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Chapter 2 - The Right Path

Canthar watched as Diego walked away, down a narrow path in-between two hills. He walked up to the pond and splashed some water on his face. He looked ahead. He could see the outside world right in front of him. It was so close. So close. It was like it was drawing him into it. He wanted to get out. He felt so trapped. As he thought he began to walk toward the clear blue wall that was the Barrier. He walked closer and closer and…

"Nooo!" Diego yelled, running into Canthar and pushing him to the side. "Do you know what happens when you cross the Barrier from the inside?"
"No, what?"
" I don’t know either. No one knows. All we know is that whoever tries to escape is lost. Whatever happens to them is a mystery. All we know is to NEVER try to get to the other side. You’d best remember that."
Canthar looked over to the other side again. He felt it drawing him in again.
"There’s no danger. Just walk right through and be free again." he heard a voice in his head.
"Snap out of it, boy," Diego said, slapping him across the face.

The two walked together down the narrow path and under a small bridge. They headed down a hill and past a small mining area. As they headed farther down the hill Canthar spotted a strange little creature sleeping in the grass. It looked a bit like a large chicken to Canthar, without the feathers and beak. He began to walk up to it when Diego stopped him.
"I think you should take this, Canthar," he said, handing Canthar a rusty, old sword. "I’d give you better, but that’s all I have to spare."

Canthar took the sword and headed toward the creature again. He stared at it and smiled. It looked so harmless. The creature began to move and looked up at Canthar. It slowly got up and began walking toward Canthar. Canthar put his hand out to pet it but suddenly it snapped ferociously at his finger. He looked at the creature, surprised, as the tip of his finger began to bleed.
Diego began to laugh and pulled out an enormous bow. The creature lay dead, with an arrow in its side, before Canthar could turn his head.

"Wha, what was that thing?" Canthar said, still surprised at it attacking him.
"That was a scavenger. You have a lot to learn Canthar, for everything in this Colony is not to be trusted. I’m surprised you trusted me so easily. The only things that can’t harm you are the meatbugs," Diego pointed to a very small insect, and began to laugh. "Now, pick up the scavenger and follow me. We will have it for dinner tonight. Besides, you need to build up more muscle if you wanna live around here."
Canthar was fairly strong, and skilled with swords, but all the new things he was seeing under the Barrier were hard to adapt to. He was in his late twenties, and had dirty blond hair and a ponytail.

Canthar asked Diego many more questions about the Colony and the Camps inside it. The two were already growing fond of each other.
They came up to a bridge where two guards stood. The guards said nothing, and just stared at Canthar curiously. When they got to the other side of the bridge, Canther noticed the large walls and gate, not far ahead. Castle-like towers shown behind them.
"And here we are," Diego said, staring at the towers above. "Welcome to the Old Camp."

Two more guards stood on each side of the gate.
"Ah, Diego. Welcome back. Who’s this you got with you?" The man stared at Canthar.
"This is Canthar. He is a newcomer to the Colony."
"It’s been a long time since we got a new face here," the guard said, smiling at Canthar.
Canthar followed Diego into the camp. On each side of him were small wooden huts, and many people walking around. About ten huts in front of him was another gate that seemed to lead to the castle-like area. A powerful looking Guard stood in front of it. His armor was much larger then the other guards', and it had some sort of steel face in the middle of it.

Diego led him to one of the wooden huts near a fire pit.
"This is my house. Come in and rest. You’ve been through a lot today."
The two walked inside. It was very small and only had a table, two small beds, and a fireplace. Canthar put the dead scavenger on the table.
"Later we will cook that in the fire pit outside, but for now, go sleep. I’m sure you will feel better when you awake." Diego led him to one of the beds and handed him a bottle of beer.

Canthar took a sip of the beer and laid down on the bed. He fell asleep very quickly and dreamed of hundreds of those scavenger creatures chasing him about a field. He wasn’t used to having pleasant dreams. He was used to dreaming about some demon with six huge legs and spikes around its head, which shot fire out of its mouth. He didn’t know why he had this dream so often.

When he awoke, he smelled roasted meat, and saw Diego holding a big plate with the scavenger roasted on it.
"I tried to wake you earlier, to roast dinner with me, but you were dead as a rock," Diego smiled at Canthar, cutting him a piece of the scavenger.
He brought a plate over to Canthar, who stuffed the piece of meat down his mouth.
"Hungry, are you?" asked Diego.
"Very. Hand me another piece."

The night was silent, and the moon showed behind one of the towers of the castle. Diego and Canthar were fast asleep in the hut, full from the roast. Canthar was having another nightmare. Again it was about the six-legged creature. This time, he saw himself in a temple with the creature. Its eyes were large and yellow, and it was chasing Canthar around the temple. He saw dead bodies all over. The bodies seemed to have been recently killed.
The monster was creating a sphere cage around Canthar. He was trying to get out but was shocked by electricity every time he did. Suddenly five swords fell from the sky and he threw them at the creature. They all struck it, and five hearts appeared in each sword, bleeding. The creature disappeared and the cage around Canthar disappeared with it.

Canthar woke up, upright in his bed. The yellow eyes of the creature from his dream kept appearing in his head. He got up and went out of the hut. He walked to a small pond and splashed water on his face.
"Your destiny lies in with the brotherhood," he heard a voice in his mind say.
He still had the dream in his head. What scared him the most was that he had heard from many wise people that dreams mean something. But what could this dream possibly mean?

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