The Dream

He opened his eyes and stared at a blue sky. Leaves were rustling in the wind as the man looked around. He was laying in the shade of a tree near an opening in some kind of woods.

“Am I dreaming? I could swear I just sat in my room drinking and now I’m in some kind of woods? Also… no headache, so this has to be a dream,” muttered the man as he sat up. A branch in the underwood snapped and a small rabbit jumped out of a bush. The man followed the animal with his gaze, as is crossed the opening in a few hops. A small stream went through the forest on the other side. The man stood up and went to the water. He took a few sips. It tasted like normal Water. He looked at his reflection.

‘If this is a dream…why do I still have a belly… Let me at least be fit in my dreams…’ he thought rubbing above the clear belly that was forming below his shirt. A sudden scream pierced the tranquility of nature.

‘Should I check it out? Well, it’s my dream, so it can’t hurt to… right?’ the man thought and followed the direction of the scream. He went a bit deeper into the woods. There was the scream again, a lot closer now. It was the voice of a woman that screeched. The man quickened his steps and soon after came to the edge of a path. He pressed himself behind a thick tree and peaked out in the direction of the dirt path. There it was. The source of the screams. A small cart, with one horse pulling it, stood in the middle of the path. On top of it stood a big burly man rummaging through its contents. The supposed driver of the wagon, a young woman, had her back against a tree and screamed as another guy in tattered leather armor placed his jagged sword against her throat.

“Would you shut the fuck up, ma’am? Nobody’s gonna hear ya! People don’t come through here. Well except for a young bitch, hehe… Must have been fate, ey? Anything of value up there, Karl?”

Grunted the man in front of the woman.

“Nah man… just some herbs, but not the good kind. Some foul-looking potions and some kind of wood… and… wait, what is… Woah! Look at that!”

The guy named Karl laughed and swung a staff over his head. Then he properly examined his find.

“Hm, this looks like it could be worth something, there are gems in the top of it… one’s big! … Why does the missy have this kind of staff with her? Is she some kind of mage?”

Karl asked.

“Well, if she is, then she isn’t just a young bitch, but a young and dumb bitch… If she could use magic she shouldn’t have had her staff out of reach. Haha!”

Both guys laughed. The woman screamed again.

“Oy, shut the fuck up! I already told you it’s useless! Conserve your strength, you’ll need it soon!”

The guy near the woman grabbed her in the face and pressed her against the tree. He leaned in and whispered something. He laughed and she fought hopelessly to get out of his grip.

‘I have to help her!’ The man, observing all of this behind the safety of a tree, thought.

‘But what should I do? I don’t have anything… What can I do?’

These thoughts crossed his mind as he looked around. Something poked into his side. He looked down. An Axe leaned against him. It was well used. The bearded axe had quite a few chips in the edge and the flat side was covered in scratches.

‘Huh…the length of a Dane axe but the head of a bearded axe… interesting,’ thought the man and took the weapon into his hand. It felt heavy. He used his other arm too. It felt comfortable.

‘So now I have a weapon… great… so now what? I can’t just go and swing it at them, right?’ He thought peeking out behind his tree. The Woman screamed again.

‘Fuck it! It just a fucking dream! Be brave at least once! At least in your dreams man!’ The Man screamed internally, grasped his axe, and lunged from his tree. He was lucky because the other two men were too occupied with the luggage and the women to notice. The man with the axe jumped up on the cart. He twisted his body and swung the axe with his whole body. The flat side struck his target with a thump and a crack. The man still holding the staff with the gems in it fell to the side of the cart, tipped over and smashed headfirst into the ground. A loud and nasty crack was the last thing that was heard of him.

“Karl!”

The man near the woman screamed. The man with the axe jumped from the cart and lowered his gaze.

“You Shithead killed Karl! I’m gonna tear you a new arsehole, bastard!” The man besides the woman shouted and rushed to the cart with his sword ready. He swung it wide over his head and did a smashing blow. The man with his axe parried the edge with the shaft of his weapon. The wood splintered a bit. With a twisting motion the man with his axe let the sword slide to the side and then sliced into the shoulder of his opponent. A fist struck his face, and he wobbled a few steps back. He shook his head and saw a bit blurred that the man with his sword lunged forward. He tried to dodge and swung simultaneously his axe. He felt impact. His left shoulder began to hurt. He felt his axe stuck in something. His vision began to clear again. One man had an axe in his side, the other one a sword in his shoulder. He saw the angry face of his opponent. Suddenly a flash and something struck the side of it.

“Fuck you!”

A woman shouted and another small flaming ball struck his target.

“The young and dumb bitch is now going to burn your fucking pathetic existence into nothing more than ashes! You repugnant Whoreson!” She screamed furiously.

The woman had taken the opportunity while the fight was going on and had ran to the corpse of Karl. A torrent of flaming balls came flying from the tip of the staff she was now holding. They all struck their target without fail. The man tipped over and fell burning to the ground. At first, he screamed, then he didn’t. The man with his axe watched the spectacle before him. After the last flame began to die down a bit he blinked and looked at the blood dripping from his axe. He let the weapon go and grabbed his shoulder. He felt it warm, wet and painful.

‘For a dream… this shit really hurts…’ thought the man and sunk to the ground.

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He opened his eyes and stared at the blue sky. His head felt comfortable as if it was nestled on top of one of those fluffy clouds he could see.

“Am I In heaven?” He muttered.

A smiling slim face of a woman with reddish hair color came into his view.

“Well, thank you! But I have to disappoint you, these are just my thighs, you’re not dead… yet at least,” she said smiling.

He turned his face and looked at her. For a few moments he stared at the place where the brown linen shirt was tucked into the greenish pants. Then the man fully realized his situation and sat right up.

The woman shouted, “Hey, be careful. I just closed your shoulder, don’t want to tear it open again!”

He remembered and touched his left shoulder. There was a cut in his shirt and the fabric was crusted with blood, but the flesh beneath was unscathed. Confused the man looked around. He was sitting on the coach box of the cart. The horse was pulling so they moved at a slow pace. To his left sat a woman in a brown linen shirt and greenish pants, holding the reins. Between them was a staff. It was evenly twisted at the tip and a few gems of different sizes were inlaid into the wood. At the center a big amethyst gleamed faintly.

The man asked confused, “What is going on here? Where am I?”

“Well, you kinda saved my life by giving me the opportunity to grab my staff back there. And I definitely saved your life by patching up your shoulder, you’re welcome. And now we are driving out of the ‘Forrest of Findings’ in the direction of the village I live in, Werden,” she answered.

The man stared at the staff and then at his shoulder.

“Magic? This must be a dream, right?”

“Why should it be?”

“Because this can’t be!”

“Well sorry, to disappoint again, but this is real and not a dream. Here!”

“Ouch!”

The man winched as she pinched him in the freshly healed shoulder. He grew silent and stared into the distance. A lot ran through his mind, and he couldn’t grasp a clear thought.

“Are you okay? You need a place to stay and … think about things?” she said looking at him friendly.

He nodded.

“Great! You can stay with me. Just be warned, my grampas can be a bit strange sometimes,” she said with a wry smile.

“What’s your name by the way? I’m called Violet.”

“Alex…”

Violet said brimming with friendliness, “Nice to meet you, Alex!”

Then she suddenly turned completely serious and looked at his shoulder.

“And you know… thank you for back there,” she said with a serious tone.

“Well… I didn’t do much…”

“No really! Without you these two would have… you know… just thank you… really…”