Land in the Letter - Chapter One

The Interloper is a curious thing. Nobody knows its intent. Its words are vague, and you'll never know what your purpose is. One thing is for certain, however; if the Interloper needs you, it will send you a letter. And in it will be an adventure.

Author's Note: There is one bit with a perverted soldier. Do keep that in mind while reading, and know that this story is not headed in that direction. The innuendo is brief, mentions nothing anatomical, and is really up to interpretation to be honest. With that noted, have a good evening, dearest reader.

Jonah's eyes scanned the letter, passing over the strange, silver seal. The wax was left blank, as though the sender hadn't had the time to stamp it. His eyes passed over the black ink next, which spelled out a bizarre message;

You are called to the High King's Court, to aid in the extermination of a great threat.

Two other pairs of eyes did the same, and finally, one couldn't keep silent any longer; "I say we open it."

"That was pretty quick..." Jonah mumbled. "Well, we have Derrick's input. What about you Aubrey?"

"I don't see why not. I mean, it's a letter. There isn't a lump, so no bomb. Worst thing that could happen is we get glitter all over ourselves," she responded. Oh how much she would soon regret those words.

"Alright..." Jonah murmured, ripping open the letter. No glitter; that was a good start, right?

As he pulled out the piece of paper within, there was the strange feeling of movement. It was as though for the briefest moment, the world had decided to spin faster than normal. It was a feeling all to similar to the one someone gets on a roller coaster, and definitely not one they should have felt in a house.

"Did you two feel that..?" Aubrey asked as the feeling passed. The two boys only nodded; in all their eighteen years, they had never felt something like that in a house. In a plane or car, maybe, but not something meant to be stationary.

"What does the letter say?" Derrick asked, refocusing their attention on the piece of paper. Wondering what had happened would come later; for now, they wanted answers, and they hoped those answers could be found in the letter.

They were disappointed by what they found, for the message on the paper provided nothing. No hint was given concerning its origin, nor was their any explanation for what they had just felt. There were only five words;

You have accepted your quest.

"Not even a good luck..." Derrick mumbled, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

Jonah rolled his eyes, tossing the piece of paper to one side. "That was anti climactic. If it was meant to be a prank, then it was a terrible one, because I don't feel pranked."

"Actually, it was genius," Derrick pointed out. "I mean, think about it. You saw this letter, got curious, called us over, got hyped up about what it could mean, only for literally nothing. I mean, seriously! Whoever sent this toyed with our emotions all the way through! And they still are! I mean, now we have to wonder what quest we just accepted!"

As the two boys went back and forth over the supposed genius of the prank, Aubrey decided to check up on Jonah's mother, to see if she had felt movement when they opened the letter. When she stepped out of the room, however, the entirety of the normal world around her dissolved into a series of greens and browns, changing in the space of an instant from the inside of a suburban home to a dirt path surrounded by dense forest. The change had happened swiftly, and for a brief moment Aubrey didn't understand what had happened. It had caught her off guard, stunning her to the point that she didn't really feel any fear as she examined her surroundings.

A simple dirt path stretched out before her, seeming to go on for miles. On either side of her was forest, not a single human building in sight. She turned around, only to find the same thing; a dirt path, surrounded on each side by forest. Any indication that Jonah's room might have been there was gone, and even when Aubrey tried stepping through the spot where she thought the door would be, nothing happened. She was trapped.

As she stood there, puzzled, she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. She turned, startled and expecting danger, until she realized it was Jonah and Derrick. The two boys were looking around, seeming just as confused as Aubrey had been when she first ended up in this strange place. This confusion turned to alarm when they too realized that there was no going back.

Derrick's sense of humor did not fail him, "Well, there goes the neighborhood..."

Jonah glared at him, and Aubrey growled. The joke, however, had served its purpose, lightening the mood enough for the three to start thinking about what had happened.

"So... how did we get here?" Jonah asked, examining their surroundings.

"I think it was magic." Aubrey mumbled, stating what should have been obvious.

"But magic isn't real... right?" Jonah questioned. There was doubt in his voice, and why wouldn't there be?

"Then how do you explain our sudden relocation?" Derrick retorted dryly. "Because I'm pretty sure this was magic."

"Whatever..." Jonah sighed, glancing down the path. "Let's just figure out where this path goes. Hopefully it's a city or something..."

***

If Jonah had wanted to find a city, then he was disappointed, for one hour in they had found nothing. Two hours in, and they were exhausted, still with no sign of civilization. It was only once the sun was starting to set that the three happened upon a small building. It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale; smoke curled lazily from the chimney, and the sounds of undoubtedly drunken men could be heard, even from outside. A warm light shone through the windows, and inside they could see what appeared to be a party. Above the door was a sign; Inn of the Lost Home.

"Seems friendly enough..." Jonah mumbled.

"Yeah, drunk guys are very friendly." Derrick chuckled, walking past Jonah to head inside. Jonah and Aubrey reluctantly followed.

Nobody paid any attention to them as they walked inside, already too far in their drinks to notice a newcomer. The scent of alcohol, meat, and smoke hung in the air, and a variety of swords and axes were leaned up against a wall. Two of the men in the middle of the crowd wore plate armor, and the others wore chain-mail. They seemed to have scared the other customers away, because the group of soldiers were the only ones in the inn.

Feeling out of place, the three moved around the group to reach the bar. A barmaid stood behind the bar, and watched the three as they approached. As her eyes drifted over their strange clothing, she frowned; foreigners could mean trouble.

"Hello ma'am, we were wondering if we could get some help," Jonah said. "We're new to the area, and we were wondering if you could tell us where we are."

The barmaid seemed suspicious of the three strangers, but answered nonetheless, "You're in the High King's forest."

Aubrey heard the name and remembered the letter's message. If it was the letter that sent them here, then surely the High King much be important.

"Can you tell us about the High King?"

The barmaid frowned, glancing at the soldiers before answering, "The High King is the divine leader of these lands, the great benefactor who keeps the peace. He is ever merciful and always benevolent."

Jonah frowned a little, unable to help but notice the unenthusiastic tone of her words. He glanced over his shoulder at the soldiers, unable to help but ask, "Were you forced to say that?"

"You really are new here, aren't you?" Her voice lowered as she continued, "Things around here are different then where you're from. I suggest you leave quickly, the High King does not like newcomers."

"Why not?" Derrick asked.

"The High King likes to claim that foreigners bring disturbances to the peace, but I'm sure you know the true reason."

Jonah of course didn't know, but he didn't get the chance to ask about it before a soldier, possibly hearing mention of the High King, suddenly stepped up next to the group. The soldier had clearly been one of the heavier drinkers of the group, for the air around the man reeked of alcohol, to the extent that it nearly made Aubrey gag. This was only worsened when the man glanced down at Aubrey, giving her a half smile that exposed yellowed teeth.

"What do you want Alastor, another beer?" The barmaid asked, giving the soldier a smile. If there hadn't been alcohol and arrogance clouding the man's vision, he might have seen just how forced a smile it was.

"I want to know what these new fellows are doing here..." Alastor grumbled, apparently not intoxicated enough to lose his capacity for suspicion. The three were quite the oddity; all his life, Alastor had never seen clothes like the ones these newcomers wore, and they appeared to lack the well developed strength of a soldier or working man. Generally, that meant wealth; and Alastor didn't like the wealthy.

The barmaid glanced at the three, considering her options before speaking. "They were sent by my cousins to learn how to do manual labor. As you can tell, they clearly aren't used to it."

Alastor grunted in agreement. "The boys sure do. The girl however...I'm sure you can find some work for her in the barracks..."

Aubrey's eyes went wide in alarm; it didn't take a genius to understand what a drunken soldier would want from a girl.

The barmaid, thankfully, was quick enough to prevent that idea from going any further. "She'll have enough work as it is in the kitchen. You soldiers need food, don't you?"

The soldier grumbled an incoherent response, giving up and heading back to his friends to enjoy the rest of the night by the fire. The barmaid breathed a soft sigh of relief, before glancing at the three.

"Come on, let's get you three some proper clothing and a bed. You all look exhausted," she said, guiding the three away from the group of soldiers.

The three followed without question, all too happy to get away from the soldiers and into a nice, warm bed.