It’s a bright and sunny day at the Kingdom of Altera. Leaves of the lush trees rustled softly in the wind as all the little dwarf creatures gathered all around while I face my archenemy at the castle gates.

A stark contrast, isn’t it? Best part? I have no idea how things ended up where we’re at.

I should start at the beginning since it helps: I’m Marlon Galvez, 24, former record keeper at a government agency which I’ll not mention, and currently King of Altera.

This begs the question how a record keeper became king of a distant kingdom. Well, it all started when I followed an oddly-colored bird that caught my eye while I was crossing the street during my lunch break. Next thing I knew, I was in the middle of a thick forest with nothing but the bird to guide me through. I thought I’d just keep following it since I don’t really have much of a choice.

That ended up being a good decision because by the time I reached the clearing, a majestic castle of white marble and blue cobbled roofs came into view from a distance. It didn’t take me long to jog towards the castle, which is inhabited by creatures calling themselves Fuukumchins.

I might as well call them dwarves because all of them have white hair, large noses, jolly expressions, and wear pointed hats, each with different colors. None seemed violent; a good sign.

One of the bunch’s eldest, Rast, informed me of a prophecy about someone that will arrive in Altera and bring everyone to salvation. That, to me, was too convenient of a prophecy, but having been scolded by my superiors thrice that morning, I’m in no condition to question him about this. It was again a good thing that I decided to go along with him because all of their problems were easily solved by common sense.

On my first hour in Altera, I solved their so-called drought by suggesting an irrigation system that channeled the water that flowed through a river near the castle towards their fields with the help of the kingdom’s best engineers and architects.

Then a few hours later, the head soldier, Tus, reached out to me about their problem about crows infesting the fields, so I merely introduced the concept of scarecrows and afterwards, Tus told me, and I quote, “These scarecrows worked like a charm!”

And then that night, I solved their food spoilage problem by telling them they could either pickle or dry some of their perishable goods. I daresay they’d never get a shortage of food in the near or far future because of this.

At that point, I thought that everything seemed like a dream. Not only that my efforts were being recognized by someone for once, but I was actually praised for it, so much that Rast decided right then and there to hail me as the King of Altera. I know what you’re thinking, no one in the right mind would agree to this, but given the fact that I finally found a place where I could do good as their leader and be satisfied with it, I obliged.

The dream almost abruptly turned into a nightmare when some hooded being calling himself Marr Hara Palaya showed up the morning after without warning. He said something along the lines of me leaving the kingdom if I know what’s good for me, otherwise, he would return the following day to wreck havoc.

Naturally, the first thing to come to my mind is to ask Rast and Tus how I could fight this entity off. As if expecting me to ask of it, Tus ran off somewhere in the deeper parts of the castle. When he returned, he already carried a sword in a scabbard. He told me that the blade was forged from the purest of silver ores and can repel evil that approaches the wielder, which would be a comfort for me, considering how Mar Harra Palaya made me feel like impending doom.

So here we are, right where we started, by the castle gates, surrounded by the little Fuukumchins, about to face off with this dark, cloaked figure with wisps of smoke coming out from where his face should be. I felt the handle of the sword Tus gave me on my waist and felt some relief.

“You know, King Marlon, you can still avoid this battle by leaving this place,” Mar Harra Palaya growled in his deep raspy voice. “Why stay here when you have bigger things waiting for you outside of that castle?”

“Here’s a counter-offer,” I retaliated. “How about you leave, instead of me, and never bother any of us again?”

A few moments of silence passed before Mar Harra Palaya replied. “Very well, if I can’t convince you with words, I have no choice but to use force.” He then slid his arm inside his cloak to produce a jagged sword that looks like it was made from some dark-colored metal.

“Seems that I have to do the same,” I responded, unsheathing my own sword.

Without saying another word, we rushed towards each other and tried to strike the other down. Naturally, the first strike would hit the other’s sword, which made a resounding clang in the vicinity… which then got me thinking: why did that sound familiar? Like I heard that sound before I followed that bird to this place.

Focus! I’m facing off with my archenemy right now. I can’t afford to get distracted by trivial things.

I just regained my focus when my enemy let out a flurry of slashes towards me. I did my best to either dodge or block them with my sword, and surprisingly, I was able to do it flawlessly. Seriously, since when did I get good at fighting? I can’t even survive a round without getting clobbered by my boyfriend Armando every time we spar at his gym. Is it the sword, which gives me strength and skill for this fight? Or is it the adrenaline that this fight itself gives me? Or it is the fact that everything I made for myself in the past couple of days here in Altera will be taken away from me the instant I lose this battle.

Yeah, I’m not going back where I came from. Where I was the biggest disappointment to my parents. Where I am the worst employee in the agency. Where I can’t even use my credentials to get my dream job of being a medical laboratory technologist. Where I’ll always be that ‘ambitious guy who graduated from a hard course only to end up in a crappy job.’ Screw that! Here, I could rule over the Fuukumchins in peace. I can change everyone’s lives for the better. Heck, I can even use my skills as a Med Tech graduate eventually. I’m King Marlon of Altera, and I’m here to stay!

After what felt like ages of dodging and blocking attacks, I noticed my enemy starting to slow down. I seized this chance to go on the offensive and slashed towards him. It was his turn to block my slashes, though he couldn’t even make an effort to dodge them. After some time, I knocked off his sword from his grip and sent it flying towards a great distance.

“I’m staying here!” I thundered, lifting my sword above my head, readying the finishing blow and tried to land it on him.

Shockingly, Mar Harra Palaya caught the blade with his hands. I tried to strike him again, but he wouldn’t let go of my sword. He then eventually managed to yank my sword from me and threw it where I couldn’t reach it.

“Just leave!” Mar Harra Palaya growled, assuming a stance, which I think I’ve seen before. “You can’t beat me in hand to hand combat!

My eye twitched. If I was worked up at the beginning, it was nothing compared to what I’m feeling now. My arms itched to pin this bastard down for messing with me.

“Beat this!” I snarled, and without warning, tackled him to the ground. This sudden action probably stunned him for a while, because I had enough time to kneel on his chest and landed a punch on where his face should be. I did expect my fist to meet smoke, but felt glad that I punched something solid.

I kept my guard up, but fortunately, it looked like I neutralized him with that punch, though it didn’t kill or injure him severely, since I can feel his heaving chest under my knee.

I then heard the Fuukumchins cheer all around. I stood up and threw a fist in the air to signify my victory against the enemy. I smiled, but there’s still something that was bothering me.

“Please, just go home,” I heard Mar Harra Palaya croak from where he lay.

I turned to him. I was about to ask what’s his problem when I held my tongue. I suddenly realized what was bothering me, and I should have realized that as soon as the battle started: I never ever mentioned my name around him, even the day before when he first showed up, yet how did he know it?

“Please go home, I’m begging you, Marlon,” Mar Harra Palaya kept on pleading. “I don’t need you to do anything else, I only need you!”

“Be careful, Your Majesty!” I heard Rast cry out. “He has read your mind with —”

“He may have read it, but he can’t possibly read Armando’s,” I cut through Rast, still staring at Mar Harra Palaya. Not able to resist myself anymore, I finally lifted the hood that obscured my enemy’s face, only to see Armando’s bloodied face resulting from my punch.

“Armando!?” I blurted out, incredulous at this development.

“See? The enemy already delved into your mind and is using your weakness against you!” Rast cried out from afar.

“Tell me, Rast,” I barked, not taking my eyes off Armando’s face, “What do you know about this Mar Harra Palaya?” As I expected, though to my horror, Rast didn’t answer.

“Tus!” I called at him desperately, “Who ruled Altera before me? Answer me!”

When he failed to answer, I felt my world crumble as a single tear slid from my eye. Everything that happened for the past two days were only a dream.

“Marlon, only you can wake up from this,” Armando sobbed. “Please, come back! I don’t need anything else! I only need you!”

I may have a crappy job. My parents might think I’m a disappointment. At least someone still loves me for who I am. I knelt by Armando, lifted and cradled his head on my lap, and whispered, “Baby, let’s go home.”

As soon as I said that, a truck’s horn blared out of nowhere as I felt a crushing feeling on my body and everything went bright.

When I finally shot my eyes open, finding myself lying in a hospital room, I gasped, “So that’s what happened.”

THE END