Chapter 11

"Sam, is he the resident you saved?" Gaia asked.

"Not. I don't know who he is," he replied.

"So who is it?"

"Over there, the one trying to hide."

"The one in the pink tunic?"

"Yes, right"

"But she is a woman, and she is beautiful too!"

"In the confusion, I only saw the color of her dress," he concluded, embarrassed.

"Guys, where are we going to spend the night?" I asked.

The resident who had approached us understood my question: he was an interpreter. He took us in front of five houses.

"Five houses for four people?" Sam mumbled. "Absurd".

They were very simple, made of wood and stone. The first was the least decorated and included a large courtyard, with some targets. There, he would have domiciled Vallefra1058, who would have trained every day with hand-to-hand weapons, or with a bow and arrow. The second also had an adjoining courtyard, in which, however, there was the cultivation of bamboo and some pretty little flowers; intended for GaiaTae04. The third included a stable, three fences, and a vegetable garden and Samucava 2005 would have lived there. The last house would be mine. It was located by a small lake, surrounded almost entirely by the oak forest. It wasn't very spacious, but it suited my needs and there were also bookcases and a lectern.

With gestures, the inhabitant told us not to enter the last house.

But he seriously did he think we would take him seriously?

At least, from my point of view, it wasn't like that at all.

I remembered the book and naively decided to show it to him. A strange impression was printed on his face. He turned it over several times, tried to leaf through it, and finally grabbed it as if it had always been his and ran away. I tried to follow him, but he got lost in the vegetation.

"Jas, are you all right?" my friends asked me, who were too busy at the moment to be able to witness the scene. "Where is your book?"

"It never belonged to me," I replied, locking myself in the house.

The next day I decided to go fishing. I got up around five in the morning. It was dawn.

The sun barely illuminated the waters of the pond, creating an almost surreal atmosphere.

While I was working, I tried to distract myself from thoughts.

I had to stay focused, just visualizing me and the body of water.

For a few hours, I succeeded.

Then I saw her again. That cursed shadow continued to bore me relentlessly. He was giggling, watching me constantly as if studying my moves. Within an hour, she was splashing from under the water to behind the trees, skimming me very quickly, making me shiver, and then returning to where I had first seen her that day: she wanted to attract my attention. When I stood watching her, she moved. Sometimes I was able to capture the image out of the corner of my eye, just for a few seconds. When she noticed it, she disappeared for a few minutes. Then she retraced her steps, retraced the same paths, reversing their order. And with her came her annoying little laugh. She laughed at me. I probably seemed ridiculous to her. I felt teased by her attitudes, with pride hurting deep inside.

I had always had a lot of patience, but at that moment it crossed the line.

"Whomever you are! I hate you!" I yelled.

I received a laugh back.

My common sense kept me from insulting her.

I decided to tell my friends about it, to get their opinion on it.

«You will be tired, rest», «It's just your impression», «Change place».

They certainly weren't the answers I would have expected.

Once I got home, I didn't go out for several days.

On the right wall of the house, there was a window, overlooking the forest, which I looked out regularly, at least twice a day, to contemplate the surrounding landscape.

As the days went by, as I had begun to trace the smooth path that the shadow made, I began to assume that she was trying to get my attention.

A strange drawing came to me, from which I drew an inscription.

Follow me. I need help.

Someone whispered in my ear: "Come on, follow me."

I started.

I was alone in the house.

"Who ... who are you?" I ventured. "Who are you?"

I received no reply.

Wasting no time, I ran into the forest, following her giggle.

Towards evening I found myself in front of a sort of abandoned shed, lost among the trees, sold in part due to the not very resistant materials in which it had been built. I entered.

"Is there anyone?"

No answer yet.

I waited.

"Well, then I change the question. Where are you?"

The darkness of the room greeted me. Hearing no answer, I took a few steps, just to confirm my hypotheses.

All in all, it was an abandoned shed, lost in the trees, sold in part due to the not very resistant materials in which it was built, my prejudice was therefore founded.

I shouldn't have expected who knows what.

I wouldn't have expected much if I had been an ordinary person.

But I never have been.

In the floor, hidden among carpets and strange objects that I had never seen before, which I would have easily identified in a candlestick (if it were not for the three glass bowls containing potions with an unknown odor), rather than for a prototype of an oven with bars, there was a trap door of dark wood.

I had come this far. So why not open it?

Not because I was afraid, on the contrary.

I was ready to risk everything, just to know something more.

Knowledge is power.

I did not open the hatch, because I did not make it in time.

Someone anticipated my moves.

I wanted to scream but remained silent.

To get out of that horrible place and go back to the village I so despised, just to get out of there.

A person, a human, a fellow man of mine had emerged from the open hatch.

He too (I assumed he was a boy) was staring at me in disbelief.

"Thanks for coming," he said.

There was a cavity on the roof, which left out a glimmer of light. The boy came out of the passage and moved so that I could see him, lowering the dark bandana that hid half of his face, hoping that I recognized him.

He was a little taller than me and of medium build, blond, with blue eyes.

I didn't understand who he was, but he was familiar to me.

"I don't recognize you," I replied.

«Better this way. Would you still help me if I told you that I am your worst enemy? "

I glared at him.

"Mathias?"

"Yup"

"You know there are three other companions of ours, right?"

"I also know who I am"

"Why did you call me?"

"I know what you can do"

"What are you doing here?"

"It's the same thing I'm wondering about you. There is time for explanations, now I need a hand ».

I rolled my eyes. Since he had become my desk neighbor, he hadn't let me pass a lesson in peace. He always had something to tell me, on all occasions. He only behaved like this with me. He enjoyed making jokes or teasing harmless enough, but irritating, continuously, alternating them.

I could hardly bear it.

I sighed.

"Tell me what to do".