Dai

Lure

Unable to tell a dream from reality, unable to fully comprehend my surroundings, my heart was heavily beating as it struggled with my thick blood. My throat was numb and dry, my ears were playing the chaotic symphony of a thousand broken violins. With a glance from my heavy eyes, fear hammered me down.

"Where..." I asked with no voice, silence was the answer. I looked around me more, trying to make sense, trying to find meaning, it was futile to try to understand. I was outside a fallen empty hut surrounded by grasslands as far as the eye can see.
All of a sudden, i stand in a foreign world like no other. Defying all reason, despite my weak attempts not to believe, i was far away from where i belong.

The grass beneath my feet bent but never broke under my weight. Gusts of aromatic wind refreshed my lungs and lifted my spirit. Sounds finally began to make their way back to my ears, i could hear birds singing far in the distance. Gazing upon the sky, i saw two orbs of light, two impossible suns that shined brightly, almost blinding my eyes. I was stranded on a lone hill in the middle of a grass field with scattered flowers. I turned my eyes towards the clear orange colored sky.

I could not help but laugh, i laughed as i fell down to my knees, my head began to feel so heavy. I tried to keep myself from falling down, but my hands were too weak to keep me from hugging the grass. Lying flat on the ground, my nose was full with the smell of dirt and grass and my eyes quickly gave in. All i could hear was the emptiness of my heart beats, my breath fading away and i fell into darkness.

"Araa..."

I sensed a presence near me, my eyes swung open and i saw someone standing over me. Turning over, i could finally see him clearly. It was a man with a square jaw and sweaty forehead carrying a large axe over his shoulder. His eyes were curious and cautious. "Araa, saa da eac" He talked, i couldn't understand at all. A different language, a barrier between us. He offered me a hand, i gladly took it and tried to pull myself together as i stood up. Weak knees, weak feet and aching back, i felt like an old man on the verge of collapsing. I took a few deep breaths and finally managed to stand up straight. He started talking again with the unknown language, i had to reply so that he understands that i can't get what he's saying "I'm sorry, i can't really get anything you're saying..." my hand of course were gesturing along as i talked. Once he heard the first few words, his eyes were open wide in shock before he knelt before me with his axe on the ground beside him. His head was down, i could feel his sudden fear of me.

Feeling embarrassed along with my need to understand, i pulled him to his feet again and tried to smile. My face muscles were already aching as i managed to draw the worst smile ever. He was still shocked and tried to kneel again before me, but i kept him standing. "Stop that... Please, just..." It seemed like my words suddenly made sense to him. He was excited, pointing towards one of the seemingly endless sides of the grassland "Stopp!" he kept repeating over and over again. Maybe that's actually a place, i had nothing to lose, i nodded at him with the same bad smile. He took that as a sign of approval and quickly carried his axe and lead the way. I was surprised to find man-made stairs attached to one of the hill's sides. It was both strange and mysterious. We descended to the grassland and began walking in the direction he pointed at.

We walked for five minutes and the scene has not changed, not that i didn't mind at all. The orange sky was fascinating, it was a beautiful painting of harmony. Nothing but the sound of singing birds and the man's heavy breath as he lead the way forward.

But it was as if i felt it, that deep cold feeling rushing down my spine. The man was alarmed due to the sudden high pitched sound that was quickly approaching us till it invaded our ears. It was too late as he readied his axe and swung it forward. His entire axe along with the upper half of his body suddenly disappeared. It vanished into thin air leaving a heart numbing figure in front of me. I was frozen in place, it was so fast. The man's body turned as he fell to the ground, i could see his remaining eye looking towards me, screaming for help.

"Phew, now that's a meal!" a voice announced the arrival of its unwelcome guest. The new comer stood by the man's destroyed body as if admiring the scene. Pony-tail hair, light bearded face and the rest of his body is covered with pure red metallic armor, the kind i've never seen except in fantasy comics. He carried a long staff with a black orb on its top. I couldn't think straight, i couldn't form any thoughts or find my sanity anymore.
"Oh, hey there bro! Looks like you're new. I thought nobody's coming anymore" He welcomed me eerily. His dark eyes were narrow and focused onto mine. "W..who are you? W..What happened to this man!" I finally found my voice. He grinned and pointed towards the same direction the man pointed at earlier.

"Keep walking forward this way. I think the closest town is Stopp, get yourself a LanRing, it should help you for now" Ignoring my questions, but he can speak and understand my language. I needed to ask "What's all this, why.." My eyes shifted to the man's body overflowing the ground with thick blood. "Where am i...?" I asked. The stranger laughed and came closer to me, i fell back, trying to get away from him. However, his hand tightly held my shoulder as he whispered "This is where you dream... or suffer nightmares... forget earth and become a god here...

Welcome to Dai!"