The Quest #1: rise of darkness

Chapter Three

Max woke up and found himself lying on a mat in a small tent. A glowing golden candlelight burned softly in a corner, lighting up the tent. Two other mats lay empty at both his sides. He wasn't sure where he was, but at least, this certainly didn't look like the stomach of an orc. He heard two people talking outside the tent and could recognize one of the voice; Easton! He got up, rolled up his mat and stepped outside the tent. It was night already, a nightingale could be heard singing loudly in rhythm to the cool night breeze. Easton and a man in a hood sat by a fire, talking. Max recognized the man immediately. He was the same hooded man who jumped out of the bushes and defended them from the orcs. Well, thanks to him, they would live to die another day.

"Well look who's finally awake." Easton said on seeing Max.

"Come son." The man spoke, his voice calm and friendly. "Come sit down and have something to eat. You must be hungry."

Max suddenly realized that he was indeed actually starving. He walked over to the fire, sat on the ground, and crossed his legs in Indian style.
Max eyed the man suspiciously as he handed him a bowl of meat. His face looked familiar.

"What meat is this?" Max asked cautiously as he picked a piece from the bowl. "I hope this isn't Orc meat?"

The man chuckled.

"It's an antelope." He replied.

"Thanks." Max grabbed the bowl and ate like a monkey, devouring each piece to the bone.

"No need to thank me, son." The man responded. "It is quite an honor to help the chosen ones."

"Chosen wah?" Max paused, perplexed, meat in his hand, hanging halfway to his mouth.

"He said we're in another world called Aradia." Easton intervened. "He said we've been sent here to help secure something called the dragon jewel and defeat an evil sorcerer named Dredd."

"Huh?" Max stared at Easton, looking dumb. His meat still hanging in his hand as he blinked blankly. "Another world... Dragon jewel... Dredd... Aradia... wait! Who exactly is he?"

"I am Forge, Captain Forge" The man began. "Second in Command to Lord Helius; The Supreme Commander of the Guardian Army & King of Aradia; My brother."

"Guardian what now?" A more confused look spread across Max's face.

"The Guardian Army; formed by a group of experienced warriors known as The Guardians. We Guardians are sworn protectors of Aradia & its greatest source of power, called the Dragon Jewel."

"O...kay?? Go on."

"Few months ago, a sorcerer named Dredd, in his craves for power, formed a huge alliance and descended on us unexpectedly."

"And why would he do that?" Max cut in, getting interested.

"Because he knows that the guardians are the only ones tough enough in Aradia to stop him. When he struck the first time, his army was inexperienced and weak, and so we won with a striking victory, forcing him to retreat. But lately his army and powers have grown quite immense. He's been capturing cities and harvesting them. We tried stopping him from taking another city yesterday but the outcome wasn't in our favour.