Chapter 1: a bumpy ride.

“Yo Willem! Look over here! The stuff this guy has is amazing!”

I look over at my friend Jelle, he’s waving me over to the nth stand that he thinks is selling amazing stuff. But for once it is not a cheap knock-off stand.

The pointy-stabby-things that this guy is selling actually look really good.
There is even a sword and scabbard that fits with my awesome armor.

This is my first American fantasy convention so I went all out. I spent a fortune on this Imperial Daedric armor form The Elder Scrolls online. It turns a few heads when you walk around anyplace really. Add to that that I’m nearly 7 feet tall and the result is intimidating.

I pick up the one sword that catches my eye and look it over.

It’s a double-edged sword that is wider at the tip with wicked points a quarter way down the blade. The guard has red paint on the edges that make it look truly menacing.

It’s surprisingly sharp and sturdy. I try the bend it, to the horror of my friend, but it does nothing. It sits well in my hand and it’s well balanced.

What is most surprising is the price tag. 60 bucks.

“Um, sir, are you sure the price is right on this sword?” I ask the merchant.

“Yes, that’s the right price all-right” He says in his creepy raspy voice.

I look at him for the first time. He’s wearing a long leather coat with a purple bandana in front of his mouth and nose.

I don’t care how creepy he is, this sword is amazing and I am buying it.

I immediately reach for my pouch to get the money and practically throw it at him.

I put the sword on my belt and look back at the merchant. I can’t see his face but I can practically hear him smiling at me.

“Glad to be of service.” He rasps.

The moment he says it I feel the ground vanish from under my feet, and as I fall in to blackness, I can hear him chuckle.

The first thing I notice when I wake up is that I am still falling.
I’m not quite sure why but I don’t panic for some reason. I just look at the forest that is coming to meet my face at a pretty high speed. Just before breach the canopy I somehow spread wings. Freaking wings! There is just one problem. I have no idea how to use them.

They do slow me down quite a bit but I still tumble and bounce around the moment I make contact with the trees.

After my fair share of breaking branches and destroying bird nests, I smack face first in the dirt. My wings are gone now.

I just lay there for a bit, thinking. Because that was supposed to be a pants shitting experience but I don’t feel scared at all, no adrenalin, no pain, no nothing.

I sit up, and look at my hands but my left arm doesn’t move. I look at it, I can see why. There is a big piece of wood sticking out of it and it’s bleeding like hell.

How do I not feel that! There is a piece of wood sticking in my arm and I don’t feel it.

I pull it out and still nothing, no pain. This is getting scary, but I don’t panic. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or something to add to the WTF pile.

I’m still wearing my armor. It, for some reason, fits better than before. The sword is still there at my side. But my pouch is gone.

“Fuck, daar zat nog 340 dollar in.”
“Fuck, there was still 340 dollar in there.” I say out-loud. My voice has changed it strangely multi-toned like there are more people saying the same thing from within my throat.

I get up to look around. From the height of the sun it’s somewhere around noon. I have to look thru the hole I made in the trees because it’s pretty much black everywhere else.

I just pick a direction and start walking. Leaving a blood trail as I go.

The moment is step into complete darkness the noises begin. Animal noises. Probably predators, which smelled my blood. I don’t care. I just keep walking. My left arm hanging limply at my side.

I walk for what feels like an hour, it’s hard to tell without the sun. But I’m starting to get drowsy, probably loosing too much blood. I know I should be worried but I’m not for some reason. The noises have been constant since they began. They’re biding their time. Getting ready for the opportune moment to pounce. It won’t be long now; I’m dragging my feet now.

“Sigh” I hate it when I’m right! A wolf is stalking from the bushes in front from me. Looking at me with yellow glowing eyes. It looks to be made out of wood. Strange.

I try to stay steady but it’s hard just to stand. So I lean on a nearby tree. There is more coming from the bushes all around me. I don’t feel scared, I just feel angry.

They start growling at me, I growl back. It’s a deep growl. The first one jumps at me and bits my injured arm trying to pull me down. I bring my right fist down on its head and with a satisfying crunch it falls dead on the ground.

One on my right jumps at my throat. I swing my head around head-butt it away from me.

I reach for my sword and hold it in front of me as turn to look at how many there are.

I count five more and one big one. It’s about a foot above the rest. This is the alpha. This one needs to die and I will win this fight.

I let out a beastly roar which causes my body to go transparent accept for my heart which starts to beat loudly in my ears. I can feel my strength returning to me I can move my left arm again. I don’t know what this is but it feels good.

Lifting my sword higher in the air, I charge at the alpha. It jumps away at the last moment as I bring my sword down on where I once was. I turn around to see it circling me so I mirror it. I hold my sword low, waiting for it to make a move.

It jumps at me and I bring my sword up in an uppercut. My sword cuts clean thru its chest and a pile of sticks bounces harmlessly of my armor.

The rest of them stop growling. I roar again and the scamper away. This battle is won. The transparent effect stops as well. I put my sword away and resume my walk.

Author's Note

Okay i'll clear somethings up right now:
I am dutch so i thought it would be fun if mumbles in Dutch every once in a while.
English is not my native language so there are bound to be a couple of grammar problems.
I do this purely for fun so updating is going to be irregular.

I had fun with this first chapter and i hope you do too.
let me know what you think.