Adventure in Ayremus

Chapter One: A Hero Reborn

As the gravel shifted above me, I looked up at the strange wispy glow, struggling to remember why I was here, in what looked like a shrine. The diamond encrusted chest surfaced messily from beneath the dirt. It popped open with a bang and flung dirt and gravel all across the handmade stone bricks and statues that were carved into the walls. My mouth dropped in surprise at the huge gleaming sword that was placed neatly in the chest. The glowing blob immediately floated upwards, as if signalling to me to stand. I brushed the remaining gravel off me, and slowly tried to pry my body loose from the clutches of cold and damp soil. The large gravestone that was partially buried behind me cracked with a sickening sound, showering me with dust and fragments, as the wisp spun and struck it again and again. The wisp now glowed a bright orange as if it was frustrated, lighting every nook and cranny like a burning torch. A long slender tendril reached out to the sword from the chest and another lifted me off the ground and onto my feet.

I felt strength course through me, an undeniable power awoke somewhere within, but with no idea of who I was and what had happened before, I was lost.

The wisp let out a smaller pulsing tendril that slowly flowed towards my form. I shied away instinctively but a voice deep in my thoughts calmed me and my eyes drooped with each word the soothing voice said.

I felt a huge pain. The unbearable pressure of something piercing my heart.

"Do not fear..."

I blinked.

The world was swept away by the wispy glow as it grew in size, the entire world seemed to flow like an ocean, everything moved before my very eyes, but yet it hurt. A groan outside alerted me to the presence of another being. Rubbing my eyes, the pain eased and the strange sight I saw faded away. I grasped onto the hilt of the blade floating in the air, still unsure if it really was mine, and charged out into the open. I spun out of the door and immediately felt all eyes falling on me. Every single person in the vicinity was looking straight at me. I gave them no time to recover, instantly swinging my sword with great precision and accuracy. So quickly in fact that I startled myself. I sprinted through the gap I had created and moved quickly away from where I was, leaving the screaming and shouting people behind me.

Was I that great with a blade? Why were they so afraid of me?

I pushed those thoughts aside, my survival was the first thing I had to look out for. I dodged a volley of arrows and dived for safety, rolling forwards with tremendous speed. I sprung up and my instincts took over and forced the muscles on my sword arm to twitch upwards. The blade responded and deftly sliced an arrow in half, intercepting its trajectory towards my skull. I continued running on in a straight line until I found the ocean, and as the sun rose above the horizon, I looked back and truly saw the beauty of the world.

I looked from the shimmering blue ocean to the white sand beneath my feet, then my eyes went to a forest nearby before I gazed in awe at the mountain range shrouded in mist in the background. Waterfalls and rivers flowing down the mountains looked like a net, trapping the majestic cliffs. However long I had been down there, it was definitely refreshing to come up and view the surface yet again.

I trudged down the barren dirt pathway, the white sand faded away into the distance as I walked without a direction in mind. Trekking up the mountain was definitely a bad idea, and staying by the sea would never get me anywhere, so I decided on the only other option. The land was vast and the sun was relentless, fatigue quickly set in as I realized that I had no water, food or any form of shelter. My body shuddered in response to that thought, my mouth was dry and my eyes burned painfully from staring into the darkness of the undergrowth. I sat down, breathing heavily and blinking as I tried to get my eyes to stop hurting. I rubbed them over and over again, but the pain would not go away. The shadow of darkness soon overcame the land and I shut my eyes, I had to try to deal with the pain and sleep.

It has only been a few hours when a loud explosion tore the serene atmosphere and jolted me awake, the horrifying sounds of battle could be heard from where I lay. Suddenly the pain in my eyes came back, seemingly overwhelming me. The weird wispy glow I had seen before appeared, and suddenly I could see everything again. I gasped as a bird took off from the treetops, its wings beat hard and seemed to disrupt the flow I saw, the few leaves that the bird had dislodged in its bumpy takeoff also seemed to be affected by this flow. I noted how the waves in the air moved and cradled the leaves as it descended slowly to the ground. I looked around and noticed a disruption in the flow, it seemed like something had pushed away the flow and created a strong invisible barrier. I ran towards what I thought was the object and almost stumbled off a cliff. It seemed farther away than it looked.I dashed through the moonlit trees, leaping over plants, roots, small animals and the occasional stream that crisscrossed the otherwise barren landscape. As I headed towards that weird disruption, I noticed that the sounds of a battle was growing louder.

And then I was there.

I ran towards a large clearing atop a huge hill that overlooked the village, half of it was already in smoldering ruins as the great army mercilessly pounded down on villagers' homes. A small party of defenders appeared from within a hut, running unwillingly towards certain death. I could not stand it anymore, I had to help, but there were too many people.

A voice at the back of my head spoke up again, a little clearer this time. "The power already lies in your eyes and hands..."

The last thing I remembered was my eyes burning painfully as I crouched down low. Whatever this power was, I definitely had no control over it.