Reiland’s weathered feet kicked up dust as he slinked though a quiet side alley. Small bits of sharp gravel were strewn all over the road, but the callouses on his soles were too thick for him to notice or care. He inspected the cracks between the planks and bricks observantly, looking out for today’s experiment/stew ingredient: A purple-spotted salamander. Finally, he saw one lurking in a dark spot, resting and digesting its prior meal.
Reiland moved in to catch it, but froze when he heard rapidly approaching footsteps and chatter in the distance. He hid into a narrow slit between two houses, his small and thin frame slipping in with ease. Sneaking a peak into the direction of the nuisance, Reiland’s fear came true. A horde of village children, around ten, was marching down the alley.
Leading them was a boy with bright red hair. He was a good head taller than Reiland and built surprisingly wide for his age, only two years older than him. At the back of the crowd was a girl, a lot older and taller than the rest of the lot, wearing a tired expression. Her hair color matched the boy’s, but instead of a pot cut, hers was kept in two short braided tails. Reiland recognizes the siblings instantly – they were the mayor’s children.
Reiland sank back into the dark shadows cast into gap by the neighboring two houses, in hopes that they hadn’t spotted him yet. It seemed his hopes were justified, as the mob just passed the crack without paying the one hiding inside much mind. Hearing them talk sent shivers down Reiland’s spine. “He can’t be far… you saw him in this direction, right Tami?” The red-headed leader of the group exclaimed.
The addressed girl, barely six, answered. “Yesh! I shaw him, I shwear…” “It will be alright, don’t worry! Let us find him before can hurt some poor cute creature.” The rest of the mob started shouting. “Yeah, find him!” “Let’s get the asshole!” “He can’t hide forever!” Then, they begin to chant. “Find him! Find him! Find him!”
Reiland shuddered. He didn’t dare to move a muscle until several minutes had passed, long after the chanting disappeared in the distance. Finally, he had calmed down enough to leave the safety of the shadows. He checked the spot where he saw the salamander earlier, but it was gone. It must have gotten scared away by the shouting and stomping.
Reiland cursed the bunch in his mind, before starting to run to a more secluded side alley on the opposite side of the village. However, he was much more conscientious about staying in the shadows and remaining quiet than he was before. It hadn’t been the first of his run-ins with this group of children, the annoying redhead in particular. They hated each other's guts, and never wasted an opportunity to make the other’s day worse.
After checking what felt like every single crack in the village, Reiland spotted another potential target – a truly magnificent specimen, a good hand-span larger than the one he spotted before. Reiland approached on tip-toes, and reached to draw his knife. “BRIAN! FOUND HIM!” A shrill cry shatters his concentration. Without thinking twice, Reiland grabbed the salamander by its tail. As soon as he got a good grip, he started running, headed for the village gates leading to the forest. The shouting behind him made him double his pace. “Stand still!” “Quick, come here! Shithead is running!”
Throwing a quick look over his shoulder, Reiland saw four children trying to catch up to him. They put up a good struggle, but were not nearly fast enough to catch him. It was not the first time Reiland had been chased, and only rarely had he been caught. Young years of running through the forest in search of curiosities and snacks had forged Reiland into a fast and enduring runner – His small frame helping him get over and through obstacles. In a surge of hubris, he stuck out his tongue to mock the pursuers panting behind him.
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However, that day was the day Reiland’s luck would run out. He was still taunting the children behind him when the mayor’s son came running from the main street this side alley was merging into. Both of them were unable to decelerate on time, and so the much bigger and heavier Brian rammed directly into Reiland, forcing the air out of his lungs.
Both of them were lying on the ground, confused as to what just happened. The remaining children formed a circle around them, safe for the older sister, who leaned onto a nearby wall and remained on stand-by. Reiland caught his wits a little quicker than Brian and got up. However, he was not quick enough. Brian yanked Reiland’s ankle and dragged him back down to the ground. He started mounting Reiland, pinning him to the ground.
“RELEASE IT!”, Brian shouted. “nooo-” Reiland wanted to shout back, but halfway through, he started having a coughing fit. The sprinting, the tackle to the stomach and the dry, dusty air had put his lungs under a lot of stress. “RELEASE IT NOW!”
“Leave me alone!” Reiland at least got the words out properly this time. However, when Brian raised his fist to a punch, Reiland gave in. “okay…” He tried freeing the hand still clasping the salamander from under his back – it is impossible with Brian’s weight on his chest.
“give me a little room… I can’t-” As soon as Reiland said that, Brian loosened his press a bit. “No tricks, okay?” Reiland shook his head. He moved his hand from under his back slowly and revealed… A salamander tail. Not a salamander, just the tail.
“What? It should not have been enough force to rip that…” Reiland swapped back into scientific analysis mode instinctively, but stopped when he saw Brian’s face. The red-haired boy was wearing a heavy mask of shock and helplessness. It looked like he was about to cry.
Reiland was uncomfortable seeing his tormentor weak like that. It was unlike the Brian he knew. “Look, I’m sorry… was that your pet or something? I can catch you a new one-”
The look on Brian’s face changed slowly, prompting Reiland to stop mid-sentence. Shock gave way to raw, unbridled rage. “YOU FUCKING MONSTER!” Before Reiland was even able to process this change, a fist came down like a shooting star from heaven. It connected square with his chin and slammed Reiland’s skull back onto the hard ground littered with tiny spiky stones. A sting of white-hot pain consumed his thoughts and he cried out in agony.
Unbeknownst to Reiland, Ione, Brian’s sister, had gotten up from the wall she was leaning to and started rushing into the fray. She pushed through the wall of gawking and cheering children. However, she wasn’t fast enough to stop the second blow. It hit right below the left eye and drove Reiland’s head further into the ground. She finally arrived and grabbed Brian’s wrist before he could hit a third time. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”, Ione hissed in her younger brother’s ear, whose anger quickly dissipated under the scolding of his sister.
Reiland, dizzy and hurting, seized the opportunity. Blinking through tears, he bit into the meaty hand Brian lowered in front of his face with all force he could muster. Brian screamed and backed off in surprise, which Reiland used to struggle free. He jumped up and started sprinting as fast as he could, pushing through the circle of children clearly didn’t expect him to get up.
He ran, hot tears rolling down his face, tasting blood in his mouth. He ran, not minding the shouts behind him, not minding anything but escaping from this nightmare. He ran, ran and ran until he was far away from the place Brian beat him down. He ran, not stopping until he was finally in the safety of his home.
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Iuli was busy sorting the findings of her gathering trip through the forest today. She had spread everything on the table and arranged it in two piles, one for cooking and one for selling. The assortment of fungi, roots, berries and nuts had already been cleaned in a small, shallow creek running near their house.
She stopped sorting and got up when she heard fast tapping of small feet on the dusty path leading to their house. It must be her little angel, although she found him returning so early a tad strange. Her worry quickly turned into shock when Reiland burst through the door, with tears, blood and snot covering his face. “Rei! What happened!?” She shouted, lunging at her son to take him into her arms. She cradled him, not paying the blood staining her shirt any heed. “Shh… everything is okay, mommy is here…”
After Reiland had simply been crying in her arms for a while, Iuli heard his story through tears and stammers. She tried calming him, and it slowly worked, his face returning to the more expressionless one that she was used to from him. On one hand, Iuli was glad that Reiland calmed down, but on the other hand, it pained her that about the only time her child seemed to be capable of showing emotion is when they are in times of great distress.