The Tale Unfolds

Chapter One: Awakening

               Cold. The first thing that registered when I woke up was the cold. It took my lungs to start screaming for fresh air before I realized I was underwater. Too dark to see anything but the flicker of light far above me, I fought my way to the surface of the water, and as my vision started to darken I thought something was simply starting to block out the light, but then something inside me seemed to click, and I knew that I was starting to drown. Now desperate, I fought harder and finally broke the surface of the water and drew in my first shuddering, coughing gasps of cool, clean, fresh air. I looked around, and spotted a nearby shoreline, then, struggling with the weight of my water-logged clothing, I swam towards it. Finally, exhausted and nearly out of breath, I half crawled, half dragged myself onto the pebbly shore and collapsed, resting as I listened to the water gently lapping against the shore and the sound of distant trees and grass rustling in the gentle breeze.

               After a little while had passed and I had regained some of my strength, I sat up and observed my surroundings. In front of me was the lake I had pulled myself out of. Large and almost mirror smooth, it was near the bottom of a deep valley ringed by snow capped mountains, the tallest of which stretched above the lowest clouds. In the distance I could make out a single slow flowing river leading from the lake and out of the valley, flowing between two of the smallest mountains. Behind me a field stretched to the steep mottled gray slopes of another mountain. Dominating the center of this field was a single, seemingly lonely yet massive oak tree. The moon, which had thankfully led me from the cold depths of the lake, hung large, full and bright in the night sky. The stars seemed to wink from far above like eyes as they sparkled against the dark midnight blue of the night sky while a few gray clouds drifted on the wind, occasionally blotting out the moon and stars. In the moonlight, I could make out flowers moving in time with the grass as the wind gently blew across the valley I now found myself in. I unsteadily walked over beneath the tree and lay down, using my arm as a headrest.

               The next thing I knew I was waking up the next day to a dazzling gold and pink sunrise as the sun came up at the other end of the valley, rising over the river in a way that made it look like the two mountains on either side of the river seemed to cradle the glowing orb of fire. As I rose to my feet I started to feel aches and pains all over my body, especially my head, which felt like it was split open. I eventually tore my eyes away from the sunrise and looked down at my still damp clothing. My shirt was a thin and dirty cotton long-sleeve shirt with one sleeve ripped and a few small cuts across the front, and the pants I had on were heavy, scratchy, and made of some material I didn't recognize. I had one leather shoe on my right foot, my left foot however was bare and filthy. A simple leather belt held up my pants and on the left side was an empty sword sheath. 

               I had absolutely no idea what was happening. I didn't know where I was, how I had gotten here, or even my own name, nor could I think of another person's name. Realizing that I didn't even know who I was, I started pacing, trampling wild flowers and grass as I started to have what I can only describe as a panic attack, and went to grab my head as I started to hyperventilate. 
     
               I immediately regretted this.

               As soon as my left hand touched the side of my head I cried out in pain then grit my teeth. There was a large, very painful lump on the upper side of my head, which not only explained my headache, but something at the back of my subconscious told me that it was probably why I couldn't remember almost anything. 

               After taking a deep breath, I started to think over what I needed to do now. I had absolutely nothing that would help me survive out here, much less on my own. Something at the back of my mind told me the sun rose in the east and set in the west, so I knew which direction was which. I didn't feel like climbing a mountain so I decided to head east, towards the sun rise. 

               The sky beyond the mountains now behind me started to turn dark gray with clouds by time I reached the far side of the valley.

               "Great. Those clouds mean a thunderstorm is coming." I complained out loud to myself.

               I knew whining about it wouldn't help anything, so I looked away from the valley and down river. The river led down to the edge of a forest that stretched for as far as I could see. A path that looked like a godly sword had been cleaved through the green foliage showed where the river flowed through the forest. My gut instinct told me to follow the river and hopefully encounter some kind of hopefully friendly civilization.

               I'm not sure exactly how long I had been walking, but as I expected, the rain came, and when it did, it came down hard. Within a few lopps my clothing was completely soaked and my hair was plastered to my forehead as I did my best to find my way back to the river since I had gotten myself lost due to the sudden darkness the storm had set upon the land.

               I started to get the feeling something was watching me as I continued to stumble around, trying and failing to find my way back to the river. I leaned up against a tree as the first flash of lightning lit up the sky, and the immediate booming rumble of thunder made me jump.

               "By Dharos' beard." I cursed.

               I knew I needed to get out of the storm now that lightning was starting to strike. Once again, I felt as if something was watching me, that creepy feeling of something behind me as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I turned around but saw nothing. That's all it took to put me on edge, and I started to move faster through the woods In my rush to try and get away from whatever was following me, I walked right into a tree, effectively giving myself another head wound on my forehead and worsening my headache which had initially gone away for the most part by time the storm started.

               Holding my head as fresh waves of agony rolled through it, I kept moving forward, still looking for something or possibly some place I could take shelter in or under.

                                                   *******************************************

               I kept walking for I don't know how long through more and more rain soaked forestry, still jumping slightly at every flash of lightning then rumble of thunder. I was shaken from my mindless wandering as a bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree. After nearly jumping out of my skin, I muttered a few more rather colorful curses and phrases right up to the point something grabbed me by the arm and yanked me down into a bush that was empty underneath the outer layer of leaves. A leather and fur covered hand clamped down over my mouth as soon as I was inside.

               With another flash of lightning I saw a dark, hooded figure wearing something that covered their entire face except for the eyes. I barely managed to make out them bring a finger to their face in a shushing gesture. Bewildered and terrified at the same time, I simply nodded quickly and they removed their hand. Without a word, they grabbed what looked like a bow, motioned for me to stay put as lightning flashed again, then disappeared into the forest.

               I waited there for a little while, shivering slightly. Then all Udar broke loose as, with a loud snarl, something large and hairy broke through the branches into my bush hideout. Before I even really had the thought to get away, it swiped at me with claws that seemed to shine or glow, despite the lack of light. I felt as if it had missed me, but then I froze as felt something hot on my lower stomach and legs, and for a brief, embarrassing moment thought I had wet myself. Then the pain decided to kick in as whatever had attacked me turned around with another snarl and charged after something else.

               The pain was unimaginably horrible. I felt as if the middle of my body had been stabbed, soaked in ikvash oil, then set on fire. I reached down with shaking hands and touched my lower stomach, grimacing and gritting my teeth in pain as I felt my own hot and bloody intestines through a gash in my clothing.

               "For the love of Xerona," I whispered to myself. "What did I do to deserve all this?" I whispered again as I started to black out. The last thing I saw before I completely blacked out was another lightning flash illuminating the figure from earlier against the ragged hole made by whatever had barged in and attacked me.

(Yay, finally finished with Chapter One and actually have part of Chapter Two ready to go, but I'm going to do Chapter Two in one shot instead of one with several updates like this chapter. Hope you enjoyed! :D )