tomorrow morning. you’re welcome to stay or wander off in the world. You’ve got choices but you got to choose quickly.”
Aaron took a step back to think things through.
First of all, there’s no proof that any of the city-states are responsible for me being here.
Second of all, the sheer amount of distance and destinations I need to cover is tremendous. How many months is it going to take? This is a gamble, but at least I’m going somewhere.
Aaron nodded to accept Shadwrf’s offer. Grasping his locket, he convinced himself that it was a right decision.
Shadwrf looked kind of uncomfortable with his decision and awkwardly added,
“To be honest, that’s not all the city-states there are. This map is outdated by at least a few centuries...and on top of that, some city-states cannot be drawn on a map…”
Let me correct that. How many years is this going to take!
***
Erika looked nervously at the door. She hadn’t come for some time and was more than worried. Catching her last breath, she tightened her grip on the door knob and turned the door open.
The smell of old books and coffee greeted her. The room was filled with books. They were on every shelf and piles upon piles of books surrounded an open area next to the window. Sitting casually on a comfortable red bean bag, a women was reading one of her many thick books. Her golden hair cascaded down to her waist and fair complexion complemented well with her soft brown eyes. The moment she turned her head and saw her visitor her eyes lit up like the many stars in the sky. In short, she was beautiful. A beauty in which Erika was once envious of, but not anymore.
“Erika! Long time no see. How have you been?” She cried out excitedly.
“I’ve been fine, Iris. It’s been a while.” Erika replied shyly. In fact it had been a bit more than 2 months since they last met.
“I’m sorry that I haven’t been here for a while, but seriously you need to go out some time. It’s not good to shut yourself in like this.”
Iris pouted and stuck her tongue out to Erika like a little kid. Erika felt glad to see Iris being so active and being more like herself, unlike 2 months ago.
“What are you reading?” Erika made herself comfortable on the carpet while initiating a conversation.
Iris beamed as she held out the cover of the book for Erika to see.
“The Odyssey. It’s about a man going from place to place trying to find his way back home, Ithaca.”
“Ithaca?’
“Yup, it’s a real place you know. It’s not some imaginary place. I’ll show you the picture.”
After that, none of them spoke for a while. Erika fidgeted nervously while Iris flipped through the pages to find the right page. Finally Erika asked the question that had constantly been in her mind the last few months.
“You’ll still wait for him right? My brother…”
Iris looked a bit surprised by the question but quickly regained composure. She seemed to understand where the question came from and smiled to relax Erika.
“Sure. Just like how the wife in this story waits 20 years for her husband. Of course, I’m not as patient.”
“But...but he might really be gone for good...I mean you’re not married yet...you’re better off-
Iris interjected suddenly.
“I was married the day I accepted this ring.” Iris said with a serious tone unlike before as she held up her left hand. There, on her ring finger was her engagement ring, that she wore everyday.
She had such a resolve in her eyes that Erika couldn’t help but be moved by it. All feelings of doubt and fear swept away in that instant as she made up her mind.
“Alright! I’ll wait for my stupid brother with you! When we see him I’ll personally beat him up for you. You're just too good for such an incompetent brother like him.” Erika boasted loudly.
A close friendship formed between the both of them. And on that evening, laughter and cheer erupted from that small yet cozy room filled with books.
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This longer than i intended. I tried to describe the new world in detail but it was pretty long. I'm also trying to prevent the main character from speaking to much since it has only been 3 months:)