"Come; come to us, my dear child."
David glanced around him as he was gaining his senses. An
unknown woman was looking at him. He tried to think who she
might be, but despite all his efforts, he just couldn't
match her to any woman he met in his life. Was he supposed
to know her?
"Come to us. Do not be afraid. We want to help you. You are
in great peril."
Great peril? What does she mean? David couldn't make sense
out of the whole affair. How did he get here? What was she
talking about?
"Who are you, fair lady? Where am I? Please, answer me,"
David pleaded.
He didn't recognize his own words - 'fair lady'? Why the
hell did he say that? What is this place? What was it doing
to him? Why couldn't he think normally?
"All of your questions will be answered, in time."
"When?"
"Be patient, my child. You will know, in time."
"What are you talking about!" he shouted. David shook the
haze from his mind. He couldn't stand the polite and smooth
way she tried to quite him, as if he were an infant, new to
the world. Something about it was really annoying.
"Perhaps you will understand more with a demonstration," the
woman said. And with that, the air between them started to
shimmer, gained a metallic nature, and became a field. A
wide green field, with a few houses on the horizon, vastly
spaced between each other. Even from afar, David noticed on
a glance that something was wrong with these houses. Not
wrong, different, even weird. But nevertheless, they were
somehow familiar. Why should he recognize them? But there
was also an edgy feeling, the kind of feeling that you can't
differ to its exact source, a feeling that annoys you, that
makes you feel you ought to recognize something, to know it.
Even when the view zoomed toward the nearest house, a house
that was separated from the other houses, yet connected to
them, he still couldn't make the source out.
That house was really a mansion, and a big one too. The
mansion had an arched double door. It was originally as
brown as a tree, but it turned into bronze, probably from
age. The handle was inlaid with small diamonds that
reflected the light. But the most interesting thing was a
strange carving at the head of the door. It looked like a
decoration in a temple or a church, but somehow more arcane,
more powerful, as if it had life in it, pulsing. David had a
feeling that if he could wait and look at that carving, and
try to understand the feeling it created in him, he would
understand it, and that it would lead him to some sort of
insight.
But the woman had obviously other intentions, for the view
continued through the doors into the hall, which was not
less magnificent from the entering. The ceiling was
decorated with drawings of heaven, perhaps even of a hidden
god, but it was no ordinary painting, for it had an eerie
feeling as if it had life of its own. There was a soft glow
around it, and it seemed to generate warmth around it. His
gaze lingered a bit more, but then reluctantly he continued
his survey of the hall, not wanting to overlook something,
afraid that the view will continue when he hadn't yet
noticed everything, afraid to miss something important.
And good thing he did that, for near one of the grand vases,
a golden vase with a decoration that described a battle
between the sun and a moonless sky, was a hidden door,
distinguished for a strange symbol of a white sun. As he
concentrated on the symbol, he felt a strange sensation of
movement. Although David hadn't noticed change, somehow a
passage was thrust into the view, probably a passage that
was concealed behind the hidden door.
The secret passage was obviously ancient, and was not used
in a very long time. The walls that enclosed the passage
were decorated with drawings that described various scenes.
Some were about farmers in the field, some, about kings of
past who were long dead, but one drawing at the end of the
passage, above a grand entrance, drew all attention. It was
drawn upon a stone wall, yet nevertheless, it was the most
detailed picture that David had ever seen, even more
detailed that a photographic picture. The only means which
he could think of that could gain such quality were to use
the original, and no copy, no matter how technologically
advanced, could not pass it. But he guessed that he was
wrong in his assumption.
The picture showed a man, neither young nor old. His hair
was as dark as a moonless, starless sky, yet his eyes were
as blue as a clear sky. He had strong cheekbones and a
fierce nose, yet he had soft, half-visible laugh wrinkles.
His clothes were simple and practical, and they were mostly
blue with a shade of forest green. He also wore boots from
hard brown leather that was stained with a bit of mud.
But as normal as the man may appear, the sword he wore at
his waist . That sword was something special, and even
David's untrained eyes could identify its magnificence. The
hilt was made from a kind of metal that probably had some
connection to steel, for it had the same appearance, but it
couldn't be. David didn't know from where that notion came,
but he was sure of it. And he was also sure of the fact that
this metal was stronger than steel.
The hilt was the color of gold, with silver veins
crisscrossing it. They were beautiful upon the background of
the golden metal. A strange association that David had from
looking at the strands was the letter "N".
Connected to the hilt was the blade. Now that was an
artwork. It was probably made from the same kind of metal as
of the hilt, although in the color of silver. The silver
veins continued up the blade, but less noticed, and never
hindering its edge. A word was formed upon the blade's
surface, but for some reason, David couldn't understand it.

The blade literally shone with a cold white light, but only
cold because it conveyed practicality. Its edge was
noticeably sharp. The blade, as the rest of the sword,
looked as new as if it was just forged.
David was just thinking who might this person be, and who,
or what, drew this picture, as the woman spoke loudly, as if
answering his thoughts.
"This is a picture of one of the greatest heroes of my
people. He was called Aneithel, and he freed our people from
a dark reign and a dark ruler, when hope was cherished for
it was sparse, very sparse. The ruler of that time was
called Grong, and the years of his rule are tragedy. I have
neither time nor will to repeat the events of that age, for
my time is short, so I'll return to the subject.
"In that time, one country named Revela was rebelling
against Grong, and eventually was joined by the rest of the
enslaved nations. They all believed then that the victory
was due of them, but without Aneithel's help, they would
have been crushed like a buzzing fly, only a passing
annoyance. So powerful was the enemy.
"But Aneithel foretold the loss of Revela and its allies,
and so he acted swiftly. He had gathered what had become to
be known as the Fellowship of Justice. It was conceived of
Iamorika, Mistress of the Wind, Joamor, Master of the Earth,
and Aneithel himself. All were..."
Suddenly, she started to dematerialize.
"No! It cannot happen now! I haven't accomplished my mission
yet!" the woman shouted. Her body started to fade, as if
losing focus. She looked afraid, and acted as one, and began
talking quickly. "Do not worry David, I will return somehow,
or someone I know will."
And with that, she vanished. Not slowly as at the beginning,
but all that remained of her suddenly vanished as if the
power that held it together vanished, or finally
surrendered. As if she was never there.
David couldn't understand any of this. One moment she was
there, fully alive and present, with live colors, and in the
next, she had started to fade from some reason, slowly at
first, but with the speed rapidly increasing. But if at
first he was astonished, after the initial shock he began to
be afraid, really afraid. How the hell did that happen? What
had happened to her? And how the hell did she create that
globe that showed what was not there?
With those questions in his mind, everything around him went
dark. He didn't know what had happened, and he was afraid
that he had faded also. But a moment after that, he couldn't
consider it, or anything else. He had lost consciousness.
And then, he woke up.

It took some time for David to remember where he was and
why. He was still as if in a middle of a dream, in a
dreamlike situation. The dream that he had last night still
seemed to continue, although he was sure enough that he was
widely awake now. Nevertheless, he had a strange feeling
about the dream. It just looked so real! He wasn't really
sure that it was a dream at all. It was weird.
Oh well, he couldn't all day sit there and pity himself and
try to understand weird dreams. It was June - He had to go
to school, and maybe his teachers will understand his
situation and ease their pressure on him. He had started to
feel dizzy the last few months. Well, at least in a few
weeks school will be over, and he won't have to apologize
for having headaches.
David stood up and dressed in a blue T-shirt and black
jeans. Then he looked at himself in the mirror. He felt a
need for a confirmation that he was real. He was tall, seven
feet height. His black hair was cut short, the way he liked
it, and he looked at his eyes, blue-green-gray eyes, the
color that you can never decide what it is. He did try to
decide once and for all what the dominating color was, and
once again, failed. Then he turned sideways, to look at his
profile-you can't do only half job! His leanness troubled
sometimes his mother-he weighed 110 pounds, a bit too low
for his height-but she always conceded and said that he was
too much his father in too many ways. She said that his eyes
were also just like his father's, but not his hair. That was
something of his own, for her hair was soft brown, and his
father's was supposed to be golden. After the short survey
of himself, he continued his preparations.
He packed his stuff in a black bag that was thrown into a
corner last day and since then stayed untouched. But, guided
by an inner cautiousness driven from his strange dream, he
had added to the usual things of school a few other useful
items - a pocketknife, an extra lunch, and something that he
wasn't ready to give up for all of the world. It was his
last remembrance from his father who had died when David was
still a baby, an amulet that bore a sign of a rising sun
whose rays are silver. David would not give it away for
anything.
After he finished packing, David went down for breakfast.
During the meal, he pondered about his dream. Now he had
time, as long as he ate quickly. But despite how he looked
at it, he had no explanation. So instead, he looked at
Mother and thought.
Jane was born in England, but after she had met his father
Richard, she moved with him to the United States. On his
father, David knew close to nothing, for Jane didn't offer
any spare information about him. All that David did know
about his father was that Richard was born in the United
States, in New York, and then moved to England after
College. There he met his future wife, Jane.
Jane was something special in the eyes of her son. She had
soft, vivid, brown hair that reached down to her waist,
green eyes that had a shade of blue, and a laughing, sweet
mouth that was never tired of smiling. David was proud of
her, because although she had no special job, she had an
aura of commanding and respect, and that was not unearned.
David was surprised that she hadn't taken another job, for
in her present one, the CEO was probably a moron and a very
lucky man, for the company hadn't closed from lack of money,
and the situation was really to the contrary. Nevertheless,
Mother wasn't promoted, even when she had done in the last
year the job of her whole division, and not for the first
time.
That morning, she wore a green shirt and blue jeans. She
liked jeans very much, and whenever one would say to her
that jeans were for teenagers, she would reply to him:
"Hadn't I wore it when I was a teenager? Can't I wear it
now?"
David loved her very much. Although she was a single parent,
David was sure that he was given more love from her than
some of his friends who had two parents. But, although she
was smiling and laughing outside, it seemed for him, from
his years of knowledge of her, that something was wrong that
morning, for she had a sad look in her eyes, and a feeling
of accepting as if there is no other choice. Suddenly, she
looked at him, and seeing him looking at her puzzled, she
became grim.
"I see you have noticed my feelings," she said. "I should
have expected that. After all, you're my son."
"What had happened, Mother?" David asked.
"Nothing. I just had a bad feeling this morning when I woke
up."
David thought that was a bit weird for her to try to hide
it, but perhaps she didn't want him to feel the same as her
just because of a bad start of a day.
"Did I say recently that I love you?" she asked suddenly.
"Uh, yeah, I think so. Thank you Mother, I love you too."
David stammered. He didn't know why she asked it now. She's
not the type to ensure a known fact. What had happened that
she said it now? And then, from a strange straying thought,
came an idea - what would happen that she said it now?
Not wanting to linger any longer in the house because of the
queer atmosphere, David dumped his lunch into his schoolbag
and went out.
"Haven't you forgotten something?" Jane asked. David looked
back, and then noticed his father's amulet. "Thanks,
Mother," he said, taking it too, but unlike the lunch which
was dumped just a moment before, and pretty roughly, he
treated the amulet like a newborn child.
David left his home and looking back at Mother, he saw that
she was waving to him, and he thought he glimpsed a few
tears falling down her face. He was shaken from her strange
behavior. But David didn't want to fall into a black mood,
so he hurried on his way to school.
On his way, he met Zen, his best friend. His real name was
Bill Hampton, but he had a strange weakness for that
far-eastern culture, and was nicknamed.
"David! What's up, man? What's happened? You look like a
dead body," Zen shot. He liked to pile questions all at once
so that his targets would be confused. It could really be
annoying, especially if one wasn't in the mood for that.
David wasn't.
"Zen, cut it off. I'm just shocked from my mother's
behavior," David replied. "And my headache's back. I almost
hadn't any sleep last night. And, how are you today in this
good morning?"
"Wow, calm down, man! OK, I've got the message!" Zen was
taken aback, and David forced himself to relax.
"Sorry Zen, I'm just a bit tensed. I just have this feeling
that something is going to happen soon, and a voice inside
me tells me that I'm not going to like it. Thanks."
"Thanks? For what?" Zen was surprised for that remark.
"For letting me put it all out."
"Hey, anytime, but don't get pissed off like that again,
will you?"
At that moment they arrived the local high school, and so
David was relieved from the need to answer. Even from afar,
they heard the bell ringing. They stopped dead on their
tracks.
"Step on it!" Zen shouted.
And both of them started running. Their first lesson was
geography, and they had the most terrifying teacher that
could ever be. If they would late to class, she would make
them memorize the course of a whole world war and present it
to the class, and that is if she's in good spirits. No one
was late to her lessons, if he could.
Someone up there was probably thinking only good thoughts
about Zen and David, for they've entered just before their
geography teacher, Miss Bella Artistrov, or better known to
her students as 'Miss Devil'. David was reminded of how
lucky he was because of another mate of his class - Michael
Hosler. He entered just a few seconds after Artistrov, but
that was enough of an excuse for her to give him enough
occupation for the next week. It was summering the entire
chapter about recent wars with concentration on the Gulf War
they were learning from their geography books, plus, to
offer a few solutions for the problems introduced in the
chapter. If he annoys her, just a little, during the lesson,
he'll also get a grade on it.
David was reminded a very sad case, with Charlie the star of
it, at the start of the school's year. At the start Charlie
was one of the chattiest persons David had ever seen.
Charlie was sitting then in the back row. During one crucial
geography lesson, he talked with his neighbors. Worse, Miss
Devil had noticed him. What he received from her for his
chats, David didn't remember; David liked being optimistic,
and it was hard with facts like those. Ever since than,
Charlie sat on the front table, just by the teacher, and not
because of love for her, and he sat alone, for fear of
experiencing her wrath again. He risked a glance during a
fleeting second, while Miss Devil got something out of her
bag, to look at Charlie, and than turned back. The lesson
started.
David couldn't concentrate during the lesson due to
flashbacks from the dreams, consisting of full color and
sound, which during them he was separated from the real
world. As if that wasn't enough, these flashbacks were
followed by the strange headaches he was having the past
months, causing him pain sometimes, but mostly just
annoying. And so it came to pass, that he missed one very
important sentence that was said during one of the
flashbacks, but by no chance could he miss the next one.
"DAVID!" Miss Artistrov shouted. David felt as if someone
slapped him on his face from the force of that single word,
and his reaction was accordingly.
"David, I asked you a question. Will you please get down
from where you were just a few seconds ago and answer it?"
Miss Artistrov's voice was fierce, but soft by her standard,
yet dripping poison in industrial quantities. David would've
preferred that she would have shouted at him, for now she
was at full control, and angry. She would punish him as if
he had cursed her in front of the whole class. David could
hear the music of his funeral. But one vital thing was
missing - his knowledge of the question. He'll need to ask
what it was, but that would be as if he asked to be
punished.
"Eh, excuse me, Miss Artistrov, but could you tell me please
what was the question?" David tried to be as polite as he
thought possible, trying to angry her as less as he could.
"The question was, Mister David Johnson, how many casualties
were on both participating sides of the Gulf War? And be
quick, I don't have all day for you. After all, we've just
said it, weren't you listening?" She was really mocking him!

"Oh, and another thing - you'd better be right, or you'll
envy our little friend here, Michael." With that, Michael
abruptly turned from the former posture he was in - with his
back to the teacher. "I am truly sorry you've forgot our
arrangements, Mister Michael, and you better sweat on that
punishment, if you don't want a zero added to the wasted
hours at your summary." With that, Michael almost faltered.
David was at a loss. His last hope was some sort of insight,
for geography wasn't really his favorite subject and being
as such, he hadn't read any longer than necessary, and
didn't know the answer. Suddenly, his 'insight' came in the
form of Zen, who sat next to him and had listened during the
lesson. Zen just opened his mouth to whisper the answer, but
Miss Devil was looking intensely at David, like a predator
watching the movements of its prey, and she groped the
opportunity to include Zen in her net.
"Zen, stop immediately! I do not approve at this! David was
supposed to answer alone! Will you whisper the answer in his
ear also in the middle of a test? I'll check the current
test for any sign of copying. And until then, both of you
must read the whole textbook until next week and answer all
of the remaining questions!"
David and Zen were taken aback. This was the most terrifying
punishment ever given by her - they didn't arrive even
quarter of the book, and it was four hundred pages long!
They were utterly destroyed, finished, history. They'll have
to stay weeks at home and work on it, preferably working
together, but they still had exams and homework and the
usual work with grade besides the punishment, and no one, no
one, would be considerate about their punishment from Miss
Devil.
"Yes, Miss Artistrov," David and Zen replied, as grim as
only a student with homework and no life for the next few
weeks could be.
For the next fifteen minutes, the remainder of the lesson,
David tried to mimic a statue with ears as best as he could.
He even thought for a moment that perhaps someday he could
be a movie star, but than he remembered why he was poising
that stance, and focused again on the lesson. He had two
more flashbacks during that time, but he was determined not
give Miss Devil another excuse of ripping him apart.
As those fifteen minutes ended finally, the bell rang. David
couldn't remember the bell sounding ever as liberating and
lovely as at that second. But Miss Artistrov seemed to
notice his excitement, and it seemed that she did remember
it from past students.
"Remember, David. I will be waiting for your and your
friend's works," said Miss Artistrov. And then she added,
smiling unpleasantly, "And if by the end of June you won't
finish it, you better be gone from the world. I don't think
I will be as considerate in that case as I was right now."
Great. Now he had also a time limit. David was ruined. He
didn't know how he'll manage.
"Relax," Zen said, trying to sound reassuring, "we'll manage
somehow. But try not to think about it now. Let's just go
home and rest a bit. We deserve it." At least David agreed
with that.
On their way back, though, something felt very wrong to him.
All of his skin was prickling, and he felt as if everything
around him was moving toward somewhere, in the same
direction as he was going.
He felt cold.
Strangely enough, he thought he saw something in the corner
of his eye, a darkness that shouldn't be in the middle of
the day, a darkness that was no shade. David turned his head
to look at that, but he saw nothing but the wall of the
mayor's building.
He felt very cold. He started to shiver.
"What's the matter with you?" asked Zen, in an irritated
tone. Than Zen saw the look on David's face. Probably not a
cheering sight, for Zen instantly changed his attitude.
"Are you okay, David?" he asked, in a worried tone.
"I'm fine, just a bit cold. Never mind that," replied David,
not wanting to trouble his friend, to add another worry to
their mutual punishment.
After a few more minutes, in which David just felt worse
with any passing second, they arrived to the fork where
their ways departed.
"Bye David, I'll call you about our work."
"Alright. Bye Zen."
"Bye." Zen started to turn and walk to his home, but then,
as an afterthought, he turned to David, "And feels better,
will you?"
"I'll try. See you later."
Zen checked him one last time, assuring himself, and then
walked away.
David started to walk toward his home also, although not
willingly. The feeling of everything going towards the same
place just felt stronger and stronger with each step he
took. He started to be worried, if one can call to what he
felt before not worrying. He increased his pace.
A few blocks away from his home, he started to smell fire. A
red light was lit in him. He started to run.
On his way, he saw people coming out of their houses, going
to the source of the fire, wanting to see what had
happened,
He felt by now as if the whole world was falling
horizontally with him, and he couldn't stop himself anymore.
He was sprinting.
And then, he saw his house.
It was on fire.