Goraldia: The Element Wielders

2: Element Wielding

It was evening now, 6:43 my watch told me. The village was much closer and I saw wooden walls surrounding it. I had moved inward from the shore because I found a path; a simple gravel path, but an unmistakeable, freshly used path. The village was about fifty feet away. I hear a crack in the forest to my right, the direction of the lake. I halt and quickly turn. There I wait in silence, not daring to move. A branch broke, I conclude. It's gotta be a branch. Fell off a tree. Still, I wait there for another minute, then after deciding there was nothing there, I continue, though much more stealthily and slow.

I come up upon the gate of the village. I wait for any other noise in the forest, but none respond.

"HELLO?!" I yell at the gate. "Is anyone there?" I wait. Nothing. "Please, I need some food," I beg. More waiting. No response. "Hello, anyone. I saw comotio-," I stop suddenly because I hear rustling, way more than before. I barely get to look to my right before some guy tackles me to the ground. "OOF!" I exclaim as I get hit. I land on the ground with a thud and fear for my life. HUNTER! I thought. I began fighting him to escape. He let go easily. I scramble away from him, heart racing once again. That's when I realized I heard two noises: the man crushing plants and sticks, and something whizzing through the air. I look over to where the second sound lead to find an arrow sticking out of a tree.

"Come with me!" The man said, who was no 'man' at all. He looked more like a teenager, like me. Sixteen, maybe? Another arrow flies past my face, a hurried shot, and the teen runs away. SHHHHHHIT! I think while running after him, because I'm certainly not staying where I can get shot. SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT! Two more arrows fly by, one grazing my left leg. Then the firing stops. "WAIT! Waitwaitwait!" I slur together, while slowing a little. "Who the fuck are you and why are you helping me?!"

"Do not slow down. They will form a hunting party. We need to get as far away as possible before entering the lake," He instructs me, with no sign of slowing down.

"Enter the lake?!" I shriek at him. Then I knew who he was; he was the man in the middle of the lake. But how? I saw no sandbar. "I'm not a good swimmer! They will shoot me easily!"

"You are right. I have forgotten. I am sorry. Please keep running!" he says, seeming quite annoyed with me. "We'll turn off the path in a few minutes. There we'll investigate your element."

"Whhhhat?" I stop this time, and he notices. He turns around and gets close to me, so I have time to look at his face, but not long, as he grabs my arm and forces me forward.

"You are here because you died. You are from Earth. You woke in a temple," he prods me.

"Yeah, all are true," I answer truthfully, but I'm still very confused.

"Well, welcome to Goraldia. I'm sure this has been quite a warm welcome," He tells me. Sarcasm is universal, I think. Feels more like home already. "I'm from Earth as well. I could tell by what you wear. I'm from Portugal. Where are you from?"

"Wisconsin," I respond.

"Turn here," he steers me. We enter further into the forest. The conversation ends and we continue running far longer than enough to wind me.

"Is this far enough?" I plead. Breathing is hard and I would not be able to continue much longer.

"I suppose so," He says, still full of energy. "Tell me your name."

"Tell me yours," I interject.

He sighs. "My Earth name is Tomas, but since I came here I go by Icarus," He informs me.

"I think I'll stay with Dieter, for now. It's good to meet you, Icarus. Very good. Without you I would be dead. Already," I say, muffling that last word.