1 Ignorance

"It happened again."

Her fingers slowly sliding on my back, as they move up my spine the hairs on my body stood up reacting to her cold touch. Her fingers grip my skin tightly as if the fear of me disappearing is a constant concern. However, despite the scratches, the expectation of pain is not met, much I wait the pain it does not arise.

Such feeling cannot manifest itself when all my senses are focused on the fragrance coming from her long dark hair. With each breath, they fill my lungs intoxicating me, each time my insecurities and fears are alleviated, no. For some unknown reason, all the anguish, all my grief that has been accumulating for years, goes numb when I hold her in my arms. It was like ...

"Hey Jin! Bro are you good? "Asked Vendrick. "Brother you were sweating like there was no tomorrow, I had to check up on you."

"Huh?" The boy looked around, still disoriented. In front of him a boy with yellow eyes was Vendrick, his brow furrowing in concern.

"Anyways It's time for you to gear up, this your first day at the Sanctum so we can't be late." He continued, "Go wash your face at the lake, I'll be waiting by the carriage."

Cold water moistened his face, the thermal shock bringing him back to reality.

"It really happened again didn't It?" Jin whispered to himself again as he tried his hardest to recall what he had just experienced. However the longer he tried to think back on it, the faster those sensations went away.

"So are you ready?" asked Vendrick as Jin joined him inside the carriage.

"Well I'm very anxious ... I don't know what to expect."

"Don't worry brother, I have already spoken with the Elders beforehand and they allowed me to tag along on this one. Since I'm on my third year there, it shouldn't be an issue to be your guide."

Jim took comfort in Vendrick's words, although they were not blood brothers, the two had known each other since childhood. His father, Alaric had adopted Vendrick when Jin was only five. As he grew up, the boy needed to be reminded constantly by his father that the two were not tied by blood.

The point was that most of our memories are developed after the age of seven, at least that's what the townsfolk say. His life before Vendrick's arrival was a blur, a blur that could only be corrected when his dad, Alaric was at home refreshing his memory, telling tales and adventures he was too young to remember.

"I just wished that I could have said goodbye to Dad ..." grumbled Jin, his brown eyes admiring the landscape, great mountains on the horizon before him.

"You know how your Dad is. It must have been urgent for him to leave without a warning. "

"He couldn't even leave a letter at least? That bastard.

"You know what I think about your old man. So I rather not comment on the subject. " Smiled Vendrick with his arms crossed.

"So anyways… Vendrick can you tell me about Sanctum? Everyone always seems to talk about it with high regards, but they never seem to go on detail."

"That is for a good reason. People shouldn't really be worried about things they aren't able to deal with. " Said Vendrick, a cautious expression on his face.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh my… How slow can you be Jin? Have you never wondered why me and your dad never let you go past the Hollow Forest?"

It was true.

Jin was sixteen, and in all that time he had never left his village. All this time, pretending to be a knight in shining armor with a wooden broom or playing tag with the other children.

That was all he was.

A child.

His father had covered and protected his most precious treasure from the darkness and evil that wandered in that accursed world.

"We arrived."

Said Vendrick as he pointed to the window. Following where his finger was pointing towards, Alaric saw dozens of hooded figures staring at his carriage as if they had been waiting for them.