Earth:1539

  The sun burned hot on the golden sands of Orovia. A new continent had been carved into the hearts of men, its riches unimaginable, its lands untouched by the hands of European civilization. Only the souls of the enslaved and the broken remained to work its soil, their labor fueling Spain's endless hunger for gold. Orovia was a prize, one that had already cost too many lives.

  It had been thirty-four years since the first Spaniards set foot on its shore, not long after Columbus had discovered the Americas. They came in droves, bringing not only their ships and their swords but also their slave ships, filled with the stolen lives of Africans. they had enslaved the native people too, forcing them to dig deep into the mountains of Orovia, to unearth the gold that lay beneath the earth like a gleaming treasure hidden in a vast tomb.

  Yet the natives of Orovia, their spirits fierce and unbroken, resisted. The Africans too, torn from their homeland and bound in chains, began to rise. In the year. In the year 1539, their rebellion was no longer a whisper, it was a roar. A new faction had been born

  La Alianza Libre

  And it was a force to be reckoned with. The former slaves and the oppressed natives united under a banner of freedom, an unshakeable desire to reclaim their land and their dignity.

  But the Spanish, still powerful in their might, were unyielding. The war that followed was brutal. It was a war of fire and blood, a war where the lives of men meant nothing in the face of gold

  Among the countless soldiers in Spanish army, one stood out thought not for his strength or valor. Juan Castillo Fabronas was the kind of soldier that any leader would have hoped to avoid, a weakling, a coward, the kind of man who was more likely to trip over his own sword than strike down a stray dog. His eyes were always filled with fear, his hands trembling as he clutched his weapon, Yet here he was, thrown into the heart of a war he didn't understand, a war that would define the future of Spain.

  Juan had never been much of a fighter. He had been conscripted into the army years ago, his family too poor to avoid the draft. He had no love for Spain, no loyalty to the crown. His heart was empty, his mind wandering, Dreaming of the day he would be free from the endless bloodshed and back in his wife's gentle hug, But that day had not come. He was stuck, his feet planted in the mud of Orovia, as the screams of battle rang in his ears.

  It was on this very day, as he marched along the frontlines, his heart heavy with dread, that something strange happened. The wind howled, the earth trembled beneath him, and the air grew thick with an unnatural energy, his body frozen in place, as if the world itself had shifted.

  Before he could even register what was happening, a bright light enveloped him, and his surroundings seemed to dissolve into nothingness. The ground vanished from beneath his feet, the sounds of war fading into silence, as though he had been plucked from his reality and thrown into another.

  Something grabbed him from behind and threw him somewhere else.

  Juan Castillo Fabronas was a man who, despite his cowardice, thought far too highly of himself. He had spent his entire life in the shadows, doing just enough to avoid attention, never quite fitting into the brutal world of war. He had heard stories of men who died with glory, who were honored for their courage, but he had never believed that fate would come for him. He wasn't a hero, nor did he ever want to be.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  As he found himself falling, his first instinct was to shout, to call for help, but his voice was swallowed by the light. He gripped his sword instinctively, his fingers slick with sweat. "Madre mía! Qué demonios es esto?, where the fuck am i?" he cursed, his English muddled with a heavy Spanish accent.

  The darkness around him seemed to stretch, like a void, and the ground was no longer solid beneath him. He felt as though he was weightless, caught in some endless expanse, when suddenly-

  The light blinked out.

  Juan landed hard on the ground, his body crashing into an unfamiliar surface. He groaned, groggy and disoriented, blinking rapidly as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. He had no idea where he was, but the air was different, thick with humidity. It smelled of earth and salt, of something bizzare.

  "What the hell is this?" he muttered, his voice shaking.

  He rose to his feet, wiping the dust from his uniform. His hand, however, froze mid-motion as his gaze swept across the landscape.

  The world before him was not the one he had just left. Gone were the battlefields of Orovia, the endless struggle for gold and power. Instead, he stood in a land of dense jungles, towering trees, and wild, unkempt vegetation. He had never seen anything like it. The air was thick with the sound of insects, the distant call of animals he couldn't even begin to identify.

  And then he saw them. The people.

  Dark-skinned, with faces that held the weight of history, the native inhabitants of this place moved through the trees with a grace that was almost unnatural. They were tall and strong, their bodies adorned with beads and jewelry, their eyes sharp and intelligent. They didn't look like the natives he had encountered in Orovia. They were... different. More primal.

  Juan's heart skipped a beat. For a moment, he couldn't bring himself to speak. The reality of his situation had yet to sink in, but fear began to claw at his chest. "Dios mío, what have I gotten into?"

  He stumbled forward, eyes darting around. It was then that he realized that something wasn't quite right. The strange people before him were watching him closely. Their expressions were unreadable, their gazes steady and unwavering. And in their eyes, he saw something, a coldness. Not anger. No, it was something worse. It was a quiet disdain.

  Juan straightened up, forcing a grin on his face, trying to hide his growing panic. He wiped his brow with the back of his hand, trying to muster some bravado. "Ah, you negros are not so different from us, huh? We come from Spain, you know? Very noble. Very strong." he said, his English thick with Spanish accent.

  The leader of the group, a tall figure with long hair and fierce eyes, stepped forward. He spoke in a language Juan did not understand, but the tone was unmistakable, it was a command. The other members of the group began to surround him, their eyes narrowing, studying him like a piece of meat.

  Juan raised his hands defensively. "Wait, wait, I don't mean no harm. Just... just some lost soldier. Don't you see? I can help you. I know things about gold, about war." His voice trembled with desperation, but it was more pride than fear that kept him from breaking down completely.

  The man gave no indication that he understood or cared for Juan's words. Instead, he motioned for the others to advance.

  "Get the fuck away from me negrito" Juan screamed, his panic turning into frantic movements as he backed away.

  But it was too late.

  Suddenly, the world around Juan shifted again. The air turned icy, and the ground beneath him quaked once more. In a flash of light, the world around him dissolved once again, leaving only darkness and the fading echoes of his terrified screams.

  When Juan Castillo Fabronas awoke, he found himself lying on cold stone. His head throbbed, his limbs aching, and the strange world he had been cast into seemed as alien as ever. There were no jungles, no fierce natives. This new place felt different. He couldn't quite place it, but the coldness in the air, the silence that hung around him, felt far more oppressive than any battlefield he had ever known.

  But he had no time to think.

  This was just the beginning for Juan. He had no idea that the journey he was about to undertake would tear apart everything he thought he knew about himself and the world. But one thing was certain, He was no longer in the war he understood.

  And for a man like Juan Castillo Fabronas, that could only mean one thing.

  Trouble.