Koll was yelling something at me, I saw his mouth move and his nostrils widen.
Eleanor also tugged on my tunic, trying to get my attention.
But my mind was focused on Regis ever since the moment I woke up, As it has been for the past week.
“Brat, I have nothin’ to do with Eleanor alone.” Koll’s words passed through my ears.
Eleanor took one look at Koll only to look at the ground, sending small glances at me.
“She only gives it a try when ya do it, and ya already know that, what is wrong with ya lately?” Koll huffed out with crossed arms.
He had been ranting ever since I reached the smithy with Eleanor. I understood where he was coming from, for he must have been thinking that as an adult he has responsibility over us.
I shook my head for the ninth time since the morning, trying to stop my wallowing over Regis.
But it didn’t help, especially not when my own personal nightmares were so similar to his mother’s death and to the people who were butchered by the inquisitor.
“Did ya already get to yer teenager phase?” Koll asked nonchalantly, but when I gave him no reaction at all, his face turned into a frown.
“Kid, what’s ta matter? Don’t tell me.” Koll’s face widened in horror, grabbing my attention.
“Did Amara force ya to eat ‘er herbal salad?”
I chuckled, feeling my cloudy mind brighten a bit. “The herbal salad wasn’t bad.”
Koll’s face was dead serious as he rubbed his beard, “she’s already broken ‘is mind Eleanor.” He told Eleanor, who tried her best to look him in the eyes.
She looked between me and Koll, until she grabbed my tunic with both her arms, “y-you need to push through!” She yelled desperately, “It isn’t tasty at all!” She declared, her breath stank from the herbs Amara had fed us before.
I felt a smile creep on my face and I laughed. Koll’s face lightened while Eleanor looked at me with her mouth agape. “Alright, let’s get to training.” I said and took a small breath. “Are you ready, nail maker?” I asked Koll, making his eyes twitch.
The three of us went to free space between the smithy and the town’s wall, and started training. Eleanor tried her best to follow me as we did the training Koll gave us, from running to push ups. Koll had said that it was to ‘strengthen our resolve for future training’.
I sent small glances at Koll and Eleanor as we went through the training and smiled.
Shortly after what happened at the Dragon festival, Koll had come to talk with Amara, saying he would give me a very small chance. And as Charlotte and Freda got friendlier, so did Eleanor and I, though most of the time she simply followed me, even during my training.
Amidst the exercise I sent a wide smirk to Koll, “old man! When are we having our rematch?”
Koll huffed with fire in his eyes, “ta next time we spar! I won’t go easy on ya evil brat!”
I chuckled and looked at Eleanor, who looked like she was going to fall every second. I couldn’t help but feel the urge to look away everytime her silver eyes met mine.
You know that you don’t really have to do as I do when I’m exercising? I thought in my mind but kept my mouth shut. The last time I told her so, she had simply gone quiet and started to bite her lips.
By the end of the training, Eleanor fell huffing on the ground, while I breathed heavily.
“Aight.” Koll approached the both of us, “now brat, go and practice ta tasks Amara gave ya.” he said and turned to Eleanor. “Yer, on ta other hand, we’ll finish yer core today.”
We both nodded, although Eleanor did it more timidly, she took a moment to calm herself and started meditating as she had been for the last month. While Koll stood by Eleanor and guided her.
Going a bit further, to not disrupt them, I started to manipulate my mana outside of myself, and used it to create energy and matter. From shooting stone bolts and creating wind gusts, to making water flow around me in the air.
With the easy exercises out of the way, I moved to my biggest hurdle as of late, conjuring fire.
Heat, flammable resource, and air. I repeated in my head, as I started to manipulate the blue mana outside of me.
“A layer to protect yerself from burnin’ alive!” Koll shouted at me, Eleanor stopped meditating and looked at me, only to quickly return to meditating when Koll glared at her.
Right. I furrowed my eyebrows for a moment, and criticized myself for forgetting to protect myself.
With a deep breath, I started using energy to draw heat energy away from my hands and arms, feeling them get colder until they trembled, after that I manipulated mana right outside of my hands to turn it into a small ball of flammable gas and warped it to a ball with air.
And now, energy! I added heat energy and the gas burned into a fireball, floating right over my hands. My hand felt warmer, and my eyes started to blink and water from the heat.
So I slowly tried to draw away energy from the air around my face, which helped my eyes stabilize. Remembering very well what happened the last time I manipulated mana inside my eyes in the Dragon festival.
Looking straight at the flame for a couple of seconds, I drew away the heat energy from my heating body, and played with the flame a bit, making it move around the air, sometimes adding more gas and making it burn brighter and hotter. After a while I even tried to hold a miniaturized flame on one of my fingers, but I quickly abandoned the idea, not wanting to get too caught up in it.
I nodded to myself with a smile and Looked at Eleanor, Koll beside her looked at me and put his finger to his mouth, to shush me.
Mana gathered around Eleanor, her eyes were closed in deep concentration, she kept on drawing mana, until the suction became much more powerful. All of the mana around her poured into her and vanished.
She opened her eyes and looked up at Koll who nodded stoically. A smile spread on her face, she sprang to both her feet and ran to me. “I did it! I did it!” she ran, only to stop a couple of steps in front of me.
I nodded in return and smiled, “congratulations.”
“Remember, yer are not goin’ to touch mana at all until ya get home to yer parents, they’ll teach ya how to use it.” Koll reminded her. He looked at the both of us while rubbing his beard and muttering something under his breath.
I nudged Eleanor while looking at Koll, “hey, what is he muttering?” I asked her quietly.
“He’s calling us little monsters? Did we do something bad?” Her silver eyes sparkling as she turned her attention to me.
“Old man! Who are you calling little monsters?”
Kool flinched, he shook his head and looked at us with a scowl. “Yer both are a couple of years too young ta have cores!” He angrily shouted at us, making Eleanor flinch.
I couldn’t help but laugh in return as Koll entered his smithy.
A small tug on my tunic drew my attention to Eleanor, she turned her attention from the smithy to me. “Am I stronger now?” She asked timidly.
I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at her, “that’s why you have been training until now?” I asked, making her freeze like stone. “Strength isn't a word that is used in regards to the body, it’s a word used to describe one’s will.” I found myself giving her a lecture.
I blinked and shook my head. “Just remember, that you can’t abuse this power, you should never use your own power in order to harm others, only to protect yourself and those around you.” I said and waited until she nodded.
After we got into the smithy, I rested on one of the small wooden chairs, feeling fatigue set in. I tried to remember everything else before I was born, only to get the same headache when I remembered too much.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Why? The question sounded in my mind. I just, I can’t understand, why can I instinctively remember certain things, but can’t remember anything else. I stopped my line of thinking before it could go down a spiral.
I already knew that there was no point in thinking of it, even after the Dragon festival I had thought that I could find answers, as to why I acted so differently at the stand, only to end up frustrated.
I could only wait for the next vision like I had been doing for the last year and a half.
I looked at Eleanor who seemed to drowsily walk through the smithy, looking at the weapons, while Koll kept an eye on her.
The door to the smithy opened, and a hooded man came in. My attention snapped to him, as I felt a very familiar pull towards him. Even though his hair hid his eyes, when he looked in my direction, his mouth gasped for a moment, only to immediately close.
Koll grunted a greeting at the man and paid him no more attention, spinning his unused smoking pipe in his hands.
I should stay away from him. The thought went through my mind. I got up and walked closer to Koll who stood behind the counter, all the while looking directly at the man, not letting him out of my sight.
The hooded man turned his head one more time in my direction and kept on looking throughout the shop, with his head tilted down.
“Eleanor,” I whispered under my breath, drawing her attention. “Come to our side, now.” Eleanor looked at me once over and came immediately.
As the three of us huddled together, I tried to remember where I felt the pull in the past, that small aching, as if my legs wanted to walk in that man’s direction, to lead me.
My eyes opened wide, and the breath got taken from my lungs, Limbo, the gray man, danger. realization came to me. The pull was much weaker, but it was still right in front of me.
I froze, my mind plunged into its cold and emotionless state, trying to understand why that person was here, and why I felt a pull towards him.
Koll put his hands on our shoulders and slowly pulled us behind him. He eyed me with a raised eyebrow to which I didn’t answer as I kept my sight on the hooded eye.
The man ignored us as he kept looking at the weapons, his face hidden inside the hood. He checked their balance and how straight they were. But his movement, the way his feet sprang lightly like a tense coil, how his back turned stiff when he turned his back on us.
Kids should be loud. I looked at Eleanor who’s eyes were half shut.
I felt cold sweat go down my spine, I glanced at Koll and put on a smile that quickly crumbled. “Looks like you’ve got a customer that isn’t only interested in nails, Koll.” I taunted him, feeling the heavy silence in the room fade.
The air around the man changed, as he seemed to be more comfortable in his own skin.
While Koll looked between me and the man, he decided to speak. “What kind of a weapon are ya lookin’ for?”
The man gave a visible smile. “what would you recommend? I just wanted to buy a nice present for someone when he grows up.” The man answered casually.
Koll huffed and started to rub his beard, while he stayed behind the counter, he pointed at various weapons and traded with the hooded man.
The talk between the two made the tension fade and my mind slowly calmed down. But the feeling of the pull still kept me jumpy, and with the stranger being the first person to ever give that pulling feeling I felt the questions hang on my tongue.
The hooded man put his chosen weapon on the counter. Even this close to the man, he kept his head tilted down, his hair kept hiding his eyes. The only thing that I could see was his smiling mouth.
“I’m guessin’ that ya are new here aintcha?” Koll asked with his grumpy voice.
The man chuckled, his smile grew into a grin, “what gave it away?”
“People ain't so tense round these parts.” Koll answered simply, to which the hooded man nodded.
“Had a long journey, from here it's straight to Okand.” The man sighed out. Koll’s eyes softened for the first time since I had met him.
Liar. I found myself thinking, having a gut feeling that he was truly lying.
“The civil war calmed throughout the years, but there is no denyin’ what's happenin’ there.” Koll tentatively said, “just stay away from the deep parts of tha orc tribes, they are still stickin’ to their old traditions of beating someone half to death for some honor, bunch of mongrels.” He spat out, his face contorted with anger.
I looked at him from the side with wide eyes, not even during our first spar had Koll shown such an expression.
Amara taught me little details about the civil war in Okand, she had told me that she and Koll served at the spire mountain and at the beginning of the civil war.
But she had never really told me what she saw there.
Koll caught my expression and calmed immediately, he coughed once and started to rub his beard. “Anyway, findar torst, young lad.” He said something in Dwarvish, and brought his fist to his chest for some reason.
“Arau thalorn, oz findar torst.” The man said back in dwarvish, and like Koll, he put his fist to his chest before he grabbed his weapon and went to the door.
I clenched my fists as I felt the pull get weaker, but I kept my questions, remembering how tense the man was a few moments before Koll talked with him. Not worth risking the people I know.
Right before he got out, he tilted his head toward our direction one last time, and smiled.
After he got out, Koll nodded his head to the air, his eyes a bit distant. “I dinna think he had ill intentions, people normally look happy around tha continent, but the civil war has a heavy toll on some parts, sometimes there are even rumors of huge bandit groups scourin’ throughout tha continent.”
I looked to the side to see Eleanor sitting on a wooden chair, and resting her head on the counter, napping.
I took a small breath, and looked back at Koll, “he gave out a weird feeling.” I spoke my mind, only to shake my head. “Why do you think he is headed to Okand?”
Koll stood silent for a moment until he shrugged. “Maybe a very close friend of his stayed in the legion, and he wants to go and meet him. Or maybe he’s just brainless, thinkin’ that he will be alright while going on a little fun journy, like a fuckin’ fool.” Koll ranted and cursed, not caring whether Eleanor and myself were near him.
Silence hung in the room until Koll sighed and looked at me and the sleeping Eleanor, “I think it is time the both of ya go home. I’ll come with ya, c’mon.”
----------------------------------------
I carried the heavily sleeping Eleanor on my back as I took her back home with Koll walking beside us, spinning his smoking pipe in his hand.
“Don’t mind that Aubree fella when ya see him, he always had a stick up ‘is arse.” Koll said out of nowhere with a stoic face.
I realized that Amara must have really kept him up to date, after all, Amara, Charlotte and Freda started to do some tee parties in the last couple of weeks.
I gave him a stare, “you should stop cursing and talking like that around Eleanor, she’s only a kid.”
Koll frowned at me, “and ya ain’t brat? I saw Aubree a couple of times during my life here in town, I know that he is a racist towards everybody except for elves.” Koll snapped back, “Nobody in this town was behind ta royal assassination, nor behind the wars that happened a thousand or a couple of centuries ago. He’s got a stick up his arse and that's the truth.” He didn’t give up, and instead he stared back.
“And neither did Eleanor do anything to deserve hearing you cursing her father. She is a child that doesn’t deserve to hear such things.” I replied coldly, making Koll flinch. “So just stop, be better than this.” I said and turned away from him.
I could see Koll open his mouth from the edge of my sight, but after a couple seconds of silence he closed it.
When we got to Eleanor’s home, we waited a minute after we knocked until Freda, Eleanor’s mother, opened the door.
“Oh! Dante, and you must be Koll, how pleasant to see the both of you.” She greeted us, and sent her arms to take Eleanor.
Koll nodded stoically, while I helped Eleanor get into her mother’s arms.
We talked for a moment and Koll told her about Eleanor’s breakthrough with the mana core, to which Freda smiled brightly and thanked the both of us.
“Well I guess that I should put her to bed, it was very nice seeing you both.” Freda said, as a woman with cat ears in a maid outfit got behind her.
I looked at the joyful beastkin with wide eyes and an open mouth, until I Koll nudged me. “Ah, and you too Freda.”
From Eleanor’s house we made our way to Amara’s shop.
“Not a lot beastkin in all of Inyslian, was it yer first time seein’ one?” Koll asked casually.
“Yeah.” I answered truthfully, to which Koll huffed.
The rest of our walk was quiet, neither of us talked. I did notice the silence was getting heavier, as it once had with Amara.
“Koll.” I called him and he turned to look at me. I took a deep breath and tried to form words in my mouth, but I couldn’t understand what to make of the situation.
So instead, I spoke of the first day I saw Eleanor, thinking that the silence had something to do with our previous talk.
I told him about how she was beaten down. I revealed to him what Charlotte told me after talking with Freda a couple times, about how Eleanor was always alone, and a bit sheltered, how other kids used to cast her out because of her scars. And I even told him why she started to train.
During my explanation, Koll’s stoic face contorted until he looked away. “I’m startin’ to get why Amara used to say that she felt uncomfortable around ya.” Koll said, and I felt my shoulders slump a bit with the new information. “It’s like talkin’ to an adult in the body of a kid.”
I tensed up for half a second only to force myself to relax.
Koll didn’t notice. He rubbed his beard and sighed heavily, “aye yer right brat, that kid doesn’t deserve to get treated badly, when I saw the group of kids in the festival put ‘er in the ground, I swear I felt me heart twist, but before I got up to them, ya showed up.” He flipped his smoking pipe in his hands, until he put it in his pocket.
“I’ll try not to curse around ‘er anymore, ya were right to reprimand me about this bra-” Koll stopped talking, and turned to look at me, “Dante.” He said my name, and I realized that it was the first time he said my name.
I gave him a smug smile, and corrected my slumped posture, “brat is also alright, old man.” I said, and Koll gave a deep chuckle.
“By the way? Does Amara still feel uncomfortable around me?” I asked timidly, looking Koll in his eyes.
“If she did, I wouldn’t have been talkin’ to ya Brat.” Koll answered, and started to talk about how much she annoyed him so that he would give me a second chance.
At the end of the day, after returning home, even with all that happened and the strange pull that I had towards the man, I got into bed and stopped my mind from going in circles.
I took a deep breath, knowing what’s next to come.
When Darkness took me, I awoke In snow filled streets.