NUIA part 1: Nuian (eng) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 1: Solzreed

The soft melody of a lute guided his steps through a bright forest. The music played was both tender and sad, yet almost hypnotic. The young man, curious, wanted to find the source. The melody was not unfamiliar to him, but yet he could not say where he knew it from. The sound became more and more intense as he went on. At last he came to a small pool of water, at the edge of which sat a man wearing a long black cloak, shoulders decorated with black feathers with golden tips, with a blue line in the middle that shone like lightning in the middle of a stormy night. The man's face was partly hidden under a large hood, and the lute he was playing with was made of wood, but richly carved and decorated. Suddenly his hands froze on the strings, and the stranger turned back to the young man, anchoring his electric blue eyes in his. After a brief moment that seemed frozen in time, the hooded man grabbed his cloak and lifted it in a swift movement towards his face. The young man, surprised, closed his eyes. When he opened them again, the stranger had disappeared completely, and in his place stood a black raven with golden feather tips on its wings and neck. The bird flew away, and the young man chased it, running for his life, until a pine cone smashed onto the top of his head.

"Ouch!"

The young man rubbed his head before putting his hair back on the right side of his head, the left side shaved with three lines in a fade.

"Damn... that stupid dream again" he muttered. "I'm going to end up thinking it means something!"

Just as he was about to get up, he saw a bird a few feet in front of him that seemed to be staring him right in the face. It was a black raven, its neck feathers and wingtips golden, just like in his dream! As if it had been able to read the young man's mind, the bird took off and fled. The young man leapt to his feet.

"Utopia!"

The mouse-grey mare grazing nearby trotted in the direction of her owner, who climbed on top of her on the run. He set off at full gallop after the bird, hoping to catch it. However, the bird flew over the tall pines and disappeared for good. The young man sighed, and realised that he was back in Desireen, the village where he grew up.

"Did that damn bird want me to come home or what?" he wondered aloud.

He led his mare into the small paddock near the cottage belonging to his foster family, removed her saddle and bridle before brushing her and checking that nothing had become stuck under her hooves. He then cut an apple into pieces and gave it to the animal. A grey wolfhound came trotting up, tail plumed, a partridge in its mouth.

"Well, Elbion, where have you been? Are you bringing us dinner?"

The beast dropped his prey at his master's feet, wagging his tail, obviously proud. The young man stroked its head, took the game and returned to the cottage, the dog on his heels.

"William, is that you?" a female voice asked as the front door opened.

"Yes Ma" replied the young man. "Elbion has caught another partridge, I'm going to pluck it."

"Again? You might want to keep an eye on him, at this rate there won't be any left in this forest."

"I know, but I fell asleep... Besides, I had that strange dream again, it's the sixteenth time this month."

The farmer didn't answer anything, just continued to close the little jars of jam she had just made. This dream that William had been having for a while worried her, she was afraid that it was premonitory. However, no one knew what it could mean.

The front door opened again. Knowing it was his father, William took a deep breath.

"I'm going to leave" he said. "I want to know more about where I come from."