The morning dawned cold and sharp with crispness.
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Matteus rose, ate and dressed before Burrin woke, it was safer to get a start on the work early, Burrin liked it better that way. The blizzard had passed and left several inches of snow in its wake. The treeline sang the hideous song of early crows.
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The tan-hide boots he wore barely seemed to stop the cold but at least today no frigid winds bit into his bone.
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They're all quiet today, not a bleat to be heard. Perhaps today will go better.
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Matteus rounded the corner to be met with a bloody sight. The wood door of the cow pin hung from its hinges in splinters. Red stained the snow all around the door, leaving a bloody trail the headed off toward the treeline.
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The bear.
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Matty inched forward slowly to be met with the sight viscera and meat strewn about and the smell of rot and death.
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By the gods that's foul. How could they reek like this? They can't have gone bad overnight in the cold.
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No life remained in the pen all the livestock lay in chunks and pieces; intestines here, a leg there. The further he went into the pen the sicker he got until his breakfast revisited him.
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Did the beast just want to kill and not eat? These so much...
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Dread cut into his heart and Matty ran out of the pen and around to the back of the house to the large pile of firewood then behind it.
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No, no, no! Please be here! Please may the gods have mercy!
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It was gone, the blanket lay turned over revealing an old sword and a Sazeen shield.
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"-What the fuck!? Matteus, Matteus," Burrin screamed.
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Matty walked back only to find Burrin and a heavy punch to the gut before he could round the corner.
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"You fuckin' said you locked the up! That was all we had you fuckin' idiot I'm going to kill you," Burrin screamed.
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He picked Matteus up and slammed him into the ground, then did the same once more before kicking him in the stomach. His next blow was cut short by his own surprise.
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"Matty where is it? Oh fuck," Burrin said walking toward the blank in the snow. "It was the Saz, they came around here last night and found there man, killed all our animals as payback. Those fucking sand-rats just insured we starve this winter."
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"They came to look for the man you killed Burrin, now we have nothing," Matty said, regretting the words the moment they left his lips.
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"Huh, what did you say?"
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"No, Burrin please, I didn't mean it."
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Burrin took a log off the stack and walked over slowly. Matteus didn't stand or run. He knew it would be worse if he did. He lay in the cold snow trying to ignore the pain of his brother beating him with the log. Before too long Burrin's hands found their way around his throat. It hurt at first but he soon found the pain subsiding as his vision faded. He looked to the woods, the light fading from his vision, only to find it stared back. A tall elk stood just inside the tree line watching the violence unfold. The black of its eyes seemed to overtake his vision until it was just that, black.
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The blizzard spun and rose around him. He stood alone in a field corpses each mangled or torn in some horrific way. The meat of dead men and beast mingled in a tapestry of rot and death. Horse, cattle, sheep, men, women, children, they all lay frozen in cold death on the ground around him. Matteus had never dreamt such horror before nor had he ever been aware of himself in a dream.
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Overah save me! Release me from this hell. Is that where I am? Did Burrin kill this morn?
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The woods that engulfed the field were black and dark, the sky brooded, gray and angry above him. He closed his eyes tight and wished himself free of this place but when he opened them he found he was no longer alone in the field. The tall elk stood a mere twenty feet away from him. The scent of death emanated from it and its eyes had no life.
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Matty couldn't move his body screamed at him but the fear in his mind proved too great.
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The elk rose up on its hind legs and stepped forward. The emaciated body of the beast cast a long shadow that stretched all the way into the treeline. The creature reached its arms forward revealing clawed hands where hooves should have been. It wrapped boney fingers around Matty's neck and leaned in close to his face. It's rotten jaw slacked open to reveal human teeth within the half-rotten head of an elk.
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"Matteus," the creature said, mouth unmoving in a pained croak that barley resembled a voice. "Matteus," it said again now sounding like a choking man. "Matteus," Its voice strained but underneath he could hear his brother. "Matteus," it said with Burrins voice. "Matteus, Matteus, Matteus!" Each time the creature uttered his name its grip tightened and its claws sunk deeper into his neck. The beast raised him by the throat and bit a chunk of meat from his cheek then his chest and all Matty could do was scream and kick. It stared into his eyes, "Matteus," it said in his brother's voice as it slammed him to the ground then lifted him again.
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Matteus didn't remember hitting the ground from the second slam only that it woke him from his sleep.
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Burrin set out early that morning, just before first light in search of food. Matty's mother calmly stitched the long gash Burrin left underneath his left eye. He tried not to move, Burrin had left him with a broken rib and every movement he made shot pain throughout his body.
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"You'd do well to do whatever he asks of you when you get back," she said.
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"I know, mother, I need to keep him calm."
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Her black eye and swollen lip made his eyes water. "You shouldn't have done that, just let him take his anger out on me I can handle it."
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"Matteus you were at death's door when I found the two of you yesterday, he would have killed you if I hadn't stopped him."
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"We don't know what he would have done to you if he hadn't tired himself out on me. Besides, he knows when to stop with me, it's okay."
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"Listen to yourself, look what your brother has made of us."
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"It's okay, he hunts our food and protects us mother, without him where would we be?"
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"What kind of brother beats his own to near death, what kind of son strikes his mother when she tries to stop him?"
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"I-"
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"He wasn't always like this," Linneah said gazing off in memory. "He was a happy boy once, In Torr, a good boy. He used to play his lute in the streets and sing for the women, such a little charmer he was. They loved him...I loved him. Your father taught him to be this way, to beat the ones that love you. Soon enough he'll leave us too Matteus. Perhaps that wouldn't be such a bad thing."
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Tears streamed down his mother's face and he could feel them nearing in his eyes as well.
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"Maybe we could change him back. What if we went back to Torr?"
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"No Matteus the roads are plagued with bandits and now surely the Sazeen will want their revenge on us for what your brother did."
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"Maybe if we explain to them-"
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"Mettus no! He killed that man in cold blood, the Sazeen would crucify us before we could even begin to explain ourselves."
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The door swung open with force and Burrin stepped in. "It's good to know what you two truly think of me, the only one who has kept you safe. I understand why father left, the two of you are miserable and ungrateful. Matty, you have a hole to finish digging do you not?"
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"Burrin please my rib-"
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"Go. Dig."
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"Burrin the body is gone," Linneah said.
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"I am not asking a question. Go Matteus, you can come back when it's done."
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The sun had begun to set and Matteus had made little progress. Hours spent shoveling snow and frozen dirt left a great rumble in his stomach and a deep ache in his arms. His mind was filled with the thoughts of his nightmare and he could not stop himself checking the treeline.
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As the last light began to retreat beyond the trees a glimmer caught his eye. Matteus froze with fear, waiting for the beast from his dream to emerge from the treeline. He was only half relieved to see soldiers emerging from the woods. Their approach was slow but all four kept their eyes trained on him all the way down the dirt road that lead to his home. The men drew close enough for Matty to see their cold breath as it left their lips. He recognized the sigil he'd hoped he would never see again, the Sazeen Sultanate.
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"Are you the 'man' of the house, boy?" The soldier holding the torch demanded.
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"N- No sir," Matteus said looking down at his feet.
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They don't sound like Saz men. I've never seen Sazeen men as pale as they.
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"Go get him then."
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"Yes, right away," Matteus said, turning back to the house.
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He entered to find Burrin, bow in hand and sword on his hip, ready for a fight. Their mother sat stifling sobs as she prepared for the worst. Matteus begged Burrin with his eyes but his brother looked past and made for the door.
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Burrin's voice seemed to crack with every word he said but he puffed his chest regardless. "Why've you come to my lands, we pay your protection regularly and on time, we've nothing more to offer!"
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Low chuckles crept out from the soldiers as the man with the torch took a step forward, a slick smirk ran across his face.
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"That's close e-enough!"
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"Relax little hunter, were only looking for a lost friend is all. We've been out here for some time, we could use a meal and a warm place to sleep. I'll see that you and yours are repaid.." The leader's voice lingered on the last word and his soldiers chuckled again.
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"You'll find none of that here so be on your way Saz!"
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The man squinted in confusion for the slightest moment before replying."Right, I suppose we best get back then," he said looking Burrin over. "That's a nice sword you've got there lad. Are you sure you haven't seen our man?"
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Burrin's hands trembled as he gripped his bow. "We've seen nothin' round these parts, now if you'd be on your way."
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"I don't think you and I have seen the last of each other farmer's boy. For now, however, farewell."
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The leader gave a small hand gesture and he and his men turned and left, whispering among themselves. Burrin watched as they disappeared into the treeline.
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"That's so strange, I've never known a Sazeen man to speak Thacian that well," Lineah said.
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"I've never seen any Saz men be so pale," Matteus added.
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Burrin grumbled and tossed his bow aside. "A Saz is Saz, and we know what they're here for. If you had hid that body better Matteus we wouldn't be this mess."
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"I know, I'm sorry Burrin," Matteus pleaded.
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"You'll keep watch tonight Matty, wake me if you hear anything."
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At first, every gust of wind and creak of wood in the dark sent Matty's heart into a frenzy. As the night dragged and the noises of the night no longer bothered him. He stared at the low fire, fighting each blink as they got heavier until he no longer had the strength.
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