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Ch.4

Four more years had passed since I met the strange waifish girl and pulled her from the mud with a broken nose, and with those four years she had began to fill out her body to no longer looking like a stick by the roadside. Now I'd describe Lily as a rough and tumble tomboy who stuck to me like an adorable illness. My own body had began to develop from lanky and slim to lanky and fit, my father's training had expanded from simply working on forms and swinging a training sword to full fledged sparing. That didn't stop him from sending me on runs around the village, the difference is that with each year came progressively more laps. Fortunately I was also granted more freedom and I was now allowed to roam outside the village's palisade, and with the freedom I was allowed a certain amount of secrecy that I spent out on the rolling plains.

Currently the warm summer winds were gently caressing my face as I stood on a hill over looking the village, from here I could not only see my home which I had learned had the uninspired name of River's Bend. Named so because our village was built at the bend of a river, go figure, the lazily winding blue snake that ran from north west to south east was named the river Danu. Rivers Bend was located within the Barony of Erik Von Kesseler under the Kingdom Thrace which lay to the north, while to the south lay the Baron of Heinrich Von Helmand.

East of the village was a vast untamed wilderness of thick forests that ran up to the foot of the Blood-Spire mountains, named for their rusty red peaks. We were on the edge of the kingdom far removed from any relevant center of civilization, the nearest being the Duchy of our Baron's direct lord, Duke Fredrick von Manstein which lay further west of our baron's lands.

As a whole there was little to do in this remote village, we were primarily farmers and loggers that provided lumber and grain to pay our duties to the Lord Baron, we were a hardy people capable of living out here in the middle of no where with little attention from our societal betters. Even the occasional pack starving wolf packs and roaming goblins were barely a threat with the likes of my father and mother around. The helping hands of hunters who had refined their archery in the miles of unclaimed forests certainly helped as well, being outside of the Baron's rule the forest was free game so to speak.

Though I had grown more powerful and was able to control my power with ease my abilities were stagnating, there was only so much I could learn from Sariel due to her limited elemental affinities. I had a number of constructs that I had either crafted or had learned from Sariel but there was only so much I was able to do on my own, one of my more interesting creations was a hollow sphere of magma filled with highly compressed air. I also had finally worked out how to create some basic earth based constructs for creating gauntlets but they were brittle and would only with stand a small handful of strikes.

In all honesty I was growing bored, bored and restless, perhaps the only good thing to come out of the last four years was Lily, I had managed to help the girl form her core with my own construct , but I had no definitive way to test her affinities than to have her attempt a number of constructs from a novice spell book Sariel had left me. So far the girl seemed to be strong with water and air but lacked my ability to create mental constructs and still relied heavily on spoken word constructs. I also managed to get my father to take her under his tutelage, though in exchange I had to spend a few days working in the fields each week. A fair trade all things considered, I think it was my father's way to teach me that I had to be responsible for my actions and that nothing in life was free.

Returning to the task I had been asked to preform I set off in search of any freshly turned soil, a few nights past some wild boars had rooted around in some of the village's fields and ruined some crops. I was one of a handful of villager's who were out roaming the countryside for any sign of where the boars had been, now that they found an easy and rich feeding area they were unlikely to leave with out being run off. From what one of the hunters had gathered there could be easily between twenty and forty of the gluttonous beasts.

“Any luck Zamiel” an energetic young man called out from a nearby bush, he was a short stocky lad with powerful arms and a bow slung over his shoulder, his looks were of an average sort with a face you might find on any teenage village boy. His only remarkable traits could be said to be his glossy chestnut hair and stature, you could almost mistake him for a dwarf if he was any shorter and any broader.

“None, how about you Hanz” I questioned shaking my head as the likable lad strode towards me with a wide grin on his face.

“Not too bad” he chuckled lifting up a bundle of ears, feet, and fur tied together,”just bagged me a family of jacks”. For the son of a blacksmith the boy was a masterful shot with a bow, every year during the winter festival he made a show of his skills. From shooting apples out of peoples hands to shooting three arrows at three different targets at fifty paces, I honestly had yet to see him miss a shot.

“Tch, guess I'll turn in for the day” I said with a yawn and lazily made my way back towards the village only to hear a pained scream followed by the high pitched squeal of a boar. I looked at Hanz and we took off like bolts of lightning, my graceful steps carrying me through the thick brush with ease while Hanz's frame allowed him plow through like a bull.

Just the other side of the hill I spotted a massive boar, easily the size of a young steer goring a man with his razor sharp tusks as he tried to helplessly cover his vitals.

“Hanz get it's attention” I shouted as I rushed down the uneven slope towards the beast, twang, twang, twang his bow called out as three arrows whistled overhead before I even hit the gully between the two hills. The boar squealed in more annoyance than pain as the arrows did little more than irritate the beast, protected by its hide and thick layer of fat. Still it got the boar's attention. He lowered his head and stomped his hooves in warning before charging towards me, I let out a wicked smile knowing the boar wouldn't be able to stop it's self with all that weight. I created a sloppily put together earth construct in my palm whilst gathering a sizable chunk of Aether, probably a tenth of my total reserve. My heart pounded in my ears and adrenaline flooded my veins as the beast bore down on me. I waited till I knew the beast wouldn't be able to change course and slammed my hand into the ground and rolled to the side.

Fear gripped Hanz's heart, he had never seen a boar of this size before, and now the only thing between him and the beast was a boy of ten whom he had known for roughly a year. Still he did as commanded and plinked arrows into the beast till his quiver had run dry, he hoped that what ever the boy had in mind worked, he closed his eyes at the last second and heard a sickening wet crunch. Several seconds passed but he couldn't hear anything but the pained wines of the man who was injured earlier, upon opening his eyes he was greeted by the sight of the boar impaled on a stone spike nearly three feet long and as thick as a flag pole.

“Hanz, get down here and lend me a hand” I yelled up at the young lad who was shocked stiff as a scarecrow, “Put pressure on the puncture wound on his thigh so he doesn't bleed out” I barked. More strange knowledge from some distant past flooded into my mind as I ripped the man's shirt into a long strip and slipped it under his leg before tying a knot in the cloth. Using a broken stick laying near by I twisted the cloth as tight as possible to cut off the blood flow to the man's wound.

Thanks to the man's screams we were not the only one's to come running and shortly afterwards a few more adults showed up armed with what ever they had at hand, many stopped to stare dumbfounded at my boar shishkebab. With the extra hands it was easy enough to get the man up and back to my mother, who being a druid, acted more or less as the village's healer when needed. Much harder was getting the boar back to the village, a few people stood guard while one of the men ran to grab his pair of oxen and some tackle to drag it back to the village to be processed.

For the rest of the way back I was patted, shouldered and jostled in good nature while they lauded my abilities, “Hah who knew the village had a half way decent mage, and a boy at that” one of the men chuckled. “Course that mother of his is no joke either, aint no injury she can't heal, plus I wouldn't want to get on her bad side if ya know what I mean” another man added. I sighed in resignation and simply let them boast and brag to one another as if I was not there. Worst among them was Hanz, who was giving his best impression of a bardic telling of Zamiel the Boar-Slayer to a captivated audience of children outside of the villages closest thing to a tavern.

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Though there were still a number of boars roaming the countryside the blood was collected from the one that I had killed and was poured sparingly around our fields to serve as a warning to the sounder of swine. Hopefully it would be enough of a deterrence or we would have to post a few watchman out in the field for a few nights, though fairly safe that was a last resort. The other thing that everyone was currently discussing was how to divvy up the boar, a leather of this size was of considerable value and heavy quantity of the fatty meat could feed many families.

“He killed it, let's ask the boy” one of the men spoke out over the hushed mutters of the men who grouped around Bill who was currently skinning the Boar in the Village commons. There were more hushed murmurs that seemed to agree with that sentiment and one of the men rushed over to get my attention. “Alright son it's your kill, how do you want to distribute this beast” Bill asked me over his shoulder.

I took a moment to contemplate it “is there any way I can get the leather from the hide in exchange for my portion of the meat, as for the rest try to give it to the poorest families among us, it is only fair that those of us with the most means try to support the least among us” I say with a bright smile and a firm nod.

“Well said Zamiel, I've got no problem tanning the hide for you no charge, call it thanks for what you did for my little Lily” Bill replied with a chuckle. Hefting the heavy thick hide Bill thought it was a shame that he was so far away from the leather working guild in Thrace. A few of it's member's owed him some favors from his less savory past, with proper treatment this hide could make some decent armor.

Since Bill refused my offer of trading my portion I walked home with a hefty hunk of thick fat marbled shoulder, even though the event had passed some time ago my body still trembled with excitement. Something had awakened inside of me, a feeling from my distant past life, a feeling I had long forgotten, the thrill of battle. I clenched my fist tight and held onto this feeling, vague echoes of raging fires and the thunderous crack of explosions filled my ears. Though it was but a fleeting memory blurred like a hazy fever dream, for a split second I was reliving a life that I had long since forgotten.

“Mother I'm home, you'll never guess what I brought home” I called out as I took my dirty boots off and left them by the door.

“If you brought home another snake I'm going to have your father tan your hide” she huffed from her lounging chair, a heavy leather bound tome resting in her lap, her radiant form outlined by the waning glow of the summer sun.

“I haven't done that in two years” I complained with a light laugh, good thing too, the last time I did I couldn't sit straight for two days. “You know the injured guy they brought by earlier, well I killed the Boar that injured him, so I brought home dinner” I said showing off my watermelon sized hunk of meat with pride.

She reached out and ruffled my hair before directing me to put the hunk of meat in the kitchen where Layriel was currently cutting vegetables for tonight's stew. She was a tall slim girl built like my mother, with a delicate face, her hair however was a rich mahogany that cascaded over her shoulders in ringlets. With mischievous smile I snuck up behind her a puffed a breath of warm air onto one of her long ears, causing her to shudder and spin on her heels with a withering glare.

I just smiled innocently and warmly offering my prize of boar while not failing to take stock of the light flush on her cheeks, I just couldn't help my self when it came to the beautiful young woman who had helped raise me. “Here, I brought you something to help with dinner” I said with an embarrassed smile and puppy dog eyes disarming the lovely elf.

“You, you, oh I can't stay mad at that sweet face, but seriously don't do that again, the ears of an Elf are no toy for a boy's amusement” she scolded me with her hands on her hips.

“What about when I'm older” I ask teasingly before bolting off stopping to take one more look at her flustered pouting face.

“You little rapscallion” she called out after me shaking her fist at me, I didn't manage to get far.

My mother seized my by one of my ears as I passed the living room causing me to wince in pain, her nails feeling like hot spikes being driven into my flesh, “yep the sensitivity of an Elf's is no joke” I mentally growled trying to block out the pain.

“Brush, bucket, now” she commanded firmly as she dragged me towards the back door, “you can eat dinner after you finish cleaning and polishing all of your father's war gear” she huffed.

“Even his horse tack and saddle” I question through the pain as I thought about the vast quantity of swords, axes, mail, and spears that my father had accumulated over the years.

“Even his horse's gear, and if need be I'll find something else for you to clean, my son wont be a lecher, so you'd best clean up your act or I'll get Lily to hound your backside” she huffed one final time before tossing me towards the shed.

With a sigh I set about my well earned punishment, I'll admit that I had acted out of bounds even if I had only meant to tease Layriel. While my behavior as a child was ignored I was now a young man, and I needed to act in a more becoming way. Women of good repute have little time and little desire for lecherous layabouts, unless they are obscenely wealthy and handsome. Still that wasn't who I wished to be. No I needed to make sure only to show my best side to the fairer sex, “still some light flirting has to be acceptable...right” I mentally questioned no one in particular.

The sun had long since gone down and I was still seated in the shed cleaning and polishing, I had started with the horse's tack, barding, and saddle as they were the most time consuming and pieces. Currently I was working my way through the last of his various different types of swords, there was everything from arming swords to strange bone swords that were claimed in some unknown battle far away from this place. Overhead a basic light construct illuminated the room while a heating construct was keeping the wash water steaming hot or this would be a truly horrific punishment.

Two soft knocks echoed from behind me followed by the creak the door opening, I turned my head to see Layriel illuminated by the moon light. Her elegant frame clad in a billowy white gown. “It's late, but I brought you some supper” she murmured softly holding out a bowl of steaming hot stew, likely reheated long after supper had gone cold.

“Thank you Layriel” I said lifting myself off of a rough stool I had been working from and walked over to her “befor that my lady I must apologize, my behavior while only meant to be playful, was uncouth” I spoke firmly with my head lowered.

She reached out and ruffled my hair “Thank you for the apology Zamiel, but I don't mind your actions too much, I rather enjoy the attention actually” she chuckled softly. “However if you were to behave so forward and brash with any other woman or young lady you may find that the consequences for your actions can be deadly” she explained taking a seat beside me as I ate.

I took a moment to savor the rich fatty hunks of wild boar rolling the thick silky broth around my tongue before swallowing. “If you don't mind me asking, how old are you Layriel” I questioned softly while enjoying a closeness with her that I had not experienced since I was a small child.

“You know its rude to ask that of a lady, young sir” she chuckled teasingly before smiling softly “I entered Lady Ethenriel's service just before you were born actually, I was eight at the time, I was born a to a maid in Vellathen. That's the homeland of the Elves, your mother is the sixth daughter of a lesser noble house. Normally she would lived a pampered life, but she didn't want that. Instead she ran off with some half crazed idea about being an adventurer, when she got pregnant her father disowned her and her mother pressed me into Ethenriel's service. I've never been so happy before, we're so far removed from the back stabbing and ruthlessness of the nobles and their politics” she softly whispered into my ear as she held me close.

“I'm glad that I've gotten to meet a woman as beautiful and kind hearted as you Layriel, and only eight years my elder” I teased while sporting a mischievous smile.

“You little rascal, yes I'm eighteen, and if you're seriously going to try and woo me, you best be like your father and slay a dragon to win my heart” she chuckled playfully while I stared at her with what I imagined was stunned stupidity.

“Did my father really slay a dragon to show off to my mother” I questioned, dumb stricken by the revelation. I knew he was strong, but that strong, “was he hiding some seriously powerful secret sword techniques” I wondered.

“We'll it was a drake actually, it ambushed their party's camp and your father who happened to be passing by dashed into their midst and jumped onto the creature's head and stabbed it to death but got seriously wounded by it's acid spit, he was quite heroic from the way your mother tells it” she chuckled while showing me her radiant smile.

“Alright time to slay a Dragon” I thought as I got back to work, much to my surprise Layriel joined in and helped me finish the last of the work while we idly chatted about this little thing or that little thing until the wee hours of the night.