The run

Seeing I was awake, the man tried to strike me down quickly, but luckily I grabbed his arm in time. He tried to switch hands with the weapon but grabbed his other arm, and using my legs, I threw him over me. He hit the ground but got back up pretty fast. I used this time to get out of bed and grab my sword.

The fight was messy. In the dark, half of the strike we took hit nothing. By luck I hit his wrist, and he dropped the sword. I saw him pull a smaller blade from behind him with his other hand and throw it. I wasn't fast enough to avoid it, and it lodged in my right shoulder, which also made me drop my blade.

Using this moment, he tackled me, but I took the smaller blade from my shoulder and stabbed him in the right neck.

We both fell. I heard him trying to grasp for air, then nothing.

He died. I just killed a man for a reason I couldn't even understand.

As I was still in shock, Zayn barged in my room with other religious people, and I saw their horrified faces when they looked at me.

"I-I didn't; he attacked me out of nowhere. I—"

Zayn tried to calm me down, but the priests, on the other hand, were furious.

"You worship evil. How dare you. We gave you food and shelter."

"but I swear I'm—"

There was no reasoning with them. They always hated me, and it was the last drop that made the cup run over. Those who had weapons tried to go for me, but Zayn was stopping them."

As good as Zayn was, he couldn't hold them out forever. I got up, took the blade with me, and jumped from the window.

Some men tried to follow me. Even if I were athletic, the injury I had was not letting me go as fast as I wanted. I wouldn't be able to run forever.

I went to the stables and took the first horse I saw. He wasn't really pleased to be awoken in the middle of the night but was docile enough to let me ride him.

As I got out of the stable, I saw the priests catching up to me.

No time for a saddle. I jumped on the horse and made him run as fast as he could. The other men ran to the stables to pursue me. Looking at the terrain, my best bet was the forest. If I stayed in plain sight, I had no chance.

I entered the forest, followed seconds later by the men. The forest was thick, and the dark made it extremely hard to see anything. I was praying every second that my horse didn't hit a branch or root, or I would be done for. The race lasted for about ten more minutes until the religious group lost my trace. I continued to ride to be sure, but the blood loss was such that I couldn't keep my mind clear.

I fell from the horse due to fatigue.

With the fall, I rolled on the ground. My head hit a stone.

I lost consciousness.

Darkness, once again. A dead and terrifying silence, where life was nonexistent. I still couldn't speak, and breathing was hard.

Am I...dead?

"Not yet."

The same voice. It was not as terrifying as the first time, but it was still sending a shiver down my spine. I turned around in this empty space, but I couldn't see anything.

The voice continued, echoing in the nothingness.

"I do not have much time. Head for the abyss in the fog, and you will have your answers. Do not trust anyone but yourself."

I felt pulled away once again, but before I left, I heard the voice whisper another thing.

"I'm sorry."

When I woke up, I was in a bed. It was morning. 

I tried to straighten up, but the pain was horrible. Looking at my body, I was bandaged. 

I looked around. The room was not like those ones from the religious city: the walls were solely made of wood, and lots of herbs and other stuff were hanging from the ceiling. My clothes were on a chair, and some water was on a small table. I drank because I was terribly thirsty.

A few moments later, a man entered the room. He looked at me and saw I was awake. He was tall, with a big black beard, and wore a dirty white tunic.

"Don't get up."

He brought me a plate with some kind of liquid inside

"Drink this."

The liquid seemed disgusting, but since that man saved my life, I couldn't really complain. I drank it and let out a sound of disgust.

"It's a mix of herbs and animal blood; it will help you get better."

"Who are you?" I said

"That's none of your business."

"Why did you save me?"

"stop talking."

His personality was annoying, but he saved my life, so I couldn't really complain

"Thank you..."

He went back out.

I spent the rest of the day in bed, thinking about what happened. Why did that man attack me? Should I go back and tell them my side of the story?

No, it's probably too late for that, and to be honest I don't want to go back there; they probably all want to kill me.

"But now what?"

I was summoned by accident, but I was still technically a hero, but right now I was just a murderer. If I went to the capital, they would probably execute me for killing a clergyman. And in a medieval world, I don't think I could really hope to have a fair trial.

But there's also that voice. I have to go in that fog, that's where I will get my answers. I couldn't be a hundred percent sure, but right now it was the only lead I had.

After a few hours, I found the strength to get up and walk around the house. We were still in the middle of the forest. Judging by the arrows and bows around, the man was a hunter, he must have found me while trying to hunt.

But that would have still been too late. With how much blood I lost, I shouldn't have survived.

The door opened, and the man came back, three dead rabbits in hand.

"If you can walk, come help me."

The outside of the house was what you would expect. A wooden fire camp, hanging animal skins. A stream was running around the house.

"Stop looking around and take this."

He handed me a rabbit and a knife. I never skinned a rabbit, but I just looked at how he was doing it and did the same. It wasn't a very pleasant activity, but at least it makes you value the meal we had.

After taking the skin off and cleaning it, he placed the meat on the fire and let it cook. Once it was done, he gave me one, and we ate.

After long minutes of silence, he decided to talk.

"So, how did a hero ended up here?"

"How did you—"

"The clothes"

I looked at myself. Even if the priests gave me a tunic, I still kept my pants and shoes from the real world. They were more comfortable.

"Well, it's a complicated story."

"I have time," he said while eating

I told him everything, from the moment I found the necklace to how I fled and ended up in the forest.

He listened in silence and, after I was finished, paused for a second, than handed his hand out

"show me the stone."

I handed him the necklace, with hesitation, because even if the voice told me to not trust anyone, that man still saved my life. He inspected it from all sides, then gave it back to me.

"It explains why you're still alive."

"How?"

"The stone acts as a direct link to your God. He probably saw you were dying and decided to give you some of his power so you could live. Since gods aren't supposed to directly interact in this world, he must have put himself in danger to save you."

I never thought of this. I then thought of the moment before that man in the church attacked me, maybe he also used some of his powers to warn me.

I looked at the necklace with a smile.

"Maybe I judged you too harshly, Mister Bad God."