Chapter 50: A Country Far Away

  His name was Henry and he was a young twelve-year-old boy who spent most of his day working on his families land. His father had acquired a plot of land some time ago from the lord, but Henry didn't understand the details.

  However, he was happy. A large part of his life, he and his family lived in one of the great houses; Greathouses were buildings in which all the townsfolk would live in. this was to conserve space and make way for bigger farms. The great houses were always so noisy and crowded but now that his family had a piece of land, his father had built a house for them to live in alone.

  The town was very small, numbering five hundred across five great houses. Though now Henry could live in peace in a house closer to the lord's manor. It was just across the hill and near the manor walls.

  Henry happily went home after a long day in the fields with his older brothers, their father had been absent that day after being injured by a monster. His house was made of several wooden logs and hay that was used to insulate the house. It was a large house for a peasant and even more so for a peasant who lived in his country. He had become the envy of the town and yet no one bothered him or his siblings.

  “mother, father, I’ve returned!!!” he called out to his family as he entered the door. At the entrance was his oldest sister Madeline. She was twenty-three years old and had yet to wed despite her charming beauty. Any man would have loved to stand beside her but few men dared to approach her. The mothers of the town had all told their sons to never wed exceptionally beautiful women for it would end in heartbreak. The women in town would often dirty their faces and some would even scar themselves to be more unappealing.

  the young boy Henry was still naïve and didn't understand the reason for these practices but at the time he didn't put much thought to it, for it was simply a part of life. His sister wore a warm smile, "can you help me with something little brother?" the small child nodded vigorously and followed his older sister outside as they headed towards the town well.

  “didn’t older sister already bring water this morning?” the boy happily asked as he helped his dear older sister fill the small tub with a bucket of water. “oh your clumsy sister accidentally dropped it earlier." She said giggling but the boy couldn't help but feel something was wrong. He tilted his head, "is everything alright?" she forced a smile and said, "of course."

  By this point the boys older brothers were coming up the path and they waved, Henry's oldest brother suddenly looked at his sister and stopped walking. "has the lord paid us a visit today?" his voice was angry. Madeline remained silent, choosing instead to help her little brother lift the water bucket over their small wooden tub.

  The older brother, Simon, suddenly started marching towards his house but Madeline managed to grab hold of his arm. "Brother!!!" Madeline shook her head and Simon looked at her as he tried to hold in his tears. Malcolm, the middle brother looked away as if ready to cry but held it in and said, "let me help you with that sister." Malcolm quickly lifted the water tub over his head and began walking towards their house.

  Henry was very confused, “what’s going on? Did the lord visit us today?” his innocent questions stabbed his older siblings hearts but none dared answer his questions. When they arrived, the town lord was adjusting his fancy clothing and promptly left without answering. Edine, Henry’s second sister, was attending to his father in another room while his mother was crying in her bedroom. Henry ran towards his mother with a big smile, "is everything ok mommy?" his mother tightened her fist and forced a smile, "yes Henry, yes."

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  "I helped older sister today." He said with a big smile, "oh, what a kind younger brother you are." Henry kissed his mothers cheeks and then went to check on his father who was still ill from his injuries and suffering from a heavy fever. His injuries were primarily on his lower abdomen, a single slash to the side. What ever made the injury, Henry thought, must have had incredibly sharp claws

  After helping tend to his father, Simon walked outside and screamed as he pounded his fists against their small cottage. He shouted profanities and cried at his powerlessness.

  As the days went by Henry's father would get worse and worse and his mother had also grown ill, Henry was finding it hard to head to the fields for he worried for his dear mother and father. One day while heading home, he heard one of the kids saying that they heard from their mother of a plant that cures any illness. It was called Poppy.

  Henry was excited to hear such news and that day instead of heading back home, he ran towards the forest and looked for this poppy plant. He had searched for several hours and then realized that he didn't entirely know how the plant looked like. The description he was given was vague. He headed home late that night.

  The next day he asked for a better description and once again began his search, his older siblings accompanied him the second time around, worried that he would hurt himself or that some wild animal or monster would kill their brother. This had also helped them keep their mind off the problems at home. Every day a different sibling would accompany him.

  On the seventh day of his search, he and Simon were a bit deeper into the forest than they should have been, but Simon at the time was too preoccupied with his thought to notice.

  A low growl echoed within the wood. This brought Simon to his senses but it was already too late, he and his younger brother were surrounded by a pack of wolves. Three in front, two behind and one on each side. They growled in hunger, their mouths held dried blood from some previous victim but it simply wasn’t enough. There had been a shortage of animals to hunt and so they had been forced closer to the human territories. Fortunately for the wolves, two humans had approached them.

  "stay behind me, Henry!!!" Simon shouted as he pushed Henry behind him with his left hand and grabbed his hunters blade with his right. The alpha wolf growled and suddenly the wolf to Simons right leapt forward but Simon was an exceptional fighter and had an above average mana capacity, he quickly slashed at the wolf's face causing it to howl in pain and it retreated several steps. Now the one wolf to his left attacked while one behind him dug its teeth into Simon's shoulder. Henry shouted, "stop!!!" he cried but couldn't help his older brother. Simons gaze grew more fierce as he grabbed the wolf on his shoulder by the neck and threw it into the alpha wolf. The wolf that had retreated had now recuperated and commenced its attack, biting into Simon's calf. Simon held in his scream as he stabbed the wolf on his calf over and over again until he felt its jaw grow slack.

  At the sight of a dead comrade, the Alpha wolf was about to intervene, he started his run but just before its leap, it came to an abrupt halt. Its ears rose as its head turned behind him. The wolf could feel an overwhelming presence, something beyond it had ever felt before as if some behemoth had intruded on its territory.

  The wolf howled, recalling his family and in short order, the wolves unlatched themselves from Simon and ran deeper into the forest.

  Several howls spread throughout the forest as other wolf clans sensed the approaching behemoth, even birds Screeched at they fled to the skies for safety. In an instant, the forest grew quiet; it was if all the animals had gone into hiding.

  Simon clutched on to his bitten leg and tried to stop the bleeding on his side with his hand but it didn't stop his blood from leaking. "Henry, head home."

“bu..”

“now!!!” Henry’s back jolted and he ran home trying to contain his tears.

  An hour went by and the silence had no signs of ending. "brother should be home by now." Simon's eyes grew tired as he dragged himself to a nearby tree. His back slumped slightly as he could no longer hold himself up. "sorry, father, mother. I couldn't protect you." Warm tears fell down his face.

  Just as he was closing his eyes he heard the crunching of leaves. The crunching grew louder and then stopped. In front of him Appeared a young man with light brown skin and bright white hair. He was handsome beyond belief almost like an artificial creation.

"who are you?" Simon asked, his body unconsciously trembled, his body was growing cold.

The man warmly smiled.

“I am Thoth.”