Dawn of Warriors

Chapter 1 C

The other side

He opened his eyes and looked behind him, the only thing that he could see were the waterfalls of the other side, the only thing connecting this dimension with the little city of Crystal Falls. And the second he turned back around, he was met with the busy market of the small city, booths all around and away from the waterfall, which, instead of ending in a lake, it was contained to a smaller dam, the people using the water for energy sources. His eyes tried to spot a familiar face in the market, but that was fruitless, so he made the decision he'd have to walk all wet and cold all the way to the one house he knew would have dry clothes for him to wear: at Nora's; Nora was like a mother to all those who were crossing through dimensions, letting them stay at her house, further past the market.

The place hadn't changed from the last time he had seen it, only some of the people had retreated to their house because of the cold. The seasons were almost opposite between the dimensions, summer at Crystal Falls meant winter here. The atmosphere was filled with moisture, the sky grey with clouds that held water, his breath indicating just how low the temperature must have dropped. He looked at a booth to his right as he rubbed his hands to warm them up, the booth selling protecting spells against thieves. Wear there and no one will be able to harm you. Chris resisted the urge to roll his eyes, knowing very well that a lot of people believed stuff like these worked, preferring to believe that over the fact that the warriors were taking care of bandits and thieves.

The people there seemed to ignore him, as he didn't have anything o grab their attention. Who would want to stall a man who was wet and shivering in the cold, surely he would make a horrible costumer, so the sellers preferred to spend their time on people who appeared to have the time to spend at their booths, looking at the fake toys they sold. Chris could feel the war coming, and not from those toys they sold at the market. It was the reason behind it, he could only explain it as a reply to fear. Everyone could feel it coming, the darkness that spread over the city, they knew something big was coming, especially since the warriors from the other dimension were coming more and more often. They needed something to feel safe and those protecting spells and necklaces seemed to be the easier thing to believe in.

Reaching Nora's house didn't take him much longer, especially since the cold prompted him to walk faster through the market's street. The house was small, with a wooden door and nothing more really on the outside, other than the walls that needed painting. He knocked on the door, feeling his body shaking, an anticipating feeling of walking inside to the warmth of the house having taken over his heart. And the door opened soon after he had knocked on it, without a sound, revealing the old woman with the grey, curly hair and her dark skin that complimenting those green eyes of hers. "Chris!" she exclaimed, taking a step to the side so he could walk inside. "Hi" he breathed out, following her inside the house where the fireplace gave its warmth. He looked at the familiar room, with the wooden furniture decorating simply the place, a sofa and a table with three wooden chairs. A cupboard at the far end of the room as well.

"It's winter here, when will you remember?" Nora asked, shaking her head as she disappeared to bring Chris some dry clothes, returning moments later and allowing him to have his privacy in order to change into something warm. The clothing there surely didn't match the year of the other side, as this side of the waterfalls wasn't that lucky when it came to technology. Nothing really worked there, he had no idea how or why, but the people had to stay in a medieval setting, spare the daily deaths caused by war and sickness. He was left alone and so he walked to stand in front of the fireplace, his hands held out to the fire and, soon, Nora made her return holding his weapons: His sword and bow with his arrows. He smiled at her, relieving her form the weight. He placed his sword at the holster by his side, his quiver with his arrows was crossed behind his back and so was his bow, with the string of it pressed against his chest.

"Has the training began?" He asked her and the older woman shook her head. "I don't believe so, no" she replied, taking the wet clothes of the boy and spreading them on the sofa, pushing the furniture near the fire for them to dry faster. "Thanks!" he said, smiling at her as she held her cheek outwards, demanding a kiss. He did so and rushed to the door again, hearing as Nora practically announced to him that she would prepare food for later. And off the man was to make his way to the stadium, where he knew his brother would be for sure, and where he could also begin his training.

Going back through the market surely wasn't the brightest idea of his, as now many of the sellers saw him as a potential costumer, yelling at him for the good prices they had, and only their products were the real ones, promising to protect him from any harm. Many even sold rings that allowed the passage through the waterfalls, thing that he doubted was legal but who was he to judge or even care at that point. He had a destination and that was the stadium. Upon seeing it, he breathed out triumphally, the huge training stadium, with no roof, the inside of it exposed to the bad weather conditions. Walking through the empty, rocky corridors could only mean one thing, as of that moment: the competition for making it to the training program had begun and he was late. "Ah, shit"