King of Shadows: Of Blood and Tears

Chapter 19: The Avwoken I

Maximus was stunned to find himself in the same area of trees and life where he landed in his dreams. When he got up from the dirt, rubbing his aching eyes, he tried his strength at reorienting himself to what had just occurred.

Teleporting through a portal to another realm, full of enchantments to the eye, was not on his bucket list, but it sure was something he could now cross off.

He looked about his friends, dazed, confused, light-headed when standing. He realized that those dreams of his could have been memories intertwined with that of his subconscious's imagination. This was all the same, except for one thing...

His theory was somewhat sound, and made sense to him, yet the memory of Sammy dying aboard a spaceship was loud. He looked over at her in an instant, relieved. She stood tall, if not a little wobbly, right next to him. Max went through the same motions as he felt in his dreams, and they stumbled upon all the landmarks and species he had seen before. Even his friends wern't as shocked the more they walked through the forest, as if they too remember some remanence of Findara, and what they have done. Sammy was puzzled at the beauty, but kept quiet as she didn't want to freak out, and wanted to be strong, or seem so anyway.

"I feel as though a part of me is fleeting, as if I am truly not here." She said, holding her temple, staring at the quarter size beetles marching in a line through the dancing grass.

"You died in my dreams...on the spaceship before we landed here. Though we...we were on a spaceship, so we should not take every bit of that as fact. The dragon said I was in both realms. I bet it is possible that all of you were, somehow." Max replied, trying to comfort her. "Dreams and memories interconnected somehow. But you are here, with us. And I will let nothing harm you again." He continued, holding her arm as she wobbled on her feet once more.

All was set into motion, and the group of friends had finally reached the point at which Maximus's last dream had ended. Sammy fit into the jigsaw perfectly. Her intimidating fierceness and undeniable brute strength made quick work of the goblins that had swarmed them before reaching that point.

Though the dragon...and Tim. Despite the passing of time, everything remained unchanged. Maximus tried getting to Tim quicker than before. Tim, knowing what was in store for him, still lost his footing and breath. She did not take that lightly. Her heart torn, willing to destroy anything in her path, and even almost knocked Dorris off his steed, unknowing he was friendly. 

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A group of filthy men in torn tunics and sheepskin cloaks gazed at the incoming company. They guarded an alley between a tavern and a watch post. The men did not look like your typical watchmen. The shabby appearance of the small settlement explained why the guards were holding wooden tankards in one hand and a steel sword in the other, slurring insults at the women in their dirty white cottes. Maximus wondered how a group of men could look as wretched as they did, with weapons that looked to be freshly made, glinting ever so slightly.

The Tavern went by the name of Tirwan, which was a magnet for the lower class locals of Oryn. Wealthy traders and people with money went to the fancier tavern by the name of Lickenrein. It was larger, served food not meant for lowly peasants, and had the prettiest woman in all of Oryn, which wasn't saying much. It was a little deeper into town, near the Baron's large manor.

The townsfolk said little, as the people in the streets and the watchful eyes looking through the windows of their homes didn't seem all too friendly. Or just didn't want to engage in conversation with a group of strangers that appeared in mysterious clothing, one being on the brink of death herself.

"They dislike me much in this town." Dorris said as he kept his head down as they passed by the drunken guardsmen.

"You don't have to bow your head in attempt to disappear, Dorris. You're small enough, it would seem." Sammy said with a chuckle, looking down at him, scratching his beard.

"Large enough for you to hit me with a rock, nearly knockin' me off my damned Plitheygn. Yee' bastard." He said, his nose turning pink with embarrassment.

"Aye there! Wait a damned minute, Dorris!" Two of the men wrapped in sheepskin wobbled towards them, making a scene. "You know yous'd folks aren't welcome 'ere no more." The man pointed his sword towards the dwarf, who looked inexperienced in the art of bloodshed.

"We have an injured. I need to get 'em to Brenian."

"Brenian is not accepting r'quests from small folk." The guards stomped closer, revealing their stench of alcohol and mud.

"Come on guys, our friend is dying. He doesn't have much more time! Please let us pass through." Max said, pointing to Tim unconscious on top of Dorris's mount.

The two guards, giving them trouble, laughed, shining their rotted teeth. The smell of their breath penetrated their nares, burning all of their hairs in a single instant. They sheathed their swords and took another swig of their drink.

"Are we speakin' to you? Aye Lester, you 'member talkin' to this dim-witted man?" He said, turning his smirked face over to the taller, bald guard.

"Aha, no I don'. So shut your trap, before I do't for yee' bastard swine." Lester said, scratching his double chin.

Dorris looked at Max, frowned, and then looked back towards Lester and Reginald. "Lord Phealestine will not like you lousy guards turning away the dwarf that blesses this shite town with jewels and trading goods from one of the most famous mountains in all of Findara - shall you tell 'im, or shall I?"

They looked at each other once more with a confused hesitation. "Why would our Lord have a favorited non-human? Especially a dwarf, only good for hitting rocks and twiddlin' theys' sausage fingers." Reginald growled, slowly placing his hand back on the hilt of his sword.

As the three remaining guards approached the alley, they walked at a slow pace, causing Dorris to rest his arm on his jeweled double-headed axe. With his other hand, he stroked his beard thoughtfully.

Before the brawl began, a fellow built like a boulder with iron armor and long dreads came out of the guard's building, smiling at Dorris.

"Our town has no hate towards non-humans. They are breathing just as we are. The judgment we humans give towards them is unjust and outdated. If you want to draw your sword to someone you think to be lesser than you, then draw it towards me." He said, smiling at Reginald, gazing his dashing beetle-black eyes at the dirtied hand on the hilt of the sword. The man's rhetoric was cleaner than the others' and had a tone defiant of ignorance and cruelty.

"I am sorry sire, jus' having a little bit o' fun with the newcomers is all." Reginald and Lester backed off and walked back to the guard's post, not making any sort of eye contact with their captain.

"Thank you Arshian. It is good to see you again, my friend." Dorris hugged the bulky man. "It has been too long, but I feel I now understand why. I wish the races of all would embrace, but that is a foolish dream, and will never see the warming rays of the sun. The roots of bigotry are too deeply planted into our realm to see any signs of a happier ending. Only calamity crawls from the ocean shores and the rains above, washing away any hope of a gentler future." Arshian said, bowing his head towards the group of friends.

"Why do you all hate each other?" Shayne asked, curiously.

"That is a story for another time. For now, let us get your friend here clothed, and the other to our healer."

As Max donned the gray tunic and deerskin cloak, he felt a sense of relief knowing that he would no longer be the object of other people's amusement.

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