Chapter Two

Luke jumped up and scanned the room, still a bit shaken up by all that had happened. James and Yu stood at attention trying together what the sound was and whether it was dangerous until finally the door began to slowly creek open as a tall young man with a hood on carefully walked in a bit shyly.

“I came for the mortal..” He managed to squeak out before removing his hood. 

He had pale skin and dark eyes with silver hair and a white and gold laced rob with a hood that hung down so elegantly that it was almost fluid.

“Who are you!?” Luke spat out in confusion as if he had already met so many people why would he need to know another!

“Oh well my name is Marith, and I am here to remove you until you can return back to the mortal world.” his voice was enchanting with every word drawing Luke in yet the other two seemed to back away from Marith as though he had caught the plague Luke was already so close to Marith that he noticed that his eyes were a glowing a neon blue now almost as if he were intentionally drawing luke in then seconds later everything went black all he could hear were muffled flaps of feathery wings fluttering in the sky yet he couldn't see a thing until a loud clang signaled that they were on the ground and he was picked up and carried off of some kind of flying contraption.

“Where!? Where am I!?” Luke demanded but was met with only silence so he began to try and free himself to no avail. 

“Put me down!” Luke spat as he struggled under the grip of the bonds. Luke struggled more and more until he was thrown to the ground with a loud thud, he was able to stand up but didn’t try to in fear of falling over again 

“Luke Coris River rise up and speak” a loud powerful voice bombed throught the room he was now in and two gards lifted him up and removed his blindfold as he saw an army of soilders all in shiny blue plate armor and welding a sword with a small hook in the base of the handel.

“Where am I!? What's going on!?” Luke yelled out as his voice began to quiver and strength began to fade

“You are in the spiritverse a world where what you call magic and fiction exist peacefully or in war.” a woman in gilded armor spoke out, she sat on a chair made of golden swords and weapons and grasped a spear with a tip as big as Luke’s head. 

“W-why am I here!? How do I go back!? Can I even go back!?” The woman didn’t answer the rest of the questions although her silence was enough to tell him the most important detail, there was no going back. Luke was stuck in this afterlife he didn’t even belong in yet had no way out from.

“Luke River because of your arrival there has been…a lot of controversy. And has the empress of the after death your fate lies to me. So I wish to ask, what shall I do with the mortal in the afterlife?” Her poster was very intimidating, opposed to James and Yu,  yet she was sharp and fierce, her emerald eyes smoldered with the heat of  James and  had the same careful movements of Yu.

“S-seened me back to Yu and Marith! T-they promised to help me escape!” Luke shot out and almost as if he were a child again tears began to well up in his eyes as he stumbled to the ground, all of his strength left his body at once. 

“Help you escape the afterlife? That is quite perposteris.” she spoke with a small laugh of disbelief and a small hint of amusement 

“Marith? He died twelve years ago.” she spoke again with a less imposing expresion and more relaxed muscles

“But the person who brought me here..he called himself Marith, and aren't we in the afterlife.”  

“Death is an odd thing that we shall not talk of here.”

“What!? Why!?”

“Because of all the ears, the wind has ears of its own and there are things that no one, not even myself should know…”

Luke pondered that statement and wondered if it were even a metaphor or truth. With all the oddities here it was getting harder to tell.

“I-I think I u-understand” Luke muttered out in compliance. 

“Your wish shall be granted and you shall be sent back to Yu yet you must understand that there is no escaping this life anymore.” she spoke with a solemn tone and a broken voice which startled the young human. 

“Thank you!” Luke jumped up and looked to the women seated upon a throne of blades. Luke then wondered how he would escape this hell of a place, yet he could find that out later. 

“I will have a guard and wyvern take you back to the priest Yu, yet might I warn that he can have a temper.” she replied silver tongued her emerald eyes were colder than a blizzard. 

“I do want something else before I go back to Yu.” Luke asked as he looked around at the army of warriors all in lines. 

“And what might that be?” the empires questioned as she held the spear off the ground just enough to notice. 

“Some way to protect myself! I am in a foren dimension!” Luke yelped out, a bit of annoyance in his voice. The empiris said nothing but threw him a small tome, on the book there were three locks and scribed across the top were the words yet written in the odd symbols 

Luke didn’t have the keys or any way to open the book but he was slightly glad for he didn’t know or even want to know what was hidden in those old pages in the book. 

“The keys for the book are at the temple of cyrus, I can not go there so you will have to obtain them yourself.” She finally spoke and with that two guards grabbed him by the arm and took him to the staybulls their grip seemed to be inhuman as no matter how hard he tried to free himself nothing came of it.  

“So where are we going?” Luke attempted to make small talk to no avail, so he continued to walk with the two guards accompanying him in silence until a loud explosion behind them made them all whip around in shock, confusion and fear. 

“Get the human out of here!” a much older guard spat as he ran into the exploding cordor his armor was rusted and old but he seemed to have golden intention. Without saying a word the two guards sprinted for the wyverns practically dragging Luke along as the fire fight behind them ensued. The wyvern's had multiple compartments that the guards were searching  until one came across a scroll and read the incantation.

“Gamaca Layoso; Fin Revisa” his voice seemed to echo a divine power as the corridor connecting the staybulls to the rest of the palace collapsed. 

“Get on the wyvern! I’ll make sure no one follows and when the place is clear I’ll send a griffin” The eldest guard demanded and with no time to react the blue headed guard was shoved onto the wyvern with Luke and as soon as they were on the wyvern it flew off with immense speed.

“We have to help them!” Luke blurted out in desperation and fear

“And do what! You can’t fight or use magic! No, I'm not risking it!” he replied with a venom in his voice more toxic than cyanide. Then a silence fell over the two of them before the blue headed guard spoke up again 

“I’m sorry for shouting. My name is Kuramitas…you may call me Kura” Kura spoke with a much kinder voice and softer tone.

“..no your right, I would have just got in the way..but thank you Kura” Luke sounded broken yet he understood that he would not have helped much.

“So what is your name?”

“Luke Coris River” 

Kura smiled a bit before looking across the ocean of grass and trees below them

“Where are we going?” luke qized as his muscles relaxed every so slightly 

“I..don’t know..the castle has never been attacked” he spoke more but Luke stopped listening after a bit. He was too enchanted by the beauty of the sky and the bright colors of the sun setting along the coast of crystal blue water, the haze of orange that followed the pink light of the clouds and the picturesque landscape. It was perfect, Luke felt like he could have stared into that sight for the rest of his life. 

“Luke? You still all  there?” The newly named Kura asked with concern jolting Luke back to reality.

“Oh?.. yeah I’m fine!” He responded with a faint and forced smile.

“You sure are handling this well, first you're dragged to an unknown world, then are abducted and finally you are forced to escape with one of your captors!” 

“Thanks for the reminder…”

Luke knew that Kura was right but he was just so blunt about it that it was somewhat startling. Hours passed as they rode on the wyvern with somber conversations speaking every now and again until they had finally landed. Luke looked around a bit cautiously but the place they landed at didn’t seem too bad. It was a  quaint little farming village with no more then two actual buildings, yet the rest were huts without walls and small campfires littered the edges of the town

“Well this place seems nice” Luke finally spoke with a joyous smile and began to walk through the small little town.

“It’s so quaint and peaceful” Luke continued as he looked around the fields of wheat, He then tilted his head to see where Kura was but he couldn't see him

“Kura?” Luke beckoned but no one answered.

“Kura!” Luke began to worry as his eyes began to flash a pale shade of purple. Luke didn’t notice, he was too distracted by his worry

“Great now I am lost in this literal underworld!” Luke growled as he sat on a log waiting for just about anything to happen. Hours passed and nothing happened, yet as soon as the sun began to set the ground began to shake and dust flew up from the ground a few feet away from where Luke had sat. Luke watched the dust storm with worry and concern. 

“Luke!?” A powerful voice boomed through the clouds of dust as the dark silhouette of an armored figure approached Luke, he was somewhat short and had sharp and pointed hair that covered his left eye. Looking closer Luke could see the color of the hair, a bright and vibrant blue more enchanting than the depths of the sea. It was Kura but why was he only coming back now!? What was he doing before!? Why did he leave in the first place!! Questions rang through Lukes head like church bells on a Sunday afternoon. 

“What do you want?” Luke spat with annoyance for the powerful guard

“Oh..my apologies Luke” Kura replied as calm as ever, yet that only aggravated Luke more. 

“You left me in the middle of no where! And I’m not even from this dimension!!” Luke continued with aggravation seeping through his voice

“Well you seem fine to me so no need to complain” Kura laughed as he walked over to Luke examining him for wounds or injuries 

“That’s not the point you airhead!” Luke yelped out 

But before the conversation could continue further an echoing BANG! Rang through the treeline as three hooded figures emerged from the depths of the forest 

“Keep a look at the Shadow Peak mountain..if we lose that then the war is worth as much as sand” A gruff and metallic voice bellowed as his eyes served the town and finally landed on Luke as he began to snarl

“Hold that order..” The man smiled as the two other warriors began to look at him in confusion.

Kura stepped in front of Luke as his eyes began to light up as a powerful aura cloaked Kura in a somewhat transparent armor

“You aren't really going to fight all three of them are you!?” Luke questioned as he grabbed Kura’s wrist, but as soon as he touched the armor his hand began to turn pale and he felt a cold so powerful that he fell to the ground.

“No, I plan to send them back to the forest..” He smiled as he darted past the first warrior and struck the two behind him with one quick movement causing the first warrior to smile with excitement as his hands creeped in front of him gripping a hand dagger.

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