The Dawn King

I opened my eyes, disoriented and in a lot of pain. The pain didn’t seem to be coming from any injury, but my head was pounding.

I heard an odd clopping noise, like a horse walking, then boots crunching on leaves. My eyes were open, but I saw nothing. Had I been blinded? What the hell was going on?

“Hello?” I croaked.

Hushed whispers started around me, and I felt like sobbing at my sightless eyes. Soft hands touched my cheeks and I jerked in surprise. The hands drew back sharply.

Somebody spoke in a language I did not understand, and my ears rang trying to make any sense of it, but it seemed to make me feel worse, hearing that language.

The soft hands returned, and I jumped, but this time the hands remained.

A whisper in that awful language again, but the soothing tone was obvious.

“Nahale.” somebody decidedly female said gently, and I felt a cup on my lips. I drank whatever was being poured down my throat, too weak and helpless to resist.

I hesitated to swallow, though, until the same soothing voice repeated the foreign word.

I swallowed whatever mixture had been poured in my mouth, and the effect was almost instantaneous. The black void that had been my only sight for the last few minutes began to ripple with color, and slowly my vision returned. The headaches lessened, and suddenly, the hushed whispers made sense to me.

I could tell it wasn’t quite English, but the words translated that way into my ears.

My vision returned in full, and I got a glimpse of the woman who’d poured that cup down my throat.

She was gorgeous, with a waterfall of wavy blond hair streaming over her shoulders, vivid green eyes ringed with glittering gold, and a rather sizable bosom that her navy dress accentuated without emphasizing.

Behind her, stood a nearly identical woman, though her eyes lacked the gold ring and her blond hair was pulled up in a braid which wrapped around a bun.

“Hi. I am Amalie, the Healer of Vina.” the young woman right in front of me, the one with gold ringed eyes, said.

“And I am Arielle, her twin sister.” said the girl without golden rings in her eyes.

Both girls looked eighteen, like me.

“Where am I? What’s going on?” I demanded, and Amalie touched my hands.

“You need to calm down, my lord.” she whispered softly, and her full lips looked so very enchanting as she started whispering something in a flowery language that didn’t translate for my ears this time. It sounded ancient and melodious, and my eyes started getting heavy as the melodious language washed over me.

Amalie’s arms wrapped around me, and I found myself leaning against her chest sleepily. Her fingers ran through my hair, and I dimly questioned why this stranger seemed so gentle and taken by me, or why she’d referred to me as her lord, but then she started whispering in that musical language again, and I faded away into restful sleep.

———

When I woke up, I was laying in a bed, not on the ground. I was bare chested and footed, wearing only my boxers.

I looked in confusion around the room, and saw Arielle asleep in a chair, a sword balanced across her lap. It was night outside, and I figured I had a decent chance of escaping these two strange but gorgeous blond girls and making it away from here, but the second I sat up in bed, Arielle’s eyes flew open.

“My lord, you should be resting.” Arielle said at once, and rose to her feet. She moved with a catlike grace to my side, and I winced as she helped me lay back down.

“Why do you keep calling me your lord?” I asked, confused, angry, and very, very lost.

“Because you are the Dawn King.” Arielle said, puzzled.

“I’m the what?” I demanded.

The door opened and Amalie entered, wearing a silky white gown which clung to her every curve.

“My lord, I thought you would sleep for several more hours.” Amalie apologized.

“Ok, what the fuck is going on?” I demanded harshly.

“He doesn’t seem to know anything.” Arielle informed Amalie.

Amalie looked confused.

“My lord-” Amalie began, but I shook my head.

“My name is Will. Will Thompson.” I cut in.

Arielle and Amalie exchanged glances.

“Do you know anything about the prophecy of the Sun, my- Will?” Amalie corrected.

“No, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I insisted.

“You do come from another world, yes?” Amalie asked gently.

“I…” I said, unsure, looking around the room. Candles were the only source of light, and Amalie wore a medieval type dress while Arielle had a sword strapped to her back. Not to mention the very bizarre language the two girls spoke.

“I guess so.” I admitted.

“We found you laying on the dais of the Sun Temple. You, the Dawn King, champion of Solana, goddess of light.” Arielle said, arms folded beneath her breasts.

“What does any of that mean?” I asked in total confusion.

“My lord, you are in a kingdom called Avona. Specifically, you are in a quaint town to the southern lands of Avona called Vina. I am the Healer of Vina, and my sister here is a sworn Vengar. A Vengar is a warrior, one of immense honor and prestige.” Amalie explained.

I looked at Arielle, who did look pretty tough in a fight, though she was just as pretty as her softer sister.

“Why do you have golden rings around your eyes?” I asked Amalie. She blushed a little.

“It means that I am one of the rare few who can shape the Everlight into usable energy.” Amalie said shyly but proudly, if that made any sense.

“What?” I asked, that explanation having gone right over my head.

“The Everlight is an all-powerful source of energy from which all life in the world was born.” Arielle explained patiently, “Some, like Amalie, are capable of shaping Everlight from a natural energy in the air into something far more extraordinary. She uses her shaping talent to Heal people, but there are a variety of uses.”

“So, like… you do magic?” I asked Amalie, trying my best to follow along.

She shook her head firmly.

“No, magic is a charade practiced by charlatans. Shaping is far more than that, it’s harnessing the very essence of life itself, of being itself, and weaving it together, shaping it into a form that can benefit yourself and others.” Amalie explained, “I know you are not from this world, but calling shaping talent the same thing as magic is very offensive here.”

“A shaper can be identified by the golden rings around their eyes.” Arielle spoke up, “There seems to be no logic to who can shape and who can’t. Amalie and I are twins and I couldn’t shape a bit of mist.”

“Is that something easy to shape?” I asked obliviously. Amalie held up her hands and shimmering golden mist started billowing from her finger tips.

“Yes, very much so.” Amalie answered. I nodded, enraptured by the magical display. No, not magic, apparently, that was offensive and I had no desire to offend someone who could do magi- that is to say, someone who could shape.

“Ok. So, I guess that helps me a bit with who you two are, but how do I get home?” I asked.

“Home?” Arielle asked in shock, “You cannot return home. Avona needs your help. All the kingdoms do, my lord.”

“Why do you keep calling me your lord?” I exploded.

Amalie spoke in that melodious language and I felt a peace wash over me.

She switched back to English but kept a gentle tone.

“You are the Dawn King. Like we said earlier, you are the champion of Solana, a hero fated to emerge from a mysterious otherworld and arrive to save our world from decimation at the hands of the Dusk Queen.” Amalie said softly.

“Save you from an evil queen? I’m eighteen! You really expect me to fight a queen and save the world?” I demanded.

“Currently, no one has claimed the Moon Crown or ascended to the Lunar Throne.” Arielle said, “So right now, there’s no one for you to fight. But sometime during your life, you will have to face the Dusk Queen. But for now, your body is very disoriented from your arrival here in this new world. Take a few days and rest up. Recover. Once you are fully better, then Amalie can take you around Vina.”

“Where will you be?” Amalie asked in surprise.

“I just received word that there’s been a series of skirmishes happening to the east, along the Dahkan.” Arielle told her twin sister, “All the south Avonan Vengar have been summoned to help.”

“What’s a Dahkan?” I asked.

“The Dahkan River.” Arielle explained, “It’s a mighty, powerful river that extends from southeastern Avona all the way northwest, out into the Corau.”

“You are just saying random words.” I accused her.

“No, I’m not.” Arielle shook her head, “I have studied maps of the world for years. I can walk from the Corau to Remalia by memory.”

“Is that… impressive?” I asked, once again clueless.

“The Corau is a frigid wasteland to the far northwest. Remalia is the easternmost kingdom in the world. It would take a year to travel between the two places, and that’s on horseback.” Amalie explained.

“Wow.” I said, surprised at how long that journey was.

“Indeed.” Arielle nodded, gratified at how impressed I was.

“Now, my lord, you need some rest. Sleep, and when the dawn rises, I shall answer every question you have that I can.” Amalie promised.

“I don’t think I can sleep after hearing all of this.” I shook my head. I was pretty sure I was in shock, as I’d been listening to the geography of a completely different world for the last what, ten minutes, and I hadn’t yet freaked out.

Maybe in the morning, I’d be able to process this better, and actually deal with whatever the hell was going on.

I didn’t plan on fighting some Dusk Queen in a battle to save the world. I just wanted to go home.

Was that so much to ask?