Harwin opened his eyes once more, but he concluded that he was not amongst the living anymore. The poor lad believed his consciousness to be in the state of transitioning to the afterlife.
“Dead, huh, what a pathetic life I have lived and what a pathetic way I went out, but still if someone asked me what I would like to do if given the chance to go back. It would be to return to my old life and repeat what I had done all over again.” He mutters to himself.
“Quite an interesting thing to say about your way of living.”
Harwin finally observed his surroundings. Only to be astonished by the strange place he was in — shadow and light both divided perfectly with only an inch of disparity. In the middle of it all, a figure, not taller than a child sat there, on what appeared to be a throne.
This figure did not have any facial features, its body was one with the environment — one side being shadow and the other light.
“Who are you? Are you here to take to me to the after life.”
“Well, that could be the case but I have something much more interesting for you.”
“Resurrection?” He half-joked.
“Resurrection? You are not dead yet so that is not the right term. Oh, and while we are on that subject, I should probably make you a bit more presentable. A bleeding gut is rather grotesque, I must say.” the figure pointed at Harwin's stomach.
“I AM NOT DEAD? NO, THAT CAN NOT BE POSSIBLE. I FELT IT, MY SOUL SLOWLY FADING AWAY, I COULD NOT HAVE POSSIBLY SURVIVED SUCH INJURIES.”
“The idiots missed all your vital spots. You only fainted due to the blood-loss. You have not forgotten that your city is quite crowded, now have you? Someone saw your body and called for help. You were then taken to be treated. Right now — let me see.....”
The figure fiddled with an orb which glowed brightly. Harwin felt like he was in a dream yet he waited patiently while the figure was observing.
Meanwhile, He looked down at his gut and noticed that he was no longer bleeding neither was there a wound present there — not even blood stains left on his shirt.
‘Well everything is possible in a dream’ he thought.
“Ha, found your body. You are presently lying unconscious on a bed with all these strange tools attached to you. It looks like they are still not sure of your identity, but your family will be found soon no doubt. Bless the strange magika called ‘internet’ in your world.”
“I can not believe that I am still alive—”
He paused for a while to collect his thoughts, certainly happy about the outcome:
“When will I be returning to my senses then?”
“You will not be. I have something far better in mind. I want to send you to follow your dream, your childhood wish.” He claimed gleefully.
“What wis—” Harwin suddenly realized.
“I see that you finally understand.”
“NO, NO THAT IS NOT WHAT I WANT. WHY NOW! WHEN I HAVE EVERYTHING I NEED!” enraged, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
The figure cackled with a sinister laughter. Harwin felt a strange sense of fear but he was still infuriated.
“ANSWER ME, YOU DAMN THING!”
“No need to be angry, young man. I simply wish to grant you your desire. I want to send you to your beloved world of mystery and fantasy. Do you not wish to live in such a place? I have observed you living but still dead inside, only a body with no ambition — do you not wish to be a bit more selfish?”
Harwin reflected on what it meant but after some pondering. He remembered his family, their needs and his responsibility.
“No, I want to return. I must fulfill my duty. What sort of a God thinks of such cruel fate. If you wanted to grant my wish, you could have answered my prayer earlier. Not now, when I have no need of such desires." He replied with a calmer voice this time.
"God....that has a nice ring to it young man, though I also prefer to be called a mage or a scientist in your language. I wish to test my theory and for that purpose, I will be using you. In return, you will live in the world of your dreams.”
“HUH! I WILL NOT—”
“Oh but I never asked for your permission, now did I? It is more of a personal decision but I feel bad so I will tell you something: the world where you will be teleported to, has knowledge — means to teleport or travel to different realms. If you obtain it, you may be able to return home.”
“BUT I—”
Harwin suddenly could not open his lips, they felt as if they were stitched together. He touched his lips, only to find that there were thorns as sharp and thin as needles in, but he felt no pain. He panicked and was terrified of what was going to become of him.
“See what happens when you interrupt someone. Well then, I will be telling you what blessing will you receive from your benefactor — divine protection or heroes protection, whatever you have read about in your human books. I know just the thing. You will be able to speak, read and understand all languages of the new world and for other blessings lets see....” The figure pondered for a while:
“That is it. Ready yourself, you will now begin your adventure. I suppose, I should undo your lips now.”
“WHAT? I AM BEING THROWN TO A NEW WORLD WITH NOTHING BUT A USELESS ABILITY!”
He was still processing of what had just occurred before his entire environment began to change. He felt as if his entirety was being slid through a pipe full of thorns and extreme heat.
It did not take long before Harwin lost consciousness.
It had to have been ages since he experienced such a deep slumber. Well in actuality, he was put into this state by the sheer pain.
He woke up to find himself perfectly fine with all his body parts still intact so at-least he had something to be thankful for.
Like any sensible person, he first observed his surroundings. He was teleported to another world, but it did not feel much different from his older one.
There were certainly a lot of pastures around with lush green fields and a clear blue sky. It was the same as any country side.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
'I might have been tricked by that devil.' He thought.
Though if he was transported to this place from the city, even as a prank, it would be quite troublesome to find the way back.
He began to walk, following the trails in the fields. Hours passed without much progress.
One thinks that navigating your way through a desert is difficult but the same was the case with these never-ending fields. Even though he was not thirsty or felt hungry but he was still tired from walking—
Suddenly he saw something coming his direction.
He felt saved or so he liked to imagine. For now, he stayed out of sight to observe what was coming towards his direction. On a closer look, it looked like a carriage.
In this day and age, it was certainly a strange sight. It looked pretty much like an ordinary carriage until he saw more following it.
‘A caravan maybe.’ He thought.
Never the less, he waved at it —trying to stop anyone for help. As it drew closer, he began to shout for help:
“STOP PLEASE! HELP!”
A horse-man following the carriage rushed towards his direction. Only when the rider was a few meters away that it caught Harwin’s eyes — the inhumane creatures heading his way.
'Orc? Demon? Beast-men?' he thought.
Well it was certainly not human. He wanted to run but his legs froze at the sheer size of the thing.
The size of the horse, at-least it appeared to be one, was three times larger than a normal one.
The man or creature riding it, had horns with thick fur on his skin which was similar to that of a bear. He was at least three meters tall, possibly more.
The horseman stopped. He unmounted and sauntered towards Harwin with a great-axe in hands.
Harwin did what any sensible man would do and raised his hands to appear as defenseless as possible. He was trying to control the urge to scream at the absolute monster nearing him.
“I mean no harm. I am just lost in this land and wanted help in finding the nearest town.”
The creature stopped in its tracks and wore a surprised expression though his facial structure was more similar to a beast than a human.
“YOU SPEAK OUR TONGUE!”
“I am sorry if I have offended you. I am a man of books and have traveled for a long time — learning a few bits of pleasantries from all around the world.” A lie he had thought on the spot.
“BOSS WILL LOVE TO SEE YOU. I FOUND NEW PET FOR BOSS.”
As much as Harwin would have loved to argue otherwise. He was barely holding himself from fainting so he just followed with whatever the beast demanded.
He was picked-up with one hand and then thrown on the horse-back. The caravan had also come to a complete halt.
While being carried along the carriages. Harwin noticed many cages entrapping all sorts of creatures, mostly human but some possessed horns and ears like demons or other mystic races, he had read about in his childhood. Of-course, these were a-bit different to see in person — terrifying in fact.
Harwin concluded that he had been captured by slave-traders.
‘What a terrible fate and luck I have,’ He thought.
Harwin did not care much, he basically thought his life had ended so whatever was happening was just extra-time he got for free.
He still had in mind, the possibility of returning home one day. The evil mage had stated that there were means of achieving that.
He was lost in thought, when suddenly thrown by his captor in front of a group of men. Many of them were similar to his captor but there were also some who appeared quite humane.
“BOSS SEE THIS HUMAN SPEAKING OUR TONGUE AND HE IS NO SLAVE.”
The man being called the boss was much shorter than his captor. He had a humane face and body except for the horns that popped out his forehead.
Harwin was really in the fantasy world but not as a hero.
“Borman, how many times have he told you to speak abit more softly. I can hear you fine even when you are a few miles away.”
The boss glared at this so called man, Borman, who shivered in fear instead of getting of furious. It was truly terrifying, witnessing a man of this size getting intimidated by someone else.
Harwin upon observing that he was standing infront of the leader decided to bow as respectfully as he could. He waited for to be called upon.
“A man with manners we have here, truly a sight. I have been wanting to see for a while now. Living among my fellow men, I often imagine that I will also lose any shed of discipline I had learned in the Royal army. Speak human, what is your name?”
“I am—”
“Never-mind, I will name you myself. Humans often have idicotic names, truly a waste of memory to remember them. Let me think....”
Harwin had stopped speaking immediately and awaited for the next question or order.
“Gor....yes indeed a good name for a slave. I proudly name you 'Gor'. You better honour and cherish it for the rest of your life.”
He bowed even deeper to show that he assented to the order even though he had no idea what was happening.
“No protest or arguing. Truly something new to see. Most of the times humans start to lash out as soon as I mention enslaving them. A common reaction but I see you are quite different. Well none the less, where are you from?”
“I have no idea. I suddenly woke up on these fields and have no memory of my home.” He half-lied.
“DO NOT LIE TO BOSS.” Borman, his captor, shouted.
“BORMAN, ONE MORE WORD FROM YOU AND I WILL RIP YOUR TONGUE OUT!”
The beast was now at the feet of his boss — begging for forgiveness. His relation seemed more like a pet than of a soldier or a companion.
Harwin wondered about what was hiding behind that humane face that scared a giant beast beyond imagination.
He had just caught a glimpse of the entire scene then went back to bowing — his heart was beating loud enough to be heard by anyone standing beside him. None the less, he did not let his senses or mind go astray and focused only on surviving.
“Gor, lift your head and calm yourself a little. Ryl, give the man something to drink.”
Ryl looked different than Borman and the ‘boss’. He was much smaller than Borman but had scales like a crocodile and a tail as well. He appeared to be part of a totally different race, however, he did have a human face.
He handed Harwin a horn of sort. Judging from all the steam, the liquid inside was boiling hot — its color was brownish-red and it had a very pungent smell.
Harwin had consumed alcohol before, but to everyone's surprise, he could never get drunk.
He closed his eyes and gulped down the entire drink in one breath. It was almost boiling hot but he did not stop until there was none left.
“You are a very interesting human.” The boss laughed while saying this:
”Usually my men can only drink half of it before failing to hold their senses but you, mad man, drank it all without budging an eye. I am now even more interested.”
Harwin did not feel any different than before. There certainly was a burning sensation in his body, but he did not even feel one-bit drunk.
He noticed that his heart had calmed down a little and he was feeling a bit relaxed.
“The effects should be kicking in now. You will now be able to communicate more freely and would not be able to lie or so it has been passed on from generations to generations. It is quite an effective thing. Now then, where are you from now?”
“I am sorry if I have offended you but I really do not know where I am right now and how I ended up here." He twisted his words a-bit but he was really telling the truth.
“So you are not lying unless this potion has no effect on you. Well then, you know our language. What other things can you do — any trait or profession you previously had?”
“I was a book-keeper.”
“Never heard of that. What did you do in this work?”
Harwin felt as if he was giving an interview, but the end was slavery no matter what he said.
“I am good with numbers. I can help merchants. I record their deals and help them grow a-bit.”
“So you can help a merchant grow....can you do it for me?”
“I will need to ask a few questions to help in that.”
The boss nodded.
He found out that these men were not slavers, but rather a mercenary group. They helped to fight for local lords, but as there were hardly any wars in the present era of peace. They had succumb to only capturing thieves, out-laws and other criminals.
They were returning from hunting bandits in a local lord’s region and were going to the capital to sell their goods (captured slaves).
There were gold coins in this world as opposed to his older world’s currency but the concept was rather same or much less complicated — basically precious metal melted down that gave it value.
He pondered for while to come up with a business strategy. His few suggestions were:
- Purchasing weapons from a region that had ample supply of it. Not buying it for gold but rather another commodity that was not found in that region.
- He also suggested to improve their relations with local merchants. Maybe, offer them protection in exchange of gold and information about profitable routes.
He certainly gained favor of the boss with a few of his suggestions which would have not even batted someone'a eye in the previous world but now it was impressing someone. It made Harwin feel a bit proud.
“I suppose you will be quite useful to me. I will not be selling you but keeping as a personal slave. Good work, Borman.”
That phrase did not sit well with Harwin but what could he have done against these monsters.
The best way to survive in this situation was to remain close to the boss and to prove to him that he was useful. He immediately bowed to show his assent in a graceful manner.
From here on, his true journey began. Their first destination was the nearest town.
