The Fifth Dream

May 17, 2012

Once William’s eyes adjusted to the light, the white faded and was replaced with the sight of a village in the midst of a forest. He stumbled for a moment, holding his head again as if he had just jumped out of a deep sleep. Philip turned and kept him from falling.

“Is everything alright, William?”

William breathed heavily for a moment.

“I think so…I just wasn’t expecting that.”

“Expecting what?”

“Don’t worry about it. What were we doing again?”

Philip chuckled.

“The same thing we were doing a couple seconds ago. Going to speak with Marcus. Are you sure you are okay? If you need to rest some more I will gladly take you back to the room.”

“No I’m alright. Let’s just find Marcus.”

The two started to walk through the village, passing several people on the way. They all waved and smiled at both Philip and William, greeting them and starting conversations, even though they had never seen William before, or at least that he knew of. They all seemed genuinely nice. A man and his wife approached Philip.

“Hello Philip!”

They smiled and greeted him. Philip smiled back and returned their greetings. The man noticed William.

“Who is this, Philip? I don’t believe I have seen him before.”

“This is William. He is new to Woodspring.”

The couple smiled at William, and the man patted him on the shoulder.

“Nice to meet you William.”

He smiled and after a short conversation, the couple walked off. Philip and William continued through the village, passing more people. William had never seen people like this.

“Wow.”

“What is it, William?”

“They are all so…happy.”

“Is there a reason they shouldn’t be?” 

“No that’s not what I meant. It’s just that in this other place I remember, no one was ever nice to me. I was never around anyone so pleasant, not even for a brief moment like what we just had with that man and woman. It’s just so strange seeing so many happy faces.”

Philip smiled as they walked.

“Well you better get used to it, William. The people of Woodspring are some of the nicest you will ever meet.”

Though he didn’t express it through his expression, William was happy at hearing that. He had always looked for a place that accepted him, and maybe this was a start, even if it was only in his head.

After a few more minutes of walking, the two started to hear shouts and cheering.

“Marcus should be just up ahead.”

Philip acted as if he didn’t even hear the noises. To William, it almost sounded like combat, even though he had never witnessed such a thing for himself.

The two walked a path between small patches of trees. The sounds were very present now. When they passed the trees on the path, they saw the source of the noises to their right. It was a fighting ring, and the fight that was taking place had attracted the attention of many spectators.

“Marcus is definitely here.”

Philip pointed through the shouting crowd towards a taller man with his arms crossed. He was laughing at the fight, cheering it on.

“That’s him?”

Philip nodded

“He’s one of the guys in charge around here, and the guy who found you in the forest.”

“Well then I want to talk to him. Will you introduce me?”

“Of course. Follow me.”

The two of them navigated through the excited crowd. While passing through, William caught a glimpse of the fight. It didn’t seem to be a fight driven by anger or a grudge like he had thought. Instead, it was more like a hand-to-hand sparring match. Not only that, but by the look of it, the odds were two against one, with the one having little to no trouble.

“Who is that, Philip?”

Philip turned to see whom William was talking about, and then he laughed.

“Oh that’s just Andrew. He probably got challenged again by two foolish souls.”

William guessed that all he needed to know about Andrew is that he was not one to trifle with.

When the two reached Marcus, he turned immediately, arms crossed with a blank expression on his face. He was an intimidating looking man, tall and dark hair with a rugged exterior. He was very well built, and the scars on his arms and face showed that he had seen his fair share of combat. Even though William felt like Marcus would not harm him, his expression still startled him a bit. This soon went away when his mouth curved into a smile.

“Philip!” He said with a proud voice as his gaze turned to William, “I see our friend is up and walking. After finding you unconscious in the woods, I was worried you had fallen to a dark fate. Glad to see you are well. Allow me to introduce myself young man.”

He reached his hand out, just as Philip had done before.

“My name is Marcus, and you are?”

William accepted the handshake.

“William, sir.” He said, trying to make a good impression.

“Aha! William!” Marcus shouted as he firmly gripped William on the shoulder, “That is a good, strong name! A pleasure to meet you William!”

Marcus and Philip laughed. William couldn’t help but laugh with them, because Marcus had such an unexpected personality.

“So what has Andrew gotten himself in today, Marcus?”

The three of them looked back at the fight. Andrew was still going as strong as when William first saw him. However, his opponents were growing weak.

“Jacob challenged him to a duel, but Andrew suggested he bring Thomas along so he could stand a chance.” Marcus laughed, “And it seems like even with the extra man he has no hopes of winning.”

William didn’t understand why they fought. If it wasn’t out of aggression, then what was it all for?

“Marcus,” William said just loud enough to be heard, grabbing his attention, “Why are they fighting? I know that it was a challenge, but for what purpose? This place seems so peaceful, and there seems to be no quarrel among the three of them, so what is it all for?”

Marcus smiled.

“Well William, you are right about several things. Woodspring is a peaceful place, and its people hold no aggression towards each other. We fight to demonstrate our own skill. It’s a matter of pride in one’s self, and his fellow man. Watch Andrew. Once this fight is over, you will see.”

Andrew was standing firm in the center of the ring. Jacob was standing to his right, and Thomas to his left. Jacob rushed forward, with Thomas following from behind only a few moments after. Jacob attempted a strike with his right arm. Andrew raised his left arm to block Jacob’s attack, and then grabbed his arm, pulling him forward, right into Andrew’s right arm, knocking him to the dirt. Andrew quickly spun around just in time to block to blows from Thomas. He quickly struck Thomas in the chest twice and kicked him in the left knee, weakening his stance and balance, and in another swift motion, Andrew struck Thomas once more in the chest. The blow threw Thomas to the ground. Andrew walked over to Jacob, who was still on the ground. He knelt down and pressed his knee down on his chest, which William guessed was to prevent Jacob from getting up again. Andrew looked at Jacob with a smirk.

“Stay down.”

Jacob immediately tried to get back up, and Andrew slammed his knee down on his chest.

“Give up.”

Jacob sighed as he tapped the dirt twice. Andrew lifted his knee and stood. He reached his hand to help Jacob up. Jacob accepted. Once he was on his feet, Andrew patted him on the shoulder.

“Nice try. Keep it up and you might beat me some day.”

He turned to Thomas, who was just getting up.

“You too, Thomas.”

“Yeah…thanks.” Said Thomas, winded from the blows he took.

Marcus turned to William.

“See, even though Andrew was clearly the winner, he was respectful to his opponents in their defeat, and congratulated them on what they did well.”

William understood now.

“So you do it for sport, and respect?”

“Exactly! You catch on quick William. A fast learner like yourself should give the ring a shot.”

William’s stomach dropped. He started thinking he was going to get thrown into the ring by force, and if he had to go up against anyone with half the skill Andrew seemed to have, he didn’t think he would live through it.

“Me? No I don’t think so.”

William hoped that he could talk his way out of getting in the ring.

“Won’t know until you try.” Said a voice to William’s right.

William turned to see who it was. It was Andrew, looking directly at him, with an expression that wanted another challenge. He, like Marcus, was an intimidating person to look at. He was taller, so William wasn't sure how old he was. Well built, blonde hair, and rarely smiling unless if he was in a fight.
“No, I have other things to take care of.”

“Hmph!” Andrew said, “So you run from a challenge, like a coward?”

“Hey!” shouted Philip as he stood beside William, “That’s enough from you, Andrew. He said no, so have some respect for our guest and back off.”

Andrew turned and walked off.

Marcus shook his head in disappointment.

“He has so much potential, but that temper always gets in the way eventually.”

William felt like this was the wrong place for him to get the answers he was looking for, so he decided to see if there was anyone else he could talk to.

“Well I can see you are busy, Marcus.” William said, “And I have many questions that need to be answered. Is there anyone I could talk to that I would not be disturbing?”

“Well you could talk to Simon,” said Marcus, “He will be able to answer just about anything about Aldenin that you have to ask. Philip, will you take William to see Simon?”

“Of course. Let’s go, William. It’s about time you got some answers.”