“Rest well, Brother.”

Raoul lay Alwig’s body down gently and wiped the single drop of tear off his face. He stared at the wolf’s smiling expression briefly before getting up and looking around.

Villagers and soldiers stood still, mouths agape. No one dared move.

“Please leave us alone,” Raoul said first, his voice calm, his eyes cold. He could feel the energy Alwig had left him with, and he felt that his body was integrating the new source of power swiftly, acquainting themselves with one another in an instant. The boy felt in control. “I will not hold a grudge nor take revenge if you leave now.”

All was silent.

And the first one to break that silence was the scarred soldier.

“Don’t you kid me!” he shouted, pointing his sword at the boy. “Do you not realize the situation you are in? Do you even think you have any say in what will happen?”

“Exactly! Who do you think you are?” another chimed in.

“This brat is still arrogant, I see!”

“The devil must perish!” A villager pointed his pike.

“Your evil arts can’t save you!”

“The boy is already long gone! What is inside is the devil!”

One by one, the men yelled and condemned the boy, throwing accusations and blaming him for misfortunes that had happened in the village for the past decade and more. Drought, famine, beast attacks. The villagers recalled each event that had happened since the boy was born and put him at the center of it all.

“The devil must have sent your parents! Those traitorous bastards!”

Raoul snapped his head toward the villager, energy inside him growing turbulent. Frost spread under his feet and snaked through the dirt, freezing the villager from his knees down. “Do not talk ill of my family,” the boy warned.

The villager looked down at his legs, his expression turning blank for a second before he screamed. “It burns! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!”

The men around kept a distance immediately, not daring to go near the icy ground. The scarred soldier was on the other side of the circle when he yelled, “Get the brat!” and charged forward, his peers following behind.

Raoul whirled and channeled more energy into his feet, and this time, the ground split apart, the men falling into the fissure and struggling to get back up. The scarred soldier managed to hold onto the ground, his body dangling in the fissure.

The boy walked forward.

“M-monster,” the soldier said, sweat streaming down his face.

“If that is what I have to be,” Raoul said, tapping his foot once, making the part of the ground the soldier was holding onto break apart, “then so be it.”

The scarred soldier screamed as he fell into the deepest part of the pit. The boy waited for other soldiers to get out before he closed the ground under his feet, burying the scarred soldier alive. He looked back.

“This will be your last chance,” Raoul said, his energy turning into a whirlwind. “Get lost.”

The villagers were the first to flee as they threw their makeshift weapons away, screaming as they disappeared into the forest. The soldiers were next, though they managed to hold onto their weapons as they scattered in every direction. Even the man with frozen legs was carried away after others broke off the part of ice connected to the ground.

Only Sir Valent was left.

They locked eyes for a moment before the highborn glanced toward the boy’s parents’ lifeless bodies. He strode forward, and Raoul didn’t stop him.

If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Valent reached the corpses and knelt, putting a hand to his heart. “You were good people,” he said with a steady voice. “People who take care of others before themselves, and for that, you have earned my respect. You have also raised an incredible son you can be proud of.” He paused for a second. “I will definitely ask for your forgiveness when I meet you.”

With that, Valent stood and turned to Raoul while getting into a stance with his sword, the blade still dripping blood.

“Child, no, Raoul,” he said, his eyes turning emotionless. “I do not wish for this outcome as well, but since I have seen your actions, I shall carry out the oath I gave to my brothers in arms.” He closed his eyes and breathed in, and when he opened them again, there was a newfound resolution in those eyes. “For my brothers, I shall put you down.”

Valent lunged forward with inhuman speed, though Raoul calmly gathered his energy and created a shield of ice in thin air, blocking the sword with a reverberating clang.

Raoul glanced at Alwig’s body for a long moment before he looked back at the soldier. “I understand,” he said, a puff of cold air leaving his mouth. “I, too, will fight for my brother.” An ice sword materialized in his hand, and he willed the shield away while slashing at the soldier.

Their swords clashed, and a flurry of swings followed, neither side holding back. It was Raoul’s first time handling a sword, though somehow, there was knowledge of the blade engraved into his very soul, and his body adapted as if it was second nature.

Raoul quickened his attacks, and the soldier was slowly pushed back bit by bit, though, for some reason, there was a smile on the man’s face. Each swing sent a gust into the surroundings, each clang creating a sharp sound that pierced into their ears.

And finally, Raoul saw an opening, and he sent the soldier’s sword away with one decisive slash, the blade spinning in the air before lodging into the dirt. Valent was looking at the boy with respect and resignation, and even without having to say anything, Raoul knew what the soldier wanted and what he had to do.

Raoul drove the ice sword into Valent’s chest, blood instantly seeping out of the wound and trailing down the clear ice. The soldier fell to his knees before looking up with a smile.

“Thank you,” he said, blood dripping down his mouth. “I simply hope that… you will let those foolish brothers of mine go…”

“I meant what I said,” Raoul replied, sighing. “I wouldn’t take revenge on them even if you hadn’t done this.”

Valent laughed. “I know,” he said, closing his eyes. “I simply hope that… I could atone for their sins, even if it is a little… There is no excuse for what they did, yet… they are still my family…” The man coughed blood and groaned. “And well… I am the one responsible for your friend’s… your brother’s death… so wouldn’t you say that… this is killing two birds with one stone?”

“No, I wouldn’t,” Raoul said, eyes unwavering. “I would say that you did something useless.”

Valent laughed another time, though blood wouldn’t stop leaving his mouth as a result. “You are someone with… great power now, Raoul…” he said, light leaving his eyes. “Please… remember your… heroic heart…”

Finally, the soldier fell to the ground as the ice sword melted away.

“I will,” Raoul whispered, nodding toward Valent’s body. The boy then looked at his parents and Alwig.

He brought their bodies together and knelt next to them. He gently put his head down to the ground and paid his respect. “Thank you for everything,” he said.

Raoul tapped into the vast energy running in his body. A small part of him considered bringing one of them back to life with the lifeforce. Though, other parts of him, the calm and logical parts, knew that such action would bring nothing but self-justification, an act that satisfied only himself and left others with grief.

He knew he had to live on while holding them in his heart, even if he had no family left.

Raoul shook his head.

No, he still had someone left, someone who cared for him like a family would one another.

“Child?” Agnes appeared just outside the glade. She limped toward Raoul and noticed the corpses in front of him. Her expression turned into one of pure sadness at the sight, and she came over to her son and held his cold body. “My child… I’m sorry I couldn’t be here…” She nudged him with her snout, tears dripping down her face. “I love you, my child. Since I first laid eyes on you and forevermore.”

Raoul watched in silence as the mother wolf continued holding her son’s body.

She remained there for a long time. The sun eventually rose and enveloped everything in a warm orange hue, shedding light onto the bodies in front of the boy, and only then did he notice that all three of them were smiling.

Raoul gritted his teeth while feeling tears well up in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “Al… He used his own life… for me…”

“Don’t be sorry, child,” Agnes said, looking at the boy with eyes full of nothing but kindness. “It was his choice, and I am proud of him for that.”

“But—“

The mother wolf got up and walked over to Raoul’s parents. She looked at the boy once more before glancing back at the couple and smiling. “You two have raised such a wonderful child…” she said before she bowed in her way. “I will be sure to take care of him from now on. You needn’t worry.”

“Agnes?”

The wolf smiled. “You may also call me ‘Mother’ as well, but I will not force you.”

Raoul gritted his teeth as he tried his best to hold in his tears, though he could no longer stop it. He ran into the mother wolf’s embrace and cried his eyes out.

“It’s alright, child.” Agnes comforted him with her paws. “It’s alright now, Raoul, my child.”