Prologue

A great man once said you start a story at the beginning. It may seem obvious, but the number of restless nights I spent under candlelight trying to focus on the perfect place to start might surprise you. Therefore it is with much trepidation I begin this story with a birth. Not my birth, mind you, but the birth of someone very dear to me.

It was a crisp autumn evening and Zion had been looking forward to this moment for many moons. On this day his beautiful wife Leah would give birth to their daughter, Sophia.

Sophia represented something far greater than most daughters. She represented hope to a dying clan. Zion and Leah were not human, but rather a form of celestials known as Cerené. Their people only gave birth once a generation and Zion and Leah already had a child. Their son was born two hundred years ago yet his life was cut short just 5 years later by a rival faction trying to ruin families legacy. Thankfully, Leah and Zion had managed to stockpile a large amount of goodwill with the local lord and managed to acquire a second chance at having a child through herbs and remedies typically well beyond their means. Sophia represented nearly two centuries of hard work and missed opportunities elsewhere.

I was not there so I do not know the exact details of what happened but I do know that Leah did not make it through the birthing, yet Sophia was safe. Zion took his daughter in his arms as he wept for his lost love and whisked her away from their home, so what happened with her brother would not befall Sophia as well. He took Sophia to the Core and hid her there in an orphanage before returning home. From there he spread the news that his wife and his daughter were both lost in childbirth. This rumor hurt him and he knew that he would not be able to see his daughter for many years because of this deception. He told himself it was her her safety. That later, when she was safe, he would be able to retrieve her and they would have centuries to make up the lost time. The lies we tell ourselves are often the worst lies. The most destructive and most hurtful.

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Chapter one

At this time I had not yet been born. My time did not come for another 50 years so I will save you the boring details of my own birth and subsequent average life and skip to the part you are most likely interested in. Before getting myself swept up in the fantastical I lived a mostly boring life working for a bookstore as a a shift lead. Most of my worries were making sure we had enough coverage at the café and that we didn't have too many employees in the breakroom. That all changed on the night I died. Well, I think I died. I did fall asleep at the wheel driving home from work and ran off the highway into oncoming traffic. I don't remember much about that time but I do remember massive pain, someone screaming and a voice singing stayin' alive by the Bee Gees. Next was just blackness.

The dark lasted for a surprisingly short time. I was aware of myself and could even start to make things appear in the dark as if I was conjuring a dreamscape however it all faded to white just as soon as I was getting a grip on how to make things show up. As my vision started to return pain came back, but it wasn't the all encompassing pain I felt after the wreck, I felt like I had gotten bit by the worlds largest mosquito in my neck. blinking I cleared my vision and saw, not a mosquito, but a beautiful woman who seemed to be giving off some sort of glow. I knew at that point I was dead, and was ushered into the heavens to meet an angel. I was sort of right, as the woman hovering over me was a Cerené, but Angels and the Cerené are different, even though both are celestials. I'm getting off track. The pressure in my neck abated as the woman pulled out the largest needle I have ever seen.

"Good, your awake." She was clearly upset at something because she sounded like I had crushed her grandmothers prized vase. "Get up and make yourself useful. We don't have all day for you to recover from that..." But I wasnt paying attention, as I suddenly had a screen pop up in front of my face. That's right, a screen like I was playing some fancy VR game.

Welcome to Carbranthia.

You have been given a second chance at life. Make the most of it before it is gone.

What Kind of message was that? Make the most of it before It was gone? I was about to see if there was a continue button somewhere but the screen disappeared as the woman from before kicked me in the shin. "I said get a move on. We need to be at Freden by nightfall".

I slowly got to my feet and rubbed the sore spot on my neck from where this woman put the needle in my neck. I realized I didn't know her name so I decided to remedy that "Excuse me, but, what's your name? and where are we?"

"You must have gotten knocked in the head a lot harder than it looked. We are just outside the city of Freden, and as for my name, Call me Captain Treq".

"Thanks, captain. and where is Freden?"

"Its that city over there. Can't you use your eyes".

I looked where she was pointing and indeed there was a city in the distance. But it was a city with a wall, and I didn't see a road in sight. In fact, I wasn't on the side of the highway, but in the middle of a desert. Not only that but I should be in a lot of pain right now. Not only was I just in what I assume to be a major car accident, but that message on the screen was extremely nerve wracking. I should be freaking out, but I'm not. Its like I was given some kind of medicine to prevent a freak-out. I slowly turned around and looked at my surroundings. There were about 5 people nearby, Captain Treq wearing some sort of medieval platemail and four others who were wearing some kind of leather armor. Just as I was about to have a real breakdown, realizing that I probably wasn't on Earth anymore, I got another prompt.

Automatic Nerve suppression engaged. Once you are acclimated to your new reality this suppressant will be stopped.

It was like I suddenly didn't care that I was on a new world, cut off from everything I had ever known and thrown to the wolves. I didnt forget, but it wasnt an issue any more.

"I'm sorry Captain Treq, but I dont know where we are or what is going on. Can you explain what is happening?" I figured if anyone had any answers it would be the woman who was in charge.

"Before I go into telling you my mission. Just who are you? We found you unconscious in the middle of the desert several hours from the city." I realized I never told he my name. "sorry, I'm And... Ander". My real name is Andrew, but for some reason it felt wrong telling her that so I went with the name I used for my Dungeons and Dragons character.

"OK Ander." She put special emphasis on my name, like she didn't believe me "get moving. We don't have all day. If we are still out here when the suns set we will be beseeched by monsters."

"Did you say suns? Like plural?" Is that possible. Can the world really have two suns?

"You really are blind. Look up."

Sure enough, there were two suns. One on either side of the horizon. Although one looked to be about three times as large as the other. I stood rooted to the ground with what must have been the most stupefying expression because captain Treq just snorted and turned around to keep walking. One of the others in leather armor came over in her stead.

"Name's Gus. you never seen the sun before?" Gus held out a hand as if to shake. When I offered my own he clasped my wrist and gave a thorough shake, as if he was trying to knock some nuts out of a tree. "That's a strong grip you got there fella. Don't let the Cap'n get you down, she's all business that one. Just be glad she decided to take a small detour and give you a stim when she saw you lying out in the desert like that. You'd a been a gonner if she kept us on schedule and left you for the night".

"Well, thanks. I can't say I know how I got out here but do you mind telling me something?" I still needed information on what was going on, and Gus seemed nice enough.

"Depends on what you wanna be told. I ain't one to say your a king if that's what yer askin." He said with a grin. "Ask away"

Laughing at his purposeful misinterpretation of my question I continued "lets start with what your mission is? Why are the five of you all this way outside the city?"

"we are patrolling for bandits. Cap'n T over there is one of the local watch, and she hired us adventurers to come with her on her patrol outside the city. The watch has had their hands full the last few weeks so they are outsourcin some of the tasks outside the city to the adventurers guild. It's a good way to make some coin without really havin te risk much."

"So your not part of the watch?"

"Nah, them stuck up bastards wouldn't let an old scoundrel like me work directly for 'em if'n I wer the last man alive could hold a sword. But I dont mind taken their coins for a gig like this" Gus kept walking as he started whistling a lively tune.

"If you don't mind one more question, how does one become an adventurer?"