Before dinner, Max laid out the plan for the upcoming days. “So, kid we are going to be heading to Ulm. As you should know, Fulda is closer, but we have to bear the responsibility of taking you to Ulm.”

“I’ll explain as we go along. Please make sure to pack as light as possible. Unnecessary burdens will only slow us down.”

He made sure to add with a bright smile on his face. “Think of it as a rather long outing!”

Along with the particular route they would take, they laid out some rules.

The journey ahead looked more unconventional as they went on. First of all, they wouldn’t be using the highways.

The highways were heavily policed roads that had checkpoints littered throughout the network. They served their purpose of monitoring who goes in and out of various places, but they slowed down travel by a day or two.

In a normal sense, this wouldn’t be too bothering as they were the most secure paths to take when traveling.

However, what troubled Max right now was the golden-eyed man mentioned by Morchel. He didn’t know what his advent meant at this moment.

Right after dinner, Morchel, who had to pleasure of enjoying three bowls of the hearty stew, finally got around to a job he dreaded.

‘I don’t like this... Even when Ma forced me to pack my stuff, it was always an ugly affair. Fitting in those clothes and other items in that bag is more annoying than the other chores I had to do back then.’

Simply put, he wasn’t very thoughtful when it came to organizing things and similar tasks. Whenever he tried to put in order something, it just ended up looking worse than it did previously.

Nonetheless, he had to. So he got to it, albeit grumbling.

He piled on a random mishmash of clothes and stuffed the crudely shaped tower into a russet rucksack. The leather bag that was once lopsided towards the bottom was now packed to the top.

The bag was brimming with clothes and other miscellaneous objects that Morchel wanted. It had various projections, like small hills all over its exterior.

Morchel tugged at the bag’s straps to make a small check, but they weren’t equipped to handle this much weight.

‘Not good, have to take out the unnecessary items.’ He thought while the straps squeaked and squealed under the pull.

He let out a sigh as he dug into the pile, throwing out objects he deemed useless.

Sahera, who quietly watched the whole skit, snickered at the unaware Morchel as she walked past him.

The rucksack still looked unable to bear his belongings, but it was passable to a certain degree, as deemed by Morchel.

“Good enough,” he said, as he looked at it with a smug grin.

Drained from all that hard work, he got to sleep at last. He laid down beside Flint, who was already sound asleep.

The bed that was fashioned of thick rope sagged and creaked as the heavier Morchel lay on it. Afraid he would wake up slumbering his brother, he stayed still the whole night even after he drifted off to a dream world.

***

He woke up just before the Dawn. The orange and red shades were beginning to walk into the sky as the world around was getting brighter by the minute.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

‘It’s still dark,’ he thought to himself as he noticed murmurs ringing in his head.

He couldn’t quite make out what the murmurs meant, but he figured that it was probably the Pandits discussing the plan for the upcoming days or longer.

‘I gotta admit. The journey to Ulm is odd. Something seems off, but I can’t tell what it is. I probably shouldn’t nod at everything they tell me.’ He noted before he got up to get ready for the day.

He stayed quiet about it, but the feeling he had when looking at Max and his party was in plain terms, Fear. Whenever they locked eyes, an indescribable sensation took over Morchel.

He didn’t quite have the words to describe it, but weird things happened to his body then. The hair on his back stood up, his eyes would hyper-focus on them, and his legs would be ready to jump, almost.

He tried to not show his motives, but in the back of his head, he wondered what they thought of him and his actions.

He thought as he walked out of his home. ‘Let’s not think too much of this right now. Got to prepare for a long day ahead.’

The Pandits were outside already, looking ready to depart from the village. Morchel, having realized that, hurried to apologize.

“Sorry if we are delaying things. I’ll go wake up Flint so we can leave sooner.”

Max answered right away. “No need, kid. Let him sleep. I’ll inform you if it’s getting late.”

“Ah, Okay then.” He didn’t argue.

He walked away, silently gesturing with one hand that he was taking his leave. In his other hand was a leather pouch inside a wooden bucket. The bucket appeared to be crafted from oak staves held together by iron hoops around a pine base. It also had a handle made of iron arching across it.

He was heading to a small pond which was one of the water bodies that was supposedly “purified” by the Pandits the previous day.

As soon as he got to the small pond, he noticed the return of life as the green algae were just starting to take over the inner surface of the pond. The pebbles and rocks were starting to pick up its green hue.

He kneeled beside it and scooped up as much water as he could with his bucket.

‘Light! No longer as heavy as it used to be. I have to study the effects of that mushroom on my body. I might have not even discovered the true extent of my powers as a Holder.’ He thought with a slight shock, breaking out from his otherwise neutral expression.

Dipping into it with cupped hands, he splashed the water on his face, making sure to cover his face with his hands as the water beads dripped all across his face and ran down into his clothes.

Then he undid the buttons on his shirt and grasped one of its flaps to remove his shirt. He crumpled it up and threw it into the bucket. He went in with his hands to make it soak up as much liquid as possible before wringing it all away by twisting as hard as he could. This remained to be a difficult task, but if he really tried, he could very rip it to shreds. He obviously didn’t.

He took the now damp shirt and wiped it across his arms and chest. Flakes of dirt of dead skin fell onto the ground. He did the same for his legs and thighs after removing his pants. Since he couldn't reach his back very well, he only cleaned the areas he could reach.

Ideally, he would take a bath in the pond, but the early winter chill sent jitters running through his bones.

‘I won’t be able to take a bath for the next few days. It’s just too cold. This will do for now.’

He slung his wet shirt over his shoulders and put on his pants again and headed back to his home.

Then he put on new clothes for the day.

He now wore a black linen tunic, with brown trousers held on his waist, with a leather band tied around. He also made sure to keep his father’s woolen cloak in hand.

It was at this moment that Flint, now finally awake, walked off the bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning as if he hadn’t slept enough.

“Good morning runt... Heh, go get ready. It’s almost time. We will be leaving soon.”

Flint complied, completely ignoring the jab at his height owing to his drowsiness. He walked out with clumsy steps, still rubbing his eyes with drool plastered to his face.

‘Heheh. He is still asleep. Oh well, it’s probably gonna be awhile till we leave, anyway.’

Morchel, after what seemed like a long time to him, was done with his preparations. He could at last leave behind his home of almost 17 years.

It wasn’t easy to do just that.

He put on his still-wet sandals to tour the village one last time. He wanted to visit the places that were unique to him. His identity in this village.

‘Ah, that tree on the outskirts of the village. That’s where I learned to climb a tree. Elias and Carl were much better, though. Oh, what about that dried creek beside the forest? We used to pick up stones there and skip on the pond.’ The nostalgia from just thinking of all those fun memories was overwhelming.

But right as he was about to leave, Max sent Flint on an errand to inform Morchel about something.

“Mister Max said that it’s best not to wander right now. We will be leaving soon. Probably about when the Sun gets this high.” He stood on his toes with his right arm held up to indicate when they would be departing.

And so Morchel gave up on the idea of exploring the village one last time. It was time to leave it behind.

‘For now,’ he thought.