Old history

Eyes around me got larger than before, a lot larger and more persistent with every step. Making every movement seem as if it was seen by numerous mages. Why is everything so against me? Doing almost everything to keep me down. Just destroy me completely. The whole thing with Estel… That incident was a lot longer than I thought. The sun was very slowly going underneath the horizon, not yet there but already slowly going to that weird reality. The reality when we aren't here anymore when we are outside.

Another couple of minutes of running and I was at my destination, huffing like a madman, tired so much that my legs were pulsing from the stress I've put upon them. Now slowly walking back towards the place where we all meet together. The place where we can live our lives somewhat normally. Laugh, have fun… But not anymore. The thought of us leaving made a big change in Estel. And now having fun or laughing will be a weird thing as well.

Steps now also make everything pulsate, a sound of the grass now bouncing in my mind between the skull. To the left and the right, pulsating, bouncing. Anything… Slowly walking behind the wooden gate that now seemed a lot more… Evil. That shrine affected my thoughts much more than someone can think of. Scary things, taking over my mind. The memories of my pain, the memories of unfairness, the memories of disgust… Flora's head, drilling of my stomach, being sent here… Not living a human life, everything appears red even when I am this far from the shrine's radius.

"Guys…" I was huffing so hard it was very hard to understand me. Then I realized something, I was bleeding out of my ears and eyes. Bleeding. "Something…" Another trial. Trying to make a sentence.

"What happened? Where were you?!" Marcus screamed now looking at me instead of Estel.

"Remember when I told you about the shrine?" I asked as if they remembered it actually. "I was there to check once more, it is there. The face, the animals and monsters, even bugs, and at this point it affected me as well…" I fell on the ground leaning against the wall of the cave. My vision became more blurry and my body felt heavy. Extremely heavy.

The last thing I remembered at this point is the feeling of my body falling and the head hitting the ground. The darkness surrounding me but now I know what is going on. It's completely black, it always is when something bad is happening. When something wrong is happening to my brain.

Some time… A time of length that I could not define. Minutes? Hours? Weeks? I just don't know. It's just… Dark.

"Hello!" I screamed to that scary void, the old and infinite dark. I then just realized two things. First, I can speak. Second, I've just spoken. "Someone there!" Is there even a point in me screaming in this place? Does it even make sense?

"Welcome." An old voice, a strong old voice. No tone of emotion.

"Who are you?" At this point, almost nothing is 'new'. All of those things already happened to me therefore there is no fear in my voice nor mind. Growth, that's what I call it. But some would say. 'Memories'. I don't know… What is correct? What isn't…

"I am … … ..." Weird voice and language together making it sound like a real demon. Words that were not to my understanding, words that sounded so malicious that my body shivered.

"What… Are you?" Another question that came up to my mind. A question that may be an answer to what is happening around me and everywhere. Everything that affected me.

"A mage. Mage from an ancient era that got killed and then morphed with this mountain. A long time ago before this mountain and that cursed tree was this large. How long was it… A couple of thousands of years? Millenia? It doesn't matter, what matters is that I am nowhere. My soul imbued with this mountain and this tree, my body destroyed, all of me intertwined with the life of this place. I need to get the blood of people to perform a ritual and get my body back, then I can conquer this world." His words were loud. Creating something in this place, creating the vision of him before death.

A man in a bronze jacket, short brown hair, and well built body. Very high and some scars on his wrinkled face. Is he twenty here? He looks a lot older because of the wrinkles but maybe it's just a special feature.

"Famia! Where are you?!" He screamed somewhere far in the forest where he was. A forest with the same trees as here but green and alive.

"What?! I am in the middle of this forsaken place!" She answered from afar. The middle of a forsaken place? What forsaken place. Are we on the same mountain now?

"What makes you so long!" He made a tube out of his hands and shouted back to the woman.

"This damn relic is protected by a forcefield and I can't break it!" He instead of screaming back just flew to her. Flew?! What?! You can fly with that power? I understand levitating but flying with this speed? I followed him immediately. I want to see what is going on. "See? I won't be able to break it in years. Bito, can you do it? You are better at breaking barriers." Bito? Is that his name?

"That's my name translated from my language. In fact, here, I am already about 200 years old. I remember her… My apprentice. Famia, she was incredible, one of the best talents I've ever seen. She was also beautiful as you can see." When I looked at it she was very beautiful. Blonde hair, green cape like a pianist's cape. A hat on her head like ancient leprechauns and a stave with the symbol of four leafed clovers as a golden catalyst for her power. The other thing I saw. A ghost of his appeared next to me, a dark fog.

"Why do you want to take over the world?" I asked him while looking at the younger him breaking the barrier with that relic inside.

"Maybe not the world actually but… I want to take revenge. She was my apprentice but also a good friend, but when my nemesis learned about it. He personally killed her… I know that it seems unreasonable for me, after 200 years of living to still have feelings of affection but she was also the daughter of my love, the love that I never got back from her. But it wasn't a problem, therefore I decided to at least do something for her as my last act of kindness. Protect her and teach her how to protect herself." The ghost gasped loudly and the action under us didn't change. "That bastard… I hope he is still alive so that I can kill him personally."

"Why are you answering those questions actually? I mean, you don't know me." The question was a very important one for me. I want to know why he actually answers those dumb questions.

"Why shouldn't I? I can sense someone's power from a great distance. A really big distance. I know that you don't have anything, no power at all. So why should I be scared of you? Or even your puny friends." It makes sense… He is a powerful person, incredibly strong. He was able to leave his power here for so long, well, he was put here, but can still utilize some things even in custody. "You know what? I'm going to help you. I hear almost anything in this forest, know of almost everything in this place. And I know what your plan is, I will help you with leaving this place. But I can't do it unless you help me a little bit as well. A favor." His voice once again turned to a lot more devilish. "Even when I regain my body, it would still take me many, many years to regain my power. So here comes my favor… I will help you get out of here. But you, you, will avenge my apprentice on your own. You will kill my nemesis." That proposition seems very… Real. He is honest, really honest. But I can't fall under his charm.

"But how can I do that? He is probably as strong as you in your prime and I have… Nothing." Now the offer went a little… Blend. And my own mind destroyed it all. The possibility of me being someone big and even having to deal with this kind of man.

"I know some things that you will never even think of, and I know that you will be able to do it. I see the future, a real future. But once I tell it to someone it will never be as the one I foretold. So I can't tell you anything. You may die, you may not. I won't tell ya. But I know that you have a great chance to finish my goal…" When he finished, the barrier broke. The barrier he was trying to destroy for a long time, several minutes.

"What is that relic?" Too many things now in my mind, a lot of questions and fake answers.

"You will see." He answered and then I looked at what they actually opened. A very strange but familiar thing that was emitting a large amount of fear.