Lost

Lost’s stomach growled at him, like a hungry panther.

‘If magic was going to make me poison resistant and not able to taste anything, it coulda made it so I don't need to eat!’ Lost thought angrily, he nearly cursed out loud. But Fen was with him and it just wouldn't be good to let her see him cusing anymore than he did.

Lost shivered at that thought, ‘Is this what it feels like to be a parent?’

Fen and Lost had been on the road for a couple hours now. The sun was just starting to set. Lost had decided that it would be best to head to the nearest town. That way he could leave Fen there and continue on his mission.

Lost had also steered them away from the area at which they were attacked on the road. For avoiding the monster and for Fen’s sake. She seemed to have been traumatized and it froze her in place every time she saw blood. Lost didn't know what could have done something so horrible to traumatize her, but it seemed bad.

“We should stop here for tonight,” Lost said, looking over his shoulder at the following Fen. She only nodded, playing with the Mana core in her hands. Her tail swished limply behind her and her ears were twitching at every sound.

She had been rather quiet and subdued. Which suited Lost just fine, he wasn't one for small talk.

Lost walked off to the right of the road, where there was a small clearing. They still hadn't made it out of the forests, but the trees had started to thin.

The clearing was small, three sides surrounded by trees and the other near the road. It had a fallen, rotting log. Lost grabbed a bunch of sticks and branches from the ground and started to set them in a pile for a fire.

Fen sat down on the rotting log, still passing the Mana Core between her hands. Once Lost had finished his pile of sticks he looked down at the fire. His brows pinched together in realization.

He didn't have anything to light the fire. The only thing he had for sleeping was his cloak. When he had been at the border keep they had given him a nice hot meal and a cot to sleep on. He hadn't even thought of asking them for more supplies.

Grumbling Lost unsheathed his sword from his back. Willing a drop of his magical essence into the sword, the little he had remaining, the sword’s runes glowed a deep yellow. Fen looked up, her eyes widened slightly.

Lost pointed his sword at the piled branches, letting loose his magic. The runes on the side of the blade burst into flame, and he quickly jabbed it between the wood to the pile of dried leaves in the center. The fire quickly spread, licking at the branches and sticks.

Sheathing his sword on his back as the runes dimmed, Lost sat down next to Fen on the log. He let out a long, suffering sigh.

“How long till we get to your town?” Lost questioned Fen, as she had said that it was a day's journey down the road from the keep.

She only shrugged. Lost let out a groan, “Well I'm going to sleep, see ya in the morning, kid. Then I can finally get to the town and drop you off.”

Fen let out a unrecognizable sound, but Lost didn't pay her any mind.

“Oh. Before I forget, kid. Here take this,” Lost unclasped his cloak and belt that held his sword, pulling the hood down. He threw it over Fen’s head and walked off. She pulled it off her head, eyes wide with surprise. Then she proceeded to wrap it around her thin frame.

He knew he was going to regret this. It would be a very cold night. Lost chose a spot of mostly grass near the fire and lay down. Placing his sheathed sword next to him, he closed his glowing amber eyes.

The snapping and crackling of the fire slowly soothed him into sleep.

********

Lost awoke to a rock poking him in the back. He had rolled over in his sleep. But that hadn't been what woke him up.

‘Why did I wake up?’ Lost wondered, as he opened his eyes. It was now pitch black, the stars in the sky twinkling with wonder. Crickets and other forest creatures ran around in the bushes, making racket. Then Lost realized why he had woken up. At first he had thought it just in his head, but now the screaming was coming from on the other side of the cold fire pit.

Fen was crying out loud and rolling around. Like she was on fire.

‘Dammit! She will attract wolves at this rate!’ Lost thought while scrambling to his feet and buckling his sword to his back. Running over, he bent down and shook her gently at first, trying to wake her up from the nightmare. Then he shook her harder.

“No! No-Mom! Don't leave me!” Fen cried out in her sleep, she was clutching the now glowing Mana Core to her chest. She still wore Lost’s cloak wrapped around her body.

Lost’s eyes widened when he saw the Mana Core. She was Bonding with the surrounding magic! The intense light meant the Core was working, but in a very bad way.

The Core started to grow brighter, till it was like a supernova of light in Lost’s eyes. He covered his eyes with his arms, trying to protect them from the light. It didn't help, he had his eyes closed and his arms raised. He could see the light through his eyelids! It went right through the skin of his arm, revealing the bone and veins underneath.

Then the Mana Core exploded, not in your typical way of a massive fireball. No. It shattered and a massive amount of condensed mana shot out in all directions. Lost’s world fell silent and everything was white.

He opened his eyes, looking around. It was a massive landscape of white in all directions.

‘Is this heaven?’ Lost thought, then he snorted. If there was anywhere he would end up, it would be Hell.

The plain of white shifted, colors appearing. It started out with a bright gold, then shifting into blues and greens. Eventually the swirl of colors took shape.

Lost stumbled, but caught his balance before falling. The endless plain of white was gone in its place was a large field of golden wheat. He looked around him, slowly rolling hills with more golden plains everywhere. Interspersed between them were small farm houses, groves of trees and a few dirt roads. The sky was a bright cloudless blue. Bird songs floated on the breeze. It was nearly sunset.

‘What the hell is happening?’ Lost thought, one minute he was in the dead of the night in a forest, then it was sunset and now golden plains spread everywhere.

He heard some shouting from off in the distance. It was the call of a mother, “Fether! It's time for dinner!”

The golden wheat immediately parted from Lost’s left side. He swiftly pulled out his dark iron sword, ready for an attack. None came.

A little snow white wolf girl came running from the grasses. She had a happy look on her face and her tail wagged happily behind her.

“Fen?” Lost said out loud, confused. He sheathed his sword and ran after her.

She was much younger looking now. More around the age of 6 or 7.

When Lost had caught up to the small Fen, he called out again, “Hey! Fen! What happened?”

She didn't even seem to hear him, just kept running toward a small house on a hill. Lost followed behind her, easily matching her swift pace. Once they had reached the small wooden farm house, Fen ran up to the porch.

It was a small dwelling, made of oak wood and had two floors. It had a porch with a wooden table and rocking chair. Fen opened the wood door, Lost swiftly went through the entrance before the door closed.

Fen walked down a small hall and entered a kitchen. There sat another wolf beast man at the table. He had light brown hair and the same went for his tail and ears. His hands had a little bit of brown fur on them, but not much. He had a square chin and bright shining green eyes. He had to be at least 30.

Fen sat in a wooden chair opposite of him at the oval table.

“Hi Papa!” She said happily, with a big smile. Lost did a double take, this smaller Fen seemed the complete opposite of the one he knew. She was happy and smiled.

“Hey sweetie. You have a fun time playing with your friends?” Said the brown wolf man.

“Yup! We played a bunch’a games! Like hop over the creek!” Fen replied happily.

A white wolf beastwoman walked in then, carrying a tray of steaming food. She smiled happily, with a pure white wolf tail wagging behind and white wolf ears atop her long hair. She wore a brown apron for cooking.

Lost looked at her closer, she was almost the spitting image of Fen, if she were grown up. The only exception being she had deep blue eyes, unlike Fen’s green ones.

“Hi Momma!” Fen replied as her ‘mom’ placed a steaming bowl of soup in front of her. Then Fen’s mom set a bowl of soup in front of the other wolfman. She sat down next to her daughter, smiling big.

They dug into the delicious smelling soup. Lost groaned, ‘This is torture!’

He tried to grab the steaming bowl of soup from Fen’s father but his fingers passed right through. Looking down at his thin pale hand, he turned it into a fist. He threw a punch at the brown wolf, but his fist went right through his head.

Lost knew what this was, it was an illusion. Of sorts. He had never heard of anyone waking up their power like this. This was one of Fen’s memories most likely, and she was projecting it out to relive it. Lost had most likely gotten caught in the illusion as well, causing him to live the memory, but not able to interact with it. But that was only his theory, he wasn't sure if this was even an illusion.

He sat down on the wooden floor, groaning at the smell of soup. He knew he wouldn't be able to taste it, but that still didn't mean he wasn't hungry! After a while the wolf family finished of the meal. Fen and her parents cleaned up the meal and washed the dishes. They happily chatted about their day.

Then Fen’s parents said that it was time for bed. Lost followed them up the stairs, wondering if those, too, were an illusion and how he hadn't fallen through them.

Fen and her parents walked into her room. It was small but comfy. It had a wooden bed with a mattress and blankets. There was a dresser next to it, filled with dresses and other clothes.

Lost was jealous, he really wanted to sleep in that bed. But Fen crawled under the covers and was kissed good night by her parents. Who snuffed out the small candle next to her bed and said good night.

Lost sat on the edge of the bed. It was firm, most likely straw or maybe even feather. How was it he couldn't touch Fen’s parents and the soup, but the bed he could? This illusion was getting more and more confusing by the second.

He reached out to try and shake the peacefully sleeping Fen awake, but his hand passed through her shoulder and the bed.

‘Weird,’ Lost thought, laying back on the foot of the bed. He stared up at the ceiling, as the moonlight slowly shone through the window. After a while he heard knocking, it came from downstairs.

It was a heavy pounding and moments later he heard the door open. Voices were talking downstairs, it sounded like Fen’s father and another man. They were arguing.

Lost got off the bed and headed for the door to outside of Fen’s room. He felt the door, it was solid. He he reached for the brass doorknob, his hand passed through it.

‘Oh, come on!’ He thought angrily, pounding a fist on the door. The door didn't even make a sound, much less budge. And it was made of flimsy wood too!

He heard sheets being shifted around from behind him. Turning around, he saw a sleepy Fen in a green nightgown getting out of bed. Rubbing her eyes she sleepily walked toward the door. Opening it without a problem, she walked down the stairs.

The voices were now yelling and shouting. Then the shouting descended to screams and what sounded like a gunshot rang out. Lost rushed past the now scared Fen, going downstairs. He was met with a gruesome sight.

A man stood in the doorway, a elf. He held a flintlock pistol in one hand and a curved sword in the other, dripping crimson. At his feet lay two bodies, one female and the other male. The male had a hole in his head, the female’s neck sliced open. The elf smiled cruelly and breathing heavily.

Blood was splattered on the floor, painting it in a red carpet. The pistol wielding elf walked into the house, ignoring the bodies of Fen’s parents.

Lost heard shuffling behind him, then a scream of fear. Fen was standing in the hall, eyes wide, frozen in place. She stared at her dead parents, the elf walking towards her.

“Hehehe, you will make a pretty slave,” The elf said, grabbing onto Fen’s arm and holding tightly. She looked up with fear, trembling. She screamed even louder now.

Lost, in anger, drew his blade and stabbed at the back of the elf. He knew it was futile, but still he tried. His blade went through the elf’s back, not doing any harm.

Lost sheathed his blade, angrily staring knives into the elf slaver’s head. The slaver turned around, pulling Fen behind him. She tried to run away, but his grip was steel. He pulled her past her dead parents and outside, where a wagon waited.

Fen screamed even louder, Lost winced, sticking his pinky in his ear. Fen was clawing at the man now, desperately. Lost had to do something, he couldn't just watch this happen.

Lost dug deep inside him, feeling for the few drops of magic he had left. But before he could do anything, Fen screamed even louder than last time, and a burst of light, very similar to the one that had sent Lost here, cut through the night air.

The elf slaver screamed in pain as his entire arm vanished from existence. He clutched at the bloody stump that used to be a limb. Fen screamed louder, crying and coughing. The elf fell to the ground as blood seeped from his eyes, nose, ears and mouth. In just a few seconds, he stopped breath.

Lost couldn't watch this anymore. He crouched down next to Fen, who was curled in a ball on the ground. He tentatively reached a hand out, surprisingly he was able to touch her.

He pulled Fen to his chest, cradling her in his arms. She was crying and hiccuping in hysteria.

“Shhh, I promise I won't leave you. I promise, okay? You hear me Fen, I promise never to leave you like that. I can’t promise that harm will not come to you, but I promise to never leave you,” Lost said, the world was now fading into gray then black. Before Lost knew it, he was back at their makeshift camp, rocking a peacefully sleeping Fen in his arms.

He heaved a sigh, it seemed it was over. It would appear that the awakening of Fen’s power had caused her to relive the death of her parents. It would also appear that the slaver was killed by Fen lashing out with magic.

Lost knew that the magic had been slowly seeping out of the catacombs where he had trapped it. The portal to the nothing wasn't meant to hold something indefinitely. Just recently it finally managed to escape instead of just slowly seeping out, somehow. It would appear the Fen had used that little bit of magic in the atmosphere and commanded it to attack the slaver.

Lost’s stomach rumbled again, “Heh, kid. You totally owe me some food now.”