.Chapter 5.1
Ruthford
Riley awoke in a panic. In his own stupidity he got tangled in the blankets and fell into the floor. He laid their for a moment, mostly due to the pain he was in. Riley looked around the room confused as to where he was. The room was made of wood like a log cabin. His bed sat in corner of the room, beside him was a small table and a dresser next to the door on the opposite corner. It was odd to be in a log cabin as most houses were built using stone, including his own.
The door opened and Riley jumped up from the floor, ready to fight.
"I see you are finally awake." In the doorway stood a teenage girl. Her right eye was hidden behind her long blond hair. She leaned up against the frame of the door and looked at Riley with intent.
"Who are you? Where am I?" Riley spoke nervously, slurring his words.
"Calm down. We are all friends here. No one is going to hurt you."
"How can I trust you?" This time he spoke with more confidence.
"Why don't you decide that? We saved your life, gave you clothes and a place to sleep. Now dinner is on the table and we are waiting on your lazy ass to get in here so we can eat. Good enough for you?"
"I don't know what to believe. So much has happened." Riley sat down on the bed and put his head in lap.
"Well whenever you are done sulking, or whatever it is you are doing, dinner is ready. We will be starting without you." She closed the door leaving the room feeling a lot warmer then it did before. Could he trust this girl? How did he even get here? What happened to his friends? Riley was only going to be left with more questions then answers.
He picked himself up from the bed and made his way to the door. Taking a deep breath and combing his medium brown hair with his fingers he opened the door. The room was a lot larger then he had expected. Swords were strung along the walls in placks to display their beauty. It almost reminded him of home where his father kept his own bows and arrows on the walls. A fireplace to the right let off a refreshing heat and in front of him was a table filled with food.
"And he joins us. Welcome to our home." A tall beautiful woman approached me and shook my hand. It was obviously the young girls mother, sharing the same long blond hair as her and facial features. "It's nice to see you are feeling better. I know I could have fully healed you with magic but you know how that is right." She smiled and let out a comforting chuckle.
"I'm sorry, I don't really understand what's going on." Riley looked as confused as he was, his gaze constantly drifting around the room.
"Please sit down, we will explain everything while we enjoy our supper." She motioned Riley to take a seat next to the girl from before. He walked over but before he could sit down he was interrupted by a grunt.
"Listen here boy, these girls seem to trust you. I on the other hand do not. If you want to live for a long time you better follow my rules and stay in my sight at all times, you got it?" A burly man sat at the head of the table, waving a knife around in the air towards me. His long brown beard was as intimidating as it should be.
"Shut up Jory. Don't scare the child, and stop waving around that knife. We are going to have a civil dinner without you trying to frighten our guest." She was demanding and he listening, mumbling under his breath and digging into his steak. Riley finished sitting down, nervous once again.
"My name is Melina, and this is my daughter Vlora. I apologize for my husbands behavior. He isn't the most trusting person."
"It's fine, and completely understandable. I would probably be just as un-trusting in his situation." He shot Riley a glare, as if he knew he was sucking up to him. Everyone around him was digging into their food while Riley simply watched.
"Now if you don't eat something I'm not going to tell you what happened. Eat." Melina demanded once again. He wasn't about to disobey her. He picked up a fork and stuck it into his ham bringing it up to his mouth. He took a bit and delight filled his face. It was the greatest ham he had ever tasted.
"I see you like the ham. It's my specialty. Best ham on Eden." Melina smiled.
"Mom, we have only ever had your ham. How are we supposed to know if it's the best or not? It's pretty cocky of you to think your ham is better then anyone else on the planet."
"Watch it Vlora, don't disrespect me in front of company."
"Yes ma'am." Vlora lowered her head and poked at her food with her fork.
"I don't want to be rude, but can you please tell me what happened now? I'm very curious to know."
"Oh dear, I am so sorry. Yes I will tell you the story now. You see my husband is a blacksmith, the greatest in all of Eden."
"Mother." Vlora said annoyed.
"Shut up and eat." Melina snapped at her. "Anyway. We were looking for the rare ore known as Ultamite in the Vestige Caverns. We stumbled upon you in the cave and you were very hurt. So after a small bit of magic we brought you back here to allow you to heal the rest of the way on your own."
"Was their not anyone else with me? Did you find no one else?" Riley leaned forward in suspense.
"No dear, I'm sorry you were the only one there. Are you okay?" Melina gave a concerned looked. Riley looked down at his food and stared at it for a minute.
"I was traveling with some friends. We were also looking for the Ultamite. There were seven of us...I don't know how you could not have found them as well." He looked up at her hoping for good news.
"No, it was only you and the Ultamite. I'm sure your friends are fine. When you are all healed up you can go look for them. I'm positive they are okay." Melina reminded Riley of his own mother. Always so comforting but strict as well. He missed home.
"Thank you for the dinner, but if you don't mind I'd like to go lay down. I'm not feeling well." Riley wiped his mouth on his cloth napkin and stood up from the table.
"Yes that's fine. You need to rest your body. Your right hand is still quite injured. Even magic could not heal it." Melina stood up as well.
"I see, thank you so much for your kindness and allowing me to stay here."
"It's no problem at all. Later Vlora will bring you some clothes and some medicine for your arm. Have a good night dear."
"Thank you Mrs?"
"Ruthford. Melina Ruthfood. Please just call me Melina."
"Thank you Melina. Goodnight everyone." Riley walked back to his room and crawled into his temporary bed. He laid there with his eyes open, staring at the ceiling. His friends were gone. Alive or dead, they were gone. He couldn't help but think something bad happened to them. He had no memory of what happened after the Ultamite exploded. He needed more answers but in his condition he couldn't do anything about it.
Those were problems for tomorrow. He wasn't sure what was going to happen, the future was looking dark. Riley thought he knew where his life would take him. He couldn't have been more wrong.
Coming Soon
Chapter 6
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