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I'm laying on something, it's solid, it's hard, it's cold, my eyes are open but I can't see anything. I slowly start to stand up and look around, there's nothing but a small beam of light far away from me. I start making my way there. The cold ground hurts my feet, it feels like stone.
The closer I get, the warmer the ground gets. It's bright, very bright, it's also warm and comforting, like a warm summer day. I pass through the light and find grass, verdant grass. I look forward and see a beautiful scenery, a blue sky, far away mountains, big plains, lush forests. To my left is a path, a small dirt path that was made by travellers walking over it for probably ages. I follow it.
Eventually, it leads me to a forest, there's a sign, I don't understand what is written. I recognize some characters but can't make any sense out of them. I keep walking, the path gets narrower and narrower, like it's being eaten up by the greenery of the environment. I chase that thought out of my mind and keep walking.
I finally reach another plain and the road is much more compact. My feet are aching. I've been walking for a while and I can finally see traces of more civilization, there seems to be some kind of establishment, a village, maybe.
Once I get to the front door, two guards lower the gate and let me in. They escort me to a building, it's big and it seems to be a police station of some sort. When I'm inside, they ask me questions but I don't understand their dialect so I just stare into nothingness, left speechless, not that I could converse with them.
They bring me in a closed room with odd characters on the walls. I sit on the chair in the room. I can feel a presence with me, I am not alone in this room.
I stare at them, they feel out of place, they feel alive, the engravings mean something that I do not know.
"Hello"
The letters, I heard something from them, but not directly. Someone used them to converse with me. I try answering, it doesn't work, I can't formulate words.
"What is your purpose in this village?"
I can't answer, I wish to explain that I am lost, looking for a meaning, why do I exist, who am I, where am I.
"You exist because the Gods wish for you to, you are but a creation, a pawn for them. You are currently upon the realm of divinity and wonders, Airalam."
"шно аге уоц?"
I was finally able to say something, I don't know how I did but it appears that they understand what I mean.
"I am a guard, communicating with you using telepathy engravings, that is how you were able to understand me. Do you have any ill intentions towards this village or anyone?"
"по"
"Great, your mind doesn't say otherwise. You will be obligated to work for the town whilst you are learning to master our language. We'll get you out of here, then follow us."
I am not very inclined for work but still agree. They escort me out of the building and bring me to a farm.
We are greeted by a tall and bulky man, I'm guessing he is the owner of this plantation. He asks the guards a question, they answer quickly. He then lays his eyes on me. His eyes are full of pity and compassion, he goes up to me and pats my head, I really don't appreciate it. I grunt. He takes his hand off and goes back to the guards. He accompanies us inside a building which I'm guessing is his home and brings us to a table. He then incites us to sit, which the guards do. They glare at me and gesture me to take a sit too.
After a few minutes of silence, the man comes back with a smile and a tray containing round brown shapes, three glasses and a big metal container. He proceeds to put the tray on the table and distribute the glasses and plates with brown shapes on them. Curious, I take one and smell it. It smells sweet, and looks consumable. I take a bite out of it and is met with an explosion of flavour, it's sweet and the texture is a bit chewy which makes it fun to eat. After seeing the content on my face, he smiles a big genuine smile. He turns to the guards and asks them a question.
"What is his name?"
"We don't have that information yet sir."
"Should I name him?"
"If you do, you'll have to ask the mayor for permission and fill in the form to register a new habitant"
"I will"
He turns to me and says
"Your name will be..."
"Mauricio"
The two guards burst out laughing. Holding back their tears and say:
"Why would you ever call him that? At least give him an Airalamian name"
"Fine, from now on, you shall be referred to as Antonio"
The guards are now dead on the floors, gasping for air. They finally squeak out:
"You're killing us! Give him an actual name"
He turns back to me, stares deep into my eyes. He then analyzes my body, from head to toe and decides on:
"Ito"
Not knowing what is happening, I look at him with big round eyes. My eyes are practically yelling "huh?".
He points himself and says "Aurok", he then points at me and says "Ito". I'm guessing he is telling me that I am Ito and that he is Aurok.
"Oroc?"
"No, pronounce the "au" more, AU-rok"
He seems to be disappointed in the way I pronounced his name so I try repeating exactly what he said:
"Aurok"
He looks at me, eyes full of joy, like a father hearing his son say "papa" for the first time.
The officers head out thanking the man. He looks over to me and tells me to follow him. I do as he says and walks after him as he shows me his residence. It's cozy. He then finishes up with all the above ground rooms and brings me outside to a door that leads to the ground. He then tells me to get inside. I do as he says and start heading down the stairs.
It's moisty and dark. It smells familiar. Aurok lights a lamp and gets in front of me.
"Look around, here, have a lamp too"
He hands me a lamp and invites me to look around. I start making my way towards a wall or anything I could use as a reference point. After finding a wall, I follow it to explore as much as I can. I find myself really enjoying this little excursion.
I hear some metal sounds, not someone clanking metal, it seems like someone is scratching a hard surface with a metal rod. I turn over to see what is the source of the noise and find Aurok writing some characters on a rock.
"These are runes. By engraving blessed stones with runes, we can access a fragment of the fallen god's power to bring miracles into this world"
I step closer to investigate the thing he is doing. Although I couldn't understand what he said, I had a feeling that I had seen such characters before. Then it hits me: in the building with guards. I saw the same character earlier when they put me in the weird room. Seeing my face, Aurok chuckles and says:
"I have a feeling you are curious about these"
He smiles and hands me a rock. I feel the same presence as I did earlier. He also hands me a small metal rod.
I try to remember the markings from the room from earlier. I can easily remember one; it's the one Aurok wrote down. Thinking back on it a bit more, I can recall another marking. I start trying to carve it from the rock. At first, I can't even leave a trace on the rock. After trying many different angles, I finally found one that made it easier to carve lines. Aurok is looking over my shoulder, intrigued. He looks curious as to what I am making.
After a bit of carving, I finally complete what I remember of the marking.
"Do you want me to try and activate it?"
He offers his hand, so I look into his eyes, looking for a meaning to his words.
"I'll try it if you don't mind, oh wait, do you want to try it by yourself? I could try to teach you how. Here, give me your hand"
He slowly takes my hand. He guides me towards the rock. He takes his hand off mine and indicates me to mimic what he does. He presses his palm onto the rock, he closes his eyes and focus. I can see him struggling. After a few minutes, the rock starts emitting some reddish-orange light.
"I did it so much faster this time, you must be a good luck charm. Last time it took me around a third of a day and eight attempts before getting it to work"
The light spreads in the room, making every nook and cranny visible. I notice a spot of the room that seems to lead to a lower floor. He then starts looking at me, intensely. He wants something. Getting my mind off the stairs, I try to mimic what he did. I press my palm on the rock. I try and focus but I don't know what to focus for. Should I focus on myself or the rock? or maybe the environment? After a few minutes, I start getting tired. It feels as if the rock is ingesting my energy and taking it inside itself.
"You should stop, you're really breaking a sweat over there. It's normal for it to be tough the first time you try it"
Aurok makes his way towards me and gently takes the rock from my hands. He tries to activate it. He eventually abandons, stand up and puts the rock onto a tabletop. I walk over to the counter and try to activate the engravings again. Aurok stops me from trying.
"Try again and you might faint. You should rest. Follow me, I'll bring you to your new room"
He offers me his hand to help me stand. I accept it and easily get up. He leads me down to a corridor. With light, this place looks incredibly peaceful, the roof is made from wood beams and it gives the place a comfortable atmosphere. The ground is made from rocks and thats when I realize that my feet hurt, a lot. We get to a room. It's different from the other ones I saw. It has less furniture but looks better. The roof is lower and there's a window. It's dark out. I guess it's night time. He indicates me to go lay on a bed. As soon as I get on it, I can feel all my force and energy fade away.
"I knew you were exhausted. Stay here, I'll be waiting outside. Come out whenever you feel better"
Aurok then proceeds to leave the room. I'm all alone. I appreciate it.