Strange room

Ares woke up a few hours after he passed out. He was still feeling a lot of pain in his muscles, also as the exhaustion of his long journey. His bones seemed to be made of glass, so much that he couldn't even bring himself to sit and see where he was. He just kept looking at the unfamiliar ceiling on top of him.

'That's not my house at all. I didn't dream about all that journey. Actually, I think that it is impossible to dream a so long dream...'

He closed his eyes for some seconds more. He was trying to recollect what happened a few hours ago before he passed out.

'I remember that I finally left that hellish forest. Also, I needed to walk for some days in those fields until I could reach the valley where the place I wanted to go was,' he needed to make a little bit more effort to remember the last part since it was closer to the time when he fainted. 'Ah! that's right. I found those two guys guarding the gates and they stopped me. That's when I passed out.

'Since I have a ceiling over my head, it means that they didn't leave me to die in the outside, so they decided to take care of me. That's really good. If I was to explain my intentions, they wouldn't believe in me. It's very suspicious for a kid to be wandering in dangerous places, then suddenly head to a fortress to settle down for some time.'

He continued reflecting on what happened for some time. However, Ares wasn't the type of person to just stay still in the same place without doing anything. He was an energetic teenager, and his short-tempered personality demanded him to spend energy somehow, so he wouldn't explode so easily.

After a few minutes of gathering the courage needed to bear the pain that he would feel when getting up, Ares finally tried to do so.

"Damn it!" He cursed, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists in frustration.

He was feeling a lot of pain in his joints and back. When he tried to get up for the first time, he failed completely.

Ares tried for a second time, and yet another one. All his attempts to get up were miserable, though.

'This damn weak body!' He cursed himself for being so weak and hit the mattress of the bed with his fist. The fact that the impact was so insignificant and barely produced any sound just made Ares get more stressed.

The boy breathed in and out sometimes, also as testing each part of his body. He was trying to start more calmly now, warming up his muscles and loosening the tension in his joints.

'Stretching and warming up are two essential things to do before exercising. Maybe doing it now will help my body to react properly...'

This way, but still with difficulty, Ares could sit on the bed and look around.

He was in a small room that didn't have more than five square meters. It was very claustrophobic, but he didn't mind it at all.

There was a table in the center of the room, two cabinets, a fireplace, and other small and insignificant furniture. Of course, there was a bed beside the wall opposite the door of that room.

The structure was made completely of wood and didn't have any paint. It somehow gave a cozy feeling about that place. The fireplace had some ashes and embers inside it, also as a discreet smell of burn wood.

'This is a comfortable place for a single person, or maybe two...' Ares got up from the bed, and all his body protested. He wasn't in the best state to do any type of physical exercise. Nonetheless, he continued to push himself.

'It's good to finally sleep in a bed, but I won't allow my body to relax until I can't have the certainty that I am safe. If they don't allow me to stay here, I need to think about a plan B, and quickly! I cannot let my guard down.'

The boy continued to, basically, drag himself towards the door of that room. He just hoped that he would find the two guards before he was spotted by someone else that shouldn't see him.

When he was about to reach the doorknob, the door was opened from the other side.

Ares got surprised by that coincidence. He tried to leap backward, but couldn't do so. Instead, he just lost balance and fell to the ground.

"Ah! You are finally awake!" A familiar masculine voice echoed in the room.

"Were you trying to go out of here or something? Calm down buddy, nobody is going to attack you if you don't present any danger. Also, it's better if you stay inside here if you don't want the wrong people bumping into you," guard A appeared on Ares' vision sight while saying so.

Now that he was without a helmet, the boy could see his face. He had tired eyes, that were now showing a concerned expression as he looked at Ares. He had short brown hair, so short that it nearly could be considered a buzz-cut. His eyebrows were thick and had the same color. A raw bear was growing on the sides of his face.

He had the constitution that you would expect from a guard. He was skinny, yet had some muscles and large shoulders. His posture was good as well.

One thing that drew Ares' attention was a scar on his forehead. Apparently, the wound was poorly treated, so it left an ugly mark.

The man offered his hand to Ares, and the latter accepted the support. After that fall, he didn't know whether he could get up by himself or not. If his back was messed before, now it was two times worst.

"My damned back!" He complained, trying to reach the place that was aching with his hands. That's when he remembered something.

"My axe...", Ares muttered widening his eyes.

"Where is my axe?" He asked that man.

"Hey, your body is almost completely destroyed after so much strain and you are asking me about a weapon? As I said, calm down buddy..." guard A was carrying some packages and left them on the center table while saying so. "Also, here in Stokel Fortress, guests don't carry weapons."