World Of War (Arula: Three)

Chapter 15

Jason's eyes fluttered opened. His first thought was that he was dead because he saw was a bright, blinding light. When his eyes adjusted, he found out that was not the case. Jason sat up and rubbed the back of his head. At first Jason didn't know what happened. Then it all came back. The woods, the treehouse with the funny map and drawings, and then the weird glass sphere which exploded into a portal when he accidentally dropped it. And that was it. Everything went dark when he stepped through it. He looked around his surroundings. Trees stretched as far as the eye could see. The sound of crickets chirping, and a bird's song echoed through the trees. A harsh fall breeze whipped and wrapped around Jason as it passed.

Jason shivered and tried to bring the jacket he wore closer to body but to only found out that it was gone. A strange feeling came over Jason. He looked down at his clothes to see that they had changed to look like some peasant from the medieval times. He wore a loose shirt and pants with boots that looked worn. He suddenly felt panicked when Jason couldn't feel his crucifix around his neck. When Jason felt around his neck, he touched a sliver chain. He pulled the chain and the crucifix soon followed. He sighed with relief. Where am I? Jason thought as he stood. "I don't think I'm in Kansas anymore." He tried to joke but it only made him more nervous. With no real destination in mind, Jason turned to his left and began to walk. With every step he took that more nervous he became. He never really liked the woods, not even as a child. Jason guessed it was because all those horror movies he used to watch when he was five.

When the woods didn't seem like it was going to change, Jason leaned against a tree to catch his breath. It has been an hour since Jason started walking in these woods. A disturbing thought came to head. If he had just woken up from passing through that "portal," or whatever it was, then how long had he been here really? Jason didn't want to think about it. He pushed off the tree and continued on his way. The sun was at its evening point when Jason stumbled upon a stream. He mouthed his thank you to the heavens. Jason was thirsty beyond belief and he wasted no time to get to the stream.

Jason drunk hands full of water until his thirst was satisfied. He splashed the cool water on his face and let drip down his face to his neck. He sat back on the bank and closed his eyes. Just a few minutes of rest shouldn't hurt, right? He thought and laid the rest of the way back. Jason didn't know how long he was out, but when his brain woke up, he heard hushes and whispers followed by soft footsteps. Jason opened his eyes just in time to see three short figures surround him and tackle him back to the ground. "Ahhh!" Jason screamed. "Let me go!"

"Halte ihn nieder, männer!"*1 One of the three figures said in a language that Jason did not know. Jason struggled even harder against his attackers, but it only left him weaker than he already was. "For Thor's sake! Just hit him over that head!" The figured shouted in plain English, and that was last thing Jason remembered when felt something hard hit the side of his head and everything became dark.

----

There was whispers and mumbles when Jason finally came through. He couldn't exactly hear the words, but he knew they were talking about him. Jason let out an unintentional groan. "Shhh!" Said a group of unknown people.

"Creator! He's waking up." Someone said in a deep accent that either sounded Scottish or German. Jason opened his eyes once more to see a group of short figures standing around him. There were six of these short fellows. Each one was doing something. Four of them were playing some card game, another one was drinking a bottle of ale, one was sharping his axe. There was an extremely tall man leaning against a tree with what to be a ferret with very long teeth sitting on his shoulders. Sitting beside another tree was a gruff looking guy, who was digging his dagger in a piece of wood. Jason went to get up, but only found out that he was tied up against a tree.

"W-where am I?" Jason demanded in a trembling voice.

"You don't get to ask the questions around here," the short man with bottle of ale said. "Creator," he continued. "He's all yours." Creator? Jason thought. As if his question was answered, a young woman approached him from a group of huge wolves. She was normal compare to the others around her. She had red fiery hair with bright green eyes. She wore a loose shirt with a fur vest, tights, leather boots, and a belt around her waist that had a dagger attached to it. Jason gulped at the sight of her but couldn't help wondering where he seen her before.

She crouched in front of him, her eyes staring straight at his. "My friends over there-" she gestured to the group of the short men "- say they found you by a stream. Now tell me what is a human boy is doing in the Dwarf Clan far away from his home?" Jason had no clue what she was talking about. Dwarf Clan? What was a Dwarf Clan? He looked over at the short men and soon realized that they weren't exactly men, but dwarves!

"I-I-I-I-" Jason stumbled but was caught short when he finally recognized the woman in front of him. "You're that missing girl, aren't you?" He asked. The woman was completely caught off guard by this, her eyes flickered with confusion. As were the others. "It's, um, Kar-" before he could finish saying her name, the woman quickly drew out her dagger and held up against his throat.

"I would keep your mouth shut if I was you." She hissed. Her eyes fell to the crucifix that Jason was wearing. Her eyes widen and she looked back up at him. "You're from Earth." And it wasn't a question. The five dwarves' mummer to themselves. The tall fellow and the other dwarf eyed each other wiry. The woman, or as Jason remembers, Karma, withdrew her dagger and sheathed it. "Untie the man," she ordered the dwarves. "He's no enemy nor spy." She stood up and turned on her heels.

"Can we kill him?" The dwarf with the ale bottle asked. Karma looked at Jason for a split second actually pondering the idea.

"No." She said and went to talk to her two companions. The dwarf with the axe got up and swung his weapon at the ropes, releasing Jason. Jason rotated his shoulders. Those ropes were tied tightly. He looked around the campsite in wonder. On one side of the camp were five of the six dwarves, on another side was the woman, Karma, with the other dwarf, the tall fellow, and the gruff looking man. Little ways from them were a group of overly large wolves. The wolves looked at him as if they were thinking whether or not if they should pounce and kill him themselves. Jason hurried went over to Karma and her companions.

"Where am I?" He asked them once more. The very tall man stared at him with a look of sympathy. The dwarf simply took out a small bottle of ale and took a sip from it. That left Karma. She turned to him with a hard expression. She eyed him up and down before settling her stare on his eyes. She said these three words:

"You're in Arula."

*1 "Halte ihn nieder, manner" ~ "hold him down, men"