The guards blind-folded Harwin before taking him to the place where he was to be judged.

  For the first few moments, he stumbled a-lot which annoyed his captor who then basically dragged him away. Soon they reached their destination.

  After taking permission, they entered a house. The guards were ordered for the blind-fold to be taken-off by the possible leader of the village.

  Harwin finally gained back his sight. He looked around to find that he was in a hall of sort. It had minimal furniture and decor — most of the hall was empty. It was built up entirely of wood which was expected due to being in a village.

  In-front of him, sat three men, one old and two middle-aged. Of-course, all elves.

  Harwin looked behind to find Borzugal, who was still chained.

  One of the middle-aged elf asked the guards:

  "Where is the chief-commander. I instructed you to get him as well."

  "I passed along your message, but he said that he will leave the matter to the judgement of the chieftain."

  The elders frowned but none the less signaled the guards to state the case.

  “These are intruders that the scouts captured.The orc was alone. He was going through the forest without any carriage or ride. The human was traveling with a large raiding party comprised of beast-men who were casting spells to destroy the forest. He appeared to be important so we captured him.”

  Harwin knew he should have been in the other carriages. The warrior’s chariot of course would have invited attention from across a mile. Still they were incorrect about some parts such as the raiding party bit.

  “Father, it will be wise to execute both of them and then hang their corpses at the front of the forest as an example for any future party.” the middle-aged elf spoke.

  “I agree with you, elder brother.”

  Harwin panicked but did not speak yet.

  The old man was pondering deep in thoughts. He was first staring into nothingness, but since the guard started to state the case, he looked directly at the prisoners.

  Harwin initially thought the old man was blind but was considering otherwise now.

  Everyone looked at the old man for a response, who did not speak for a while.

  “You two are too hasty even though your young days are over. I expect you to be calm and logical in your decisions. A chieftain can not be impatient or careless"

  The old man lectured his sons who listened attentively without a frown upon their faces.

  “You youngling,” he pointing at the guard:

  “Why was no one else captured from this raiding party you speak of. If it was so large, there must have been others to capture than only this human slave.”

  Harwin were shocked at the intuition of the old man.

  “There were far too many and far too overwhelming for us to capture, chief.” He looked down while speaking, clearly in shame.

  “See this now, my sons. You were judging too quickly. What about this orc? Did he retaliate when he was captured? Was he harming the sanctity of the forest? Was he even carrying a weapon?”

  “No. He did not have a weapon in his possession.”

  “So you proudly present before me two harmless passerby who were simply caught up in the wrong situation. Have the younglings really gone this dull. I should talk with the chief-commander or the captains about their training methods — maybe they have gone too soft on you lot.”

  The old-man was wise and kind enough to not just go through with things as they seem.

  “We apologize for our actions chief, but what should we do with them?”

  The chief looked in the directions of his sons first. He expected them to give their decisions but both fearing another scolding did not utter a word.

  “Cut the orc's arm off. He must have known that the forest was off limits — that should teach him a lesson. As for the human, I believe he was not here by choice, but still let him see what happens to those who try to traverse through forbidden territories without permission.”

  “THIS IS ABSURD!” Harwin protested though he regretted immediately.

  He just could not hold back his emotions even for someone who he had just met yesterday. It did not seem fair for him that a person be punished in such a manner for something that was so meager in nature.

  “YOU DARE SPEAK IN THE PRESENCE OF THE CHIEF. I WILL RIP YOUR TONGUE OUT!” the guard held a dagger to his face.

  “Stop it. He is might be important to us. If the raiding party is still here and this one really is important to them — we better keep him as a barraging chip.”

  Upon the remarks from the chief, the guard put away his dagger immediately.

  “Human. You appear to be quite fluent in our tongue. I would advise you to stay quiet as unlike this old man you shouted at, the young ones are blood-thirsty and impatient.”

  “I am terribly sorry for my poor behavior, kindly find it in your heart to forgive my misconduct. I humbly request you to not cut this man’s arm. He is innocent and does not—” He was interrupted by the chief.

  "Innocent or not. We can not afford for a trespasser to go unpunished as it could lead to more of such incidents in the future. You might not be aware of our situation enough to understand our actions so it would be better to keep quiet for now." The old man advised.

  Helpless and weak. Harwin did not dare to argue any further.

  Upon being given the go-ahead, the guards prepared to cut Borzugal’s arm in front of Harwin. They used something that was a similar to a saw made up of poor-quality metal which meant that It was not going to be over in a slash.

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  Harwin gritted his teeth at his powerlessness. Borzugal was massive and made out of pure muscle ,but the pain was still unbearable — the orc screamed. Screams which must have echoed throughout the village. At this, the guards tried to bind his mouth by chains which greatly muffled his cry of agony.

  Upon observing this scene, Harwin puked and nearly fainted but one of the guard held his eyes open. Projecting his face towards Borzugal — forcefully kept him awake in-accordance with order from the elders

  It was the most grotesque and brutal scene, he had ever witnessed in his entire life. Harwin was now sure that this world was indeed not an utopia that was often described in the books. It was much similar to his older world, but even then he had personally never witnessed such things with his own eyes before. The image of the heroic fantasy shattered.

  After his arm was completely amputated, an elf was called. He appeared to be sort of mage as he began to cast some spells which stopped all the blood loss immediately. Then he applied some cloth to the wound. Borzugal was not in his senses anymore so that made the elf’s job easier.

  “Younglings. take this orc to the house at the edge of the village. After he has gains his consciousness and is healthy enough to leave, take him to the edge of the forest whilst blindfold to be released. Also clean up this mess. This the chief’s room not the barracks,” one of the elder instructed the guards.

  “What about the slave?” inquired the guard

  “Leave him be. Father might want to ask him something. Iquaral, will you be so kind to check this one's well-being as well. He might be an important pawn as is hypothesized by father so we must treat him with a-bit of care as to not lose him,” the elder instructed the healer.

  An odd statement considering they had just made him witness such a gruesome scene.

  He checked Harwin's eyelids and mouth. Then performed a healing spell on him as well which made the terrified lad feel a-bit refreshed and calm.

  “He appears to be alright I performed a spell regardless.” Iquaral, the healer, claimed confidently.

  The guards and the healer made their way out while dragging the massive body of Borzugal with them. Harwin could not even imagine how much pain his friend was in.

  The elders discussed something among themselves. When the chief signaled, they left the room as well.

  “Now then, young man. Where are you from and what do you do? “

  Harwin was still in shock after having to observe the horrifying and nerve wrecking scene, but he still did not ignore the question. He had just witnessed that this old, kind looking fellow can be just as ruthless.

  “I suffered an injury to my head not long ago so I do not remember my place of birth or my name. Soon after, I was captured by a beast-men caravan. I was named Gor by the boss of the caravan that captured me.” He twisted his words ever so slightly.

  “Caravan? My warriors were saying that you were part of a raiding party. Are you lying to this poor old man?”

  He stared at Harwin and appeared to be staring right into his soul. He looked intimidating and frail at the same time.

  “No, no. I am not lying. According to the time I had spent with my captors, they were merchants and were transporting goods to the capital.They were also providing protection to other merchants who were going through the same route which made the caravan quite large. Your warriors must have observed and mistaken them as a raiding party.”

  “I see then what about the beast-man who was performing spells and fighting with such ferocity that my men ran with their tails between their legs, while only having captured you?”

  “We were attacked by bandits. An organized group at that. The boss of my caravan is quite powerful and has warriors in his group who were great favorites in tourneys around the continent. This might have been the reason that made your scouts misunderstand.”

  “Hmm...I am but a senile old man. I do not know much about fighting but an attack you say. Your group was fighting against bandits while my men instead of helping, disrupted your defenses. I must say, the young-blood always surprise me with how much they surpass their foolishness again and again. That is different case, we can still not for-go of your caravan's entrance in our forest without any approval...." The old man rubbed his goatee as if thinking. He then continued:

  "The empire of Silfordan, even though hates us with passion, have left us alone for some time now and provided us with special authority around the forests. Even the high-minister can not enter without proper invitation or approval so your party certainly has committed a serious crime.”

  “I had advised them to follow a different route but, hopefully the boss can forgive me for saying this, the beast-men are quite head-strong. They do not have the qualities or makings of a logical and patient merchant.”

  “You might be correct. I trust some of your words. Well, at-least because your magika is quite pure.”

  “Magika? Can you see it with your bare eyes.”

  “I see magika of every living thing human child. I am blind otherwise. Right now, I see that you have little of it but it is as pure as that of an infant's. When a mage trains or learns new spells, his magika disrupts a little and even in a state of idleness. It never rests again — slowly changing color based on the type of spells or training they go through.”

  “Thank you for this wonderful piece of knowledge you have shared with me. I will forever be grateful to you.”

  “Oh, no need to be grateful. It is a tit for tat. My men captured you after all so that is the least I can do. Besides it is wonderful to have conversation with a man who has both patience and knowledge.”

  “You over-estimate my abilities. I am not much knowledgeable especially after losing my memories.”

  “Do not be so modest. A human speaking high-elfin with such a perfect dialect is not someone who is to be taken lightly. You see, I as a person do not think that only world-class warriors and ancient mages deserve respect. Any philosopher or a linguistic expert deserves the same praise. Now then, let me discuss something more important with you. Do you have a trait, any profession that you remember.”

  He explained to the old man of his book-keeping talents. Of-course, in the simplest terms possible.

  Harwin also boasted a little about the advice he had given to the beast-men not to earn flattery, but rather to show him his worth alive. It was the survival of the fittest in this world after-all so he could not render himself useless.

  “I see. You have quite the talent then. How about staying as our guest for the time being. I would love to hear more about your unheard knowledge. If your masters arrive in time, you can go with them. Of-course, after they have paid for their crime but if they do not arrive, lets see...." The chief pondered for a while before continuing:

  "In a week. I shall employ your skills not as a slave but rather as an adviser. You see, we are suffering from a shortage of income. We are much closed towards the rest of the world and do not like their interference so we also have limited resources at our disposals. It has caused us great ordeal many times. We would be grateful, if you can advise us on how to manage our resources better or how to get a new stream of income with the least amount of outside intervention."

  “I thank you for your confidence in me. I might not be able to meet your expectations, but I will try my best.”

  “Glad to hear that. You may rest for today as you have had quite an unpleasant experience. Do not hold a grudge against me because of this. As a chieftain, I have to sometimes make difficult decisions for the survival of my tribe. The world is cold out there and the young-blood is far too warm and immature right now to survive in it.”

  Harwin nodded. After that, the old man blew a sort of whistle which produced no sound but a guard arrived a few moments later.

  ‘A magic spell perhaps,’ Harwin thought.

  The chief ordered for Harwin to be moved in the same room as Borzugal, but also to be treated as a guest of honor. Ensuring that he suffered no ill treatment.

  He followed the guard while people stared at him with disgust further confirming his theory that there was a racial based discrimination even in this world. Well, it was already clear from the actions of the people before.

  The village was huge. It took some-time before he finally reached his new quarters. Harwin tried not to look above whilst walking as he did not want to attract any unnecessary attention thus he was also not able to observe his surroundings.

  His newly made friend Borzugal was still unconscious. The orc was given a proper bed made up of some sorts of leaves. This time, he was not chained as well so it appeared the elves were not going to punish him any further.

  There were some fresh fruits left on a table in the middle of the room. The room itself was a simple one — made up inside the heartwood of the tree, making it the part of it as well.

  The elves had great love for the forest and were furious as well when they had observed Harwin's boss casting spells inside of it. They did not damage or alter much of the environment of the great-forest until absolutely necessary.

  Harwin ate to his fill and then laid down for a while. It was still just the afternoon but the events since the morning had him exhausted to the core.

  This was now the starting point of his story. He had finally reached a place from where he will either make or break his fate.