《Twin Swords》


 PROLOGUE-1

    Eigenheim kingdom


    In the southernmost kingdom of eigenheim,on the far side of the valena mountain range, there was a place called the dark rosewood forest. Now this particular piece of land despite its name and the fact that it was a forest far from reaches of the pesky humans, the grouchy dwarves, the arrogant elves and the stupid ogres and thus being entirely invulnerable to the corruption, pollution and defilement that is often associated with them, could not have its name spoken in the same breath with words such as beautiful, wonderful and amazing.


    It was not because it was none of these things. in fact it really was beautiful the way the various kinds of exotic and unique trees and plants grew everywhere, how wonderfully the different shades and hues of green and yellow and purple and black came together under the dark canopy of the trees that just could not be compared to the obnoxious and depressing everyday scenes of the cities and towns of the kingdoms. Whilethe scenes of small animals playing around in the grass and among the trees while occasionally coming down to drink water from the sparkling springs on the forest floor were simply amazing.


    The real reason why these words were not used to describe the place was simply because the few adventurers who were brave enough to come to this place were never heard from again.


    And people, after all being what they are ended up making pretty wild speculations. Some said that a great mountain troll king lived somewhere within the forest, some had the view that there were man eating ancient trees in the depths of the forest while still some others wagered that maybe the forest marked the end of the world and you would just end up falling off xandor if you went close enough to the edge. There was even a little boy who thought that maybe all those heroes and adventurers who went in the forest made a secret base after having seen how beautifully wonderfully amazing kind of place it was and finally realised that it was exactly the kind of place that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives in , away and detached from the hustle and bustle of the cities.


    The ironically unfortunate and somewhat amusing thing about all this was that it was only the small boy, after having told his thoughts to numerous adults and being harshly told off and scolded for a theory sounding as ridiculously unheroic and uninteresting as it did, who had got it right.


    ______________________________________________________________________


    The eastern end of the rosewood forest was marked by the great tenesa lake. The lake was one of the seven great lakes of the world, surrounded on all sides by some of the highest mountains of the valena.


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    The size of the lake was majestic and awe-inspiring and the land of the rosewood forest made up only a small part of its shoreline. it was home to a vast multitude of creatures, ranging from simple fishes to massive terrifying existences whose names themselves could not be lightly spoken.


    It was a place where a large number of springs, small rivers and waterfalls congregated, depositing the crystal clear water in the lake that they had collected from all those snow-capped mountains lining the boundary of the lake.


    It was just near one of those unassuming but tall waterfalls, just south of the forest that a most curious scene could be seen on a day just like any other.


    There was a cat


    Yes, that''s right. A large cat of the size of a small tiger with distinct bright green fur, thin red stripes running down the length of its body and intelligent daunting eyes that had a pinkish hue around the red slit-like irises. But it was not the highly peculiar and somewhat frightening appearance of the cat that struck as odd at first glance.


    What was odd was that the cat surprisingly enough was trying to climb the steep side of the cliff, off which the water was falling. A simple mistake, a slight slip of the legs would have been enough to plunge the cat straight down for hundreds of meters. It was the kind of climb that would have even made the earth lizardmen living in the great ravines of the saphera kingdom  despair.


    The cat was drenched due to the falling water and beads of water were stuck on its coat shining brilliantly like pearls. It climbed halfway up the slope, still unfazed after that difficult ascent and finally stopped on a ridge.


    It faced away from the rocky somewhat wet surface of the cliff and looked down. The time was around that of dusk, the sun had almost reached the horizon on the other side of the mountains and the cliff side was crawling with shadows, growing longer by the minute. The low light played tricks on the eyes showing large silhouettes looming from time to time on the surface of the lake. The falling water on the rocks sounded pleasant to the ears, clearing and calming the mind.


    The cat stood there for a while almost as if to take in the view. Then it shook its head a little and suddenly sprang into the waterfall against the full force of the water. The impact of thousands of litres of water falling from the top of the cliff would have been enough to plunge the cat straight down. But nothing like that happened.


    The cat had disappeared.


    ______________________________________________________________________

 PROLOGUE-2

    As it turned out, the matter of the the sudden disappearance of the cat wasn¡¯t exactly the kind of extravagantly mysterious and exciting affair that most would have expected it to be.The reason the cat had vanished in such an unexpected fashion after leaping into the torrent of water was because right behind that curtain of water that was the waterfall, there was a narrow entrance to what looked like a cave.


    Having had to put up with the heavy battering of the water for who knows how many years, the entrance of the cave was smooth, wet and slippery. But even though the floor was slithery, the cat landed effortlessly on its legs without losing its balance for a moment, shook the water off its coat, trying to get some heat back into the body and took some time to examine its surroundings.The angle at which the mouth of the cave was set in the side of the cliff behind the waterfall made it difficult for the light to get inside. And adding that to the fact that the sun had almost set, meant that there was absolute darkness inside the cave. But this didn¡¯t affect the eyesight of the cat in the least.The surroundings were damp and the moisture lay heavy in the air. The waterfall was only part of the reason for this, there were also many holes and cavities on the porous rocky surface of the walls out of which water trickled out in small amounts, making small streams of water. The floor of the cave wasn¡¯t leveled out but sloped gently downwards, because of which the water in streams ran deeper into the depths instead of flowing out of the cave.


    As one might expect from such a place, except for the constant soft pitter-patter of water drops and the occasional squeaks and fluttering of the bats hanging from the ceiling, there was total silence inside the cave, almost hinting at the possibility of something ominous hiding within the cave. It was the kind of silence that would make you subconsciously lower the sound of your breathing from fear of disturbing something.


    Maybe those were the kind of things going around in the head of the cat, because by the time that it finished its initial inspection of the cave, its hair were standing on ends and while holding up a defensive stance, a low growl escaped its mouth. It stood like that for some time and only after making sure that nothing was going to pounce from the shadows, it relaxed somewhat and started walking deeper into the cave while still keeping an eye on its surroundings.


    ___________________________________________________________________________


    Even after walking for two hours, the cat had yet to reach its destination. The cave continued its descent in an almost straight line deeper into the mountain.But it was not impatient, It continued to walk at a measured pace without any signs of fatigue. And even though it looked like that the cat could have gone a lot faster if it wanted, it chose not to do so. The cat had traveled a long distance to get there after completing a mission which had taken an even longer amount of time and now that it was the last peg of the journey, it wanted some time to think about the extraordinary events that will be set in motion because of that simple trip.Those were not the only things going around in its head because despite the slow pace, it had not let its guard down for a moment and had clearlyrecognizedthe subtle changes in the surroundings after walking for so long.


    The cave was becoming bigger and the echoes from the smallest of sounds sounded as menacing as funeral bells. The quiet was disheartening and could get on the nerves of the bravest of adventurers. But it was hardly a problem for the cat. Its vigilance came from a tremendous amount of experience and not from the fear of death which was the last thing it was worried about.The water in the small streams from the entrance of the cave had grown up to the point that the entire cave floor was submerged up to the ankles of the cat. But the ice cold water was refreshing and pleasant to the touch and so it didn¡¯t mind.


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    Only after going on for about another one hour or so did it see the end of the tunnel. The exit didn¡¯t stand out from the rest but the cat knew it was it. The exit was in form of a rough arch which in contrast to everything else until then, looked man made. Mysterious glyphs and symbols marked the sides and top of the arch. The cat eyed those symbols with distaste and moved on.


    The cat found itself in a huge cavern as soon as it walked out of the cave. Huge stalactites were hanging from the high ceiling but there weren¡¯t as many stalagmites because the entire left and majority of the right side of the underground chamber was submerged creating an average-sized pond. All the water flowing out of the cave had collected over the years to form that lake.The cavern wasn¡¯t dark. But because of strange glowing rocks embedded in the walls at regular distances, the light was just enough for even a human to see who were generallyrecognizedas the race with the worst eyesight. The glowing rocks were the most concentrated at a point onthe far right and that was the only spot which stood out from any other.


    The extraordinary thing about the spot was that there was a wooden shack. The shack wasn¡¯t too shabby and could have done a lot worse as far as wooden shacks go. There was a small garden with healthy green plants and a short hedge all around it. Statues of gnomes and fairies were littered everywhere.The presence of the beautiful garden in addition to being bathed in the light from those strange rocks made the shack look as if it didn¡¯t belong in a place as desolate and gloomy as that. As if someone had teleported it straight out of a picture book.


    After heaving a small sigh, the cat started walking toward the hut. It noticed some additional things too. The cavern wasn¡¯t devoid of life. There were all kinds of fungi growing everywhere. Especially a variety of mushrooms. Hinting at the fact that there were sufficient nutrients in the gravelly soil and the water to sustain life. And as such there must have been fishes in the lake too.


    The cat reached the boundary of the house and without minding it, jumped over the picket fence. All of a sudden its keen senses were assaulted from all sides and it couldn''t help but get disoriented from the sudden transformation. The plot of land had not only looked out of place, but the atmosphere itself gave the feeling that it was spring. As if the place was locked away in a dimension of its own.


    The cat started walking again. Not stopping to look at the flower beds and other plants, it stopped in front of the rickety worn-out door.The door was ajar. It used its left paw to push it open and strolled inside as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The inside, in direct contrast to the well maintained garden out front looked very old and neglected. Rotten floorboards, peeling paint and the inch thick dust on everything were just few of the reasons for that.


    The room that it had entered was the bedroom or at least the closest thing to it. The bed was a poor old thing that was at the end of its life. There were almost no decorations. But the few odd things that were lying around had strange but powerful auras around them. Not many people could have guessed at their value as most looked normal but the cat knew, each of these objects had enough power to send the outside world in uproar.


    It proceeded to the study room after finding the bedroom empty. And it was finally behind the large desk beside the tainted and cracked window that the cat find what it had been looking for all along.


    In a chair that had been greatly worn out from rough usage, a man was sitting with a pipe in one hand and a book in the other.


    ___________________________________________________________________________

 PROLOGUE-3

    The man looked every bit as mysterious as his surroundings. His shoulder-length brown hair with strands of white mixed within hung free from the loose ponytail, covering the side of the face turned towards the cat.


    He wore a dark blue shirt with intricate silver embroidery on the cuffs and collar and tailored black trousers that looked every bit as expensive as the shirt. An insignia of a snarling silver wolf¡¯s head on a golden shield adorned his left shirt pocket. Refined clothes such as those weren¡¯t common even among the aristocracies of the middle kingdoms and although the clothes looked as if they had seen better days, they were neat and ironed having no smudges or stains.His appearance was indicative of a man who took personal hygiene and looks seriously no matter where he lived.


    He held the book in his left hand, an old archaic tome supporting it against his lap.He was reading it under the scant light coming from the window, as there were no lanterns or glowing rocks anywhere within the house. His posture was perfect and so was his composure that did not change even when the cat walked in.


    Cats are prideful creatures, and that particular one was even more so. But it did not mind being ignored. There were not many existences in the world that would have made the cat to back down. Yet that man was exactly one of them. Even though it had been decades since it had last seen him, the memory was still fresh of the man who shook the continent. The man who made kings cower behind their thrones. The man whose adventures became stories which went on to become legends. The man who was more than just a man.


    But it was all in the past. The man sitting in front of it was nothing more than a shadow of the man he had been, having lost the one who made him what he was.


    The cat didn¡¯t want to disturb him. There was no doubt that he had known about it even before it had entered the cave. And if he chose to remain silent, it was better not to say anything.


    The cat stretched its body, found a good spot near the door and laid down with its head lying on its front legs. Feeling bored it started to inspect the room.


    The room in comparison to the rest of the house looked a lot cleaner, although it was just as disorganised with random objects, weird plants and a variety of books and parchments lying all over the place. Even Odd weapons with inlaid precious stones and gems, jewels the size of small rocks and lavish tapestries weren¡¯t given any importance. In one of the corners of the room, there was a big bronze-coloured rectangular chest that had a slight tinge of red on its surface. The red sheen of the chest was not a trick of light. But a clear indication that the metal used to make it was an alloy of orichalcum, one of the strongest metals in the world. The chest was worth its weight in diamonds, being made up of a material rarer than any other.


    A thick glass case was placed on top of the chest. Inside the case was a mask that was propped on a stand. At first glance, the mask appeared to be anything but extraordinary. Its colour was brown,  had two slits for eyes and a small indistinguishable symbol engraved just above the right slit. The size was small and only a kid could have worn it.. With wood as the material, shoddy craftsmanship that was apparent from even a distance and no decorations, it was surprising that the mask had been given importance enough to be placed in a glass case while all the other valuable things were haphazardly lying around.


    But the cat did not find that peculiar as it knew what it was capable of, having witnessed its might firsthand and even though the mask had remained dormant for some time, its powers would not have diminished. The cat did not dare to stare too long and moved on.


    Its eyes rested on the desk that separated the man and itself. The desk looked normal enough and seemed to be the most ordinary thing in the room. But that did not mean that it wasn¡¯t worth much. In fact the black ironwood used to make the desk was a high grade wood that was only found in the evergreen forests of the far east. The desk was huge and took up nearly a quarter of the room. It was covered with books, scrolls and parchments. Only a small space near the edge closest to the man was clear where a quill and a blank piece of parchment had been placed and on the right was a stack of them arranged neatly. The man was clearly in the process of writing something but it could not see what it was.


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    The cat ended its analysis, and it again looked at the man sitting in the chair. He read in silence. With the pipe in the right and book in the left hand, he had not moved a single inch in all that time except for smoking the pipe at regular intervals. Even the pages of the book turned of their own accord while he sat there looking like a statue.


    It had gotten tired of waiting, but there was no point in rushing the man. So it just sat there looking bored while stifling its yawns. Two hours passed like that with only the sounds of turning pages resounding in the quiet room. Only when it seemed that he had run out of tobacco to smoke did the man close his book, angled his chair towards the cat and acknowledged its presence..


    The cat felt a chill run down its spine as soon as their eyes met. The man had become paler and lost the healthy glow of his copper-coloured skin. Fine wrinkles and lines marked the skin but their number were not even close to account for his age. His disposition was serious even back then but now there was a hint of coldness in his countenance that had not been there before . The light that fell on his face from behind made the differences even more prominent. But the thing that made him stand out the most were his piercing blue eyes. They were the eyes of someone who had been to hell and back, seen the world beyond its lies and despised it for what it had done to him.


    The face was of a man it once knew, but the man himself was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Wh¡­.why have you c¡­c¡­come?¡±, he asked in a deep broken voice. Maybe all those years of isolation had taken a toll on his voice as he had difficulty forming words.


    The cat¡¯s upper right lip curled up, showing its canines as if amused.


    ¡°Dear ol Randell, Is that how you greet an old friend,?¡±, echoed a calm amiable voice from somewhere within the room. Surprisingly enough, the voice did not have a point of origin but tended to reverberate from all over the room. Now, most would have found this unsettling, weird and entirely impossible to believe, but without a doubt it could only have come from the cat. Meanwhile, the cat''s snicker with the accompanying sarcastic stare only served to strengthen the notion.


    Contrary to its expectation, the man named Randell did not reply or react but sat there glaring coldly at the cat. It took a small sigh, disappointed at having failed to garner an interesting response and again in its resounding voice, said ¡°I have found one¡±.


    ¡°So s¡­.soon?¡±, asked Randell with a hint of surprise.


    ¡°You are familiar with my methods. I am inclined to think that even you could not have done a better job. Do you remember the ti¡­.¡±.


    ¡°Wh¡­.which one is it?¡±, he croaked, cutting the cat in between.


    ¡°Hehehe¡­¡­...The most promising of them all¡±, it answered still unperturbed.


    Randell was genuinely surprised now. His eyes softened for the first time in a long while and after thinking for some time, he said,¡°D¡­D...does he know wh...who he is?¡±


    ¡°The boy will be of age in a few months, it¡¯s only a matter of time before he awakens. But it might not even take that long, the boy is unusually brig¡­¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°I d¡­.did not say wh¡­.what, does he know WHO he is?¡±.


    The meaning of the question dawned on the cat. "He has no idea¡±, it chortled.


    Randell again went silent but curiosity got the better of the cat. ¡°So, what do we do now¡±, it blurted out.


    ¡°Now, we pr...prepare. Because of y¡­..your discovery, events have been set in m¡­.motion that cannot be stopped. If you could find him, then it means th¡­.that others must be close too.


    You go and k...keep an eye on him but remember d¡­.don¡¯t expose yourself¡±.


    ¡°What about you?¡±, the cat asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to take care of some things¡±.


    ¡°Okay, but before you get back to your dark place and start ignoring me, would you please be kind enough to provide me with the key to the enchantment that you have placed at this place. It¡¯s not that i did not enjoy walking all the way here, i just think that it would be a tad faster for me to use my powers to get back¡±, the cat said in its annoyingly cheerful voice.


    The cat was getting on Randell¡¯s nerves now. He opened a drawer at the side of the desk and fished out an old copper coin with a big dent on one side and tossed it to the cat.


    ¡°Oh and before i go i should probably tell you that she''s still fine, not that anything could have happened to her¡±.


    An intense emotion flickered in the man¡¯s eyes as soon as he heard that. Trying to compose himself, he said through gritted teeth, ¡°I d...did not ask about her¡±.


    The cat gave him a genuine smile for the first time and replied, ¡°You didn¡¯t have to¡±.


    As soon as it said that,  it placed its right paw on the coin. There was a brief moment when the entire room turned pitch-black from the shadows streaming out from the cat¡¯s forehead. And then it was gone.


    Randell sat heavily in the chair for some time, staring at the spot where the cat had disappeared. The cat had always been annoying, but this time it brought back memories that he had strived hard to forget.


    Finally giving in, he opened the lowermost drawer of the desk. A plethora of objects were cluttered inside but ignoring all of them, he started feeling around the base. A small switch was concealed there and as soon as he flipped it, a smaller cleverly hidden drawer slid out just below the first one .He took out a small ornate jade box from within and opened it. There was drop-shaped pendant inside made of common glass and less than decent craftsmanship. Despite looking like that the pendant was important to him, even if it gave him pain to just look at it.


    The pendant was a reminder of the promise he had made to the one he loved the most. A promise he could never fulfill.


    _____________________________________________________________

 SOUNDS IN THE WOODS I

    In the mighty Kilshire empire of the Kale dynasty, near the western border, there was a town named Buren.


    The town was old. No one knew exactly how old, but according to the general local consensus which had more to do with people¡¯s superstition and the politics of the old gluttonous chancellor to have it declared as a heritage site than anything else, Buren had existed forever. And maybe there was some truth to the claim because all around the town there were traces and remains of antiquated buildings and towers, the likes of which had not been seen anywhere else. Even the people were like that, most following some long forgotten code of old.


    Being situated at a geographically disadvantageous place in terms of accessibility to other countries and located far away from the major inner cities of the empire, the livelihoods of the people were largely self sustained. But the townsfolk did not mind. The people of Buren were honest hard working individuals who loved their homeland and many believed that the land loved them too. This was not at all an exaggeration because curiously enough the inhabitants never have had to deal with droughts,cyclones or floods. Harvest was always bountiful while wild animals and monsters did not bothered them. The people worshipped nature and for once it seemed that the god cared too.


    With rolling plains and farms as far as the eye could see on one side and the ancient Va Eldein forest of legends on the other, Buren seemed almost isolated from the rest of the world. While traders and merchants did frequent the town with the occasional adventures and mercenaries tagging along, hardly anyone else bothered to visit it. Its remoteness might have had something to do with this, but it was not enough to explain why the few people who did visit Buren always left in a great hurry. Even if asked by some of their local friends to extend their stay, they would always come up with excuses, often far fetched ones, to get out as fast as they could.


    The situation was almost uncanny and although many academics and intellectuals including some well known warlocks and witches had tried to find out the reason in the past, it had done little good as they too always ended up running away.


    The circumstances had left the natives perplexed for a long time as they themselves were largely unaffected by the phenomena. But though it was something beyond their understanding, they decided to at least try to find a solution. And so they asked and enquired, forced and pestered the outsiders for answers until finally some people caved although not without a whole lot of reluctance and a fair bit of grumbling.


    It was hinted, sometimes suggested, but mostly hinted in carefully hushed tones after a lot of looking around between mouthfuls of beers in the darkest corners of the taverns that there was something ¡®very wrong about this town¡¯.


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    ¡®What is it,¡¯ people would ask quietly.


    ¡®It...it¡¯s something¡­¡­I...I mean¡­.you can¡¯t put a finger on it but it¡¯s just the way that¡­¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡¯


    ¡®Yes¡­¡­¡­what is it.¡¯


    ¡®Th...there¡¯s nothing about the place, it¡¯s the atmosphere. I...I mean the people are not the problem. In fact they are some the nicest that i have ever known.


    But the trees¡­¡­.yes, the trees are uninviting, the rocks under the feet are somehow harder and the air¡­. it¡¯s stifling. As if someone or something is watching me, measuring my every step.


    I am but a humble adventurer of some renown. Even so I have visited many distant and strange lands, gone through a myriad of adventures and seen things that I would dare not speak of. But this place is not like any of the others. It feels as if it¡¯s alive. It does not threaten me. No...no that would mean that it¡¯s somewhat wary of me. The feeling is more like how a peasant would feel in the presence of a king. I have never felt so vulnerable before. I would rather prefer to be interrogated at a bandit¡¯s sword point than to have this feeling of helplessness gnawing at the back of my mind.


    This is not right I tell you. Some kind of dark magic protects this place. Something old and powerful.¡¯


    It was usually around this time that the storytellers who were speaking in a sort of reverie until then, would suddenly wake up from their trance, look around frantically in panic and after gulping down their drinks, dash out of the building as fast as their legs would carry, leaving behind stunned audiences frozen in suffocating silences.


    ___________________________________________________________________________

 SOUNDS IN THE WOODS II

    The forests and woodlands of middle earth especially the ones around the cities were quite normal. Silent, sentient and unnaturally eerie, exactly how forests are supposed to be.


    Even so, these forests were places of respite for the commoners.


    And all those who think that places as uncomfortable and dangerous as these could hardly have the relaxing atmosphere to warrant the use of the term ¡®respite¡¯, would be wrong. Because the sort of commoners that the forests attracted were not the kind that you would like to bump on a chilly winter night all alone at the back of a deserted alley. From outlaws to thieves and bandits to cutthroats, the woods were home to every possible kind of degenerate abhorrent bottom of the gutter scum that the society had the indecency to whip out.


    This was the extent of their infamy; where proper adjectives had to be looked up in a dictionary just to do them justice.


    With bandit infested regions randomly intermingled with monster territories and islands of strange eldritch sorceries thrown in the mix as well, it did not come as much of a surprise that a large part of these forests had remained unexplored for centuries. And although the secrets they held were numerous, the number of people willing to unravel them were not.


    The Va Eldein was one such forest. It was neither the most magical nor the most mysterious but still had a way of getting on the nerves of those unfamiliar to it, not quite unlike the way Buren did. The same magic operated here as well, albeit in a diluted form. The light was sparse beneath the dense foliage, having been sieved through a condensed mesh of branches and leaves. The trees were greener and their roots ran deep. While the dense canopy stretched into the distance. And even though the air was a bit breezy all year round, the leaves did not rustle in the gentle wind like they did everywhere else, they whispered.


    The small animals frolicked in the lush overgrowth while the larger ones lazed beside small waterholes, bathing in the meager sunlight all day long. Even the monsters¡¯ intelligence was on the higher side and as such were quite peaceful, who killed only when hungry while making a point to always stay away from Buren. However, despite all this, the entire place had a feeling of morbidness around it. As if every tree, the rocks beside them and even the parasitic lichen clinging to those rocks, were holding their breath. Waiting in anticipation for something. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    For what, no one knew. But they knew one thing. They would not want to be there to see it happen.


    _________________________________________________________________________


    Just beyond the edge of the town and near the close knitted group of young trees that marked the beginning of the forest, one could see a clearing. The clearing wasn¡¯t special. Well, to say that it was ordinary wouldn''t be quite right either because its extraordinariness lay in the fact that it is the place where our story begins.


    Hmmm¡­¡­¡­.. So I guess it could be said that the clearing was as ordinary as it could be, without being entirely irrelevant to the story. And it¡¯d be better to say from the get-go that every ordinary thing that I talk about from now on also follows this general rule.


    Now on any other day of the week, at any other time of the day, the clearing would have gone unnoticed and we would probably have skipped to the better parts of the story like the valiant battle of Val T¡¯or or the courtship of the Ice Princess Mira but unfortunately it¡¯s my story and this is the way I want it to be.


    Life is just like that...full of bitter disappointments. Deal with it.


    At around two hours before dusk, a boy could be seen trudging across the farmlands and a couple of low lying hills. The boy was a nobody. The kind of nobody who can inexplicably remain to be unremarkable no matter where he is standing. The feeling he gave off could only be of a veteran hardcore extra. Although he looked to be around 12 years of age, it was hard to be sure because of his impoverished and malnourished appearance. With jet black hair, plain face and a somewhat small stature, his only distinctive features were his eyes that almost seemed to glow with intelligence and indifference.


    As he slowly made his way to the clearing, dragging one weary foot after the other, he tried to make sense of all the recent monster attacks near the outskirts of the forest. The first incident involved just a small skirmish of some of those adventures with a group of four-tusked boars but then such episodes became an almost weekly occurrence. This was strange because monsters near Buren had never been so openly hostile before. It had quickly become the hottest topic of discussion which wasn¡¯t surprising given how rarely anything remotely as interesting happened in the town. Just recently the news of the birth of triplets by farmer john¡¯s mare had made every household abuzz with insensible, often drawn-out discussions, which despite claims otherwise were fueled purely by jealousy.


    In light of these attacks, Granny had already told him to postpone these weekly excursions, but he had not listened because this had long become a natural part of his life. His life was hard and as far back as he could remember it had always been like that. Those small hours before sunset was his only moment of respite and nothing short of a dragon could stop him, let alone some insignificant monsters.


    Suddenly, his face broke out into a rare smile, interrupting his train of thought as he stepped into his clearing.