Chapter 2
The cold, hard ground pressed against his face, a low groan escaped him as he woke up and felt every muscle in his body tense.
As he got up, he looked at himself.
”Huh… not a scratch…” as he looked himself over.
”STOP THEM!”
Suddenly, a couple turned sharply, and sprinted their way toward Greg; behind them, about 5 men turned the corner and bounded after them.
”Run boy run!” the man in the couple screamed as they approached him.
He couldn’t even speak at the sight in front of him. The couple had almost reached him, and Greg nearly shit himself when he saw the men behind them pull swords from their belts.
”Holy fu…”
At that instant, the man grabbed Greg, turned him around, and kept running.
This time, Greg wasn’t dumb-struck, he ran. The chase continued for several minutes.
By now, he’d lost the couple, and the men were pursuing him.
Greg knew he didn’t have much left. He wasn’t a lazy slob, but he wasn’t exactly a world-class athlete either.
His muscles started to cramp, he began to slow when…
”Hey! Over here!”
Greg looked at the spot where the voice had come from; there was a man halfway down an alley, beckoning to him, and then to an opening in the ground.
”Come on!” yelled the man.
The speed at which Greg ran down that alley surprised even him, and, using a move he learned in childhood baseball, he slid straight into the hole.
As the man jumped in, he closed and locked the doorway behind him.
”Than…. Thank you.” Was all Greg could get out as he knelt down and attempted to regain his breath.
The man simply looked at him and grinned. When Greg looked at him, he noticed that there were many scars on the man’s face and arms.
”No problem little buddy, next time though, you MIGHT want to know where you’re going; what’s your name little man? ”
”G-Greg
”Well, nice to meet you Greg, I am The Fox, and although I would love to stick around and chat, I gotta run.”
The man then took off down a passageway.
”Wait…?”
“Oh!” The Fox said as he tonicped back around the corner. “Here, you might need this.”
The Fox took off again before his gift even hit the ground.
”What the…”
As Greg unwrapped the cloth around the object, he felt a sharp end. Before him, was a sword.
There is NO WAY that I’m taking that. He thought to himself. Then, he remembered the men chasing him, and how it seemed as though they would kill him.
As Greg walked down the passageway, he wondered about how he’d gotten here, he remembered his TV exploding, and then he felt like he was drowning…
”Well you should’ve thought of that before you went and got a bounty on your head little miss.”
The voice made Greg jump out of his skin. When he realized it wasn’t talking to him, he opened a hole above him, and saw one of the men that was chasing him, holding a girl with a sword to her throat.
He recognized the girl, and then it hit him. It was the girl in the couple that was being chased before him.
”Let me GO!” she screamed as the man pressed his sword to her throat.
”Keep screaming like that missy and I’m going to have to wreck that pretty little face of yours.”
Greg debated what to do, he could leave, and not get involved, but the man had saved his life by making him run.
”Let her go.” Greg said as he pulled out his sword.
The man felt the sword at the back of his neck before the boy even spoke.
”You’d better watch yourself boy, or I may have to slit your throat.”
That small distraction was all that the girl needed. She grabbed his arm, freed herself, and with one swift she snapped the man’s neck.
”Oh…what…” was all Greg could say as he started to gag.
”Thanks for helping out, my brother should be here right away.”
Then, the man who turned Greg around in the alley turned a corner and ran down towards them.
”Loren!” he yelled. “Hey! Get away from my sister!” He then proceeded to pull out a magnificent blade, and put it to Greg’s throat.
”No Lane,” she sighed. “Remember this boy, the one in the alleyway? Yeah, he just saved my life.”
”Well, I mean, you basically took him down…. I just distracted him.” He flushed. “I was just returning a favour…”
”No, what I did for you in the alley I would have done for anyone. You risked your life for my sister, and for that, I, am in YOUR dept.”
”You are over-glorifying it…” Greg tried to explain.
”Nonsense.” This Lane guy seemed adamant on glorifying him. “I am Lane Fisherman, and you’ve already met my sister, Loren.”
”Oh, I’m Greg, Greg Pediny.”
”Well Greg, lets walk, you don’t seem to know your way around, so we’ll give you the grand tour.”
As they walked, Lane and Loren took turns explaining the town to Greg.
”So, what country are we in?” Greg asked, for he had never heard of this, ‘Kaszuby’ before.
”This, is the beautiful country of Fostomirc.” Loren exclaimed as she skipped a little farther down the road.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this place before.” Greg questioned himself. In fact, I HAVEN’T heard of this place before.
”Well my friend, where do you come from?” Lane asked.
”A small town called Kenora, up in Canada.”
”Greg, had you hit your head when we passed you in the alley? Because, there is NO town or country called Canada here…”
Greg Then realized what must have happened. When his TV exploded, he must have been knocked out, and this must all be a dream, yeah. Nothing but a dream.
”Oh, yeah, I must’ve hit my head…”
”I thought you seemed a little odd.” Lane said.
And at that, Lane looked up. He saw the beautiful sky, the sun shining down brightly on them… it seemed brighter than it had been for a long time. It was pleasing.
As the three walked, it eventually grew darker, so they set up a tent, and decided to camp just off the road for the night.
”Hmm, I think we need a fire.” Lane said mischievously.
And with that, Lane shot his arm forward, and a ball of flame appeared out of nowhere and lit the sticks below on fire.
”HOLY SHIT!” Greg screamed. “How the hell did you do that?”
Greg only received confused looks.
”With, magic?” Loren confusedly stated.
”Hah, yeah, cut the crap guys, how did you do that?”
Lane reached out his hand, palm up towards Greg.
”With magic.” He said as more flame erupted from his hand.
Stunned, Greg backed away, looking at them.
”What…?”
”Would you like to learn how? If you’ve never done it before, it may take a while, but you’ll get it.” Lane said.
”O-ok.” He said, remembering that it was only a dream.
They sat there, Lane demonstrating, and Greg trying to mimic. They were having a good time too. Loren had gone to bed, and they were about to head out.
Neither of them heard the snap of the string, or the whistling of the arrow.
When the arrow pierced Greg’s shoulder, he felt pain. Pain that was VERy, and most definitely real.