Chapter 1. Fighting wars with myself
Dearest Leona,
It’s strange to think of how a person can wake up one morning expecting their normal dreary day to day life to be exactly as it was yesterday, you head of to work or school and on the way home take a wrong turn and are thrown into a new life altogether, and that is how my story begins.
It was on last day of finals, you remember how we were walking home from school, and you wanted to go to the corner store to get a coffee? Since I hadn't wanted to I left you at the stop sign and started walking home even though it was raining like hell, but when that snob Brianna drove past, her truck went straight through a puddle coating me in mud and water. I was so mad I just kept walking, went past my house, and ended up all the way across town! Next thing I look up and I’m walking down that street, Mc Coultry, the creepy empty one, well anyways by that point I realized I was freezing and dying of thirst, so I walked over the first normal looking house, hopping they were not vampires or something and knocked hoping to call my mom. An elderly man opened the door and saw the state I was in and offered me a towel, and cocoa. I had started to look around at his pictures on the walls, all the same boring stuff, old people usually have, grand kids, and dogs. But then I realized that behind a door to my left there was some one talking. I asked the man who he lived with, but he didn't’t respond. I assumed he hadn't’t heard me. But then my curiosity got the better of me and I peeked through the door. As I opened it a crack wider the old man came up from behind me.
“Get away from…” he had started to shout, but as I turned I slipped on the old tattered red rug and as I fell I grabbed onto his dark blue flannel shirt, pulling him through the door with me, into another world, literally.
Slowly I sat up from the hard dusty ground, my head spinning, I could smell pine trees, and felt the nausea coming up through my through, slowly turning around looking around to find a bed or chair to rest on I saw something that turned my stomach three fold, if that was even possible.
Right in front of my face was a creature both beautiful and magnificent, yet completely terrifying at the same time. It looked almost like a centaur, but with a massive gold and black horn much like a unicorns in the front of it's enormous bald head. Its long sleek body was covered in glossy black fur, it was so dark it would put charcoal to shame. It’s large gold horn was glowing like the sun in the sky, but taking back some of the light were strange black markings glowing with an eerie florescent glow.
Then it dawned on me, I had not heard talking through the door, I had heard yelling, it was only muffled by the door. Because around that creature was five other men fighting it. Swords slashing and the sound of metal on metal, I slowly turned around again, hoping to find a calm quit place to wake my self up from this nightmare.
As I was thinking this all over I heard the whisper of the old man in my ear.
“Stay quit, and don’t move fore anything.” And then he was of, joining that small group of men. Suddenly there was a flash of silver on the mans right side, the silver flash was so quick it looked as if the old man had only moved his hand an inch lower than it had been a second ago. But then I saw it, the glowing green sword. It shown with such ferocity that the creature howled and flailed in agony. With a flurry of movements the creature slowly fell, it’s legs, completely detached, blood seeping towards me, the old man landing once again only a few feet from the place he had just been standing. As the blood started seeping towards me my first reaction was to move, just enough to get out of the bloods path, but as I realized it a second later also just enough for the creature to hear my shuffling against the dusty blood covered ground. It's enormous head swiveled over towards me, a smug, malicious look pierced my heart, with its last bit of strength it swung it’s bronze ax at my head. Reality slowed to almost nothing, its arm, slowly traveling to me, looked almost surreal, almost plastic, and then it went gray. The old man had jumped in front of me, now I was alive, but he was dead.
Slowly and painfully I stood, up, just as the creature did, its legs, re-attached and looking healthier then ever. How, I did not know, but it was there and alive as ever. Before I knew it I had the old mans sword in my hand and jumping into the air, taking one last look at that man who had died to save me. His face in a grimace, yet strangely enough, smiling and at peace. Looking straight at the beast’s chest I drove in the sword, taking the creature down with me. As I fell to the ground so did the beast, it’s heart fell right in front of me feet still beating before it even noticed it was out of the body then quickly the beating stop and it lay there as did that creature that was now dead for once and all.
As I walked over to the man I saw that the small group of men were staring at me in disbelief sputtering and gawking. The old man started to sputter something, blood spurting out with every silible. The quickest man to recover from their trance rushed over next to the old man’s side, his hand resting on the quivering body. Crouching low enough to hear his harsh whisper, his words completely mind blowing to me, came quick and sharp.
“I told you not to make a sound,” he scolded but then his voice changed, soft and kindly he continued “well done my dear child, well done.” His eyes started to flutter.
“Yomako, sir, is this the child?” the man with the long beard asked.
The old man simply nodded, beckoning me closer, he whispered into me ear, “I am sorry I shall not be there to teach you, listen to Paslo, he may be angry and resentful, but there is no better fighter. Good by dear child, and I am truly sorry.”
As I started to ask why he was sorry he went limp, every inch of his body, slowly turning to a golden light soaring up through the dense pine tree’s branches up into the vast cloud covered sky. He was gone.
After that I spent months training with Paslo and his friends, soon learning that I was now there leader, though they would not tell me why I had been chosen. As the old man had said Paslo was angry for the first month and a half Paslo would completely ignore my existence, except for when he was loading me up with chores or work. But then Jusry arrived, Jusry was kind and compassionate, she didn't’t take an easy on though she still pushed me as the others had, but she didn't’t load me up with point less chores. But then every thing changed one night when I heard Paslo and Jusry talking through the door.
“You know what, get over your self!” I heard Jusry scold “just because Ofaso chose her instead of you doesn't’t mean you have the right to treat her like she’s a worthless criminal!” the anger in her voice rising.
“She doesn't’t have any right to be the one, she can’t just walk in not knowing about demons, not knowing about us not even knowing this world exists, and become our leader!” you could heard both tears and anger in his voice.
“Have you even taken a second to consider her feelings? She was just taken from her home, her family, and her world. Then she was thrown into this one and told that now the she has to take care of all our problems. She knows she was the one responsible for Ofasos death, and she knows you all resent her.” Jusry whispered.
With that I left the door way, I didn't’t want to be here, I didn't’t want to be taking Paslo’s spot. I just wanted out. After that I started asking Paslo what to do, how to act any thing to make him feel like he was in charge in return he became kinder and slowly we became friends.
The good thing about having parents who don’t care whether you’re alive or not is that when I came back I simply told them I had been sleeping over at a friends house for a couple of months they only grounded me for one week, telling me I should have at least wrote a note to tell them.
Right before I left I was sworn to secrecy, and that if I was needed they would contact me through letter. And they did, but most were for trivial problems, at least until they called me the night before your sleepover. I was sent a letter saying they might possibly need me, for something bigger then I could imagine.
It was the normal Wednesday mourning, got up ate breakfast and left for school. When I got to my class it was the usual trying to find a seat that wasn't taken by the popular, the jocks, or the dorks.
"Hurry up Ms. Budios, the bell isn't going to way around for you to find a seat that suits your fancy!" Said Mrs. Marrkely, my English teacher.
So I found my seat but we were only half into the class when I was called into the office. I of course there were the usual "ohhhh, Jane's in trouble" and other immature sayings that people shout out. So I got my stuff together and trudged to the office.
What did I do!? I hadn't’t been tardy today; I haven't been in trouble... I knew I wasn't in trouble so I became a little less worried, but what if it was because something else?
As I walked though the tall oak doors the secretary looked up from her blacked rimmed glasses.
"Oh, Jane, oh yes, your parents are here, they say they have an important letter that came for you and said that it had to be given to you as soon as possible, "she mumbled.
"Thank you." So when I got the note I went to the girls bathroom, and here's what I read
"Dear Lady Loutus (that's me),
Hello it is Paslo, the gate will be open at precisely noon today.
Sincerely,
Paslo, second in command of The Order of Loutus Amorus."
That was definitely Paslo, brief and to the point. I new I had to go, they had warned me last night that I might have to, but I didn't know it would really happen. This had not been the first time I had to leave to the other realm, but now it was different, I was about to get involved in a war.
This is where I shall end my letter, when I get time I shall write you again. Truly I hope you can forgive,
Your best friend,
Jane
