5 Arriving at another World

Zeph woke with the smell of grass. His senses started coming back one by one. He first felt a prickling feeling on his skin, then heard the sounds of moving bushes. He opened his eyes and the first thing he noticed when he looked up from the ground was a huge treetop.

He knew by now that he was in a forest. Zeph tried getting up and it was a much more challenging task than it should have been. He looked down his own body and noticed he had no clothes, but what was actually surprising was the he almost could see through himself. Zeph did not panic. He could see his body slowly getting more opaque with each second that passed.

Zeph wondered where he was. If everything Edgar had said was true, he should be now in another world. He didn't know if he should wait for Marcus to find him nor how long that would take, but he had a strange feeling he would be in danger if he just stayed there for too long.

Zeph started moving when he could completely feel his body. He could not keep waiting forever and, if Marcus could find him here, he could find him somewhere else too.

There was no trail to follow, but he could see some smoke in the distance, and that was his best bet for now. Zeph proceeded with caution, minding his steps and trying to stay alert with his surroundings.

His path went without problems and he could finally hear some activity coming from the same place of the smoke. Zeph sneaked closer as best as his could, he had to know if the people there were hostile first.

There was a clearing ahead. In the middle of the clearing laid a campfire surrounded by a bunch of fish on sticks. There were no people on sight, however three tents were armed just a few meters away from the fire.

The smell of the fish being roasted awakened his hunger, his stomach growled in protest. Zeph looked around, hoping no one had heard that, but he seemed to be far enough. He waited behind the trees for someone to get out of the tents.

It didn't take long. Three men exited the tents almost at the same time. They were wearing leather armor but only one of them seemed to hold a larger weapon, he had a sword strapped to his back.

The others only had a few knife holders.

The men approached the fire and started eating after checking if the fish was done. They looked brutish but it was hard to tell if they would attack him if he tried approaching them now. Zeph decided it was not worth the risk to find out.

When the men finished eating, they went back to the tents. They came out again holding new weapons. The swordsman now had a shield, one of the others carried a spear on his hand, and the last one had a small crossbow. They left the camp without disarming the tents or taking anything else.

Zeph waited a few minutes after the men left before approaching the camp. There were only scraps left from the fish, but he ate it as quickly as he could without minding. Whether those men had enough patience to hear an explanation from a naked stranger on their camp was an enigma, but he could bet he would end up stabbed again.

After eating Zeph entered one of the tents, trying to find some clothes. There wasn't much inside, just a lamp, a sleeping mat made of straw and a leather bag. Zeph found a boning knife inside, a pair of pants, and a rope, which he used to tie the pants after folding the legs. Zeph took the lamp and the bag, along with what was left inside, and left the tent.

The second one only had a mantle besides the sleeping mat. He put it over his shoulders to cover his upper body and went for the third one.

To his surprise, there was actually someone inside the last tent. It was a skinny woman, dirty and covered in sweat. She seemed to have a fever. She opened her eyes with a scare when the light from outside entered the tent. She looked at Zeph with eyes covered in fear. She started talking, but he couldn't understand what she was saying.

The woman appeared to have overcome her fear when she saw that Zeph was only looking at her. She kept talking, only this time she seemed to be asking for something. Maybe she was asking for help. She tried to stand up, but she fell again.

Zeph knew that he should try helping the woman, but he noticed that he actually felt no pity for her. This was strange. Although he kept his distance from others in the past, it didn't mean he was unfeeling. Now, however, he felt nothing looking at this woman, who looked like she was pleading for help. Still, his rationality told him to do something.

That woman cowered a little but did not resist when Zeph approached her. He put her arm around his neck to support her body and walked out of the tent. Zeph could easily feel her ribs on his hand.

He had no idea where to go now, so he tried asking the woman, even knowing she wouldn't understand. She finally noticed they spoke different languages when Zeph tried talking to her, so she pointed towards a direction and they proceeded that way.

They were going slowly because Zeph was carrying both their weights. If she wasn't so light he wouldn't even be able to help her at all. They hadn't got far when he heard angry screams from men. He increased his pace and the woman did her best to not be a burden.

Zeph arrived at a trail that kept going for a long way. The woman pointed left and they resumed their walk. It only took a few minutes for the angry curses to be heard again, and they were getting closer. Zeph knew the men would catch up if he continued to support the woman. He was wondering if he should leaver and run away by himself when a swift whistle cut his thoughts.

The sound came from a crossbow dart that was now stuck to his left shoulder. Zeph gritted his teeth in pain and released the woman, who almost immediately fell to the ground.

He turned around to face the incoming men. They had murderous looks on their eyes. The man with a crossbow was loading another dart, while the other two were running towards him, weapons in hand.

Zeph threw himself to the side just in time to dodge the second dart. The swordsman was almost catching up. The other one secured the woman on the ground.

Zeph got up and it only took a second for him to decide to run. He didn't know who the woman was, but he wouldn't just die trying to save a stranger. He was already wounded and his enemies not only outnumbered him, but were also better equipped. It would be suicide if he stayed.

Zeph turned and ran away.