The Lightning Scroll

Chapter 2 - Jo'navir: Knowledge

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4E 201

Jo'navir's vision began to return within a few seconds, like a fading white light. He began looking around, seeing himself in a totally new environment. There were beautiful trees everywhere he looked, and mountains in the distance; some with white snow and others covered in flourishing green flora.

"Dexpa!?" he called out searching for his brother. He thought to himself that his brother must've been nearby. They should have been teleported away together after using the scroll.

Suddenly, over the horizon a massive, winged beast began flying across the sky. Its presence was intimidating, with pointy grey scales and sharp horns that made Jo'navir instinctively hide behind some rocks to stay out of sight. It let out an echoing roar that shook the bushes around him. Peering back at the beast, Jo'navir noticed a trail of smoke floating behind it as it made its escape.

He began to panic at the thought that maybe Dexpa was near the source of the smoke. Jo'navir waited for the creature to soar away and then proceeded towards the source.

It was a wooden village with walls torn to pieces and with flames coating most of the buildings and dirt below them. He couldn't look anywhere without seeing corpses somewhere in his vision. Some were impaled or torn to pieces, while others were burnt to a crisp.

"Dexpa!" Jo'navir shouted again hoping for a response. But there was none. Jo'navir was still determined, inspecting every corpse closely to make sure it wasn't his brother.

In a courtyard, he saw a man in blue armor who sat dead with his wrists tied behind his back. His head sat several feet in front of him on the other side of a small stone block, as blood continued to leak from it onto the dirt below.

He ran inside continuing his search, approaching a living man in blue armor identical to the armor from before. The man pulled out his sword ready to attack, but he hesitated at the sight of Jo'navir, looking him up and down.

"Listen kid, you need to get out of h.." the man began to say, but he was interrupted with a sword slicing through one part of his neck and out the other. His head rolled to the side as his corpse fell to the ground revealing another man in brown leather armor.

Jo'navir stepped back in fear and reached for his sword, but it wasn't with him anymore. He realized he never picked it up after witnessing his father's death and darting back to the village.

The man was breathing heavily, proud of his kill. "You should listen to him. You're not safe here kid." He left the room, running back to where he came from.

Jo'navir's thoughts began to overwhelm him. There were too many things happening at once. But he understood that his vulnerable state needed to change.

He glanced at the floor where the blue armored warrior laid dead. Thinking fast, Jo'navir took up the dead man's sword, and took his armor off for himself. He was now well-equipped with a steel sword, a blue armored chest piece, some fur boots, and a pair of fur gauntlets to match. He reached into the pockets of his new armor, finding a few gold coins which he left in their place.

He continued through the building, heading in the same direction as the man in leather armor. He saw plenty more bodies on the way, noticing a theme in the process. Every corpse he saw laid on the path was either wearing blue fur or brown leather armor. There was no in between.

Soon, he found himself at a rocky den full of webs and eggs. He walked past as quietly as he could. But his next few steps ended up smashing a pile of eggs, alerting a horde of spiders, large and small, descending from the ceiling above.