She grunted and pried opened her eyes. Her body sore and her limbs ached – The kind of sensation you had when you climbed a four thousand feet high mountain or ran a full marathon.

Laying on the ground, the blurred vision in front of her came into focus.

‘Am I seeing things right?’

Confused, she blinked her eyes a couple times more.

‘Its still there.’

The back of her head throbbed stronger as second passed. How can a dream hurt so much?

He was still there – marching closer. His footfalls were heavy as he took each step.

A tanned, monstrous and burly man as tall as seven feet towered over her. She puckered her brows, her jaws dropped. She couldn’t took her eyes off the husky man.

A pair of golden eyes were hidden beneath the wooden mask that covered half of his face. His body naked except for the red loincloth swaddled at his groin. Clean shaved head, bushy beard and mustache covered his face down to his chest. A necklace hung on his neck. Feathers, bones, teeth, and beads of all sorts – Eye-catching enough to draw her eyes off from what’s behind that one piece of loincloth.

‘I might have to clean my eyes in the holy spring… But lord, those abs…’

Armed with a sharp spear, he shouted tons of gibberish at her. The spear found its way to her neck. Shocked by the sudden threat, she tripped a few step behind. She squinted her eyes and her ears wide opened. She tried very hard to catch every single sound the man spouted.

To her disappointment, nothing that came out from his mouth made sense to her. The man was angry and furious. But why? What has she done to make this man so furious? She was sure that this was their first meeting. She had never set foot in this foreign land all her life.

Her eyes darted at the burly man and moved to the dense bushes and wilted trees. Everything was foreign to her. Her head spun wild each time she moved. The headache was worse than the worst headache she ever felt – that one time she chugged down three bottles of vodka in one night.

She was wedged between bushes. The thorny branches that served as her bed a moment ago scrapped her delicate skins. Her body covered in shallow wounds and bloods. She frowned even more - she was confused, annoyed and in pain.

Her eyes moved to her feet. She had a pair of fluffy unicorn slippers. She wore that last night before she fell asleep. A long sigh escaped her mouth. Her pajamas was smeared with bloods and brown muds.

‘Which evil monster dares to throw me onto this damn thorny bushes? Is this another damn prank by that brat Samuel?'

The burly man scowled and snorted, bringing her attention back to the spear on her neck. She raised her hands in the air, looking as harmless as possible.“I don’t know what sort of prank is this, or what you’re talking about. I’m clearly innocent here!”

Another burly man approached, dressed in the same red loincloths. He muttered something to his comrade, then turned to her. He pointed his spear to her and shouted with a loud and brash voice; so loud that her poor soul was shaken, and so was the flock of birds who suddenly take flight.

‘This is bullying! I demand justice! My innocent eyes can’t stand such nakedness!’

The other man shrugged his shoulders in response to his ferocious comrade before he turned to face her and mumbled the same words he had said. He spoke to her word by word. It was not for long however, as his patience wore thin at the sight of the confused captive who stared at him with a bewildered, confused look.

He pulled back his spear, snorted and walked away.

“Hey, spare some sympathy, will you. I’m obviously a victim here,” She shook her head and pleaded, her eyes begged for understanding and sympathy.

Shortly afterward, the burly man came back with a coil of rope. He was big and strong, and her body swayed when he grabbed her arms and pulled it to her back. Her arms were bounded tight.

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Only when he was satisfied with his artwork, that he gave a nod to his comrade. The other burly man nodded back and spoke in a foreign language.

She struggled with the rope on her back, but soon was forced to stop by the sharp spear that brushed against the delicate skin on her neck. Blood dripped from her neck, dyeing the collar of her pajamas in red.

‘If this is a prank, this is too much. If this is a dream, its too real. I can’t act rashly before knowing the real situation…’

She gritted her teeth. The pain was more than enough to wake her up from this dream, only it wasn’t a dream. Her cold eyes gawked at the burly man, protesting the harsh treatment she received.  

‘Shit! If this is really a prank, I swear I’m gonna make them regret it! My body is scratched here and there, my neck is bleeding. What’s next? Chopped off my head?’

With the bound captive behind his back, the burly man stride forward with long steps. The other man followed behind, making a straight line formation with her sandwiched in between. There was no room for escape. 

They led her through the stronghold and into the courtyard, passing by the garden where blood-red roses bloomed in every corner. A gardener – or what she assumed was – stood in the garden in his long, white nightgown and messy hair. His hair was so messy that it looked like a bird nest. It had even attracted a family of birds to nestle on it. Papa bird came flying to his family with a worm in its beak. Mama bird and Little Birdies chirped happily, their mouths wide opened.

The gardener hummed in harmony to the bird’s song, walking barefoot as he snipped the hedges into various poses and sizes. As they marched closer, the clumpy hedges revealed its shape.

The hedges were trimmed into figures and shapes – or rather the gardener himself. One holding a teacup, another one standing with one hand on the stomach and another rubbing his chin as if he’s solving the hardest mystery ever existed. Further on one corner was another hedges of him, a dozen to be exact – about two feet tall.

He snipped, snipped and snipped – Then he turned around at the sound of the approaching footstep. His eyes gleamed bright at the human girl; her curious brown eyes were studying him, her messy shoulder-length dark hair were as par as his, her fair skin were tainted with scratches and bloods, she had a very confused look yet with a slight tinge of amazement, and the clothes she wore – such a hideous, weird fashion, he thought.

His lips curved upwards, amused when an idea crossed his mind. His mouth moved as he chanted a spell. The scene that followed after bewitched the girl. She froze stupefied, her mouth wide opened. The burly man almost knocked her to the ground when he bumped into her from the back.

The green figures came to live. Those that were holding teacup, took a sip from the teacup. Those who were reading, flipped a page on the book. The two feet tall figures on the corner started a fight against each other, some hid in the corner.

The burly man glanced at the gardener, rolled his eyes before he signaled her to move along. The gardener looked dejected, now that his only audience had left the theatre. They had enough of this nuisance. She, on the other hand, was dumbfounded. How did he do that? The question lingered on her mind, drowning away the throbbing at the back of her head.

As they marched past the garden, the majestic and grand entranceway awed her again. The pathway was paved with luxurious marbles and gold, flaunting the power and wealth of the monarch from every direction. Marbles pillars were carved in fine details, exhibiting the craftsmanship of the finest crafter in the continence.

A group of guards, around ten or so stood in front of the majestic entrance door. Some were making their round outside the entranceway. As they draw closer, the guard raised his hand, gesturing them to stop.

A pair of black pants covered their lower body, while their bare torso covered in well-defined muscles and battle scars. On their waist was a sword hanging from a cord, neatly tied with a brown leather belt. Each of them carried a metal shield on their left hand, and spear on the other. Their face was fierce as ever, carrying the image of a gallant barbarian.

‘Too much… Too much abs…’

Pointing his finger at the captive behind, the burly man spoke to the guard. The guard nodded his head in response before he let them into the hall room.

The interior was richly decorated with ivory-colored marbles, spreading from the floor to the walls. A long red carpet stretched from the entrance to a platform at the opposite of the entrance door. On the platform was a golden throne with armrests designed to resemble a dragon. The platform on which the throne stood was covered with ermine and gold carpeting of the richest description.

Vases of flowers and ceramics which she pretty sure was more expensive than her university fee for a whole four years combined decked one corner.  Another corner was a huge orb held by a golden metal, radiating a faint white light once in a while. A flaming red bird flew around the room, then land on the golden cage with such arrogant pose. Inside the cage was a young girl nestling on eggs.

Every scene, every creature, every single thing she had witnessed from the moment she opened her eyes never failed to surprise her.

On each side of the hall was another entrance door, each guarded by four guards who stood proud like stone sculptures with no tint of expression on their faces.

One of the guards who stood at the entrance door yelled. Words came out from his mouth, announcing something before the crowd. Everyone in the hallway threw themselves flat upon their faces to the ground. There was a sound of footsteps approaching, heading to the hall room.

‘To actually lay flat on the floor, isn’t this is just too much?’

She stood nervously and waited for the grand entrance. She couldn’t stop chewing her lips.

Perhaps, the mystery of her sudden appearance will be reveal soon.

What happened last night?