Alex fieldstone and the burning book chapter two

Copyright © 2016 Zachary Karpel
Chapter 2
“What The Heck?!”

Falling, falling, and falling through fire and ash went Alex. As he was falling, he forgot everything he knew, and remembered everything he had learned on Earth, all at the same time. He remembered his mother sitting on the bottom of the steps smoking a cigarette with makeup running down her face and biting her nails crying ‘Why me?’ He remembered her quietly cursing him under her breath and always blaming him for losing her husband. He remembered his tenth birthday when he was supposed to have a football game and party with all of his friends at home and she canceled everyone at the last minute saying she had a migraine and then threw his cake in the trash. He remembered Leonard locking him in the basement countless weekends while his mother was out gambling, giving him no food and giving no reason, but just laughing at Alex’s misfortune. He knew the world and all its wonders from his books and studies, but at the same time he remembered nothing. He was happy to be leaving the home he grew up in, but knew that his future was uncertain. Alex felt such contradicting feelings as he fell through the ash and fire and soot. He opened his eyes to try to see what was around him, but the smoke was burning to his eyes. When he closed them again, all he could see was his past and it hurt. He just wanted it all to stop and as he wished it was true, all of a sudden, he hit the ground with such force, that it shook him to his core. As soon as he could, he opened his eyes again, looked up and saw the sky, bluer than the world he had come from. It was warm outside and a cool breeze washed across his face like a loving hand of comfort. He blinked and slowly tried to get up. At first, he couldn’t stand. The masculine voice, coming from the book, softer this time, spoke to him… amused at Alex’s expense.

“Easy there! You will be much heavier in a world of magic!”

With strength he did not know he had, he stood up. Although he was struggling to stay upright, he started to realize that the world around him was not so serene. As soon as his ears stopped ringing, he realized that he was in the middle of a battleground. The sound of blood curdling screams and the sight of arrows flying through the air were all around him and one barely missed his shoulder by an inch. All he could think to say was, “What the heck?!”

Before he knew what hit him, he was slashed at with a sword. With a quick judo technique he had learned on Earth, he caught the hand of the warrior who wielded the sword, and knocked the sword out of his hand and it flew across the battleground. Then he spoke words that didn’t make any sense to him. With his hands outstretched he shouted:

“Barrier of the Soul, give me strength! Sword of the Soul, I hold you in my hand and you shall cut down my enemies!”

All of the sudden, a magical shield with a matching sword appeared to protect him and spun backwards into his waiting hands.

But the warrior simply knelt to his might and said, “We are saved! You don't know how long we have waited for this moment! Finally, a TRUE hero!

Alex looked confused at the man kneeling before him.

Alex scoffed, “Get up! What are you talking about?”

The warrior looked up at Alex and tilted his head to the side, the sun almost blinding him. “Could it be you don’t even know what you are?”

“What am I? Explain!”

Still kneeling, he looked down at first and then he stared into Alex’s eyes. “You are the last of your kind. You are the hero we’ve been waiting for. How is it you don’t even know yourself, your abilities or your heritage?”

Alex responded “I’m no hero. Are you crazy? I’m just an ordinary guy.”

The warrior stared at Alex intently and said “You just summoned The Barrier of the Soul and The Sword of the Soul with such ease… and you think yourself ordinary? You have responsibilities! Monumental responsibilities! You cannot think yourself normal! Not at a time like this!”

Alex mumbled to himself, “I should have known freedom wouldn’t be free. Always too good to be true…”

The warrior stood up, brushed off his mantle and dirt-stained pants and said, “I’m sorry for taking a swing at you. I thought you were an assassin sent to do me in. My political views are not so readily accepted. I need to get out of here as soon as possible. The assassins will not be far behind. Farewell, young hero! I hope to meet you again, though I doubt I will! You will figure everything out, I’m sure!”

“Wait!” exclaimed Alex, but the warrior was already gone with extraordinary speed.

Alex still did not know what he had gotten himself into. Thoughts and fears of the unknown started racing through his mind. He kept looking around, a little frantic, at the fighting around him, not sure what to do next and then the voice in the book spoke yet again.

“Try to stay calm, Alex! Quickly! Read the second page to yourself!”

Alex, heavily confused, looked at the book that had just reappeared in his hand out of nowhere. He thought, ‘How did this get here? I don’t understand any of this.’

The voice replied, “The book is now under your sole control. No one will see it. Not even you, if you don’t want to. This is for your own protection as you learn the magic contained on these pages. You must always remember now, to snap your fingers if you need to summon the book or have any questions answered.”

Alex then unclasped it and opened it up. Needing answers and without hesitation, he started to read the words only he could see on the second page.

“Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is power, and power is what I need to fulfill my purpose. I hereby accept my role and title of Hero of the Realm. Ferrafore is now my home and I shall save it by my hand and the hands of my allies. I AM A TRUE HERO without evil! I hereby accept my responsibilities and accept the knowledge that I receive in return!”

The voice in the book grew quiet and calm but still strong and spoke again, “Now, begin walking south and be careful and aware of your surroundings at all times. This place is extremely volatile and dangerous. As you can quite obviously see from that display of strength granted to you by me, in times of danger, I can take control of you and cast great spells to summon weapons of great magic. The only way you will be able to cast such spells and keep them going during battle is with practice and hard work. That incantation you just read will give you some magic to keep you going until you can form more magic on your own. But if you get greedy and decide to read ahead in the book, you will surely be overwhelmed by the magic. You may only read when you are ready or when I instruct you. Do you understand? This is of utmost importance.”

Alex nodded and kept walking.

For the first time since he got to Ferrafore, Alex was able to look and see everything around him. He could see great seas in the distance to the West, and mountains to the East, a canyon to the far South and beyond that, a great forest which he could not see the end of, even with his now strengthened senses.

“Who are you anyway and where are you leading me?” Alex asked abruptly.

The book was silent for a moment as if it was thinking and then quickly replied, “I was a great sorcerer and sage named Hin, but you must never speak my name aloud. There are ears and spies everywhere. This is for your protection and to save the world of Ferrafore. There were men from the city of Rising Falls who overpowered me with brute strength while I was in a weakened state. So, I hid my soul in this book and sent it to your doorstep to help you fulfill the prophecy.”

Alex could tell that Hin was hiding something, but accepted his explanation anyway.

He then interrupted, “What prophecy? I just got here and there is a prophecy about me?”

Then the book said, “Ah, yes. I am getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? Take a break from walking and sit down on that rock over there. Now, go to the back of the book and look at the inside of the back cover. There is an inscription that will show you the prophecy.”

Alex opened the book and went to the very last page and turned once more. On the back of the inside cover, he read the three following words:

“Reveal the prophecy!” And the following words rang through his head.

When Ferrafore becomes dark,
And the stars align with an evil
Deep in the past of Rising Falls,

A young one shall come from another world.

Of heroes blood he’s tied.

He shall come forth to save Ferrafore
Guided by a living book.

If the book is not heeded
Then both worlds may shatter

And out of the darkness,
May arise another more evil world
Where death and destruction
Are the only ways of life.

-~Prophecy 103 of The New Age of Ferrafore~-

Alex began thinking of the enormity of his task, overwhelmed, and still unsure.

“I’ll ask you again. Where are we going?”

The sage in the book spoke ominously. “Are you ready for the truth?”

“What other choice do I have? Tell me everything.”

“You are the chosen one. Your time is now and you are right. You have no choice. For now, just start walking. I will tell you when to turn to the Southeast.”

Alex shook his head in frustration. He realized that wanting to get away from one bad situation had put him into a worse one, but before his mind could fully understand the ordeals he was about to face to save the world of Ferrafore and his own, an ugly and menacing goblin came out of the bushes. It was a short, green-skinned creature half the height of Alex with sharp teeth and was clad in bronze chain-mail body armor with a medium sized helmet over his green balding scalp. It was holding a bloodied bronze sword that seemed to be greening from rust. He scowled and screeched the words, “Who are you talking to, strange one? Ohhh… I don't care! You are here to die!”

Alex quickly rose to his feet and shouted, “Why does EVERYTHING want to KILL ME?!” The goblin grinned and readied his blade.

Hin said, “This is a good time for me to teach you how to use your powers. Pretend you are holding a hilt near to your heart. Now, pretend to pull it out and say, ‘I summon you, Bear Slayer of the East!’”

Alex did as he was told and a light shined out of his chest. As he grasped and pulled at the light, a hilt formed into a short bladed sword. The blade he was holding shined with magical power.

“Ah, we have a young Battlemage here, don’t we? And a strong one at that! This shall be a fun, fun, fun figh-”

Before the goblin could finish his statement, Alex kicked him straight across the forehead. The goblin slid across the ground, completely unconscious as Alex shouted, “Oh, SHUT UP, you murderous little creature. I apparently have stuff I need to do!”

alex sat down for a moment only to be pestered by the book named Hin
“Okay. With that then, we are off,”

“Off to where? I'm tired! Can't we just rest here for a minute more?” asked Alex.

Hin replied with a simple, “No.”

Alex threw his arms up and said, “Fine, then. Where to, again?”

“To the South, Alex, so we can go towards the Continental Trail. Oh, and one more thing.” said Hin.

“What?” Alex asked, annoyed.

“Talk to me through your mind. If people see you talking to a book or to yourself, they will think you are crazy. The second page gave you telepathy, as well as some magic.”

‘Like this?’ Alex thought.

“That’s very good, Alex! You learn fast! You can also use this method to make people doubt their own sanity, and push thoughts into their heads.” explained Hin.

‘Oh, I get it!’ Alex thought, excitedly.

“But you must use it wisely. If you do this to someone who has a good amount of magic, it will backfire and they will most likely track you down and try to kill you.” Alex’s grin turned into a frown as Hin continued.

“Now, then, let’s be off! And while we are walking on our way to the Continental Trail, finish reading the first chapter, but only the first chapter. Do not go beyond it. It will explain the basics of magic, including energy siphoning, healing, quick equipment summons and the Five Pillars of Fire technique.”

Alex stood up and began to walk.

As Alex walked, he read, and read, and read he enjoyed learning the endless pleasures of reading a book of a genre he's never even seen before- magic! But in the back of his mind he thought, ‘I must be out of my own mind. I have no choice? This is gonna stink!’

After a while, Alex's stomach rumbled and buzzed with hunger. He quickly realized he could not go on much longer without food. He saw some oranges in a tree, but he couldn't reach any. At least he thought it was an orange tree. When he tried to knock an orange down, the tree attacked him! It had teeth that were huge and sharp and the branches were wooden claws! With magic he learned from reading part of the first chapter, he managed to kill the orange-tree-fanged-thing, but he was hungrier than ever. He looked at the creature hoping to grab an orange now that it was dead, but the creature and all of its fruit had completely turned to ashes. Alex punched the ground, stood back up and kept walking while muttering angrily to himself.

“I’m going insane and I’m starving to death. I need food now!” But there was nothing to eat anywhere. Alex continued walking.

Another day passed. After sleeping in the grass and being bitten up by ant-like bugs, he woke to see a stream ahead of him. No fish were in it, but looking to his left, he noticed some huge eggs that were under some brush nearby!

He ran as fast as he could and stole the eggs from the nest. He started a fire about 200 feet further down the stream with some twigs he found along the way. He then took some huge gulps of the water from the stream, grabbed some flat rocks and put them on the fire he had just built. He broke open the huge eggs, and watched them sizzle on the hot rocks until they were done. He then quickly shoved them into his mouth and shouted, “THANK GOD, I can focus again!” Then shouting at Hin, he spat, “Listen. I can’t walk all this way without sustenance. You may be living in a book, but I need food and water to survive. Did you ever think about that, Mr. I’ll tell you later?”

“Of course I did. But you must learn to survive on your own. You have been spoiled by your world’s plentiful resources. Life is tough. Make it work. Besides, your body can survive for days without food, and water, for at least three.”

“Yeah, but you want me to be strong and ready to fight. I can’t keep up my focus and strength without energy.” Alex replied.

“Yet, again, you’re spoiled! Your ancestors fought wars with little or no supplies. I’m trying to help you!” Hin replied.

‘I hate you!’ Alex thought.

“I can hear you, and you’ll thank me later. Now, walk!”

This insanity continued for 10 more days until he was almost to the edge of the Continental Trail. As Alex was finishing Chapter 1 of the book, a commanding voice rang out as he bumped into a huge gate that stretched for at least a mile. He looked up and noticed he was surrounded by dozens of young men who looked like he did; young, strong, and purposeful. The guard behind the gate said, “Fees are to be paid to the guard on your left and I will add it to the King’s depository. And to anyone wearing the heroes seal, you will gain free passage! Though I doubt any of your lot are heroes. I haven’t seen one in years! Oh, and you, kid! Stand back from the gate, or I’ll be forced to push you back!”

“Oh, my sincere apologies!” said Alex sarcastically as he thought to himself ‘Jerk!’

He quickly held his hand to the front cover of the book and a shining light revealed a small insignia which he showed to the guard.

With a newfound confidence he didn’t know he had, he raised the book towards the guard, and said loudly, “Dude, I’m a hero.”

The guard gasped when he saw the insignia and said, “You there… young man! You couldn’t be the hero we’ve been waiting for! It… it’s not possible! Sorry kid, but lying about ranks in any way is punishable by immediate execution!” He drew his sword and raised it to Alex’s neck.

‘Not the sharpest tool in the shed, is he Hin?’

“A lot of dull blades here, Alex.” Hin laughed.

Alex didn’t bother to take the time to explain anything to the guard. With a lightening fast slash, Alex’s blade split the guard’s sword in two.

Alex said, “Don’t be so rash. I am who I say I am.”

As Alex sheathed his blade, another guard began to attack him, but this guard was unprepared. Alex put one foot behind the other and then clasped his hands together, shouting, “Fivus Fever!” Five towering pillars of fire arose from his clasped knuckles, surrounding him in one singular towering flame.

Immediately, both guards knelt and bowed their heads. They said, “Only heroes can even begin to cast that spell. We are very sorry. We must bring you to King Sky, so he can knight you and recognize your seal, or the whole Kingdom of Ike will think you are a fake.”

Alex’s flame dissipated, but his face still fumed with anger. “Don’t push me too far. I’ve traveled for days to get here. I have business with the King.”

The guards readied three horses they got out of the stables. The thin guard said, “We shall escort you to the Kingdom of Ike.” Then the muscular guard said, “Which horse would you like to ride, young hero?”
Alex scowled at the guardsmen and said with an angry tone, “I don’t trust either one of you and I don’t 'ride' with people who overreact and threaten to murder me. Tell me where to go! Give me any passwords I might need and I’ll go there myself!”

The two guards looked concerned, but Alex stared them down. They looked down submissively. The thin one wrote the pass-phrase used only for heroes on a piece of paper, handed it to Alex, and continued on to say, “The town will look as if it has burned to the ground and had been destroyed, but this is a ruse used for the protection of the people in the city. When you near the town, a guard will ask your purpose. Say the pass-phrase I gave you on that piece of paper. Be safe, young hero, and we are sorry for our impulsive actions. It’s been a long wait for your arrival.”