Returning home, Malum expected to find his Uncle starring at the sky but strangely he wasn’t there. Malum walked further in and continued to find no evidence of his Uncle at all. Not in his bed, not at the dining area, not even in the kitchen. `Where was he?` Malum could not help but question.
His Uncle never left the house, unless they were leaving he just didn’t do it and yet, he had.
`Why? Where?`
As Malum slowly thought about where his Uncle could have gone without any notice his mind came to one of the notices he had heard about. “Lost Kingdom” Malum said, in realisation.
That was why he had left. But even then no note for him, seriously? He had raised him but not a single word of goodbye. What was Malum supposed to do now, join the army?
`Oh shit!`
Malum just connected the dots, if his Uncle wasn’t here that meant joining the army was a very real possibility and considering the bigotry of the villagers Malum could hazard a guess that it was nigh guaranteed.
He needed to hide, he packed his hunting gear as quick as he could and set off for the forest. Ensuring nobody spotted him on the way.
Malum fucked up. Somebody did spot him entering the forest and now he had an entire search party looking for him.
Inside a tree, huddled up and breathing low, Malum could hear the sound of shouting not to far away.
He held hope, if he found his mentor then he could be saved but as they grew closer Malum knew his hopes were dwindling.
Running further was suicide, beasts of real strength, known as monsters, inhabited areas away from civilisation and Malum would better his odds in the army then against one of those.
Looking up at the dawning sun Malum wandered where he went wrong. How had life fallen just so quickly? From a peaceful life studying in a classroom to being hunted down in a forest to be sent off to the army.
His Uncle was obviously the reason. Him running off without so much as a word of warning. How could he do that to him? Emotions of grief and anger slowly festered inside Malum's heart.
Tears began to block his eyesight. He heard the villagers closing in. He remained in a ball, his emotions like a storm until he heard somebody say,
“I found him!”
The orange light of dusk had given him away, nightfall was so close and yet so far. Malum knew he probably could have escaped if he really tried. But emotions had clouded his judgement, in some way, he wanted to be caught.
A childish revenge, something he sworn he would never do. If he died it would teach his Uncle a lesson, to never leave like that again. It was shortsighted, fantastically so, but even clear-minded-Malum would agree it would be effective.
He obviously fought back against those trying to take him. His years of training managed to give him some extra time running through the forest and whilst he was being hunted down, whilst any wild beast could come out from any tree and kill him, for some reason Malum felt jubilation he had never felt before.
The wind against his face had never felt so fresh, his heart had never beat so loud in triumph, he looked at the colourful sunset and for the first time he felt free.
Through the swirling storm of hatred, sadness and confusion, came a blazing fire of happiness.
Yet all fires must come to an end, and whilst this one burned the brightest it also lasted the shortest. It came from a net, used to hunt beasts. It looped around him and no matter how much Malum struggled, he couldn’t find the knot to untie himself.
He could see the villagers, that strange look in their eyes like they are looking at some miracle medicine. A mix of greed and happiness as they dragged him back towards the village.
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The square now held all those except the hunters. The clambering of voices as they hugged their loved ones.
They parted ways for the search party and Malum was dragged up towards a small, raised stage. On it was a tall but skinny man, a man with the authority of Mayor.
“Congratulations Felix, it seems assigning you as lead on this search party was the right choice after all. As a reward you shall hold the authority to pick whome this young man shall replace for the conscription quota.”
His voice was clear, and better expressed than those of the villagers. He slurred no words and spoke with a certain level of Gravitas that made all those listening find his words to be law.
Felix was a bulky man whome Malum recognised was the villages builder. Village politics’ was something he usually ignored but he still knew some things from living here for a while.
5 main families, Mayor, Builder, Baker, Butcher, and Hunter. The first three were part of one faction whilst the others were part of another. This was the Mayors way of strengthening his own. The votes he did now he had semblance of fairness.
`Being a pawn does feel fantastic. I’m like a replacement lamb in the sacrificial ceremony.`
The Builder obviously choose his son which left the Mayor with one more thing on the agenda. That required Malum to be dragged off towards the Town hall where he found a chair with straps on, and some lovely tools prepared for him.
“Now boy, you running off certainly made life harder so why not choose the easy option this time. Tell me where your Uncle is and this all won’t be necessary. I am a fan of torture, but you must recognise the importance of saving a life, do you not?”
“Fuck you.” Malum said as he starred at the man’s tools. Clippers, axes, shears, all made of iron.
The world was unfair, the Kingdom laws cared not for Malum. He was about to be entered into its death pit, so Malum laughed at the idea of bringing his injustice in front of a minister.
“Now, don’t be like that to me young man.” He kicked the youth in the shins as wandered where to start.
As he picked up the axe the young boy had to ruin his fun.
“He left, the expedition you posted on the notice board. He went there.”
“Logical, and it fits what we have gathered. Well young man it seems you got abandoned just at the wrong time. I’m really sorry to say, but I’m still going to have to check to see if you’re really telling the truth.”
The smile on the stick figured demon did not show sympathy in the slightest.
Pain, so much pain. Malum had felt pain from his schools cane before, but nothing could even compare. The smirky smile of his torturer only made it worse.
The sick bastard enjoyed it.
Malum had heard of no previous incidents similar to his, in fact, the mayor had a very good reputation in the village. His teacher had cursed the man for stealing his job but even he thought the Mayor a good man. `Wait, no,` Malum could think of one event he had heard about. The village had recently had a few dogs go missing.
It was assumed that the occasional beasts had caught them but now another answer fit just as well.
He had even learned of why he picked it up from the devils own lips.
“I used to be a spy you know. For some rich guy called Count Riveria. Those were the days, every night I would get to peels someone skin off or rip one of their nails off. Oh, it was just heaven.”
How was this man human? Was he a demon in human skin. Malum swore the worst curses he could fathom onto the devil. Yet, none of his pleas were answered.
Gods were beings that were known to exist, there powers held by the upper clergy of each church. Proof of the divine was in the Gifts they gave to humanity. Malum had seen none but heard of the ten thousand walls, cultivation proficiency, and Monster dens.
Ten thousand walls in the largest inhabited cities, cultivation aptitude was apparently gifted by the divine although Malum had heard from his Uncle that it was laughably untrue and Monster dens where places where the stronger monsters whome could wipe cities were locked inside.
They claimed several other things, like they had made the seas and skies, but worship of the Dao was too ingrained into culture for such lies to become truth.
For all their majesty, all their apparent benevolence, they certainly did not come to help. Any speck of belief he held disappeared. He was even begging to like the God of Hunting, but it seemed today he was destined to be the prey. There was clearly no saviour for him.
Time was his best ally, as it soon turned night and the Mayor had until then to send of his conscripts.
He was washed of his blood, sweat and tears and dressed in decent garments. No lasting damage was done to his body, the bastard was indeed an expert. The only lasting damage was that to his mind, those scars would stay for as long as he lived.
Now he wanted power, more than anything and oddly his head start came from the demon himself.
“You were such a fun one, truly your screams will forever be immortalised in my most favourite memories.” His face burned red, he looked orgasmic, much to Malum's utter disgust.
Coming out of dream of utter pleasure, Malum saw as the Mayor reached into his belt. His mind began to collapse even further.
“A knife, just for you. I am not blind; you seek revenge and I do love a good challenge. This village is far too boring for myself and so I give you this in hopes you come back, and slit my throat.”
He was demented, Malum hardly fathomed how such a being blended in so well. He had seen him before in the market and elsewhere but never had he seen this side to him.
It was impressive, although Malum still shuddered in fear. The man’s constant smile now always giving him a fright.
He tucked the knife in his own belt, trauma would have to wait. Malum's mind carved a path of serenity as it thought of a way forward. In the army he would not die, he would thrive and then he would kill this demon, become a cultivator, and live forever.
Getting dragged out of his cell, Malum chuckled to himself, `Okay maybe I’ll just work on doing one step at a time.`