Arcane Tethers

Chapter 2: The Forgotten King

'What just happened?' He thinks to himself. 'My heart felt like it was going to stop!' He flinches as he starts to regain his consciousness. His head is groggy, and his muscles are numb, but he isn't sure whether it's from being underground for so long or from being electrocuted. He awakens on the ground, face in the dirt. He feels like a mangled chew toy. He can't see, move, or feel anything besides the welcome warmth of the sun on his back. In the distance he can hear two voices shouting at each other, one man and one woman. Must be the two he saw underground. As his body starts to recover from the numbness, he realizes he still can't move his legs or his arms. He can sense them now so he should be able to move them. He shuffles in place a bit more before feeling something rub against his wrist. Those bastards! They tied me up after electrocuting me! He'd shout in protest, but he's been gagged with a rather large, and absolutely putrid, piece of cloth as well, not that he has the energy to do so.

It seems his movements are noticed by his captors, as their voices stopped while he was struggling on his own. He feels a pair of hands grab him by the arms and slowly lift him to his knees, before removing his blindfold. The sun blinds him for a bit before his vision adjusts. Ah, now that's a familiar sight.

He sees the beautiful amber sky, stretched as far as the eye can see, with massive clouds scattered throughout its splendour. The sunset blessing the skyline with an orange hue. The horizon is lined with snow-tipped mountains, with a great green ocean of flora spanning from there to cliffs he kneels atop of. In the distance, flying between the mountains, he sees a majestic sight. A dragon, circling one of the peaks. Must be hunting for griffins, he thinks to himself. The cool autumn breeze brushes his face as he takes it all in. He feels like he could look at this this sight forever, if it weren't for the two figures now blocking his vision.

They are young, incredibly young compared to the old man. Their light-brown skin glow in the sunlight. The boy is noticeably shorter compared to the girl, especially when considering his boots' soles are an inch thick. He wears a well-worn t-shirt with a picture of an old camera. He is also wearing navy blue jeans that's torn at the knee, both chosen knowing that it'll likely get dirty on his trip.

The girl, on the other hand, is wearing a pair of large, round glasses, framing her bright orange eyes perfectly. She wears a white jacket with an emblem on the breast pocket, an open book with the letters 'AHM' written on it. A seemingly poor decision as it is now covered in dirt and dust. Otherwise, she also came prepared, with a plain, ratty, red t-shirt accompanied by a pair of cargo shorts. Her long, black, hair is tied in a ponytail, as it waves softly in the mountain breeze.

The young man crouches down in front of the old man to inspect his face, bringing his blue eyes in full view. Or rather, one blue eye, "Dang, one of his eyes really is all white," The young lady smacks him at the back of the head, "Ow! What was that for!"

"C'mon, man!" She says in a hushed voice.

"Right, right." He turns back to the tied up old man before him, "Sorry about tasing you back then. I, uh, thought you were a zombie... Or a mummy..." The old man muffles something in return, they can tell that he is furious, but the gag repressed any protest. "Oh! Right, sorry, forgot about the gag."

When he removes the cloth, the old man spits and coughs before retorting, "If you were really sorry, then..." He looks like he's about to throw up. "Then why must you tie me up?" He starts coughing again, "What on earth did you put in my mouth?"

"My socks" The young man gestures to his mismatched footwear.

The old man's horrified expression isn't enough to show how disgusted he is at the reveal. He can feel himself passing out again.