For the second time that day, Will opened his eyes. Instead of a forest floor in which he was expecting, he was in a hard wooden bed with what felt like a worn out mattress. Whatever it was, it was the softest thing he had slept on in days. He wanted to pull the covers over his eyes and fall back asleep before he realized that once again he was in unfamiliar territory.Will sat up slowly, noticing that everything was still on him including his jacket, dog tags, and cross. His joints yet again aching from over exertion, he took in his surroundings. He was in a small stone walled room. The only furniture was the bed, a small wooden table and a chair. On the table a half a loaf of bread was placed with a cup of water, next to the bed rested his bag. Will silently thanked whoever brought him to the medieval hotel room with all of his belongings. He couldn"t imagine the trip without his bag.
Looking at the bread, Will remembered the woman who had been in trouble on the path, instantly he jumped out of bed and went to the door. Flinging it open, he was instantly greeted by a surprised face.
The woman had been stoking a small cooking fire, making what looked to be stew. "I didn"t expect you to be awake for some time now," she said with a smile. She was clearly happy to be back at home rather than being brought to who knows where by those guards.
"I mean no offense ma"am," Will said as he looked around the small cottage, clearly not remembering the one of whom he saved, "but where am I?" the last thing he remembered was saving someone and pa.s.sing out.
"You collapsed after saving me from those evil men," the woman said as she looked at Will with a smile. "I brought you back to my home so you could rest, it was the least I could do after what you did."
"What I did?" Will had a confused expression on his face, clearly not knowing what he did to deserve such hospitality. "I"m sorry, the last thing I remember was feeling angry at the way those men were treating a traveling woman." He said trying to recall the events. Will"s eyes wandered around the small cottage, landing directly on the woman. His eyes widened when he remembered her.
"My name is Maya," she said in a small voice, "thank you so much for saving me." Her face gradually taking a pink complexion.
"You can rest some more if you"d like," she said with shining eyes. "I do not have much for food, but you are welcomed to my table for as long as you wish."
Will remembered what Maya said about the bag of provisions. He went back to his room for his bag. If there was anything he could do, he would help to ensure she had everything she needed as payment for her hospitality.
Will placed the bag on the bed and summoned up the food he had. By the time he had finished, he brought out fifty packs of jerky and fifty packs of top ramen. The more trips he took with food in his hands, the more surprised Maya looked.
When Will finally finished with the food, he brought out a campfire cooking grill, a pot, four bowls and four forks. "I"m William Carter, he said to Maya, somewhat embarra.s.sed that he didn"t introduce himself earlier. She could only giggle at his attempt to correct himself
Will looked at Maya. "I"m glad they didn"t hurt you," said honestly. If he was as powerless as he was in Colorado, he wouldn"t have been able to do anything. Will thanked whatever allowed him to help.
"I could have been in a lot of trouble if you didn"t show up," she said with a concerned look. "I"m very grateful for your a.s.sistance." She said as she looked at Will. "You aren"t from around here are you?" She asked as she looked at the clothes he was wearing. "I"ve never seen garments even close to what you have."
Will looked at what she had on compared to him. "I suppose you could say that," he said, scratching his head while looking at his clothes. "I don"t think you would understand to be honest."
"What realm are you from then?" She said plainly. Will could only stare at her, trying to find words to reply.
"Ummm, Earth?" he said somewhat confused. He didn"t necessarily know what she knew of realms. He had only gotten a brief explanation from Michael before he had to leave. He didn"t know what else he was supposed to say. What if just saying that, she would bring him to the guards and tell them he was an alien?
Maya giggled yet again. "So you are from a realm with no magic whatsoever huh?" She seemed to have a hard time to believe that. "If that were true, how would you be able to control the Royal Flame?" She looked at him as if he were a science experiment.
"I don"t even know what a royal flame is," Will said slightly annoyed. "I"m sorry I"m not giving you the answers you wish for, but this is all I know. You were in trouble and I helped." Will"s agitation was starting to grow a little.
"I"m sorry William, but it"s just hard to believe you are not from here and yet you wield a crimson flame." She said skeptically. "Unless you are a half breed of course." Will didn"t know what that meant, but usually that would make anyone upset upon hearing.
"Listen, I was born in Minnesota, I"m not a half breed or what ever, I"m one hundred percent what I am." Will didn"t even know what he was saying anymore, yet anything was better than staying silent after Maya"s statement.
"Look, I"m not trying to make you upset or anything," Maya said honestly. "Some flame users decide this realm isn"t good enough and leave to others. More times than not, they get married and have kids. Those kids always find their way here eventually." Maya shook her head, "Look I"m not trying to make you mad or anything, I am just trying to make sense of you." She said with an apologetic smile. "I can stop with these questions for now. Why don"t you eat something? Having that huge of a flame come out must have drained you." Will"s stomach groaned as she mentioned food. He didn"t want to admit it, but she was right, he was starving.
Maya took a bowl and scooped a fair portion of the stew into it. Handing it to Will, she watched him practically swallow the bowl whole, followed by him begging for water. She couldn"t help but giggle at him as he had a hard time breathing. "Why didn"t you tell me it was spicy?" he asked while gasping for air.
c.o.c.king her head to the side, Maya gave him a curious look. "I didn"t know there was any other way to make it." Will gave her a dirty look as she burst out laughing. "You have to admit it"s good though, I"ll bet your strength has returned by now." She said as she got him water.
Will was about to say an absurd remark when he noticed she was right, he was completely rejuvenated! "What was in that stew?" He asked curiously. If he could get the recipe, he could be set for life!
"Just some boar meat with a few herbs and peppers." She said while she scooped up her own food. "It"s really filling in even a small quant.i.ty, that"s why I like making it."
"That can"t be all there is in it," Will said slightly confused. "If that were true, then any food in my world would do around the same wouldn"t it?"
"The agriculture and the wildlife in this world is enriched with spiritual energy, it adds nutrients that you wouldn"t be able to get anywhere else." She said as she looked at him curiously. "You really aren"t from around here are you?" Will was obviously done answering that silly question. How could she possibly still think he was from this plain? He wasn"t dressed like anything she had ever seen, he was ignorant of everything to do with where she lived including the wildlife and the vegetation. What else would he need to say for her to finally start to believe him?
Thinking for a minute, Will had an idea. He went to the table and took a pack of jerky. "You have beef here right?" He asked Maya who just nodded her head slowly as if she were indulging an insane person. Will opened the pack and handed it to Maya. "Try a piece of this, then tell me if you believe me."
Maya took a strip of the meat, as soon as she felt the texture she knew it was different. Slowly she tore a chunk of the strip off and chewed. Her face instantly shriveled up in disgust. Spitting it out into the fire, she stared at will with a slight disgust. "Are you trying to poison me or something? What was that?"
Will took the same pack of jerky and took a bite out of a strip he took from the bag. Maya looked at him in amazement as he chewed and swallowed the piece of meat. "This is considered a snack where I come from." He said as he tore another chunk out of the meat. "People pay good money to eat this." he finished with a chuckle.
"If that"s true, where you come from must be completely barbaric." She spat as she tried to get the taste out of her mouth. "Are you from a cave dwelling realm or something?" Will"s chuckle turned into a full blown laugh.
"A cave dwelling realm?" He asked as he tried to calm himself. "Even the cheapest home we have in my realm looks like a five star hotel compared to this place." He said, he wasn"t trying to make her feel bad or anything, but it wasn"t easy to do so since everything she was saying ended up p.i.s.sing him off.
Maya"s gaze became dark after his last comment, first he complemented her culinary skills, but then he insulted the home she lived in. "Look, Maya, I"m not trying to be mean or anything, you have a much better home here than I could have while I"m here." He said, trying to calm her down even if just a little. Thinking quickly, Will got his phone from his pocket and turned it on. Maya"s dark look instantly became a face of wonder. As Will"s phone came to life, he instantly went to the pictures. He had plenty of Bianca and Leo hanging out with him at various places. Maya intently looked at every picture as he scrolled through. He showed her apartment structures that Leo lived in, or Will"s old house. There were pictures of the unfinished library with will and Bianca sitting on a wall eating McDonald"s while watching the city lights below. With each picture, Will saw a look of disbelief set upon Maya"s face.
"Like I said, my name is William Carter." Will said softly. "I"m from Minnesota back on earth, I"m not a half breed or whatever you called me." he continued. "My mother is Isabelle and my father is Jonathan." Will tried everything to make her understand.
"So you really aren"t from this realm." She said, not really a question but a realization. "As I said before, you saved my life." She said quickly, not taking her eyes off of the phone Will was turning off. "You are welcome to stay here as long as you wish."
"That is very kind of you Maya," Will said gently, he knew she was already just as confused as he was. "While I"m here, maybe you could teach me a little bit about this world?" He asked in as friendly a tone as he could. Maya could only nod as she sat and finished her food.