Fourth Age, 3401, rainy moon, twenty-sixth day. Midsummer, beginning of the harvest.

An invisible magic vortex erupted in an old wooden house. The incident took place in the forest, on the outskirts of the village.

The child asleep in the hay woke up abruptly. Only for a moment, the colour of lilac flashed in his eyes.

The boy touched his head and shuddered in pain.

"Strange..."

Staggering, he reached the water barrel. This barrel contained water for bathing, drinking water had not yet brought from the river.

The stagnant water was insect-free, the village boy added alcohol to the water on purpose.

The child looked at his reflection in the water. Short black hair and rough facial features. Someone else's face in the reflection, a headache and chaos in the memories.

Trying to separate the two parts of the memory, the child finally began to remember.

A month ago, Hilyak collapsed from exhaustion. The child was dragged to the hut and fed. Strange, why am I speaking of myself in the third person?

Once again a haunting feeling arose. A strange name appeared in his mind.

"Luxon?"

His nickname in the village was Hilyak. His parents died of the plague that struck the village. The plague wiped out many of the villagers, but a few dozen houses became vacant. On receiving one of the empty houses, Hiljak felt great joy. 

The boy moved away from the water barrel. He should have wondered. No one had ever called him by his first name, Luxon.

He shook his head and gathered his thoughts. He had work waiting for him, no need to think about strange things. Luxon took a basket and went to pick mushrooms. A basket of mushrooms or berries, if the child brought less to the village, he will be whipped.

Luxon went out into the forest and quickly began to find mushrooms. One glance at the herbs was enough to speculate about their properties and uses. Every time he touched an herb, the phrase popped into the boy's mind... 

Alchemy...

Luxon decided not to think about another oddity and went on with his work. He did not notice how he went further into the forest than he should have. When he had finished filling the basket, the boy was lost.

Luxon began to panic and followed his tracks. With no tracking skills, he only went deeper into the forest.

A sense of dread filled his heart more and more. 

*Growling* *Rustling*

Luxon shuddered and tried to contain his fear. He waited a few minutes, then exhaled in relief. 

Luxon turned and then shuddered. Several wolves slowly crept towards him. Luxon waved his arms, trying to look dangerous.

"Shit!"

The wolves were not frightened and surrounded him completely. The biggest black wolf bent down and prepared to lunge.

Luxon swung his basket and backed towards the tree. He had often heard wolves tearing apart the villagers.

The wolves came even closer, and Luxon collapsed in fear. He felt his body disobey and, shackled by fear, could not bring himself to even blink.

*Rustling*

The wolves lunged at him, but suddenly muzzled and howled. Each wolf of the pack turned and bristled. The whole pack opened its eyes wide and looked at the moving bushes.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

*Rustling*

"Funny, the dogs smell blood."

A straw scarecrow slowly waddled behind the bushes. The scarecrow was made of coarse cloth, branches of various shapes were used instead of bones, and the scarecrow was stuffed with straw and recently plucked forest grass.

The scarecrow was partly rotted and insects could be seen crawling around it. In places the fabric was covered with dried blood and in many places torn. The scarecrow's branches were either rotted or broken. Mouldy straw and grass were constantly falling out of the holes in the body of the scarecrow.

However, the wolves howled more and more, they backed away from the unexpected guest. The scarecrow limped and waddled with great difficulty. In his wooden hand was a rusty sword with a blunted cutting edge.

The sword dangled and jutted to the ground, the scarecrow dragging his weapon with great difficulty. The sheer number of splinters made the sword look like a village saw. The scarecrow's head possessed no eyes or mouth. It was only a stitched, tattered rustic sack.

The wolves finally made up their minds, they turned and ran in sync.

"I didn't let you go."

Scarecrow raised his sword sharply and swung it. An arc of bright light flew from the sword blade toward the pack. Trees, bushes, earth, rocks and wolves. The arc of light cut through everything and traversed dozens more trees.

A swipe left the scarecrow in even worse shape. His arm burst open, almost half the grass and straw spilling out. The scarecrow dropped his sword and lay on the ground motionless.

"Fucking... anyway."

Luxon finally recovered from his stupor and rose to his feet. He looked at the chopped-up bodies of the wolves, then returned his gaze to the scarecrow.

"What are you looking at?!"

The scarecrow made a strange gesture with his wooden finger, but Luxon did not take the hint. The scarecrow snorted and began to stuff himself with grass.

"Erm, sir scarecrow?"

The scarecrow froze, and Luxon felt a strange pressure on him. The scarecrow suddenly became much more dangerous and terrifying, but the feeling quickly went away.

"Miss! What have you done to me? You little bugger!"

Luxon wanted to justify himself, but could not find the words. He was embarrassed by the conversation with the scarecrow. He had never seen a living scarecrow!

"Thank you! Wolves..."

"Who cares?"

Scarecrow continued to pick up the fallen grass, she completely ignored Luxon's existence.

"Miss?"

Scarecrow raised his sword with his remaining hand and pointed at Luxon.

"What do you want?!"

Luxon shuddered, he remembered how this sword had killed a pack of wolves. However, the boy was determined to thank the scarecrow.

"Can I help you?"

Scarecrow did not know how to respond. She had not expected such behaviour from a child. Her chivalrous aura should have frightened a mere child. 

Not only did he not run away, the boy also understood the meaning of the words miss, mister. Most of the lower class rural people could do nothing but produce food, reproduce and pick their arse.

"And how can you help?"

Luxon looked at the dry grass the scarecrow was stuffed with. The cloth was also in need of repair.

"I could get straw and cloth..."

The fabric was in short supply, but he could always steal. There was extra cloth in the village because of the deaths from the plague. Straw could be taken from the bedding on which he slept.

Scarecrow lowered his sword and tried to stand up. This ended in an awkward fall and a broken wooden leg. The scarecrow's wooden frame broke apart. A branch pierced the fabric and finally prevented the scarecrow from moving.

Luxon thought he heard a sigh.

"All right, but don't talk about me in your village!"

Luxon hesitated and shook his head.

"I'm not sure... I can find this part of the forest. How about I take you home?"

The scarecrow laughed, and Luxon felt a strange terror again. The knight's aura even caused dizziness, but the boy did not lose consciousness. 

The scarecrow was surprised and stopped intimidating the child. It was slightly intriguing.

"You will take me to the village. Your headman will try to burn me and kill you. Forget it, go to your own village."

Scarecrow had already had to slaughter villages of people. She did not want to repeat the senseless violence again.

"My hut is at the edge of the village in the forest. I won't tell anyone!"

Scarecrow considered the boy's suggestion. The condition of her body had deteriorated, and without repair she would have to lie in damp earth filled with worms for a couple of hundred years. The mere thought of it made her shiver.

"All right, but no nonsense!"

Luxon nodded and tied the sword to his clothes. Then he grabbed the fabric of the scarecrow and dragged it home. The adrenaline helped him find his way back quickly.

Scarecrow looked around and finally relaxed. The boy did not deceive and justified her trust.

Luxon left her in the barn and went to his bedroom to get a straw. Scarecrow looked at the roof over her head and calmed down a little. The sword Lukson had left lying on the ground, and for the first time in centuries she did not reach for the blade.

"Didn't get the whole village killed."

Luxon came out with a bag full of straw and saw the scarecrow pulling out the old straw. It was coming out with difficulty, and the old stuffing had dozens of different insects in it.

Scarecrow glanced at the crawling maggots, memories of the imprisonment echoing in her mind.

"Kill, kill the insects!"

Luxon instinctively crushed the insects, then helped the scarecrow to change the straw.

"Thanks..."

They spent the rest of the day repairing her body.

P.S. English is not my native language. I will be glad for the feedback.