The Last Breath of Fire Chapter 1 Draft 2

Far across the lands of east, the sun rose. Daylight spread to the world and shone upon the green landscape. Jacob, a nineteen-year-old soldier at the service of the King, was guarding the little camp. He had a tall and muscular body with a square shaped face. His skin had a light tone, which could be compared to black ash wood. The hair had a dark brown colour, worth comparing to walnut tree. Below the hair, tired, brown eyes struggled to keep their eyelids up.

The boy walked over to some tents placed in a small circle and woke the men inside.

''Dawn is upon us, get up,'' he said.

''These summer days are always so bloody hot.'' One of the men yawned, strecthing himself.

''You won’t complain when winter comes and the cold creeps upon you,'' Jacob replied.

''Rather that than this,'' he complained.

A short silence took place before Jacob decided to mount one of the horses and said; ''I spotted a small lake on our way, I think I’ll go there and wash myself whilst you eat.''

''Have a go. Don’t stay too long, or we’ll leave without you.'' The man replied as he went back inside one of the tents.

The boy rode off at the wide main road stretching through the entire realm.

Trotting downwards the path, he spotted the lake he had seen earlier. He rode the horse through some trees down to the water, and tied it to a small tree. The clear sound of water flowing in a stream sounded in his ears. Jacob took off his clothes with sweat running down his body.

The sunshine reflecting in the water blended his eyes. Silence broke when he dived into the water. A cooling feeling met him under the freshwater. It was a bit cold still, even though the weather had been good. He thought. For some reason, he felt his body was weightless. Not the kind of weightless you feel in water, but as if, he was flying. The lake was deep, even though he was under the water, he could not feel the bottom.

Suddenly he felt something sucking him downwards into the deep, and started panicking and gasped for air. Summoning all his strength, he took a stroke upwards to the surface and broke it, panting for air. He managed to get to land and started coughing up water he had swallowed.

Afterwards he had gotten his breath back; he looked around him, noticing something. Things were not the same around him, something had changed. The grass was greener, the water was clearer, and the sky had a light red colour. His senses had improved; the vision was sharper and could hear in a completely different way now with clear sounds of birds singing and water channelling. Through his nostrils, the smell of bark from the trees and fresh grass filled his nose. Somehow, his horse was gone, but his clothes was still lying in a pile on the ground.

Where the bloody hell am I? He wondered with a confused look. Jacob grabbed his clothes and started walking from where he had come from. If I can get to the main road, I can follow the path back to the camp, he thought. Dusk would soon arrive. How was that even possible, that the time had gone so fast? It wasn’t. I would have to hurry if I wanted to reach it before the nightfall. If they were even waiting for me. On the other hand, they would have searched for me by now. I had told them where I was. Something strange was going on, as if he had travelled back in time or something. Perhaps he was dreaming.

After walking a while, he found a road, but much farther away from where it had been. Have I gone mad? He thought to himself. The sun went down, and darkness came. He sat down on the ground, wondering what was going on when he heard something. Hooves. Someone was coming. He didn’t bother to hide. If I stay here without a weapon, some wild beast will most likely kill me. The rider came in high speed, but managed to stop right in front of him. His cloak covered the face in the dark.

‘’Who may you be, wandering around in the dark all alone, not even armed with a blade?’’ A woman’s voice asked him and drew the hood off her head. Even though it was dark, he could see her long, slightly curly hair hanging on her shoulders. Dark brown or black was impossible to see at this hour of the day.

‘’A soldier, in the service of the King. I am delivering an important object to Worcester.’’ He replied.

‘’I have not heard about this place you call Worcester. Tell me more of the man that you are calling king.’’ She demanded from him.

‘’The only king, King Henry III.’’ He told her with an insecure tone. ‘’Married to Eleanor of Provence, four children, Edward, Margaret, Beatrice and Edmund.’’ The mysterious rider stared at him as if he was some kind of mad person.

‘’What is the closest city from here?’’ Jacob asked her, a bit more terrified now.

‘’Asgard of course. Any other cities would be far away from here. Tell me, what is the name of this kingdom?’’ She questioned him with leery eyes.

‘’This kingdom? These are the lands of King Henry. I do not recon it has a name. Neither do I know anything about this city Asgard.’’

She studied him a while before she spoke again;

‘’Get on my horse. We will be in Asgard before dawn as long as we hurry and have a safe ride.’’ Suspicious eyes came from Jacob. I do not know this woman, but it would probably be me only chance to get help here.

‘’Trust me. Your time may be very important. Not only for you, but also for many else.’’ Considering it, he did not have any option. He did not say anything, just sent her a short nod and climbed the horse.

I think I really got a lot more details, and fixed scenes I think went too fast. Harsh critique welcome.

- Zontafer