I sat happily on the back of the carriage as it continued to trundle along the road. The scenery hardly changed as I slept most of the time. We had passed through some villages however for some reason I had seen no inhabitants.

As we came to what I believed to be the third or fourth day of my journey we arrived at a city. Huge walls surrounded it so that you could not see inside. As huge canons could be seen standing sentinel atop the wall. I gazed up in wonder. It was so different to what I had seen in my world. We approached the gate before turning off following a different path.

Hey wait, where are we going. Aren’t we going to the city I thought in confusion. I was wide awake now as I continued to marvel at the huge walls that stood beside us.

Then we turned towards a small gate that stood with two guards standing to either side.

Oh no I quickly thought to myself as I hid myself inside the trunk of the carriage. I felt the carriage stop and heard some words be exchanged before the carriage set off again. As I heard the gates close behind us I gave a sigh of relief and peeked out of the carriage trunk.

I was shocked to see mansion after mansion standing to either side. We must be in the rich district. Which means I have hitched a ride with someone important. I stayed hidden as the carriage continued to move down the road. When we reached what appeared to be a market I stopped time and stepped out of the carriage. It was annoying however I needed to find out more about this world.

Starting time once more the carriage shot off towards wherever it had to go leaving me in the city. I smiled to myself this was going to be fun. Exploring a new world, I felt like a child again. I immediately set off walking along the side of the road that ran through the heart of the city. As I passed by a set of windows I took some time to admire myself.

I was dressed in a white and gold uniform fit for a prince, no a king I thought before moving on. I yawned as I walked. I was getting rather tired with all of the effort I was putting in. Soon I came to a palisade in which guards were stationed. I walked forward and as the guards saw me they nodded my clothing allowing me to pass through with no major issues.

I exited the rich area of the city and made my way into the central hub. People from all walks of life were wandering around the shops that were set up. I decided to have a look. Wandering from store to store I admired the clothing and jewellery on display.

When I found myself at a weapons dealer. Entering I gazed at the all of the different swords, shields and spears. I was most interested though in the rifles, and bows. I smiled to myself they were the best weapons. Minimal effort for maximum damage, just as I liked it.

I continued browsing gazing at all of the weapons and armour before I had seen it all. I left and continued wandering the streets. As I passed by the food vendors my stomach growled. I thought about using my power to snatch some food. Until reaching into my pocket I found a bunch of coins.

Looks like I had been taken care of I thought wandering up to a stand. The shopkeeper was surprised to have someone as well dressed as me arrive.

“Can I have your best” I said. He nodded quickly before I sat down. Soon he brought out a steaming plate of meat and vegetables. My mouth watered as I quickly dug in. I produced a gold coin and threw it at him. He caught it a glint in his eye before I got up and made my way out.

I stretched, I was getting kind of sleepy after the meal. I walked along until I came to a Hotel. A very well to do hotel by the look of it. Yawning I wandered inside. To find a well dressed woman standing there.

“A room” I said as I came to the counter trying to stop myself from falling asleep. I should have just stayed on the carriage it would have been much easier.

“That will be five silver for one night” she replied.

I gave her a gold coin as I didn’t really have anything but gold coins.

“You will be staying two nights?”

“Yes” I replied. She nodded before calling for a footman. I didn’t really remember what happened I think I may have fallen asleep climbing some stairs and the footman had carried me to my room. It wasn’t like it really mattered though as I fell into a deep sleep.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Meanwhile in the dungeons below the keep of the main castle a beautiful young girl lay in chains. She sat up as a guard passed her by. How had it come to this she thought to herself, she had been a princess and a member of the Imperial military.

Now she lay half naked in chains all to ensure that she could calm down an old man who was having a tantrum. Her father was responsible after all her mother was a low born noble. Who her father had forced to marry him. She had taken her life recently and in his anger he had held her responsible and so she now prepared for her execution.

A woman walked up clutching the bars of her cells window.

“Ariana” she cried. Ariana smiled up at the young maid. There was nothing that could be done.

“Make sure that they don’t attempt a rescue tomorrow” Ariana said. She knew that the commander of the regiment she had been attached to the thirty second foot guards Colonel Alexander Hildegard would attempt to mount a rescue with aid from his friends. That could turn out to be seen as a rebellion and he stood no chance anyway against the army that was stationed within the city at the moment. It had been sent to stop exactly that, an attempted rescue.

She knew Colonel Alexander had about 3,000 men. The army that had just arrived numbered well over 30,000. He would never stand a chance. She wouldn’t drag her friends into the mess she found herself in. All that could save her now was a miracle. A miracle that lay fast asleep in his bed at the moment with no intention of getting up for at least a week.

Ariana watched her maid run off tears still in her eyes. Ariana herself wiped away her own tears. When she walked out tomorrow she would be resolved to her fate and so she prepared herself well into the night.

I woke up around sunrise due to the large amount of noise that was passing by. I groaned why could I not sleep in peace ever since I entered this new world there was always something to get in my way whenever I tried. Unable to sleep I decided the best course of action was to see why I had been woken up all of a sudden. Groaning I left the hotel and made my way outside to see the streets clogged with people.

“I heard they are going for a burning”

“Really that’s going to be a spectacle”

“Well I heard the reason why their doing this is because the princess attempted a coup”

“No way”

“I heard she was part of an underground cult”

“Well I heard that she was sleeping with some foreign prince”

As I walked through the streets I caught snippets of conversations. However never enough to figure out why my precious sleep had been disturbed. If it wasn’t for a good reason I would be very perturbed. I was quite happy with myself using such big words, and so I made my way along with the crowd towards the large courtyard of the castle that stood at the centre of the city.

I frowned there was a platform that had been placed there with a lot of twigs wrapped together in bundles around the base and a large pole sticking out of the centre. Are they having a bonfire I thought. To be woken up for this I thought as I began to get very annoyed.

Meanwhile Ariana had readied herself she had been dressed in rags as she was led out of her cell and made her way towards the execution grounds. Whistles came from the prisoners as she walked past and spittle flew hitting her on the arm. The guard stepped over and smashed the bars with the hilt of his sword. They immediately quieted down, however she could see the grin on the guards face as he admired her body.

She had been declared to be just as if not more so a beauty then her mother. The beauty she cursed for it had brought trouble to her family with the emperor forcefully claiming her mother because of it.

Soon though she stepped out into the sunlight. She was forced to raise her hand to hide her eyes from the sun. She had been locked up too long she thought to herself. There it was standing before her the platform where she would be burnt to death.

The piles of twigs had been prepared as a man stood with a flaming torches. She walked forward as whistles, shouts and all manner of things came out from the crowd. As the guards forced a path members of the crowd reached out and touched her as she walked on.

She was thankful when they finally reached the platform. Ariana was tied to the stake as the guard copped one more feel before walking off. She was disgusted by his filthy hands as they wormed their way up her leg.

“Oi” a cry sounded and with a reproachful look his hand fell from where it was just before it reached all the way. The guard shrugged before he turned away and walked back to stand at the foot of the stairs that had been set up at the rear of the platform. She took a deep breath as the executioner approached.

He held the flaming torch high for all the spectators to see. As she gazed across the gathering of people her eyes fell on a boy who stood in a white and gold uniform. A uniform similar to the emperors except the boys was more elaborate.

She turned her gaze back to the executioner before turning back to the boy. However she could not find him anymore. She took a deep breath and prepared for the end.

It was by this stage that I knew that this was an execution. I sat and waited watching the crowd before the girls gaze fell upon me. Those eyes seemed to see right through me. I quickly turned and made my way away from the grizzly sight that was about to unfold. Before I stopped suddenly.

A memory came unbidden to mind. It was of me and my little brother. I tried to force it back down along with all of my emotions and memories. However it was not to be defeated. It rose and blossomed in my mind.

I sat alongside my little brother in the park. When my brother saw a young girl getting bullied. I immediately stood up even though it was a bother and walked over. The boys ran away as the girl turned to look at me. She gave me a smile, a smile that made me happy. When I came back my brother asked me why, why did I help her.

I simply replied that the feeling you get from helping someone is far greater then any other feeling. He nodded saying he wished to be just like me. I questioned what he meant. He replied by telling me he wants to be a hero just like me. I shook my head I was no hero. He stopped me saying no matter why you do it you still help people.

That me had died long ago when I had failed to save my family. Why was it coming back all of a sudden.

I couldn’t shake it and with my mind made up I turned around and headed back towards the crowd.

Above Gildor watched this scene unfold. “You can’t stay away from your true nature, can you” he said a smiling.