The Beginning After The End (Early Years Book 1) (6 page)

“… Respond to my call and wash away
all! Water Cannon!”

From the mountainside, one of the
scattered “archers” had his hands brought together, aimed at me and mother.
 We were tricked. He camouflaged himself during the chaos.  He wasn’t
an archer or even an Augmenter.  He was a Conjurer!”

Shit!

I didn’t have much time to react
before an incoming ball of pressurized water, a couple meters wide was nearing.

What can I do?

To my immediate right was my mother
and to my left were Adam and his opponent not far off; and behind me, of
course, was the edge of the mountain.  Even If I can dodge this, mother
won’t be able to and she’ll be forced off the ledge of the mountain.

What should I do?

“Dammit!” I roared!

Willing all of the remaining mana
left in this cursed body, I tackled my mother, propelling both of us out of the
way.

I quickly realized my 40-pound body
couldn’t carry enough momentum to push both of out of range of the water
cannon.

No choice!

If I’m going down, I’m taking that
bastard mage down with me!

I focused mana into my arms and
pushed my mother farther down out of range.  In that moment, everything
seemed to be in slow motion as my mother gazed at me in panic and disbelief.
 She might get a pretty bad bruise from the push. She was going to be
fine, but that’s only if I can get rid of this conjurer.

I unsheathed the knife Jasmine gave
me from my waist and willed mana into it.  What I’m trying to do, I’ve
done with ki in my old world but never with mana.

After willing mana into the knife,
I threw it like a boomerang, aiming it at the conjurer still focusing his
attention on the water cannon.  Curving around the edge of the ball of
water, the knife landed straight into the leg of the mage.

Crap! I didn’t kill him.  Plan
B.

Plan B was just in case my initial
throw couldn’t kill him. I managed in succeeding in the gamble of Plan B, and
that was creating a thin string of mana attaching the knife, currently engorged
into the Conjurer’s leg, to my hand.

“What the!” shouted the mage in
pain as the knife embedded itself deep into his leg.

Losing concentration, the water
cannon lost shape, but unfortunately, there was still a surge of water strong
enough to push me off the cliff.

I tugged back on the mana string
hard.  The mage was hauled towards me from the combination of my pulling
and the remnants of the water cannon pushing me back.

This is it.  I couldn’t help
but look around at the battle that was still ensuing.  Father and Helen
managed to kill the leader.  Angela providing back up for Jasmine allowed
for them to put the whip-user on his last stand while Durden was rushing
towards mother.

Thanks Durden.  She’ll be safe
in his hands.  Everyone will be okay.

The only thing I’ll regret is not
being able to see my baby sibling.

With that, everything faded to a
black; the last thing I see is the enemy conjurer desperately trying to pull
the knife out of him while falling off the mountain, into the abyss along with
me.

Damn. I always wanted to be a big
brother.

I opened my eyes and blinked a
couple of times to process what I’m looking at.  I’m back in my old body
from the looks of it.  I get up from the couch I was sitting on and open
the door, walking out of my room in The Castle.  A maid who was waiting
for me outside of my room greets me immediately on sight.

“G-good morning King Grey.”

Not even glancing towards her
direction, I keep walking as she follows a couple meters away.

Reaching the courtyard where all of
the trainees were lined up with swords held in front of them; I see the
instructors yelling at them about proper stance and breathing.  When one
of them sees me, he immediately turned and gave a firm bow, with the other
instructors and trainees following suit.

I motioned for them to continue
before walking to where I was headed.  Pushing the double doors open, I
arrive in front of an aged man with pearl white hair that matched his long
beard, and emerald eyes that shined a sense of wisdom and knowledge.  His
name was Marlorn and was the head of The Council.

While I hold the position of “King”
I can’t help but think of myself as a glorified soldier.  The one’s who
actually governed the country, managing the politics and economy, was The
Council.

So what was my job?

The title of King means I’m
actually more of a one-man army.  Due to the decreasing numbers of
children born and limited amount of resources, The Councils of each country
gathered and came to a conclusion to replace war into a different form of
combat.  Getting rid of war meant two big things: decreasing the death
count, leading to a population growth, and less land destroyed from the result
of nuclear arms.

What replaced wars became known as
The
Duels.
 Whenever there was an international
dispute, a duel would take place, each country sending in a representative that
they deemed as the strongest.

Looking up, Marlorn exclaims with
the standard fake, picturesque smile that seemed to be an inborn trait amongst
politicians, “King Grey! What brings you to my humble dwelling?”

“I’m retiring.”

Without even giving him the chance
to react, I unclip my badge and walk out the door.

What have I been living for all
these years?  I was an orphan who was brought up in a camp designed to
raise future Kings.  I’m twenty-eight but I’ve never dated, never loved.
 I’ve spent my whole life so far for the sake of being the strongest.

For what?

Admiration? Money? Glory?

I had all of that but never in a
million years would I choose to have that over what I had in the town of
Ashber.

I miss Alice.  I miss
Reynolds.  I miss Durden.  I miss Jasmine.  I miss Helen.
 I miss Angela.  I even miss Adam.

…Mother…

…Father…

“COUGH!! COUGH!”

I open my eyes again, but this
time, the excruciating pain that I’m welcomed by tells me I’m not dreaming.
 I’m lying on my back looking straight up, trees and vines filling my
vision.

Where am I?

How am I alive?

I try to get up but my body doesn’t
respond.  The only thing I manage to do is turn my head and even that
involved a series of throbbing pain in my neck.

Looking to my right, I spot my
knapsack.  I slowly turn my head to my left, gritting through the pain.

My eyes widen at the sight and I
immediately vomit.  To my left was what was left of the Conjurer I dragged
down with me.  A pool of blood surrounded the corpse, whose body probably
had more broken than ones still intact.  I see his ribs jutting out of his
chest and some of his innards leaking out.  His limbs lay at unnatural
angles.  The mage’s skull was shattered in the back, with some brain
matter oozing out, his face showed an expression of surprise and disbelief,
except his eyes were completely red, a trail of dried blood still visible from
his eye sockets.  I can’t turn my head away fast enough.  I puke what
was left in my stomach until all I’m left with are dry heaves. A decomposing
corpse like that was different from a clean killed opponent. With the pungent
stench and insects feasting on the gore, I can't help but feel sick. With parts
of my face and neck covered in my own regurgitation, I finally manage to turn
my head rid my sight of the mage’s grotesque remains.

How am I still alive?

I couldn’t help wondering what
happened while I was unconscious.  Clearly, the mage was awake the whole
time up until the landing… so what happened to me?

No.  That’s not important.

Why I fell asleep wasn’t the issue.
 I should look very similar to that corpse right about now, maybe even
worse, but not only am I okay, I don’t even seem to have any broken bones.

I pondered over the possible
answers until I was interrupted by a strong grumble from my stomach.

Again, I tried getting up, fighting
through my body’s protests.  The only parts of my body that seem to be
listening to me as of now is my right arm and my neck up.  I will
mana into my right arm and use my fingers to claw my way, dragging my body, to
my knapsack.  It couldn’t have been more than two meters away but it took
over what felt like an hour until I finally managed to reach it.  Pulling
it closer to me, I rummage through it with my only able hand until I find what
I’m looking for.  Mother’s dried berries and nuts!

I succeed in pouring a mouthful of
the snack that I brought only because Mother nagged me to.  I choke on
some of it and I start coughing again.  This leads to another round of
agony in my body.  Fumbling for the water sack inside my knapsack, I
slowly pour a little of the water into my mouth before I place another handful
of the snack into my mouth.  Tears rolling down the sides of my face and
into my ears, I continue chewing on the dried rations until I pass out again.

My eyes fluttered open as I stirred
awake from the cold.  I look around and notice that it’s dawn, with only
the first rays of light peaking through the mountains.

This time, I’m able to get up, but
only with the help of mana.  I carefully inspect all of my body, making
sure everything is in place before I relax just a little.

First thing’s first.  I make
my way to the corpse of the mage while trying to avoid looking at the heinous
injuries that caused his demise.  Spotting the knife I was looking for, I
quickly jerk it out of his thigh.

I’m not sure how long I’ll be here
so having a weapon will be necessary.

“Oh, you’re awake”

I instantly get into a fighting
stance, knife in hand, turning to face the carcass.

I swear to God if this corpse is
the one that’s talking…

*Chuckle*

“No.  You won’t have to worry
about that corpse reanimating.”

This voice that seemed to come out
of nowhere had quality that seemed almost divine.    It was powerful
and resonant, yet silky and soothing sound that made you want to trust it.

Still on guard, I manage to respond
with a less than elegant reply.

“Who are you?  Are you the one
that saved me?”

“Yes, to your second question.
 As for the first, you will find out when you arrive to my dwelling.”

This voice seemed awfully sure that
I would try and find it.

Almost as if reading my thoughts,
she continues, “I am the only one that will be able to get you home from this
place so I advise you to make haste.”

That jerked some sense into me.
 That’s right! I had to get back home! Mother! Father! The Twin Horns! My
baby sibling! Are they all right? Did they reach Xyrus safely?

If the voice can really take me
back home, I have no choice but to find it.

*Ahem*

“Dear uhh… Mr. Voice.  May I
ask for the directions to your location so that you may bless me with your
presence?”

*Chuckle*

“Don’t you think it’s a little rude
to call a lady ‘Mister’?  And yes, I’ll show you the way.”

Ahh… so it was a lady.

Immediately, my vision shifted into
a bird’s-eye view.  Zooming out, a location that was roughly around a
day’s trip to the east came into sight and lighted up before my vision turned
back.

“I recommend departing immediately.
 It will be a lot safer traveling in the day than when it gets dark.”
Gently chides the voice.

“Yes Ma’am!” I quickly picked up my
knapsack before trotting towards my destination.

It was a little less painful with
each step and by midmorning I was only left with a couple of aches here and
there.  Whatever that lady did was powerful stuff.  I’ve never heard
or read of casting a spell with that much of a distance.  Or maybe she
left after casting the spell right before I landed?  Then how could she
have known that we were falling and why did she only save me?  The more I
tried to solve the mystery, the more questions I seemed to end up with.

Hearing a faint gurgling sound, I
walked towards the direction to see a stream.

“Yes!”  I exclaimed.

I was absolutely filthy.  My
face and neck still had the stench of stomach acid, while my clothes were torn
and caked with grime.  Almost sprinting, I cannonballed into the stream,
vigorously scrubbing my face and body.  I took off my clothes and after
briefly washing them; I laid them down on a nearby rock to dry.  After
finishing the refreshing bath, I walked towards my still damp clothes when…

“Kukuku… How cute.”

Reflexively, both my hands cover my
precious area and I curl my back, trying to make my body as small as possible.

*Laugh*

“Don’t worry, there wasn’t much to
see.”  I shuddered as I almost felt The Voice wink at me.

How rude! My pride…

Grumbling, I chose to ignore The
Voice and put on my clothes.

“Aww… don’t pout. I apologize.”
   *Chuckle*

GRR!!! I must persevere!

After I put on my clothes, the
perverted voice seemed to go silent.  Not minding too much, I rummaged
through my bag and dug out the last of my dried rations.  Water wasn’t going
to be a problem for a bit since I refilled my water sack, but I will need food
soon; hopefully the voice would provide me with something.

Looking around, I begin wondering
where I was.  Since I fell off the mountain towards the east, I must be
near the elves’ domain.  I don’t think I’m in the Forest of Elshire
because I’m not surrounded by fog.  Am I in the Beast Glades?  No.
 There weren’t any mana beasts…  I see a few rabbits and birds, but
I’ve yet to see anything else.  Something even stranger that I noticed a
bit before was the abundance of mana in this place.  It was mostly due to
the richness of mana that I was able to recover from my initial state so
quickly.   Although that still doesn’t explain how I survived in the first
place, I’m guessing that voice will tell me anyways.

I better hurry.

Aside from the fact that there was
no road, it turned out to be a pretty uneventful trip, with minimal obstacles
and terrains I had to go around.  As I drew near the location of the
voice, the density in mana was getting thicker and thicker.  Ignoring the
temptation to stop and absorb the surrounding mana, I ventured on.
 Training wasn’t important right now.  I needed to get home.

Everyone probably assumed that I’m
dead.  I’m worried about Mother and Father.  Not so much physically
but for their mental health.  I’m concerned Mother and Father won’t
forgive themselves for my death.  The only thought that comforted me was
the fact that my mother was pregnant.  Yes.  At least for the sake of
my unborn brother or sister, they’ll keep strong.

I reached the area where The Voice
directed me towards, but I don’t really see anything besides a cluster of rocks
surrounded by a cluster of trees.

“I’m glad you made it~” the voice
echoed.

“Nice to meet you uhh… Ma’am? Miss.
Rocks?

*Snicker*

“I’m not a rock, nor a cluster of
them.  There is a crevice between the back of the adjacent rocks.
 That’s where I’ll be”

Looking around, I manage to spot
the small gap that was the width of an adult, between two of the bigger rocks
that were leaning against each other.  I knew I found it after I felt a
slight breeze coming out from the crevice.  If it
wasn’t
for the voice directing me to this exact location, I would never have even
noticed the small fissure.

“Child.  Go on and enter
through the crevice but strengthen yourself with mana before you do.”