The Adventure of a Lifetime


Chapter 1: Into the Woods!

In he stepped, and surveyed the scene. Needless to say, Sophonus was taken aback by what greeted him. Just standing inside of the woods was something that he had never experienced before, and he was feeling a bit overwhelmed by it. Such a difference, his mind commented, it is just as I imagined. This was correct, as he had, many times in the long years, stared at the Newcraven, wondering what lay beyond. Truly, it was a sight far different from the sea shore. All around were tall trees, easily fifty feet high or more, clumped together creating a huge hallway of leaves and branches. The ground was covered in shade, making the forest far cooler than outside in the full force of the sun. A welcome change. And quiet. At home, the constant waves of the nearby sea prevented the village from being totally silent. And yet, far from the reaches of the ocean, this place was almost sullen and calm. All these things and more greeted the intrepid young adventurer as he took his first steps into a larger and more stimulating world. A place with countless adventures, terrifying evil criminals, and beautiful damsels were just around the corner. A life that was full of surprises and promising events.

Sophonus recalled something his master Phineas had talked to him of. They were inside his rickety hut, practicing martial art moves, and a particularly nasty hit caused Sophonus to collapse in pain. His master, who was a strict, harsh, and yet caring teacher, inspected the wound and saw his punch, had fractured the boy’s right arm. He quickly waved his hands in mysterious patterns and chanted in a low voice. Almost at once, the boy had felt his bones beneath the skin pop back up and knit itself together. After a moment or two, his arm could move normally again. Phineas stood, but offered no hand to help his student regain his footing. Hopping to his feet, in a nimble move that he had learned, he bowed before his master. Phineas called for a rest and they both went outside to get some water from a nearby brook.

“Ya had best learn to handle pain,” said the old man after taking a long drink. It seemed that the training had worn him out as well. “While traveling the lands, yer are going to encounter all sorts of diabolical villains that will inflict grievous harm on ya, just as I did. Ya are going to have to learn to stay on your feet and sock it to them. Even if a limb or two gets lobbed of, ya need to keep at it. The first rule as an adventurer is to never allow an evil doer to defeat ya. Yer are a servant of Justice, and ya need to perform your duties.” The boy listened and nosily slurped up water. He turned his large bloodshot eyes to his teacher.

“Are there really people out there like that sir? All evil like and everything? And will I really lose a leg or an arm?” Phineas laughed a little, choking on a bit of water as he did so.

“Aye boy, there are nasty folks out there that follow the teachings of Valoton, God of Death and Destruction, sure enough. Their specialty is to cause as much damage around the lands as they can. And they enjoy it too. Gives them an exhilarating feeling, the way I understand it. They say that after ya kill another man, it gets in your blood and ya can’t stop. Not true for all people, but I guess it is accurate with some.” He took another mouthful, swallowed, and turned his twinkling eyes back to his pupil. “And yes, yer gonna probably get an appendage hacked off at one time or another. So ya best keep on yer toes.” The boy thought about this and then asked, “Is there all sorts of exciting things in the world like that?”

“Ya better believe it boy.” Phineas cast an arm at the western border of the Newcraven. “Beyond those trees are adventures ya never would think possible, full of danger and excitement. Countless monsters that need slaying, villains plans that need foiling, and” he laughed a bit, “Beautiful women that need rescuing.” He winked at the boy in a knowing way, but its meaning was lost on the ever sheltered Sophonus. Besides, the boy was once more completely lost in thought, thinking of the day when he could venture to distant lands, and wage biblical battles with terrifying dragons and demons. It filled him with such anticipation, that he jumped up and ran back to the house, shouting over his sholder, “Let’s get back to my training, master! I think I’m going to need it!”

And now, here on the edge of the long awaited woods, stood that same boy, although now grown up, thinking back to those days that seemed so long ago. It is finally time, he said to himself, to cast off this farming boy guise, and step into world. A larger world. Sophonus finally found himself, and took a few…tentative steps forward, but cast a longing look behind him. There, in the distance was his village, as it had always been. Peaceful, quiet, and unexciting. A place for a normal man. But I am no normal man, Sophonus told himself. I am stronger, ready to face the world out there. In fact, I am a great man, prepared to confront any challenge and defeat any foe.

In his mind, as if it came crawling out of a deep dark hole, came the ever familiar voice, the same one that had followed him around all these many years, like a loyal dog to its master. “A great man,” it cackled wildly, “you consider yourself a great man? You are more of a fool than I ever gave you credit for! How can you even believe such nonsense? You allowed your father to die in the fields, your mother to bandits, and your brother went off to war, to fight for his land. And what of you? You disregarded all of your obligations to your family, causing them such grief over your selfish desire to become an “adventurer”! You wouldn’t accept the future that fate had dealt you. Oh no! You had to get crazy notions of being a savior of all the lands! That old man just fueled the madness that was already there to begin with! To think you are a great man, after allowing yourself to be warped by that fanatical old codger is insanity. Oh dear me, what a lunatic this boy is! Why not give up now, and return to a life of peace and safety, a place where you can’t get members sliced off by creatures that are so much better than you are? It would be foolhardy to throw your life away, when you could even easier throw aside your sword and hang up this useless pathetic delusion of yours?”

This hit Sophonus’s entire mind in one instant and he actually had to stop and listen to what the voice, that aggravating and obnoxious voice, was saying. It had actually made him pause, something he had promised himself he would never allow to happen again. But he would not allow this daunting voice to control his destiny. “Listen to me,” he told the voice. “I am a great man, my teacher was a great man, and there is nothing wrong with the path I have chosen. The life I am going to live is going to be filled with honor, justice, and adventure. If that is so wrong, than you are oblivious to the world around you and you have my pity.” It didn’t take long for the voice to provide its response. “Honor and justice? You believe that a man with no true direction in life can help others when he can’t even help himself? All adventures throughout history are all the same, a boisterous lot obsessed with power and a lust to kill. Do you think you are so special that you can escape this? Before a week is out, you will slaughter an innocent and after you suffered the remorse, you will admit to yourself that you enjoyed taking their life! You are treading upon a road of evil, and you will be damned if you take it any further than you already have.”

Sophonus heard all this, but he sensed the voice was beginning to sound desperate, as if it was almost pleading for him to return to his home and abandon all he had worked for these past seven years. The fact that he had no intention of doing so was all the response the voice in his head needed. It silenced itself, and retreated, but not gone altogether. Sophonus shook it off. I have things to do, he said to himself, and they need to get done. He started to move, one step at a time, moving past the trees around him. He paused once more, and began to think of another thing his master had told him. Once more, his mind flashed back to but a few winters ago, inside the small wooden cabin that was his master’s home. He had been studying all sorts of magical texts, and Phineas was sitting near the fire, having a drink.

“One thing ya haff ta remember,” The old man had said suddenly, “There will always be people that will want to stop ya from becomin’ what you want ta be in life. Ya gotta remember that yer life is yer own, and yer choices are yers alone.” Sophonus heard this, but didn’t follow up with any questions of his own, which he, more often than not, did. He had taken in the message and understood it. As it was, Phineas had been referring to an argument the boy had gotten into with his father not too long ago. There had been some hot words between them, and it almost dissipated into a fist fight between them, a fight that Sophonus could easily have won, had not his mother stepped in with her tears, screaming at them to stop behaving like animals. That had filled Sophonus’s heart with sorrow, and he had even gone as far as to thinking that the choice he had decided upon all those years ago was incorrect.

Nevertheless, he had continued with his work and training, confident that he could help the world if he could just find it in his heart to go on. Yes, he had gone on, and yes it was a very difficult thing to do, yet he had persevered. All these images and voices from the past were swirling through his head, trying to find their respective places in his memory. Suddenly, it didn’t even seem that important anymore. He gave his head a toss, and his mind cleared. Once more, he found himself at the present, standing just inside the shelter of the Newcraven. No more distractions, he promised himself, I will walk forward and take whatever is my destiny. So saying, he began to walk again, all the while visions of glory filled him, and were his guide, leading him onward to what Fate had in store for him. No doubt, it would be worth the long long wait.