Ander

Ander stood frozen in place as his family looked on with obvious displeasure. His father eventually spoke, anger accentuating every word. “Why did you come back?”

Ander recoiled at the harsh tone in Treven’s voice, but he set his jaw and looked defiantly back at the three disapproving stares.

“Why do you care? You made it perfectly clear that you don’t consider me to be one of your own. Why should it matter to you if I come or go?”

This time his mother spoke up. “We care because we were finally starting to regain some respect, now the people will remember our shame once again. You said you would never come back, why couldn’t you have the decency to disappear forever?” Salna delivered the line so venomously she could have been talking to her worst enemy, not her child.

Ander’s eyebrows knit as he listened to the tirade. He was so tired of people treating him poorly because of what he was. He was so tired of the hateful stares and baleful looks. He was so tired of it all, and he wouldn’t stand for it any longer.

Ander responded quickly as his blood began to boil in anger. “Well I’m sorry I didn’t think about your reputation, how could I possibly forget about the one thing that you shadows-cursed fools care about. It’s obviously more important to you than your own blood.”

Ander’s brother, Rolan, was shaking in rage. He began to yell at Ander at the top of his lungs. “Don’t speak to us like that you freak! Our parents took care of you! They fed and clothed you! The only repayment that they received was shame and embarrassment. You are a disgrace!”

Ander threw back his head and laughed before giving a scornful reply. “They might have fed and clothed me, but the food was always whatever was left after the rest of you ate, which was often nothing, and the clothes were so ragged beggars would be embarrassed to wear them.

And you Rolan, you took every opportunity to make my life pathetic and miserable.

Apart from that each of you spent your time trying to avoid me and my realm of influence. The best day of my life was the day I left this Shadows-begotten town and everyone in it!”

The words erupted from him, and he realized that he was nearly screaming at his family. They looked as if they had been struck by lightning. Ander had never raised his voice around them before. He had simply taken the abuse, but that would never happen again.

All the yelling had attracted the attention of what seemed to be the entire town. A crowd had grown around them and a hundred pairs of eyes stared at him in utter silence. Ander looked out at the people and met eyes all around. He continued to do so until he caught sight of three men with swords lounging toward the back of the crowd.

They were heavily muscled and each man looked comfortable with their weapon. Although their postures signaled that they were relaxed, each one had their eyes locked onto Ander as if he were a feast set on the table, and they were starving. Those hungry eyes terrified him.

Ander was certain that these were the men that the Warden spoke of during their brief meeting.

No matter how much he wanted to vent what he felt towards his family, he didn’t want to give those men the opportunity to talk to him, or do anything else to him. It would be better just to return to the farm and forget that any of this happened.

After a final withering look at his family, Ander pushed his way through the crowd forcefully until he found the road that led to Cyrus’s farm, and he started to run. He turned back a minute later to see the three men had pushed their own way through the crowd and had started to follow him at speed. Ander cursed and pushed himself harder.

They continued on like that for some time. His three pursuers must have been very determined because Ander was wheezing for air by the time the three figures finally fell out of sight.

Ander smiled to himself with satisfaction. While they appeared to be well muscled they were obviously lacking in stamina. It looked like all the time spent running away from the other kids when he was a child was paying off.

As Ander continued to look back at the road for any sign of the three men following him, an idea occurred to him. This was a great opportunity.

Ander stepped off the path and hid in the underbrush, making certain to position himself far enough from the road that his realm couldn't be felt by those passing by. He wanted to get a closer look at the trio. Maybe he could recognize them or find some other clue as to why they were chasing him. After a few minutes of lying in wait they came into sight Ander heard snatches of what the three men were saying to one another. Their appearances didn’t give him any clues, but their voices certainly did. They spoke with big city accents, only half pronouncing the last letter to each word. These people must be from Spectralia, Ander realized. What could people from the capital possibly want from me?

While Payra was within a few days travel of Spectralia, it wasn’t on any major routes out of the great city so it was largely ignored. As Ander contemplated the mystery, he strained his ears to hear the conversation. As the group drew closer Ander heard more and more until every word sounded clear to him.

“I thought you were supposed to be well-trained,” said a man with a deep voice. “but you were outrun by a country bumpkin who, by his own admission, was fed scraps as a child.”

“Hey,” said a slightly higher pitched voice. “I didn’t see you doing any better, and you didn’t slack off on the training like I did.”

“Shut up!” the final man growled. “Focus on what we’re doing. If we don’t find that kid this entire trip will be a waste. I’m not going to give up my reward because you two can’t concentrate. We could have grabbed him in the village if you hadn’t insisted on eating breakfast for the second time. We might have even caught him running out of the city if you two were more focused on missions than you are on your stomachs.”

What? Ander thought. Is there some kind of bounty out for me? The last man’s words indicated that there was a price on Ander’s head. He leaned in closer to listen.

“Oh come now,” the second voice whined. “There was no way we could have known he would be in the village. All the people said he left almost a month back and hadn’t returned.”

“Yeah,” the first voice chimed in. “Calm down, if we keep to this road we will eventually find the farm that the boy has been staying at. All the villagers seem to think he is close to the Cyrus fellow that lives there. All we need to do is go to the farm. He is likely going to be there, and if not, we can simply wait until he arrives.”

The voices were started to fade away as the three men moved farther down the road. You fool! Ander berated himself mentally. Why did I have to stop to listen to them? Of course they would know where the farm was. Idiot!

Ander moved into the forest that lined the road on and started running once again toward the farm. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if Cyrus was hurt by the trio. If he ran ahead of them, he would have plenty of time to warn Cyrus before they arrived.

He had just finished jumping over a fallen tree when he started hearing shouts and vile curses from the men on the road. They sounded panicked.

What is going on? Ander thought as he moved to investigate.

Once again Ander covertly surveyed the road where the shouts were coming from. The sight that lay before him shocked him to his core.

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One of the men lay on the ground bloodied and broken while the other two were facing off against a monstrosity. The thing looked somewhat human except it was the color of ash with jagged white lines that ran over the entire body.

When the thing moved it was incredibly fast, even if it didn’t seem to be particularly intelligent. When Ander looked into its eyes, he saw the eyes of a feral animal that needed to be put down.

Both it’s hands and feet ended in long claws that looked razor sharp and its eyes were filled with hatred. Its entire body seemed to be twisted and covered in spines jutting out at odd angles. Ander had no doubt in his mind that this was the thing that killed the deer he had stumbled across earlier that day.

The two remaining men worked together to fight the creature. One man kept the thing’s attention while the other would strike at it from behind. Each time one of the men landed a hit the horror would become more and more reckless in its attacks.

As Ander continued to watch from his hiding place the monster lost what patience it had and it rushed madly at one of the men. The poor soul did his best to ward away the creature with his sword, but the onslaught proved too much for him. He let out a scream as he was torn to pieces, his demise allowing an opening for the final warrior.

The man hacked at the creature over and over with his sword, but instead of blood, the thing seemed to bleed out dark smoke into the air. Even though the attacks didn’t seem to do much at first, there was a large amount of smoke pouring out of the wounds and it appeared that the creature was actually starting to slow down.

The creature turned toward the final man, claws raining blood to the ground as it fixed its attention on the survivor. Without further delay it lunged toward him, but it had been slowed enough that it gave the man enough time to react. He set himself firmly and drove his sword deep into the monster’s torso until it completely transfixed the beast, leaving the tip of the blade protruding from its back.

The living nightmare made a sound for the first time, letting out a harrowing scream that made the very air seem to vibrate before scything its claws towards the warrior who looked astonished that the twisted creature could still attack him after receiving such a wound. He fell in a spray of blood, his body dropping the ground. Moments later the beast collapsed beside him, and all became still.

It seemed so surreal to Ander. None of this should have been possible, but he had witnessed it, and he would never forget it.

Ander moved out of the underbrush and moved closer to where the battle had taken place and examined the scene thoroughly. He had never seen a dead person before, and the sight caused bile to rise in his throat. Despite that, he couldn’t make himself feel terribly bad for the men. They had been planning to do something with him, and they certainly weren’t friendly.

Ander eventually decided to go to the farmhouse to check on Cyrus. His thoughts turned dark when he realized the creature could have gone to the farm while Ander had been visiting the village.

It didn’t quite feel right to leave the three men lying there in their own blood, but there wasn’t much that Ander could do for them. He definitely didn’t want to move any closer to where the beast lay.

With a quick “May Novian’s mercy carry you home.” muttered under his breath, Ander started his way down the road once again.

His thoughts continued to grow darker as he considered that the only person that had ever cared for him might be dead. It spurred him to move faster. He had to know if Cyrus was alright.

He ran and ran, but when Ander finally reached the farm, Cyrus was nowhere in sight. There was no sign of him in the fields, and Ander didn’t see him with any of the animals.

As panic welled up inside him, he staggered towards the small house a flung open the door. Ander nearly collapsed from both relief and exhaustion when he found the old farmer calmly preparing the afternoon meal.

Cyrus looked startled at Ander’s sudden appearance. He looked around, as if expecting some kind of trouble to materialize in front of him.

“What’s the matter, lad? What happened?”

Ander sat down heavily in one of the chairs, trying to sort through what had happened. It was all too much. He had to let it out. And like long constrained water finally bursting through a dam, Ander finally let go of his emotions and told Cyrus everything.

He laid out what had happened to him starting with the stone-throwing children and the hateful stares in the streets. After that came the explanation of his conversation with the Warden and her dismissive and distrustful reaction to his warning.

Then came the confrontation with his family and Ander was surprised when he felt tears on his cheeks as he related the conversation. No matter how much he wanted to hide it, it still stung that they didn’t care for him.

Ander finished by telling Cyrus about the three men that had chased him down the path and their encounter with the monster.

Before he could stop himself Ander asked, “Why me? Why was I cursed to be a shaper? There are so few of us, why did it have to be me that was born a freak? The entire village hates me for what I am.”

He looked down to hide the tears that had sprung up in his eyes once again, but Cyrus grabbed him by the shoulder, the grip was surprisingly strong despite his age. “Look at me, lad.”

Ander slowly lifted his head and the look of such tenderness on his father figure’s face did more to calm his troubled mind than he would have believed possible.

“You are not cursed and you are not a freak; in fact, I think that you have a unique opportunity to learn.”

Cyrus cut of the beginning of a protest with a scowl.

“Listen, lad, I have a point to make. All those villagers will never be the good person that you are. They are mired in their hatred and prejudice, while you learned to overcome those things from an early age because of the way they have treated you. If you hadn’t been born a shaper, if you hadn’t been given those opportunities to learn, you would have become exactly like them. How would you like that?”

Ander fidgeted uncomfortably as he considered the question.

“I suppose I wouldn’t like it.” He finally replied.

“Good, and don’t you forget it. Never allow yourself to become like them. You have been given this opportunity by the Architect of souls. Use it to build yourself into a better person every day.”

“Alright, I will, but I can’t take it anymore. I have lived with these people for so long, and they still loath my existence. They know exactly who I am, yet they still hate me for what I am. I can’t take it from them anymore. I can’t.”

Cyrus limped over to add wood to the hearth where a pot of stew was simmering.

“Have I ever told you why I became an adventurer?” Cyrus asked as he used a fire poker to adjust the coals.

Ander considered for a moment before replying.

“No. You never told me.”

“It was because I wanted power and fame. My father and his father were cobblers you see. They lived simple lives. There’s nothing wrong with that to be sure, but I knew that I was meant for something greater. My dreams were bigger than this town, so I left to fulfill them. Dreams are important. They allow us to do the impossible. So, I ask you this. What is it that you want? What is your dream?”

“I don’t know about a dream, but I want to know why those three men were after me, and I want to know that that abomination was. I feel like it’s important.”

Cyrus nodded and walked to the old chest that sat in the corner of the room and opened it up. After leaning down to grab something within Cyrus straightened himself and moved back toward the table.

As he approached Ander got a better look at the object. It was a leather pouch. Cyrus dropped it on the table. As it landed the sound of metal on metal could be heard.

Ander raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

“Go ahead lad, look inside.” Was the only thing Cyrus said.

Ander reached out and grabbed the pouch. He quickly undid the string that kept it closed and inspected the contents. Light flashed in his eyes as the light from the fire reflected off of gold. Ander’s mouth dropped open in astonishment

“There must be at least fifty Saree here!”

“Yes, it’s a memento from my adventuring days. Remember when I told you about finding an abandoned city in the southern dunes? Well, we found a great deal of wealth with the discovery. This is actually a small amount of what is left. I used the rest on unimportant things. I want you to take this and use it to find your dreams and live them. You can start by learning who those men were.”

“But… why?” Ander stammered out. He wasn’t sure if he was asking about why Cyrus was giving him the money or why the old man wanted him to leave Payra.

“This town is too small-minded for you. Leave it behind. Find some people who will accept you for who you are. You won’t be happy until you do.”

“But this is too much, I can’t accept all this.”

“Sure you can, lad. I’ve wasted enough money in my lifetime. This is one time the money will be well spent. I have no need for it anyway. The older I get the less money means to me. I have already lived my dreams, it’s time that you start to live yours.”

“What about you? Who will take care of the farm?”

“I will of course!” Cyrus barked out, looking annoyed. “I took care of my property on my own for years. You seem to think I’m completely useless.”

“No, no!” Ander exclaimed, “It’s just… I don’t know. I want to understand why those men came to Payra, and I want to make sure that no one else will come looking for me, but this place is all I know.”

“It’s your choice, lad.” Cyrus said with a shrug. “Whatever you decide, you will always be welcome here on the farm.”

Ander considered for a long time. The thought of leaving Cyrus was painful. No matter what the old man said, life on the farm was not easy and at his age it would be difficult to do all the work that needed to be done. Not to mention it could be dangerous for someone out on their lonesome.

Those thoughts circled around in his mind over and over.

Despite his long consideration, Ander had known what his decision would be from the very beginning. He couldn’t stay near Payra and its people any longer. He felt sick every time he thought about his family. It was time to leave it all behind.

On a more positive note, it was possible that he could find himself on the kind of adventure that Cyrus always talked about in his stories.

Ander stood up, squared his shoulders, and set his resolve. He would escape from Payra and discover why those men were after him.

It was time to prepare for a journey.