Tales of the Lorekeepers 01 - Rise of the Red Dragon

receive some powers when you picked up the dice. Since you did not know that and were simply standing there, ready to get squashed, I had to improvise. The whisper was only meant to give you the confidence to stand up to the thieves.”
    “Couldn’t you have mentioned this to me earlier?”
    “I suppose I could have. I guess I forgot.”
    Samuel stopped and rolled his eyes at Angeline.
    “Oh don’t look at me like that,” she said. “There are a lot of things that I have to teach you, and I’m only one fata! But now you know about your power, and you can defend yourself like the best of them!”
    Samuel stared at his hands, still not entirely believing the feats he had displayed earlier.
    “This is amazing. What else can I do?”
    “I don’t know, Sam. The extent of your powers is for you to discover. Every Keeper comes with his or her own set of skills, different for each person. Some of you have psychic abilities, others are proficient in combat. I’ve even seen Keepers with magical powers on occasion.”
    Samuel stopped and looked at Angeline.
    “Wait a second. So, when you ‘inspired’ me to fight, you had no idea I had combat abilities in me?”
    “No.”
    “Angeline, I could have died!”
    “Oh come on, don’t make a mountain out of a korrigan’s house. I was almost completely positive that you had the necessary skills to defeat them.”
    “ Almost positive? What if I hadn’t had the ability to defeat the colossus? What would have happened then? You told me that if I were to fail, both our worlds would perish. Isn’t it a lot to bet on an almost positive intuition?”
    Angeline flew a little higher and circled Samuel’s head a few times, visibly irritated.
    “By the Light, are you always this whingy? Sammy, Metverold is not a safe and comfortable world like yours. This is a violent world, full of ambushes, where danger haunts every step you take toward your goal. You have to learn to trust yourself, to believe that you can survive in this universe, on your own. I can’t fight the battles for you. I can’t accomplish anything you have to do. I can only offer pointers and advice. If you hadn’t had any special skills to fight, then you would have found another way out of the predicament you were in. You are a Lorekeeper, and you guys always find a way.”
    Samuel was gradually comprehending the seriousness of his situation and the significance of his role. This was no dream, no scenario for a role-playing game. This was real, and he had only one way to overcome the obstacles waiting for him down the road. There were no extra lives or a reset button here. He had to learn to survive, accomplish his purpose, and then he would be able to go home.
    “You don’t need special powers to do everything, Sammy. There is a lot you could already do by yourself—skills you already had before you even set foot in Metverold. The dice chose you for a reason. Trust them. Trust yourself.”
    Samuel took the bones out of the pocket, where he had kept them all day. The symbols were still visible on each side, with two of them glowing brighter than they had before, like a flameless fire.
    “What are they, exactly?” asked Samuel.
    Angeline picked up one of the dice.
    “Honestly, we do not really know what they are. All we know is that they act as a portal, a bridge between our two worlds. However, I know that when your task is done, the symbols you see will disappear, and then you will be able to use them again to get home.”
    “We? Meaning you and who, exactly?”
    “Me and the other fatas, of course, silly head. Along with the other creatures that inhabit this world, of which I can’t tell you anything yet. In fact, I’ve already said too much.”
    Angeline put the die back in Samuel’s hand.
    “Now, I need you to listen to me very carefully,” she continued. “I’m going to tell you more about your task, so you have to focus.”
    “Understood.”
    “Before I begin, you need to tell me one thing. When you found the dice, was there a black pair with them as well?”
    “Yes, actually, there was.”
    Angeline’s wings started to flap quickly, making a faint buzzing sound.
    “Good, good! Now, do you know who might have picked them up?”
    “No I don’t. I left the store after I bought the white ones.”
    Angeline flew back down and landed on Samuel’s left knee.
    “Blast! Oh well, it was worth a shot. We’ll find him anyway.”
    Samuel was getting more confused by the second.