Seven Gates of Heroism

Chapter One

The rocks crumble at the bottom of my feet as I walk on the track up the mountain. "Dad, why are we hiking, in the middle of winter?" I ask the man in front of me. His short spiky hair flows when a gust of wind comes down the mountain.

"Come on son, don't ask like that. You gotta be chipper since you agreed to come with your daddy." Dad says.

"I stopped calling you daddy four years ago, why'd you bring me here anyway, you didn't say we'd be on a mountain. AND YOU CERTAINLY DIDN'T SAY I'D BE CARRYING ALL THE GEAR!" I exclaim. He keeps walking up the mountain road, the crunching of rocks continues. He looks back with a smirk.

"It builds character, some, I'm sure a tucked-away athlete like yourself could use. All you do is stay in the house all day, using your room as a private gym and browse the internet. The only time I see you is in the morning before one of your runs. Thought talking to someone might do something." Dad explains. He's the one that pulled me out of school so all I can do is exercise. I talk to all my online friends on the internet forums. I tug on the backpacks straps, keeping it pulled against my back. It simply gingles and makes clunking sounds from the pots hanging off it. I look back at the pots hanging off me.

"Just tell me when we get there, I'm taking a mental nap." I add.

"We'll be there soon, so no need to keep your mind closed, find any cute girls on the web yet?" He asks me.

"Find any step moms yet." I ask while my face feels on fire.

"Ow, my heart, I don't use computers, I'm too busy anyway." he responds.

"How are you too busy for computers? They're supposed to make things easier, I mean you gave me a phone for the same reasons, right?" I ask.

"Mmm, nothing too important." he tells me this all the time. "I know, he always has questions, I still like him talking to me though." he says to himself. Dad always talks to himself, I occasionally catch him doing it. "We're approaching the camp I made before." He tells me. For once, instead of a slant we land our feet stable feeling ground made by dirt. What look like two tents sit at a dent in the mountain I'm on. On a bench sits some guy with black hair and an annoying looking smile, waiting for us. I put the bag down on the dirt floor.

"Dad, who's this?" I ask.

"Dad huh? Did I really leave you long enough to raise a child? I really let time fly." the black haired man comments.

"Yeah, you really let me simmer, but that fire is getting ready to re-light in a sec. Marrel, back off, this isn't apart of the trip." Dad responds in a growl. Something feels different about dad as he goes on guard. The man with black hair, opens his hand and lights it aflame. The flame being the size of a basketball, one of the sparks flies to one of the tents. Lighting it up.

"You really made yourself a good meal. I love it, That kid's gonna cry when you die, everyone you know will hate me, thank you. Nice to meet you Marrel." the black haired man says. He stands up and walks to his left. Dad follows him walking to the left, but the tension feels super dense to stay here. I follow dad and walk the same path, dragging the bag with me. The tension continues to build, I feel stressed to even be here. Dad vanishes feeling wind bunch up against me, as I see him closing on the man. Push back by the air, I almost fall off onto the rock road. Catching myself landing on my feet, I look back at the man. Dad has some weapon jammed into the guy.

"Uh, Adinel, to be a magician, you have to be good at misdirection. So, can you look down one time for me?" the black haired man asks Dad. I blink for a moment, and the scene corrects itself. Dad is on the other side of what Dad stabbed the black haired guy with. Blood seeps through Dad's mouth, I bring my hand to my mouth as tears build in my eye.