THE LONG WALK HOME

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Copyright © 2018 by Mfonemana Uduak

Art by Mfonemana Uduak

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, translated, downloaded, distributed, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented without permission from the author.

The contents of this work including, but not limited to, the accuracy of events, people, and places depicted; opinions expressed are fiction. If there is any resemblance to any of the listed above, it is pure coincidence.

.........

Ringing...

A young man with dark brown hair; half secured away on top of his head, struggled to get up as his ears rang. He tried to stand but the earth spun.

"Valley Master! Valley Master!" he heard himself called. A hand-held him up steady, allowing his balance to return to him.

"Valley Master, we won!" the person holding him up shouted excitedly. His ears rung harder at the shout causing him to wince and sway away from the one holding him, only to stumble back onto the wet ground. He knelt in place and stared up at his surroundings. He could see a jubilant bunch shouting out 'victory'. For a second he wondered what he was doing there, but then it all came back to him.

Valley Master? That was him they were calling, yet it was unfamiliar to him. He was Edward Desecar, Prince of Emerald and Jurazel. He had arrived here a few years ago. Where he was from, he had been on a quest. One of the requirements of the quest was that he walked The Mist. The Mist. Yes, that is where this should be. But he was not entirely sure. He remembered the rippers letting down their dark cloaks and blinding light engulfing him.

The next thing he knew, he was lying in this unknown place. He had first thought it was part of the test, but he was not entirely sure anymore. The first few months, he endured in the valley, trying to understand where he was. This place was considered part of the west and there was an emerald and Jurazel but they had long become one kingdom. The king there was a man he had never heard of before. This only told him, that he may have travelled in time to the future. But the other kingdoms he heard about were ruled by kings he knew were long dead in his world. He tried to ask people what was going on but many stared at him weirdly.

He started to go by the name Ed here. When he had first told people his last name, they would laugh and say, "Thinking yourself part of the old blood of emerald, are you?"

After living here for a few years, he wondered if he would ever get back. He wanted to leave this valley, but one needed 10 spirit tokens to do so. A spirit token was equivalent to three thousand gold coins. He had spent his time doing odd jobs but had not come close to that number. He was comforted by the fact that none of the big families in the valley had these tokens laying around. They would usually have to wait for the trade to get some, and the trade came once every ten years.

It was in his fifteenth year in this strange land that he was found by the valley chief and adopted as his son. The Valley chief was ecstatic when he met Ed and said that his spirit roots were strong. He wanted to train him into the next Valley chief. That is how he found himself here in this situation, after winning a war against the opposing tribe who rebelled against his adopted father's position as head of the valley.

Ed turned to his subordinates with a frown they were used to seeing on his face.

"Clear up here and return." he left his instruction, before climbing on his horse and riding back to the tribe.

His horse was not a normal horse; it was a spirit beast, so he rode faster than horses Ed ever saw back in his world. He was yet to really understand this world, but he understood a few things, he was really weak in this world. Back where he was from, he could be considered one of the best warriors in the west. Yet here, he was nothing more than a normal person. He could not fault this analysis, because he had seen those considered strong here, and they were incredible.

Many here cultivated spirit bodies. This was the power of this world. He had only started cultivating this art after his adoption, while others had long started cultivating since age three, but he was strong enough to defend his title as the Valley Master and the next Valley Chief.

Many bowed as he rode through large gates with a big inscribed board that said, Jhun Yui Tribe. He rode straight to the main house and dismounted.

"The great Valley Master approaches." a voice full of mockery said. Ed turned to meet his adopted brother. One of the sons of the Valley Chief, Hun Ou. Hun Ou stared at Ed his eyes full of hate. He may not have been as strong as the direct young masters of other tribes, but he was still eligible for the Valley Chief position. Before his father went out and returned with this unknown man he was supposed to call brother. He was referred to as Valley master even though he had not formally taken the title. Now he was just the Valley chief's second son. Ed was older than him, so his father had insisted he be known as the first son. He, Hun Ou had become a shamed man. A man who could not even maintain his position as the first son, a title one was born with, something ordained by fate, and he still managed to have it taken from him.

Ed but glanced at his adopted brother and walked away. He was already immune to these taunts and he understood why the Valley Chief's sons did not like him. He was not related to them by blood and truly, he did not care. He was not of this world. He had to go back and finish his quest. This position of Valley Master held no meaning to him. Its only perk was that he needed not work too much for the money to leave in five years, he could leave when the Valley Chief allowed it.

Walking in briskly, he made his way to the Valley Chief's courtyard. He was familiar with the way, so it took little time before he stood before the door.

"I request an audience with father," he said. Father, that word sounded odd to him. The man looked nothing like his father back home. Nevertheless, this man was his ticket out of here.