The Farm

Chapter 1

The Farm

The rolling hills of Asher County were now painted with all the beautiful colors of autumn, and normally there would have been much work to do at this time of year, but the old Fletcher farm was no longer used to raise crops or livestock.

Grandpa Fletcher had passed on many years ago, and now there was only a small vegetable garden that Grandma Fletcher could tend to on her own. The only animals that remained were a few chickens, a milk cow and a stray cat or two, that usually stayed out around the barn. Not exactly the kind of place for a city kid like Jason Fletcher.

But things don’t always go the way we like, and sadly, Jason’s father had unexpectedly passed away earlier that summer and now his Grandma was the only family he had left in this world.

Jason Fletcher was a good-looking eighteen-year-old young man, with long reddish blond hair and the brightest emerald green eyes that one could not help but notice.

For most of his young life, it had just been Jason and his Dad, moving from city to city and never staying in any of them long enough for Jason to make any close friends.

His Dad, Jason Senior, was a studio musician. He was a pretty talented guitarist and backup vocalist, so he stayed busy and played with quite a few well known artists as needed. Due to the demands of his chosen career, he often came home very late, after the shows or recording sessions were over. This left young Jason spending most of his time on his own.

All in all, he was a pretty good kid, and didn't get into too much trouble. He could have run the streets like many of his classmates did, but instead he was more of a book worm. He really liked to read, and he read a lot. Most of the books that he read were legends of dragons, mighty heroes and other such fantasy stories.

Jason often day dreamed of living in those far away times and places. He also often dreamed of what his Mother was like. He never knew her.

His father would only say that she had died in childbirth, and didn’t want to talk about it. He figured that his green eyes and reddish blond hair must have come from her, because his Dad had pitch-black hair and dark brown eyes.

At first Jason was pretty bored with this new county life. Grandma Fletcher had no close neighbors to speak of, and he had already read and re read all of his fantasy books at least twice.

He was feeling a little lost here in the country and spent much of his time in his room grieving for his father and day dreaming of what the future may bring.

He did like Grandma's home cooking though. Grandma Fletcher always baked a pie or a cake weekly and the meals were always delicious.

Jason loved the fresh vegetables most of all. He and his Dad had eaten mostly lunch meat or takeout food, so all of this new home cooking was a real treat for him.

It wasn’t too long, before Grandma Fletcher saw that it would take some prodding on her part, to get him to move on with his life. She tried to encourage him to get outside in the fresh air and explore the farm, or maybe take a hike in the surrounding countryside.

“You know Jason, Asher County is truly a wonderful place for a young man to explore. When your Daddy was your age, he spent many a day and often camped overnight up in the hills round here. There are plenty of creeks and ponds to fish in too.”

Jason had heard what she said, but none of it was really registering.

“What was Grandpa Fletcher like?” He asked.

Grandma could tell that he wasn't really listening to her advice and so she decided to show him the small outbuilding that his Grandpa had used as a workshop.

“Come with me, she motioned. It’ll be easier to show you, than tell you about him, I think."

He followed his Grandma across the old wooden floor, as she led him out of the kitchen, across the back porch and then along a short path that ended at an old gray weathered outbuilding.

“This was where your Grandpa spent a lot of his time, fixing and tinkering on things. Since Papa and your Daddy have both passed on, I reckon that anything in there is rightfully yours now. I’ll leave you here to explore the place, Mr. Fletcher.”

Jason thought to himself, “I guess I am Mr. Fletcher now.” He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that.

“Don’t you want to join me Grandma?” He asked.

“No, that’s all man stuff in there.” She said. And with that, she just smiled and headed on back to the old Farmhouse.

"I'll call you when supper is ready.” She added, as she went.

He watched her as she slowly made her way back to the house, then he unlatched the building door and went inside.

The old out building brought Jason some long needed excitement for a change. It was just what he needed. As he looked around, he saw that there were all sorts of old hand tools, small wooden boxes full of nuts and bolts, along with a great many unidentified odds and ends. He noticed that one area in particular had quite a bit of hunting and camping gear. That briefly drew his attention.

Jason was street smart, but he had little first hand knowledge of the outdoor life.

As he continued to scan the walls of the old building, he saw several fishing poles, dip nets and other items he didn’t recognize, then suddenly one item in particular caught his eye. It was a fine looking handcrafted wooden bow.

He walked over and took it down from it's resting-place high on the out building wall and carefully wiped the layer of dust from it with a rag he found on a nearby tool bench. As he wiped it down he found that It still had the bowstring attached to one end. He wasn't sure why it was that way. He figured that maybe it was how you were supposed to store a bow.

After a good deal of struggling, he finally figured out how to string the uncooperative thing. He looked it over and pulled on the string a few times then grabbed the dusty leather quiver of arrows that had hung next to it and raced out of the building to get a better look at his new find in the autumn sunlight.

This was the most fascinating thing he had ever held in his own hands. This wasn’t a toy, this was a real bow. The wood was a light color like maple and it was very smooth to the touch and yet what most interested him were the strange engravings that ran along the bow. He found that the leather quiver was engraved with similar markings as well.

The odd engravings reminded him of the writings of the Elves or Dwarves that he had often read of. The Elves were always great archers and he daydreamed for a moment as he drew back the bow, that he was a great Elvin archer.

Of course he had never even shot a bow before, but he felt like he knew all about them from the many books he had read.

He took an arrow out of the leather quiver, nocked it, drew back as far as he could, and let it fly.

It sailed hissing through the air across the barnyard until he lost sight of it in the hay field.

Jason smiled from ear to ear with delight; He hadn’t been this happy in a long time. This is awesome, he thought.

Just then, he heard Grandma calling him in to supper. He was so elated with finding the bow and arrows that he forgot all about everything else, including supper.

He slipped the wooden bow over his shoulder and hurried back to the farmhouse. He stopped on the back porch and wiped his feet, then went on into the kitchen with his young face full of excitement.

“I see you’ve found something of interest in Poppa’s old building.” Said Grandma Fletcher, seeing the bright smile on Jason’s face.

For the first time since he had arrived, she saw some excitement in him and it made her feel good inside too.

“Whose bow was this Grandma?” He asked as he slid it off his shoulder and held it up for her to see.

“Well, I believe that was probably your Daddy’s Jason; Grandpa never owned one far as I knew; He was more of a fisherman.”

“Did Dad hunt a lot with it?” He asked.

“Well, I suppose he did; Your Dad sure spent a lot of his teen years hunting and fishing and such. Why sometimes he’d be gone for days in the hills round about here. Although, I thought it a bit odd that he never did bring home any game. I often wondered if he was really hunting or fishing at all. I think maybe he just liked being out there in God’s country.”

Grandma had fixed him a big plate of meat and potatoes along with some green beans and buttered bread. It looked delicious.

Jason wolfed down his supper with no more conversation and headed back outside to find the arrow he had shot out into the hay field.

“Don't you want desert?” Asked Grandma.

“Later, He yelled as he jumped off the back porch. Gotta find my arrow before it gets dark.”

The orange autumn sun was already sinking behind the wooded hills and he knew that he didn’t have much time left in the day to locate that missing arrow.

He searched back and forth like an old bloodhound, in the dry grassy field. He stuck to the area where he thought it most likely had landed. He couldn’t find it. It was just getting too dark to find anything now. Maybe tomorrow morning he would have a better chance of finding it.

He gave up searching and decided to head back to Grandpa’s old out building and nose around a bit more before bedtime. He thought that maybe there could be a few other items like the bow, stashed in there somewhere.

He poked around for a while, but unfortunately for him, this search produced the same rotten luck as he had out in the hay field.

He finally decided to give up looking for stuff for the evening and head on back to the farmhouse. He could take the bow up to his room and give it a more detailed exam.

He came in and exchanged the usual good nights with Grandma on his way up the stairs.

“You want your desert now?” Asked Grandma.

“Yea, I forgot about it. What do we have?” He asked, on his way back down the stairs.

“There’s a piece of apple pie, cut for you on the kitchen counter.” She said.

“Thanks Grandma,” He said, “ok if I eat it in my room?”

“That’s fine, just you remember to bring down the plate in the morning.”

“I will.” He said, as he headed back up the stairs, with the apple pie in one hand and the bow in the other.

He sat on the bed and devoured the apple pie in no time flat. He then spent a few hours examining the strange engravings on the bow and quiver.

Much to his delight he found that each of the arrows also had the same type of mysterious engravings, just like those on the bow and quiver.

He noticed that each one of the arrows was also a bit different from the other in color along with the engraving. This was defiantly some sort of ancient writing and he could not stop wondering what it must say.

Jason finally fell asleep with one of the engraved arrows still in hand and dreamed that he was hunting for deer in a thick forest.

#

 

Time Marches On

Chapter 2

Time Marches On

The days soon turned into weeks, as Jason Fletcher slowly honed his archery skills. Without fail, every day he would target practice for several hours. He had also finally located that missing arrow in the hay field and returned it to its rightful place in the leather quiver.

He had also decided to take Grandma Fletcher’s advice, to explore the woods and creek near the farm.

When he wasn’t target practicing or exploring in the wooded hills, he was familiarizing himself with all of the various hunting and camping gear left behind in Grandpa’s old out building.

Most of it was just old odds and ends, but among the dusty items he did finally find one other item that he considered to be a great treasure. It was a well-made Stag handled hunting knife, with a weather worn leather sheath. There wasn’t any fancy engraving on it, but it still, it was a fine blade by his estimate.

Winter was coming on quick now and the days became cold and short. Not a good time to be out with the bow and he believed that he had found just about everything of any value, that there was to be found in the old out building.

But as cold as it was, this winter was also kind to young Jason. It gave him a chance to get to know his Grandma better and time to learn what he could about his family history.

He enjoyed talking of the past with his Grandma, and they both learned a lot about each other’s lives.

He learned that his Grandpa had inherited the farm from his father and like his father before him he also wanted to pass it down the line, but Jason’s Dad just wasn’t a farmer. He was born to adventure. She said.

Jason asked, but found out very little about his Mother. In fact Grandma told him that they never had a chance to meet her.

“Your Daddy told us that he was gonna be gone for a while. He had landed himself a job playing with some big city band. And I tell ya, it was a whole year before he came back home, and when he finally did, you were with him.” She said, pointing her finger at Jason.

“But I doubt you remember any of that.” She added. “You were only a cute little curly headed boy then.”

Jason tried hard to remember. He wanted to feel some sort of connection to his family's past, but try as he may, he could force no recollection of that age at all.

He told his Grandma that his Dad never spoke much of her either.

Grandma looked at him and smiled.

“I'm sure she would be quite proud of you Jason, you’re a fine young man.”

“Thanks Grandma.” He said. It made him feel good to hear it.

Now he found that Grandpa Fletcher also had accumulated a vast array of books over the years, including many on farming, hunting and outdoor life. So Jason spent much of the long winter months setting in the den by the fire, studying and learning all he could about camping and living off the land.

Like his father, farming just didn’t interest him at all.

The long winter finally passed and In the spring Jason readily returned to his daily archery practice. He was getting quite good at it, and it felt so good to be outdoors again.

When summer finally came around again, he began to take longer hikes along Willow creek and often camped in the woods near the farm.

Grandma Fletcher noted, that just like his father, he never brought home any game from his trips into the wilderness. He too, just loved to be out there in God’s country.

#

 

A Hole In The Woods

Chapter 3

A Hole In The Woods

For Jason, the summer seemed to pass far too quickly and once again he noticed the autumn colors were returning to the trees and fields.

Jason especially loved being out in the woods alone at this time of year. He often would make targets of the falling leaves and other small things caught in the spider webs between the tree branches. He was becoming quite the marksman and seldom missed a shot.

As one of the sun’s light beams shown down through the golden autumn trees, he noticed a very small dot of a target, straight ahead of him.

He quickly drew an arrow from the quiver, nocked it and let it fly.

The arrow hissed through the cool autumn air, but suddenly, just when he had expected it to hit the mark; He instead heard a horrifying scream that made him flinch and lose track of where the arrow had gone.

Jason’s heart pounded in his throat, and he stood perfectly still, for what seemed to be an eternity. He listened and watched but nothing moved. There were no sounds at all. Had he killed an animal?

For once he wished he were not all alone in the woods.

After a moment or two, when his heart finally returned to a more normal beat, he cautiously approached the area where the arrow had vanished.

The moment he stepped into the vicinity of his last target, the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. The leaves rustled before him in an odd breeze as a large dark circle suddenly appeared before him.

He wanted to run, but instead he froze dead in his tracks and nervously waited to see what was going to happen.

Nothing moved.

He listened.

The woods were dead silent.

Jason nervously eyed the large smokey dark circle that had suddenly appeared before him. At first he thought that it must be a shadow, so he slowly turned to look behind himself for the source. There was nothing there. Suddenly, a great sense of fear engulfed him when he realized that he could not see through it.

It was not a shadow.

Again he thought about running back to the farm, but instead he just stood there and stared at it.

Although it was frightening to him, It was also mesmerizing.

Finally he built up enough courage to approach the smoky dark circle for an even closer look. This thing, whatever it was, was definitely something far beyond his imagination, and that was saying a lot, because Jason Fletcher had a most vivid imagination.

He cautiously inched his way around the dark smokey shape and found much to his amazement that he could not even see it at all from either side or the rear, only when he stood directly in front of it, could it be seen.

Jason’s fear was soon replaced by his curiosity. It was such an incredibly odd thing to behold. And yet, there it was, a large dark circle in the middle of the woods.

He knew that his arrow had to have gone into that dark void, and whatever poor creature had cried out, must have been hit by it. He wasn’t a killer, and he hoped it had survived.

Jason wanted that lost arrow back. The need to have it, was far greater than the fear of the dark circle, so he took a deep breath and held it as he very slowly reached his hand into the darkness.

A sudden sense of fear came over him, and he jerked back his hand so fast, that he stumbled and fell on his backside. He waited there on the ground for a few seconds, watching for something to happen. All was still strangely quiet in the woods. The dark circle was still there, unchanged.

He scrambled back to his feet and cautiously approached the strange dark circle once again.

There had been no pain when he had reached in to it. There was a slight difference in temperature inside the circle. It did feel a wee bit warmer in there.

It was just so overwhelmingly weird for him to see his own hand disappear into the unknown darkness before him.

Weird or not, he knew that he wanted that arrow back. He had to have it back. It was his, and there was no way that he was going to leave it behind.

He decided to squat down this time, to see if the other side had a bottom. He slowly reached his hand in again and found that It did. He could feel some twigs and leaves on the ground, just like this side of the hole. He leaned in a little as he felt around on the ground inside of the circle, franticly trying to find his lost arrow.

Suddenly, great terror filled every nerve of his young body.

Something had his arm, and before he could even scream, it jerked him into the void. As he flew headlong into the unknown, he felt a crushing blow to his head and knew no more.

#

 

The Other Side

Chapter 4

The Other Side

Jason awoke in a dimly lit room, with blurred vision and a horrible throbbing pain in his head. He laid their half-awake for a while and listened to see if he could hear anything besides his own pounding head.

It must be late; he thought. There were no sounds at all. The light was very dim and he couldn't make out anything.

Slowly rolling his aching head to the side he saw that the dim light came from a small candle lamp on a wooden stand beside the bed.

Reality came crashing back to him now and he knew this was neither his room nor his bed. He started to set up, to see where he was, but the pain in his head was far too great, so he gently returned his pounding head to the feather soft pillow.

Jason knew that he had no choice. He was just too weak and in far too much pain to do anything, but lie there and wait.

He drifted in and out of consciousness for some length of time. He wasn’t sure how long, but he knew by the look of the bedside candle, it had been quite awhile, for there was no more than a half-inch of it left.

There were however, sounds and smells now. He could hear movement in another room and someone was cooking, it smelled like Grandma's pancakes.

He thought of how good those buttermilk pancakes were in the morning, all smothered in sweet butter and maple syrup. The smell made his mouth water and his stomach started growling so loud that he knew whoever was cooking in the other room must surly be able to hear it.

Maybe he was right; because now he heard footsteps approaching and saw the door of the room crack open and a bright light streaked in across the floor. He made no movement. Through narrowed eyes, he pretended to be asleep and saw the outline of a tall figure standing in the doorway.

He could not make out who it was though. He didn’t know whether to continue pretending to be asleep or to speak out and see what would happen.

“Are you awake?” Came a smooth whispering voice from the doorway.

Without thinking about it, he answered “Yes.”

“Could you eat something?” The smooth voice asked.

“Yes, I’m very hungry thank you.” He replied, even though it made his head pound to speak.

The tall figure disappeared from the door way and Jason could now see into the outer hallway. The walls were wooden outside the room so he supposed that he must be in a cabin of some kind.

Soon the tall figure returned with a tray full of food and set it on a table near the door.

“I’m going to open the curtains a bit and let some light in here. Don’t be alarmed by what you may see.”

Jason was a little frightened by what the tall figure had said. “What was he going to see?” He thought.

As the curtains opened, sunlight filled the room and after Jason’s eyes adjusted, he no longer had to wonder who the tall figure was. For now he could now plainly see the tall stranger.

The warning he had been given helped a little, but what he saw still startled him quite a bit.

Before him stood a tall man, dressed in light green and tan leather, with long silver hair, dark piercing green eyes, much like his own.

But the startling part, was the fact that the tall stranger had a most unusual set of pointed ears.

At first Jason thought he must have been dreaming; for this Elfish looking creature standing before him could have stepped right out of one of his own fantasy books.

The tall stranger stood motionless and looked back at Jason for a moment with a gaze that seemed to be reading his thoughts.

“I am Elias, He said, and Yes, I am, an Elf.”

Jason looked at Elias with wonder, wanting to know all about him as a million questions battled in his mind, but “Where Am I?” Were the first words that Jason spoke in return?

“You are in my home young one,” Said Elias, “and do you also have a name?” He asked.

“Yes, Sir, it’s Jason, Jason Fletcher.”

Elias smiled and said, “You needn’t call me sir. Elias will do just fine. I know that you must have a million questions to ask of me, but before you begin, I think you should eat a little something. I hope you like hotcakes.”

Elias walked over and propped up the bed pillows so that Jason could set up and eat. He then brought over the tray of hotcakes and milk fresh from the kitchen and set it across Jason’s lap. “Enjoy.” He said, Then he turned and promptly left the room.

Nothing had ever smelled or looked as good as this heaping plate of hotcakes. He was truly more hungry than curious for the moment and wasted no time in devouring them all. The milk wasn’t very cold and it also seemed a little extra sweet, but it quenched his thirst all the same.

After the hearty meal, he was feeling much better and his head had changed from a steady pounding, to more of a dull ache.

He stretched all of his muscles and began to examine himself, to see if he had any other yet undiscovered injuries, but everything else seemed to be in order.

He looked around the room for his clothes and his bow. Much to his disliking, he saw neither.

Again before he could speak a word, Elias appeared at the bedroom door and again, without a spoken word seemed to answer Jason’s very thoughts.

“Your clothes were burned and Aarious has your bow.” Said Elias.

“Are you reading my mind?” Asked Jason, being a bit uncomfortable that this Elfin fellow somehow had the ability to know all of his thoughts.

“No,” Said Elias, smiling at Jason, “I cannot read your mind. I just simply know what you must be thinking; Call it an intuition if you will.”

“All right,” Said Jason, “then I would like to ask you some questions, but this time let me ask them before you answer them.”

Elias nodded, and gestured for Jason to begin.

“Why were my clothes burned? Who is Aarious? And where besides in your home, Am I? And last of all, how did I get here?”

Before Elias could respond to any of the questions, Jason added.

“Oh, yea and one more thing, Who hit me in the head?”

Elias pulled a high back wooden chair over near the bed and set down.

“Well, Jason, first of all your clothes were burned because you are from the other side, and therefore they may bring disease.”

Jason was about to ask what Elias meant by the other side, but Elias somehow sensing the impending interruption, put up his hand in a gesture to silence Jason, and then continued on with his explanation.

“Secondly, Aarious is quite a long story, that we will pass over for now. But I will say, that it was he, who took your bow and arrows.”

“Thirdly, as I have said, you are in my home and my home is a small cottage here in Elder Oak Forest.”

“Lastly, it was also Aarious, who brought you here, after you were attacked by the Grau.”

“All right Elias,” Said Jason, with a bit of tension in his tone, “I don’t know where Elder Oak forest is, and I don’t know anything about anyone named Grau.”

“I see,” Said Elias, “well, Then perhaps you should tell me what you remember.”

Jason searched his thoughts for a moment, then began to explain.

“I remember being out target practicing in the woods near our farm and then just after I took a quick shot at a little dark spot of a target, I heard a horrible scream. Then all of a sudden this big shadow appeared right in front of me, and darn near gave me a heart attack.”

“I can imagine how that would be quite startling.” Said Elias.

“What else do you remember?” He asked.

“Well, I remember, finally getting up enough nerve to take walk around it, and that’s when things really got strange.”

“Strange?” Asked Elias?

“Yea, As I walked around it, I found out that it wasn't a shadow at all, but it was more like a black hole or something.”

Jason looked at Elias for conformation, but didn’t feel that the Elf knew what he was talking about, so he continued.

“I really wanted my arrow back, so I reached into the thing, hoping to find it on the ground inside, and that’s when somebody grabbed me and wham!” Jason said, as he acted out the motion by swinging his arm down as if he had a club in hand. He then gently slid his hand over the bump on his head, and winced a bit.

“And, that’s about all I can remember.“

Elias nodded, and then began to explain to Jason, what he knew of the event.

“It was Aarious who brought you here, three nights ago.” Said Elias.

“You had apparently been involved in a battle with the Grau."

“Who’s this Grau person?” Said Jason.

“No, no,” Said Elias, “the Grau isn’t a person, the Grau Kahn, as they are called, are a barbaric race of creatures, who live for conquest and love nothing more than a good battle. The brute beasts will even attack one another if they can find no other enemy.“

Jason tried to imagine what these creatures Elias called the Grau Kahn looked like as he listened to the Elf’s story.

“The black hole, as you called it, must have been a Portal.”

“A Portal?” Asked Jason.

“Yes,” Said Elias, “and If that is indeed what it was, then someone was trying to cross over into your dimension.”

“Why?” Asked Jason.

“That is the key question, and I’m afraid that I do not have an answer for it.”

“Apparently the arrow you shot, went thru the portal as it was opening and killed one of the vile creatures.”

Jason listened intently as tall silver haired Elf continued on with his tale, but his mind also began to wonder if he was actually at home in his bed dreaming all of this.

“Then when you reached into the portal to locate your arrow, one of the Grau must have drug you through and struck you in the head,” Said Elias.

Jason ran his fingers over the bump again. It was still very sore, and he winced again.

“Your head wound puzzles me though.” He added as he leaned over to examine Jason’s wound.

“Why?” Asked Jason?

“Well, Normally the Grau Kahn cary heavy war clubs. Your wound would be far worse if you had been hit with one of those.” He added.

“At any rate, you're very lucky to be alive, young one.”

“So tell me about this Aarious person?” Asked Jason, “It sounds like I may owe him my life.”

“Aarious, is a lot like you, young one. He’s young, tall, green eyed and hard headed.”

“Hard headed!” Wondered Jason. He wasn’t sure wether or not he liked that part of the Elf’s description.

“As a matter of fact,” continued Elias, as he looked carefully at Jason, “I would say, that you two could pass for brothers, except that Aarious has pitch-black hair, quite the oddity for an Elf.” He added.

“So Aarious is an Elf?” Asked Jason.

“Yes, Well some say he is only half Elf, and that his Father is from the other side.” Said Elias, “That would explain the dark hair.” He added.

“So why did he take my bow?” Asked Jason, with a noticeably concerned tone.

“He took your bow and arrows because they have Elfish runes engraved upon them, and I imagine that after Sophis examines them they will be returned to you.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, where did you get them?” He added.

“As far as I know, they were my Fathers. At least that was what my Grandma Fletcher said. They were stored in Grandpa's old out building behind the farmhouse.”

Elias studied Jason’s face, as he saw him drift off into a memory.

Jason was thinking of his Grandma and the old Fletcher farm. He wondered what she must have been thinking right now, with him three days gone. He hoped she wasn’t too worried. After all, his Dad had often stayed out for days on end when he was young. He reassured himself that everything back home was fine, then asked.

“Who is Sophis? “

Elias stood up, walked over to the window and looked out at the morning sun light as it filtered down through the tall oak trees.

“Sophis is an old friend.” Said Elias, “He is what you may know in your world as a Wizard or Magi as we refer to him.”

“Elves and Wizards, thought Jason. This is quite a dream.”

Elias turned away from the window and walked back toward the bed.

“He is among or perhaps even the wisest of us all, in this part of the world. I’m certain that he will be able to read the inscriptions on your bow and arrows."

Jason threw back the thick covers and sat up on the edge of the bed letting his feet touch the hard wood floor. He thought about getting up, but wasn’t sure if he should, so he just sat there for a while and thought about all that had happened.

“So you’re telling me that I’ve been jerked into some other world now?”

”No,” Replied Elias, as he sat down on the chair beside the bed again.

“You are actually still in the same world.” Said Elias, “You are just in a different dimension.”

Jason didn’t really understand what Elias meant and Elias could tell by his look, so he continued.

“As I understand the way it works, A Portal actually links two different dimensions of the same world together.”

“This is crazy,” Said Jason, Slightly shaking his still aching head, “I keep thinking I’m gonna wake up at any moment and be home in my own bed."

“I fully understand,” Said Elias, with an empathic tone. “This must be quite a shock for you indeed, and I’m afraid I have something else that I must to tell you, that you won’t want to hear."

Jason closed his eyes and prepared himself for the bad news.

“Well, let’s hear it then,” Said Jason, “nothing surprises me after all of this."

Elias looked Jason straight in the eye and told him bluntly.

“You cannot go back to your old dimension.”

Elias readied himself for the inevitable argument, but much to his surprise, it did not come. In his estimation, Jason had taken the news quite well or perhaps he was in shock.

Jason sat there quietly on the edge of the bed, thinking about all that Elias had just told him.

He began to try to reason it all out in his young mind. After all, he didn’t have any real roots in that other world. Although he felt a little worried for his Grandma, he really didn’t know her all that well, and she would probably figure that he had run off, just like his father had. He told himself that she would be all right. She was a strong country woman and had already been living there on the farm by herself for years.

His head still hurt and he was still feeling pretty woozy.

“Elias, would you mind if I lay back down for a while? I feel kind of weak and I think I need some time to absorb all of this.”

Elias nodded in the affirmative.

“I think you’re right, Jason,” Said Elias, “that would probably be the best thing for you right now. You definitely will need to get plenty of rest to regain your strength.“

Elias stood up and returned the high back chair to its proper place, then came over to the bed to help Jason with the pillows. He gently got him situated in a more restful position.

“I will check on you later, rest easy, young one.” He said. And with that the tall silver haired Elf left the room, closing the door behind him.

Jason was indeed still very weak and quickly drifted off to sleep, thinking about all that had transpired.

#

 

A New Day

Chapter 5

A New Day

It was late in the afternoon when Jason awoke to hear Elias asking him if wanted to sit up and try some supper.

Jason was still very tired and weak, but thought that maybe some food would help him regain some of his strength, so he pushed him self-up in the bed.

“Yes, Thank you, I could use a bit of food." He said.

Elias gave a nod, left the room and returned in a few moments with a bowl of steaming hot soup and some fresh baked bread that smelled heavenly.

“I brought you some wine to have with your meal.” Said Elias. “It is a special wine made with a blend of herbs that will help you to heal much faster."

“Thank you Elias.” Said Jason.

“Your most welcome Jason.” Replied Elias as he took a seat in the high back chair.

The hot meal was just what Jason needed. The soup was very good and the Elvin wine not only tasted better than he had imagined, but he thought that he could actually feel it working.

He finished off the hot soup and took the last sip of the herbal wine.

“I’m actually feeling much better Elias!” Exclaimed Jason. “And I don’t think I’m drunk, at least I don’t feel drunk.”

“Oh no,” chuckled Elias, “this wine is not to get drunk on young one, it is a Healing wine.”

“Well, then may I have some more please?” Asked Jason?

“I sure could use some more healing.” He added.

“No, I’m afraid not, Jason, it is far too strong and would actually do you more harm than good to have any more of it at this time,” Said Elias, “I will bring you some water or perhaps some milk or tea if you are still thirsty, but the healing wine must wait until tomorrow.”

“No, thats all right,” Said Jason, gesturing with his hand. “I’m OK for now, but I do have some more questions, if you don’t mind.”

Elias pulled the high back chair over by the bed again and sat down.

“Please, ask what you will, and I shall endeavor to answer your questions to the best of my ability.”

“You said, that I can’t go back, but why couldn't I just go back thru the Portal?”

“I don’t think its possible.” Said Elias.

“Why not?” Demanded Jason?

Elias sighed heavily and began to explain.

“Because it’s gone now.”

“Gone?”

“Yes, Aarious said, that the Portal closed just after you came thru.”

“So can’t you just open another one?” Asked Jason?

“I’m afraid not.” Said Elias, “Not just anyone can open a Portal. Especially not the type of portal that was opened into your dimension. That is a lost art of an ancient kind.”

“What do you mean?”

“That particular Portal, linked our two different dimensions together.” Said Elias, as he began to explain the workings of the portal.

“This is the first time that anyone has heard of that being done in decades. The fact that someone has opened a portal into another dimension has caused quite a stir among the people of Elder Oak.”

“So it isn’t impossible then, if it has been done before?” Asked Jason?

Elias shook his head and continued.​
”The art of opening a dimensional Portal was known only by a few of the Elders and it has remained a well kept secret until now.”

“The last known use was decades ago after we had crossed over.”

“Crossed over?” Jason asked.

"We were once in the same dimension that you came from.”

“Hmph, I guess that’s the reason we have legends of you in our world.” Said Jason.

“Of me?” Asked Elias, with a somewhat puzzled look on his face.

“No, not you exactly,” Said Jason, “but we have many stories of Elves and Wizards and other things like that in our world.”

“Ah, I see.” Said Elias.

“So, why did you cross over Elias? When, and how did it all happen?” Jason asked excitedly.

Elias reflected in his mind for a brief moment, then began the tale.

“Long ago the world was becoming ever increasingly violent and wars between the races of man were constantly breaking out everywhere.”

“It was greed and the lust of power that corrupted those races.” He continued.

“Races such as ours, detested the escalating chaos and violence, and so our Elder Council decided that it would be best for us to leave the barbarians behind and move into another dimension.”

“Where we are now?” Asked Jason.

“Yes,” Said Elias, “a date was set. The Portals were opened, and we crossed over into this dimension, where we thought we would be able to live in peace.“

“So what went wrong?” Asked Jason.

“Several of the Portals were opened for the exodus and the Elves and others who agreed to live in peace, passed through to escape the old world, but unfortunately unknown to us, the Grau Kahn had somehow learned of our plan.”

“They found one of the more remote Portals open with only a small guard unit protecting it. They overran them and passed through as well. The portals were scheduled to be closed right after we came through.”

“We gathered together on this side and saw that several of our group were unaccounted for. We soon learned what the Grau had done and so we had no choice.”

“No choice?” Asked Jason.

“They were hunted down and sent back to the other dimension.”

“That sounds like it was the right thing to do.” Said Jason.

“Yes, it was.” Replied Elias.

There was a loud rap upon the cottage door and Elias excused himself and quickly went to answer it.

Jason began to feel a bit unwelcome in this new world, being himself of the race of man and hearing the tone of Elias’s voice as he described what the Elves thought of his kind.

He knew Elias was right though; humans were often corrupted by power and greed and it seemed that they were always at war somewhere.

He waited to see who was here. He hoped it was Aarious returning his bow.

#

 

Sophis

Chapter 6

Sophis

Elias soon returned to the room and he was not alone.

“Jason Fletcher, I would like you to meet Sophis.”

Sophis stepped forward and gave a slight bow.

Jason was almost as shocked as he was when he first saw Elias.

Sophis was almost the exact picture of what Jason had imagined a Wizard or Magi, as Elias had called him, would look like.

He was dressed in a dark blue robe, with some white undergarments showing at the neck. He had a long wooden staff in his right hand and appeared to be quite old, and yet, Jason felt that he was still very agile at the same time.

He had snow-white hair and his long beard and eyebrows were white as well. But what struck Jason most about him though, was that he didn’t have pointed ears. He appeared to be quite human.

"Welcome to Elder Oak, Jason Fletcher." Said Sophis.

The Magi’s voice was deep and stern.

“I am Sophis.” He said. “Pardon my unscheduled visit, but I thought it best to stop in and see how you were getting along. I have a great many questions that I would like to ask you, but they can certainly wait until Elias says that you are fully healed.“

Jason was quite excited to meet a real live Wizard. He wondered if the staff that Sophis held was a magical one. He decided not to ask.

“I’m actually feeling much better today.” Said Jason.

Jason suddenly felt a slight tingling in his body as the Wizard looked at him. It felt as if Sophis was examining him telepathically somehow.

The wizard broke his gaze and glanced over at Elias.

“Elias is a great healer,” Said Sophis. “And I’m sure you will be as good as new in no time. When you are up to it, come and see me, and we will talk."

That was that. Sophis did not wait for a response. He turned, nodded a quick goodbye to Elias, and promptly left the room and the cottage.

“Well, Elias, Your Wizard friend Sophis doesn’t mince words does he? “ Jason said, with a bit of a grin on his face.

Elias looked back at Jason and grinned too.

“No, he is usually to the point.” Said Elias, “He seems to be so very stern, but he is a very wise man, and has a good heart.”

Jason nodded his head in agreement. Even though they had just met, there was something about Sophis that Jason liked.

“Elias, Sophis is Human isn’t he?”

“Yes, he is, Jason, but he is ages old. He was probably much younger than you are now, when we crossed over all those years ago.”

“Only a few Humans actually crossed over. Those who were older, stayed here and helped us to build Elder Oak. Sadly, they have all since passed on now, except for Sophis.”

“All of the Humans are gone?” Asked Jason.

“No, Not all of them,” Said Elias, “the younger ones all moved on to the West somewhere.”

“So how is Sophis still living?” Asked Jason.

“For some reason unknown to me, Sophis has inherited the long life of the Elves, and with the gift of a long life he has also acquired great knowledge and wisdom.”

“And Magic?” Said Jason

“Yes, that too.” Said Elias.

“I think it may have done him some good to see another human being again.”

"I hope so,” Said Jason, “I kinda know what its like to be alone."

“Well, You best rest up now, young one,” Said Elias, “I think that tomorrow you will be ready to get up and move around a bit."

Despite all that had happened, Jason did rest well that night, and awoke feeling surprisingly well in the morning.

When he first awoke, he laid there for a bit and tried to put all that had happened together. He couldn’t. It was just too much to comprehend, so he decided that it was probably time to get up and face the day.

No sooner than Jason’s feet hit the wooden floor, Elias appeared at the door with a long robe in hand.

"Follow me young one, and I’ll show you to a hot mineral bath."

Jason put on the robe and followed Elias into a small side room where he found that Elias had prepared him a steaming hot bath with healing minerals and salts.

He stepped in and slowly lowered himself into the hot water. This was a much-needed event, and it did in fact do wonders for Jason’s health. He found it to be so relaxing and soothing that he soaked and even napped for a while, until the water started to get cold.

Jason stepped out of the now cool bath, grabbed a towel and began to dry.

Once again, before he could even ask, Elias’s voice rang out from the other room.

“You will find some clothes on a chair to your right. Breakfast is waiting in the kitchen.”

Jason was getting used to the old Elf’s intuition as he called it, and he just grinned and shook his head.

The clothes were a real treat for Jason. He smiled from ear to ear when he saw them. He had always daydreamed about being an Elvin ranger and these were indeed real Elvin clothes.

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Texte: RUSSELL A RICE
Bildmaterialien: MICHELE R RICE
Cover: RUSSELL A RICE
Lektorat: MICHELE R RICE
Satz: RUSSELL A RICE
Tag der Veröffentlichung: 30.01.2019
ISBN: 978-3-7438-9530-0

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Widmung:
This book is dedicated to my wife Michele and all those who believe. A special thanks to Michele for the cover art.