A loud knock wakes me up.
"Get up Blaine, it's already past eight." I hear my mother's impatient voice.
I groan before painfully getting up and rubbing my eyes. Slowly getting dressed, I walk out of my small room to the kitchen where a frugal breakfast awaits, my mother's back to me as she cleans the dishes. Our home is small, but I like it. It's cozy and I can't complain about my family. I'm an only child and my father has been gone for more than a year, but that doesn't bother me. We rarely see him as his work takes him around the world. It might be for the best as they only fight when he is here. Maybe that is why he hasn't come home in so long.
Even with all that, this is a happy and warm home compared to other households here in our crappy little village. I have been living here all my life, but I have a big dream. I want to become an adventurer. I'm soon going to be sixteen, and then, when I have become a man, I'm going to travel and sign up to become an adventurer. From there it's only a matter of time before I become a legend. I have been training with wooden swords for the last 3 years in the garden and I even got my first skill last month, [Lesser endurance]! It's not an impressive skill, simply letting me tire out slower, but it's a start!
What I really want is to develop a unique skill, like Charles Remington, one of most famous human adventurers. I heard rumors they were considering adding another adventurer rank above Mithril just for him. Or so I heard last time we got some news from the capital. We always get news rather late here as our only source is the village transporters coming back from the capital. Sometimes traders come by but it's rare. [Remington Charge] is only one of the six unique skills known today. I want to grow up fast and make the seventh.
Looking at me worryingly, my mom asks "Dreaming about being an adventurer again?" I know she doesn't want me to become one, but she does her best to try and hide it. She wants to support me, even though it worries her, and I love her for it. My mom is the best! My wide smile is answer enough, as I tell her I'm off to school.
School might be an exaggeration, we are around seven kids, and two of them aren't even ten years old. On my way there I go by Tommy's house as I always do. After a lot of nagging, I have finally been able to convince him to form an adventurer group with me and Carla when we turn sixteen. We are going to become the best team ever, I just know it. I see Tommy's slender frame walk out the door, his short brown hair and brown eyes making for a very unimpressive view.
As we arrive at school, a blackboard close to some tree stubs, I spot Carla already waiting on her stub. She is a genius who can already cast the [Light] spell! I'm envious of her magic skills, but Magic never held my interest as much as the sword. She told me last week that she is close to learning [Magic Missiles], it's the most basic offensive magic, but impressive for her age. At least I think so, considering she only learns from the elder, and only started her magic training three years ago. I guess some people at the magic academy are better but it's still very good, I think. From the corner of my eye, I see Tommy looking at her blond hair swaying in the wind. She is easily the prettiest girl in the village, so I can't really fault him for it.
The class soon starts with Mr. Flower and it is as boring as ever. I still think his name is funny after all these years, but no one makes fun of him. He is a very strict teacher despite his name. I half listen as I dream about what my unique skill will be like, and before I know it class is over. Mr. Flower has stopped trying to get me to pay attention this last year, thank the gods for that.
After class is over Carla, Tommy and I go to my house. My mother is busy cleaning the town hall so we are left to our own devices. I take out a bag and beam a big smile at my friends.
"What's this?" Tommy asks, and I don't manage to respond as calmly as I would have liked.
"Provisions. We are going on an adventure today." My smile isn’t leaving my face. I would have liked to appear cooler in front of Carla but I'm just so excited!
"I finally managed to get a hold of an Iron Sword, and I have my trusted shield as always." Tommy is frowning, and Carla seems unimpressed.
"Come on guys, there are only very weak monsters around here and the best way to learn skills is in real combat! I think we are ready. Tommy, you can just sneak out a bow from your father's stuff. He should already be out hunting at this time." Trying to get them excited, I keep up a wide smile. Seeing very little reaction from them, I sigh dejectedly.
"Don't you think it's time we faced something real as a team? We are almost adults now, we can handle ourselves." I say trying to get them in the mood. Carla smiles weakly and nods.
"We should still be cautious, but I believe we can do this. What do you say, Tommy?" Alright, two against one! Now Tommy will have to agree, especially if it's Carla asking.
"Alright, but we can't go north, my father said there have been wolves lurking around there. We should probably go south and hope to find slimes by the lake." I nod at that. We discuss a bit more about what we need to take with us before agreeing on a meeting place. The village has been at peace for a long time now, and because of that, it is easier to sneak in and out than when I was very young. There even is a tree you can climb to sneak back in, and going out is much easier. I already know old man Bert has a ladder we can use.
—
About an hour later I'm waiting behind Bert's house as agreed. The old man is taking his nap as planned and soon Carla and Tommy are here. Slowly we take the ladder off the wall of his house and lay it against the wooden walls surrounding the village. As I get up on the ladder, I see the light forest surrounding the village, but to the south, very few trees block my view and in the distance, I can see a small lake. Beyond it another forest, much denser and carrying on as far as I can see. Everyone knows that if you continue far enough in that direction you will enter Khalex territory.
I have never seen one in my life, but all the stories about them are scary. Every Khalex warrior is considered at least upper Silver rank, or more. I shudder at the thought of Khalex invading, but as far as I know, it has only happened once a long time ago. Now they keep to themselves in the jungle. No one knows why they invaded, and no diplomat of any kind has ever made it back with a response, and the more insistent ones simply never came back. Sometimes I wonder what it's like deep down in that jungle, but that's for later when we have become big shot adventurers.
I jump down the wall, as Carla urges me to stop gaping at the view. It's not that high but my feet hurt a bit as I land. Carla and Tommy soon follow and we are finally out of the village. This is the first time we have been out without any adult's to oversee us. My heart is pounding wildly in my chest. We start walking cautiously towards the lake, taking a detour to hide from the lone watchtower in the middle of the village. I bet Leo is asleep anyways but it can't hurt.
After about a tense hour trekking in the light woods, the rush of being outside slowly fades as nothing has happened yet. We are not far from the lake now and slowly move forwards. Taking this seriously, only a few concise whispers have been made on our way here.
We soon see a blue slime by the lake, and I take a quick look behind me. Carla smiles and Tommy looks around nervously. Smiling to myself I feel so happy about taking the first step to becoming real adventurers. Rushing out of my cover to charge the slime, a small yell escapes my lips in my excitement. The slime doesn't seem to care as I get closer to it. Not waiting to see if my friends are behind me, I bash it with my shield, making a large portion of its blue water disperse, reducing its size significantly. Easily spotting the core floating around its reduced body I swing my sword. The slime moves enough for me to miss the core as it retreats towards the lake’s water a few paces away.
I see Carla swing her wooden staff at it before I can try again and the slime's core shatters from her blow. The blue water disperses and we all cheer at our first victory in the wild. Even Tommy is smiling widely, none of his earlier nervousness visible.
"Alright! Let's kill some more slimes." I say beaming.
Carla's laugh fills me with happiness before I spot Tommy pointing behind some tall grass and gesturing at us to shut up. I can spot a small form behind it. Our victorious cheers are short lived as a serious mood settles at the unknown threat. I slowly draw closer until I finally see what is hiding behind the grass. A small baby boar is drinking water until it spots me and squeals. Relieved it wasn't anything serious I turn around to tell them that everything is fine. Before I can open my mouth I hear Tommy shouting.
"Watch out Blaine!"
I turn around and see a much bigger boar charge at me and start running towards my friends. They quickly start running too. Tommy point's towards a tree with a low branch we can use to haul us up and we all make a run for it. The mama boar is faster than us, and I pray we'll make it in time. Both Carla and Tommy are already climbing the tree. As I get close enough to start climbing, I hear Carla shout a warning before pain flares up in my right leg. I fall before I can get a grip on the branch. I see the boar turn around to glare at me with one of its tusks slightly bloody. Before it can charge me again, an arrow lands just in front of it, making it hesitate. I hurry to stand on my good leg and start dragging myself up in the tree.
Tommy draws another arrow and misses again before the boar loses interest and trots away. We decide to stay in the safety of the tree's branches for a while, to make sure the boar won't come back.
Stolen story; please report.
"We have to treat your wound now." Tommy's voice is surprisingly steady as he says that.
"Yeah, then we should probably call it a day, I have had enough excitement for one day." Carla sighs.
"Alright Tommy, patch me up." Adrenaline had masked the pain until now, but now that things are calming down the pain comes crashing down on me. I take a look at it and realize it's pretty bad. It will take a while to go back with this. Tommy and I struggle to find a good position for him to patch me up, hunched as we are on our branches and it ends up taking a lot longer than it should have. He finally patches me up but as I try and find a comfortable position, I spot something that makes my stomach drop.
"Oh no." I turn to Carla to see if she also saw it. A wolf comes out of a bush and up to the blood beneath us. It sniffs the blood then licks it. The issue is that everyone knows wolves travel in a pack. My worries are soon proven true, as five more wolves appear and start sniffing at the blood, some licking it. What I assume to be the alpha starts to growl at us, circling our tree.
I turn to Tommy, who has a serious expression on his face. He draws his bow and hits one of the wolves. I dearly hope we will make it out alive and that he has enough arrows to get us out of this mess. After the first arrow, the wolves are very careful, and Tommy didn’t bring that many arrows. He shoots arrow after arrow but only manages to hit one more before he is out. As we sit there and wait for them to leave, I slowly suspect that it's not going to happen. Our only hope now is to be found by a hunter, and that could take days.
"I'm sorry..." It's all my fault I say, dejectedly.
"It was my idea to come to the lake Blaine, and I'm not good enough with the bow. I'm the one who should be sorry." Tommy's words of comfort don't help. A grim mood settles as we sit in the tree, looking at the wolves.
"Maybe If I use my light spell when it's darker the hunters can find us?" Carla says and I smile weakly. I'm not sure if it will work but it does give us a sliver of hope.
Silence reigns on our small group, while the wolves patiently circle down below, sometimes keeping out of view before moving slightly and making the bush rustle. Time flies as we sit mostly silent in the tree, waiting for the night to come. Eating some of the snacks I prepared, we get some morale back. The sun slowly crawls down towards the horizon. We patiently wait for the darkness to shroud the land. Barely able to make out the wolves now Carla finally decides it's time.
"My turn to shine." Carla says, trying to cheer us up with a bad pun. It does make me smile despite myself.
Using her [Light] spell repeatedly, it really raises our hope of being found. The light is clearly unnatural and surprisingly bright.
"Slow down." I tell her, better to use it more sparingly and regularly instead.
"You are right. We should also try to get some sleep. I can stay up." Carla tells us and I look to Tommy who shrugs his shoulders. I nod before realizing they probably can't see me that well.
"Alright, that's a good idea, we have a bit more food for tomorrow, but any more than that will be tough." I say as I look through the all too empty bag. I can't read their expressions but I'm guessing they aren't very happy about that. I find a better position to try and sleep. More exhausted than I thought, I quickly fall asleep.
—
I wake up to a sunbeam hitting me right on the eyes despite the tree's canopy. My whole body aches from the sleeping position. I see the other two still sleeping. I look down and see that the wolves aren't below us anymore. Looking around with hope welling up my chest, I spot a wolf further away by the lake, eating what I think is one of the baby boars. Hopelessness grabs my heart before I try to suppress it with thoughts of a rescue. They must have noticed we didn't come home and should have sent out some hunters to look for us.
"Morning." I hear above me as Tommy is slowly waking up. He spots the wolf by the lake and his expression changes to something more somber.
Carla wakes at the sound of talking but doesn't say a word. One of the wolves comes by our tree again, sniffing around and growling at us. Suddenly, it jerks its head towards the village, its ears perked up to hear better. It pauses for a second before it suddenly yelps and runs the opposite direction. We see the other wolves of the pack quickly following in its steps, previously hidden by different bushes. Flocks of birds fly away at the same time the last wolf rushes past our tree.
"What is going on?" Carla asks cautiously. I turn to Tommy who knows more about wildlife than any of us.
"That can't be good." he says, tone serious.
"Now is not the time to be mysterious." I try to urge him on, slightly on edge.
"If the animals are running, It means something more dangerous is coming." He says and I swallow despite myself. That can't be good.
"We have to run back to the village before whatever is coming comes then." Carla nods, and we all look at each other for a few seconds, checking if everyone is on board.
"If you have to leave me behind, do it." I say, tone serious. "I have already caused enough trouble."
"Don't say that." Carla says.
"It won't come to that." Tommy tries to reassure me. Not very convincing since he himself is fidgeting nervously.
We slowly start climbing down the tree. We are soon on the move back towards the village. With my arm around Tommy's shoulder, we move through the woods as fast as we can. I had a bad feeling before with the wolves and everything, but now, I can't help but feel like maybe it wasn’t the wolves that my gut was warning me about. It feels like something horrible is about to happen.
Our slow pace is infuriating, I try to go faster but my leg is still in bad shape. Silence reigns over the forest as we slowly make our way back. Still, we keep our pace up until we aren’t far away.
As we finally come close enough to see the village, I see plumes of thick smoke rising. What? The village is on fire? How can this be? Very few creatures can make it past our walls, and we do have a few men who are decent fighters.
"Maybe an accident?" Carla offers hopefully. I hope she is right, and that it has nothing to do with what scared the animals.
We push our pace. The pain from my leg is barely tolerable but I try to ignore it so as not to slow us down any more.
We soon find ourselves in front of the tree we can use to climb over the palisade, the others start to climb and help me. When Tommy gets high enough to see over it, I see his face drain of blood as he starts to tremble at the sight. Carla's scream urges me to move faster as I climb up the last branch to look over the palisade.
A vision of horror is what greets me. So much blood and so many dead, laying in the mud, several houses burning. Uncomprehending I try to look for the source of the massacre when my eyes finally land on him.
Frozen in place, I look on with terror as his swords tears open the torso of Mr. Flower. Blood splashes and lands on him, already soaked from all his victims. I spot a woman running away behind him when he turns around.
"Mom!" I hear Carla scream as she jumps down the tree and starts running towards her. Her scream and actions wakes me up from my horrified state and I jump down. Too slow to follow Carla on her mad dash towards her mother, I look past her at my house which is burning.
Trying to hurry my pace as much as I can with my painful leg, I run towards my house. On the street to my right, I see Carla casting [Light] to try and blind that monster. My vision becomes blurry from the spell and I blink several times to try and see the aftermath. I see Carla's head rolling on the ground, her mother's body split in two. I almost collapse from shock then and there, but horror and fear spurns me on.
Using my bad leg I desperately sprint towards my house. My legs give out after a few paces, and I scramble desperately to my feet. Finally by my house somehow and still in one piece, I shout my mother's name. Suddenly someone grabs me from behind, a hand on my mouth. I try to fight free before I realize it's my mom.
"Shhhh. We have to hide." Tears run down her cheeks and terror is etched across her face. Behind her I see him slowly walk towards us, a mad grin plastered across his face, blood dripping down his sword. Seeing my terrified expression my mother slowly turns around. Both of us freeze in terror, I don't even notice my gaping mouth.
Slowly, like he is enjoying every moment, the man covered in blood stalks towards us. Only a few paces away now, his red eyes pierce through me. I feel a hot liquid running down my legs as my bladder gives out. Suddenly the monster in human skin lunges and plunges his sword deep through my mother's heart.
Jerking unnaturally when trying to take out the sword, he raises it high above me, a terrible look in his eyes. But somewhere inside his eyes, I feel like I see someone as terrified as I am. The man stops his movement and starts to tremble from head to toe. Clutching his head, he drops his weapon as he screams at the top of his lungs. The scream is so primal and raw that it rattles my whole body, and my heart stops for a second before I finally understand that it was a word.
"ENOUGH!" Panting heavily, his eyes suddenly brown, he looks straight at me with the most serious expression an adult has ever made at me.
"Run child." He pleads. He falls to the ground screaming and clutching at his head again. The scream makes my blood run cold. Colder than ever before. I scramble to get up and start running aimlessly, as far away from this nightmare as I can. Everywhere I look, blood and body parts mix with the mud. Shaking my head in a fruitless attempt to banish this reality I continue running, falling due to my leg on several occasions.
A long scream so loud I can barely believe it comes from behind me, and I look back in terror. I see him completely still. I hide behind the nearest house by the wall. The wall is still burning so I would need to go towards him to make it out. But looking at him I don't dare to make a run for it. Minutes pass by as I observe him, my iron sword faithfully at my waist.
As time passes I start breathing in a calmer manner, and my emotions settle somewhat. My previous terror slowly transforms to anger. I see him lay there completely still and I start to consider stabbing him before he recovers.
Gathering my courage, I manage to take a step in his direction, then another. Each step spurs me forwards and stokes my anger and rage, fear almost a distant memory now. Tears stream down my face and I ignore them completely. Focused only on the man laying a few ways away. Ever so slowly, I stalk towards him, my confidence growing as his immobility is confirmed. Now only a few paces away, I draw my blade when suddenly he jerks awake, breathing heavily. I stand completely still, terror once again at the forefront of my mind.
He stands up, turns his head and looks me straight in the eyes.
"I'm so sorry kid." Sadness permeates his words. I stand there, completely still, not able to make sense of anything, and anger starts to well up inside me once more.
Slowly, he walks away through a wide hole in the wall made by the fire, still burning on each side. I stand stunned as I watch him without moving. The vision of his figure surrounded by fire and destruction feels somehow beautiful and unreal. As he disappears into the distance, I take a look around at what is left of the village.
Mixed emotions stir inside of me as I take it all in. One emotion stands out. Hatred for the man who did this. I take a step forward, then another, and follow after him.