Zeth

Zeth ran down the street as fast as he could, he could hear footsteps chasing after him, he didn't dare look back. He veered off to the right and ran down an alley. It was late into the night and the ally only seemed to enhance the darkness. He turned right again, desperately seeking escape. The darkness was almost palpable. He couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Suddenly the darkness lifted slightly. He stopped. In front of him loomed a brick wall. A dead end. "Damn", he muttered under his breath.

His foe rounded the corner and found his prey trapped. He was clothed in all black clothes and his skin nearly matched the cloth he wore. He lifted his gun and pointed it at Zeth.

Zeth tensed, his blood tingled. He closed his eyes and waited for the shotÐ'.....It didn't come.

Instead he heard a sound as if a gigantic piece of fabric had just been ripped apart. He opened his eyes and saw a swirling blue-green portal, well at least he assumed it was a portal, admittedly he had never seen one before but who had? He was getting ready to jump in, he figured where it lead to couldn't be worse than being shot to death in an alley, when two 7 foot tall men, clad in suites of armor made of what looked like steel, marched through. They wore swords at their sides and had symbols and words on their chest plates but Zeth couldn't read them.

The man at the end of the alley fired his gun at one of them but it tinked harmlessly off the armor. The knight ignored it. The knights grabbed Zeth by the arms and hauled him into the portal. It closed behind them leaving the man left in the ally, dazed, confused and aloneÐ'....

It seemed they had been traveling through the portal for an eternity. The portal seemed to drain Zeth of all his energy, his will to fight. It was a good thing the knights were practically dragging him because he didn't think he had the strength to walk.

Although they had been walking for some time, it seemed to Zeth that they hadn't moved an inch. The same blue-green color surrounded them. It replaced the ground, replaced the sky, there wasn't even a horizon, just an area in the distance where ground and sky melted together.

When they finally emerged from the portal they were in a dark, foul smelling corridor. Torches were placed on the walls but they were some distance from each other. Zeth felt the cold metal gauntlets of the knights on his arms. The metal dug in and pinched his skin, their grip was firm. It hurt but the pain was reassuring, for in the portal he couldn't feel the ground beneath his feet.

The knights took him to a cell and threw him in. The only things in the cell were a straw mattress and a chamber pot in the corner. Zeth didn't care he was exhausted. He lay down and was asleep before the knights even walked away.

Zeth awoke to a man standing over him with a torch in his hand. The man had an air about him and Zeth had the feeling that even if he were standing he would feel insignificant compared to this man. The man wore a red cape of a fine material; he had on silver armor with a gold trim on the edges and purple fabric showed underneath the armor.

The man reached out to help Zeth to his feet. Zeth accepted his hand. The man said, "My name is Gerard", Zeth responded by saying "I'm Zeth." And giving him a firm handshake before releasing his hand. Gerard smiled and Zeth knew that he had already known his name. " A pleasure to finally meet you, Zeth," he said. "I apologized for the quaint accommodations but your presence here must be kept secret." "Why is that? I don't even know when here is." Zeth asked.

"You are in the 7th Kingdom of Astararch in the royal city of Estal" said Gerard.

Zeth noticed he didn't answer his question but he decided not to press the subject. He'd probably get an equally useless answer that he wouldn't understand.

Gerard was about to say something else when a boy ran down the corridor through the open cell door, kneeled before Gerard and said " Your Highness! Urgent message from the captain of the Guard." Zeth wasn't surprised; this man sure fit the bill of a King. Gerard said, " Stand, what is your message." "Sir, they're here." The boy replied.

Zeth considered asking who "they" were but decided against it. He didn't think the answer would be of any use to him anyways. " Return to the captain, tell him to close the gates and wait for my arrival." Gerard was speaking to the page. The boy ran off to do as king had told him. King Gerard turned to Zeth, "I'm terribly sorry for this interruption but I must tend to this matter." He walked into the corridor and with a wave of his hand the door shut. He said, "I will return to you when this matter is resolved." And walked off down the corridor, cape fluttering behind him.

Zeth was staring at the cell door wondering at how it managed to close by itself. After awhile he dismissed it as a freak accident, he didn't believe in coincidence. He sat against the far wall facing the bars. The stone was cold. He wondered what he had gotten himself into. "I wouldn't be sitting in a cell right now if I wouldn't have stolen that money." He reached in his back pocket and pulled out a roll of bills. He unrolled the rubber band and started counting; 100Ð'...200...300Ð'... when he finished counting he sighed. "Two thousand dollars and I bet it's worthless here. Speaking of here I wonder where I am, hell I wonder when

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