We were ushered into another hall, probably the throne room as the king sat on the throne in front of us.
"Please allow me to introduce myself. I am King Richard VII, The king of the Rostaria Kingdom" he said.
Commotion filled the room as everyone realised this wasn't some elaborate prank.
"Please calm down.....I will explain everything. As I said previously, we have used the ancient magic of this world to transport you from your home world to ours, we have done so as we are in need of your help. Our sages have predicted a colossal war between the kingdoms and empires of our land and a tiny nation like ours wouldn't be able to survive through it without being destroyed. So as our beacons of hope I humbly request your help to defend our quaint nation" He bowed as he said so, but as he went down you could see from the corner of your eyes, the smile he held from ear to ear as he fiddled with a solid gold ring on his hand.
What a pathetic fool, transporting people from whole other worlds to fight a war for him, acting like we are obliged to do so.
"How do you expect us to do that.....we are just normal people!!" someone shouted from the back.
"Do not worry, the process of bringing you here also bestows you with unimaginable and superhuman powers that even our world filled with magic and the supernatural haven't heard of. I assure you that you will be fully trained and be provided with all your requirements" He said with the same smile.
As he continued to speak, I was getting more annoyed, the anger that had been inside me before resurfacing.
"Why? Why should we listen to you...why should we trust you, why should we fight some war for you?" I shouted as everyone looked at me—the twelve-robed figures exuding a visible annoyance at my question.
"You uprooted our whole lives and then expect us to fight for you? You don't guarantee our safety and our lives, you haven't even told us if there is any way for us to go back home, not only that, you bring a bunch of barely adult kids to fight this war for you??? and you expect all of us to just accept your proposal" I continued.
There was absolute silence before someone spoke up.
"Will you just shut up and let the king speak...." someone said.
I turned around and realized it was Akira, glaring at me.
"I am sure they must have thought about all those things already...if you have any problems just leave, I am sure we have no use for a maggot like you" he continued as everyone snickered.
I looked forward again, paying him no mind.
"Yes, yes of course...I will inform you of everything in due time" he said as he giggled, "but it's getting late and I must give you time to get comfortable so let's continue this discussion tomorrow shall we? My servants will escort you to your accommodation" he said as he whispered something into one of the robed figure's ears.
As we were being taken almost forcefully into our rooms my eyes caught on Arisa's and I saw her opening her mouth to say something but I had nothing to say or hear from her as I turned away as we were whisked into our rooms.
As I sat on my bed in the room in silence was when I came to terms with all that was happening around me. This whole day had been a mess and as I laid down on my bed all I could feel again was searing anger and heartbreaking betrayal, adding to that was also the fact that I was brought into a perceptively hostile world and was probably going to be forced to fight a superhuman war. I don't even know if I will even be alive at the end or If I will ever get to see my family again.
My thoughts overwhelmed me and I curled up into a ball as the exhaustion of all that had happened and the toll my body had taken being transported here overcame me and I fell asleep.
In the middle of the night, I woke up as I could feel my breath being constricted only to realize my mouth had been gagged and my hands and feet had been tied. I was in a moving carriage with a guard I had seen in the palace.
I started screaming with all my might, moving as much as I can but to no avail. The guard just looked at me and laughed.
I continued to struggle, even biting my tongue and blood leaking out from the sides of my mouth as tears of frustration and fear ran down my cheeks. What had I done to deserve this.....
The carriage finally stopped a few hours later as I sat dazed unable to do anything. The guard and the rider of the carriage stayed silent. The guard picked me up by the scruff of my neck and threw me out of the carriage scrapping my skin against the floor.
"Well, that's our job done boy. Good luck staying alive, you are going to need it.....oh and don't worry about your friends they are all going to be told you left the castle of your own will taking the advice of your classmate" he said as he smirked.
I started shouting as loudly as I could but all anyone could hear were muffled noises. he started walking back to the carriage and all hopes of me ever being safe had vanished. I looked around to see a huge pitch-black forest with dead trees all around me, I was literally in the middle of nowhere, I crawled towards a jagged rock and the skin all over my body started bleeding as it scraped against the ground.
I was finally able to tear the gag and the cloth on my bound hands and legs as I caught my breath and tried to sit down at the base of a nearby tree.
I was parched and bleeding all over, I had bruises on my tongue and limbs and all I could do was look up at the night sky as the hopelessness of my situation finally set in.
And as I looked back into the forest cover I could see two glowing eyes in the midst, like a tiger hunting its prey....and In the very next instant, I heard a loud growl.....