Chapter 7

Jack and Jessica have no idea what's coming, right now they're arguing over naming some of the recently subdued animals.

"I think the wolf should be called wolfy and the horses should be called beautiful Purple Boy" Jessica pouts but Jack is having none of that nonsense, those names have no originality in them so he flatly rejects them.

"No, those are stupid put some thought into it, I think the wolf should be called Cerberus and the big horse should be called Lightning, you can name the rest" Jack states his mind bluntly crossing his arm ensuring he keeps pressure off his hand.

"Cerberus? It doesn't look anything like something that deserves that name" Jessica says while looking at the wolf. The wolf looks at Jack with pleading eyes, as though saying "Please don't let her name me".

"They're my animals and I get the final say, the wolf shall be called Fenrir and the big horse shall be called Sleipner while you can name the other horses" Jack bluntly says while trying not to be embarrassed that he said those names, he was never into Norse mythology so he's surprised that he actually got relevant names.

"Those names are weird, where are they from?" Jessica pouts again.

"Uh they're from my world, didn't you know that I'm something called a player?" Jack says quite bluntly, he thought that she would have made the connection already.

"You're actually a player?" Jessica almost squeals, Fenrir lowers his ears in response to this high pitched noise.

"What's it like being a player? What is your world like?" Jessica quickly asks without a pause; Jacks mind is spinning. He's not sure how he should explain this to someone that should just be a computer program, they should have been inputted some data about the world so that they're aware of the differences between people.

"I imagine being a player is just like being a person in this world, like you, I just get to access a system to 'log out' and reappear in my world" Jack quickly explains, "My world is just like here except we have more technology, umm like cars and aeroplanes and most people like in big cities in houses that go up into the sky".

Jack slowly explains a few parts about Australian life and the differences between the two worlds, how there's no magic in the real world and how most creatures aren't able to hurt people. Jessica is quite interested in all these details and laughed at hearing some of the descriptions of the creatures like Kangaroos or Platypuses which she could barely pronounce.

This takes quite a lot of time where Jack is just explaining things to her, Fenrir and Sleipner are able to rest up during this time and as the two people finish up their conversation, the group of animals slowly start to get ready to move.

"Shouldn't you know some of this stuff?" Jack asks Jessica wondering why he needs to explain such simple things like electricity.

"We know nothing about players, everyone in this world… got a message from God saying that each region will be locked down and that people called players will start appearing in System Cities" Jessica flatly explains.

"I think the city lords or someone like that would have more information from God as they can talk to him directly but I know nothing at all" she adds on. Jack feels rather confused about this but there's a chance they were just programmed like this to act like real people.

"Well if I get a chance to ask God… then I'll find out what's going on for you" Jack replies shrugging his shoulders not knowing how else to respond. Jessica just nods her head in response and they both start leading the animals away from this site.

It's slow going as everyone's still tired and not getting along, the Fenrir was responsible for killing several members of Sleipner's kin so they're rather pissed off at it but won't cause too much trouble, just pushing each other out of the way or trying to trip each other up.

This continues on for some time and after roughly an hour, they come across a maintained road. Looking up and down the road, it looks like one end leads back to Feather Town so they decide to proceed down the opposite direction.

They're walking along the road for roughly a few minutes when there's an eerie silence cast over the area they're in. There's no insect noises, no bird noises or anything like that as though it's the calm before the storm.

Jack is just about to tell Jessica to be careful when he suddenly dodges backwards, a shadowy arm appears from the ground holding a long sword that would have pierced Jack's heart if he hadn't dodged backwards.

*Swish*

Another sword light appears from Jack's side again aiming for his heart, he quickly dodges again but just as he's about to move another shadow appears where he's about to dodge to so he starts to panic and brings up his sword and attempts to intercept the 3rd blade.

*Ting*

Metal hitting metal can be heard and he successfully intercepts the blade and it's aimed away from his heart but he fumbles and almost trips over, attempting to grab onto something to steady himself he reaches out but grabs nothing and topples over.

His eyes go wide as he's falling, the scene flashes in front of his eyes. Jessica is panicking and trying to run over, Fenrir is trying to hold her back and Sleipner is attempting to stomp the shadows on the ground. His heart is beating faster and faster with adrenaline kicking in but he calms his nerve and attempts to correct his fall.

He brings his sword to his side and stabs it directly down but instead of the sound of a sword piercing the ground, and shrill scream is heard as a shadow is slowly dissolving on the ground, clearly Jack managed to stab one of the shadows.

All the shadows stop what they're doing and converge, encroaching upon the position that Jack's in as he managed to right his body from the fall. His sword is still stuck in the ground but as he's attempting to raise it, an eagle screech can be heard in the air.

All the shadows look up at the sky and upon seeing the Eagle, they all flee quickly.

Jack and Jessica are left there in a daze, Jack's panting heavily and feels like he'll throw up, Jessica feels awful that she couldn't do anything to help but Jack quickly collects his thoughts and rushes up to Jessica.

"Hurry up and run, I don't know who they are or when they'll be back. You take Sleipner and try to find somewhere safe, I'll stay here and try to hold them back" Jack says while urging Jessica to get onto Sleipner's high back.

"No, I don't want to leave you!" Jessica basically scream with tears in her eyes. Jack isn't listening to her and basically forcing her onto Sleipner. The horse knows what's going on so he's also helping Jack with getting her on but she's struggling and kicking trying to get off.

"You need to leave here and be safe, I'll be fine" Jack says while shaking her.

"NO!" she replies while almost wailing.

Amongst all the commotion, a faint flute sound can be heard getting louder and closer, and finally a man slowly appears from the foliage wearing a green hood. Jack and Jessica are both watching him, the animals getting into a defensive position.

"You shouldn't split up, they'll be able to find you anywhere in this region and no one can stop them" the hooded man says while lowering the flute from his lips.

"Who are you? What do you know about them?" Jack shouts while asking the man. He's incredibly nervous as he doesn't feel like he will be able to stop this man if he wanted to do something nefarious.

"Who am I? My name's hard for you guys to pronounce so let's just say it's Arwen and I'm an elf" the man says while taking off his hood. His fair skin and long pointed ears including long green hair clearly showing that he's an elf.

"As for what I know about them…." He says while looking down at the disappearing shadow on the ground.

"They were once my kin, family members that I grew up with in the forest but they were abducted and twisted into shadow puppets that are used for assassination" he adds with a bitter look on his face.

The eagle still in the sky lets out another screech to which Arwen plays a short tune on his flute and turns to look at Jack and Jessica.

"You two should follow me, they'll be back soon as I can't scare them off for long. I have somewhere safe to stay for tonight and honestly, you two look like you need a rest" Arwen says and starts to walk off.

"Come, come" he adds while motioning with his hand that they should follow them.

Jack is panting struggling for breath, Jessica still has tears in her eye but Jack feels like this is his only opportunity for respite so he shrugs his shoulders and motions his head indicating to follow Arwen.

Jessica is still on Sleipner's back and is feeling completely exhausted and Jack isn't feeling much better, Sleipner actually nudges Jack's shoulder indicating as though he should jump on its back too, which Jack reluctantly does.

Arwen hasn't turned back and is quickly getting away but quickly the two on the horse catch up, Jessica is snuggling in Jack's arms and has actually fallen asleep already. Looking at the girl sleeping in his arms, Jack has a proud smile on his face as though he felt everything so far has been worth it.

Sleipner has quickly caught up to Arwen and is walking behind him, Arwen has a slight smile on his face as though he saw everything that happened between the two of them.

"You two seem close" Arwen says, walking while keeping his eyes closed not tripping up from any of the hazards in the way as they make their way through the forest again.

"Yeah, it's weird I've only known her for a couple of hours but I honestly feel like I can't part from her anymore" Jack says in an almost whisper trying not to wake Jessica.

"It's good to have love in your life but you need to be prepared for the future, the heavenly secrets surrounding your body suggest that things are going to be tough in the future and if you plan on creating a city, as an Emperor it's common to have more than 3 wives and 9 concubines" Arwen says while he continues to walk.

Jack is taken aback from this comment; he doesn't know how Arwen was able to tell that he plans on creating a city nor what the heavenly secrets mean. Just as Jack is about to ask about these things he is interrupted.

"Shh, heavenly secrets don't like anyone peering into them, if you try to peer and aren't able to see clearly then you will suffer the wrath of the heavens. As we elves say, it's better to let nature takes its course" Arwen quickly says to stop Jack's train of thoughts.

"We have a similar saying back on my planet, thanks for the guidance" Jack lowers his head as though he is speaking to someone worthy of respect.

"Ah you're a player… well in the future if you ever come across the home of the elves then please treat them well, they're not always welcoming to strangers so don't be offended if they're not friendly like me" Arwen replies as he jumps over a small log in the way.

The two of them talk as they make their way back to Arwen's location, Jessica soundly asleep in Jack's arms still with Fenrir and Sleipner's kin finally not making trouble for each other. They talk about the differences between the worlds, the differences between the elves in stories on Earth and the elves in 'The World' of which there's actually very little.

They both are quite in tune with nature, they both have extremely long life spans and are quite good with archery. There are two types of elves, normal ones born from either the 'Holy Tree' or via child birth. There are also dark elves which are corrupted by demonic qi or influenced by something called the Spider God Queen which is very similar to other stories on Earth, how the dark elves are corrupted by the Spider Goddess – Rose.

Arwen was also quite interested in hearing about the forests on Earth but Jack hasn't been to many so can only vaguely describe some of the trees and plant life while trying to avoid discussing about how much of it is being destroyed constantly.

The conversations continue for quite some time and when they finally reach the cave, it's dark.

Jack attempts to wake up Jessica but she mumbles in her sleep, "Why did you leave me alone Papa Mama" so Jack just hugs her from behind and whispers into her hear to wake up to which she does slowly but is surprised to see that she's being hugged by Jack while they're both sitting on Sleipner. Her face going a bright crimson but she doesn't want to move so they stay like that for a few moments after which Arwen loudly coughs and explains some of the cave protections.

There is an illusion formation that covers the entrance, a killing formation at the cave entrance and several puddles of Holy water which has a large effect on shadow beings, forcing them to avoid the area that is infected with the Holy energy.

Hearing about all these defences Jack feels that it's good enough for them tonight but they'll have to make their own arrangements shortly as they can't rely on Arwen's good will all the time.

The group slowly settles in for the night, the animals have all essentially collapsed as soon as they got permission to rest from Jack while Arwen gives some of his food to Jack and Jessica, they both don't particularly want berries for dinner but given the active day, they hoe into it with gusto after which they finally relax slightly.