“Mom? What are you talking about?” Basile looked puzzled and shocked about what he heard from his mother. Though he wasn’t sure what his mother was about to tell him. He felt that this could probably change his life.

“I should’ve told you this a long time ago, but I felt that you weren’t ready yet and given the situation now, I think you should hear this before it’s too late” his mother looked apprehensive as she was about to tell the truth.

“You see when I was younger, I met a man. He was strong, handsome and very charming. We loved each other so much. We even decided to get married, but something happened to him that changed him”

“He was part of the militaries special force called Soul Assimilators. I think he was a captain of a squad. Back then, he told me that he had a mission to go somewhere to investigate a disturbance from a faraway village, so he left”

“He was gone for two years. I haven’t even had any letters or any news about him in that 2 years. I tried to ask some of the military officers I knew who were associated with him, but they had no idea where he went”

“For 2 years I waited and then he went home. I remember clearly the look on his face that day… it was sorrow and emptiness. That day he carried something, it was this box and… you”

“I asked him who you were, why would he bring a baby to our home. I was confused that day, I thought he had another family, that’s why he didn’t write me or even tell me where he went. But he hadn’t answered anything.”

“The next day, I saw a letter on this table. He wrote ~I need to go to the capital and report~. He was gone again. Since that day I tried to ask other military people about what happened to him, but no one knew and no one wanted to help me either” Basile’s mom started crying again. It’s as if the clouds listened and started to cry too because of the melancholy she felt.

Basile’s face couldn’t get any gloomier than he ever could. He felt like he lost his life in that moment.

He regained his composure and asked “So mom, you mean that we are not really related? And that man left me without even saying anything about me?”

“Even if we aren’t related son, I’ve always treated you like my own flesh and blood. You are my son and no one can ever tell me that you aren’t. You know I will always love you right?”

“And you are always my mother mom. No matter what happens nothing can change that fact!”

After telling the truth about Basile’s birth, Basile’s mother felt the burden from her heart seemed to be slightly alleviated. All she wanted was to protect her son from getting hurt, but it seems that she was really helpless because of the situation.

“Son, I wan’t you to look for that man. He might be your father and he can probably give you a better life than I can. I’m sorry for being so useless”

“Don’t talk like that mom, you are not useless. You are the most important person in my life. And I wont leave you mom. Why would I look for the man who left me and leave you?. I will never do that!”

“Son please! we have no time left. The mayor probably found out about what happened by now. I can’t let you suffer any more than this”

“Mom but… What about you? What will happen to you?”

“Son, don’t worry about me. Although I’m weak, I can still manage to live by myself. Besides, I think the mayor isn’t that unreasonable as to punish me also. “

While Basile and his mother were talking, a commotion was currently happening outside. There were many people that stared gathering outside their home. Many bystanders were baffled at the sight because the people that gathered outside were not just ordinary people, they were the village guards. What’s more intriguing is that the mayor’s son is along with them. Based on the situation outside, everyone deduced that somebody was going to get arrested.

Not too long after, a person that looked like the head of the village guards spoke through a device that seemed to amplify his voice “Basile Veer; Son of Lesile Veer. As the Chief of the village guards in Artesia city, I order you to hand over yourself in violation of assault and battery! If you don’t show yourself, we will not hesitate to use force and take you out”

Immediately after the Chief guard announced, the Mayor’s son who was so irritated wrested the device the village chief was holding and schout through it “You fucking dog!!! You better get yourself down here right this minute or I’ll burn your house. You useless trash, filthy, wood eating mothe!@!#!%---!”

Before he could finish in his rant, the Chief Guard took the device again. Since there were so many bystanders, he could not let the mayor’s son get out of hand. It would be a big problem if the people spread bad rumors which will affect the mayor’s position afterwards. “Young master, please calm down… Rest assured, that boy can’t get away no matter what he does. There are many people watching so it’s best we do the proper arresting procedure”

“I don’t care how you arrest that dog! Just smash that house already!” The mayor’s son was so furious and seemed like he lost all kinds of reason.

As they were deciding how to arrest Basile outside, Basile and his mother was preparing for the situation. “Son, they are here now, you need to escape!”

“Mother, didn’t you hear what that fat pig said? He said he was going to burn our house down! How could I let him do that!”

“Son you don’t need to worry about me, even though the mayor’s son sounded like a tyrant. The Chief Guard seemed to consider the mayors position so, I doubt he’d do anything to me. Especially now that many people are gathered around our house”

Basile was unreconciled but he needed to make a decision for both him and his mother. He thought that there was no other way out of this situation but to do what his mother suggested. He needed to escape this predicament right now. He understood that being caught would just bring his mother sleepless nights and endless worries. If he resigned his fate now, all the future he could get is darkness and solitude so he decided to leave.

“Ok mom, I will do as you, but someday I will definitely take you away from this dump. I will change our lives; I promise you that!” Basile looked resolute about his decision. It was an oath to himself and to the heavens that no matter what happens; even if the heavens do not permit it, he will change their fate.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“No son, I only need you to promise one thing for me. You don’t have to worry about me. You just have to live a good life and before you go… here take this box, this will serve as your identity if you look for your father. Here, take this money also, I managed to save some so you can at least survive out there. Remember, your father’s name is Edgar Revmont. You should be able to ask around about him since he is a well know captain. Please take care of yourself son, I will always love you no matter where we are”

Basile’s mother hand over the box and some money to him as she hugged him. Parting was really hard for Basile since he hasn’t gone anywhere in his 16 years of existence in this world. All he really knew was about the village and he doesn’t have any clue as to what is really out there in the world but he needed to do this, he needed to leave.

“I guess this is goodbye mom, I will surely comeback for you. Just stay strong for me ok?”

“Don’t worry about me, you should know where to exit right? Do you remember the hole on that wall outside our house where you used to escape to play? Get out at the back and go there while I buy you some time outside… go!”

As soon as both mother and son said their farewell, Basile slipped at the back of the house while his mother came out of the front house and confronted the guards. Basile didn’t know what happened outside while his mother was buying him sometime. He slipped by stealthily at the back of their house and reached the wall that his mother mentioned. He noticed that no one seems to be following so he thought, his mother really succeeded on that part. He could not worry about anything anymore and only thought about how to escape. If he dallies for just a bit, it might cause a lot more trouble for both him and his mother. Everything would’ve been for naught.

As Basile escaped through the hole in a wall of their village, he found himself outside a large forest. Since he was always playing outside when he was just a kid, he knew everything about the forest near their village. So he ran and ran not looking back at the direction he came from holding a sack that has the box and some money.

Soon he reached a river. It was about 50 feet wide and the current was strong. To be precise, it was a torrent with large rocks inside. If one needed to cross it, doing so while swimming is certainly a bad idea. He hasn’t reached this part of the forest when he was playing before so he knew that he must’ve gone far from the village by now. He thought that if he turned back now, he could just imagine his fate so he mustered his courage. He decided to cross the river.

Of course he didn’t throw his life just like that so, he secured himself with a large vine and tied it to a tree.

As he tried to cross the river, an unexpected event occurred. The water seems to be rising and fast. Basile started to slightly panic, but at the back of his mind, he knew that he was halfway through the river so he thinks he can make it to the other side before the river swallows him up. Unfortunately, the river rose up faster than he could swim plus, the strong current of water made it even worse.

Basile tried so hard to swim across but eventually grew tired. He was really close in getting to the other side but just couldn’t get through because of the fatigue. Eventually he thought that if he wanted to survive this predicament, he needed to lighten his weight. In order for him to do that he needed to throw away the sack he was carrying. Since the sack only carried money and the box, he decided that maybe he could at least spare something out of the 2. So he decided to discard the money which was heavier because it was all coins; copper coins to be exact.

He was reluctant at first but eventually released it. He might live a couple of months with that money if he survives with it but the risk was just too much.

After a long grueling swim, Basile felt relieved because he eventually survives the predicament. He reached the other side looking very exhausted and battered. He knew he had no time to relax because somebody might still be looking for him. He was cautious as to not leave any traces as he ran but he could never tell if he missed something.

After breathing heavily for a couple of minutes he started to push forward again not knowing where he ends up.

Back at the village after Basile escaped, his mother Lesile Veer was talking to the Chief Guard trying to buy time.

“Chief I don’t know what you are talking about, how could my son do that? We never had any problems with the authorities before so why would he do that to the mayor’s son?” Lesile asked the chief as if not knowing what really happened.

“You see lady; you can’t be thinking that our young master here is lying do you? Even if he did, we would eventually find out the truth anyway. That’s why we need to see your son for further investigation”

The mayor’s son with his temper couldn’t take it anymore and blurted out “Chief! just ransack the house already, she might just be buying that dog some time… Come on move it already!”

The chief then look at Lesile and ordered his men to get inside the house by force “I’m sorry for this, but we have to do this. With or without your permission we will check your house”

As Lesile looked kind of hesitant, feigning innocence at what really happened, she was sure that her son was not in the house already which left her feel at ease for a moment. She could only wish that they could not find any traces of her son so they could track him down after he escaped.

“You don’t need to force your way in chief, I agree for you to check the house. I only ask that you will leave my home intact after this. I haven’t seen Basile come back yet and I don’t really know what happened so please, I beg you…” Lesile had the look of pleading in her eyes as she was asking the Chief Guard.

“That bitch is lying through her teeth chief, I know it. How could those people that seen him pass by the gate lie about this? He might be a nobody but that ugly ass hair of his is uncommon. There is nobody else like that!” The mayor’s son gritted his teeth in anger and some of his men looked at each other trying not to laugh. It was simply because his hair was as he said. Ugly and uncommon.

Soon the village guards entered the house and looked at every nook and cranny of the house but they couldn’t find anything. Even Basile’s clothes and other ugly stuff was left behind. They thought there was some truth about what Lesile said and got out the house to report to their chief about their findings.

The mayor’s son was so pissed that he stormed inside the house himself to look. The chief couldn’t help it and got inside the house also in order to control the mayor’s son from breaking so many things.

“God damn it! Chief! I really think he got out the back. I don’t know how he got away with those tall walls, someone should’ve seen him jumped or something. Damn it!”

The chief really didn’t want to aggravate the situation and just told his men to follow through with the search outside the house and look for clues. Soon they did see something in the wall. A guard reported that he found a hole in the wall which looked like somebody that was not fat could get through.

Soon many guards were dispatched trying to look for clues outside the wall and into the forest. The search was spread out because the forest was just too huge to look for a single escaping person. It’s like looking for a needle in a haystack. Some guards eventually reach the river and found clues of someone trying to cross it. It was the vine attached to a tree for support but they couldn’t figure out when it was attached there plus the fact that it was snapped. The person who tied it probably drowned because of the strong current which explains the vine snapping. They thought, that person probably was desperate in crossing the river and was running from something or someone to pull this kind of stunt.

The guards eventually came back to report about what they found out and didn’t search any further since they didn’t find any relevant clues anymore. The village chief assumed that the person who crossed the river was probably Basile but he had no other evidence that it was indeed the case, so they end up with nothing. The mayor’s son was left with a bruised ego and a salty face. He couldn’t do anything about it anymore. He felt slightly at ease knowing that the person who drowned at the river might be Basile. At least there was something that could appease his mind.

Basile had walked for an entire day and eventually reached the end of the forest. There, he saw lights shining from afar. It turned out that it was already night time and what he saw were the lights from a village.

He stopped for a minute and thought about the bad things that happened to him. In just a single day, his life changed. The only thing that was certain now for him was, he now had the chance to change his fate. It could be a turn for the worse or for the best.

He couldn’t think of those things anymore and accepted the fate that was given to him.

Basile moved towards the village and looked forward to what was waiting for him.