The Separation

Einar Agnarsson

"NOOO! SIGURD-!!"

Even as we landed in the clearing in the middle of the forest, surrounded by trees that stood taller than those we were familiar with back in earth and luscious plants that harbored berries, and new fruits that was all but a fairytale, I only had one thing on my mind.

"Fuck! FUCK FUCK!" I turned to Sebastian and Albrecht, who were catching their breaths, the shared the same expression as the other, "Why didn't you go for Sigurd! WHY?!"

"I thought YOU were going for him!" Albrecht turned to Sebastian, "You said you would!"

"And I thought Einar and Sigurd were holding onto each other! We could have pulled both of them to us!" Sebastian shouted, "I took a gamble and it failed okay?!"

"And now look what happened-!" I stood up and grabbed Sebastian by the collar. There were other people around us. Many seniors from our old school like Luna and her group. Helena Brown that stood lost in the middle of the chaos. And even more. There was even some middle aged adults with us, they're watching me do this. I'm shattering their perfect image of me, and good riddance. I hated that, "Sigurd's gone! GONE! God knows where he is, and I can't do anything! Because of YOU! I-"

"Woah woah woah!" Sebastian tried to ease my grip, "Don't just blame me-!"

This bitch, Helena tried to speak up, "Einar…just calm down-"

"You shut the fuck up!" I let go of Sebastian, now I had someone to yell at, "You…! What the hell were you thinking?! Kissing me in front of everyone?!"

"I…" She looked down, a frown appeared on her face as she thought over what to say. Some of her friends that was with us spoke up as well.

"Hey! Don't yell at her like that!" One of them spoke, I couldn't be bothered to remember her name, "Listen! It's the last day of high-school. She wanted to leave it with a bang! So we dared her to kiss you Okay?!"

"And you think that will leave a good impression on me?!" I snapped, "You should've taken the hint when I rejected you before! Why do you think I was even there in the courtyard huh?!"

"To sign our books? Like everyone else?" 

"NO! It's so SIGURD can gather up his courage to speak to YOU!" I pointed at Helena, "Four years damn it! Four fucking years! And you threw that all away!"

Before I could continue on, someone grabbed hold of my hand, and pushed it away from Helena, "Hey. Back off kid." A middle aged man, maybe about thirty had came in between us, "Did your mother ever teach you how to respect women? Now's not the time to ramble to people like this. It's particularly rude."

And you sound like a fucking pervert, don't ever mention my mother again, "It doesn't matter…And learn to mind your business, balding shit." Sebastian spoke for me. A few of the seniors and some elders gasped at his comment.

"What did you say-?" I can see his expression change for a second.

A sort of switch turned in my head, I immediately straightened up, tensing my body and clenching my fist tight, as I step in front of the two of them, "Come now. You want to go?"

"Watch your tone. Child."

"Woaaah. Very scary."

Before the two of us can get this over with, another man actually stepped in between us, "Alright! That's enough! Stop it, both of you!" He pushed the two of us away, he was stronger than he looked, even though he's shorter than me, I can respect it. Only slightly though, "I want you all! ALL OF YOU! To take a good look around! Right now!"

I spun my head around, eyeing the trees that stood way taller than ones I've ever seen before, flowers that I had never seen before, blending in with colors I thought weren't possible before. And this calm…energy. I could almost grab it with my bare hands before it slips through my fingers. This soothing energy that permeates the air around us. So miniscule and small yet leaving a lasting impact.

"You think we're in the proper place to argue like this?! No! We're in a different place all together!" He shouted, "We don't know where we are, we're lost in some…weird world! Damn it! Does any of you know where we are? Mountains, rivers, anything?!"

No one spoke up, they were just as lost as everyone else, "Well shit! Will you look at that, We're all a bunch of clueless bastards in the middle of nowhere! We need the basics first okay! Food, water, shelter! That's what we must prioritize! Over some…meaningless argument!"

"Meaningless?! My brother could be dead for all I know!" I yelled.

"Well, we can't do anything now, can we?! It's done! No point in trying to change the past!" The man spoke, "So focus up! We'll need to work together, so we can even stand a chance here-"

As he finished his sentence, the ground rumbled ever so slightly. The sounds of a stampede encroached closer to us as everyone turned around, trying to search for the source of the galloping.

"There!" Albrecht pointed to something in the distance. As everyone turned to where he was pointing at. Multiple towering shadows flickered through the shade as they approached us rapidly.

Many of the seniors, elders, and even small unfortunate children ran up to us. Forming a circle as we watched the shadows surround us from the trees. Their galloping caused a kid to cry from the sheer volume of their stampede.

Sebastian and Albrecht grouped up next to me, we exchanged looks of dread and confusion. There's people here, finally. But the real question is; are they friendly or not? A gut feeling inside me said the latter.

Before we knew it, they had halted their stampede. Effectively surrounding us all. If I could count our head real quick, I managed to end up in thirty people. The man who spoke up for us was in the front, watching as one of the horseriders emerged from the shadows.

"What the…"

For a second, I pinched myself, hoping to see if all of this was a dream. To my horror, I felt the jolt of pain in my skin. This figure could easily tower over most of us. His skin a sickly green with golden tusks protruding from his lower jaw, bulgy eyes that stared deep into the man's soul. And piercing or chains embedded on his skin. But his face was more…normal than the others behind him. 

There were more emerging from the shadows. One of them bore the same green skin as their leader, except they had a more porcine face with smaller foreheads. And uglier teeths. I had remembered these type of beings before. When Sigurd rambled on about his fantasy books and video games, And he remembered exactly what they were, and it appeared that Albrecht and Sebastian knew as well.

"Orcs…?" Sebastian muttered quietly, "And the leader's a half orc…"

"How do you know?" Albrecht asked.

"He's less uglier than the others, and his ears…look at his ears."

I finally managed to get a glimpse of the leaders pointy and sharp ears. Ah of course, his face was far too smooth and 'normal' than the others. A half-orc. Maybe mixed in with an elf. What kind of mad elfman or girl would ever procreate with an orc? Not me, that's for sure. Holy shit, they're hideous.

"Hmm…" Their leader spoke, "So…this is what we find?"

"Okay, so! We both know english! That's good!" The man spoke up.

"And they can speak common…" He nodded, the leader jumped off his horse, I spotted his axe dangling in his waist, and I'm sure the man saw it too, "What are you…? Answer me."

"I'm…I'm Norman Grey. Pleasure to meet you-"

"I do not care for your name, just yet. What. Are. You?"

"Uh…I'm a human being? Is that what you wanted?"

The leader held his chin, "A human…? Huh, let me test something." I spotted his hand moving to his axe.

"Oh shit…"

Norman titled his head, "Test what-"

SPLACK

"Huh. Not as durable as a scaled monster."

Norman's arms went limp, his head hung low as blood seeped from his forehead, the leader yanked his axe out of his head with a sickening CRACK. Letting Norman's body drop to his knees and fall forward to the ground motionless.

A girl's screaming was all it took for the chaos to insinuate. As the leader held his axe up, "Capture all of them alive! Maybe then the Baron will allow all of you to see your offsprings again!"

The horses around us charged in. Their riders wielding bolas's that they spin in their hands. The chaos forced everyone to run off in their own direction, none of us were able to think properly, leading to the horseman's to easily catch their prey.

"Shit! We gotta go boys!" Sebastian grabbed Albrecht and I, pulling us away from the madness. 

Something came hurling at us, aiming for Sebastian as we desperately tried to run. He didn't have time to react. But I did, I shoved Sebastian away, letting the Bolas wrap around my chest, the rocks striking my back like a dagger as I cried out in pain, "Shit! Einar-!"

Before Albrecht or Sebastian could do anything, two of the orcs had jumped off their horse and charged at the two of them when they were distracted. Tackling them to the ground without any remorse as I fell to my knees, groaning helplessly as the man who threw the bolas approached me.

"Feels like I just captured a wild beast." The leader's voice cut through the air, grabbing me by the neck, and inspecting my face, "Nice face…Sadly, I'll have to ruin it."

He pulled his head back, before slamming his forehead against my nose. As everything faded into darkness.

***

"Oooh! Will you look at that ladies and gentleman, they are NOT handling well right now! Especially this small group over here. In this tinnny little island. Well, better set a timer for one hours! Cause everything's gonna change! What will it be? I do not know! All you could do is watch in anticipation as your beloved friends and family struggle under the grasps of the worlds inhabitants!

One hour everyone! And the 'surprise' will hit like a truck! Right now, grab your popcorns, hop into those forums, cheer for your favorites! And buckle up! This is just! The! Beginning!"