Since this is a dream, maybe...

"WoW finally!! now we're talking!! said Paulo before he started coughing. God, how dry the air is".

As soon as she launched the stakes, the tunic of the African entourage leader moved and hundreds of arms came out of his shadow and intercepted the stakes.

While the two entourages fought, Paulo's shadow and the shadows of the things around him stretched and began to form monsters.

Paulo moved away to the wall when he noticed that the shadows formed an army of monsters of different sizes and shapes.

When the European entourage began to be attacked by both sides, the other runes in the leader's armor lit up and she began to grow and transform quickly.

Now, she was about 12 meters tall (65,6168ft ), and her whole body except for her face was covered with black scales, she held out her hand, and the clouds started to fall apart and turn into giant swords.

These swords must be dozens of meters long... In the blink of an eye Paulo was hit by a black wall, when he opened his eyes everything around him had become black and white.

It looks like a bubble... and the monsters got bigger... Everything within 100 meters of the African entourage was trapped inside of the bubble.

Paulo tried to calm himself down while watching the battle between soldiers and monsters, the monsters were almost invisible in the shadows, but it was possible to see the battle of the entourage leaders, she now looked like an ice giant and was fighting a giant spider made of shadows.

For Paulo the battle seemed to be the end of the world, everything was covered with long and distorted shadows, what stood out the most were the lights of the skills and the constant sound of screams and metal colliding.

The impact of the ice swords made the barrier undulate, but they disintegrated as soon as they passed the barrier, the leader was already activating other runes, when Paulo heard a loud noise and sounds of wings soon after.

Paulo could see a giant bird flying over the bubble, the two groups immediately stopped fighting and the leader of the African entourage made a gesture and the bubble burst.

Everyone stopped to look at the gigantic bird, he seemed to be talking to the delegations, and as soon as he landed on the top of a building he started to transform.

From that position Paulo couldn't see clearly, but it seemed that the body and wings had shrunk and turned into a man's tunic and turban.

He was a white middle-aged man, to Paulo he looked like the other Arabs at the fair, the leaders of the delegations did not seem to be satisfied, but started to talk and signal to the soldiers and servants.

The guards' tunics activated again and they returned to normal, seconds later they started to walk away.

"Oh come on!!... Right in the middle of an epic battle..."

Paulo, disappointed, decided to continue walking around the fair and after a few minutes he noticed a girl waving at him, she was standing beside an alley.

Finally, it was time for this dream to improve… She was about 1,60m tall (5′ 2.9921″ft) and dressed in the Arab style, the veils were simple and had no inscriptions, but she had stunning blue eyes.

The girl tried to speak to Paulo, but as she noticed that he didn't understand her she started to make gestures.

I wish I had a translator now, thought Paulo just before the girl started to pull him by the arm.

Hm... I think she wants me to follow her to the alley….

"Oh kitty, stop!! trying to assault someone with the oldest trick in the book... it's embarrassing... " said Paulo while trying to get rid of her.

Noticing the refusal, she came close to his ear and started to whisper, Paulo didn't understand anything, but her face was enough to change his mind.

"Hm... this is just a dream, maybe..."

"My name is Paulo and you are?" he said as he gestured to see if she would respond, but she just smiled.

They walked arm in arm for a few minutes, but the moment they were out of sight of the crowd, they were surrounded and she put a knife on his back.

"I knew it... not even in my dreams a beautiful girl would be interested in me..."

There were two young people, one of them was maybe a 13 years old boy, with dark skin and tattoos all over his body, the other was a bit older and with light skin, they both held pieces of wood.

The younger boy had come out from behind some boxes which were in front of Paulo and the older one was standing, blocking the alley exit.

Paulo raised his arms a little and motioned with his fingers pointing to his pockets.

When the girl walked away a little, so he could take things out of his pocket, Paulo elbowed her face.

The girl reacted quickly and tried to jump back to avoid the elbow, and Paulo used the force of the nudge to turn his body towards her.

Before she could get any further, Paulo stepped on her foot so she would lose her balance, then he tried to hit a right hook in her face. Although she was unbalanced, she used her arms to defend herself, but the force of the punch was enough to knock her down.

Paulo turned left, trying to prevent the boy he saw at a glance, from hitting him with the piece of wood.

Taking advantage of the opening, Paulo punched him in the nose.

"Haha... next time you should choose a lighter one".

Paulo ran into the alley, to prevent the older boy and the girl, who had already stood up, from attacking him from behind.

"Haha now this dream is getting fun..." said Paulo when he noticed a small cut on his arm " Oh my God this is not a dream ...".

He already had the doubt that this wasn't really a dream, but that was the only explanation he could think

Paulo froze in terror, This can't be true... Did I really end up in another world?...

The boys stopped too, but for a very different reason, a guard was running towards them, the boys turned around and there was another one coming, they were surrounded by guards.

The guards were dressed in red tunics, a helmet and gauntlet made of metal, as well as some props such as necklaces and pendants. The equipment had few inscriptions, most of them were on the gauntlet and on the collar, but on the whole equipment there was a lion print.

The Guard who came behind Paulo, put his hand on Paulo's shoulder and said "Don't you worry, you're safe now"

Paulo had barely returned to reality when he heard the other guard saying while drawing his sword "These commoners don't get tired of breaking laws... as there are three of them, we will kill two and leave the other to tell the story, hopefully their execution will serve as an example to others".

"Is that really necessary? I mean… they are just teenagers "said Paulo.

"They know that they cannot enter this area, the mere presence of them here is already a crime" Said the guard before completing "I need you to show me your documents".

"Of course ... I'll get them in a second," said Paulo as he reached into his pocket.

When the guard looked to the right, to see the fight, Paulo tried to hit him in the face.

The guard wasn't taken by surprise, the way that Paulo spoke to them had already proved that he was not royalty, also none of the servants would try to protect the illegal ones, as it would appear that he is involved with the communers.

Instead of running, He dodged the punch and tried to hit Paulo with the sword, Paulo dodged to the right and advanced, he put both hands on the guard's arm, turned and used the force that the guard had used in the blow to throw him to the ground.

The fall was very ugly, he was thrown against the boxes and vases in the corner, the guard was disoriented for a few moments, then a few runes of the armor lit up and he got up with superhuman speed.

However the guard ended up stepping very hard on a piece of wood that was on the floor, and as soon as he slipped Paulo went forward and kneed him in the face.

The Guard passed out, Paulo felt a strange pain in his arm, but he didn't have time to think about it, he bent down and tore the guard's necklace and shouted at the boys, who were trying to dodge the attacks of the other guard "Come on! run .. ".

They had a few moments of hesitation, but both the boys and the other guard ran after Paulo.

Paulo slowed down to approach the boys and said "You know the area better, how can we lose them?"

As they ran, they threw things to delay the guards, " Just follow us ... don't get lost when we pass among the people at the fair," the girl said as she ran alongside Paulo.

Crossing the alley, through the back, they arrived at another fair, it was simpler than the previous one, but it was so crowded that it was difficult to get through.

They ran into people, causing a lot of complaints, the guard started calling for help, but before more help came they passed a hole in the wall near a fruit stand.

The hole in the wall led to a less busy street, "if we pass through the yard of that empty house, we'll be out of this part of the city," said the older boy as they continued to run.

"My name is Paulo and yours?"

"My name is Gaspar, hers is Ayla and his is Baki" said the older boy.

"Why did you help us?" said Ayla.

"I wasn't going to let them kill a girl as beautiful as you !!"

"He had no documents, and was probably stealing when we found him," said Gaspar.

"I wasn't stealing, I don't even know how I got here"

"Sure!! you were just lost in the middle of the forbidden city "said Ayla while everyone but Paulo laughed.

"As he only had this weird card in his pocket, he must have lost himself from a very rich family," added Baki, laughing.

"Hey!! give it back , "said Paulo as he took the school pass back.

Baki looked at him and said, "Where did you learn to fight like that? Haha you destroyed that guard! ".

Ayla looked at him and said "Luck may have helped you a little, but yeah you fought very well!".

Paulo with a half smile said "I have been training since I was a child, if you want I can teach you".

"Really!?" said Baki excited.

Gaspar looked at them and said "the guards can still find us, let's go through the hole in the wall and get out of the Forbidden City"

"Is that the name of the city?" Asked Paulo.

"You don't even know the name of the city?" said Baki.

"I did say that I'm lost, I really have no idea how I got here."

"Weird... Maybe is it some kind of amnesia?"

Paulo looked at them and thought, It will be difficult to explain where I came from ...After a few moments he said "I guess it can be amnesia... I didn't even know this place existed"

At the bottom of the yard of the abandoned house, there was the city wall, they crossed the hole, and found themselves on a simpler street, the houses weren't poor, but they were much less colorful and simpler.

Gaspar looked at Paulo and said "You can stay with us today, then you look for a way to return home"

"The name of the city is Quazarra, the city of all colors" said Baki.

"It is to symbolize all the kingdoms of the commercial alliance, the Forbidden city is within Quazarra and for the majority of the population it is prohibited." said Ayla.

"But it is a great place to steal, the right pocket can solve all our problems." said Baki.

"It looks like it is a great place to die..." replied Paulo as they arrived at the end of the street.

Gaspar signaled them to enter a street on the left and said "We always focus on the servants of the minors nobles or a careless marketer, the guards are more concerned with the inner part of the city, where the important nobles are."

"By the way, where is your house?" said Paulo.

"After the barrier outside the city"

They walked another half hour until they reached a part of the poorest part of the city, the houses were poorly maintained and in few colors.

There weren't strange beings or magic items, all the people walking on the street were Arabs, their clothes were in different shades of gray.

"Do you see the end of the street? that is the barrier that protects the city "

Paulo stopped in front of the barrier and tried to put his hand on it, but he couldn't feel any resistance. Does it protect from what?

As soon as Paulo took a few steps after the barrier he started to pant and almost fell on his knee "Why is it so hard to breathe here?" he asked.

Gaspar helped him and said " The city is at the top of a mountain, when we get further away, you will notice the cold too ..."

They walked a few more minutes on a trail down the mountain until they stopped near a rock.

"We always kept warm clothes hidden here, wearing them inside the city would give us away very quickly," said Ayla.

"Too bad we don't have one for you..." said Baki as he dressed.

Paulo didn't stop shaking as they went down the trail. Is there no way to stay inside the city? I can sell my smartphone or something ...

Noticing Paulo couldn't stop looking at the city Gaspar said "At night the barrier expels everyone who weren't registered, even if we have money, we wouldn't even be able to stay in a hotel.

"But if you have enough money you could buy a pass to stay in the city or pay a caravan to escort you to another place ..." said Ayla.

They continued downhill to a slope, on one side Paulo could see the mountainside and the lower clouds, on the other side, following the trail, there was a village that was nothing more than a set of shacks.

"Shit!!..." said Paulo shivering with cold.