• Where was he? Was this death, all dim and shadows? Estar didn’t know, he felt like he was walking but not getting anywhere. Maybe this was the afterlife, the consequence for saving his home, all those people. He stopped walking, what was that? Looking around, Estar saw something flicker to his right. Walking up to it, he knelt down to examine the only faint light. Suddenly four bright lights shot at him, and a big red fanged mouth opened and roared at him. Terrified, Estar ran for his life, but it felt like he was running in place. Slowly the jagged maw grinned at him, then opened and consumed him.

    “Estar….ESTAR! Wake up boy!” Hearing voices, Estar stirred and cracked his eyes open. It was a dream, only a dream, but his heart was still thumping. Sitting up on a thin gray mattress, he saw that Pyre and his mother were beside him. He also saw that they were in a medic tent.. His mom burst into tears and started hugging him. “Oh Estar! I thought you were going to die!” She sobbed, squeezing the air out of his lungs. “I’m fine mom! Really! Just scrapped up..” He groaned as a sheer intense pain spread on the right side of his ribs. “Don’t try to move for now, that stupid monster infected you with some of it’s poison. I don’t know how serious it is, but rather be safe than sorry.” Pyre said, hugging Estar after they pried their mom off him. Then he remembered, he wasted one of the royals quiper, which could be seen as theft from the lord’s point of view.

    As he was thinking about this, someone entered the tent. He guessed it was one of the messengers from the higher class, based on the clothing. “Estar Shiruku..” A high pitch voice came from the messenger, which almost caused Estar to break down laughing. “The lord wishes to see you. Now.” With that, and his squeaky voice, he left. Sitting up, Estar took his brown jacket that was laying lazily on the ground and put it on. Despite the pain, orders were orders. He told his sister and mother to go back home, and reassured them that he would be fine. In the back of his mind, Estar was scared for his life. He never went in the lord’s castle before, though he had seen the outside of it since it was in the middle of the town. Trying to resist limping, Estar walked out of sight of the medical tent and into the streets of busy people of all kinds. He smiled at some people, though he couldn’t wave because he was afraid of falling down on his face. He saw several higher class people seemingly glaring at him, and that made him mentally wince. They should be thankful for him that he saved their lives. Groaning to himself, he continued on, until he stood in front of two guards.

    “Your business here, sir?” One of the guards asked. “To see the lord, I was summoned. He’ll be expecting me. “He said with some annoyance just to get the guards ticked off. They had to let him pass, and soon enough Estar was in front of a massive castle. Outside of it seemed like all the other houses, made of gritty bricks and mud. But once he entered inside, the view took his breath away. There was a massive red carpet in the middle of the floor, paintings that were framed with gold, and purples drapes hung on every single window. Man, this made his house look like a rat hole. Walking down the rug, he looked at some of the pottery and paintings, which seemed to be crafted by the most skilled hands. He couldn’t help but touch one of the pottery, it felt cool and very smooth to the touch. He felt his nose tickle, and Estar sneezed, causing the vase to crash on the ground. Freezing in place, Estar quickly looked around to see if anyone saw. Good, no one is around…yet. Quickly he took all the parts, and before he could think, he stuffed them under the red carpet. “Ah, you’re here my boy.” Estar literally turned all white as he heard a voice from behind him. Jumping up, he turned around and saw the lord standing and smiling at him. Estar calmed down before he freaked out and kneld down to show respect. “Yes I am, my lord.” He stated, still thinking about the broken vase under the carpet. “Rise, Estar. I have a request for you.” The lord said, handing Estar a seemingly old envelope. Getting up, Estar gently grabbed the old paper and studied it. “Don’t open it, but it’s for the lord in another village, just on the edge of the jagged fissure. Since most of our soldiers are out doing my duties, I’ll let you be a soldier. If, that is, if you deliver this one letter for me. It’ll be a long trip, but it’ll be worth it.” Estar thought about this. His friend, blitz-edgar, had achieved to be a soldier at an early age. They promised to be soldiers together and beat up evil beings, but Estar wasn’t ready yet. Blitz made it, however, but Estar hasn’t seen him in a good 4 years. If he got to be a soldier, then maybe he could see his friend again. Nodding, Estar accepted the task. “Good. Oh, and don’t worry about the quiper. I understand what the situation was, and I would’ve done the same thing, but curse my old age.” The lord laughed. “I’ll lend you a quiper so that you can travel through the desert faster. I recommend you get going now, so you can be there by tomorrow afternoon.” With that, Estar took his leave, and carefully stepped over the broken vase under the carpet. Phew!

    A messenger stopped him as he walked out of the gates. “I’ll inform your family to save you the trip. Here’s your quiper, good sir.” That said, the messenger handed Estar the reins and took his leave. Estar looked at the quiper and pat its head. “Alright, ready for a trip?” He asked. The giant fox barked and lowered its body for Estar to get on its back. Grabbing the reins, Estar rode the quiper into the market square to gather supplies, seeing that the quipers saddle came with some leather bags. He had enough money to get four loaves of bread and a leather container to hold good water. But getting good water sure did cost a lot these days, since the outbreak of poison starting to spread over the area. Estar trusted his people in water, for if there were no more people to buy merchandise, then it would be chaotic. Checking for his mirror sword, Estar nodded to himself as he checked everything he had was there. Riding out of the village, he turned to look at it again. This was the first time that he’d leave his home, and he was scared. Taking a deep breath, He turned his quiper to face away from his home, and it bolted over the dunes.