The Fall and Rise of the Last Talisman. (Book 1)

The door loomed behind him.

Tall. Silent.

Watching.

Jumu stood there, unable to comprehend what was beyond it. Something felt wrong. Not just dangerous.

Worse.

The window shattered.

Feathers scattered in the air.

A man with angelic wings stepped through the broken frame as if gravity meant nothing. He landed lightly.

He extended his hand.

“Still hiding?”

Jumu didn’t turn.

The winged man sighed and cleared his throat.

“So how long are you going to run?” he asked calmly. “You think burying yourself in the world makes you invisible? That cape of yours isn’t protection. It’s a mask.”

The wind tugged at Jumu’s cape. It fluttered violently, as if reacting to his thoughts.

“You can’t erase your past by hiding from it,” the man continued. “Enemies will be enemies. You can’t control them. But you can control yourself. So what’s it going to be? Stay buried… or fight back?”

Silence.

Then Jumu spoke.

His voice was tired.

“I’ve been hiding for years,” he said. “This world rots. Hatred spreads like lava. Kindness dies a little more every day.”

He finally turned.

“If I step forward… what changes? My family won’t see me. My lover left me. The world already decided I’m nothing.”

The winged man stepped closer.

“So what if you made mistakes?” he said. “You think that makes you unworthy of standing again? You’re human. Humans fall. The difference is whether they stay down.”

He placed a hand on Jumu’s shoulder.

“You’re not alone. Not anymore.”

A pause.

“…Jumu,” the caped man said quietly. “That’s my name.”

The winged man smirked.

“Gold,” he replied.

And then—

A heavy mace lifted from the ground.

Gold spun it once. Twice. Effortless.

The ground trembled.

Near the central fountain, shadows emerged.

Swordsmen.

Mages.

Four… five… maybe more.

They surrounded them.

Jumu stepped forward.

Offensive stance.

His eyes sharpened.

“Hmph,” he muttered. “Bring as many as you want. You’ve tried to erase me before. You failed.”

Gold laughed loudly.

“Now this is more like it! Doesn’t seem fair you’ve been fighting alone all this time, huh?”

Jumu smirked.

“Maybe I was a prisoner of my own mistakes,” he admitted. “But not anymore.”

He clenched his fists.

“We move together. Life. Destiny. Friendship.”

His cape snapped violently in the wind.

“Let’s show them who we really are.”

Suddenly—

A surge of power erupted behind them.

The air turned red.

A blade pointed forward.

“The name is Silver.”

A man stepped from the distortion in space itself.

Red eyes.

Calm smile.

“I can’t allow you two to leave this timeline without a proper fight.”

He drew his sword.

Excalibur.

The blade gleamed unnaturally bright.

With a flick of his fingers, magic surged into it.

Flames wrapped around the steel.

Lightning crackled across its edge.

The ground scorched beneath him.

Jumu’s eyes widened.

This wasn’t an amateur.

“You talk about justice,” Jumu said coldly. “But you kill because you’re ordered to. That makes you nothing more than a weapon.”

Silver laughed.

“Justice?” he sneered. “I don’t care about justice.”

His red gaze pierced straight through Jumu.

“All I care about is making sure your dreams die.”

He raised his sword.

“What better way than killing you right here?”

Gold’s expression hardened.

From his coat, he pulled a flask.

Lighter fluid splashed across his mace.

He snapped his fingers.

WHOOM.

The weapon ignited in violent crimson flame.

Jumu instinctively stepped back as heat burst outward.

The fountain behind them cracked from the pressure.

Silver smiled wider.

“Good,” he said.

The lightning intensified.

The fire roared.

The air itself began to distort.

And Jumu lowered his stance.

“This time,” he muttered,

“I’m not running.”