CHAPTER 3

Back at the hut, Frederick set X down on a cot, before sitting down on the floor. Thinking back about what just happened, he realized that even though he had been living with X for the past 5 years, and they both had recognized each other as family, he still did not anything about X, not even his name. And now, his Grandson could turn into a stream of flames, and he had just beheaded a demon in one slash, even if the demon was exhausted. Even now, X's body was extremely warm, and the heat radiated from his skin, warming Frederick up. He decided that if X knew anything about this, he would have told him, therefore it wasn't right for him to disturb the kid. Laying down on the floor, Frederick decided not to give this phenomenon any more thought, and closing his eyes, went to sleep.

The next morning, X woke up with a start. Although he did not know about this then, he had been sleeping for one and a half days. And throughout his long sleep, he had the same vision. The shadow of a giant winged creature, standing behind a massive lavafall, an elder version of X himself standing at the bottom of the lavafall, not getting burnt by splashes of molten rock that rose above his head, nor by the burning hot foam created by the lavafall. This elder version glowing so bright, it hurt X's eyes. The armor worn by him, the hatchet in his hand, the stance he took. X got out of the cot, and to his surprise, felt much better than before. He then took the same stance as the one in his dreams, the one he took before slicing off the demon's neck. He imagined holding a hatchet and knelt forward, and just like before, his body started heating up. X closed his eyes, and imagined himself in the same rock, under the same lavafall, in the same cave. He took in a deep breath and was about to complete the rest of the attack when a voice startled him.

'I don't think this house has done anything bad enough to get its neck slashed off by a 15-year-old kid who can turn to fire.'

X opened his eyes and recognized that he was not in a cave, but in the hut where he spent his last five years living. He looked at his Grandfather sheepily and muttered a soft story. Frederick did not hear the apology, and instead walked right past X, straight to the corner of his house. Over at the edge, there was a pile of junk, or so X thought. Frederick started pulling out random things from the pile and throwing them behind him without a second thought. X was shocked. His Grandfather was a person who had an order for everything and hated it when X made a mess in his house. And here was the same person, making a mess in the same house.

Finally, Frederick called for X, and when X came next to him, he saw a small metal chest. Frederick opened the chest, and within it, X saw a cushion, with the imprint of an axe on it. This must have been where he kept that metal axe, X thought. Frederick casually pulled out the curtain, and under it was a hatchet. A very familiar hatchet. A hatchet made out of simple steel without any inscriptions, away from the shiny golden armor, and the lavafall. The hatchet he saw in his dreams. 

Frederick took out the hatchet and turned towards X. On seeing the hatchet, X jumped back so fast, that he basically jumped out of his skin. Fear and surprise caused his body to heat up. Frederick was surprised by X's reaction, and gestured him to sit down on the cot. X obeyed him and sat down, still wary of the hatchet. Frederick then sat down on the other edge of the cot and asked him why he was so scared of the hatchet.

'Yesterday, when I saw you struggle against the demon, I froze in panic. I had never felt this much fear in the last 5 years. Then, my head started to hurt, and I kept seeing these...visions. Like, in one there was an old man, older than you probably, covered in blood. The blood then flowed down, and formed a river.'

X started to explain, and Frederick leaned forward attentively, no doubt curious to find out what happened to his Grandson. X continued

'Then there was another vision of a large mountain, nestled in the middle of a mountain range. But after these two momentary visions, there was one that stopped hurting my head and instead brought me a sense of peace. In that vision...'

X took a deep breath and collected himself, and then he continued

'There was this big cave, and a waterfall... but made of lava. On a small rock at the bottom of the lavafall, I stood, a few years older, with more muscles. I wore some very fancy armor, with gold and rubies and all that. The dream version of me took a stance, and I copied the same in the real world, and when then I felt like... I knew how to do the rest of the Fire escape. The turning into fire, I mean.'

'So, you copied the vision and did that fire thing. You called it something. what was it?'

'Fire escape.'

'Ok, so what does this hatchet have to do with that?'

Frederick asked, anxious to change the topic so that X does not feel akward.

'The vision ... me, he had the... the same hatchet.'

X stuttered, finding it very hard to communicate his vision in words. Fortunately, Frederick understood, and after dealing with the shock, he closed his eyes, deep in thought. X stared at his Grandfather, trying to understand what he was doing. After a few minutes, Frederick spoke slowly 

'I am not a hundred percent sure, but I think when you are in these dangerous moments, you slowly start to remember your past. Or maybe you are seeing the future, like yourself a few years older. Either way, the only way to fix this is to get into more dangerous situations. I didn't want to tell you this before, but there are many knight training facilities across the kingdom. Do you want to attend one?'

X nodded in assent. Frederick then told him of many such facilities, and when the briefing was over, he asked X which one he wanted to study in.

'I think...The Royal Academy.'

'The Royal Academy, whose headmaster is the leader of Tower. The Royal Academy, that only accepts 4 students every year. Are you sure, X?'

'You are the one that told me always to aim high.'

'But the academy is at Rossenberg, the Capital of the Kingdom. It is a little less than 600 kilometers from here. And the city is not easy to live in. You will have to travel across the continent and cross the Apline mountains. It will take at least a few months, and the enrollment for the academy entrance exam will be in 6 months. Will you be okay?'

X nodded confidently, and although he was still scared of the hatchet, he took it in his hands. Surprisingly, his hands automatically moved to the handle and found a few small dents on it. Like the weapon had been used for years, and the handle had been molded so that his fingers could easily maintain its grip. The weapon gave him a sense of familiarity, and when he grasped the hatchet, it glowed bright golden for a few seconds, illuminating the whole room. X asked his Grandfather about the hatchet, extremely curious to know how he had come across this weapon. 

'Well, you could say it was a gift. The Dragon Knight received it from a dragon, who helped in making gear for all of the knights who worked under him. He gave me my Axe when I was a knight, and when I Retired, he gave me this hatchet, since except for me, no knight used any weapon even similar to the hatchet.'

'Who is the Dragon Knight? And what is a Dragon?'

'The Dragon Knight is the strongest Knight, who is also called the Great Knight. His whole squadron of 5 are at the peak of their abilities and are the only Stage 4 knights in the entire world. As for Dragons, they are great creatures mentioned in legends of old, described as giant reptiles with scales harder than the strongest steel, and a breath of flames so hot that nothing could withstand it. They had wings too, and despite their great size, they moved so fast, that you wouldn't be able to know where they were until they appeared right behind you. The Dragon Knight was the only person who could converse with them, and until he appeared, Dragons were mere myths.'

' How big were they? Like, as big as mountains'

X asked, hoping to find out at least what the giant winged creature in his visions was.

'According to him, they were around ten meters tall at minimum.'

Ten meters tall. That's impressive, but too small. The creature in X's dream was thousands of times larger. But now at least he had found a way to fill in gaps in his head. Frederick then placed a small pouch in X's hand. X opened it to find quite a lot of gold coins. With this much money, Grandpa could live for the rest of his life without moving a muscle, so why did he still work as a woodcutter? While X was thinking about this, Frederick went about finding all the robes he could which were not torn. The Apline mountains were certainly very cold.

That evening X met with all the people he had known in the village, which was not too many. He met the jeweler and profusely apologized for trying to sell wood in his shop. He met the butcher and profusely apologized for having burnt his hatchet. The butcher was astonished but did not ask X for payment, since he was afraid of being burnt like his hatchet. X played with the little kids in the village, and when they got to know that X brother was going to be a knight like Frederick, they caused quite the riot in their homes. Finally, he met the knights, and they had a thanking contest, where both sides thanked each other profusely for saving their lives.

That night, X slept outside the hut, thinking about how much he would miss this village. Although at times he felt like he was not a part of it, this village was the only part of his memory that was full. The only part that he knew was real.

The next morning, X hugged his Grandfather tightly. He was wrapped in so many robes, that he looked like a moving Clothing store. His pouch was kept underneath the fifth robe. Then he set out, leaving behind the only part of his life he remembered, to find the rest of it.