Beep... Beep... Beeeeep... Beeeeeeeeep
That was the only sound in the hospital room.
A doctor quickly arrived, but he wasn't fast enough. The doctor sighed heavily, another life slipping away. He regretted not being able to help the young man he'd grown fond of.
"July 30, 2025, 5:55 PM," he murmured to himself. He took one last look at you and left the room.
Across the country, a guy was drinking beer on his apartment balcony. As he was about to go back inside, he stepped on a rug and slipped, falling onto the protective railing. He didn't fall all the way down, though. He managed to grab hold of the railing, but no matter how much he screamed for help, no one came.
"I don't want to die... I'm only 21, I haven't enjoyed anything in life."
He couldn't hold on any longer; he wasn't an athletic guy. Finally, his strength gave out, and he fell, crashing down. When he hit the ground, his head exploded against a step.
If he had lived on the 2nd or 3rd floor, maybe he would have survived, but he lived on the 13th.
[Roy's POV]
You felt something hitting you slowly and repeatedly. You felt grass, something you shouldn't have felt in your current situation, so you suddenly opened your eyes, causing you to hear a startled scream and a thud from someone who was with you.
You were quickly blinded by the sunlight, so you had to shield your eyes with a hand and recovered in a moment.
When you could finally open your eyes, you looked in the direction of the scream and were startled. You saw a... dwarf? He was pointing a stick at you. You quickly looked around and saw that you were no longer in the hospital; you were in a lush forest.
You grabbed a stick next to you and pointed it back at the dwarf. "Who are you?!" you shouted, still scared.
He, for his part, also stared at you with wide eyes. In an instant, he had gone from his apartment balcony to a forest, scaring him to the bone. "NO, WHO ARE YOU?!"
They both fell into an awkward silence. You looked at your clothes; you were no longer wearing the horrible hospital gown. Instead, you were dressed quite elegantly, though it was barely discernible due to the dust.
Since he didn't seem aggressive, aside from pointing a stick at you, you said, "My name is Roy. And you?"
The dwarf, still suspicious, said, "Tadheo." They stood there for a long time until they got tired of pointing at each other and lowered their sticks. But they were still on guard.
"Do you know where we are?" Roy asked, looking around. Tadheo, also observing the scenery, said, "I don't know, I just woke up here."
"I just woke up too," Roy mentioned, starting to trust Tadheo, as he seemed like a good dwarf.
They began walking side by side, creating quite a humorous sight. The height difference between them was significant. You, measuring 183 cm but being quite thin, to the point that Tadheo wondered if you could carry a bag of cement. And him, a sturdy 140 cm dwarf. Anyone who saw them would probably find it a bit amusing.
Tadheo started rummaging through the pockets of his 'armor,' trying to find something useful, and he found it. He found a sealed envelope. Curiously, he called Roy over to open it together. When Roy arrived, Tadheo gestured for him to come closer and showed him the envelope.
"Look, it was in my clothes." Roy had already checked his suit and found nothing but dust and dirt. Roy stood next to Tadheo, and he opened it with all the care a sturdy dwarf could manage, which meant he almost tore the contents.
When he opened it, he took out the contents and saw that it was a letter. Or rather, it looked like one, as it was in a language neither of them understood. "You... can you read?" Roy said hesitantly. Tadheo, for his part, just stared blankly. "No."
Tadheo handed the letter to Roy, who turned it over, observing a... map? It looked like a child's scribble. They both looked closely at the map and tried to guide themselves.
"Do you know where we're going?" Tadheo asked loudly as they walked along the path. "I haven't the slightest idea," Roy said without a hint of shame. Neither Roy nor Tadheo knew how to orient themselves.
After about 15 minutes of walking in what they thought was the right direction, they found the waterfall drawn on the map.
"Look, here's the waterfall," they both said at the same time, looking at each other in surprise. "We said it at the same time!" It happened again. They just chuckled a little.
Tadheo took the map and tried to guide himself. "So we have to go this way." He pointed to a fork in the terrain and started walking toward it, with you following behind him.
"Oh," Roy said, stopping dead in his tracks. Tadheo looked at him and then at what he was looking at. What he saw also astonished him; it was a castl-... a kingdom, rather. It was a giant and imposing structure.
"Well, now we know where we need to go," Tadheo said, putting the map back into his almost destroyed bag and starting to walk toward the kingdom.
Roy caught up with him, and they began to walk a little faster; at their previous pace, they wouldn't get anywhere. After 15 minutes of somewhat intense jogging, Roy slowed down as he couldn't jog for long. He felt out of breath and his chest hurt a little.
"Tadheo, let's slow down. I'm not a dwarf who never gets tired," you said, trying to catch your breath. Tadheo, for his part, waited patiently for you. After 2 minutes of walking, they both started jogging at the same pace as before.
Roy and Tadheo finally reached the kingdom.
They were grimy and smelly, but they didn't feel hungry or thirsty as they had eaten some juicy wild fruits resembling pears after an exhaustive examination to ensure they weren't poisonous.
When they arrived at the kingdom gate, some guards stopped them. As they approached, one of them covered his nose from the smell they emitted.
"Hey! You two, stop." Roy and Tadheo obeyed and stood still. Tadheo gave them the letter, assuming it was important, and hoped it would turn out that way, because if not, they would be ruined.
"A messenger, huh...?" The guard read the letter and looked at the guard to his left. He said, "Deliver this letter to Noble Bael. And you two, come in. But abide by the rules, as breaking them is not tolerated here, even if you are a messenger from another kingdom." You both nodded instinctively, and before the guard left, Roy asked him, "Excuse me, sir, do you know where the cheapest inn is?"
The guard turned around and looked at them. He found it strange that a messenger from one of the richest kingdoms had no money, but he didn't ask questions.
"Yes, it's in the Heigstreet district. From the central square, take the left path, and you'll see a sign that says: House of Poor." With that, the guard bid them farewell again and left.