The Fae World: Eorith: Luke: The First Arrival

[k_a_webb]

Slowly, wondering why he could feel the sun on his face when he was certain that he’d fallen asleep with the curtains closed, Luke opened his eyes. At first he thought he must be dreaming. That was really the only logical explanation. He didn’t know any other reason he’d be lying on the ground at the very edge of a forest. Of course the only problem with that idea was the fact he’d woken up. In none of the dreams he could remember having had he woken up. Dreaming seemed to be less of a transition than waking did, so then he began thinking what the other possibilities were.

Like everyone else Luke had heard stories about the effect fae magic was having on fictional worlds. Some were becoming real, or maybe the fictional worlds had been real all the time and the writers were simply connecting with them to write their stories. Yawning, he stood up, trying to work out which fictional world he might have found himself on. He hadn’t read any of the books that were known to occasionally toss their readers into other worlds, he didn’t think he’d watched any of the movies or TV series, and he hadn’t heard about any games doing the same thing. That didn’t mean that hadn’t, because it had taken years for anyone to realise what was happening to the books. People read them to see what would happen if they got tossed into the fictional worlds, knowing that they would return to the world at the exact moment they left it.

That had never made sense to him, but magic was one of those things that had its own logic. Like a lot of the humans who didn’t have any magical ability it seemed impossible to understand and Luke wasn’t certain that the fae understood it either. For the first time it was something he was grateful for, because it meant he wouldn’t worry his family, unless he’d found himself somewhere that didn’t follow the same rules. Maybe, if it had been a game that had tossed him into another world, it was more likely that it would follow different rules, but that wasn’t something he should be worrying about right at the moment.

Instead he should be working out where he was. Luke had been playing a new RPG, that his cousin had recommended because he’d played other games by the same creator. Like with all the games he played he hadn’t read the instruction manual, the way his sister always did, wanting to be surprised, and the game was definitely different to any of the others he’d played before. After picking a race and a class he’d been tossed straight into a battle with no tutorial that he was lucky to survive. When he did survive it he started wandering, hoping for something that would teach him how to play, but if there was a tutorial in the game he hadn’t found it.

Worried that he might have found himself in the same situation Luke started looking around, hoping he might find something that he could use as a weapon. In the end the only thing he could find was a large branch, but that was better than nothing. Feeling a shiver of trepidation go down his spine he thought about walking in the hope he might find somewhere he could ask for help before someone or something found him. That was no guarantee that anyone he found would be friendly though.

Before making a decision Luke looked around himself one last time. He didn’t know what he was looking for, but when he didn’t find it he was disappointed. Finding himself on another world was more terrifying that he’d thought it would be and as he had no idea where he was he didn’t know if anyone else had travelled there, so it was possible he was the first human there. Shaking his head he did his best to push all his fears to the back of his mind. Focusing on his next step he started walking east, wrapping pieces of fabric he’d found in one of his pocket around branches as he went so he could find his way back to where he started if he needed to.

“Who are you?” a female voice asked from behind him, about ten minutes after he first started walking, although he wasn’t certain because he didn’t have his watch.

Turning, Luke tried not to let his surprise show when he realised that the voice came from an animal. “I’m Luke,” he replied, managing to keep the tremor out of his voice. “Who are you?”

“Twyla.” The lion-like animal looked him over from top to bottom. “What are you?”

“I’m a human.”

For a longer time than Luke was comfortable with there was silence before Twyla said, “That isn’t something I’ve heard of, I’ve never seen anything like you before, and your scent is strange. Come with me. I must take you to Mouse, so he can decide whether you are friend or foe.”

Twyla took a couple of steps forward and nudged him. Luke knew he had no choice but to go with her, because he didn’t doubt that she was much stronger than he was, and as he started walking he dropped the branch. Against something as big as a lion it wasn’t going to do any damage if she decided to attack him. Moments later he unexpectedly found himself in a small town.

“The town is warded,” Twyla said, sounding unworried about telling him too much. “It was created by one of the last mages, before the Great War, and we were lucky that Mouse found it. There are so few of us now that we need a place like this in which to be safe for a time, until we are needed in the world again.”

“Why were you outside the wards?”

“I’m a scout. I keep an eye out for friends, foes, and strange creatures like you, human. They’ll never see me if I don’t want them to.”

Mirrored from K. A. Webb Writing.