The terrible smell of pig’s feces, sweat and wet wood was all he could sense. Rolling in his bed made of hay, the young black haired man tried to sleep but could find no rest. His mind couldn't stop wandering. And the worries ate at him, thoughts he did not welcome filled his head. Slowly, he stood up. Shaking the cobwebs of his attempts at sleep off him. Careful as to not wake his family, he walked across the hay covered wooden floor. With each step, it creaked slightly, but none of them noticed. He exited the house as quickly as he could, wanting to breathe the outside air. The smell of it washed over his body like a cleansing breeze as soon as he did. His simple clothes, which were far too large for him, moved with the wind. Turning his thin body into a menacing shadow on the ground. Almost like he wore a cloak.
He was standing at the forest's edge, where it met with rolling hills covered with fields to the north. Near him red, orange and yellow leaves dominated the ground. They crunched under his feet as he walked, without much purpose or direction. His movements mirrored his unsettled mind, and his worries were in clear view. The ground and air was wet, it had rained. They already should have planted next year's crop, but the wheat in the fields was still a dark yellow.
"Damn it," Lucas cursed to himself, his voice quiet, "why did we not plant earlier last year?" he had remembered why they couldn't, but it was of no use to him now.
'I wish there was something I could do, anything…' but there was nothing, and so Lucas continued wandering. His feet took him further and further into the forest absentmindedly. Anxious thoughts left his mind utterly blank.
Thud.
Something hit the ground, suddenly and violently. Snapping out of his stupor, the black haired young man looked around but found nothing. He noticed light was now shining through the trees and their remaining leaves, however.
'It's morning already, I suppose,' Lucas thought to himself, confused as to how he got there.
Thud
The sound repeated itself and Lucas was now even more confused.
‘Definitely louder this time… Maybe something is coming this way?’ Lucas pondered, trying to figure out what would make that kind of noise.
Thud thud thud thud
The pounding surprised him again and it had increased its pace. Whatever caused it struck the ground again and again, eventually finding a steady rhythm.
He only realized what it was as it neared. Beyond the trees Lucas caught glimpses of an animal’s brown and shining armor, and he immediately understood what it was.
‘Horses! That must be the duke’s men,’ he concluded nervously, rushing forwards to get a better view. Their hooves struck the ground again and again, as ten or so knights rode into the forest.
'Damn the Comet, they are earlier than I thought… I have to go warn dad.'
He looked around, getting his bearings and quickly realizing how far he was from the house. It was west of there. In his mindless wandering he had traveled further than he thought, but he could still make it home. Running back, his worn shoes crunched the leaves below his feet with every step. The only hope Lucas had to make it in time was if the knights would not bother to look deeper in the forest. If they found him it would all be over in seconds.
A tree appeared in front of him as he ran, and he twisted his thin body left to avoid it. That’s when he noticed the roots on the ground in front of him. Barely skipping over them, he continued his fast pace through the forest. Every minute he was gaining ground on the knights behind him, but it might not be enough. He tried to increase his speed again, but he didn’t notice the ground beneath him was softer than before. A moment later his leg was swallowed as the force of his movement stuck it deep into the mud.
‘NO! I can’t stay here, I need to get out!’ he moved his leg as fast as he could to try to get it out, but he couldn’t manage it. No matter how much he squirmed, his foot was still lodged in it. His emotions running hot, he tried again, focusing all his might on getting his leg out. With a single movement, it was suddenly out. The speed was too much for Lucas, however, and he tripped, falling back first into the mud. He reached out with his hand and grabbed the solid dirt to his left. With only his sheer force of will he used it as an anchor and got up.
‘I lost too much time, fuck, I need to hurry even more now,’ not even bothering to clean himself, he returned to sprinting. The knights had disappeared from his sight, and Lucas wasn’t sure where they had gone, ‘it doesn’t matter, getting back home takes priority,’ the young man told himself over and over again as he passed more trees by.
Soon enough, he saw his home again. The simple wooden house standing just at the edge of the forest. Five horses stood there, all empty of people. Knights still rode the others.
He inched closer to the building as quietly as he could, but his cover only lasted a few more steps.
'I could get there in a few seconds, but there's no way they wouldn't see me…And where the hell are the other knights?' Lucas thought to himself, and was soon answered when the flimsy door was thrown open. Shouting was heard immediately and two figures left the house.
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"I told your man that I would have the money by the end of the week, and I intend to follow up on that promise," Lucas' father, a gruff and stocky older man of similar black hair, stated calmly.
"Like I said last time, that's not good enough!" he moved forwards out of the house and now stood right next to the simply clothed man near the entrance, "If you don't give us the money now the duke will have your head!" The second man spoke, taking Lucas' father by the collar, the plates of his armor rattling as he moved. The knight lifted him up, but that did not cause him to lose his cool.
"Well, there's nothing I can do about it, the harvest is not over this year and we simply don't have any money to give you," he continued calmly, his black eyes staring directly into the knight.
“Fine, have it your way,” he said harshly, turning to the other knights. “Men, take the children!” they moved quickly, some entering the house and some exiting it. Two small figures were carried away shouting and screaming by their hands and legs.
'Thomas! Christina!` Lucas looked on in terror as his younger siblings were ripped out of their homes and hoisted onto two of the horses, 'this can't be happening...' he refused to accept it.
His mind blank, Lucas stood there frozen, as a baby was carried out of the house by the last knights. The rest got on their horses and began preparing to move out.
"Come to the duke with his money by the end of the day, or you will never see them again," the captain stated briskly. His tone of voice clearly showed he had no problem doing this. A moment later, they rode away, paying no mind to what happened after they left.
"Get back here!" Lucas shouted at them, "I will kill you all!" his anger exploded through his body and shook his voice, and his thoughts were a mess of emotions which were brought to the breaking point.
His father noticed him at that moment. He was still calm, but his eyes seemed glossy, and there were two paths of washed dirt on his cheeks.
"Lucas! Where were you?" his father ran over to Lucas and reached out to his son, hugging him closely as the young man burst into tears "they'll be fine," he continued, trying to comfort his son.
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It was the year prior, just at the end of summer. His father was working in the field, trying to harvest the ripe crops with the help of Lucas’ younger siblings. The fields covered the rolling hills with a majestic golden color, stretching out almost as far as the eye could see. Most of them were worked by other farmers. Lucas could see them from where he sat at the top of the hill, and they seemed just like tiny ants, working away.
"Lucas! Come help us!" his father shouted at him, but his tone was still kind.
"Yeah, I'm coming," the young man said, a smile covering his face as he stood up.
Only a few minutes later he reached the section the three were working on. Around his younger brother and father stood the broken off stalks of the wheat. His sister was slowly picking those up, tying them into bunches with twine and carrying them back to the small barn adjacent to the house.
"Took you long enough," Thomas chuckled at him when he finally reached that area.
“Whatever,” he said, reaching out and bumping his brother, who was younger by only a year, on the shoulder, “you guys did fine without me!” he continued jokingly.
“That doesn’t mean we don’t appreciate your help Lucas!” his father shot back with a wink and handed him a scythe.
“True enough,” Lucas tried to focus on the work ahead of him. Cutting every stalk individually was grueling work, and he began sweating after only a few minutes. After cutting them carefully with the scythe he let the stalks fall to the ground, to be collected and bundled by his sister. They would dry in the barn where she left them for several days before they could finally separate the grain. That’s how he spent the next several weeks, working in the fields until the start of fall when the harvesting was finally over.
It was when the real trouble started that his routine broke. That all started with a storm on the night they finished harvesting on. It battered the house and barn all night, and Lucas couldn’t manage to get to sleep no matter what he did. So just the same as that day, he wandered out of the house. The rain had stopped almost the moment he stepped out, but the sky was still gray and dim.
The smell was markedly different, however. Something foul wafted through the air. A loud bang to his left and a flash of light made him realize it was smoke soon enough, but it was already too late. From there everything was all a haze, it had all occurred so quickly for him to process it. A shadowy figure ran past him as he tried to figure out where it was from. That’s when he looked back towards the house and saw it. The barn had lit on fire. Next, he remembered himself struggling to put out the fire engulfing the barn, and his family slowly waking up to help him. He did not recall when or how the fire stopped, but by sunrise the barn along with all their crops was burnt to ashes.
His father was gone as soon as the last flame died, going to town on some errand Lucas did not ask about. It was not a question that came to his distracted mind. Instead he sat in the house, listening to the crying of his mother which did not stop until his father returned, and the repeated attempts of Thomas to calm her down. It was a useless effort, but none of them were strangers to those.
Soon enough, his father returned with news.
“Lucas and I will be working for one of the other farmers for now. They agreed to lend us seeds for the next planting if we help them with their harvest,” he said, his tone far more somber than Lucas had seen before, attempting to give them all hope.
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“FUCK, FUCK, FUCK! IT’S ALL MY FAULT” He screamed uselessly, his voice lost across the vast fields, “I HATE THIS ALL AND THE DUKE AND MY FATHER AND ESPECIALLY MYSELF!” he didn’t know if he even meant it, but that was all he could do to get the feelings out of himself, “the Comet damn it all!” he kicked one of the stalks near him.
A shower of blue sparks suddenly popped out of it, and somehow, it was golden. Soon, the other stalks near it did the same. One by one, they ripened in an instant. With it spreading, Lucas somehow felt more and more drained.
“Lucas! What’s going on?” his father shouted from a distance.
“I don’t know!” the young man shouted back, his body slowly being covered with those same blue sparks. Another voice shouted suddenly, a loud and deep voice that came from one of the other hills.
“He has MAGIC!”