The Lost Artifacts II: The Abyssal Staff

Mistakes Happen

- Everything is packed up to go. - I put a leather bag on my back.

- Ready to travel through the portal? - Ying asks.

- Ready.

- Please, come back safe. - My mother holds my arm, I can see through her eyes her deep sadness for watching me leaving too soon.

- I will, mom. - I kiss her cheek. - Your little bear will come back safe with her beloved blossom.

- May the gods bless you two. - My father pats my back. - Looks like the honeymoon will have to be delayed.

- Dad... - I laugh. - We just want peace. See you soon, hopefully.

Ying opens the portal, we both say goodbye to my parents, and step into it, as I feel the energy through my face and the bright light blinding my eyes for a few moments.

We are on the other side. I look around, there is no castle, no sign of Alyn. Nothing! Just trees, trees, and more trees! Every side looks the same.

- Ying... Are you sure the portal crystal was coordinated to the castle?

- Yes! I don't know what went wrong, but I have no idea where we are now.

- Great... Just great... - I roll my eyes and start to walk in circles.

- We are in trouble, I have no more portal crystals...

- We are fucked! - I get nervous. - Why didn't you confirm its coordinations?

- Excuse me? Are you blaming me now? - Ying raises an eyebrow. - I confirmed it, they were correct! Probably the crystal had some deflect!

- You could've tested it!

- What the fuck, Tyra!? They can be only used once! In what world do you live in?

- In a world where we don't use that magic bullshit!

- "That magic bullshit" was supposed to take us quickly to the castle. Plus, it is not normal for this to happen! Are we seriously fighting while we are freshly married?

- Yes, yes we are, because of a mistake you made but you don't want to admit!

- I didn't make any mistakes! Are you fucking stupid? Fucking Nord!

- Oh, now the Nord is stupid! - I shake my hands in the air. - The Nord doesn't understand magic, stupid Nord!

- Stop with it! You are acting like a child!

- I am out of here! - I drop the bag and start to walk away.

- Yeah, go away! Go sulk somewhere else!

- Whatever you say...

I walk to inside the forest, whistling so I can't hear Ying mumbling to herself. I am not sure when I will return. Was I too harsh? Maybe she has no fault, and I little do understand about magic crystals and how they exactly work, but only that they are formidably forged for guns. Ying is the one who knows about them.

Anyway, I will take a long walk until I calm down. Probably Ying will solve things out and calm down too. I don't even know where we are. I've never seen this forest in my life. I have no idea what kind of creatures can lurk here.

- "You are acting like a child!" - I mumble. - "Are you fucking stupid?"

I kick a stone that is on the way.

- Now I am the stupid Nord here. - I continue. - Nords are always stupid... Sure... Why are we always judged like this? Just because we can't read? Just because we cannot use magic? Fuck this. We know other stuff. We know how to cook, how to fight, how to survive, how to hunt, how to fish, how to plant, we even know alchemy! That's good, right? We are not stupid...

I suddenly hear a noise between some bushes. Like an animal walking.

I stop and look around.

It moves again.

It must be a wolf or something similar since I have no knowledge of where the fuck I am. It can be any creature, even one I never saw in my life or never imagined it existed.

I take out my combat knife from my leather belt and prepare to defend myself.

- Pss pss pss. Where are you? - I try to call it. - If you don't attack, I don't attack either.

I hear a soft roar, a bush moves, something is coming.