Gordon wakes up to the drop of water fall in his face and a dream that he couldn’t remember.He was sure that it was very important dream but for the life of him he couldn’t remember any of it and if he forces himself to try to remember he got only a headache so he hadn’t any other choice but to let it go. It was light rain and the blow of the wind made his body shiver.

He was in the middle of the Forest, in the small clearance that had a small pond in the center of it. The water in the pond looks crystal clear and its bottom was a neatly arranged square stone which was strange because it was in the forest, but he tried to get rid of the thought because his throat felt dry so he walked to the pool and drank the water.

This pool of water must have come from rainwater.

Gordon looked around trying to find something he recognized and could trigger his memory of why he fell asleep here, but he couldn’t. What he could remember was that he went to the forest with his friends; they hunt a deer then finding the river and camping for the night. He should have returned to the village by now yet here he was, in the middle of the forest, alone.

If he closes his eyes, he can felt something in the back of his mind, something that shouldn’t be there. He wants to reach it but some irrational fear overwhelms him every time he tried. He can’t understand why this happens, so he let it go for now, whatever it was he would find out later.

Gordon starts walking to find a way back; his mom would worry about him, and that was the last thing he wanted, He had promises his dead father that he would take care of her.

While he walked Gordon heard sound of someone running, he looks around him tried to find it, happy that he saved, but what he finds made all his hope gone.

Shit, I am so dead.

He runs until his stomach hurt and his lung begging him to stop yet couldn’t lose it so he decides to go for more dense forest with a lot of trees and bush that cover the ground. He runs until his stomach hurt and his lung begging him to stop yet couldn’t lose it so he decides to go for more dense forest with a lot of trees and bush that cover the ground.

Brak……bruk…..bruk….

Gordon leg got caught in the root of a tree when he ran which made him fall and roll, he get up as fast as he could then tried to run again, but sharp pain in his ankle made him couldn’t run fast.

I’m going to die, I’m going to die.

He looked behind and all blood gone from his face, the bear was right behind him, it opens its massive jaw and leap to his face, but suddenly time stopped.

Baddum…Baddum….Baddum. Gordon could hear his heartbeat. It’s sounded very loud when all the sound muted around him. Then something that behind his mind stirring, Gordon mind looked at it with fear and excitement at the same time, and when it moves flooded his mind and body he knew what it was, He remembers it now why he lost in the forest.

Something awakens inside Gordon, something old. The wind blowing fast then gathering around him and dust flowing from the ground added to the chaotic wind around him.

“I am the Baron of the Howling Dust” He said, it felt familiar in his tongue, like some lost family that finally returns. It was his title that the Prince of Autumn bestowed to him with a great price, but he felt that it wasn’t same with title which human used, it felt intimate, that the title itself was him and he was the title. It was represented of the true him, his true name, or on this case was his true title.

Times move again, and a massive blast of wind and dust hit the bear, shredded its whole body into a piece of meat that blown everywhere, showering the forest with blood and gore.

Gordon look at the shredded bear, amaze how he could kill it to piece with a single attack.

Holy Shit, it was so massive yet one blast and it turn to piece, this power is amazing.

He looked at his hand then to the wind and dust that gathered around him, he tried to move the wind with his hand and It move, he then tried to gather all of it into a sphere which it did and fast.

In front of him a sphere of the wind and dust the twice size of his head spinning like a ball. Gordon can’t take away his eyes from it still not believed that he could do something like this, like in the story. What had he become, what would be his fate? Something like this should happen far away, in the lost kingdom or in the old story.

He remembers old John and his story about the heroes, a man and women with incredible power and amazing feat. They could flatten a mountain, wipe out a city, flying like a bird and people worship them, made them King and Queen, ruling over human and other. But for every power there was a price, all the heroes died a tragic dead, they fought for their entire life for peace yet can’t find peace themselves until they die.

That creature, Loksum the Prince of the Undying Bark, he cursed me with this power, though I am strong I had to steal the Spring Crown to pay it or else.

Gordon didn’t even know what Loksum mean that his humanity will diminish for every year he failed; the bastard didn’t even give him a paper for their contract.

Asshole, and for the love of God how I stole that Crown if I don’t even know where the Spring Court is.

Gordon sighed, he doesn’t know what he should do next, all this business about stealing The Spring Crown was beyond his mind, yet it happens and he couldn’t do anything but to accept it.

I have to consult with someone that has knowledge about a thing like this, and then I will make my plan based on what information I can get.

He looked at the sphere of the wind and dust in front of him and got an idea.

He cancels the sphere with his mind which was easy then calling the wind to cover all this body.

Gales of the wind answer his call, spinning fast around his body. It sends all trees to mad swinging and the bush around him uprooted then thrown in all directions, everything was chaotic and he laughed when he saw it all happening.

The wind spinning faster and his body start to fly.

“Yeah….it happens…it works….hahahahaha” Gordon felt elated that his idea was worked, he was flying.

But he only flying near the ground which made him frowns then he called more wind which made some small the tree around him uprooted and the entire bush below him gone, thrown everywhere.

Massive gales of wind spinning around him which made him fly fast, to the sky.

Shit, it’s amazing, flying is amazing.

Gordon stopped going higher when he was about one thousand meter from the ground. He could see forest blanked the ground everywhere he saw which made him understand why he lost.

It was so massive, the forest was everywhere and he couldn’t see where his village was which prompt him to fly higher then higher until he was between clouds.

For a moment Gordon felt like a god, rule the sky and seeing human as a tiny creature. He could squeeze them without effort and there were nothing they could do, he would rule with absolute power, does whatever he wants and takes any girls he wanted, like Sharon and her older sister Bertha.

Damn, it would be great if I became a god.

Gordon narrowed his eyes tried to find his village; he was high enough that his village should be visible if he looks from above, yet he couldn’t.

What the…it all mountains and valleys here…the village is in wide valley between the mountain but it’s all green, where the hell I am, how far I walk from the camp?

Gordon flying to the north above the mountain, he pretty sure that his village was between the mountain, but no matter where he goes he couldn’t find it. The only explanation for this was he really far away from his village, maybe he was in another kingdom or even continent.

What should I do?

Gordon thought hard to find a way so he could find his village, he could flying and check each valley or he could flying higher and wider his vision.

He chose flying higher because it’s faster, but when he did a great wind from nowhere slam him hard that made him lost his control of his wind and fall down like a rock.

He tried to call the wind back to slow him down but he falls to fast, and the wind spinning to slow to hold his body. Dread gripping his heart when he saw the ground came closer and closer. He yelled, wailing both his hand to control the wind but it’s all failed, until he was certain that he was going to die, no one here to save him and Loksum was going to collect his soul.

In this moment of the last of his life, his mother face appears in his mind, she was crying, and his father face that looked disappointed at him that he broke his promises. He couldn’t accept it. He wouldn’t die here. He would steal that Crown, beat the asshole prince and life forever.

“AAAGGGGGGGRRRRRR…………” Gordon yelled to the sky with all his might.

He called His power, all of it.

Something broke in his mind, something like a wall and what followedwas a great flood of power. It’s sharpened his mind to impossible degree; he could see it in his mind, the wind, all of them in the sky, around him and in whole forest, between its trees and bush, between the rocks on the mountain and beyond, his village.

He could see it in his mind, the village, it really far away, like more than 100 km to the south. Gordon takes the reign of his power and orders the wind to slow his fall.

BOOOOMMMM……

The sound when Gordon kicks the wind to fly as fast as he could create a sonic blast in the sky, it sounds like a thunder. All the forest below was a series of blurs in his eyes and thanks to his power his body could withstand the wind pressure for flying very fast.

He reaches the village after flying for ten minutes, but he doesn’t land directly in the village because he was flying. He couldn't imagine what the people would say when they saw him flying like a great hero, maybe some interrogation or worst, some magic expert will come and take him to the city. He would then declare a hero and giving duty to guard some princess or slay a powerful monster which he doesn’t want to because he had to steal the Crown of Spring and he doesn’t know how to do that so he would need all the time to prepare. After all, he doesn’t want people to know the origin of his power. He doesn’t know why but he felt he should keep this a secret.

Gordon landed on the edge of the village near the road he started this journey. He planned to take a short break while making up a story that made sense before enter the village, for they will surely ask the reason why he slipped away on the night they camped and what happened to him when he got lost in the forest.

However Gordon fainted immediately after he landed and turns off his power.

********************************************************************

Gordon stood amidst the dead trees; he looked up and was amazed by the black sky. It was so black without the slightest hint of color and he didn't see the sun at all, he wondered where the light was shining on the surrounding trees.

His eyes were fixed on one of the trees, he felt sure he had seen a tree like this before. The bark of the tree was like running water and when he looked at the tree over and over he felt the tree looking back at him. Suddenly a strong wind came and swirled around the trees, producing a loud sound that was very disturbing to him.

It sounded like the angry screams of thousands of people who made him feel like a child, standing in front of his angry father when he broke the strange tools his father was about to sell, his body trembled with fear and he began to cry, he felt helpless and guilty.

His father used to have a small plot of land near the house that was planted with rice or sometimes corn and beans. However the result was never enough to pay for their daily needs and the tax was increasing every year, so his father decided to sell the land to be used as trading capital with the hope of making a profit and getting enough money for all their needs.

His father bought a strange tool with all the money he made selling the land, and said the tool was a magic tool he bought from a mage in the city, it was a tool to measure a person's emotional level, a new model and not yet on the market.

His father had consulted a friend who was an expert in this matter before buying it, and he had also found a buyer who was willing to pay a high price. What his father needed to do was waiting for the buyer to come but Gordon had broken the device, leaving him with nothing left to sell.

Things got worse after that incident, until his father passed away due to illness. His mother never blamed Gordon for his father's death but Gordon knew he was the one who caused his father to die.

Guilt clung to his heart, eating away at his thoughts from within and making him weak. Gordon knelt among the trees and angry voices kept shouting at him, he cries.

Gordon's eyes opened and he realized that it was all a nightmare. He was on his bed in his house, near his bed there was a small wardrobe which had been rotted his father gave him when he was a child, it was the only piece of furniture in his room that should have contained some clothes and pants, and a ceramic cup which was the most valuable thing he had.

He got out of bed and opened the small wardrobe, wanting to make sure this wasn't a dream, his body felt refreshed and the pain in his ankle was gone. He then walks around inside his house, stunned by the fact that he has returned home safely.

“Gordon”

He hears his mother's voice and turns around, his mother standing by the kitchen door looking up at him with teary eyes. When he saw his mother's eyes were teary, Gordon couldn't hold back his feelings and ran to hug his mother.

"I'm sorry mom, I'm sorry" Gordon kept saying over and over, his eyes filled with tears, he felt guilty for his mother.

"You have come back to me son, that's the most important thing" his mother said, sobbing.

Gordon and his mother continued to hug, crying. Gordon almost died and left his mother alone, he felt very grateful to be reunited with his loved ones.