A comforting hand was placed on my back. I didn't look up to see who it was. Instead I kept my head tightly pressed against my sister's bed as I cried into it. What the hell were they doing to her? Why did this have to happen? I made the choice to come to this world; not her.

Yet now she was suffering for my actions. All because I wanted to live out some silly notion of being a hero and journeying through a fantasy world. Now she was put into slavery, and once they realized she was really my sister, what would they do to her then?

Worst of all, I knew there was no way to get her back. Even if I gave myself up to them, even if I convinced Maddy and Meri to give themselves up too. They were never going to let her go. Why would they let a witness to a crime they committed go free? They'd kill her before that.

The thought of trying to get her out using force was even more laughable. How many dozens of guards would I have to kill? Each one was stronger then me. Even if I managed to grow a bit stronger what difference would it make?

I laid crying against the bed feeling nothing but self pity and hopelessness. Why did I ever think I could be some kind of adventurer? What have I ever done that was heroic in my life? Nothing. The only things I could do well was run away, kill an old woman and unarmed drunk. The comforting hand on my back started to turn more insistent as Maddy spoke.

“Bill, I have the gold. Come on, we can't stay here. For all we know there may be someone watching this place. We need to get away as soon as possible.” She was right, but I just didn't care. I wanted to give up. Maddy was determined to force me on with her constantly annoying prodding.

“We have to go. You won't be able to help your sister if we're all caught.” I didn't believe I could help anyone, but I eventually got up with her insistence, still holding the book to my chest as I walked.

My feet seemed to move by themselves as Meri led the way. Maddy put one hand on her and one around my wrist, pulling me on. I walked aimlessly with her pulling, no longer caring where we were going.

Once it was determined by Maddy that we had walked far enough away the two girls quickly set up a camp will I sat on a rock, as still as a statue. Not really watching them but not looking away either. I continued to go over the days events in my head.

They tried to convince me that everything would be alright and we would figure something out. I ignored their lies, sitting silently by the fire they had made. They tried to coax me into laying down and going to sleep, but I sat straight up on the rock as the night started to go into the early hours of the morning.

Seeing that it was useless and being tired, they told me that tomorrow they would help me figure something out, and turned in. I kept sitting upright on the rock the entire time without saying a word as they gave into an uneasy sleep.

Soon I was left with nothing but silence as I watched the fire. On a whim, I took the book that I had held tight too my chest and opened it, turning the pages to the passage I finished not long before I came to this world.

He pulled the sword free from its hilt. If he died here, then it meant he was never going to succeed in the first place. He put the cold steel against his forehead and said his usual prayer. “Ormak, Please give me the strength to bring light to the darkness”.

I read it over and over again. It wasn't a well written passage. Clearly not something that Tolkien or any other fantasy writer worth his salt would pen. It was cliche as hell. Who would put a sword to their head and speak to no one? It seemed rather silly when you thought about it.

I looked at my sword. The one I just killed my father with not long ago, and read the passage again. It really was stupid. There were no heroes and there were no overarching evil entities that wanted to rain down indiscriminate destruction on mankind. There were just people.

There was just the way of the world, and the small and large injustices that happen in it every day. One person couldn't fix it by simply slaying the evil lord. And even if someone could, I knew that person certainly wasn't me.

That's fine. I don't need to fix this broken world. I didn't cause things to be the way they were here and I don't feel the need to try to save any of you from the cruel system that you brought upon yourselves. I just need to fix the small bit that concerns me. The rest can go piss off as it pleases.

I managed to find a peace within myself, now knowing what I had to do. Closing the book I finally turned in and decided I needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow was the start of what would be a series of very long days.

The next morning I woke to find Meri and Maddy already alert and ready to go. Now that I've managed to pull myself out of that bout of self pity, I was able to notice that they were acting very tentatively around me. They wanted to talk, but couldn't figure out what to say. That's fine. I had something I needed to say first anyway.

“I'm okay now. I want you to know how grateful I am for what you both did for me last night, and everything else you've done for me. I'll never forget it. I'm now seeing things clearly and I know what I have to do. From here on out, it's going to get a lot more dangerous. I don't plan to take things slow. I'm not willing to wait 20 years to get my sister back.

I'm sorry to say from this point on we will be going our separate ways. I won't let either of you travel down the path I’m going. To be totally frank, I'll probably die in the process, as will anyone who tries to follow me, and I won't allow anyone else to suffer on my account. So this is goodbye and I wish you both the best of luck.”

I stood up and started to pack. It was better this way. I was going well beyond any semblance of prudence. I would estimate at best I had a 1 in 100 chance of succeeding on the time line I had planned in my head, and the time line was non negotiable.

I had come to the cold conclusion last night that the only way to save my sister was to take her back by force. For that I would need to become stronger. Much stronger. So strong that even all of the guards in the Armingtage mansion couldn't stop me if that's what it took. And I wasn't about to let my sister stay a slave for years and years before I freed her.

No, this was going to be a mad desperate dash to get stronger in a short amount of time. If I could reach my goal even one day earlier by pushing my self to the edge of my breaking point, it would be worth it. It would be one less day my sister had to suffer due to my mistakes. Maddy looked to Meri and saw the uneasiness on her face, then she turned her full attention to me.

“Look at you, talking big all of a sudden. Who do you think you are? What the hell gives you the right to make that decision for us?” Maddy clearly was having none of my tone. but I didn't care.

“I'm not interested in your complaints. I'm telling you this is the way it is. You don't get a choice this time. End of discussion”

“Well we're not leaving you. If you're going then so are we. Right Meri?” Meri looked nervously at Maddy and then at me. She hated situations like this when she was put on the spot to make a choice. But in the case of me leaving her behind, she was able to muster the courage to speak up.

“I-I don't want to leave you. If you go, then I'm going too... please.” She almost managed to sound decisive, but she couldn't help but put that please on the end. It only made me want to push her away to protect her more.

“Well I’m leaving you. Let me make this clear. I'm not trying to get reassurance that you're both happy to risk your lives. I'm telling you both to leave me the fuck alone, and that I will not let either of you come with me.”

“Well fuck you too Bill! I'm coming with you and you can't stop me.” Maddy spoke back equally forcefully. Meri couldn't bring herself to say anything, let alone curse at me. So she simply nodded her head as if to say she concurred with Maddy. I pulled out my sword.

“Actually, I can stop you. And I will if you make me. But I hope you don't try to make me.” She gave me a coy look, almost as if she was unconcerned that my blade was pointing at her.

“What are you going to do Bill? Kill me if I come with you to keep me safe? Don't be silly.” I gave her the same smile she was giving me right back to her. I was tired of these games of hers.

“No, I won't kill you, but I'll injure you so you can't follow me if I have to.” I looked her dead in the eyes. I wanted to let her know I wasn't joking. The smile fell from her face and she pulled out her own sword in response.

“In that case, I'll disarm you and make sure you can't stop me. Then I'll beat you til you come to your senses.” She pointed her sword at me. Meri took out her bow but didn't notch it. She seemed unsure of what to do and her hands were shaking. I doubt she trusted her self to loose an arrow in this situation.

“Have it you're way.” I quickly closed the distance to her looking for her leg. I needed to miss the main arteries, but put her down for a while. Something like cutting a leg ligament would be ideal.

After that it would be an easy matter to outrun her. If Meri tried to come after me then I'd just have to do the same to her. I hoped that she wouldn't, the poor girl didn't need any more pain in her life. It would hurt like a bitch and leave a scar, but at least they would both be alive afterwards.

I kept going for Maddy's leg, but she continued to move out of my range just a hair each time before I could reach it. To my surprise, she went for mine, but I was able to parry it. I didn't think she would be willing to go that far.

But that didn't matter. I was willing to go farther than her, and that gave me an advantage. While she was focused on her legs I went for her sword hand. I didn't want to make her a cripple, but it was better than her being dead.

Her response was quick and I missed by only a hair. She had a shocked look on her face at my attack, but recomposed herself quickly. With more areas to be weary of it was harder for her to defend against me than for me to defend against her.

We left our vitals open on purpose. There was no need to protect them. She wasn't trying to kill me, just as I wasn't trying to kill her. While she still went for my leg she didn't try to go for my sword hand. With more to guard than me and less targets to attack the skill difference between us was completely erased.

Dammit, why didn't she get it? Even if she injured me I would just try again. There was no point to any of this. Even if she won 9 out of 10 times, all I needed to do was win once and it wouldn't matter. I would be gone and she would never see me again. Didn't she understand I was only doing this for her benefit?

I realized that this was my first time crossing blades in a real fight. We weren't trying to take each others lives, but the threat of serious injury hung in the air. The sound of 2 real swords clashing was different than the practice swords. It set my teeth on edge. When they connected, I felt the reverberations deep in my bones.

Everything felt much sharper. My eyes focused more, my hearing seemed sucked in every sound and isolated each one. My sense of touch with the sword in my hand appeared to give me a new found degree of control over it.

Through it all I had a sense of time slowing down. It felt like my body had unlocked something that was held deep in reserve, and brought out only in key moments in which life, death or mortal injury was on the line. For the first time in my life, I started to force Maddy backwards with my attacks.

[Level up: LVL 4/10 Swordsmanship]

As I swung my sword, I noticed a new sense for distance and angles that now seemed obvious. How could I've not noticed it before? The misses I had that I thought were near misses, really weren't all that close. She avoided even my most accurate attacks by at least 2 inches.

I adjusted my attacks to better match her movements and brought my sword down to her leg. This time it left a shallow scratch on the skin. I pushed her back as multiple cuts started to appear. She was barely hanging on now. It was only a matter of time before I got the hit I needed.

It was all she could do to defend, attacking was out of the question at this point, unless she was willing to go for a killing blow that is. The advantage I had was too big for her to over come. I was mere moments away from getting her Achilles. Sorry Maddy, you may hate me. But at least you'll be alive.

A moment before I was about to land the fateful blow, she used a move I'd never seen before. Stepping in, she blocked my blade using hers. The odd position threw me off. Her blade was actually pointing more at herself than me at this moment. What an odd position to be in. Why did she do it? When she backed up she would leave herself wide open.

At that moment I saw the hilt of her sword slam into my chin. My body wasn't listening to me anymore. I felt numb and weak all of a sudden. She knocked my sword out of my hand and kicked me onto my back. Her foot stood on my left hand so I couldn't get at my dagger and her sword point pushed against me slightly under my shoulder.

Damn, I really thought I had her. Feeling was returning to my body slightly, but it still wasn't listening very well. I let out a sigh and then looked up to Maddy.

“What the hell was that move?” It was all I could think to ask.

“It's something Jameson Carter once taught me. He said to only use it if I was in a real pinch and needed to gamble. It's kind of like an ace in the hole, to use your term, whatever that means.” I nodded as much as I could.

“It's a pretty good one. I really didn't see it coming. Why wasn't I ever taught that?”

“He never taught it to anyone but me.” I gave a small laugh at that.

“Maybe he has a crush on you. How unprofessional of him.”

“Don't be a wise ass.” We stayed like that in silence for a long time. I looked to Meri who was torn between wanting to help me and scared of letting me up, only for me to attack them again. I turned back to Maddy.

“You don't even know the first thing about me. Neither of you do. I'm not who you think I am.”

“Who are you then? We agreed to be honest with each other, didn't we? Tell me.” She tilted her head.

“You wouldn't believe me.”

“Try me.” I hesitated for a moment. I don't know why I was even bothering to do this. They would never believe any of it. But maybe if they did then they would see that I wasn't someone they should be concerned about. I didn't even belong here. So I told them the truth. All of it. I left some minor details out, but I didn't leave out anything important. I found that once I started, that I couldn't stop.

I told them that I was from another world. That I never had a family that cared about me. How I had only known my younger sister for a short time. But that she was the closest thing to a real family I've ever had. So I was going to risk everything to get her back. Because I couldn't go back to living the way I did before. Being with her made me realize something I had managed to hide from myself for a long time.

I was lonely. I read all those fantasy books, and lost myself in them to try to hide it, but the truth is I was always so fucking lonely. I was desperate for anyone to care about me, to love me, but they didn't. Nobody did.

Then I suddenly got the chance to come here, and I jumped to take it. Because to me, it symbolized more than an adventure. It was the promise of filling the hole I felt in myself. The vague notion I had that there was something missing from my life. Even if I wasn't exactly sure what it was.

Once I met my sister, I realized how much I had been lying to myself all those years. Telling myself that I didn't need anyone else. How everyone else was useless and stupid, until I believed that I would be better off alone. But I needed it. I needed it so badly. And when I finally found family that loved me, that cared about me, all those repressed emotions came to the surface.

I started to feel alive again. I didn't need to live my life through characters in a book, to feel something vicariously through them.

And then someone took her away from me. That was something I couldn't accept. I wouldn't live that way. Never again. I would die before I let that happen.

That's who I am. I'm not some guy on a noble quest. I'm just a coward whose scared of being alone. A psychologist would probably have a lot to say about me. How forming such an intense bond so quickly probably had more to do with some deep seeded issues I had than a healthy genuine connection.

Even if we did share the same blood, it wasn't something a normal person would do. I was probably more akin to an addict looking for a fix. I didn't care about any of that. I felt the way I felt and fuck everyone else's opinion on the matter.

After finishing everything I had to say, I took my eyes away from a tree I had fixed them on so I wouldn't need to look at anyone during my little confession, and brought them back to Maddy. Her eyes were filling with tears. Not just tears of sadness; they were also tears of anger.

“You think you're the only one whose been alone? You think I don't know anything about that? I was surrounded by so many people, but none of them really saw me for who I was. Not one.

I was a prize to be married off or presence to be feared, but never befriended. You think you're so damn special? You're not. I don't care what world your from or what dangers we'll face. We're sticking together because we're all we have. You agree too, right Meri?” She hesitated at first, but with the encouragement of Maddy she spoke up.

“I don't remember my parents. I think their probably dead by now. It makes me sad to think about. I can't even mourn them because I never knew them. It would be better if I could remember them, then at least i could feel the real loss instead of the emptiness.

I was sold and then resold until I went to the Armingtage house, and for 15 years no one treated me like anything close to a friend. I almost preferred when people were cruel to me. At least they didn't ignore me then. I have no one else and nowhere to go. If this ends with us three not being together... I can't go back to that feeling again. I'd rather die fighting together than split up.” I shook my head at her.

“You two need to stop being so damn melodramatic.” These troublesome women. I still know what I have to do, but they're zapping my will to do it.

I think of the moment in the future when I end up getting one or both of them killed. I will look back right now and say to myself 'you idiot, you should have held firm. You should have pretended to agree and then broke their ankles in their sleep. You knew what was going to happen, and you let it happen anyway. And now it's all your fault. Because you were too weak to see the damn thing through'.

“Okay, let me up.” Maddy kept her sword on me.

“You're not going to try to do this again are you? Knowing you, you might attack us in our sleep thinking it would be all noble.”

“Actually I thought of that. But no, I won't do it. I promise. I'll almost surely regret not doing it when one of your deaths is on my conscience, but there is a 1 in 3 chance I'll die first. Then maybe both of you will lose interest. So I just have to hope for that at this point.” She let me up. Meri looked hesitantly at me before speaking.

“Are you really from another world?” Meri asked.

“I knew neither of you would believe me!” I rolled my eyes.

“We believe you!” Maddy claimed, not very convincingly. I showed her my book.

“Tell me if you've ever seen anything like this. It's not much proof, but it's all I have. Even if you don't believe me I guess now your stuck with a crazy guy. So the jokes on you.”

She gave my book a very careful examination. She felt all the pages and inspected the binding. She ran her fingers over the material on the cover and then gave it back to me.

“If you're crazy, then you sure went to a lot of trouble to prove it. For now, let me get back to you on that 'other world' part.” Meri stood next to me.

“I don't need to see the book. You're word is good enough for me.” I smiled at that.

“Joseph Smith would love you.” Meri gave me a confused look.

“Whose Jos-”

“Never mind. We need to find a blacksmith. I want to move fast but not die meaninglessly. We will be all geared up and ready for a level 1 dungeon by tomorrow morning."

We also needed to get someone to come with us. Hopefully someone worth a damn.