The story of Aldorem

Chapter Two: A delightful birthday

My breath is heavy, my heart is beating like crazy, and my life is rushing past me. There aren't many thoughts left in my head—only one, to be exact—to run. And so I ran and ran, like a madman being chased by his worst enemies. When I looked back in horror, all I saw was black, just like the void in front of me. At that moment, I realized that I was running in one place. I could try as hard as I wanted to move, but I couldn't. So I stopped to run and looked around me.

But after an eternity, nothing changed; it was still the same black void around me as before. I started to feel lost and panicked about what to expect from the darkness around me. Then nothing; it was silent all around me. Before, I heard a sound now and then, but now there was nothing; I couldn't even hear myself any more. The only thing I could feel was that my heart was beating louder and louder.

Then there was a scream—a terrible scream that felt as if all my thoughts and my being had been shattered. At that moment, I awoke, drenched in my own sweat and with a horrified expression on my face.

After lying still for a short moment, my pumping heart slowly began beating more and more normal again, and my breath stabilized. I stayed moveless in bed to think about what just happened, but I couldn't explain it to me, it felt too real. With this weird feeling still lingering in my head I decided to go to my parents room to tell them of my dream. As I stood up from the bed, I fell down onto it again, my back felt odd, but not bad, it was a new kind of feeling. After thinking about it for a short moment I came to the conclusion that it had something to do with the healing potion effects.

I tried again and again to stand up, which was really hard for me, but thanks to the wall I could support myself on I was finally able to walk my first steps again. After doing so for a bit, I got used to the feeling and began walking to my parents room to question them out.

Arriving in my parents room, there was no one, all was silent. Thinking they were already downstairs preparing meal I went to our living room. The way down the stairs was more scary than ever, it was quiet, too quite and dark, not the black where one can't see anything, more of a light dark, as if the sun was about to rise. My legs—still weak from my wound—weren't of much help, and made me feel weaker than ever. Coming down the last few steps, I was blinded from a glaring light. As my eyes began regaining my vision I saw them. There, I saw my whole family sitting at the table that was filled to the brim with cakes, muffins, and other yummy things. The moment I recovered from my shock, they started to sing a song for me while they gave me their presents, which made me happy. The presents were always the most exciting part of my birthdays. After the song was over, everyone congratulated me, from my parents to my little brother, my cousin, and my only remaining grandmother.

Then I sat myself at the head of the table and ate to my heart's content while chatting with my family. Through the nice atmosphere and the long talks, I completely forgot about my dream and my long healed injury.

The party went on until midday, until the last person left. Then, when all of them were gone, I could finally open my presents; they were mainly filled with clothes or money. But there were also two things under all the gifts I wished for my whole life long.

There was a good, old pocket knife, and a beautiful stone that my father found while mining. The little stone is black with red lines that seem to eat through it. It seemed to glow in my little palm. My dad told me that it was not an ordinary stone but a strengthening stone. It is a stone that improves your health permanently and can help you get better natural healing abilities when you eat it. But the effect is really small, and they are rarely seen and even harder to find. They can only be obtained in one of two ways.

Either by searching for them very deep in the mines, where they are now scarce, even in the deepest and most unexplored areas, but it is possible, as my father showed. The problem is that even when one is as lucky as him, there is no guarantee that the strengthening stone is as big and clean as the one my father found.

The other way is to kill extremely powerful monsters, known as epic monsters, which only appear very rarely. The good thing is that the stronger the monster is, the stronger the stone will be.

Killing such a monster requires a group effort, and the loot is shared among members. The stone is especially coveted, leading to disputes over who gets it. So normally, it ends in a battle for the stone, or it is sold, and then the price is split. So in the end they always end in the hands of the rich and strong, so as a commoner to get one is rare.

My father was very lucky to have found the stone, and he was then selfless enough to give it to me. Which is why I appreciate the gift even more.

The other thing I got was a pocket knife. The blade is only 10cm long, but that should be enough to carve wood with it—something I always wanted to try out. The blade isn't very sharp since my parents want to ensure I don't have a real weapon at my young age. But it can be extended and retracted whenever I want, which makes it handy when I want to store it in my pocket. I took both of the presents to my room and put them on my bedside table.

After all the excitement, I went to play in the playground with some of my friends.

As I went over the market once again, I saw the guys I had seen back then stealing goods. Seeing them made me remember the accident, and deep down I felt sorry for those guys. I destroyed their day, maybe they even haven't had anything to eat for the day.

I scrutinised them from head to toe, literally—One had a toe looking out from his shoe. They all had a slim silhouette and seemed kind of weak, their pants and shirts had holes everywhere. Even only thinking about their homes made me shiver; in retrospect I know felt a huge guilt.

So I decided I would apologizes, I went to the market stand from back then, where I found the same saleswoman as back then. There I bought some bread and many fruits which where nicely packet in a bag, for this I paid with my own money, which kind of hurt. But it was for the good and I thought they needed it way more than I did, so I went over to them, smiling.

As I came closer they saw me, so I waved my hand; they at first where stunned, the same kid that chased them the one time know came towards them, waving his little palm. As they realized who I was they turned around and tried going away, but I shouted at them to wait, which they did surprisingly. I advanced further towards them, as I was close enough I bowed down to them and apologised; standing straight up again I reached my hand out to them to give them the bag.

They looked mesmerized back at me—they never would have thought that this would happen. Never before was there any person kind enough to gift them something, only some pitying glances. So the gift meant really much to them.

They thanked me and took the bag; looking into it their gazes lit up, they had never had much to eat and now there was so much just for them. They smiled at me and thanked me again and again, the guys where super happy.

Before parting with them I spoke with them about their situation, they told me that they all where surviving on the street since being little child, they never had a true family. I felt really sorry for them and gave them a promise to gift them some bread now and then.

Meanwhile, my parents took down the birthday decorations and prepared everything for dinner.

This time I made it home in time for my meal and ate with my family while chatting happily. We had steak for supper, which we don't eat often, because my parents wanted to make my birthday the best day of my life—and it freaking was.

I had many nice presents, much fun, and a beautiful day. But the best part is that I am now ten years old and can finally go to school with my friends. This is the age at which all kids in Aldorem have to go to school. There we learn all sorts of things like writing and reading, the history of the world, and how to mine properly. These are all skills that are needed to survive in the adult world. But I still have to wait until the beginning of winter before I start school. So I don't have to rack my brain about it yet.

After playing cards with my parents until late in the evening, I went to bed.

Now, sitting on my bed, I'm torn between eating the strengthening stone and keeping it for its potential value.
On the one hand, it is beneficial for me to do so, and I really want to feel how it feels. Besides, the effect will be the same if I eat it tomorrow, so why shouldn't I eat it now?

On the other hand, selling the stone would give me a huge amount of money, and I also personally think eating a stone—even a strengthening one—would definitely not be good for me. It just sounds wrong and even a bit suspicious. So in the end, I decided against eating it and went back to the world of dreams.