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I woke up but saw nothing, my head felt like it was being beaten like a drum. For a moment I thought I had gone blind, I began to panic and tried to flail my arms. As I tried to move my arms were met with resistance, and a crack of light peered in. I was buried, not in dirt, but under a pile of bodies, the bodies of other Nequese. I felt my stomach churn, but I found myself unable to vomit due to already having done so before being knocked out. I moved around trying to escape the pile, after squirming for what seemed like hours, I escaped. Before me I saw the smoldering remains of the village, what was once a place filled with life was now burnt to nothing. The bodies of the raiders and Nequese had been thrown haphazardly into a pile. I dared not look at it any longer, I already witnessed the deaths of my close friends, I needed to leave. But where could I go? Certainly not back home, what if the Pestak followed the retreating raider back to the base or got the information out of them and are performing a culling. No, for now, I needed to find a safe place to rest, far far far away from here.
I started walking towards the stream when a heard a sound, “clank clank clank”. “The mountain!” I thought, I hid under the corpse of a raider. It reeked far worse than the sewer, the stench of death, blood, sweat, rot, and excrement filled my nostrils. I heard the sound grow near “Clank clank clank” and I saw an armoured figure, methodically walking through the wreckage as if looking for someone. He stalked through the streets like a predator on the hunt, despite his bulky he moved with the precision and grace of a wild cat. Suddenly I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. He must have seen it too, as he turned to face my direction, I could just barely see his eyes narrow through the slits in his helmet. I wanted to run, but again, my body refused. He continued forward, raised his blade, and bore down upon something no more than a meter in front of me, blood landed on my face from whatever was just slain. “Cursed pests, that one almost got away. I always tell ‘em, you’ve got to make sure they are dead before you put them in the pile, these kids never learn.”, he then took off his helmet and sat on a log. He produced a pipe, though I was not sure where from, lit it, and held it in his mouth with his left hand. The man had a black beard with bits of grey and white, a tired expression, and several scars along his face. He removed the pipe from his mouth and blew a circle of smoke before releasing a satisfied sigh. He stood up with a groan, walked towards the mass grave where my kinsmen lay. He raised his right hand and a strange glowing circle appeared above the bodies of the Nequese. Immediately, a brownish liquid poured out from the circle, covering my people. “That ought to do it,” he said with a shrug, then he casually tossed his pipe onto the pile. “No… I thought”, I could barely contain my horror, but this was my only chance to escape. I would have to move the second the pipe landed and jump onto a piece of debris in the stream to get away.
I watched in horror as the pipe flew towards the lifeless bodies of my friends and family, and then I ran. I ran and I didn’t look back, but I saw my shadow in front of me as light erupted from where the pile was. The stream was only a few meters away, but it felt like miles as my head pounded and body ached, with every step, I felt something inside of me break, but I had to move, I had to live. I just made it to the stream when the Inferno turned his eyes from his creation to me, “What! How did you get there!” I leaped onto a broken wooden plank that passed by and held on for dear life. The Inferno ran towards me beginning to raise his wicked hand again, but the stream was faster and I, by some cruel twist of fate, lived another day, alive but alone.
I don’t remember much after that. Perhaps I fell asleep from exhaustion, maybe I hit my head again, or perhaps I was so mentally drained that everything was a blur. Regardless, I came to on the shore of the stream and looked around, I was lost. I felt my stomach tremble, between the vomiting and the running for my life I was in desperate need of food and water. I drank from the stream, it tasted of ash and dirt, but it was still water. I now needed to find something to eat, but what? There wasn’t any fruit growing in the woods around me, and I wasn’t going to take my chances with a mushroom, but… People tend to live close to sources of water, and that means food. I followed the stream a bit further, staying on my makeshift raft, I didn’t want to risk running into something or someone in the woods. I had never traveled alone before, but I had heard stories of woods filled with bears, boars, wolves, and all manners of monstrosities. As I thought of this, I started to hear noises coming from the bushes and trees, I would quickly look every time, but it seemed to always just be nothing. The wind, a bird, a squirrel, but I couldn’t stop turning my head at every sound, just in case. Finally, after another couple of agonizing miles down the river, I saw smoke rising from above the trees. “Food,” I thought to myself.
As if enchanted by the black tufts of air rising in the sky, I leaped off my boat in pursuit of the chance to fill my aching stomach. Landing on shore, I felt pain throughout my sore body, but none hurt as bad as my gut. I ran towards the beautiful clouds of soot until I saw a clearing in the woods with a single wooden house at its center. It was so close, I could even smell some kind of bread being baked in the oven. It was so tantalizing that I almost didn’t notice when a human dressed in robes and holding a staff walked from the other side of the building. Instantly I thought back to the mage whose winds flung my friends and I into the air and the once enthralling smoke became the flaming pit of the bodies of my kin. I recoiled in fear, jumping into a nearby bush holding my hands to my head. I rocked back and forth trying to rationalize what I had seen, I wasn’t at the village anymore, neither the Storm nor the Inferno could get me. I spy once more and see the man heading off into the woods away from the house. “This is my chance,” I said to myself, “Even if he isn’t the Storm, he may still be a mage, I must be careful.” I slowly sneak towards the back of the house. It was guarded by an old fence that had a hole just large enough for me to squeeze through. The hole led to a space just behind a shrub, through the leaves I could see a freshly baked loaf of bread on a plate on the windowsill. I looked around and did not see anyone, I kept low to the ground as I approached the window. Again, I frantically checked every cricket’s chirp, every fly’s buzz, and every breeze against the branches, ready to flee at the first sign of danger. At last, I was at the window. Fortunately, there was a rock just the right size for me to stand on to reach the bread. I climbed to the top and reach for the delicious pastry but as I grab the bread another set of small hands touched it too! I quickly raised my head, only to be greeted with the face of a young girl with hair like a bird’s nest.
The girl looked me dead in the eyes, not with anger, not with disgust or fear, but curiosity. I tried to run, but my cursed cowardice prevented me from breathing let alone getting to safety. Then the child spoke “Are you hungry?”, she said. Finally, I moved, but to my confusion, I just nodded, I thought to myself “RUN YOU IDIOT” but my hunger must have taken charge of my actions. The girl picked up the bread and disappeared from the windowsill, a moment later she came out the back door, bread in hand. She slowly walked up to me and broke the bread into two large pieces, “Here you go! Just don’t tell my Aunt and Uncle I took it, we should just say a fairy stole it!”, she said as she handed the larger piece to me. I quickly grabbed it and began to devour it messily, which made the girl laugh. “You must have been really hungry! I’m Katherine, what’s your name?”. Confused, scared, but grateful I replied “Graakmamak” with my mouth full of bread. “Grandma’s cat? That’s a weird name?” she said with a sly grin. I swallowed the food in my mouth and said, “Most people call me Mak for short.” Why was I still here, why was I having a conversation with a human, that man could be back any minute and I would be toast! Why did the girl give me food! What was happening!
“Where is your family?”, I choked on my bread as she asked the question. The Mountain, the Swift One, the Inferno, and the Storm, they all flash in my mind, and tears begin pouring down my face. Before even realized it was happening, I found myself being grabbed. I closed my eyes tight and froze, prepared to be squeezed to death. Strangely, I was not crushed or strangled, the embrace was tight but warm. The girl said nothing but continued holding me, I was confused. I opened my eyes and to my horror, the man who reminded me of the Storm was standing above me, with his right side forward and hand extended, his face expressed anger and fear. “Don’t move Katherine, be perfectly still, I will protect you from it,” he said in a whisper. “No!” Katherine said sharply as she released me from her grasp and turned to face the man. “Don’t touch Mak, if you hurt him, I will hold my breath till I’m blue in the face.” she then took a big breath and air and held it in. “My dear niece, I don’t think you understand,” he said softly as he moved in closer, “This is a violent and sneaky creature.” Katherine released her breath and protested “I know what he is Uncle Aldan! The Nequese are in that book on your shelf! But Mak isn’t violent, he is hungry and scared!” she said sternly. Aldan took a step back and put his hand to his head, “You’re even more stubborn than your mother Kat.” said Aldan with a melancholy tone. The man then turned to me with a grave look “I want to speak the ra- I mean, Mak. I promise I will not hurt him, Katherine please get your Aunt and prepare some food.” Aldan’s words intimidated me, but I was confident that I wasn’t going to be killed by him, for now at least. “Okay, Uncle Aldan! I love you so much!” Katherine said in such a jovial tone I could hardly believe it came from the same girl who had just defended me, so much so that I did a double-take and stepped backward when I heard it.
After Katherine had entered the building Aldan slowly walked towards me, his face was calm but serious. He was no more than a foot from me when he lowered himself to look me in the eye, I shrank from his gaze, but he continued to stare at me oppressively. “What kind of game are you playing at, Nequese? Is this some kind of reconnaissance mission? Shouldn’t you be focusing on a village instead of a small isolated dwelling like this?” with every question he moved closer to my face and I, in turn, move backward, by the third question I felt that I was about to fall off the rock. “Where are the rest of you?” Aldan asked in a harsh tone. At this question, my feelings of fear were overcome with sadness once again. The stiffness in my stance gave way and I fell backward to the ground and I began to sob. Aldan looked at me with confusion “I am not going to hurt you, just give me the ans-” he stopped speaking as he realized that I wasn’t looking at him. My eyes were open, just staring into the distance, most likely at some shrub, but I can’t recall. As I lay there my thoughts went back to a time when Crobb refused to eat his food, but Dralp would ask him “Are you going to starve then? Better hurry and do so, that way I can have your share before it gets cold.” I thought it came across as rude, but it always succeeded in getting him to eat. My thoughts were interrupted by Aldan’s voice, “You are the only one left aren’t you…” I looked up at him, my vision blurred by the water in my eyes. He looked as if he were about to say something when a cheerful voice piped up from inside the house, “Food is ready!” shouted an enthusiastic Katherine. Aldan motioned for me to come in, I wiped my tears off with my arm and dusted off my tunic before walking in through the door.
While not a huge house it was very well furnished. Various paintings lined the walls, some of family, some of animals and monsters, and there were well-crafted chairs placed evenly around a large oak table at the center of the room. I felt a small hand grab my own, “You’ll sit next to me!” commanded Katherine as she pulled me off my feet towards the table. Across the table from Katherine was her Aunt, she didn’t say anything and had a polite smile on her face, but her eyes gave away that she was concerned about the situation. Upon the table was a veritable feast of roasted potatoes, beef, and vegetables, all of which smelled better than anything I had ever experienced. My time delighting in the scents of the food was cut short by Katherine’s voice. “Aunt Clementina, this is my new friend Mak!” she said while pointing her finger at me. As she pointed I flinched for a moment, then the aunt spoke up, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mak, I hope you enjoy the food, we would have bread but it seems that it has gone missing.” Clementina gave Katherine a sly glance as she said this, which was replied with a feigned look of shock on Katherine’s face. “So Mak” Aldan interrupted, “Are you heading anywhere in particular? I could give you a ride there tomorrow.” Aldan set some plates on the table as he spoke. I thought for a moment, I had very little experience with the outside world, there was nowhere for me to go. “I… I don’t know, I don’t even know where this is.” I said sullenly, this put a grave look on the adults’ faces. “You should stay here then!” Katherine said quickly. I was shocked and the expressions of Aldan and Clementina’s faces changed immediately to a mix of surprise and disgust. Katherine must have noticed this as well since before I could say anything she continued speaking, “Mak has nowhere to go! We can’t just let him be alone!” she shouted before pointing a small finger at her uncle. “You told me that we never leave someone who needs help alone!” she said with such conviction that I was stunned, and Aldan winced at his own words being thrown back at him. Clementina gave Aldan a look that can only be described as “A Mom Look” and he let out a sigh. “You are as relentless as a boar-bear, Kat,” Aldan said in defeat. He then turned and looked at me, “If you are going to stay here, then you will have to earn your keep” he placed a large piece of beef onto his plate. “You are going to be Kat’s magic training partner, it will hopefully instill some discipline in you both!” he said while sliced the meat in clean motion. I nervously bit my lip, I had no idea something as simple as dinner could be so intimidating. “Or I could find the nearest Nequese camp and let you go there? It is your choice, regardless of how insistent my niece can be.” Aldan said giving a glance to Katherine who responded with an indignant pout. Magic training with humans or go to another group of my own kind, I’m not even sure what would be safer at this point, I would have to think carefully about this.594Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkk20j9Nqom
