Many annoyances, and many nuisances. That was the only way to describe the current condition little Levis was feeling at this moment, while he was finally awakening, from what seemed to have been a very long, and very deep sleep.
But as to what was the cause of his disturbance and irritation in this moment, while he was coming out of his unconscious state, was quite easily deduced, as by simply moving his hands, legs, as well as his face, the feeling and the sensation of being touched by little tendrils was rapidly arriving to his mind, while a peculiar phenomenon of moving water over his body was occurring at the same time.
However, strangely even though he was not yet awake, he was already aware of his close surroundings, despite not understanding as to how, and why that was so.
But as little Levis finally opened his eyes, and observed his surroundings, in his present state of dismay and extreme lethargy, he found himself laying on his stomach, at the bend of the river and of the road, close to the river, as he was laying down on the bank of the river, which was not more than a few dozen steps away from him.
While observing his surroundings, he immediately glimpse at the sun standing on the horizon to the west, in a sky that was all a crimson red, akin to the dried blood on his course tunic and pants, however, most of his blood was a mixture of brown-red, due to the dust from the road having been attached to the blood.
"Did I fall senseless here? I---, grandpa, grandma and--, argh-. I-, I-, should wash myself, first of all.”
As he awoke from his tiring and senseless slumber, Levis was perplexed to discover that he was at the end of his power, for every muscle of his body felt very heavy and in grave pain.
But as he checked himself, he ultimately noticed his current pathetic state, as he seemed in a far worst state than even that of a beggar at the current moment. For he smelled and looked, as though he had not taken a bath in months given the current shape he was in, with the dirt and blood all over the lower part of his clothes. For he was giving the appearance of just having crawled out of hell from a small hole in the ground.
“Mmmm?! Why am I so thirsty? I need water. I need it now!”
Immediately after having risen to his feet, Levis moved down the river bank and directly to the river taking a dip in it, while also drinking a mouthful from the strong current of water. But as he was drinking, a strange discovery and occurrence happened, as the wind, the grass, and the water seemed to be more prominent on his skin, whilst his hearing became more acute, as the world appeared to be noisier than normal.
“Am I---, sick? What is happening to me? What is going on? What is happening here? No, no, no. I can not cry or go crazy!”
But not long after his awakening to consciousness from his unusually deep sleep, the memories of his grandfather, grandmother, and of the other villagers being murdered by the bandits, resurged in his mind. As the memory was playing backwards and then forwards in an extremely fast manner, his mood was aggravated and then plunged into emotional instability, while his eyes became reddened as though tears would be next to form and fall, only to stop himself, in the midst of his confused and muddle mind.
“I have to move. I have to move and meet the other villagers. Follow the river at the bend, and then reach for the county guards. "I am a man whose name is Ato.”, come on, move, move! Move, me!!!"
While upping his emotions, with the words spoken by his grandfather and village chief, his goal was evident, as he began to walk subsequent to the side of the river, while the sun continued to go down, piece by piece, as it was moving beyond the horizon, to let the night begin its reign, over the land and the sky.
"---."
"---."
“I will kill you---."
But although his emotions were stabilizing, Levis who had his head lowered down with clenched fists, had a very dark and sombre look, as an intent of murderousness and brutality was oozing from his little body. Yet, in the end, the same danger that he was exuding, wrapped him as though his negative emotions were changing his very core of his, while he was trying to remember the faces of the bandits.
"---."
"I will kill you no matter where you are, and no matter the time it will take me.”
"------."
"I will kill you all."
But while moving alongside the river in his extreme and threatening attitude, the words which were escaping his mouth sporadically, appeared to be a sort of vow made out of his hate and anger, as the hushed and weak words were engraved onto his mind.
"---."
"------."
"---------."
“There is definitely something strange with my body! But what?”
Yet, as he continued to walk, a confusing look emerged on him, as his listless and almost lifeless body of his, appeared to grow stronger and stronger with each breath, and with each beating of his heart. And despite not having eaten anything, the mere fact of drinking several mouthfuls of water in his moment of thirst, had the effect of aiding him to recover his usual self faster than even he could comprehend.
"What is happening here? Eh!? What is that? No-, no--, no---, hide."
But as his curiosity was taking him, the sound which terrified him the most right now, arrived to be heard by his ears, as on the road behind, dim lights were growing larger and larger, accompanied by the sounds of animal hoofs hitting the ground.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
However, to the emergence of the sounds and of the lights in the distance, panic and fear crashed on him, as he moved and leapt off the road, into the tall grass to the south, hoping to avoid whoever was coming this way.
Nonetheless, while he was hiding by the tall grass, the hoof sounds made by the galloping steeds grew, and the light became larger and more prominent, as the road was shown clearly by the light coming from the horses.
While taking a peek, Levis saw clearly four horses carrying five people. Four in armour, with blue cloths underneath, and one in somewhat light brown-green apparels.
"No---, no--, no-, go away!"
But to Levis's dismay, as they neared his location at a high galloping speed, they stopped right in front of his spot, as they looked left and right, to the river and to the grass near where he was hiding.
“Do not conceal yourself! Come out!"
But at the words of one of the men, Levis trembled, as he became even more fearful, and he begin to plan his escape by swimming through the tall grass and then running away if he were to be truly made out. For he knew that the horses would have some difficulties moving through the grass, which would be giving him a small hope to escape. But for the moment, he had no other choice but to see, if they were to give up, or not.
"I am---! I am vice-captain Adrian! A guard of Green City, the main city of Forest County. You can come out, for we mean you no harm!”
[What?]
But in response to his call, Levis had no choice but to take another path with his idea, as if this was to be true, then he was saved. But even so, he was too afraid and scared to move out, as the smallest possibility that he was lying, nonetheless existed.
“If you are hurt, you can come out, so we can treat you!”
"---."
"------."
"---------."
"If you do not want to come out! Then I will have no choice, but to search for you! You have until ten breaths of time befour---, you!?"
Yet as the man continued to shout, he assured whoever was hiding, to not fear them, while also giving some time to the one who was hiding, so as to reflect on his words. But as time passed, the man reached his limit, so he gave an ultimatum to the one hiding, as the order to search the surroundings for whoever was hiding, was just about to escape him.
But amidst the man's exclamation of his commitment to a search, a commotion was seen and heard in the tall grass to the south, as not before too long, the head of a young little boy, who appeared no older than ten years old emerged, and moved on the road before them.
“You---, you are proceeding to where the other villagers are going, right?"
At the arrival of the young boy, the men on the horses were quite shocked, as the young boy appeared in haggard clothes, which were torn in many places, while half-washed blood could still be made out from his worn attire.
However, it was his frowning gaze, which was rather strange and odd, as there was doubt and a small, but very faint seedling of killing intent that they could discern.
“T-the encampment!? Yes, yes. That is where we are moving towards, we will take you there, so come close.”
With frowning eyebrows, Levis approached them, as he was inspecting the five men who were cloth strangely, but totally different from the bandits.
“Are you hurt?”
“N-n-no.”
“Then the blood, is it your or---?"
“N-no.”
"No? Did you see someone else on the road?”
"No."
“Sigh---, where are you from?”
“Down River village.”
“Down River---? The last one! Were you there when the thirteen seniors were killed?”
"Yes."
With question after question, the man who called himself vice-captain, received only negation after negation in a very strange form, as the boy before him seemed confused but his one confirmation cleared his suspicion. As he was now sure that he was a survivor of what happened at the last village from where he had just come from.
Although, on the polar side, little Levis was consumed by shame, guilt and anguish, as he could only swing or nod his head, while he was reminded of the fact that all he had accomplished back then, was to hide, and watch like a useless coward, as his closes family and the seniors were killed behind him, while he had running away.
“Sigh----, we have just arrived from your village. The elders have already been buried. I do not know why you have not left with your villagers, but if you are fine, let us go as well, for we need to arrive at the camp at the earliest hour of the next day's break. Someone take him, and move onwards!”
At the words from the vice-captain, little Levis had no chance to speak any more, as one of the guards took him, and while wasting no time, they restarted their journey with their horses galloping at high speed.
The ride could not be said to be very comfortable, for as the wind was rushing at high speed, his eyes became dry and then teary. But as they were moving, he could clearly see the river and grass, moving at a fast speed due to the light, which was coming from the base of the horse's neck, as a round stone glowed with a weak, yet unyielding light, in the darkening of the night.
But as drowsiness was taking him slowly, his eyelids began to go up and down, in the same manner as his head, evident from a drain of adrenalin, and emotional instability, as he could finally feel some security in the presence of the guards, while slowly and slowly, his world went dark again.
Nevertheless, as he was sleeping, pieces of information about the close surroundings were still flowing to his mind, as every part of his skin, and his whole body was sending bits and scraps of information about the wind, the horse, riders, and even the words that they were speaking, as everything was reaching into his consciousness, despite being asleep. It was a bizarre and odd sensation that he could not understand, for he was nighter asleep, nor awake, a state which he was unfamiliar with.
"He---, sleep---."
"---arrive at--- by dawn."
"---alert, we---."
Although, the words were incomplete and of no use, since he was not focused on them, for he was more preoccupied with the feeling of his entire body, which appeared to be more unified, connected and complete, in a bizarre and strange way which he could not describe.
"---."
"------."
"---------."
“We are here! Time to wake, little guy!”
But as his consciousness was in the midst of comprehension of his own current state, all of a sudden he was shooked by a hand grasping his shoulder, as the guard that was letting him ride along spoke and awakened him.
As he awaken, Levis could still notice the darkness of the sky and of his surroundings, as the gloom of the night was still over his head, although in the distance, he could spot a red blotch in the east, the sun, which was on the verge of making its appearance.
But as his eyes moved from the yet-to-arise sun, and to another spot in the distance, he could see a large space clear of trees, surrounded by an endless forest to the north and east, and then, the river and the endless prairie that stood to the south.
However, as the trees were missing, and creating a large clearance of space, his eyes moved to a series of tall cut logs, that were used to form a large and circular wall fence. Moreover, some of the trees were used as wooden spikes and blockers which surrounded the close and far vicinity of the wall fence.
But as they were approaching the barricade, a guard in their group signalled towards someone beyond the fence wall, and towards an elevated watchtower, signalling back and forward with someone, while they were approaching its close vicinity.
The communication was done by nothing else than a small stone, that was glowing at odd intervals with a weak light. Although, while looking at it, no pain could be felt by the eyes, as the light was weak and harmless to one's sight.
As they approached the fence wall, the big double wooden door that was the entrance to the camp opened for them, as on the other side, a dozen or so guards were waiting for them, looking fierce and menacing, as by any chance something were to not be right, a fight would most likely ensue.
Yet at the sight of their faces, the tension and hardened killing intent on their mugs were discharged, as they proceed to welcome them and take the horses, while the new arrivals descended off of them.
“So you are finally here! I was getting bored of waiting for you, so I came out immediately, once I was informed of some presences coming our way. Although, I would have liked to come after you myself.”
"---."
"Captain!?"
But in truth, the guards did not fear an ambush by the bandits, as behind them stood a young man, wrapped in an almost full-plated armour, and with a long sword in his hand, as he walked near the newly arrived guards, and addressed directly towards the man who called himself vice-captain.
“Captain!”