Who was the man? What had he said to the boy?

The boy walked down the path, leaving the trees behind. An emerging sunlight still illuminated the tops of the trees ahead. Warm colors of red, yellow, and orange transformed a green canopy into a golden ceiling.

The boy marveled at the sharp contrast the image before him made compared to the dull grey of his life before.

He thought back to the world he left, to the life he left. A life with no color and no sound.

Memories flooded back. Memories empty of joy or sorrow.

He shook his head and he emerged back on the mountain path.

“The man in the woods – why had his words moved me so?” The boy thought to himself. “The ideal the man spoke of, how shall I reach it?”

On the path, the boy noticed a figure wrapped in aged rags.

As he drew closer, the man stood up and the boy recognized him; the tutor.

Before he could speak the man held up his hand. He pointed down the path to the mountains beyond and he spoke again of an ideal.

The boy was ashamed of his doubt and drew closer to the man.

“Do not doubt yourself” he said. “What you seek is down this path. Though you cannot see it’s end, you draw nearer with each step.”

“But me, a knight?” the boy sighed.

“Yes, you have died once. You are now tasked to live purposefully. The ideal you seek must be worked for. It requires dedication and sacrifice.”

“But how can I do this? I do not know the way”

“I shall guide you. I am always watching. Think of me in moments of doubt and I shall appear.”

The tutor stepped back from the boy and once again pointed down the mountain path.

Read more from the Epic here.