Winter came and went without much happening after that. The snow had begun to melt as the temperature began to rise once more. Plants tentatively started to bud, and animals began to explore the world again. Spring roused the world from its slumber and pushed life into action.
Garth and I were no exception, and we took advantage of the new life that had been thrust upon the world for all it was worth. Trapping, foraging, fishing, simply taking from nature all that it would give. It certainly helped appease the palate after being relegated to simple foods for months.
Despite the new level of work that we were undertaking, I found myself a little distracted. My birthday was coming up, but I didn’t feel happy about it. It only reminded me of my parents, and how this was the first time I would celebrate alone.
I couldn’t help but recall my last birthday with my parents. They cooked all my favorite things to eat, and dad got me a spinning top toy during his last trip to town. I liked that toy, and now it was probably ash. Maybe I looked a little gloomy, because Garth started talking to me.
“What’s wrong with you kid?”
His voice snapped me out of my trance. “Oh, sorry, it’s nothing.”
His furry brow raised incredulously. “You’re not a great liar kid. Tell me what’s going on.”
I fidgeted a little, trying to avoid the subject, but his stare was burning away my resolve until I finally cracked. With a forlorn sigh, I told him. “My birthday is coming up in a week, and it’s... it’s just the first time I've had one without my family.”
Garth let out a hum that had more in common with a growl than anything. “Right, you humans like to celebrate that kind of thing.” He looked me over once more. “Sorry kid, it must be hard on you.” I received a pat on the back from the gruff old dwarf, and while I was still sad, it did make me smile, at least a little.
The days went by, and my heart became heavier with each one that passed. I tried to bury my thoughts in work, finding every little thing to do just so I could distract myself. Garth had been spending a lot of time inside recently, only coming out to care for his garden before returning. I didn’t pay any more attention to him than normal, and it might have still been a little too cold for the old dwarf, so the behavior didn’t seem odd to me.
Despite my best efforts, the day in question came like a storm of needles to the heart. A dark cloud hung over me the whole day, reminding me of everything that I was missing. I accomplished my tasks for the day, but I did them in the dreariest and most mentally exhausting way. Long story short, I was depressed, and it showed in everything I tried to do.
It was turning out to be a very gloomy day, and I wanted very much for it to be over already. There was almost a certain amount of joy to be had when the sun was finally setting for the day. The thought process was that I would be able to put it behind me and move on.
The nights could still get pretty cold, even in spring, so I went inside before the last of the light disappeared beyond the horizon. Garth was preparing dinner, and the smell of cooking meat made my appetite soar. I patiently waited, standing by the table for the meal to be ready. The issue of only one chair at the table was still a problem, but I couldn’t complain when I was a refugee living off his goodwill. The rocking chair was an option, but it wasn’t appropriate for a dining table, and I wasn’t sure Garth would even allow that.
My wait wasn’t very long, as Garth walked away from the kitchen with two steaming plates. I was surprised to see some rather thick cuts of meat, sizzling in its juices. It was a mouthwatering sight, and I couldn’t wait to bite into it.
He set the food down on the table with a few sparse words. “Dig in kid, I'll be right back.”
I didn’t need to be told twice, and I tore into the meat vigorously. It was delicious, easy to bite into, and was cooked perfectly in my opinion. As enraptured as I was in the meal, I didn’t even notice Garth return to the table side until he was right across from me.
Garth was acting a little strange, standing at an odd angle with his side facing me. He almost looked nervous, if that was even possible. Eventually he let out a small huff and started talking.
“Well, I can’t say I've ever done this before, so I don’t know if there’s supposed to be a special ritual or something.” He sighed and then continued. “Whatever, here you go kid.”
With a very abrupt motion, he brough his opposite limb up and then placed something on the table in front of me. Once he pulled his arm away, I saw that it was a wooden sword. I gaped at the mock weapon laying on the table. The whole thing looked to be carved from a single block of wood and featured a bit of adornment on the cross guard. The length of the sword was about that of the one he had under his bed and the hilt was wrapped in a little bit of leather for a grip.
I was speechless, simply looking at it in stunned silence. Garth sat down in his seat and started to grumble a little. “Ain’t nothing fancy, didn’t have a lot of time to work on it. I heard you humans give gifts during birthdays, so I smashed that out of a block of wood for you.”
Even though he said it was nothing fancy, it looked to be expertly made. This was more impressive than anything I had received in the past. My hand came out, experimentally running a few fingers across the gift just to make sure it was real.
Almost the moment I touched it and felt the smooth wood under my fingertips, my eyes became bleary as they filled with tears. I quickly blinked and they fell from my eyes and down my face. When I breathed in it was shaky, and when it came out it was with a shudder.
Garth took note of my condition and looked a little flustered. “Whoa, hey, if you don’t like it then I can make something else.”
I didn’t say anything, I simply took the short few steps over to where he was seated and threw my arms around his neck in a hug. His beard was a little rough, but I didn’t care and dug deeper into the hug. Garth froze for a moment, apparently lost as to what to do in this situation. Eventually he decided that a few pats on the back was an appropriate response.
“Err, well, I'm glad you like it kid.”
That was an understatement, and it wasn’t the gift that I appreciated so much anyway. Regardless, I broke off the hug before it became weird and went back to my spot. I picked up the sword and gave it a few practice swings, much to the concern of Garth.
“Hey, kid, not in the house. You can take it outside tomorrow.”
I was a little disappointed, but it wasn’t my place to argue. In the end we just sat down and finished the meal, though I spent a lot of time messing around with my gift. The day had started so poorly, and I had no expectations for that to change. Garth had managed to change it, in what was an unexpected moment of kindness, he changed it.
That night I went to bed with a full stomach, the taste of well-prepared meat on my tongue, and cradling my gift with the intent to play with it first thing tomorrow. I was genuinely happy, even though it still felt a little wrong considering all that I had lost. There was a slight feeling of guilt whenever I had a joyful moment, like I shouldn’t be feeling this way because of what I'd lost, like it was a betrayal of what they meant to me. It would be a long while before I would come to terms with that, but for now I would just try to keep moving forward.
Days turned into weeks turned into months. At a certain point it became clear that this was going to be my life from now on, and despite some talks about plans to the contrary, Garth and I never could come up with any other viable options. After some time, whenever I considered the possibility of leaving, the idea started to hurt, and I may have stopped trying to come up with anything deliberately.
I was comfortable with my life here, enjoyed myself and the company that Garth provided. He might not have admitted it, but we had a connection now, and I started to consider him akin to family. Whatever he thought of me at the time I did not know, but he was far more open to me than when we first met.
Some months later when I was outside swinging around the wooden sword, pretending to fight off a dragon, Garth appeared, and he had a mock sword of his own. I was surprised to say the least, and I guess it was evident on my face as Garth started to talk to me.
“I’ve been watching you swinging that piece of wood for a while now, and I have to say, it’s kind of annoying me how sloppy you are.”
I was a little dumbstruck to say the least. “Uhm...”
Garth continued as I was lost for words. “I’ll show you how to hold that thing and swing it properly, that way you aren’t just flailing about.”
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“Oh, uhm, okay, but why?”
He answered while stretching a little bit. “I won’t lie to you kid; the world is a dangerous place even at the best of times. It pays to know how to defend yourself, and that means knowing how to use a weapon.” He finished his stretch and then leveled his sword at me in a single-handed grip. “Alright, give me a good swing.”
I was a little concerned about if I might hurt him. He was old after all. “But what if I hit you and hurt you?”
Garth laughed a bit. “If you can hit me kid, I'd be impressed. I may be older than dirt, but I'm not fragile, don’t you worry.”
Well, if he was sure about this. I got ready to take a swing at him, and then made a chopping motion that may have been more in line with chopping wood than anything else. Garth was almost lazy as he intercepted my attack. He perfectly blocked everything I threw at him with little to no effort, and when I locked the swords to together, he simply gave me a push that sent me onto my backside.
It stung a little bit, not just the landing, but my pride as well. I was pouting, and Garth chuckled as he came over and helped me up. “Alright, come here kid, let me show you what you did wrong.” He then proceeded to do an in-depth adjustment of nearly everything about how I used the sword.
Suddenly we had a new routine. After work was finished for the day, Garth would teach me how to fight. He was impressive, and even I could notice how concise his movements were, practiced, and self-assured. There were even bits of knowledge he provided that were admitted to being beyond the scope of what one might learn from basic instruction. Curiosity filled me, and I asked him about it.
“Garth, why do you know so much about fighting?”
The old dwarf physically paused, eyes drifting off in sight beyond what lay in the present. Eventually, he just exhaled through his nose and started talking. “When I was younger, I used to be a mercenary, working many jobs that would require me to make use of a sword. Unlike adventurers who deal mostly with monsters and protect common trade paths, mercenaries are far more liberal with their job choices. On more than one occasion I've had to fight people on behalf of my employer, mostly in the form of protection from others.”
To me, that sounded like a thrilling job, if maybe a little dangerous, but Garth did not look like he was remembering it fondly. “You protected people from bad guys, right? Why do you look sad about that?”
Garth looked me in the eye and gave me a weak smile. “Yes, I protected people... mostly.” Before I could even begin to press him for more information, he redirected the conversation. “Well, I think that is good enough for today. How about we get something to eat?”
“Uhm, okay.” While I thought about Garth’s reaction for a while, my mind was ever changing focus to the next thing, and I forgot about it for a time.
Life continued, and I learned all that I could from Garth’s teachings. Regarding my magical abilities, I had hit a bit of a wall. There was only so much I could learn from making some small animals dance for me, and eventually I barely even attempted to revive them anymore and stopped making traps specifically designed to catch animals alive.
Before I even knew it, a year had passed since I first arrived here. Very little happened out here in that time. Garth’s home was just a few miles away from town, but it was tucked away in the forest with the only path to it basically being a trail that he had made himself. There were a few encounters with wild animals such as wolves or bears, but the only encounter of any notable mention was a ‘giant’ centipede monster. The thing was only two feet long, but Garth was quick to kill it, severing the head and burying it so it couldn’t poison anyone even by accident.
It seemed that once Garth was aware of my birthday; he made a point of celebrating it with me. He admitted to finding the practice strange, but also said it was fun in a way. He would apply his skills in woodworking to make me something as a gift. One time he made an intricate puzzle box for me, and I spent nearly a week straight trying to figure it out. Another, he made something practical, a chair of my own to sit at the table.
Time continued to pass us by, and I accumulated years of experiences with Garth. Despite my situation, I had started to get a little restless and wanted to see more than just the trees or wildlife around me. I began to become curious about the world, but it was too dangerous for me to show myself, at least that was what I assumed.
After I had turned fourteen, I had an interaction with Garth that would allow me an opportunity to see more than what I had before. As I walked by the old dwarf one day, he did a double take. That caught my attention as he looked at me up and down for a moment.
“When the hell did you get taller than me?” I found it amusing how surprised he was that I had grown, and I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped me. He scowled at me a bit for laughing at him. “What? I can’t be surprised that you’re growing like a weed? I knew that humans grew up fast, but to see it is another thing entirely.”
“Well, I’m almost an adult, but I still have a little more growing to do.”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Damn kid, somehow you’re making me feel even older than I already am.” He chuckled at his own self depreciating joke before falling into contemplation. “Say, kid, I’m going into town soon, you want to come with me?”
That caught me off guard. “What? But isn’t it dangerous for me? Won’t the followers of light still be looking for me?”
“If they are then I'd be surprised. Besides, it’s been several years already, you’ve changed from the scrawny little kid you used to be. You look enough like any other human that you’d blend in with the crowd easily.”
I wanted to go, but I was also nervous. “I don’t know.”
“Look kid, if you don’t want to go, then just say so.”
“No! I-I want to go, but...”
“Alright then, we’ll leave in just a few minutes.”
“Wait, I-”
“Kid, you can’t stay here forever. You will have to leave eventually, and I think it will be better if it happens when I'm still around to show you things.”
He had a point, and his logic coupled with my desire made me yield and follow along with his plan. Garth saddled up on his pony while I just prepared myself for the walk that was ahead of me. It would be about an hour before we made it to the town, plenty of time for me to freak myself out with thoughts of what it would be like or if I would be arrested on sight.
I was so caught up in my own mind that I didn’t even realize how much time had passed until we encountered people on the road. It was such a shock to see someone else that I probably came off as weird to them with all the wide-eyed staring I did. Two other humans were making their way down the road. They looked like farmers and were giving me strange looks to match the one I was giving them.
Eventually I snapped out of it and diverted my gaze back to the road. They weren’t the only people travelling by, and my time in near isolation made me a nervous wreck when we passed them, particularly the non-human people. Bad memories resurfaced, and I found my heartrate rising in a mild panic attack.
Garth gave me a bump on the shoulder from his position on the pony. “Take a breath kid, you’re making yourself stand out more than you actually do.”
With some effort, I did manage to calm myself down a little bit. It was just in time too, as the city came into view once we crested a small hill. Even from a distance it was overwhelming to my senses. The size of the buildings, the walls, how crowded it looked, all of it was so different from anything I had seen before.
We approached the gate, and I was then concerned with the guards posted in front of it. An orc and a dwarf were checking people who entered. I felt a cold sweat begin to form, but Garth gave me a little bit of reassurance before we made contact.
“Just let me handle this kid, don’t worry.”
When it was our turn to pass inspection, the dwarven guard called out to Garth in a familial manner. “Good evening, Garth, how does the day find you?”
“Well enough as any I suppose.” He replied.
“Good to hear.” His attention then fell onto me. “Who’s the boy?”
“My new helper. Getting old is more trouble than it’s worth, so I hired the kid here to help me out with some things.”
“Aye, I see the logic. I remember when the elder of my clan passed. The withered man could barely move. I hope that you don’t fall to such a fate.”
“You and me both.” Garth then spurred his mount to move forward with some parting words. “Try not to get too drunk after your shift, you always complain about the hangover afterwards.”
“You try to stand here for hours at a time and we’ll see how sober you remain!” Some lighthearted laughter between them signaled the end of that interaction, and we entered the city properly.
A stored breath escaped me that I didn’t even realize I was holding. Garth simply smirked at me. “Told you it would be alright kid. Relax, take in the sights. This is your first time in the city, right?”
That was true, and I started to look around with slack-jawed wonder at all the sights. If I thought it was overwhelming at a distance, being in the thick of it was something else entirely. There was so much noise! So many people!
There was a conversation happening everywhere, either between people on the side of the street or the merchant stalls shouting out to any passerby to come purchase their goods. The building layout felt claustrophobic, with houses jammed right next to one another with little to no space between. It was almost like they were looming over the street we walked on.
I felt so small, insignificant, and I was starting to see what Garth meant that I would blend in with the crowd. With so many people of all races wandering around I could easily get lost in the sea of faces. Honestly, I expected there to be fewer humans than there were. I could see dozens of other humans besides myself, all hurrying to one place or another, some carrying crates or boxes, which was probably related to their job.
Garth led the way through the mess of people, and eventually we ended up in front of what appeared to be a business of some sort. “Where are we?” I asked.
“Can’t you read the sign?” Garth replied dismissively, like I just overlooked it or something. I had seen it, but I couldn’t make sense of it.
“I uhm, I can’t read it.”
That made Garth look at me with slight surprise. “You can’t read it? At all?”
“No.”
He sighed. “Wish you would have told me that sooner. I guess that will have to be something else I must teach you.”
Hearing that Garth was going to teach me how to read was exciting, but that was something for another time. For now, Garth went about shopping and placing orders at various businesses. He picked up food, had his woodworking tools repaired, and placed an order for more varnish and some paper.
I learned a lot about the city just from this one trip. Garth had taken me on a slightly more scenic route than he would normally have taken to familiarize me with how things worked here, what areas I should probably avoid and how to tell. Social skills were still hard to come by for me, but I was reassured that it was something one acquired over time.
Overall, I felt very satisfied with the outcome of the day. There were no incidents involving me having to run from guards or being recognized as wanted by anyone. It seemed that the followers of light didn’t have a whole lot of influence in this town, so even if they were still looking for me, it wasn’t likely that they would find me.
Garth had been right all along, and I felt a little silly for doubting him. As we left the town, Garth extended an invitation for me to come along on future trips if I wanted. I emphatically agreed to accompany him in the future. It would serve as a way to lessen my restlessness and allow me the opportunity to see just a little more of the world. There was so much I was still ignorant of, but I looked forward to learning all I could from Garth.