Mirror World: Bound By Destiny

The Old Knight

"Wake up!"

Yells an elderly man whose better years have past him by, throwing water at a young boy who was sleeping next to a fireplace. The boy woke in shock and was twisting and kicking all around with a heavy breath.

"Where am I? What's going on?!

Yelled the boy in between deep breaths, caused from the impact of the cold water been suddenly thrown at him.

"That's my line, kid. You were collapsed alongside the road, I've been dragging you around in my horse for half a day, about time you stood on your own legs, the sun is about to set, can't keep looking out for you. So, who in the hell are you?"

The older man wore an old armor, resembling that of a knight, covered by a white cloak with the sigil of a cross on its back, which also had two sheaths, one filled with a normal steel sword, while the other was empty as the man was tending to the shiny silver sword on his hand, sharpening it meticulously. He gave it one last strick before blowing it, the orange-colored sky perfectly reflected its glow on the sword as the man took some swings.

"I, I don't know."

The young boy didn't seem to lie, and the old man noticed, he looked at the boy and sighed deeply.

"You're on Roman territory kid, and you don't look like a native, you can't just say that you don't know who you even are. Your clothes scream outsider."

And the old man was right, the young boy's clothes looked nothing alike the old knight. The boy wore far more modern clothes than that of the other, with a black jacket with two golden lines on both sides, along with a pair of yellow tight jeans with a chain on its left pocket, but not only that, his hair was even more note-worthy, being even whiter than the old man's.

"I, I swear that I tell no lie, sir. Last thing I remember is waking up here!"

Said the boy while panicking, trying to figure out what was happening. The old man got fed up and scratched his head in a sign of annoyance. He gave one final look at the young boy, intimadating him and then sat down on a tree log.

"Go get some more wood, kid. The night's going to be cold."

Said the knight while throwing an axe at the boy, who clumbsy barely catched it.

"Sir?"

Asked the confused boy.

"You're deaf, boy? I said to go gather wood, you've been nothing but a nuisance so far, so you better start paying back me dragging your ass out of harm's way. You were bound to be looted sooner than later if I left you where you were."

The old man started tending to the fireplace while grabbing a dead rabbit that he had previously hunted, he took out a small golden dagger from his cloak, and started to skin the rabbit. The young boy didn't dare to disturb him any longer, and walked away with the axe on his hands. He looked for some usable wood, but he found nothing but little branches.

"Maybe I should try cutting down a tree? No, there's no way I can do that before the night falls."

The boy got lost on his thoughts, and before he knew it, the sun had completely left the sky, only to be substituted by the dark night. He tried to go back to the old man, with the little wood he had gathered, but he had forgotten to trace a path, and eventually got lost. The wolves howled, and he could sense several eyes upon him. The cold had also took over the forest, making the boy tremble with each slow step.