Chapter 3 - Minnin

Bright colors swirled all around Serenity. Confusion fogged all senses. Which way was up? Down? Sideways? She could tell she was falling, but which way? Bright swarming lights glared in her eyes until she was finally dropped onto solid ground.

She'd landed on her torn arm. She would've screamed in pain if the air hadn't been knocked out of her.

Serenity looked over to her left, still gasping for air. There stood the boy that had captured her, smiling at her. Obviously he'd had more experience in the whole purple portal category (if that's what it was) than she had, because he was on his feet. She frowned up at him.

Using all the strength she could muster, Serenity pushed herself up. In the grass where her arm had been lay a puddle of blood. When the boy saw it, his eyes widened and he rushed over to her side.

That's when she noticed his eyes. They were white. Pure, milky white. Serenity shivered as she wondered how he saw through them.

“Gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I'd gotten that close to that monster,” he said. Serenity could here compassion in his voice, but still pretty much hated him.

“Yeah, would you mind telling me what the heck is going on?” She would've yelled at him but was still fairly shocked.

He was now trying to stop the bleeding with a small piece of cloth he had produced from his belt. “My name is Tlen. Welcome to Fayrah.” He swept a gauntleted hand across the landscape. Serenity looked out at the grassy foothills. Behind the rolling mounds of dirt lay huge mountains. Although they were far in the distance, their snowcapped peeks looked very near.

Then she noticed it. The small village nestled between two hills. Small lights flickered in the windows as dark storm clouds covered the sky. People could barely be made out bustling through the darkening streets.

When Tlen noticed she was staring at the town he said, “That's Minnin. We'll be staying there tonight as I straighten a few things out to you.”

Serenity could only nod, only somewhat understanding.

A few minutes later, Tlen helped her to her feet and they walked down to Minnin. Well, Serenity sort of trudged along.

As they made their way to the village, Serenity tried to get some things straight. She fired off questions left and right.

“So why am I here?”

“I'll tell you later.”

“Okay then, how come my teacher said `I lose'?”

“Because to her, you did. Everything. She thought I was going to drag you away to here and destroy you when we got here.”

“Wait a minute, I knew she had no heart, but I didn't know she was evil! Okay, new question. How come her eyes glowed red?”

“Because she has what's called `wolf blood'. All your class does. It basically makes you evil and almost unstoppable. They were al just waiting for the right moment to destroy you though.”

Serenity shivered. The thought that everyone she'd ever known practically had been planning on destroying her was not a pleasant one.

Then she started to wobble a bit. She realized she was starting to feel dizzy from all the blood she'd lost. Even the little piece of cloth wasn't enough. She tried hard not to complain as dizziness took over. The best she could do was place one foot in front of the other and try not to look ahead.

For what seemed like hours later to Serenity, they reached village. People in dirty, unwashed clothes stumbled about, buying things from shops and stands. Serenity could just make out heaps of garbage at the end of each ally way. Tlen leaned in and said, “Stay close. This town isn't a pleasant one, but it's closest to the mountains.”

Serenity wondered what he meant about “closest to the mountains” but stayed close anyway. She still wasn't sure about him, but she was even less sure about the town's folk.

Now that she thought about it, there was almost a sense of protection around Tlen. It made her feel safe, and slowly she started to trust him. But even so, she kept a cautious eye on him. He did, after all, have a stinking huge sword strapped to his back.

The two made their way to the center of the town, where all the main shops were. There were bread shops, fish shops, fruit stands, armories, groceries, you name it was there. Well, not any modern shops, but there were clothing stores and jewelry stores to.

But they didn't go into any of those. Instead Tlen opened the door to a small, two-story inn. As they stepped in, the smell of beer and stew mingled together, making Serenity feel nauseated along with her dizziness. Tlen took her hand and led her to a counter off to the left.

Well, Serenity thought. Hopefully the rooms are nicer than this trip will be. Maybe I'll even get my own room for a change…

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