The sound of crackling fire awakens me from my painful slumber.

I am confused by this? My memory doesn’t recall creating a fire before going to bed? Wait a minute… Going to bed?….

My eyes opened with a hurry. Remembering the last scene that happened before the lights went out, I jump to my feet. Quickly surveying the area, what I see is something unthinkable.

The forest ablaze in maroon glow. Once black oak that only took on a burnt appearance, was now turned to cinder. The earth under my feet gave way to a hulking crater. This canyon looked to be made from a meteor larger than a Bellerog Boar, and dense like orichalcum. My head hurting from the impact and trying to wrap my mind around how this happened.

Then I remember the man that was falling from the sky. This cataclysmic sit in front of me can’t possibly be caused by one man? He didn’t even seem that heavy! Probably 185 pounds-ish if I’m being honest. The guy wasn’t that big. So, how can this landscape be in such a state?

While I was having a heated debate with myself, I heard a cascade of falling rocks come from near the titanic hole.

A gloved hand shot from where the sound originated and grasped the side of the ominous hole. I deliberated whether to go help the person or run for it.

Before I can come to a conclusion, the man is standing right in front of me.

He gave me a strange look. Almost like he was not seeing me, but something else?

Silence falls between us…

While I’m shocked by, one, how fast he arrived in front of me without making a sound, and two, how distracted I was to have allowed this short man to encroach-on me without my notice! And he is short. Barely five-eight, right at my chest level, with a face so boyish. His wild mane of lighting blue hair was not the only thing that capture my sight. His eyes… they are a rich blue. So rich that they look to be almost glowing. But that is not the part that entranced me. His pupils are gold! Not the regular black that saturates all living beings, but gold as the metal itself. They are slightly oval shaped, like a feline. His teeth are all to a point, sharp and long ears like an elf, fingerless-gloved hands, with nails that look sharper than what any regular nail should be. I hear the man chuckle, pulling me from my examination.

“You like whatcha see!” He laughs while giving me a childish grin.

Getting irritated at the man’s comment, I tell him “Hell no! you’re a guy. Why would I like that!”

He snorts at my criticism and replies “I was talking about my clothes, not my looks you stupid giant.” He says while gesturing to his clothing.

But, before I could retort back, we hear a deep growl.

We turn to the right, out of the flames comes the one thing I wish died in the crash. The Void Wolf! How did it survive that re-entry of the man beside me? Now that I’m thinking about it, how did I? The Void Wolf strolls toward us with a sway so relaxed. He growls

“A shame you didn’t die from the impact.” he growls out a chuckle “You’ll wish you did.”. The wolf leaps right for my throat. With speeds faster than a creature of it stature should be able to achieve, he is in front of me before I could even blink.

My eyes shut, hoping for a quick and painless end to my worthless life…

The end never arrived.

I open my eyes to see the short, blue haired man standing in front of me. His left hand was holding the upper jaw of the wolf with his fingerless-gloved hand, while his right hand held the bottom. I was in awe. Not only did he stop one of this world’s top apex predators in its tracks, he is not even struggling to hold the massive behemoth!

When I thought that the wolf would escape with its innate ability, the man lifted the monster into the air with ease and smashed it back on the ground with such force that a tremor with web-like cracks fracturing out from where the body made contact. The canine gave off a resounding whimper before trying to escape. Before it can get up. The man sent a lazy sweeping-kick at the wolf. The beast seeing this faded to smoke out and reappeared twenty or so feet away with a quickness. That was a smart decision on the wolfs part. Right after he teleported away, a hurricane of air-pressure shot forth from the sweep. The frenzied wind tore through the thicket, putting out all the fires and uprooting a few oaks out of the earth. The breeze forcefully hurdled me into the air a few feet, and I proceeded to land like any other respectable swordsman would…

On my ass…

While I’m getting up and cleaning-off my bruised hind quarters and pride. The Void Wolf with deep concern in its tone asks “Who… who are you?”.

The strange being replies with a sneer, showing off his impressively sharp smile.

“Not your equal.”

With an unnaturally fast motion of his right leg, he smashed it down towards the turf. The sound that came after was liken to thunder. The terrain exploded into action, ground churning comparable to the ocean after a mountain hits the surfaces. Waves of terra firma crashed against the tree-line, uprooting all within its range.

I cannot keep my footing and fall near a still rooted timber, trying and failing to stand up to see what’s happing with the fight, while also fighting back the urge to vomit. I hear another clap of thunder and the cracking of bones. The earth stills after a moment. I look up after shaking the nausea of ground-sickness. What I see jolts my very core. There at the epicenter of the quake, the man stands with his right hand clinched and covered in black plasma. The remains in front of him are barely recognizable. The once giant obsidian-colored wolf is now no more than a fleshy puddle of gore on the land. Chunks of fur and meat are thrown in every direction in a radius around him. But, even with what looks like an explosive death, the only blood on the man is on his fist. My mind started to hurt from all the weird things happening all at once! None of it makes since! How is he not covered in blood! How did he make the earth wave like that! And how haven’t I DIED YET!

While trying, and failing I might add, to calm myself down. the man turns slowly in my direction. I froze, terror coiling around my muscular form keeping me riveted in place. I thought I knew what fear was… I was wrong. This man oozed an air that felt like the world, no, universe came crashing down on you, making me feel and experience all despair known in it. My body trembled in its wake. I know there is no running from this being…

Because you can’t run from death.

He walks towards me, the earth itself parted from his feet, like life itself feared his presents. Expression blank on his childish face, his eyes glowing with an ethereal light that glaciates your blood. He stops a step away, and for a while we stay like this. The air softens back to normalcy after awhile; the man’s stoic face lightens into a grin before he bellows out a laugh that catches me in a puzzled state. He crows a little more before tipping away a tear from his now non-glowing sky-blue eyes and says to me “Man! I really got you scared! Hahahaha! I can’t believe you thought I was gonna kill ya! Hahah! You should’ve seen the look on your face!” He says will chuckling more. I start to get a little irritated by his stupidly happy face, so in the most tranquil voice I can muster…

“SCREW YOU!”

He looks at me shocked, like he didn’t expect that reaction from a person that just got pranked by the childish man. He finally registered what I said because he bursts out laughing again! “I like that fire you got in your soul man! what’s your name? Mine’s Riga!” He said in a cheerful tone while stretching out his right hand for a shake. I look at him, then his hand, and then back at him again. He seeing my reluctance to do any friendly gesture with him, snickers before stating “I’m not gonna bite dude. It's just a handshake.”. Hesitating, I bring my hand in for a shake while replying “Deven, Deven Keys.”.

He shakes my hand and grins from pointy-ear to pointy-ear while saying “Nice name! Really manly one at that… So Deven, who is a giant I assume. What exactly are you doing here in the middle of what I presume a forest…” he stops his dialogue and takes a gander at the destruction his little hoopla caused. “Well, WAS a forest…” shyly scratching the side of his noise, then shaking the meek expression, he asks “Anyway, why we're you being chased by that Null Warg?”.

“Null Warg? That was a Void Wolf. Why would you call it a Null Warg?”. He looks at me very confused. Like I said the worlds dumbest statement, or I have grown a seconded head. He states “Okay grammar police, a Warg is just another word for wolf, and null is a synonym to void you dull titan. What do you even have between those two ears of yours? Because it apparently isn’t a brain!” he voiced while sporting the most snobbish grin on his face like he was looking at a child saying something amusingly naive. That pisses me off.

“One, stop calling me a giant, two, stop calling me stupid, and three, Screw you! You short elf! I am educated! Uhh… I don’t have time for this! I still have to find someone who is willing to help me rescue my sister from that monster. I don’t have time to get pissed off and argue with a runt like you!” I turn to walk away, but then I feel a small hand gripping my right fore-arm. I turn to tell him to fuck off when I see his eyes. But instead of that childish twinkle he had while mocking me, it is replaced with a stern and serious glow. Taken by surprise by the sudden change in mood again, I faltered to say what I intended.

Turning to see the childish man with a face so serious it could kill, with eyes glowing with blue luminous say “What’s this about a sister needing savin?”.