Nothing happened after I swallowed the stone; only my headache got worse and worse. A minute passed and another and another, but nothing happened; there was nothing changing in me as I thought it would. As I gave up hope and already saw my short life rushing past me, at that moment a huge pain surged through my body, from my feet to my very last strand of hair. Every part of me was trembling, it felt as if my whole body was being torn apart and destroyed, and at the very moment it was immediately rebuilt. Only a few seconds I could hold on to my consciousness until I passed out from the soul-piercing pain.

„Where was I, what happened?“was the first thing souring up in my mind as I awoke. Looking up I saw the blue sky covered in many white clouds. I sat up in hopes I would then knew where I am, and what I saw was that I was still lonely under the same tree as before. Through the clouds a sun-ray shone directly onto me, making me close my eyes again before adapting fully to the light.

Looking where the sun stood, I judged that I have been lying here for nearly a day, or maybe two, more. Which got me wondering how I was still alive, lying unprotected in the wildness, and then came to my mind that my parents must be really worried and are likely searching for me right now. Which was not good as I would get for sure a huge punishment, and not only that I would need to reveal my secret, resulting in an even bigger punishment. But just letting them search me wouldn’t be good either, as it would destroy my heart thinking my parents may be crying even more the later I came. So I decided immediately I would hurry home as fast as possible.

So I stood up and looked around to see whether there would be another iwàrt around; there was nothing in sight—no insect, no animal, no person. Just me and the dead iwàrt few meters away, which lay there as before to my surprise. Just seeing the corpse made me angry, angry of me being nearly killed by it, angry of me needing to go through all this trouble. Seeing the leftovers in front of me I swore I would eradicate those ugly beasts out of existence.

Walking to the corpse to inspect it, I felt that the wound in my left shoulder had completely healed, leaving only a small scar in its place. It will probably never fully heal, which I don’t mind because it tells the story of how my first monster was slayed.

It felt amazing to move my arm again, and having no headache any more. Furthermore, I felt stronger and lighter than ever, just as light as a bird must feel, when flying through the never ending blue. I guessed that this was all the effects of the strengthening stone. Which meant the pain from swallowing the stone was worth it, and my distrust for it was completely unnecessary—the stone even saved me from certain death. But I hadn’t much time to think more about something like this, as I wanted to be home as soon as possible.

I walked some steps forward to the iwàrts corpse, I lifted the wolf and carried it over to the tree where I had been sitting, the whole process being much quicker than I anticipated because of my now much stronger body.

Then I rapidly gathered some leaves, grass, and moss to cover the iwàrt’s dead body so that it would be hidden and would less likely be stolen or eaten by wild animals. It took me only some minutes to do this. If one asked why I did so, the answer is, that I could so show my parents at least my achievement, and maybe calm my parent’s rage. When coming here my parents could dismantle the wolf, something I couldn’t do even if I tried, and later on sell its parts.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

When I was ready to go, I noticed my clothes were completely soaked with blood and when I smelled them, a reek entered my nose I could have never imagined. But there was not much I could do about, only to run back and wash my clothes in the river. But that would take way too long if my parents search for me, and I don’t want them to worry about me.

So I decided to finally start the journey back home, after putting my backpack on again.

I quickly made my way to the dark forest, across the plains. Before going through the forest the same way as before, in reverse. In the forest I was trying to go rapidly, but not to fast, as getting the attention of dangerous beasts was the last thing I wanted to happen. Finally I came after a long time out from the woods, but instead of resting I picked up my pace and ran the last few meters to the beginning of the stairs. Thereafter I began to descend them until I reached Aldorem. The sun was still barley shining in Aldorem as I arrived, so the streets were crowded and filled with a mass of people, as always.

I ran down the path I so often walked, until I reached home. On the way, I could see flyers everywhere with my face printed on them and underneath written „missed.“So I ran as fast as I could until finally arriving at home. I rang the old bell in anticipation and waited until someone finally opened the door.

In the door stood my father, and behind him my mother. They looked at me as if they’d seen a ghost, while slowly tear after tear rolled down their eyes, and shortly afterwards, they hugged me without saying a word. Then they let me in and asked where I was, what happened, and so on. Before I began telling them everything, I changed my bloody clothes and washed myself.

Afterwards I told them everything, beginning with me sneaking out of the chasm secretly until my fight. My parents gave me something to eat while I told them everything, because I was really hungry.

The first reaction of my parents to the story was them telling me, how disappointed they were in me, due to me lying to them for a long time, and going outside even though it is a harsh environment with many unknown dangers. And then came the worst part they told me, that I just lied to them about killing the iwàrt, this made me angry, and so I told them to go with me there and see for themselves the corpse I had hidden.

Even though they readily agreed and even told me in a provocative tone that they would dismantle it for me if it were true and give me one of the materials I wanted from the wolf, I would still receive a huge punishment, for lying. And if my story proofed to be wrong I would receive additional house arrest. As I knew that I slew the wolf for real, there was nothing for me to fear and I would even gain one free piece of material, so I was quite happy. But the house arrest was regrettable, but still bearable.

After we finished this topic, my parents told me that I had already gone missing for two days and that they were happy that I was still alive. Even though it might seem like they were only angry at me

In the end, before they sent me to sleep – It was already late after the long conversation – they said that if I arrived three days later, then I could have seen my own funeral, and I should never do something similar again.

Thinking about what my parents told me, I decided to train my senses more and to pay more attention to my surroundings in the future so that I wouldn’t ever be ambushed again. But over all I decided that the time has come to train until I am so strong that no one can harm me ever again

Whit these thoughts I went to my sleeping room, threw my backpack in the corner—the carving was still in it because I hadn’t remembered to give it to my dad – and then fell in bed.