Chapter 3: The decision and the outcome

*Rafael walked nervously in his room; the hot shower hadn’t helped. Each passing moment he could hear the ticking of the clock, the air going in and out of his nostrils and the beating of his heart*

“To go or not to go”

“To go or not to go”

“On one hand I can learn magic if I go, find all the answers to my questions but what if I don’t like that world? What if that world is dangerous? What if I don’t make it back? On the other hand, if I don’t go, I would not be able to learn magic, but if I ask myself, do I really lack anything in this world? Maybe over the years these questions would just fade away.”

“To go or not to go”

“To go or not to go”

*Sigh*

*His nervous pacing shifted to nervous ranting, when he laid down the ranting became more of a sleepy rabble and then into barely a murmur as he slowly drifted in the warm embrace of sleep*

*After a long, long-time Rafael slept peacefully*

*Alarm Blaring*

*Rafael woke up feeling more rested than ever. With that freshness he got up and got ready, reached the bus stop way earlier than he used to*

“Hey, you are here early”

“Hey Maxie! What a pleasant day it is”

“Pleasant day? Someone is in a cheerful mood today. The camp worked?”

“Yeah. Like a charm. Guess all I needed was some fresh air”

“No more ghost stories or novels for you”

“Haha! Definitely.”

“I wasn’t sure if you would come. I was thinking that maybe we should cancel, that you should just sleep in”

“No. I really wanted to see you, wanted to talk about something.”

“What’s up pal?”

“What of you get a once in a lifetime opportunity of something, you didn’t even realize you wanted throughout your life, but if you accept it, you may have to leave behind everything here at the risk of doing something you don’t really know about. On the other hand, if you don’t go you will never get that opportunity in your life”

“Hmm a difficult choice to say the least. I think you should go. I mean you said it yourself, it was something that you needed, something that you wanted, whether you knew it or not, it means that something was missing in your life, so if you get an opportunity to get it, you should embrace it with arms wide open, and if by chance you don’t like what it entails, you can always come back here. This life is always waiting for you after all right?”

“Right”

#If only it was that simple my friend#

*Before departing Rafael was looking earnestly at the face of his friend, etching his smile, his eyes, the perfection in his imperfections, etching his face into his memory for it may be the last time he would ever see him*

*With a catch in his throat Rafael said bye to max and headed home. He spent the remaining time spending time with his family, trying to live an entire life’s worth in the time of less than two days, as if he was trying to compensate in case he chose to leave, as if he was saying sorry, sorry for thinking that he would always have more time. The few days he lived his entire life, he was enjoying everything. He enjoyed helping his mother out in her chores, he enjoyed getting scolded by his dad, and just being in their presence*

*But the time slips away at its own pace, no matter how much you want it to stop, it never does, it keeps running away when you are having a good time and slows down to a crawl when you want it to go faster, but it never stops, always in motion. As was the case with Rafael, even if he did live more than a lifetime’s worth in the past two days, the time of the decision was now right in front of him*

“There is so much this world has to offer and yet I desire for an entirely new one. I am a frog living in a well, content with my surroundings content with what I would call my world, and yet here I find myself, wanting to rip out these walls, and see the world for what it is, and then jump into an entirely new one, am I really ready for all this?”

“To go or not to go”

“To go or not to go”

*Though not a moment had passed and centuries eloped, the moment of beckoning was here. With a brilliant burst of light, Gorion was now standing in Rafael’s room*

“So young one, what is it going to be?”

“To go or not to go”

“To go or not to go”

*Rafael could hear his heart beating, this man standing in his room, was the proof of the fact that his life is never going to be the same. Over the past days he had argued over and over with himself in both the favor of going and staying but he knew he had come to a decision long time ago*

“Gorion, I have come to a decision”

“I am listening”

“But before I tell you what it is, I need to ask you a few things”

*Gorion simply smiled and gestured him to continue*

“What if I am not ready and I reject your offer for now, but some years later I try to search for you again, is that possible?”

“It doesn’t work that way Rafael. If you reject the offer, we present to you now, all of this discussion and the previous one would be wiped from your memory and you will have no recollection of it ever, and never again would you hear from us”

*light chuckle*

“Never is anything that simple with you now is it Gorion”

“So, what is it going to be? Magic or no magic young one?”

*With a nervous laugh, Rafael picked up his bag*

“I am ready Gorion, take me with you, teach me the mystical arts, teach me how to be a wizard”

“Are you sure? You won’t be able to return back until you finish your training no matter how much you say or how much you want it, and it would at least take one year”

“One year? What about the people who knows me? What will they think where I am for one whole year?”

“That will be handled. You don’t need to worry about that”

“Ok Gorion, as you say. I am ready”

*Gorion grabbed Rafael’s shoulder and another dazzling light filled the room. Rafael felt as if he was hit by a truck, then a giant picked him up and threw him as hard as he could, as if he was swallowed by the ocean itself and then it spit them out in the forest they were now standing*

*Gone was the comfort of his room, instead he was now surrounded by rustling of leaves, chirping of the insects, and the nightly music of the various voices of the birds that echoed throughout the forest. Adjacent to where Rafael was standing, there was a tent, a bonfire and 3 bags, none of them were his. But his eyes never rested on what they were searching for*

“Gorion, Gorion where are you? GORION?”

*And then a voice echoed throughout the chambers of his mind*

#Welcome Young recruit to the forest of death. From now onwards you shall know me as Master Gorion! This place where you now stand is one of the many challenges you are going to face in the one-year period of your training, if you survive this that is#

“What are you talking about and where the hell are you?”

“You are in what we call one of the testing grounds. Whenever anyone new is recruited they are tested in one of the training grounds before they can enter the world of magic. If they can survive means they were worthy, if they do not, then…”

“What are you talking about?”

“I have created an invisible barrier around you in a 1-mile radius, from your current location. You have been given the necessary supplies to last you for 24 hours, and that is exactly how long they will be available to you. Your shield and your rations will disappear after 24 hours so you don’t need to use them conservatively. That is when your task will begin”

“And what task is that sir?”

“You have to survive of course. For 3 days after the 24 hours, you have to survive alone, fetch your own food and water, find a safe to place to sleep or do whatever you like, just stay alive for 3 days and you will have completed your first challenge. You can fight or avoid the mythical beasts, but I would avoid fighting at all if I were you, because over the years they have acquired a taste for…. recruit flesh”

“You have to kidding me? Gorion you cannot be serious? Gorion… Gorion.. GORION?”

*Rafael could scream all he wanted, but he had no choice but accept his fate, which was now dependent on ‘Master’ Gorion. There was no point in just standing there, so he set out to his task. Wherever he was had a different timeline from where he was because it was morning here*

*He inspected the bags, in the first one there were variety of food products in this one, the second bag had many bottles of water, both the things were way more than what would last him 24 hours, but Rafael was looking for something else. He opened the third bag hoping to see what he wanted*

“Ah yes, finally”

*The third bag contained utility supplies, like a pocket knife, some empty cans, a long rope, and a ball of yarn*

“These are good enough. What shall I do now?”

#You are safe inside the shield for 24 hours, but after that you are on your own#

“I get it, I get it. You are testing out my survival skills. Thank god, for my camping experience, I am not completely in the dark here. So, the first thing I should do is explore”

*Rafael took out the knife and kept marking the trees with arrows pointing towards the camp so he wouldn’t get lost. On and on he went. He could still hear the insects, the birds, the sounds and views associated with a forest, but he could see a purple dome, ending a little further to where he stood*

“This must be the shield he was talking about, but isn’t it supposed to be invisible?”

#It is. For the creatures of the forest#

*Nodding, Rafael, kept moving forward marking trees as he went on, as he reached the end of the shield. Right at the end of the shield, next to a large boulder, was a tree, hanging on whose branches were fruits. Almost all the fruits imaginable were there on that tree, and the sheer number was amazing*

“Well, that solves my food problem”

*He was tempted to go and check out the tree, but a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention*

*With a blood curling rumble, the boulder next to the tree moved, it grew larger and larger until it took its shape. Standing in front of his was a winged lion at least 10 feet tall. Its skin looked as if completely made of stone. The beast walked around with pride, as he laid his eyes on the little bite sized treat standing few steps away from it*

*The lion rushed towards Rafael, who was now paralyzed with fear, wings spread, the lion wanted to go for instant kill, when its head collided against the shield wall. Its momentum suddenly came to a crashing halt. It tried a couple of times again, before finally giving up. It casually strode back to the tree and laid down, in the shape of a boulder perfectly still, perfectly camouflaged*

#Ah, I see you have found the Lionel birds. This one is just a hatchling, so it is unable to fly yet, over the next couple of years, it will grow to its full size, along with its wings and then it would be able to fly. But be not mistaken, though a hatchling it would still gulp you down and you won’t even be a sufficient enough appetizer for it. I would avoid further meeting with this one once the shield is down#

*Rafael took a step back, and his knees failed him. He fell down to the ground, gripping his head in terror*

“If that monstrosity is just a hatchling there is no way I can survive here”

*Rafael trembled with fear, he was still looking at the boulder, that in front of his eyes, took the form of a lion bird hybrid, tried to kill him, and then took the form of a boulder again as if nothing had happened at all. Part of him still, wished that this was all a nightmare, a terrible, terrible nightmare, a huge part of him hoped he would wake up, but a smaller part also knew, there was no waking up from this. This is the life he chose*

*Rafael headed back to the camp, to try and calm his nerves. He was to shaken up by what had just transpired. He sat down, rather a slower fall, tried to eat something. Surprisingly, the sun was still up, he could have sworn, many hours had passed since he left, but looking at sun’s position it appeared as if only a few minutes had passed*

“Alright, calm down Rafael, you can’t let the very first thing to shake you up so bad. Get up. The food is done, and now for the water”

*With that Rafael set out again, a different direction this time, but with the same method of marking the trees for direction. It was a slow and tedious work but necessary for future*

*Soon enough, Rafael was standing at a clearing with a small river flowing through its center. He bent down to wash his face, the cool sparkling clear water, felt great at his face, after the scorching sun. He was looking at the crystal-clear water that flourished with life. Numerous, tiny fishes of various colors, swam here and there in the water. Rafael wanted to put his hand into the water, play with the fishes, but a significantly larger fish that now appeared helped him decided that he was better off it*

*The tiny fishes as if sensing the danger, scattered all around, and then started swimming in rapid circles around the larger one, until they covered it entirely. When the fishes scattered away, what was left, shocked Rafael to the core. There were no traces of the larger one, only its bones remained that now lay down on the bottom of the stream*

“I almost lost my hand. What the hell are they?”

#This is the law of the nature young one. You are either the predator or the prey#

#Law of the nature state, predator and prey alright, but who is the predator, who is the prey? Who can decide? Be careful young one, looks can be deceiving and deceit here means certain death#

*Rafael once again sat down, but this time it didn’t shake him as bad as the first time, he sat there near the water, observed and formulated what could be done. After sometime he was sufficiently sure, to summarize that these fishes were carnivorous and as long as he didn’t put his hand back in the water, he should be fine. He had a pretty good idea how to get the water*

*The sun still shone bright in the sky as no time had passed at all. Nonetheless he decided to head back. Reaching his camp, he took the bundles and bundles of rope and entwined them. It looked like Rafael knew what he was doing because little time later he had a well-made rope bed. He tested its strength and then set to climb the nearest tree. When he reached a height, he felt safe enough he tied the bed between two trees, and then covered the bed with leaves forming a good camouflage*

*He started climbing down when the sun had started to set, and by the time he had reached the ground and gotten the fire going, the sun had already sunk in the deep ocean and the world was succumbed to darkness*

*The time of this place flowed at a very uneven pace, the day seemed way too long and sun had just set when it appeared to be just past noon. Rafael would have to get used to this if he was to survive. Another thing that Rafael realized was that he famished. He was had never been this hungry in his life*

*He attacked his food supplies like an animal and wolfed down almost anything he could find. Couple of minutes later with his rations gone and water down to the last sip, Rafael now felt the chill of the night breeze and decided to retire*

“I will leave tomorrow’s problem to the tomorrow’s me”

*Rafael climbed the tree and onto his makeshift bed. What lies in the future for him? Another night of horrifying dreams or a peaceful slumber? Only time could tell. Rafael closed his eyes to the darkness engulfs him and maybe the sweet lady of sleep would accept him into her loving arms once again tonight*

*GROAN*

*Rafael slept peacefully like a child unaware of the dangers that lurked within this place, unknown to the world he had entered and the consequences he would have to bear*

*GROAN*

” HELP ME!! SOMEBODY”

*In the middle of the night, what was this strange barely audible whisper*