‘’Evander and Brandr’’

'Dammit! How could this happen?!' I roar out in the middle of nowhere. Evander is inspecting the carriage we rode on.

'This is troublesome...' he says calmly as he rubs his beard.

'Troublesome? That's your observation? We're doomed, I tell you! Doomed!' I jump up and down in panic. I’m not thinking rationally anymore.

28 days ago, sunrise, Rotson Village...

'A carriage? You?' We were preparing to travel to the capital. Evander already said goodbye to the villagers for the time being. "I'll come back", is what he said. But when I started helping him to pack up, he suddenly told me we were going by carriage. 'I haven't seen a horse anywhere around town, let alone a carriage.’

'I have it out of sight, of course. It's for emergencies like this.' He just called this an emergency...

'The emergency is that my family is probably worried sick right now. Did I just say worried? No, they're heartbroken. Their son and brother suddenly disappeared, without a single trace. What if they think that I’m kidnapped? Or worse?’

'Now, now. Calm down. It'll be a long trip.'

'Calm down? How can I ca-!’ He hits me in the stomach with his staff mid-sentence. I sink through my knees while quietly gasping for air.

‘I said calm down, boy. What are you going to accomplish with panic attacks like that?’ he says sternly. I quickly shut my mouth. He is strict after all. I didn’t think he would actually hit me. The only person I can remember that would hit me like that would be my instructor. ‘Can you at least tell me how long we’ll be traveling?' He strokes his gray-brown beard once again as he thinks about it. 'Somewhere about 30 days if everything goes well.' I feel defeated.

'30 days!!!’ My heart feels like it just dropped on the ground. The remaining feeling of hope that I previously had disappears completely. It makes me think that I should just leave Evander and wait at the pond where I dropped down into this world. Only that wouldn’t solve anything. I don’t have any food or water with me, and I highly doubt that portal opens by itself every seven days if I were to believe Evander’s reaction on my arrival and previous disbelief that I come from another world. ‘What the hell! A whole month…' That's really disheartening nonetheless. I want to cry so badly, but I try to hold it in as much as possible. 'Well, I guess I should be thankful you're taking me.'

…………………………….

We load the carriage he materialized out of nowhere. 'Brandr, you know how to ride a horse?'

'Well, of course. But I rarely do it, so I'm not sure if I still can... Ah, I almost forgot!' I hand him my sword. 'Is it possible I can get a bigger one?' I really prefer a two-handed one. He shakes his head, and pushes the sword back in my hands.

'All the swords in the village are the same size.' I sigh, and inspect the sword. It's very plain looking, but it has a weird feeling to it.

'So. Can you tell me what material this is?' It doesn't look or feel like steel, or anything stronger.

'Ah, it's made from orichalcum.' He goes further with his business.

'O-Ori...what?' I fail to understand him. 'Uhm...Do you know what steel is?' I try to ask, but I already know the answer.

'Steel, what's that?' Figures...the materials here are different from my world. Let's just hope this "orichalcum" is strong enough for me.

'We'll be camping at night time, so be prepared,’ he suddenly adds to the conversation like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

‘C-Camping?! I completely forget about that. Isn’t there any inn along the way? Because doing something like camping is…’

‘Are you royalty or something? Shut your yapping and start packing.’ He cuts me off. Well, I guess it’s kind of exciting. I never camped that much in my life, excluding the harsh training from my instructor. I always wanted to adventure, but I’m probably to attached to my warm bed…

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….

Orichalcum is the basic material in this world when it comes to making tools. While there are more magical materials lying around, they mostly use it to reinforce the orichalcum, making it stronger, or maybe even an entirely different material. A weapon or tool made without the use of orichalcum is extremely rare and valuable, since without orichalcum as base, it's very difficult to make. But it's proven that without an orichalcum base, they grow a lot stronger, equaling a weapon that possesses rewritten orichalcum. Turning orichalcum into a different material makes the strongest tools, but it's also the most difficult task. Evander explained that to me while we were busy packing. It sounds like this orichalcum is a troublesome material.

We finish packing and are ready to head out. The sun high up, and with the dark clouds lessening for some reason, it's a perfect day to depart. 'Take care. Come back safely.’ Multiple people are saying goodbye. I wave them out as well, as we depart. 'Bye!' We leave the village, and our journey begins.

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´So…you dropped out of the sky from a place called Mederkeiss, right?’ Evander asks out of nowhere as he steers the carriage.

‘Edelweiss. And yes, that is true. Why’d you ask?’

‘What is it like up there? Don’t you guys have to worry about something like Abyss yourself? Have you beaten it already?’

I want to slightly chuckle, but I don’t out of respect. I must realize that Evander probably doesn’t know that this country is such a fantasy world in comparison to Edelweiss. I ponder, thinking where to begin with my story. ‘Well, first, we never had anything to do with something like Abyss. Germania is a world that doesn’t look as beautiful like this one, and it definitely doesn’t have things like magic or Abyss lingering around.’

Evander strokes his beard slightly, trying to picture the world before him. I try to tell him to just think of something gloomy and it would probably fit right in Germania. It’s a bit dull, with the summer as exception, it usually is just cold and dreary. The only thing that could make it look beautiful are the sunrise and sunset.

‘So, Evander. What is this Abyss actually? Because…’ I don’t finish my sentence, because I find the topic to heavy to think about. The act of taking another life is disturbing. You’d basically be terminating someone’s consciousness. Yes, I know that that is the definition of death, but the more I think about it, the scarier it becomes. Imagining myself suddenly being shut off, and my entire existence being rendered obsolete.

‘It takes a while to explain, and I don’t think I am fit to be honest. Sorry about that.’

‘It’s okay. If you ever think about telling me something, I have time. As you can see.’ I lie down for a moment and close my eyes.

………….

……

The landscape is truly beautiful. Whenever I look around, it just feels like I’ve been dropped in one of the fantasy books I read in Edelweiss. The sky is beautiful, next to the dark clouds, and the creatures that soar the sky are majestic. Some of them even look like un-earthly birds. Creatures I have never heard about. I squint my eyes and spot a completely red bird with a weird jaw and wings. It looks completely out of the ordinary. I turn around to Evander, but I realize that the bird is far beyond to ask about.

And it hasn’t been restricted to birds as well. I’ve seen a lot of creatures throughout the time that I’ve been here. Phenomenon I can only dream about. This world is just so intriguing. If I ever got the chance to return here after I get back to Edelweiss, I’d take it. I can only awe at the beauty of this place…

‘This world is beautiful, isn’t it…?’

‘You think so? Well, I have lived here my entire life, so it doesn’t have such a big effect on me anymore……but I do understand what you mean…’ Evander responds with a soft smile.

‘Yes…it tickles the inner adventurer in me. The feeling I want to explore. The feeling to learn. The feeling to discover. I am just in awe…’ Thinking about it like that…no matter how bad it is to say something like this…

…It makes the long travel a bit more enjoyable…

28 days later, sunrise, road to Capital.

'Brandr, wake up. We're departing.' I rub the sleep out of my eyes, and try to lift up my worn out body. Camping outside is definitely different from waking up in your prince-size room. In the end, I got used to the huge bed...and the luxury life. He’s already sitting high and mighty on his brown horse. If I could summarize him in one sentence: Cocky…but also fun. He’s wise, and he always takes his time to explain something to me. He also counsels me a lot about my worries. Like the fact that I have been missing for 28 days now, and that my family must be worried sick about me. They probably think I got kidnapped or something. I should probably use that as an excuse if I return in a month. Since that would sound at least a little bit realistic.

'Give me a second, will you?' I roll up the sleeping bag, and throw it in the carriage. All the stuff goes in the carriage, so we have to ride the horses. I was quite amazed how the old man could ride a horse better than I can. He looks 55, but he acts like he's 21. 'I've got to pull my act together...' I slap my cheeks, trying to wake myself. I get on my horse, and fall off on the other side.

'What the heck are you doing?' Evander looks pitiful from his horse.

'At least I'm awake now...' I get on properly this time, and we precede our journey.

I almost nod off as I travel on the road. 'If you fall asleep, the carriage will go off-road.' He hits me with his walking stick, trying to keep me awake.

'By the way, that's a staff right?' He looks at his own staff.

'Nope, it's a walking staff.' I put my hand on my head.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

‘Exactly what I said.’ He gives me the vaguest answer I could imagine. I hear thunderstorms behind me as we talk. I get goose bumps. 'Looks like they're still far from the capital.'

'Would that be a problem then?'

He nods. 'The darkness is spawning grounds for Abyss. That's why we lit up almost everything. But even that is a hard task.' Something comes to my attention when he talks.

'You know a lot about all this. Did this happen in the past?'

He smiles. 'Well, you'll see when we get to the capital, but don't let your guard down. They might come all t-.'

Before he finishes his sentence, my horse goes crazy and throws me off. He starts to run out of sight. 'Dammit, what the...?' Something blocks my vision. A creature. An undead monster like before. He makes some weird sound, like the ticking off the teeth, and the clicking off the tongue, and thrusts his sword unto me. I barely dodge by rolling to the left. I quickly stand up and take my sword out of his sheathe. It takes me a moment to remember that this sword is stupidly heavy. I regain my stance after pouring all my strength into my arms.

'Brandr, duck.' My body reacts on Evander, and the moment I duck, a lightning bolt goes over my head, killing the undead creature. 'There are more heading this way. Prepare yourself.' Evander shouts as he gets off his horse. 'Brandr, I take this side, take out the others.' He disappears behind the carriage.

I focus on the two in front of me. I quickly charge on the first one, jump, and try to overpower him with one strike, but he is a lot stronger than the previous one I fought. 'Crap!' He throws me in the air, and thrusts his sword up. I block it, and kick him in the face. The momentum shoots me backwards, and I land onto the ground, which I immediately charge at the distorted monster. I quickly slice up, and take him down. Before the second one can react, I run up to him, slide across the ground, and slice his open back.

I fall to the ground tired of the fight. Evander comes up to me, laughing insecure. 'Uhm...Brandr. We have a little problem.' I look behind him, and see the carriage, but both horses are gone.

'Evander...where are the horses...?' He looks sullen away from me. I get cold sweat. 'Don't tell me...'

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I roll out the sleeping bed near the fireplace, and rest my head on my bags. We decided to go further on foot and take only the necessities with us. So, we let a lot behind, and now we're hungry and tired. 'Damn horses...why would they even run away...?' I start sulking by myself.

'Don't fuzz too much. Here, I brought some wild mushrooms.' Evander shows an entire bag full of them. I shiver at the thought of eating them.

'No thanks. You can eat them yourself...' I miss my luxury food. I'm just a naive rich boy in the end. I try to get some sleep, but my rumbling stomach makes it hard for me to actually fall asleep in this end. ‘Evander, are you asleep?’ I don’t hear anything but soft breathing from his side. To think he would fall asleep so fast. I see the bag of mushrooms next to him. ‘He didn’t even eat it himself…’ I look up at the sky. It’s filled with so many stars, and they line up beautifully. I stare at them, while memories of my family come back. A single tear rolls from my cheek, as I fall asleep. ‘Father…’

…...The following morning……

We should be almost there by now, but instead, we're still walking with our bags. Evander is dragging himself to keep up with me. What a mess. 'If only this damn Abyss would've left us alone, we would've been there already!' I shout at no one in particular. Just some anger management for myself.

'If we keep on walking and minimize our breaks, we might make it by nighttime.' That doesn't cheer me up at all.

'Say, can't you use magic to make us faster or something?'

'If I did, I would've used it yesterday.' He hits my head with his stick.

'Damnit, you might've forgotten!' I only tried to help!' I notice my voice getting louder.

'Don't take me for an old fart. You should be happy that I was bringing you!’ We're pretty much shouting by now. Our hunger and stress are making us act irrational. We keep shouting, until we notice a carriage in the distance. And it's heading our way... We look at each other. 'We're saved!' We both say in choir, and then jump up and down, trying to get its attention.