Chapter 2 - Born Again

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Water droplets fell from the cave ceiling, forming a small puddle below.

The boy lay on the step from where he blacked out, unable to recall what had happened moments before he fell unconscious.

He glared up at the ceiling, wearing a grim expression as he searched through his memory. I was in pain…. He thought to himself. My arm was broken too….

As he thought this, he realised that he felt no pain. He sat up and observed his right arm, I could've sworn it was broken? As he asked himself this, he soon came to another realisation – he didn't have any injuries whatsoever.

Arthur veered his neck towards the statue, which still stood as stoic as it did when he first gazed upon it.

After gazing at the statue and pondering his situation for a few moments, Arthur finally got to his feet. He was unsure why, but he felt oddly rejuvenated, like he'd been given a second wind. It confused him but nevertheless he gladly accepted this unexpected feeling.

He made his way towards the cave entrance, following the slight sound of songs birds sung at the break of dawn. It wasn't long after leaving the shrine did he rediscover the sun's light, illuminating the exit to the cave which sat high above where he stood.

He clambered up the rock face that he'd fallen down the night before, the sun's shining light seeping over the top. He was unsure what led him to this but he had this feeling in the back of his head since he began climbing, a feeling of being reborn. Like the pain he'd experienced previously had remade him but he was unsure why.

Arthur finally reached the top of the face and rolled over onto his back, his left side being warmed by the rising sun. His breath was heavy and his face was red. Unlike other kids his age, he spent most of his time in the comfort of his manor, enjoying the company of books more than people and certainly not engaging in outdoor activities.

After Arthur's breathing slowed, the clanging of machinery could be heard from the industrial zone on the outskirts of the capital, a few kilometres from where he lay. The fumes expelled from the chimneys, covered the sky above in a grey depressive coating, protecting the mechanical horror from the sun's embrace.

Arthur felt conflicted whilst he lay in the morning warmth. His home was seated directly in the middle of that grey world, a familiar comfort surrounded by a harsh exterior. But where the cave was, a place that had caused him so much hurt, felt more comforting than any place he had ever been to due to the shining ball he saw above the horizon.

In the midst of the distant sounds of machinery, Arthur heard another sound. Multiple of the same sounds slowly growing louder.

Clip clop. Clip clop.

Arthur sat up to observe.

Three horses neared the cave, with a man sat atop each one. The horses were positioned in a triangle formation. Two at the back and one leading in the middle. The two men positioned behind were hooded and dressed in a leather and cloth material with light metal shoulder plates on their left shoulder.

A leather strap was attached to the shoulder plates and led all the way down to their right side and returned back to the plate on their back. The strap had a junction in the middle of their lower chest, which went around the right shoulder and connected with the strap on their back by a buckle.

Clipped onto the strap, sitting on the left chest of the two men, was a metal hexagonal insignia and a dagger right below it. The insignia showed a man with a spear, hunting its prey. The insignia also wore a black outline and a red interior surrounding the man. The man remained a snow white.

Arthur recognised the insignia instantly. It was commonly known as the Hunters Insignia and what his late uncle branded on his chest when he was still alive.

He changed his focus to the man in front. He was fully dressed in a metal armour, well-polished but had hints of scratches and kinks dotted all around his body. He wore a helmet with a long slit spanning from each side.

A leather belt sat on his hips, this one also carrying an insignia along with a beautifully forged sword, sheathed on his side. This time the insignia showed a man holding a sword high above his head, the tip pointing to the sky, acting as an example of bravery and hope. It had the same colour combination as the two men behind.

The three men arrived at the cave, sitting high above the boy on their horses.

"You, there! Tell us your name!" The knight commanded, authority echoing throughout his voice.

"Art… Arthur Kleinfeld, sir!" Arthur stuttered, unable to answer confidently after the knight's question.

The knight nodded and the two hunters exchanged eye contact. "We were sent by your father, Sir Henry Kleinfeld, to search for you. Our searches led us here," the knight exclaimed, "Now hurry along and climb onto the back of my stallion, we must return to your father at once!"

Arthur quickly did as the man commanded, feeling a strong sense of compulsion to do so as if he'd be punished greatly if he denied him. The knight held out his hand once Arthur reached the horse's side and pulled him up.

Although being a fifteen year old boy who had been well fed and nurtured for, he was quite small in stature, only being slightly below the average height for boys his age. This meaning, horses were very difficult to get onto.

The knight carried out a U-turn on his horse and left the scene through the middle of the two hunters. Arthur turned back, watching as the they followed suit. He lay his gaze upon the cave, slowly shrinking as the distance between it and Arthur increased. He reminisced on the thought he had while climbing up the rock face and chuckled in his heart.

In his mind, the cave was no longer there. And instead sat a rock womb.