This was my first ever attempt at writing an actual book. However I usually tend to lose interest  in a subject or prefer another story idea  I come up with. All my stories begin as book beginnings…maybe I should change that and try for shorter stories.

July 15, 2007

The chronicles of bane

Book one: the scroll of fables

Written by Dakota J.P. Klein

Prologue

“Where are they”, mumbled a short and gimpy, but stocky, grey haired middle-aged man. Kritzen, the man, looked up into the dull, misty sky and wondered if his package would arrive soon. He then strode forward and halted at the edge of a forty foot cliff. He looked down and gazed upon the entrancing water. The water rippled on and on from the slight breeze coming from the north. The breeze stopped for a second, he heard a horse galloping behind him about ninety feet away. Kritzen turned around not noticing a small grey boat wading twenty feet away from the bottom of the cliff, and whispered something under his breath. His vision improved by ten fold. He saw five armed soldiers, probably from the southern merchants of Otorio, a town surrounded in sand that was rebuilt after the previous sand wars. They guarded a black, small, horse drawn carriage. Kritzen returned to his normal sight. He waited a minute or so until the carriage was about fifteen feet from him.

The closest rider jumped off his horse as though he rehearsed it. “Well, where’s my package”, cried Kritzen! “Do you have the money,” the tall, gaunt rider said coarsely. “Yes”! Kritzen dug a hand into a pocket of his worn brown deer hide jacket and extracted a well sized bag full of solid gold coins. The rider weighed it, and then motioned to a smaller, heavier rider. That rider got off his horse rather clumsy and opened the door to the black carriage. Out stepped an oversized goblin about seven feet tall. Kritzen wondered how he fit in the carriage. He held a medium sized, red, marble chest. He walked up to Kritzen, dropped the chest in front of him and walked backwards ten steps.

Kritzen bent down, stroked the chest, and then hastily opened it. Inside were a bunch of useless papers. “What’s this”, yelled Kritzen! “Look deeper”, replied the goblin. Doing what he was told; Kritzen looked deeper and saw a small handle. He took the papers out and pulled on the handle. Two doors taking up most of the chest opened. He saw it, the scroll of fables. He picked it up, marveling it, touching the smooth parchment. The ancient scroll had no scratches or stains on it; it was as if it was brand new. It was very thick, and was emitting a purple glow. Kritzen picked the scroll up, with a bit of trouble, and thanked the goblin and riders. “Thank you for your services. You have done a good jobbb……” Kritzen fell over on his face. The riders stepped backwards shaking with their eyes open wide.

The goblin thought to himself “we snuck out here quietly. I’m positive no one followed us. Who could havv…….?” The goblin fell over on his back with five flaming arrows stuck in his head. The gaunt rider yelled “RETREAT!” Before getting on his horse he grabbed the scroll and saw that Kritzen had a poison dart on the side of his neck. He hopped on his horse and galloped away as fast as his horse could go. Five arrows flew past his head and it the other four riders and the carriage driver. They fell off their horses onto the icy cold snow. His horse suddenly collapsed and hit the ground head first. He fell alongside his horse which was old and tired. He drew a dull broad sword from a worn out cow skin sheath. “You have been a good horse and friend”, wheezed the rider. He drove his sword into his horse’s heart. The horse gave a small whiny and quieted. The man got up and started to run as fast as he could. A white fox dropped in front of him. He squeaked, and halted.The fox morphed into a tall man with shiny grey hair that shone in the moonlight. His skin was as pale as the snow he stood on. He had a beard that ran down his chest and stopped at his navel. This strange man wore many rings, but one caught the rider’s eye. It was a gold ring with a red and black W on it. This was the symbol of the Wranguata.

“Please don’t kill me” the rider pleaded. “Give me the scroll and I might spare your life” replied the man strictly. The rider gave the scroll to the man quickly. “You have your scroll, now leave me alone.” The man answered “I will, but my friends will take you to Wranguata for questioning.” Directly on queue two enormous eagles swooped down and grabbed the rider with huge talons. “Nooo!! Put me down you filthy creatures!!” That was the last the thing the strange man heard of the rider. The man morphed back into a fox and ran off at unnatural speed to the nearest town.

His trip took him about two hundred miles north to the mountains of Bwarvon. He then stayed at a small town in the mountains called Velhaven. It snowed every single day he was there. He stayed only for an hour after he woke up and ran off again. He was sure he was going to get ambushed, but he didn’t. On his third day with the scroll he stopped at a small river running from the Raghn Sea until it split in two. He made a small camp above the river in the trees. “Vreia”, voiced the old man. Immediately, about five trees formed together to make a hollow sphere big enough for the man to sleep in and construct a small fire. He held out his left palm and said “acyntra orbais”, a ball of light appeared floating above his palm. The man placed the ball down, and then took some branches and birch from the trees. He constructed a small wooden lamp. He placed the ball of light in the lamp and set it down. Then he pulled out a small deer skin canteen. He opened the cap and drank a warm, pure substance that regenerated his strength. He put it down by the lamp. Next the old man pulled out a wooden cylinder filled with water and took a small cap off it. He then whispered “akguane precio”. The water whipped out of the cylinder and layered the inside of the wooden sphere. The water protected the tree and wood from being burnt by fire. The inside of the sphere did not change from the water; it wasn’t muddy or wet, it was just dry.

He took about twelve or thirteen sticks and constructed a tepee shape with them. He then placed both of his hands over the logs and plainly recited “firzerno”! A humble amount of fire sparked from his fingertips and poured onto the logs like liquid. He pulled some veal from a leather pack strung across his back. He slowly roasted it over the fire. After a fair amount of cooking time he took the veal off when it was about medium rare. He cut thin slices of the veal and stacked them up in between two slices of bread. He ate quietly for some time. When he finished he gulped down a bottle of ale and hick upped “aceybur”. The light vanished. The old man pulled out a blanket, pulled it over himself and went to sleep.

The old man woke up to here the birds chirping a sweet melody. He repeated the word “acyntra orbias” and the dark sphere of trees lit up with a joyful glow. He sat up and stretched. He took out sweet, moist bread from his pack and nibbled on that for a few minutes. After he was finished the man packed up his gear and said “vreia patik”. A hole appeared in the sphere of trees. He stepped out elegantly, jumped onto the ground, morphed back into a fox and then sped off, again, at an unnatural speed. The old man followed the river for many days. Most of the days were dry and mild. He was ambushed only once by two rogue Otorio soldiers. The battle was fast and fierce. In the end the old man slayed the soldiers. Though he was the victor he was still falling behind a schedule he had to keep. He was ordered by the leaders of Wranguata to guard the scroll of fables in a small, but busy town; Willow Water. The sky was turning dark and the air was growing cold. He looked ahead and saw no lights, which meant he was still far from Willow Water. So he set up a small camp underground. He fell asleep after gulping down a cup of ale.

“Hey”! “Is anybody in there”? The old man woke up and peeked out of a small hole. He saw a tall and fit man wearing a camouflage suit made of deer hide, leaves, and twigs. The man swung his pack over his back and jumped out of the underground camp. Immediately the camouflaged soldier pulled out a thick, dull, sword that matched his suit. “State your name,” he commanded. “You don’t need to know my name, but the password is freckle-root,” said the old man. “Oh! Well sir, I’m sorry for my rudeness. I’ll escort you to Willow Water immediately,” said the soldier embarrassed.

So both of the men set off towards the city of Willow Water. After about an hour of walking the soldier said “where almost their, so keep quiet.” The old man heard rustling coming from behind a bush. Almost a second later a small, black and red monkey walks over to the soldier and commands “If you answer the riddle correctly you may enter the city of Willow Water. Do you agree to these terms?” “Do you agree to these terms?” replied the soldier. “Correct you may enter the city of Willow Water”, stated the monkey. The monkey turned around with his back facing both of the men and spoke a few short words that neither of them heard. A hole big enough for a big boulder opened right in front of them all. The monkey turned into another camouflaged soldier and jumped right in; then the old man, and lastly the soldier. When the old man was dumped onto the ground, he stood up on saw something that amazed him. The city was no where to be seen.

Chapter 1

The elemental and his dream

“Renton, honey! Time for breakfast.” “Hold on mom! I’ll be there in a second,” yelled a seventeen year old boy with messy black hair and white eyes. Renton was fairly stocky and a little taller than most boys his age. Renton put on a pitch black long-sleeved shirt with a diagonal white stripe on it and a pair of matching pants. He then put on a pure silver necklace his mom gave him for his fourteenth birthday. He slipped on a pair of black shoes and went downstairs.

“Hey mom, where’s dad?” “He’s upstairs packing for his trip tomorrow,” said Renton’s mom. His mom had black hair like him, but she had blue eyes instead of white. She wore a light brown robe and shoes that matched her dress. Renton sat down and ate some sausage patties and dry biscuits.

“Ha, ha, ha! Renton you finally got yer’ butt outa’ bed I see,” boomed Renton’s enormous father. He had dark brown hair and icy blue eyes. He wore dark tan overalls and a white shirt with a tan vest over it. “Renton since yer’ birthday is tomorrow and I’ll be gone I wanted to give you yer’ present today,” said his dad. Renton was handed a small, light package wrapped in brown parchment. “You guys didn’t have to get me anything,” Renton said smoothly. “Well, we figured since you’ve been helping your dad out a lot with customer’s orders and still have time to maintain your chores and job at the bookshop; we figured you deserved something in return. So without haste, Renton opened the package and saw a black dragon scale.

“You know, when I was younger I was a solder in the Wranguata. What you have there is genuine Wranguata armor. Before I was born, many mages and powerful members of the Wranguata tried to find a way to make armor more transportable and lighter. One day a mage named Baroul Troiper used an eagle’s talon and a spell to make the talon grow over his body in the form of armor. He shared his discovery with other members of the Wranguata. They found out you could use more than eagle talons for armor. Some members used claws, scales, bones, etc. The armor, though, had one flaw; some of the animal parts weren’t strong enough to withstand the blow or strike of any weapons for very long.”

His father looked out the window for a split second and returned to talking. “So the most powerful members locked themselves in a room for eleven days until a woman named Darail Nyoid fused the animal parts with magic to make the armor near impregnable. And since then the armor of the Wranguata has been one of our most favored possessions. Before I start packing again I need to tell you the spell to activate the armor. To make the armor grow say encrescua.”

“Wow! Thank you.” Both of his parents smiled at him and then his dad left to start packing for his trip. “Hey Renton, before you leave I just want to say that your dad might invite you to go with him on his trip. But don’t tell him I told you. Bye.” “Bye mom,” Renton yelled as he ran off to go find his friends.

While running to his friend Percius’s house it started to lightly snow. When he got to his friends house he knocked on the door and heard his friend Percius yelling at his little brother for something. The door opened and a skinny brown haired boy with green eyes let Renton inside. “Hey Renton what ya’ doin here?” “You know for being the apprentice of a wizard you sound, well, unwizardly.” “Hah, hah, hah! You’re hysterical. But seriously why are ya’ here?” Renton paused and answered “my dad might take me on his business trip tomorrow and I was wondering if I do go what you might want me to get ya?” “Well if you insist, I would like one of the crystal roots for a new potion I’m testing out. Here’s the money for it.” “Okay crystal root it is. Hey Percius before I forget I got an awesome present from my parents. It’s wranguata armor. It was my dad’s old armor before he retired. I’ll show you how it works.” Renton held the black dragon scale in his right hand and said “encrescua.” The scale then started to grow on him. All the sudden everything went black and the last thing he remembers is Percius calling out his name.

Renton woke up with his parents fighting. He listened to what they were saying with his eyes closed. “Why did you do this Byoer? Why did you let Wranguata use our son like an experiment?” “Enwyn I didn’t think he was going to get hurt. If I did I wouldn’t have said yes to Wranguata.” Before his mom could say anything Renton got up painfully and asked “guys what happened to me? My right arm feels……”. He looked at his right arm and saw what looked to be black markings that started on his hand and ended up at his shoulder. The black marking sort of looked like waves.

“What…what is this?” Renton asked shakily. Then all the sudden Renton passed out again. This time he had a dream about a girl his age with blonde hair and hazel eyes and a slender body. She was being guarded by a man and an ogre. Then two vines came out from no where and smacked both of the men and the girl started running. A very skinny man caught up to the girl and threw an oddly shaped boomerang at her and she fell down. A blue colored ogre, about seven feet tall and very pudgy, grabbed the girl while the other man poured a numbing potion into her mouth. Her body went limp and then Renton woke up.

“Nooooo!” Renton woke up in a deep sweat. His mom ran over to him and placed a wet cloth over his forehead. “Renton are you okay?” said his mom. “I’m fine he said, but what happened to me?”

“Byoer just tell him, tell him what you did”, said his mom as she left the room crying. Byoer stared at his son for a bit and sat down next to Renton. “Son, when you where eleven wranguata started an experiment. They started the experiment because one of the members daughters used one of the armor pieces and well, the strange markings on you appeared on her, except they were green. Wranguata found out that some children with elemental powers grew these markings. For example this one girl could control plants and flowers and what not. And yer element is water.” “What do you mean my element is water? Even if it is I don’t ever remember doing anything special with it,” screamed Renton as he started to panic. “Actually,” Byoer explained, “you have used it water before, but you just didn’t notice it. Ave’ you ever walked through rain or snow without gettin’ yer’ self wet?” Renton thought about for a moment and he remembered that he has had that happen to him before. “and instead of turning into animals like I could or other members of wranguata, you can turn into water and control however you want. Except there’s only one thing. There are only four known elementals. You are one of them, water. Sadly wranguata is on their way here to take you to their headquarters in Lëyltrî. They’ll train you until yer’ able to master yer’ skills. They have already gotten air and fire. Earth ran away and their currently bringing her back.”

Renton paused and then it hit him. The girl he dreamed about used her elemental power to get away from the man and the ogre for a moment. “Dad I dreamt about the earth elemental and when I did she was trying to run away,” Renton gasped as pain was starting to return. “Oh yeah. Elemental can also talk to each other through their minds so they can stay in touch with each other. But I will warn you. Wranguata protects are world, but it will sometimes fall to drastic measures to stay in power. I have gathered information from some of my friends still in wranguata and told me that their planning on using you and the other elemental as weapons and assassins. So be careful,” Byoer whispered as he checked that no one had heard him, but in fact right outside the window hid a mischievous boy named Karsyr. He called himself the king of mayhem because he pulls pranks on people. He silently snuck away into a crowd of people.

***

The next day all of his friends came to visit him in the hospital. Percius and Amaira, Renton’s cousin from his dad’s side. They stayed the longest beside his parents. After everyone left the nurse came in and gave him his medicine and dinner. She also gave him a letter. After the nurse left he opened the letter. It said:

Dear Mr.Renton Tréluw,

If you don’t know by now you’re an elemental. Wranguata will be sending troops to pick you up in four days time. You will need a change of clothes and anything else you want to bring. Tell your father that he will also be joining us. DO NOT FORGET YOUR DRAGON SCALE.

Hoping you get well soon,

Ulinay Kram

Renton put down the letter and felt his stomach cramp up and fill with butterflies. He suddenly remembered all of his memories. Ones that where sad, happy, funny, and all the rest. He wondered what it would be like training at wranguata and what the other elemental were like. Renton then thought about the beautiful earth elemental girl he dreamt about. He decided that he would wait until tomorrow to tell everyone about the letter. For hours he just thought about his life and that it was totally perfect before his seventeenth birthday exactly one day ago. He then called the nurse and asked her for some tea and went to sleep.

Renton dreamed about the earth elemental girl again. The two guards brought her up to a ninety foot gate surrounded by a smooth stonewall about twenty feet higher. The huge gates opened and she was dragged in as she struggled. Ten more guards came out to help brig her in. once she was in the gate closed and he heard a scream. He figured it was the earth elemental girl.

Renton woke up sweating and with the nurse gently shaking his arm. “Are you okay?” said a high pitched nurse who looked skinny than a rail. “Yes,” he panted. The nurse looked unsure, but left telling him that if he needed anything to just call. He thanked her and went back to sleep, this time with no dream at all.

Chapter two

The trail of death

For the next two days Renton was in the hospital getting visits from friends and his relatives. On the third day he left the hospital and rested a bit more at home, by orders of his mom.

Now on the last day of being in Celestyal Renton felt a wave of sadness come over him. He thought of his cousins wrestling each other in the field behind their barn and of his cousin Alla making her twin brother, Zaqq, cry. Everyone always said how boyish Alla was, but to Renton Alla was his favorite cousin.

Thinking about his family made him feel empty and lonely so he left his room and went downstairs.

I began this awhile ago and never finished it. I don’t think i will though; time to move on to something else.

Planet Reath

Confusion. That’s what I feel right now. My head’ swarming with uncertainty. I don’t know how long I’ve been here for, but writing is my only way to past time. I don’t even like writing. However, I have discovered that it does help me remember some things about myself. I guess the lady was right. I’ve found out that I write with my right hand and that I don’t like writing…that’s pretty much it, but it’s a start. The lady, Sylva, told me to write about anything. She told me that it would help me to organize my thoughts and possibly help me remember something. She said she was some sort of librarian. I don’t know if it will work, but she’s the only person I know closely on this strange island, so I’ve decided to write, for now at least.

Sylva has been working with me ever since I woke up on this island. I remember waking up parched and hungry. Luckily I was near a small lake, and luckier, the water looked safe to drink. After drinking enough water I looked around for food. Sadly, my luck had run out. There was nothing near me to eat. No trees or fruit filled bushes, but in the distance I saw a large rock jutting outwards. I weakly ran towards the only object I could see. When I reached the rock, I noticed that it was perched on the side of a cliff. I gazed down and looked upon a dense forest with a large opening some ways ahead. Smoke drifted upwards from the forest opening. Curiosity brought my feet to the edge of the lone rock. My luck must have been on a serious decline because I leaned too far over the boulder’s edge, lost my balance, and fell off the cliff.

I plummeted down upon a dense layer of emergents and canopy. After cracking some branches and a few of my ribs, I fell into a small pond. The water was very cool, most likely due to the lack of sunlight that reached it. I painfully swam to the water’s surface and struggled to breathe as my ribs poked my insides.

After dragging myself onto land, I stood up and sighed as the pain started to ebb away. I recognized this as the result of an adrenaline rush. Another result was my shaking hands. I started running towards the town I saw earlier, knowing that my gift of painlessness would soon wear off. A twinge of pain still jolted me, however strong the adrenaline was. I ran until my legs, stomach, and feet hurt. I felt no closer to the opening than when I was looking at it from the cliff top. Exhaustion and pain forced me onto the clammy ground. Leaves scattered the dirt floor. My eyes started drooping and my heart slowed its beat inside my chest. I could hear the scuffling of the insects upon the forest ground. My eyes caught the sight of a tiny ant scurrying away from my hulking body. I followed the ant with my tiring eyes. I watched the ant until I could no longer keep track of it among the leaves.

My eyes lingered upon the ant’s hidden passage, when I saw a shoe slightly poking out from behind an ochre colored tree. I started to yell at the shoe behind the tree, hoping that its owner would step out from their hiding place and help me.

A tiny, and frightened, girl slowly walked out from her hiding spot and looked at me with fear. I pleaded for the girl to help me, but she ran in the opposite direction of where I was laying. I painfully stood up and started chasing after the girl. The girl kept looking back at me with a terrified expression painted on her face. My luck failed me once again as I tripped on a small branch and fell to the solid ground feeling my ribs break even more. A sharp cry escaped my lips. The girl looked back at me with pity and continued running on to her destination.

Remorse consumed my thoughts as darkness blanketed my mind. When I woke up I was laying in a bed, in an empty room, with a dimly lit candle sitting on a stand on my left side. I noticed that crude bandages were wrapped around my aching chest. I felt my sore ribs and gently massaged them. Curiosity filled my thoughts, but no sooner had I wondered where I was when Sylva, the librarian I mentioned earlier, strutted into the room and explained that the girl I was chasing had told her about me and how she and a few other people found me nearly dead from exhaustion on the ground. She proceeded to inform me on my well being and began questioning me on who I was and what my purpose was. I replied with the ever popular I don’t know. Sylva looked at me with disbelief. She spent a few minutes on asking me about the society and happenings of Reath, when I asked her what Reath was. With shock she left the room. Roughly an hour later she returned with a leather journal and told me to write.

Sylva said she would introduce me to the village head in the morning, but that I needed to fill my journal whenever I could. I asked her why I needed to write and she answered that it could maybe illuminate me on who I am.

With a grin she said “trust me, I’m a librarian.”

I agreed to write in the journal, queuing Sylva’s exit.

So, I began writing.

-David Scott.

A bright light shone in David’s face. He slowly opened his eyes and looked upon the light’s source. Sylva was standing above him with a candle.

“Time to wake up. The village leader wants to see you now.”

I looked at Sylva with squinted eyes.

“Alright,” I replied.

David slid out from underneath the blankets and painfully stood up. Sylva motioned for him to follow her, so he did. David slowly walked behind Sylva out of his room and into a narrow hallway. He watched as shadows danced on the walls in sequence with the candle flame’s movement. The two walked through the dark hallways until Sylva stopped in front of a strangely decorated door. David could barely make out drawings of leaves and snakes upon the door’s wooden frame.

“The village leader will see you alone. I recommend that you behave yourself; he is not a man to be trifled with.”

David nodded at Sylva in thanks for the advice and gently pushed open the wooden door. He walked into another dark room. David began to wonder about the constant presence of darkness in the building.

“Close the door,” said a quiet voice.

David obediently shut the ornate door. He then looked around for the origin of the mysterious voice.

“I am up here,” said the voice.

David looked up, but saw nothing.

“Boy, have you no knowledge of this island?” sighed the voice, “walk forward ten paces until you come to a metal staircase.”

Again, David obediently did as he was told and found the staircase. He began ascending the steps when he felt a cool, but slight, breeze brush against his face. David’s curiosity peaked and he ran up the staircase. Without warning he struck his head against a hard object. David cringed in pain. He felt the area above him where he had hit his head. He felt a small metal object…a handle! David twisted the handle and pushed open a small door.

A terrible, but shining light blinded David, forcing him to shield his eyes. He groped around upon a wooden floor.

“Bright, isn’t it?” laughed a voice. “Stand up boy. It isn’t as bright as you think it is.”

David slowly opened his hurting eyes as they adjusted to the intense light. As he did, David saw the outline of a man standing only a few paces in front of him.

“What is this place…and who are you?” David asked.

The dark outline walked closer to David and handed him a familiar object.

“Put these over your eyes,” said the figure.

David cautiously put the objects over his eyes. When he let go the object fell from his face.

“Hold on, let me help you with those.”

Another figure appeared in David’s sight. This person took the strange object and placed them upon his face with two stick-like objects perched on his ears. David blinked numerous times as his vision became less obscured by the ridiculous light. Glasses…he thought.

He looked at both of the people standing in front of him. One of them was an old man with short silvery hair. The old man had pale skin and sky blue eyes that seemed as if they could pierce a man with a single gaze. The other person was a dark skinned man with even less hair than the pale man and deep brown eyes. However different, both men had a positive aura surrounding them.

The pale gentleman looked at David and laughed.

“He definitely needs help. What do you think Taug?”

The dark skinned man smiled a big toothy grin and replied, “I agree with you. Young man, what’s your name?”

David looked at both men with a puzzled look. He then a felt a rush of warm wind blow against his body. The wind kept getting stronger.

“Hold your ground,” ordered the dark skinned man, Taug.

David tried to do what the man said, but he lost his balance and fell to the ground. When he hit the floor the glasses he was wearing came off, leaving David’s eyes vulnerable to the strong light. A wave of pain surged through his head as the light seared his eyes. The overload of light forced David to pass out.

As darkness encompassed David’s vision he heard the pale man humorously say something to the dark skinned man.

“Taug, this one’s strange, but he has promise.”

“Let’s hope he does,” replied Taug.

David let the drowsiness take him into a deep slumber.

Something wet touched David’s forehead waking him from his sleep. He immediately opened his eyes. He was back in the dark room he had first awoken in. Sylva was wiping sweat from his brow. She looked at him with her jade green eyes.

“You have a slight fever, but you’ll be alright. You’re still recovering from a few injuries after all.”

Sylva looked down at David, staring into his eyes. David’s eyes began to water when Sylva finally released him from her gaze.

“How did I pass out?” questioned David, rubbing his eyes.

Sylva looked at her questioner and replied all-knowingly.

“You exposed your eyes to the light.”

David looked at Sylva as if he was waiting for her to finish her statement, but she remained stationary. After a minute of silence David grew impatient.

“I had figured that…about the light, but why did the light make me unconscious?”

Sylva sighed and replied, “Well, David, right now we are underground, like before, and your eyes had adjusted to the darkness. The area that you had entered is a room where light is magnified. The people on this island use it to train. We’ll talk more about this later…did you understand that David?”

David nodded in comprehension.

“Well then,” said Sylva, “you have another meeting with the leader…hopefully a more pleasant one this time. Get dressed and meet me at the second candle outside the door to your right.”

Sylva blew out the only candle in the room and swiftly exited the pitch black room. David got up and fumbled around the lightless room until he had found a closet. David took out clothes that he imagined would fit him the best and carefully put them on his unclothed body. He could feel the smooth fibers of the clothes sit and hang upon himself without a care. David searched the bottom of the closet, hoping to find a pair of shoes, but found none.

After wasting several minutes attempting to find shoes, he left the room, bare-foot, and walked through the dark hallway until he had arrived at the second candle. David wondered how the light from the candle didn’t hurt his eyes…even just a little.

He noticed that there was a slight indent in the side of the wall. Looking closer, he could see a handle. David, realizing it was a door and filled with an intense curiosity, slowly opened the mysterious barrier. Inside, light was completely devoid. The darkness felt thick, like gravity had somehow been increased.

He noticed a faint flickering sound coming from the room. The sound reminded him of a flame…like the candle in his room, but it was moving fast…too fast. David meant to step into the room to discover the source of his curiosity, but something immediately slammed the door shut.

Surprised, David stumbled backwards, hitting something behind him. He turned around and saw Sylva glaring at him.

“What were you doing?” Sylva asked sternly.

Before David could respond, Sylva grabbed his hand and began leading him down the hallway. He obediently followed Sylva until they stopped in front of the same decorated door he had entered earlier.

“Sylva…” David began, but she motioned for him to enter the room.

A spark of fear ignited into a roaring fire as David pushed open the door and watched a man run towards him. David sluggishly attempted to side-step the man, but got tackled to the ground. He felt his body slam against the cold stone floor. His pain quickly became numb.

The man who had tackled David was now helping David up. Though reluctantly, he allowed the man to bring him to his feet.

“I’m sorry about that, but I just couldn’t resist. Luckily your still alive,” laughed the man, “most people would’ve died from that hit, but I had a feeling that you’re different than most people.”