The Epic

After breakfast, Echo walked outside into the morning air. He was in a small village named Jerniah, situated east of the Karban Bay on the southeastern reach of Forlethon; to the west lays Meridia, where he knows he truly belonged. He marveled in this land…Forlethon. The land was beautiful and amazing, there was always something going on, and it was seemingly peaceful. Echo closed his eyes as a wind blew over him from the east, and he felt almost at peace. He frowned. Nevertheless, I cannot forget my past.



Echo had been a free roamer, just living free and without cares or troubles…his companion was a man named Berus, an old swordsman who was Echo’s mentor, friend, and the closest thing Echo had to a father. That night long ago, Echo remembered, he said I was wild, like a stray dog. Berus had taken the boy in and fed him; to his surprise, the old swordsman divulged from the hungry youth that he had no name. So Berus named him for an unusual and memorable occurrence.



Berus had been practicing with his sword in a glade in the woods, the boy not watching from the side. Berus practiced for a great time before he noticed that the boy had a stick in his hands and was performing the same strokes as the swordsman. Berus grinned and asked the boy if he’d like to learn; the boy nodded slowly, a small smile on his face. So Berus named him Echo.



A dark, bitter feeling washed over the Ruvian suddenly; he broke from his reverie and he gazed across to the mountains in the distance. Something is out of place. I can feel it, he thought grimly. Echo possessed a deep connection with the land, and was one with its deep magic; true potent magic never lied.



Echo sighed heavily and turned to the house to his left and looked at the roof; the thatched roof that was one of his contemplation spots. He dashed forward, vaulted off of an upturned wheelbarrow, and flipped onto the roof. He landed deftly and strode to the peak of its triangular shape and sat, staring at the sky. However, much to his annoyance, he was not entitled to a moment’s peace.



“HI, ECHO!” Groaning, he reluctantly stood and looked at the ground;four girls stood in a bunch giggling and staring up at him. “Great,” Echo groaned under his breath. He surveyed his admirers: Jenna, an average brown haired girl and the tallest in the group, was waving at him and grinning. Sheila was a short, stocky girl with blue eyes and blonde hair that laughed, Echo thought, a little too much as a madwoman would. Kelsey was a red-head with freckles and tanned skin, athletically built with adoring eyes. And lastly, there was Ujetta, a fair-skinned girl with curly black hair and a thin, trimmed body. Overall, these were the fawning girls that jumped at any chance they could at guys. He seemed to be their favorite to torment.



“So what were you thinking of, Echo,” Jenna asked, still smiling. The other girls voice their curiosity as well. Echo closed his eyes, annoyed, and then suddenly got an idea. He smiled back; time to mess with these girls, he thought eagerly.



“Oh, I was thinking of the one girl who I’d love and hold in my arms,” he replied casually; he made no effort for a special romantic voice or anything. Evidently, it just came naturally. All of the girls sighed, gazing at him adoringly. Kelsey whispered to Ujetta, and then the girls started walking towards him. He frowned suspiciously; Sheila was holding something behind her back…



“Hold it right there, you thick heads!” The girls wheeled around to spot Trina, frowning at them with her arms crossed. “What do you want, dwarf?” Kelsey stabbed. Trina advanced on the red-head, glaring up at her. “I see what you all are trying! You honestly think that a love potion will work on Echo? If you do, you’re idiots!” The Ruvian raised his eyebrows; that could’ve been bad. Ujetta shoved Trina back. “Go clean the dirt out of your eyes, you little baby!” Sheila chimed in, ‘Yeah, play with your little dolls back in that little shack you call a house, seeing as you’re too poor to afford a real one!”



“That’s where you’re wrong.” All five girls turned, looking up to Echo, who’d said it. He slid off the roof and landed nimbly next to Trina. “She lives in a nice house, with a very kind hostess of a mother and a comfortable bed.” Their eyes widened. He shook his crimson bangs out of his eyes and added, “She even got to sleep with me.” At this he winked at Trina and she grinned in acknowledgement. The girls gasped; Ujetta’s jaw dropped in astonishment. “And by the way,” he eyed the three girls who’d spoken with cold, dangerous eyes, “I loathe people who cast dirt in the way of the honest. I may be a Ruvian, but I don’t share the same affinity for arrogance as the rest of my race. Now be off.” And like grain in the wind, they were gone.



Echo looked up at the sky a moment, and then turned to Trina. “So, were you protecting me this time?” Trina laughed. “Yeah, girls seem to have a fetish for chasing’ you. I’m there to set them straight.”