Ancient Era Part 3

Part 3: As his heart pounded rapidly, he decided to muster his courage and move forward. As he progressed, he noticed a strange creature stirring on top of a tree. It looked like a human shadow, but it seemed to have wings. His heart skipped a beat: "What is this? Is it a human or an angel?" His feet shuffled on the leaves, making a rustling sound. The winged creature became aware of his presence. As Ethan moved closer, a dim light spread around the creature; it was like tiny stars swirling around it. He called out, "Hey... you...!" The strange creature turned towards him and their eyes met. Ethan was tongue-tied. Out of fear, he looked down towards the valley where a roaring river flowed. The creature came closer and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Ethan replied with a trembling voice, "You... who are you? I... I don’t know where this is." His fear was more evident, and he stepped back. Ethan stood rooted to the spot and narrated his entry into this world: about the magical paper and the luminous gate. The winged creature explained, "You have found one of our keys; a key that angels use to travel through different worlds and times. It seems you have accidentally stepped into our time." Completely bewildered and frightened, Ethan wondered to himself what the name of the time he lived in was. He didn’t even understand what a thousand years in the future meant. The creature, which seemed to be an angel, curiously said, "I had only heard about this key in legends and always wished to possess one. How did you find it?" Ethan replied, "In a library, between an old book. What’s a book? What’s a library?" For the angel, everything was strange, and it said, "We here write on skin or stone; not everyone, just some of us. I don't know about libraries." Meanwhile, Ethan noticed another person standing behind the winged creature; a boy who looked like him, but wore very different, ancient clothes. What caught Ethan’s attention more was a small mole beside the boy’s lip, not unlike his own. Ethan suddenly touched his own mole and looked back and forth in surprise between the boy's mole and his own face. It seemed their languages were slightly different. Some words were common, but they could barely converse. Still in shock, Ethan murmured, "Aren’t angels just in legends?" The native boy seemed not to understand the concept of "angel." He changed the subject and said, "We have been at war with our neighbors for a long time. Our land is warm, and water is crucial for us. They want to take our rivers and farmlands. We also hunt to defend ourselves, make bows and swords." These words terrified Ethan. He thought to himself, "I need to go back; I might get killed in these wars!" The native boy, seeing his fear, reassured him, "Don’t worry! As long as I am here, no one will harm you. For now, you can stay at our house." Ethan looked carefully and saw how much he resembled himself; the only noticeable difference was the boy's attire, which looked like the clothes of ancient humans. Ethan still didn’t know how to return to his own home and time. The key, or the magical paper, was in his hands; but how did it work? Had he really ended up in a time that was a thousand years before his own? With a heart full of questions and a mind in turmoil, he decided to step into the dark and unknown world ahead and discover more about this key...