"Wait, wait, wait. Crom as in the legendary knight who lived hundreds of years ago?

"Yes, one and the same. Why are you surprised?"

"How does the blade of a legend end up inside me? How did you even end up here? What even are you?" A torrent of questions unleashed at the casual introduction of the blade.

"Which part would you like to know first?"

"Tell me about the last questions first."

"Alright. It happened in master Crom's golden years. Long after the defeated the demon invasion of the kingdom. Master Crom was getting older, and he looked for a place to settle down in the autumn of his life. He met a girl after the war and the two of them decide to find a place far away from the public to live out their lives in peace. That when he found your village, Cromwell. A bit egotistic naming the town after himself but i digress. People moved into the new town and all was well for a few years. Then some cattle started going missing and a gloom aura seemed to fill the air in the forest around town. Master Crom new all too well what this gloomy aura meant, a demon had made its home nearby.

So brave master Crom once again called upon my services in the hunt for this looming thread.

We tracked the aura to this mountain a good distance away from the village. Using his magical power he carved a tunnel into the mountain wanting to surprise the demon with an attack from behind. They fought a fierce battle for hours eventually master Crom got the better of the demon and with the last and greatest force he could muster drove me into the heart of the foul monster. Part of me broke of at that moment and was lodged deep inside the demon. Master Crom decided that would be my final resting place, lodged into the demon's hearth."

"So this is the same cave me and my friends entered? Where Crom killed the demon?

"It would seem so, yes. It would most certainly explain why I've awoken since my shard is now close to the main body of my blade."

"So if your shard was lodged into the demon, how did you get here then?

"Like all corpses those demons also decay over time. Eventually my shard just fell out."

"And that is how we start the story of our own encounter. Just relax your mind and let me show you this story"

CLANG

The blade tip fell to the ground finally freed from the demons foul innards. Only to be picked up by the greedy paws of something else. The kobold picked up the shard and greedily eyed it. Its gnoll master would want to have this, it wanted all the shiny object. He wanted it for itself, to hold it, to feel and to kill with it. It eyed that dark cave behind it where his master made its den and bolted in the opposite direction. I followed the cave tunnels up to the service and into a very familiar unnatural tunnel. It shot out from the lair beneath the tree just like he saw in his earlier vision but instead of a dark creature he now saw what actually ran past. It ran through the forest trying to put as much distance between its new shiny and its old master. It could hear the river up ahead. It would stop for quick drink and then continue on.

It jumped through the last bush and its eyes grew wide. For there next to the river on the other side of the bush stood a human child. Instinctively it pointed its new shiny at the child thinking about the delicious meal he was about to have. Failing to notice that the child was holding a dagger. Its rampage through the forest had put it on alert and it drew a weapon.

But it was too late, as the kobold landed on the child the dagger entered it throat at the same time as it impaled the child through chest with the shiny. The last thing the creature saw was a little girl crying and screaming.

He opened his eyes and saw a dark sky. Rain was pouring down on his body his chest on fire where he got stabbed by the kobold. He tried to get up but his body wouldn't move. His consciousness then slipped away

He felt a familiar touch as big hands carried his limp body through the rain. He saw the face of his father "Must hurry..." the sound of thunder drowned out the rest of his sentence, and he slept again.

A warm touch filled his body ".. and hope for the best" and then he slept.

Matthew opened his eyes again, and he was back inside the dark church with the sword tip in his hand.

"That was me right? I got stabbed in the chest with you by the kobold. Why don't i remember any of that?"

"The mind has a way to forget traumatic event especially for young children.

"And no one ever spoke of it to me either".

"Would you like to remind a child of a traumatic event it clearly seemed it had forgotten himself

"That's a fair point. And now that i know what happened, how do i leave this place?"

"As i said this before this is your mindspace. All you need to do is find the will to leave."

"Will you still be here after i leave?"

"I will be here, all you need to do is call out to me.

Matthew closed his eyes again. He tried to feel his own body outside his mind. And when he did he simply stepped out of the church.

When he opened his eyes again he found himself on the bank of an underground river. He must have fallen into it from the plateau and the current pushed him onto the shore. His shield washed up a few feet away from his position, it's made of wood after all. His metal sword likely lost on the bottom of the river. He thought about the shard and wondered if he dreamed the whole ordeal.

"Shard, can you hear me?"

"I'm right here master Matthew" he heard the shard say in his mind. "I suggest you get your bearings and search for an exit".

"Why do i need to find an exit?"

"Because i can feel that the other part of me is getting closer"

A hyena like laugh could be heard from the dark tunnels that connected to the river.