Jacob opened his blue eyes only to be greeted by a beautiful face, with small pink lips, a clear face with no blemishes and long dark eyelashes. Her hair was short, not going beyond her lower ear, but the way the blonde hair curled gave it a charm.
'Ashley?'
It was safe to say he was bewildered by the person in front of him.
Was it actually a dream? How was he back in bed with his fiancee?
Unable to wrap his head around this strange phenomenon, Jacob just said forget it.
He was back, that was all that mattered.
Caressing her soft short blonde hair, he just savored this moment. He loved the way her small nose wrinkled when he slowly ran his finger down her ear. Her personality was amazing, she did not care who you were or what background you had. To her, if you showed any disrespect that is what you got in return. Be it bosses, employees or even family members.
While her temper was feisty, Jacob could still not get enough of her.
He was not the lady-killer that many thought him out to be in high school. In fact, he has only dated two women in high school, and one was Ashley. However, once they graduated Jacob was attending a university out of state and he broke things off with her.
University was fun, and he found himself at more parties than he would have liked. It was not until he was twenty-five and came back home to New York, did he begin to settle down as a person.
That was around the same time he got hired in as an intern for Behemoth. The same company that developed Pathfinder. It was a long road, but after a little over half a year he was hired in as a developer.
The company was already working on the game's core systems at that point. Jacob was not going to brag and say he brought the game to a new level. All he did was help them out, share his ideas and do his work just like everyone else.
It took them four years to get a good enough version that they were happy with. Eventually, Behemoth released the beta version to the public and it was well-received. Although the game was not groundbreaking, it definitely had the public's attention and hyped up to be the game of the year.
Still, this was not about that. It was about her, Ashley. A year after his return he bumped into her at UBucks, grabbing a large espresso. The meeting itself was not glamorous as Jacob bumped into her causing her to spill her drink on her black dress. Yet, the meeting was memorable as it seemed like a scene in a movie where the protagonist meets the girl of his dreams.
For Jacob, that is exactly what happened. Old lovers meet again after years. There must have been a spark somewhere as it rekindled the flames that the two had for each other.
Jacob kissed the sleeping Ashley on her forehead as he reminisced in their past.
However, when he pulled away what he saw was not the sleeping Ashely. It was a shaggy auburn colored haired man with an axe stuck in the middle of his head. Blood ran down his face like a river, soon soaking the white sheets in red.
His heart skipped a beat as he nearly jumped out of his skin.
'Renold?'
Jacob asked himself softly.
'No. No, no, no. This can't be!'
Holding his head in his hand, Jacob glanced over at Renold. His dead body was still there as if it was haunting him.
With trembling hands and hurried breathes, Jacob slowly etched away from his hands that were soaked in blood.
In his lap was a mace covered with flesh and blood. Next to it were two heads both unrecognizable, some might not even think they were human.
'This is not real! Not real!'
Jacob whispered to himself as he closed his eyes hoping to get this scene out of his head. Yet, like a broken movie that kept replaying the same scene over and over. Jacob saw Lezhalt killing Diana, Jewlieah and the other maids. It was a slow scene, but the motions were clear as day.
This was the worst punishment he could receive, being forced to watch as those he cared for died repeatedly.
After four or six times, the movie continued as Lezhalt shot a firebolt towards Jacob.
As the firebolt pierced through his chest, Jacob bolted awake. Sweat dripped down from his forehead while his breathing was rough.
A wet cloth fell down from his head, and that was when Jacob started to see what was around him.
Dark wooden walls all around, with a short wooden table right next to the small bed he was seated on. The wooden table had a water basin on it along with a candle that was almost gone out.
The room dim as it was could still be seen clearly by Jacob. This room had nothing besides the silver statue of a woman with a sword in the shape of a cross in her hands. The silver statue was hung on the wooden wall right over the wooden door.
Looking down, he noticed his body wrapped in bandages while a sharp pain could be felt in his chest.
Clutching his chest tightly, he gritted his teeth.
'Fuck!'
"Who said that?"
Jacob asked, but Jacob was also confused.
It was only a moment of confusion before he realized he was not in control of this body. Vulcan had returned.
Jacob himself did not think he would be able to converse with Vulcan, but it seems that was not the case. Vulcan heard Jacob's word and responded.
'Can you hear me?'
Jacob asked just to be sure.
Vulcan looked around the room trying to find the source of the voice, but no one was here.
Right as Jacob was going to say something else, the wooden door opened slightly while a head poked inside. He was not sure who it was as they were covered by a veil, but he could understand where he was.
The silver statue gave it away when he saw it, but now that he saw this veiled figured it just confirmed his assumption.
He was at the temple, the temple of Saint Michael - One of the twelve templars who led a crusade against the natives of this land. One of the original founders, and someone who was thought to be the child of Mother Nessa.
It was easy to know that this was the temple of Saint Michael due to them being in ChangLi which was where the temple was located.
However, Jacob did not know how he got here. That was what he wanted to know. That, and why was he not dead.