The sky filled with dull grey clouds, a chill in the humid air shouted warnings of rain that threatened to fall. The hot summers sun had been shining brightly all morning, only to be gone now, seemingly mirroring the dejected feelings of a lone young man as he walked home.

Walking along the footpath on a main road with cars speeding by, walking past the large fences and gates, bushy but freshly trimmed hedges and clean grass gardens of the homes lined up along the way.

A light breeze flows along carried scents of freshly cut grass and blooming flowers, but it was chilling to the touch, a mighty contrast of the sensation of the backing heat of that very morning.

It was a hot day, were one would have loved to spend outdoors with friends and family, he was forced to miss it, all thanks to a greedy employer.

“Yeah, they fired me…” David spoke into his smart-phone with a low, dejected tone. He is on his way home after an unexpected short day at work.

“But… wasn’t it your first day? Why would they fire you? What did you do?” a feminine voice came from the other side of the phone call, sounding shocked.

“Nothing… they didn’t even tell me what I did wrong, they just said ‘because I was starting my trail period, they could fire me without any reason…’ it’s bullshit…”

“What did you do?”

“What could I do?!” he blurted angrily. He stopped bluntly in his tracks, taking in a deep breath to calm himself, the whole situation had his blood boiling the more he thought about it, it wasn’t fair, but directing his anger towards the woman he loves was not something he wants to do. Rubbing his forehead, he took in a deep breath, “I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to snap at you like that… I’m just frustrated, you know…?”

“Well… I’m sure there’ll be other jobs out there…?”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “I guess… working in a shitty warehouse for minimum wage wasn’t my idea of a worth while time anyway… still… I was looking forwards to finally being able to take you out some place nice for a change…”

“You really don’t need to do that though…”

“I know, it’s just… I always feel bad when you’re the one paying for everything on our dates, Sarah. I should at least pay my share and not leave everything up to you. You deserve better then that.”

“And that’s why I fell in love with you… it’s fine, okay?”

It’s not fine… he thought to himself. “Enough about me, I ran into Sharon this morning, she said you wanted to talk to me about something very important? But she refused to tell me anything about it…”

“Oh… y-yeah I…” Sarah’s voice broke out into nervous stuttering, “I have…” the call began to cut in and out, with static overpowering her voice, “ex… news… home…”

He looks at the signal bars on his phone, seeing they were still full. Bringing his phone back up, “you’re cutting out… must be a bad connection again, been happening all day! I’ll call you back in a minute, okay?!”

He could only hope she heard him, either that, or she heard his distorted voice and realised what was happening. He hangs up, staring at the screen for a moment. He thought he heard her say something… strange.

“Must be something else, I could barley hear her…”

He takes a moment, taking in another deep breath to calm himself further, when a strange sound enters his hearing.

What’s that? he wondered, it was quiet, barley noticeable over the chirping of the birds in the nearby trees.

“A woman chanting?” her words barely recognisable as such, sounding more like a song or poem then a conversation, there was a rhythmic sound to it, a purity of calm and reverence.

But then, as if out of nowhere, a much louder voice came, another woman speaking in a strange tongue echoed around him like a whisper in the wind, overpowering the last, passing by him with an urgent, yet uncertain tone to her voice.

It only lasted a few seconds, but it left him dazed and confused. His heart had started to race, his body slightly aching as if in response to invisible forces.

“What the hell?”

His phone suddenly vibrated in his hand, ringing a high pitched tone of an incoming call, startling him.

The name that appeared on the screen was, ‘Echo.’

He clears his mind, trying to rationalise what he just heard as just his imagination due to stress. He answers the call, “hey, Sarah. Can you hear me now?”

“Yeah, what happened? Did you lose signal?”

“A bad connection… I think? It’s been happening all day for some reason, even though I have a full signal… maybe my phone is glitched?” he continues to walk, “anyway, I’m almost home now.”

He couldn’t explain it, his phone would cut out at times. Web pages wouldn’t load, phone calls would be interrupted. Every time, he could feel something, like someone tugging at his clothes from both directions, but that was the first time he heard voices.

At first he ignored it, thinking he hadn’t gotten enough sleep the night before, and his mind was just playing tricks on him, but once it happened a few more times in different locations, he thought he was going crazy and hallucinating.

“Okay, I’ll meet you there?”

“You’re coming over?” he asked shocked.

“Yeah, we should talk about… did you hear what I said before the phone cut out?”

“No, I didn’t…?”

“Oh, good… I think it’s best if I tell you in person…” Sara sounded relieved in a nervous way.

“Okay…?” he looks around, unable to shake the feeling of being watched, “you sound… very serious. What happened?”

“I’ll be there in ten, okay?”

“I’m about five minutes away, is it that bad?”

“It’s… that depends on you, I guess…? I’ll talk to you soon, I love you.”

“I love you too, bye.”

“Bye bye…”

The call ends, he stuffs his phone into his thin cotton black jacket that wasn’t really suitable for the sudden turn in weather. “She sounds worried… is it something I did?”

The strange voices remained in his mind, unable to focus much on anything else as he walked, unable to shake a strange familiar feeling for the second voice.

“Got to be someone watching program or something… right?”

He walks in silence the rest of the way home.

He couldn’t shake the feelings of being watched, a sense that he’s needed somewhere else, a panic forming deep within like he’d forgotten something vital but couldn’t quite remember what.

As he unlocks the wooden and slim slated glass panelled door to his home, his worries seemingly fades away for a moment, being replaced with a strange sense of alertness.

Just what was it that Sara wanted to tell him?

He thinks back, questioning on when was the last time she had acted that way, he walked into the front room, the view of his childhood home came into focus.

Everything has been the same ever since he was a kid, a cream sofa sat near the front door, facing a large wall mounted television on the chimney piece with a glass coffee table in front, the floor is lined with a dull burgundy carpet, many photos of young children hung along the walls and carbonates.

Remembering the times he had spent with Sara on the cream two seat sofa. They had grown up together as childhood friends, attending the same schools in the same year, as such, they were in the same classes together. But it was only recently, now that they both were adults, that they had become intimate and began deepening their bond as lovers.

He recalls many occasions where he felt a strong pull of attraction towards his closest friend, and at the time, how blind he was to not realise she felt the same way.

She even admitted to it many times under her breath, but he always thought he misheard her, or it was just his wishful thinking. “The last time she was this nervous, was when she confessed to me… wasn’t it?”

She had said she was fed up on waiting for him, so she straight out admitted her feelings randomly as they played a video game by kissing him in the heat of passion.

Sara is a very straight forward woman, but her nervousness was clear as day back then.

“No… she’s not going to say that, is she?”

He shook his head to dispel his thoughts, as anticipation and impatience grew in his gut. He thought he heard her say something through the distortion, was he just being as blind as he was back than?

His childhood home was silent as expected, he had moved out a while back but ran into trouble financially, he’d temporally moved back in with his parents until he could get back on his feet.

“She’ll be here soon, I should put the kettle on…” he muttered, trying his best to distract himself further as he makes his way through the front room, however, the strange voices returned.

His body felt as if it was being pulled in two different directions at once, the still air swirled around him, flinging the loose items lined along the mahogany carbonate across the room. It was as if a small cyclone had randomly appeared in his home, causing havoc to everything it touched, it was getting stronger and he was at the centre of it’s destruction.

The quiet chanting girl was louder now, he could make out some of her words but they didn’t sound English, almost as if it was made up. But the other.

“I summon you forth noble hero, please heed my call, and appear before me!”

The wind picked up, sparking a mix of white and purple lighting, as if the two were fighting for control.

His sight faded, everything grew dark. The sounds of glass breaking, heavy objects snapping and slamming into the walls. It felt as if his head was being torn in two. Until…

“David!” a panicked scream penetrated through the storm, everything fell silent.

His eyes met with the watery and panicked teal eyes of a young woman, her jet black hair being flung by the vertex of strange wind, as she reaches out for him, fresh cuts appears all over her exposed slender arm. “Sarah?” feeling fear for what he is seeing, he reaches out, “get back!” he couldn’t bare to see her hurt, “please!”

“David!” as darkness overcame his senses once again, the last thing he heard as his consciousness floated away was the cry panicked cry of the woman he loved, calling out to him in a desperate attempt to reach him.

“I summon you forth noble hero, please heed my call, and appear before me!”

The disembodied voice of a young woman echoed around him, sounding distant but clear for him to hear. His eyes open, only to find nothing but pure darkness.

He flouts within a seemingly endless void, feeling nothing underneath, his body felt weightless. He tries to move, but yet, nothing.

That voice… W-what’s going on? He thought to himself.

He finds all he can do is move his eyes and breath.

Unable to move, speak or see anything, panic grew from his very core.

“In this hour of need, I call upon the Goddess's power, Ophelia, please heed my plea, bring forth a noble hero to save us from the unending darkness…”

That voice, it’s the same from before. He thought, Goddess? His mind races in confusion.

“I summon you forth noble hero, please heed my call and appear before me!”

A blinding flash of white light erupts in front of him, overtaking the black void in a brilliant radiance, unable to turn away, he closes his eyes tightly. He feels a worm embrace on his skin, as if the hot summers sun was shining down upon him once again.

His eyes sting as he tries to open them, but all he is met with is a blinding white light.

A soft voice then spoke out, it was the first woman he heard, chanting the unintelligible words before. But she had stopped her chant now.

“What’s going on? Why haven’t they appeared yet? I can feel-”

A loud, unearthly scream erupts all around him, echoing throughout the void, piercing every fibre of his soul, it is deafening but clearly the scream of a woman in immense pain, maybe the one who was talking, but he couldn’t be sure, it didn’t sound quite the same as her.

A purple light erupted around him as he became dizzy, unable to focus any more, everything became dark once again.

 

---

 

A quiet voice reaches him, sounding far away at first, but getting louder as his consciousness slowly returns.

“Please wake up…” her voice was softer then before, a hint of uncertainness behind a fearful tremor.

Its that voice again… groggily, he recognises the voice as someone familiar.

Maybe it was all a dream, what just happened was impossible, he reasoned. Trying to make sense of what had just happened.

He felt a warm breeze on his skin, the warmth of the sun shining down, the sound of leaves rattling above with birds chirping quietly. In fact, the birds stuck out much more, they sounded close but quieter then he’s ever heard them before.

His eyes stung to the bright sun, feeling a heavy thumbing pain just behind them.

Did I get drunk last night? Did I black out…? I’ve never blacked out before… feels like one hell of a hangover coming on…

His sight slowly came into focus, the blur of green on blue becoming more detailed, now he could see vibrant green leaves, moving to the slow breeze in front of a clear blue sky.

“Y-you’re awake…?” an excited voice caught his ear before an upside-down head popped into his vision, leaning over his head from above with brightening, relieved purple eyes, “thank Ophelia…” she said that as if thanking god.

He forces himself to lean up, holding his head. He was still dazed, feeling light headed and slightly dizzy, but thankfully, the pain from his headache was slowly fading.

“I…” the young woman tried to speak, but stops herself.

He turns to her, seeing her sitting on her knees looking down at the ground, as if she was deep in thought.

“Who…?” he was still groggy, a little confused, looking around, he didn’t recognise anything. From where he sat, there was a wide dirt road surrounded by rolling hills of grasslands with many colourful flowers dawning the hilltops. The sky was clear of any rain clouds, and the air seemed much cleaner and refreshing.

He turns back to the woman, seeing her more clearly then before. Her long locks of brown hair flowed down over her gentle slender shoulders, her purple eyes staring down with a nervous fear, as if in disbelieve and unable to remain fixed on one spot of the vibrant green grass ground under her.

“Who are you?” he asked.

Her head shoots up, startling him slightly, she wore a strange dress. It was as if it came straight out of a fantasy novel, a mix between a robe and an ornate white dress.

“I’m… I am… I mean…” she mumbled, she struggled to speak, nerves was getting the better of her, he could tell. Her face was slightly flushed, a slight tremble of her body barely noticeable upon first impression.

She suddenly stands, turning away from him.

“Sorry… a moment… p-please…”

He looks at her confused, seeing her fantasy like dress even better now, below the waist the cream colour faded naturally into a pale green, ribbons flowed loosely off her shoulders and very short sleeves leaving her thin, slender arms exposed, shiny golden leaf that sparkled in the sunlight is stitched into the every seem of the dress in a beautiful artistic manner, making it appear like a work of fine art. Despite it’s baggy look on the chest, and tight midriff, it also showed a lot of skin with a deep v-cut, with a length down to her knees, while somehow maintaining a modest appearance. It simply looked expensive, and very surreal, not something he’d ever seen before, even in video games, film or TV.

As she turned her back to him, pure white ribbons flowed, tied to her hair, keeping the very long, flowing hair back behind her head and away from her face with a length down to her lower back.

He couldn’t help but feel as if it was almost like trying to speak to a shy child, she was incredibly nervous and unable to speak due to it, which made him feel nervous also.

He can sympathise with her on this, he was once like that many years ago. He would even do what she was doing now, trying to hide his face out of share embarrassment. Sure, he could speak calmly to Sara, but he’d known Sara since he was a kid, but complete strangers were a challenge back then.

Her hands pressed against her hips. “Okay…” she said sharply as she rose her hands out away from her body before forcefully slapping both hands onto her cheeks, “ouch…”

A moment of silence passes, he looks at her shocked as she turns to him, with rosy cheeks that must have still stung quite badly, she smiles at him.

“Th… thank you for… answering my call, I’m, Enya… wel… welcome to our world…” she glances away, breathing a sigh in relieve as if she’d just accomplished an impossible task.

“Our world?” he asked, “wait, what’s going on here? Where am I?”

Her shy gaze returns to him, tilting her head in confusion. “You… don’t know?”

His eyes widen slightly. She looked incredibly cute at that moment, as he stared up at her in the hue of the sun’s rays beaming through the tree leaves around her, it was almost magical. But now wasn’t the time for such thoughts, also, he’s already taken.

He mentally berates himself for thinking such an unfaithful thing before coughing to clear his thought and mind.

“I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

 

---

 

POV; Enya.

Not long ago…

The sun shins its brilliant glow from the dazzling clear blue sky, casting the dancing shadows of the lively vibrant trees upon a large dirt road.

Bristling with plants and trees on either side, a young woman walks along, humming a simple tune to herself.

A rich sweet fragrance crosses the path along the gentle worm breeze, Enya walks away from a large, dense forest along the path, the trees thinning out, and the vibrant, blooming flowers taking hold along the gentle rolling hills.

She was smiling joyfully, but her smile didn’t reach her lonely emerald eyes.

Suddenly she stops dead in her tracks, her humming stopped with a gasp. Her eyes open wide in fear and shock as her emerald irises fades, changing colour.

“No, it can’t be,” she said quietly, uncertain, “I, I can’t… it can’t be me.”

The remaining green in her eyes disappear, being replaced with a glowing light of bright purple power.

Her hand trembles, her eyes swell as dread fills her. “I… I can’t be the one… it’s not possible…”

She looks around, searching for someone, anyone who can help. But she already knows no help can be found. She spots a lone tall tree just off the dirt road.

Hesitantly, she walks towards it, entering into its shade. She falls to her knees, tears slowly falling down her slender cheeks.

Fear, panic, a dread that wont go away. Her thoughts turns to her home, her mother and her friends and all the others.

Memories flash in her mind, repeating an important lesson she was taught in the words of her teacher. “A candidate is chosen if they are strong enough, many can become the one. You, Enya, are not strong enough, your lack of training and interest has ensured that. There are many who would be chosen before you,” at the time, she was filled with such joy, but now…

Her head lowers as she finishes her teachers words. “The only way I would be chosen is… if… I was the on-” she stops herself, shacking her head. “No, I can not think that way.”

She takes a moment, closing her eyes, taking a deep breath. Feeling the wind on her skin. She lets out a long breath, forcing a smile as she wipes away her tears.

“I don’t have choice now, I have to do it,” she muttered, “I need to do the chant… but how does it go?”

She takes a moment to compose herself, standing back up while clearing her thoughts.

Leaning onto the thick trunk of the tree, looking up at the clear blue sky upon the vast horizon, she thinks out loud. “If you are picked as the hero summoner, you must do the chant within the hour. The chant… how did it go?”

She sighs as she tries her best to recall.

“Okay,” she kneels down, placing her hands out in front of her on the ground, “first, ‘Create!’” her voice slightly echoed as her hand and the ground glows a purple hue.

A large circle made of stone appears within the light, with chiselled runes delicately detailed between the outer and inner sides of the thin line.

For anyone to see it, it would appear to be a masterpiece of art and design, however, this wasn’t a simple piece of art.

She checks the runes carefully, taking time to ensure they were all correct, fixing what wasn’t until she was done. “Great, that looks right, bit hard to maintain though. Next, the chant.”

She lays her hand onto the circle.

“It’s a prayer to Ophelia right? Dose it matter if it’s completely correct? Probably… yes… it’s a ritual spell, but not the same as the others, maybe it’s okay if I get one word wrong? It’s the intent that matters most… right…?” she smiles warily.

She takes a moment to think.

After several minutes, she quickly and quietly mumbles to herself. “In this hour of need, I call upon the Goddess's power, Ophelia, please… something, something, bring me a hero to save us from the unending darkness… I summon you forth, please hear my call?” she looks up confused, “why do I get the feeling I’m missing something with that? Oh, it’s heed my call and appear before me? Sounds a little desperate if you ask me.”

She takes her hands away, sitting on her legs as she continues to mumble to herself the same thing, trying to get it right, speaking quieter and quieter until she is no longer talking but making noises in hums.

After several more minutes of focus, she shoots up to her feet with a resounding look of success. “I remember!” but her happy expression turns to one of nervousness mixed with embarrassment, “oh, that's right, he’d be able to see me all the time, wont he? I better prepare myself for introductions, I can’t believe I almost forgot!”

She looked down at herself, smelling her arm pits, checking her dress.

“I better wash up before we meet…”

She placed her hand to her chest, her clothes glowed, vanishing within a momentary flash. She now stands stark naked under the tree.

“I wonder what he’ll be like?”

Keeping her right hand over her chest, she places her left over her stomach.

“‘Create; sub cleaning cleanse,’” her entire body is enveloped in a soothing pale blue light, fading quickly after several seconds.

Once the light fully faded, she smells at her arm pits again.

“All fresh and smelling good…”

She held out her hand in front of her. “Create,” a pair of simple, white underwear appears in her hand, “being a summoner will mean I’ll be able to… I can finally speak to someone.”

After pulling up her new underwear, she looks at the circle, a knot of fear building within her gut.

“How long has it been since I last spoke to anyone? Ha… how… what will I say?”

She returned her gaze to her hand, casting her Creation spell once again, this time creating the same dress she was wearing before.

After slipping on the complicated looking dress with ease and strapping her leather belted boots on up to her knee. She looks back to the circle made of stone, it’s already been halve an hour since her eyes began shining purple, she can’t delay any longer.

She clears her throat once again, focusing on the circle she made while laying her hands onto it.

The circle glows purple as she imbue her magic into the carved runes.

Her bright purple eyes glow even more intently as he voice echoes with mysticism.

“In this hour of need, I call upon the Goddess's power, Ophelia, please heed my plea, bring forth a noble hero to save us from the unending darkness. I summon you forth noble hero, please heed my call and appear before me!”

She removes her hands slowly as the light of the circle overtakes the ground, small tremors are felt, the purple light shining deeper and more intently.

 

---

 

Main POV; David.

“I’m sorry, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Her gaze raised back up, staring at the man she had summoned in disbelieve. “That can’t be…” she whispered, “you’re suppose to…”

She glanced away for a moment, muttering quietly to herself.

“Where am I?”

She recalls her teacher’s lessens once again, thinking back on the old man's exact words ringing in her mind. “The summoned hero would have been presented a choice by the Divine goddess Ophelia herself, all who has been summoned accepted to come here, to leave their old world and life behind, to fight for us. Always show them kindness, and thank them for their sacrifice.”

Her eyes narrow, shooting back to the man she summoned with a renewed determination. “What do you mean, you have no idea?”

David is taken aback, seeing the determination in her eyes with renewed energy and confidence. She spoke in a more direct tone too, no longer stuttering.

“I…” his voice got caught in his thought, quite frankly, caught bewildered by her sudden change.

“It’s a joke, right? Please tell me you’re just messing with me.”

“No, I seriously don’t know…” he stands up, looking at her concerned, she follows suit looking back equally concerned.

“What do you know? You did meet with Ophelia, right?”

“Ophelia?” her more direct tone sparks a realisation, now that she’s speaking more naturally, “wait, it’s you, you’re the one I’ve been hearing all day, you’re that second voice!”

“All day? I’ve just started the summoning five minutes ago…” she took a step towards him, looking even more confused, “wait, what did you say? What second voice?”

“I don’t bloody know?! What the hell is going on?!” David is more or less yelling at this point, panic fills his voice, looking around the area of soft rolling hills and plans.

She takes another step, her arms outstretched and open, her nervousness seems forgotten now. “Look, just calm down, take a breath. I’m just as confused as you, after all, you should already know what's going on.”

They stare at each other in silence, the birds still chirping away happily ignoring them, the worm breeze unchanging.

Her strange appearance aside, there was something else. He can’t get this feeling of familiarity out of his head, she seemed so familiar but he had no memory of ever meeting her.

She looks at him with interest, her eyes lowering to his clothing, finding them very strange and unusual.

He stands wearing dark blue, straight fit jeans, a thin black zipped jacket with a light blue t-shirt and thick fabric black trainers, none of which she recognises as clothing she’d ever seen before. He has a well groomed stubble beard appearing very tidy.

Her eyes slowly looks at his slender and quite skinny body, his dark brown hair was short, wavy to the length of a little finger, meeting his deep green eyes still filled with confusion. She can’t help but feel a spark deep within, an excitement gazing into them. What am I feeling? She quickly beats those thoughts away as she recalls another one of her lessens that causes her to recoil slightly.

She clears her thought, thinking of the best way to continue. “Um, okay, I’m the one who summoned you from your world. Does, that ring the bell?”

He shacks his head. “You summoned me from my world? That’s impossible, isn’t it… or at least I thought it was…” David had calmed himself down, taking the momentary silence to do so. He was now in a much calmer state to talk.

“I don’t understand, you should know all this already. If you didn’t meet with my Goddess, then…” she rises her finger to her chin, “then something must have gone wrong, but I’m sure I did everything right. What happened to you? What did you see?”

“I…” he takes a step back from her, unable to believe what he’s hearing. Have I really been summoned to another world? I thought things like that only happen in fiction. Can I trust her? He thought to himself, I don’t know why, but I feel like I can trust her... strange. He takes a deep breath, calming his body and mind even more as he attempts to think rationally. “All I remember is flouting somewhere dark, I heard a disembodied voice calling me and then a deafening scream with a blinding white light.”

“A… a scream? That doesn’t sound right… are you sure you don’t know anything else?” she asked as she steps towards him, looking at him with doubtful eyes, “I thought… no I'm sure your supposed to already know why you have been summoned…”

“I… what?”

She sighs. “I’ll try and explain…” she steps closer towards him, placing her hand over her chest, “I’ll start with a proper introduction, my name is Enya, I’m twenty years old. What do I call you?”

“Enya,” he muttered, that’s a name I’ve never heard before. Can I tell her my name? I feel like I can trust her, but I have no idea why… I think I’ll stick with my nickname for now. “Okay, you can call me, Zen.”

“Zen? That’s a weird name…” she mumbles to herself silently before looking back at him intently, “aren’t you Humans supposed to have a second name or something like that?” her eyes lower to Zen’s clothes once again, showing an interest in the strange outfit.

“What do you mean… ‘you Humans?’”

Realising she is starring a bit too intently, she quickly rises her head and takes a deep breath. “Oh, right, I’m an Unseen, that’s the name of my race,” she lets out a little giggle, “legend has it, my goddess, Ophelia, was being lazy with the name when she created us…” her voice trails off as she spoke, moving from a confident tone to a more light-hearted one.

“Race? What?” Her race? Race as in…? He can’t help himself but to stare at her, doubt and confusion cross his face.

“Yeah, I’m an Unseen, my goddess based my kind on Manity, who are the closes thing to your own kind, Human.”

“Closest?”

“Well… yeah, there are many races in this world, all different in their own way. Like the Elven…”

“Elves…?” his eyes widen in shock. Is this a fantasy novel or something? Did I end up in middle earth?

“I… for what I know, they don’t like being called Elves, always call them Elven if we meet any. Also knife ears, never call them that.”

“Okay…?”

“Um…” she glances around, thinking to herself, “as for the reas-” she cut herself off, her eyes widening in fear and shock as the silver gleam appearing from behind David, now going by as Zen, “look out!”

His eyes widen in shock at her sudden warning as she pointed towards him, or more accurately, at what was behind him. A cold sweat fell down his back, instinct told him to move, not look for the danger, just move and move fast.

He dived forwards, twisting his body to the left in mid air, only to see a flash of light pass by his face. The air trembled slightly, and then he felt a thud as his back hit the ground hard.

He quickly tucked his shoulder in, tilting his neck to the left and rolled backwards to a kneeling position.

He had done a judo back roll, one of the only manoeuvres he learnt when he attended a single judo class when he was young. But instead of using the momentum from his roll to get back to his feet, he remained crouched.

He was frankly astounded he managed to pull that off, but now wasn’t the time to be impressed with himself. He looked up, seeing a large man in shiny silvery armour standing before him. His sword hovering in the place he was just standing a moment ago.

If I hesitated just a second longer, I’d be dead right now… he thought. “What the fuck?” he muttered to himself.

“Ha! You missed, Joe!” another man in armour watching from the dart path, mocked his friend with a short, amused laugh.

“Shut it, Catus! He just got lucky!”

Joe, the man who just attacked Zen from behind, smirks sinisterly. The bright sun sheens off the polished sky blue plate, cast head to toe like a knight. A simple sigel showing a gold shield painted on the breast. He was an average looking man, short dark brown hair flat against his scalp from sweat, with sharp brown eyes and a receding chin. He looked like a mountain of a man from where Zen was kneeling.

Catus on the other hand, stood still, watching from the slits of his helm from the path. He wore the same kind of heavy armour, his sword still sheathed on his hip by a strap that doesn’t cover the silvery blade itself.

Joe clicked his tongue. “It would have been better if you didn’t dodge that blow, now I’m gonna make you suffer,” he rose his blade up, gripping the handle with both hands, taking a fighting stance.

Zen stood up, gritting his teeth in frustration. “So that’s how it is…” he glanced around, looking for Enya, finding no sign of her. At least she’s safe… but where’d she go?

His heart slows, the fear leaving him. His mind refocusing on the man in front of him. He can’t make sense of it, it felt as if his fear was being drained away, leaving behind nothing but a strange calmness.

But now, he doesn’t have time to question it.

Joe looks at Zen with a smirk, pointing his sword at him as he snickers an amused quiet laugh under his breath. “You think you’re pretty lucky, right?” his snickering turns to a full on laughter, “I was gonna make it quick, but now I think I’ll take it slow. It’s nothing personal ‘peasant,’ I have a need to ‘protect’ after all,” he continues to coldly laugh while rising his sword above his head.

This guy’s a psychopath, Zen thought, he presses his hand onto his chest, noticing the calmness within him, finding it strange he wouldn’t feel at lest a little fear.

“I’ll tell you what, why don’t you kneel and beg me for your life, and I’ll consider making it quick.”

“I see,” a smirk appears on Zen’s face, “I see how it is…” he looks at Joe with a ready glare, bracing himself to move. Inside, Zen can scarcely believe his own conviction, he focuses on Joe, his eyes unwavering, his body calm. This isn’t like me… what is going on?

Joe’s face hardens as his blade begins to faintly glow. “Practised Charging Strike!”

As the words reaches Zen’s ears, Joe charges forwards at a blistering speed, unable to keep up, Zen stands there shocked. He’s that fast? It was as if he teleported from one spot to another.

Zen flinches, his eyes widen as he rise his hands up right, it was reflex, he couldn’t move fast enough to dodge. Joe appears a step away, his blade already swinging down towards his head, however, the blade suddenly stops mid air, a clashing sound emits through the air, as Joe’s arm crashes into Zen’s left hand.

He didn’t even flinch, the force from Joe’s swing didn’t budge him in the slightest. He looks at his hand in shock, watching as his grip crushes the metal armour surrounding Joe’s arm like paper, buckling and bending to the strain until a sickening crunch resounded.

Joe screams out in pain, the glow of his sword flickers out as it falls from his grip. As it falls, the slight glimmer of the polished metal catches Zen’s eye, having been more focused on the shocking events he’d just made happen, he releases Joe’s arm, swinging his hand down and catching the sword handle in one swift motion.

The swift action, accurate reflexes and sudden bout of inhuman speed catches Zen completely by surprise, however, his attention was still solely focused on Joe.

His mind was clear, clearer then it has ever been before. His fear was gone, his anxiety was gone.

Joe stagers back, gripping his crushed arm as he lets out a blood curdling scream. His blood socking through the leather on the inside of his arm, the bright crimson liquid escaping through the bent crushed gaps of the metal. 

Zen’s eyes narrow, he glares at the man with intensity beyond anything he thought he could ever muster. It was cold, anger filled his expression. Zen points the blade in his hand towards Joe.

“Flee, now,” his voice was low, clear and concise, so cold and emotionless, it would send shivers down anyone's spine.

Joe paled to the words and sight of the man in front of him, his attention no longer on the pain of his crushed bleeding arm.

Through his trembling body, he scurries back once more, fleeing for his life. His friend had already ran off long ago.

 

---

 

Main POV; Zen.

Zen stands there in silence, watching as Joe disappears down the road along the horizon. His heart beats fast, his anger slowly fading only due to the confusion of what he’d just did. And yet…

A calmness returns, the leaves ruffling above, the sun beams heat down from above as the birds continue to chirp away, unaffected by the one sided ‘battle’ that had just accord underneath them.

Bewildered, he looks down at his hand. “Did… did I just do that?” He turns, looking for Enya, finding no sign of her anywhere, “where did she go?”

“I’m here…” her low voice came from behind him, where he’d just looked, startled, he turns, coursing him to trip back to the ground, she stands there, unable to contain her laughter, “sorry… I…” she mutters through her hand as she covers her mouth, trying her hardest to stop herself.

She takes a breath, composing herself.

“It is true, isn’t it…?” she sighs.

“What?” he looks back up at her, the sword that was once in his hand, laying on the ground next to him. In his shock, he had inadvertently let go of it.

“You really don’t know anything…” she steps towards him, “firstly, if I remember correctly, unless I want them to, no one else can see or hear me, that’s a unique aspect of my race when one summons a hero. I’m unseen, it’s kind of in the name… Unseen, get it?”

“What?” he looks at her confused, “I, don’t understand what you mean.”

“Normally, Unseen can’t be seen or heard by any other race, it’s in the name, it’s normally not something we can control either, however… now that I’ve summoned you…” her eyes widen slightly, as if a sudden realisation had just struck her.

“I really don’t understand,” said Zen, he lifts himself back to is knees, taking a deep breath.

“O-okay…” she turns, picking up a long shimmering object from the ground before walking back over to him, taking a glance, it appeared to be a sheath for the sword that laid next to Zen, she rise the sword sheath up for him to see it, “take this cover for that sword here, since I’m holding it, if anyone else were to see it, it’ll look like it was floating and moving on its own, they can’t see me.”

“You’re invisible?”

“Kind of? I’m not entirely sure if it's invisibility per say, I mean, if I was really invisible, my shadow wouldn’t be there, but I guess you could say I’m invisible to everyone else? So… now are you’re getting it?” she hands him the silver coated sword sheath before offering her hand to help him back to his feet.

He stands, “I… think so…?” sheathing the sword safely, he slowly made his way to the tree, leaning the sword up against the tree trunk, “this really is a fantasy world…” he mutters to himself.

“That’s not all however, how do I put this…?”

“Wait, if your invisible to everyone, how do you… are there others around here? How do you communicate with others?”

She looks at him surprised. “Well I… don’t?” she shivers to herself, scanning the surrounding area, “anyway, now that I’ve summoned you, I can… appear?”

“What do you mean? Your don’t sounding very certain.”

She lets out a frustrated sigh as she rubs her forehead. “It was years ago when I was told this, to be honest with ya, I was never meant to be a summoner. Just give me a sec.”

Zen leans onto the tree, keeping a watchful eye on Enya as she stands, motionless staring down at the ground, seemingly deep in thought.

“Right, so I’m just going to say it how I remember it, from the beginning.”

“Okay.”

“Now that I am a summoner, I can chose to allow others to see and hear me, it is because I am linked to you,” she said with strain.

“Linked?”

“Hold on, let me finish. Being linked, I can also aid you in battle with… abilities? Just like what I did for you with that bad guy who attacked you,” she smirks at him, “your welcome.”

Zen’s head shoots up, looking directly at her with his interest peaked. “Wait, you helped me?”

“Yep,” her grin turns to a cheeky one as her eyes light up.

“I…,” he holds his head again, trying to peace together everything he’d just been told, in truth, he was wondering if all this was some fantastic dream, but everything feels way too real and vivid to be a dream.

The ‘battle’ with the armoured man, Joe, left him confused and scared, but now, he feels terrified over the prospect of being in another world.

He slides down, sitting at the base of the tree, head in his hands.

When I was a kid, I often dreamed of something like this… but now? I… I just want to see Sara… “I can't believe this…” maybe he’s gone crazy? He certainly felt like he had.

Enya walks over to him, kneeling down to his level. He looks at her as she gets very close to him, close enough to smell the faint sweetness of her scent. His heart rate rises a little, becoming a little nervous with such an attractive woman being so close to him.

“I… summoned you here using the power of my goddess, I had no choice. It only comes about every fifty years,” she glances back down at the ground, “I… don’t actually remember what it all means, I… wasn’t the best student because I wasn’t really interested in listening. What I do remember is the name of the skill, it’s called Link Support.”

“So…” he tries to leans back from her, but finds he can’t, “Link Support?”

“Yes… err, right, I can help you in battle by going inside of you to power you up,” she cracks a mischievous smile and lets out a bit of a chuckle as she spoke, she knew exactly how that sounded, “I support the hero as he fights is what my mentor told me.”

“You what?” he tries to not show his awkwardness but it was too late, he’d gone flush red, knocking over the sword leaning up against the tree beside him as he flinches, “sorry but that sounds wrong.”

“Why?” Enya, now chuckling to his reaction, grabs his hand and pulls him back to his feet, “if I remember the explanation correctly, I enter in a spiritual form and merge with you… or something along those lines… it's a good thing… with this skill only linked summoners have with their hero, I can make you unstoppable. Although… you don't seem very strong without the link…” her eyes wonder up and down his body, “I wonder why?”

Zen take a moment to collect himself, he’s trying his best to remain calm in the face of all this, any normal sane person would doubt what they were seeing, however, he was seeing, hearing and doing things normal humans couldn’t.

Could it be possible? I’ve been summoned to another world… to become a hero? Can I get back? He clears his thought. “Just so you know, I'm no hero. Hell, I'm considered week by my own family now that I think about it. Anyway, if you wanted a strong hero, then you should of summoned someone else.”

“Don't be an idiot, it doesn't work that way, it's more… random… I think… both with the hero and the summoner… I think…” she glanced away, not sounding very convincing, “look, I wasn't even supposed to be a candidate to become a summoner, but I am, and I will be… I’ll…” she looked back, determination shone in her purple eyes, “I'll do my best!” she proclaims with no confidence in her voice at all, her determination crumbled the moment she had said that, she looks away from Zen as she continues, “to, to tell the truth, I failed to be a candidate, I failed to learn and now here we are, stuck with each other… there’s pretty much no going back from this, it’s not like I can try again either…” her voice now fills with sadness. Taking another deep breath, she gets close to him again, face to face, “so, get used to it!”

Zen is taken back by Enya’s sudden outburst, she’d been speaking pretty quietly thus far despite the shifting emotions through her speech, but her sudden yelling caught him by surprise. “Okay? You don't have to get in my face like that you know. Do you talk to everyone like that?”

“Well…” her expression drops, surprised by her own words, she turns around once again, “I’m, sorry… I didn’t mean to… it’s just, I haven't spoken to anyone for a long time… I can only speak to others of my kind and I… and I haven't seen any of my people since-” she cuts herself off, her eyes closed tightly as the pain of her worries returns, sadness fills up her face as she looks towards the distance.

“You’ve been alone for that long?” he lets out a quiet sigh, placing his hand on her shoulder, “look, for future reference, people don’t like it when you shout in their faces like that. We can figure things out later, once we both have time to calm down a little.”

She nods in agreement, through her shoulder, he feels her trembling.

“What should we be doing now? We can't stay here all day, know where can we go?”

A small genuine smile comes back over her face. “Yes…” she quickly wipes her eyes dry before turning, “you’re right, I just came from a pretty large Manity city, this road will take us there, but it’s a few hours walk, we might make it before the sun goes down,” she turns her head, following the dirt road down to the distance, a large forest can be seen just on the horizon, “but we’ll have to pass through that forest…”

 

---

 

A rumbling sound slowly echoes from a distance, quiet at first, thudding that blended together in the air, Zen and Enya turn as the walk along the dirt road, seeing where the sound was coming from.

It has been only an hour since they started walking towards the forest down the windy dirt road.

Due to the hills and change in elevation along the road, they couldn’t see the source of the sound, the air trembled as dust kicked up above the small hill behind.

Before they could react, three horses shot over the small incline, surrounding the two with quick and practice movements. Three men in tented blue plate armour, the same style as the two men who attacked them earlier, sat upon those horses. Great… more of them… Zen thought, rolling his eyes, placing his hand upon the hilt of his sword that now hung on his waist.

He was never a violent individual, but considering what had happened not an hour ago, he was ready to defend himself once again if need be.

Two of the men had on their helms, their faces hidden behind silver grills, with only their sharp eyes visible, they release one hand from the rains, taking hold of their own swords, however, one of the horsemen appeared distinct and different from the rest.

His plate armour was well maintained but battle worn, scratches and repaired dents, expertly mended in parts with new metal, attached under the large shoulder plates, a red cloth cape hung down his back, tucked neatly and presented with care.

A golden crest of a shield with a sword in its centre was imprinted on the shoulder plates, along with the light blue shield painted on his chest plate.

The differences seemed miner, but he was clearly of higher rank by the appearance of his armour.

His sharp brown eyes lay upon Zen as the three maintain a equal distance from each other, maintaining a circle entrapment and ensuring there was no easy escape.

It reminded Zen of Western movies a little. What was the point, their on horses, he clearly can’t out run them, that was what Zen thought of such a tactic.

Appearing to be a man in his mid to late thirties, a few strands of grey on his head and full beard, to Zen, he has the true look of a battle-hardened warrior, a scare runs down his check that is partially hidden by his fully grown out short beard.

His hand rises, stopping the other two as he himself stops and gets off his horse, all the while his eyes remain fixed on Zen, carefully watching his movements as his hand rests on the hilt of his sword.

“I am Guard Captain Grayson, it has been reported that you attacked my men and stole one of their swords, you will drop the sword and surrender to me, now,” the sound of his deep voice has a sense of authority, sparking a chill going down Zen’s spine, without realising it, his hand that was resting upon the sword hilt tightens around it.

Zen quickly glances around for Enya, finding her gone once again. And once again, the fear sparked by Grayson’s arrival has also vanished without a trace.

He takes a moment to think to himself. So those two weren’t alone? If I can help it, I want to avoid fighting. He goes to prepare himself to speak, but without fear, he feels he can say anything he likes.

“Your men?” he asks, “I see, that makes you the one responsible for them, correct?” he’s again surprised at himself, he’s never spoken in such a direct tone before with anyone, fear always seemed to get the better of him whenever he tried, but this was different.

“Yes, I am, that is why I am here. Do you admit to your crimes?”

Zen’s eyes narrow, looking at Grayson with an intense stare. “From where I’m from, self defence is no crime.”

Grayson’s eyes narrow, matching Zen’s glare with even more intensity. “Self defence? Are you saying my men attacked you without cause?”

“Take a good look at me, Captain, do you see a weapon that isn’t from your men? Do you see armour? They tried to murder a seemingly unarmed and defenceless man, if they didn’t, then maybe the man who tried to kill me would still have his sword and the use of his arm.”

A silence passes between the two, even with his missing fear, Zen feels an intimidating aura coming from the captain.

Grayson, still holding the hilt of his sheathed sword, turns to the sound of one of his men. “Sir, one of our scouts!”

Zen follows suit, seeing a lone man, sprinting towards the group, covered in a red hue. He yells, but it words come silent and barely audible from the distance. “Sir… ambush…!”

Grayson steps away, waving to one of his men to intercept the lone guard.

As one of the men on horseback rides off, the lone man shouts again.

“Goblins! Right behind me!” the man shouts as loud as he could, the guard on horseback grabs him, pulling him up onto his horse before riding fast back to the group.

“Report, what happened? Where’s Briers?” asked Grayson, although his tone seemed cold at first, it was full of concern. Zen could tell from this small interaction, Grayson wasn’t such a bad man if he was so concerned for his men.

Out of breath, almost unable to speak as he gasps for air getting down from the horse, the red hue clear to see, covered in still wet fresh blood seems to be scattered all over his armour and face. “Captain… the Goblins… twenty of them, they got Briers… almost got me… they are heading this way…”

A strange sensation comes over Zen, an uneasiness, as if a cold chill just set upon him. This uneasiness seems to be coming from the direction the scout came running from.

“Twenty?” Grayson asked shocked, looking down the road, “the reports only suggested the max of ten,” he turns his attention back to the condition of the scout.

A low rumbling comes from the tree line, the horses spasmed and bulked, whining as they become spooked, throwing off the other two men still on horseback bolting off in the other direction. Only the Captains horse remained behind, not seemingly bothered by the sound.

Grayson looks at the two men, then back to the scout still trying to catch his breath. “Son, take my horse and alert the others, you’re in no shape to fight,’ the scout nods without a word and immediately takes the horse and starts riding.

“This captain must hold a lot of respect from his men, the way they follow his orders like that. These Goblins sound problematic however, what do I do?” Zen thinks to himself.

“You need to help.” Enya's voice is heard inside his head as if a thought not his own, surprising him as he quickly looks around for Enya. “Oh yeah, by the way, whenever we’re merged like this, we can communicate through thought… it's just like talking out loud!” her voice begins to change as she speaks in a teasing manner “If I focus hard enough though, I can see what you’re thinking… trying to imagine me naked are you… and at a time like this…” she makes a tutting sound of disapproval.

“What!?” he feels heat rise upon his cheeks, caught completely off guard by Enya’s words, “I…” unable to even respond to what Enya just said, his mind going completely blank.

She lets out a mocking laugh. “I'm kidding, I can only hear your vocal thoughts, and I can see and hear through you like this,” the tone in her voice gets more serious as she continues, “but seriously, they're going to need your help. Goblins are weak on their own, but in a group, their dangerous. They hate Demi-Human races like us, some even eat us. You do not want that… trust me. You can do it, I'm empowering you through Link-Support.”

“If… if you say so…”

Grayson turns to Zen “Did you say something?”

“If you don't help them, they’ll be killed. Link-Support amplifies your strength, speed and reflexes, you've already seen what it can do with that brute from before.”

He takes a deep breath, preparing himself, he goes to reply to Enya but stops himself from talking out laud, instead opting to try thinking to communicate. “Okay, Enya. I'll trust you on this… but don't say I didn't warn you, I'm not a swordsman,” he turns to Grayson again, “Captain, I'm willing to aid you!”

Grayson is about to turn to Zen to respond when groups of Goblins runs out of the tree line. “At a time like this, I’m not going to deny you.”

Their glowing red eyes staring down on the group, out numbering the four men five to one. Sharp looking fangs fill their beak like mouths, salivating like rapid wolfs ready to taste human flesh. Their horn like ears stick up over their heads, making them appear as short childlike grey devils.

“Don't worry Zen, you can do it!.”

Grayson steps forwards. “Remember men, these creatures attack in groups of five, there is four of us, so expect to deal with a group on your own.”

“So, what he’s saying is, we have to each fight five?” said Zen through thought to Enya.

“Yes, you can do it!” Enya’s voice is full of encouragement, she truly sounds like she believes in him.

“This is going to take time to get used too…” he thought in a defeated tone.

“Your telling me, what if I hear your deepest sexual desires about me… I’m terrified…”

“…” Zen is left bewildered by Enya’s words again, just as he was about to respond, the Goblins begin their rush towards the group, separating into groups of five, just as Grayson had said, each group going after different targets.

Their pale grey skin seems to shimmer in the sunlight.

“Their tiny ugly little quitters,” said Zen as he cracks a smile, his heart races in anticipation for the battle.

“H-hey, calm down! I can feel your heart going crazy already!”

“Yeah, can't help it… I'm not going to lie Enya, I’m excited, although, I don't know why but I should be afraid right now but I'm not.”

“Oh…”

 

---

 

A sudden rush of energy courses through Zen’s body, he feels as if his muscles bulge, even though nothing has changed on the outside, he feels stronger, more nimble and more reactive. “Okay, I’m empowering you, make it quick! I’m not sure how long I can keep this up!” said Enya.

His eyes fixes on the group of grey goblins targeting him, he grabs the sheath of his sword, readying himself to move.

The other two guards engages their groups, battling hard but cautiously as they continue to retreat, dealing with five attackers at once without letting them surround them. “Okay, here I go!”

Zen grabs the hilt of his sword with his right hand, still gripping the sheath with his left and darts forwards at a blisteringly fast speed, he approaches his targets in a matter of moments, seemingly unaware he’d just closed a large distance so quickly, the goblins didn’t have time to react, he slams his right foot forwards, pulling his sword with all his might in a sweeping motion.

Dust is thrown up from the cracking earth underfoot, the shine of his sword crossing his sight in an instant bluer, effortlessly cutting through the chest and heads of three of the five goblins in front of him.

Before their bodies could hit the ground, he lets the momentum of his sword continue, twisting his body around following it as if dancing, he grabs hold of his hilt with his left hand, pulling the blade close to his chest as he stops turning, facing the enemy on his left.

He thrusts his sword forwards with all his strength, piercing straight through the goblin's makeshift leather chest with ease.

The final enemy left standing swings its rusty sword, noticing at the last moment, his body twitches, releasing his sword with his left, his right arm, almost moving on its own to block the incoming strike.

His eyes widen as he feels a strange burning sensation rushing from his upper arm, the rusted sword bounces off the steal of the blade, knocking the goblin off balance, taking the opening with little thought, Zen manoeuvres his sword closer to the goblins throat, and pulls the sword, slicing its head clean off.

He breaths in heavily, his blood rushing through his body, the beating of his heart in his ears as if he’d just ran a marathon. His body weakens and becomes harder to move, his sword feeling heavier than before.

“Wow,” said Enya in amazement.

He stands in the middle of the five goblins he’d just slew, covered in their green blood that had sprayed over him during combat, he glances over to the others to see how they are doing.

“And you say you’re not a swordsmen, you can fight!”

He looks down to his sword, drops of green blood sliding of the smooth metal, but along the sharp edge of the blade, there is a small chip in the metal. “No, I-”

His eye catches Grayson rushing forwards, appearing like a blur as his sword shines brightly, before he could process what had happened, the five enemies in his way fall to the ground, as if the wind had blown over leaves on the ground.

“Wh… what just happened?”

Upon further inspection, five more goblin bodies lay behind him also, with one of his guards standing breathless to the side.

Grayson looks at Zen, his sword shines once more as he jolts forwards towards him, covering the large distance in a matter of moments, moving even faster than Zen had before, Zen staggers back as Grayson’s sword lops off another goblin’s head.

“Careful not to drop your guard around them,” Grayson said to Zen.

The body falls in front of Zen, he hadn’t noticed it approaching until it was already dead, barley an arms length away. Grayson had saved him.

The remaining three goblins stop, looking towards Grayson and Zen with terrified expressions, their rusted array of weapons fall from their hands as they flee back to the tree line, leaving behind their fallen on the battlefield that was the dirt road.

 

---

 

“It’s over?” Zen leans on his sword, barely able to stand as a sharp pain rushes through his aching body, his blood drips down his arm from the small cut in his jacket.

“Three survived, however…” Grayson walks away from Zen, stepping over the corps of the goblin he’d splayed saving Zen, his attention on the fallen guard not far from them.

Zen watches in horror as Grayson kneels down, shacking his head as he lays his hand upon the man chest. “This is…” he feels numb, the pain in his arm barely registering as he realises the severity of the situation.

“He’s… dead…” said Enya, her thoughts soft and saddened, “it’s not your fault, Zen.”

“Yeah…”

He glances around, the other guard approaching Grayson appearing slightly out of breath, he pulls his helm off, kneeling down over the body of his comrade with Grayson. “Sir, the others are approaching.”

“Understood, are you hurt?” he asked the brown haired man, maintaining his gaze their fallen comrade.

“No sir, I was able to hold them back long enough until you…”

“I see,” Grayson stands, looking down the road to a large dust cloud approaching them, “damn it, I should have acted sooner.”

“Sir?”

“We’ll regroup with the others and pursue the remaining goblins back to their nest, we shall not let his death, nor Briers be in vain.”

“Yes sir!”

The young guard saluted before attending his fallen comrade’s body.

Just now coming in to view, Zen spots a large group of guards on horseback, riding fast towards them. Riding ahead of the group, the scout on Grayson’s pure black horse, riding faster than all the others with quite the lead, he approaches Grayson.

“Sir!”

“Several goblins fled back into the tree line, I’m ordering a pursuit, we’ll follow them back to their nest, understood? Inform the others to go ahead, I need Lisa to stay behind for the time being, we’ll catch up as soon as we’re done here.”

“Yes sir!”

As the captain is dealing with his men, Zen remains in the same spot, still unable to catch his breath.

“I-I’m a little unfit… I know… but this is… ridiculous…”

“You think? You almost got yourself killed back there!”

A small bright orb of light emerges from his chest, hovering right in front of him. “What the?”

The orb of light morphs and changes shape into a silhouette of a woman in a dress. “It’s only me,” said Enya, appearing clearly visible, letting out an exhausted breath, she falls forwards, appearing to faint into Zen.

“Hey, you alright?” he catches her in a panic, almost knocking him down as he franticly tries to keep his balance.

Her hands squeeze on his shoulders as she keeps herself up. “Yeah… sorry. Doing that was kind of hard,” her eyes open, her face pressing into his chest hearing his racing heartbeat. She pushes herself up quickly, going a slight shade of red as she turns away from him.

“You sure?” he asked concerned.

“Y-yeah…?” she clears her throat, taking a deep breath before turning to him with a smile as if nothing happened, “I’ve never been any good at manipulating my magic, using the Link-Support skill really takes it out of me…”

“I have no idea what that means…” he mumbles.

The large group of men on horseback pass him as they rush by, maintaining a single line on the other side of the wide road to him, some wear helms and all with breastplate armour that had a blue hue to them, making it impossible to distinguish them from one another, however, some didn’t have any helms on, and it was obvious, much to his surprise, there were many women riding alongside the men.

He counted them subconsciously as they passed, making up almost twenty strong individuals that he could see, all wearing the same armour that made it impossible to tell their sex, they were all clean and polished with single swords attached to their waists, with some having small round shields sitting on their backs.

As he stands there, watching them pass, one man passed by, his head held low while his arm is in a sling. It was Joe, the man who attacked him earlier. He didn’t seem to notice Zen as they passed by.

“By the way, they’re the city guard,” Enya explained, “I heard they sometimes petrol around the outskirts of the city walls but I didn’t think they’d be this far out.”

Zen turns his attention back to Grayson, seeing yet another standing by his side, two horses stand next to them. One a black stead, appearing sturdy and strong, the other much the same way but a dull white stead.

Grayson appears to be in conversation with a woman in a robe of some sort, it’s colours matching that of the Guard Captains, with the same insignia to Grayson’s that no other guard possessed.

“I think we can trust him, Zen,” said Enya.

He remained quiet.

The woman steps out from behind Grayson, giving him a much better view of her. Slender and well dressed, a mature look that shows her age, although youthful looking, Zen guesses her to be older than himself, if only by the look in her eyes and the slight creases upon her face.

Her eyes widen as she looks at him, cutting her conversation short with Grayson. “Hold it,” she rushes over to Zen, her eyes locked onto his arm, “you’re hurt, let me see.”

Enya staggers back out of the way as the woman almost walks into her, she grabs Zen’s arm, looking closely at the small cut that still bleeds and stings.

“Wha?”

“I’m a healer, did any goblin blood get in the wound?”

“Hold up, Lisa.” Grayson approached, placing his hand on her shoulder.

“No, he has a wound and is covered in goblin blood, you know how toxic goblin blood is, Tiethus,” Zen is frozen is place, the sound of Lisa’s stern voice reminds him of when he’d got in trouble with his mother, such stringent and firmness that’ll stop any man’s heart dead cold.

“He’s an unknown, he may have helped us beat back the Goblins, however, he still severally injured one of our men.”

“Yes, I know that, however…”

“Lisa, stop what your doing,” they glare at each other for a moment, before their eyes light up with an unexpected sight of a young woman standing off to the side of them.

“Um, hello… Zen isn’t a bad guy… please… help him…” asked Enya, her eyes darting left and right, unable to fix on looking anywhere, her hands tremble as she awaits their response.

“It… it can’t be…”

Tiethus looks back at Lisa. “Heal him.”

“Ye-yes!” she looks at Zen, “are you hurt anywhere else? Goblin blood is very toxic so I need to ensure none as gotten into you.”

Zen slowly shacks his head, confused as to what is happening since he’d lost track a while ago.

“Good, first, I’ll clean you up,” she steps back, rising her hand to him as her bright blue eyes closes, “power of mine, heed my call, collect and coalesce to form my will. By my name, I call upon my desired will; I seek the power of the elements of Water and fire, purity of form, gentle warmth, combine the two and form into one, cleanse and dry my desired target, Elemental Heat Clean,” she muttered. A faint blue light shines in her hand and travels towards Zen, engulfing him completely.

His clothes lift up becoming socked, the feeling of being dumped in a pool of cold water as the blue energy intensifies around him, slowly transitioning to a faint warm red before vanishing without a trace. He stands there wide eyed, completely cleaned and not a trace of the green blood left on him.

“Okay, let me do something about that wound of yours,” she steps closer once again, taking his arm and separating the cut clothing to see the cut, blood beginning to come out once again. She smiles, “good, you’ll be fine,” she places her hand over his wound, “heal.”

Her hand glows a faint green light for a moment, the pain vanishes as the light fades away. She removes her hand, the wound is no longer there.

“You’re lucky, if any blood had gotten into that cut… let me just say, I don’t have my supplies with me to deal with it at the moment, you may have lost your arm or your life.”

Enya steps forwards, looking at Zen’s now healed arm. “She just used some healing magic on you and a utility spell…” Enya says in a cheeky but happy smile, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Zen’s mind goes blank, his mouth gaped wide. Unable to piece together what had just happened.

Enya looks at him confused. “Hey!” he jumps back startled, “are you okay?”

“I… yeah… yeah I’m fine,” he takes a deep breath. Being overwhelmed wasn’t something he was used to feeling, after everything that had happened, it all seemed surreal, as the events slowly faded into his memory.

“I think a proper introduction is necessary,” said Lisa, she smiles genitally at Zen, “no wonder Joe’s arm was so badly damaged,” she quietly said to Tiethus.

“To think we’d get to meet another summoned hero in our lifetime.”

Enya turns with a smile, taking a step to the side and hooking her arm around Zen’s.

“My name is Lisa Grayson, a pleaser to meet you sir hero,” she places her hand on Tiethus’s shoulder, “this is my husband, the captain of Zopool’s city guard, Tiethus Grayson.”

Tiethus nodes. “Although, I’d prefer it if you refer to me by my family name,” he offers his hand to Zen, “if I’d known you were the hero, I would never had treated you with such suspicion, my apologise.”

“I…” he still couldn’t speak, his mind still not quiet right for the moment, Enya jumps ahead, shacking his hand.

“Hi, I’m Enya! This is Zen. He’s a little… how do I put it…?”

Both Grayson’s look at them confused. “Is everything okay? Anything we can do to help?” asked Lisa.

“I… to be honest… I’m not sure. I’ve only just summoned him, and he’s… he just haven’t gotten used to this yet…?”

“I see.”

“If your heading to the city, it will be best to head out now, it’ll be dark soon and travelling through the forest will be dangerous,” said Grayson, “we’d offer to bring you with us, however, as you can see, we’re in the middle of a assignment. We can’t afford to bring you along for now.”

“Yeah…” Enya glances back to Zen.

His heart now slowed, finally coming to terms with his situation, he grits his teeth, taking a breath and looking up to the three in front of him.

“Captain Grayson, Mrs Grayson, sorry for being so rude but, can you keep me out of your report if you make one? I… I really don’t want to be known yet.”

“I see…” said Lisa, she looks to Tiethus.

“Very well.”

“I’m not quite sure what your reasons may be, however, I will honour your request, Sir Zen, it was a pleaser to meet you, however, I must return to the patrol,” Lisa smiles at Zen, “I wish you all the best, Tie, can I have a quick word with you before I go?”

“Of course,” he nods to Zen and Enya before walking to the two horses with Lisa.

“Are you okay? Why don’t you want people to know about you?” asked Enya confused.

“You’re kidding right? I don’t know anything about this world or its people, I’ve never been good with attention either, raver… I’d prefer to be held up in my room all day playing video games.”

“Vidēˌō… game?” she looks at him confused, as she said the word video, it seemed alien and vary difficult for her to say, as if he’d just spoke a word from a completely different sounding language.

“It… doesn’t matter.”

“But… you’re the summoned hero, people will find out soon…”

“I don’t… I don’t even know what that even means,” he sighs.

“You truly don’t know anything, don’t you? Did I do something wrong in the summoning ritual?” she looks to the ground, her shoulders slumps.

“You said it yourself, there’s no second chances, we’re stuck with each other. It doesn’t matter if you did it wrong or not… I just don’t know if I can be the hero you’re expecting me to be…”

Tiethus walks back towards them, holding something under his arm.

“I’ll be leaving now,” said Lisa, riding by on her white steed, “I look forwards to our next meeting, Sir Zen, Lady Enya.”

A brown blur enters Zen’s vision, thrown by Tiethus into his hands. “Here, take this”

“What?” he looks down, feeling the ruff, stitched, light brown material in his hands.

“It’s a simple thing, keep it,” he looks to Enya, “perhaps it was too soon for him to leave the Unseen Sanctuary, whatever the reason, I wish you the best. If you ever require my aid, you may ask for me by name in the city guard barracks… assuming you are heading to Zopool.”

“Thank you, and yes, we are,” muttered Enya.

“I’d suggest you head out now, seeing you are on foot, you should reach the city by sunset, be careful.”

“Thank you, Captain,” said Zen.

 

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