I looked at the clock on the table before getting up.
It was about seven in the morning. Though the sun would be out by now, the outside was dark and gloomy due to the heavy clouds in the sky.
I started getting ready for school. It was my first day of the second semester.
I picked up my bag, and headed downstairs for breakfast.
My mom was standing in front of the stove, and my dad was already at the table. Noticing me, he placed his newspaper down, and gave me a gentle smile.
"Hey, Champ. Already up?"
"I have to go to school, dad."-I sighed.
"Today is his first day of the semester."-mom said, and gave dad a disappointed glare for forgetting it.
"Oh! Totally forgot. Want me to drop you then?"-he asked, pulling the plate of omelets.
"Nah. It's fine."-I said, sitting down.
I took a plate and started eating. I quickly finished the meal, and stood up.
I opened the door of the house, and stepped outside. Cool winds brushed against my face.
"Be careful!"-my mom shouted from behind. I waved her goodbye, and started walking towards the school.
The voices of the cheerful students almost made me deaf as I entered the school auditorium.
Freshmen and the seniors were present, as well as my class.
"Hey, Ryu! Over here!"-one of my friends shouted.
I hurriedly went over to them, and took a seat.
"Today is the big day, huh?"-my friend Touma grinned and punched me on the shoulder playfully.
"Yeah. I'm getting nervous."-I confessed, and looked at the stage in front of me.
A senior was giving a speech to the freshmen.
Claps echoed throughout the hall as the senior left the stage.
The announcer came up, and requested the audience to calm down.
"Now, we'll hear a speech from our school's top student, as well as the winner of several prestigious awards, Ryuzo Itsuki!"-he announced, and I stood up.
It was my big day, my first time giving a speech in front of this many students.
I was proud, to tell the truth. I held my chest high and went to the stage.
The announcer gave me the script, and I fixed the microphone a bit.
Then, I started my speech.
"Hello, fellow students.
My name is Ryuzo Itsuki, and it's an honor..........."
I couldn't even finish the sentence, when the ceiling of the auditorium started cracking.
A wave of panic rushed among the students, stunning them for a second. Everybody tried to run out, creating a mess.
The ceiling couldn't hold any longer. It broke down with a large sound, along with a dark green gigantic being.
It fell down on the ground, and turned its blood-red eyes towards me.
Someone yelled for help, and the creature turned it's attention to that student.
And then, all hell broke loose.
Fire came out of its mouth with every breath, burning everything around it.
My friends, juniors, and seniors, all turned into a pile of ashes.
And I saw it in the light of the fire.
It's razor sharp teeth were shining with the red flames, it's green scales were shaking with its movement.
Its eyes were flickering with rage and hostility, and they were red, just like its breath.
It was a dragon.
Suddenly, the front door, which was blocked by debris till now, blasted open.
Several people in white knight armor entered the room, swords in their hands.
They rushed towards the dragon, and an intense battle started.
"Ryu! This way! Hurry up!"-I heard a voice calling to me.
I looked around to find its owner.
It was Touma, my best friend.
"Come on..........."-he couldn't finish his sentence, as an arrow pierced his heart, tearing it apart.
His lifeless body fell down on the ground, twitching for a moment.
And then it became still.
"DON'T!!! STOP IT!!!"-a scream came out of my mouth.
I grabbed my head with anger and frustration, unable to do anything.
Tears came rolling down my cheek.
Suddenly, the intense battle stopped.
I looked up, and saw all of them looking at me. The knights, and the dragon.
"Get him!"-one of the knights shouted. The Knights rushed to me.
At the same time, the dragon let out a volley of fire.
I saw the fire reaching me. I closed my eyes and waited for my death.
A painful, torturing death.
But it didn't come.
I slightly opened my eyes, and saw the knights looking at me with horror.
The dragon seemed stunned too.
I followed their gazes, and looked up.
A bright golden circle, filled with strange symbols was floating over my head.
"H-he is a wizard!"-a knight shouted.
The dragon, losing interest in me, turned towards the guy, and ate him whole.
Before I could decide what to do, a strange light engulfed me, and darkness came down before my eyes.
[A unknown amount of time later.......]
I opened my eyes, and saw the night sky over my head.
But something was different.
Very very different.
I rubbed my eyes to clear the blurry vision.
And then it hit me. The moon. There were two of them.
Two moons. One green, one yellow.
I hurriedly sat up, and analyzed my surroundings.
I was in a dark cottage, or what's left of a cottage.
The walls on the left and front were broken into pieces.
I placed my hands on the ground, and felt something in my palm.
I looked at the object, and almost felt a heart attack.
No, not the object. It was just a simple staff.
The thing which stunned me was the human figure lying beside it.
I rushed to the figure, and pulled it over.
It was a girl, probably in her teens.
Her whole body was scarred and damage, and she had lost a lot of blood.
I placed my ear on her chest.
There was no beat.
She was dead.
I screamed out in horror, and started shaking her body, in hopes of waking her up.
But she didn't.
"Damn it! Wake up!"-I shouted again, violently shaking her body.
Something fell down from her clothes.
It was a letter.
I picked it up, and started reading it with shaking hands.
"Dear wizard,
Thanks for answering my summon.
I may not be there to greet you when you arrive, so I'm writing this later.
You may be confused, or horrified, or angry.
I understand. I really do.
I have brought you here, tearing you apart from your loved ones, to a totally unknown world. For my selfish request.
I can understand if you hate me.
But before you decide anything, please take the staff in your right hand, held it up, and speak these words:
Lé Dafàlo Sèstafia
I hope for your wellbeing, and survival.
Sincerely,
Lara."
Confused, I decided to do what she said.
I took the staff in my right hand, held it up, and spoke the words.
The vision felt like I was punched in the face.
One moment, I was standing inside the cottage, and in the another, I was standing on a hill, looking at a large kingdom.
A voice spoke up, but I couldn't find the owner.
Long ago, in the world of Bahlmoth, all races stood alongside each other, prospering and advancing steadily. The seven continents, Lavender, Shanghol, Ragna, Valhala, Shelton, Tarra, Ravenford- were peaceful and advanced, in every sense.
With the help of magic, they created huge towns and castles together, defying what people would call, common sense.
But one day, the progress stopped. The civilization on this planet had already reached the point of advancement.
Yet, they craved for more.
To answer their wishes, seven Gods emerged. Each from a different race, and each excelling in certain magic.
They promised progress and happiness under their leadership.
And in a thousand years, they had proven themselves quite well.
But the peaceful days didn't last for long.
The seven Gods were different from each other, but on two things, they agreed.
First, more than one God couldn't exist. It would destroy the world.
Second, all of them were rotten to the core.
To prove their superiority, they fought among themselves, drowning the continents in blood and war.
The seven races, humans, elves, dwarves, dragons, fairies, werewolves and vampires, agreed that the gods had to be removed.
They joined forces, and created a large army to overthrow the first God, Bahamoth.
Bahamoth was a human, and was considered the weakest among the Gods.
But they didn't know the depth of his powers.
It took a long time, but eventually, Bahamoth succeeded in defeating the allied army.
But it had weakened him to a certain extent.
The Gods, learning a lesson from this, decided to ban the use of magic throughout the planet.
And to make sure the races never trusted each other again, they planted moles between them, creating distrust and chaos.
The races finally collapsed.
Their morality turned rotten, and they became immoral.
The Gods promised them riches and rewards if they followed them.
And they did.
As a result, the races became corrupted, and rotten, just like their leader.
But still, a few people had hopes inside them.
They studied for hundreds of years, trying to find out a method to lift the ban over magic.
And finally, they found the solution, a summon.
The Gods had banned magic, but only for the seven races living in this world.
They didn't consider the possibility of a summon.
And finally, they succeeded in summoning the worthy one.
The one who would unite the races, and the one who would destroy the so-called Gods.
YOU.
I was watching the events unfold as the voice narrated the story.
I turned and looked behind me.
A girl in robes was standing, a sad smile on her face.
"Hello, wise one."-she said, trying to calm me down.
"Where am I?"
"I think you know the answer."
"I do. Why me?"
"I.......don't know."-she turned away, looking at a mountain instead of me.
"You don't know?!?! Don't mess with me!!!"-I screamed in anger.
She just stood there, sadness on her face.
"Everything I knew, I believed, turned to be a lie! And You think I would trust you? After what my friends suffered?!?!"-I shouted again, tears rolling down my cheeks.
This was way more than I could handle.
This was past me.
Me, savior of some unknown world?
Like hell!?!!!
"I know you hate us, I know we are selfish. Yet, I want you to fight, for us."
"For you? I decline."-I said, my voice hard with disgust.
She looked desperate.
"I know you have been through a lot. But if you can defeat the Gods, you'll gain a large amount of their power. Using that, you can go back, from your world."
"My......world?
"Yes. Your world."
I thought for a second.
I didn't know anything about this world, about its residents.
"But....I don't know anything about your world."
"Alas, I cannot help you with that."
"What?"-I looked at her in disbelief.
She summoned me here, and now she couldn't help me?
"You heard me right, wizard. I am but a shadow of the girl who brought you here."
"The girl who brought me here?"
The face of the girl lying on the ground came inside my mind.
"What happened to her?"-I asked, afraid. I already knew the answer, or so I thought.
"She sold her soul to the devil, to bring you here."
I just stared at her, shocked and scared at the same time.
The girl sold her soul to the devil for me.
She chose a fate worse than death for me.
For me.
A stranger died for me.
I grabbed my head, and sat down, shaking.
My throat turned sore, and my tongue felt dry.
The girl, or the shadow looked at me, uncertain about what she should do.
She finally decided to speak up, hesitating.
"Don't blame yourself for her.....my death."
"How? She died for me. For summoning me. No one can change that fact."-I whispered, looking down.
"If you really want to atone, fight."
"Fight?"
"Fight. For her, and for those who are oppressed."
"B-but........I don't know anything..."
"Doesn't matter. Just try your hardest."-she said in a soothing tone.
I nodded, and felt the light fading.
When I looked up, I was again inside the cottage.
The girl was still lying there, lifeless.
I wiped my tear off, and decided to bury the corpse.
It took me the whole night to do that, but eventually, it was done.
I said a quiet prayer for her soul, and grabbed the staff.
I didn't know whether I could do it or not.
But I had to try.
I looked around and saw a path leading through the forest.
I followed it as fast as I could, holding my staff tightly.
I didn't know any spells, nor did I know about this world.
To be honest, I was scared. Scared that I would die.
Scared that someone would die again, for my sake.
My thoughts got interrupted as a small light emerged from the darkness.
I looked closely and saw that it was the way out of the forest.
I hurried down, only to be met by a horrifying scene.
In front of me, a village was burning.
People were running and screaming.
Among them, a few people in armor was laughing.
They were killing kids and elders indiscriminately, and dragging girls from their houses to satisfy their carnal desires.
The whole scene was inhumane, at the same time disastrous.
Suddenly, I saw a girl running towards me, chased by two men.
Before I could even see her face clearly, she grabbed my legs, and started crying.
"Please! Save me! Please! I don't want to die!"-she screamed and cried, wetting my clothes with her tears.
The men stopped at a few yards distance.
Both of them were wearing chain mails and helmets.
One of them grinned looking at me.
"Well well, what do we have here! Another wannabe hero!"-he laughed, taking out his sword.
His companion laughed, and adjusted his spear.
I couldn't move.
My whole body felt numb looking at the murderers in front of me.
Just like the time back in the school auditorium.
One of the men suddenly stepped forward, and smacked me in the face with the hilt of his sword, sending me flying.
I crashed with a nearby tree, and sharp pain coursed through my whole body.
I felt something wet on my head, and touched it.
It was blood. But I had more pressing concerns.
The men advanced towards the girl, and grabbed her hair.
They pulled her up, and punched her in the stomach.
The girl's hand fell down beside her body.
They started ripping her clothes apart.
The girl tried to resist, but didn't have enough energy to do so.
They stripped her naked, and pushed her on the ground.
Then they started removing their own clothes. I didn't take me a moment to realize what they were going to do.
They were going to rape her.
Panic took control of me. I couldn't let them do it, not in front of me.
Blinded with rage, I ran towards them, attacking them with my staff.
The first one didn't expect my attack, so my staff hit him on the face, making him fall down.
The other was ready by the time I reached him.
He punched me in the face, followed by a jab in the stomach.
I fell down, groaning.
The girl's eyes widened with horror.
I followed her gaze, and saw the man picking up his sword.
He walked to me, and kicked me in the chin.
He kept kicking me until I was unable to move.
Then he again grabbed the girl, and held the sword on her throat.
"You brought this on yourself, brat!!!"-he steadily adjusted his sword, tearing her throat apart bit by bit.
The girl screamed in pain.
Rage took control of me again.
I looked for ways to save her, or at least kill her instantly.
The bandit was going to kill her in the worst possible way.
Suddenly, an image came inside my mind, filled with words.
One by one, the words took shape, and formed a line.
I closed my eyes to concentrate on the image.
It was a spell, or it looked like one.
I still had my staff in my hands.
I grabbed it, and stood up.
The girl was now sobbing, and the bandit still held the sword on her throat.
I took a deep breath, and started the incantation.
"BY THE POWER GRANTED ME BY MY LORD, I CALL UPON YOU, I COMMAND YOU TO SHOW YOURSELF, AND TURN THIS PLACE INTO ASHES. BRING THE LIVING TO THE WORLD OF DEATH, AND SATISFY MY RAGE! COME, ZELDA!"
Nothing happened.
The bandit and the girl, both looked at me like I was some kind of a fool.
Suddenly, a howl erupted the whole scene, and a strong wind started blowing.
The clouds and smoke started clearing with the wind, and the clouds became clear.
A large figure came out from behind them, it's icy white scales glittering in the moonlight.
It came down on the ground, two huge wings on it's back.
It opened its mouth, and two sets of sharp teeth appeared.
It was a dragon.
Just like the one at the school auditorium.
***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***
Download
Like this story? Download the app to keep your reading history.
Comments