I found myself in a strange space. It was a room with grey walls. I could tell the walls were built using bricks. That in itself wasn't strange, we had mages capable of creating bricks and erecting simple walls, so we had some buildings made of brick. The strange thing was the color of the walls and the fact that this seemed to be a residential space.
All the residential buildings in our settlement were made from mud. It was easier to manipulate and it took less time and effort to erect buildings made from mud. The buildings made of bricks in our settlement were buildings used for worship or ones with some other purpose. The smithy, the library, the mage's tower, the warrior barracks, and the consortium of buildings dedicated to the gods. None of those buildings had grey walls. They were either white or brown, except for the smithy that had been turned black due to smoke from the forge.
I was laying on a bed made of soft material I did not know of. In all the homes I had been to all the beds were dried animal skins laid on the ground. Usually, people lay clothes over the leather skins. However, the bed I was laying on had soft material placed into an exquisite wooden frame. There was no building I knew of that had such a fancy bed.
The ground was made of shiny marbles. This was yet another strange thing. Only the buildings in the consortium of the gods had marbled floors, however, the marbles didn't have the glossy finish the marbles in this room had. The other buildings had stone floors. Many homes simply had leveled ground with no covering.
Looking around there was no other furniture around, other than a chair at the foot of the bed. An old man sat on the chair staring out the only window in the room. It must've been nighttime, cause there was no light coming in through the window. The source of light that illuminated the room was lanterns that hung on the corners of the room.
The man had a special aura around him that commanded respect and servitude. The air about him was that divine. He was wearing what I can only describe as a pure white robe. From my vantage point, I could only see his back. I only knew he was an old man because he had a head full of grey hair. His hair was just as white as the robe he wore.
"Who are you?! Where am I?!" I asked, a bit agitated. My heart was beating really fast being in the old man's presence. I could barely contain my anxiousness.
"You ask very difficult questions, but the answers to those questions aren't what you need to know at this point in time," answered the man.
His voice shook the very core of my being. It wasn't loud, but it was very spirited and clear. It didn't seem to be coming from any particular direction; it sounded like all the space around me was carrying the sound of his voice.
"I have brought you here because it's taking you too long to remember. You're becoming lost in this petty life, thus I wanted you to remember," he continued.
His words made it sound like we were acquaintances, but I had never met him before.
"Do I know you?" I asked, a little bewildered.
"Hmm. I wonder. You will find answers to your questions in time, but for now, I need you to recall a bit of what you have forgotten," he said and waved his hand.
A sudden surge of pain assaulted my head. The room started to spin and I was feeling nauseous. I could feel myself being pulled away from that space. Then everything turned black and the pain in my head subsided.
When I opened my eyes again I was in the wing of the warrior's barracks where injured warriors were treated. Sitting on the floor next to the mat I was laying on was my sister. Her face looked a little haggard.
"You're finally awake!" she almost shouted as she hugged me tight, sobbing.
"Yeah. What happened?" I asked.
"I don't know," she answered after composing herself a little, "when Aurel brought you back you were unconscious. We assumed it was due to blood loss and fatigue, so we thought you would recover once you were healed, but you never woke up. It's been ten days since," she continued.
I was a little surprised. I remembered my encounter with that old man. I still couldn't tell if it was a dream or if it really happened, but I didn't remember being there that long. I tried to assess my body, but I felt completely fine; I couldn't think of a reason why I would be unconscious for ten days.
"Is father really angry?" after thinking about it for a minute and not coming up with any answers, I shifted my focus to my biggest worry.
"He's absolutely livid," my sister said with a smile of mischief on her face.
I wondered what trouble she had made for me now. She enjoyed playing pranks on me, nothing too serious, but it always got me in trouble with father. I never understood why she derived so much pleasure from causing problems for me.
"What did you do now?" I asked, exasperated.
"You just woke up and you're already getting angry at your cute sister?" she asked with a pout.
"Also, what do you mean brother, have you forgotten who it was that stole those artifacts, snuck out, and went to attack the Lycans?" she continued, her pout replaced by a look of disappointment.
I felt too ashamed to respond, so I just looked away from her. I looked around, but Aurel wasn't in the room with us. No surprise. If it's been ten days since we fought the Lycan, then he would've recovered and left already.
"If you're looking for your fellow moron, he is currently being punished."
The words of my sister filled me with dread. I knew father would be angry, I knew the leader of the warriors would be angry too, but at most I expected a few harsh words. What did my sister mean by punishment?
I looked into her blue eyes searching for signs that she was kidding, but I was only met with a mocking gaze. Her eyes seemed to be making fun of me as she sensed my anxiousness. Honestly, she would be the cutest girl in the world if she didn't have such a sadistic personality.
"Where is father?" I finally asked.
"He is probably at the smithy. We just discovered that enchanted weapons work really well against the Lycans, so I expect him to bury himself with work creating more," she answered with a little sigh.
She wasn't wrong, given my father's personality, I fully expected him to bury himself in work. The Lycans have been a big threat to us my whole life, but defeating them had taken a whole new meaning to father after mother died.
Their evolution had been a source of serious headache to him. Of course, we still found a way to fight, and we still managed to protect our settlement from them during the full moon, but too many of our warriors and mages lost their lives because we had no effective way to fight them.
The enchanted weapons were recently created after father had discovered a way to write runes unto weapons during the smithing process.
He had created a few for the warriors to train with, but not too many warriors could use them well so we had never used them in battle.
Aurel and I were the first warriors to use the enchanted weapons in combat, and we had proven their efficacy. Of course, father now knowing he was on the right path would proceed with his plans full steam ahead.
"Can you bring me my clothes?" I asked my sister. I was completely naked underneath the leather blanket put over me. My sister left and came back moments later with a change of clothes for me.
"Why are you following me?" I asked my sister who had been following me since I left the warriors barracks.
"Father ordered me to not let you out of my sight. One never knows what trouble you will cause," she said.
"You're the one always causing trouble, what are you even saying?" I shot back.
"Whatever do you mean brother? This innocent maiden has never placed a foot wrong in her life. I resent you accusing me of not being proper," she replied.
"I give up," I said with a sigh.
It didn't take long for us to get to the smithy, and sure enough, there was a huge commotion in the place. This place was always loud. One would always hear the sound of metal hitting metal, different voices yelling different things. But there was something different now. I could feel the presence of frenzied magic power moving about in the place.
"I guess father is working people like slaves again," I said, feeling a little sorry for the unfortunate souls that had to work with father.
I pushed open the wooden doors to the smithy and walked in. I was greeted by the sight of mages and blacksmiths moving around frantically, sweat dripping profusely from their bodies. It was hard to tell if they were sweating due to the strain of the work or the heat coming from the forge.
"Father!" I yelled.
One had to always yell in this building to be heard. Even if the one my words were intended for were to be standing next to me, if I spoke normally they would have difficulty picking out my words over the sound of metals and people yelling.
"You are finally awake. Go seek Aurel, I have left instructions for you with him," father told me through [mind talk]. I nodded and turned around and left the building.
"Sister, can you find Aurel?" I asked the one that was following me. She sighed.
"Brother, is your brain damaged? It's obvious that drunk will be at the pub," she said, shaking her head.
Her words vexed me a little, but I tried not to give her the satisfaction of me reacting. Besides, she was correct. Knowing my friend, he was most likely to be at the pub since he wasn't at the barracks.
Sure enough, I found him drunkenly harassing the server at the pub.
"Ah twell yhu. Ish the truf, ah kiid a Lycan," he said, following the server around.
His slurred words made it obvious to me that he had been here a while. His tolerance for alcohol was pretty high, and it took a lot to get him drunk. Ever since Titus died his habit had gotten slowly worse. Barely a day ever went by where he wasn't drunk. Ten days ago I think the prospect of enacting vengeance on the Lycans was enough to keep him focused.
My sister walked up to him, grabbed his hand, and immediately I could see Aurel become sober. She probably cast [purify] on him. He clicked his tongue.
"What does the little demon want," he asked her. He was clearly displeased. He hadn't noticed me yet.
"Aurel," I called out to him as I placed my hand on his shoulder. He turned around to look at me, he then smiled.
"Are you finally awake princess," he asked. He immediately put me in a headlock.
"Do you know how much of a hassle it's been for me dealing with your father while you had your beauty sleep?" he continued.
"Sorry, sorry," I repeated over and over again.
He sighed and let go of me. He walked over to a table I assume he was sitting at previously, grabbed a cup, poured himself a drink, and chugged it down.
"I was told by my father that he left instructions for me with you," I said once he had finished his drink.
He looked from me to my sister, and then back to me again.
"Your sister really is a demon. On her suggestion your father put us in charge of training a new unit of warriors to use the enchanted weapons as punishment," he said, pouring himself another drink.
"What?!" was my bewildered reply, as I turned to face my smiling sister.
Thanks for the chapter
I have an unimportant question here lol. Do they make the mud buildings with magic manipulation?
@strayCat0 in the settlement not everyone uses magic, in fact, mages are few, that's why they are special. So no, the other buildings were made with magic, but the mud houses are made by ordinary people.