Chapter 3 – A New Dawn
Looking at that same ceiling again and thinking that tomorrow will be the last day in years I'll see it, I felt a little sad.
"Come eat, it's time." I hear my mother calling. I got up, stretched, and started toward the door. I put on my shirt, opened the door, and found my mother giving me a stern look.
"Wuitt, you need to learn to wake up early and do things on your own. You won’t have your father and me to help and guide you anymore. You’ll have to work hard for what you want and fight to keep it."
"Yes, yes." Heading toward the chair next to the table, there were two loaves, a piece of cheese, and a glass of juice. I ate quickly, as I was starving, having gone a while since the last meal. After yesterday’s training, I was so exhausted that I ended up falling asleep without eating.
After eating, I went to help my mother plow a bit of the land where we grew vegetables and roots for our meals.
After helping her all morning, we stopped to eat a stew I helped prepare. After the meal, I went to the training field where I trained with my father. At the end of the day, I returned home with my father, we had dinner, and we went to sleep.
In the middle of the night, I woke up to shouts coming from outside. When I left my room, I saw my father finishing putting on his heavy chainmail armor with my mother’s help. Noticing that I had left the room, he looked at me.
"Get a light leather armor, a chainmail, a sword, arrows, and a bow, and get the horse ready to leave. Dear, get the money we saved, pack a bag with food and clothes, and put it in the horse’s saddle for him to head to the capital. His place is no longer with us. If he leaves now, he’ll have the chance to be great and, with a bit of luck, see and do things we’ll never do or see. It’s time for him to follow his path."
My mother, apparently nervous and with a face full of concern, said, "Yes, I’ll get everything ready," gave my father a kiss, and began gathering things around the house, picking up food and taking it to the horses we kept at the back of the property.
I went to do what my father had asked. As we were nearly finished preparing the horse, the sounds of battle grew closer, and I saw my mother running toward me with a bag in her hand, apparently the last items. She rushed past me and began attaching everything to the horse as quickly as she could.
When she finished, I saw my father coming toward us as fast as his armor allowed. "Follow the king’s road for three weeks, and you’ll reach the capital. Trust no one, don’t sleep near the road, and definitely DON’T DIE…"
The other words he might have said were interrupted by the galloping of horses and war cries. My father turned, standing guard with a broad sword in one hand and a shield in the other. My mother was nervous, and I saw tears starting to stream down her face. She placed a helmet on my head and whispered in a way I could hear.
"Stay safe, my son, for everything that is sacred, stay safe, and always have honor and keep your word."
Looking past her in the distance, I saw around thirty horsemen rushing toward us, and I heard my father’s shout, "Run, boy! Go where the winds guide you, and may the darkness protect you." My mother then slapped the horse’s rear, and it took off at full gallop. I held onto the reins and clung to it with all the strength I had. It took me a few moments to adjust the reins so the horse would go in the right direction. Looking back, I saw my father take down three enemies before a sword pierced his shoulder and another impaled his chest. Then I heard a scream before another enemy passed by and decapitated my mother.
And I heard a whisper from my parents echo over my ears as if the wind had brought their words, "Go and live for us." The horse threatened to slow down, but I spurred it on to gallop once more.
Following the path through the woods toward the forest, I began passing by large, ancient trees, dry branches, and new growth. In a forest at night, everything seemed dark and mysteriously shadowed, but behind me, I could see the red glow of fire in the sky and darker smoke rising. Tears streamed down my face. I alternated my gaze between looking ahead to find a path and glancing back, hoping it was all a dream that my father was alive and that my mother would be home waiting for me with a smile. With these thoughts of a fleeting hope and too nervous to fully grasp where I was heading, I just let the horse run deeper and deeper into the dense forest. In my growing despair and endless tears, I eventually fell asleep without realizing it.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Waking up with severe pain in my back as if I had fallen, I opened my eyes and saw small cuts and bruises all over my body, as if small, sharp knives had scratched me. They were probably from the branches and leaves I passed through yesterday.
Understanding where these wounds came from, memories of what happened flooded back, and sadness and tears hit me hard again as I began to lament everything that happened. The sadder and more helpless I felt, the more hatred grew in me for those who attacked my home and family. But I couldn’t stay here forever. Trying to lessen my anger, I started venting by punching the ground and breaking branches from the trees around me. I shouted and cursed with everything I knew until I began to lose my voice. When my fury started to subside, I fell to my knees, exhausted.
Moments later, I heard a neigh 'I think it’s the horse I was riding.' I stood up and went toward the sound, approaching slowly not to startle the animal. I saw my horse drinking water from a small stream. Following the water with my eyes to its source, I felt a thirst that came from deep in my dry throat, parched from so much crying and shouting. I staggered towards the water, stopping just above where the horse was drinking. I bent down, filled my hands with water, and began to drink. After several good gulps, I felt my thirst subsiding.
After finishing, I looked again at the horse and discovered that one of the bags was missing. I rummaged through the remaining ones to find out what I had with me for my journey to the capital. To my relief, the missing bag was the one with clothes and some less important items, and in the one that was left, there was some money and food.
I took some food from the bag and ate a bit, finally taking a good look at the horse. It stood just over a meter and a half tall and was entirely black.
Finishing eating, I approached the horse and began to stroke its head.
"Where did you bring us to, huh? Are we lost, or are you following a path you already know?"
"..."
As if the horse could answer me, I looked at it, but thinking about what I had just done, I felt silly and maybe even childish for talking to a horse and expecting a response. Unfortunately, my imagination was wrong, and the horse didn’t answer, leaving me with little to do. I had no more idea of where I was all around me were trees and more trees. Giving up on thinking about which direction to go, I took the horse’s reins and started to follow the sun. It seemed to be past midday, and since I didn’t know where to go, I followed something one of my father’s men once told me, "If you ever get lost, follow the afternoon sun; it will lead you somewhere safe."
Thus, I spent the first afternoon in the forest after the disaster of my life. It was an afternoon of immeasurable solitude and sadness, where everything around me was trees, rocks, insects, and my own pain.
At the end of the afternoon, reaching a slightly higher hill where I could see the sky, I stopped to let the horse rest. After eating a bit more, I realized that at this pace, I wouldn’t have enough food for more than three days. 'I’ll need to hunt or find a way to get food along the way, then.'
As I ate, I watched the sunset and saw shadows emerging in the forest shadows that penetrated everything, shadows that concealed all that needed to be hidden. I was nearly blind when the sun set. I stood and searched for the horse, which I only found thanks to its continuous snorts, to continue onward.
"Maybe I should give you a name in the coming days," I said, climbing onto him.
I looked around, thinking about which direction to go, but I couldn’t see even three feet ahead. I looked to the sky for guidance and saw no stars or moon it was a dark, grim sky, a lifeless sky. I knew I was in a strange place, a place I shouldn’t have come, but I needed to continue because I had to SURVIVE.
I decided to continue forward randomly in search of a village or road. After hours of galloping, I dismounted the horse and tied it to a tree that looked thick enough to hold him. Looking at the sky again, I saw nothing. Under this somber sky and this dark, lonely forest, I found a tree to lean against and slept.
When I awoke, everything was still dark, with no sign of morning or anything but darkness and even darker shadows. I untied the horse and continued randomly forward again or what could be called forward. I don’t know how much time passed, but I found no signs of animal life or fruit bearing plants, only tall trees full of leaves and branches, as if they wanted to break through the sky. Time passed; hunger came, and I ate; sleep came, and I slept. I don’t know how long it went on like this, only that eventually the food ran out, and I had to keep moving without it.
After who knows how long, I was feeling weak and starving. Looking at the horse, I even began to feel tempted to eat it, but it wouldn’t be worth it if I killed it, I would have to walk and carry the little that was left to carry. It wasn’t much, just some now useless money, a sword, a cloak, and my mother’s pendant, which wasn’t very valuable. It was made of a special kind of iron, though delicately crafted, with an onyx pendant, not overly intricate, just set in. My mother used to say this stone gave her courage and kept fear at bay. Well, I held it tightly in my hand, closing my eyes and remembering my mother’s face, her way of cooking, giving advice, and helping me with everything I asked for.
Looking at the pendant again, I saw it was wet with tears. I placed the chain around my neck so I would never forget where I came from and the memories I had with my family.