Akira - The Energy Vampire
Page 5
blood-shot grizzly wide eyes. Oh shit! A bear!! That wasn't my only worry, for bears typically stray away from humans around here. This one had fresh blood coated around its face and chest, it was also foaming out of its mouth and it looked at me with fear, death, and rage. It has rabies!! Oh shit, oh shit. The bear took another two steps out, showing half of its body and it growled loudly, ready to strike the next thing in front of it... Me!
The bear looked pissed off and ready to attack. It growled at me again with lust to devour my flesh and blood. It crouched dow and started to charge. I noticed that my arm felt like it was stinging, I glanced down at it and thought I saw my birth mark pulsing. I ignored it and quickly stepped back which put me at the ledge of the cliff. I grabbed an arrow from my quiver and in a split second it was flying from my bow into the bears chest. For some reason I felt more powerful, more accurate. The bear roared in rage and it kept charging. I grabbed another arrow and flung it at the bear which hit into its right leg. It tripped over itself and tumbled, stopping for a second, panting. It then got up on its two hind legs in rage and it let out a shrieking cry. I grabbed another arrow from my quiver, aiming for its throat. I quickly released the arrow and it glided in the air smoothly. But the bear was headed back down onto its four legs and the arrow missed its throat, instead, it sunk straight into the bears eye. Blood spewed out and the bear started charging again. It was getting near, and I had no time to pull out another arrow. I couldn't take another step back, or I would fall down the cliff and into the water. This quickly gave me an idea. The bear was a few feet in front of me and it was rushing at full speed, it was ready to chomp its teeth into my skin. I waited a second more, and jumped, lunging my body towards the right. I smacked onto the ground and rolled. The bear ran straight off the cliff without knowledge of it being there, crying loudly in suicidal rage. After a long pause I heard it crash into the water and I looked down to see its dead body floating at ease. I sighed with relief and wiped the sweat off my brow. That was completely unexpected, wow... I slowly got up and packed my things away. It's time to head back to the village now, that will be a great story to tell.
I arrived to the village with a big grin attached to my face. I had a huge adrenaline rush from fighting the bear and I knew that since I was successful, I could compete with almost anything. Surviving a bear attack is quite rare but I won, and I feel like I could win at anything now. I paced excitedly to see if my father was home, wondering how his tournament went. I got to the hut to see that no one was there. I'm assuming father has a good amount of time till he is back and mother is surely still working. I wonder what I can eat? I grabbed an apple and chomped away, savoring each bite till it was at its core. I then gathered up some gold from my little pouch with a sigh. I guess it's time to go to Troy's shop for arrowheads, surely this will be a fun trip. I left the hut and headed to the blacksmith shop. I walked from hut to hut towards the center of the village. The center of our village is almost as mother describes a town square being, except it is a lot smaller. It consists of a few shops that many people around the village can get to such as a butcher shop, a clothing shop, a produce shop, and of course the blacksmith shop. There are people around the village that know how to do some of these things, such as weave clothes for themselves and their kids, farm, and even a small few who know how to create weapons. But most of the time people would trade their things to others and use the gold for some things they really needed. There are also a lot of travelers who go into the city and do work for money, sometimes for months at a time to bring back items and gold for their families.
I got in front of the blacksmith shop and stood in front of it nervously. I hate having to deal with Troy because he is such a cocky guy. I have to prove myself and beat him in anyway possible to show that I am better. Isabella doesn't deserve such a jerk, she deserves me. I took a deep breath inward and opened the door to the shop with a smile. Inside was shelved with different weapons and metallic-made items for sale. The man behind the counter who was one of troys brothers looked up at me and let out a light grunt. He called out to the back annoyingly, “Troy!! Akira is here, I'm sure you would prefer to make a deal with him..” He slightly grumbled, “I get annoyed with people who have almost nothing in there pockets..” I lightly blushed and turned towards one of the specially made sword that was mounted on the wall. It was an impressive piece. The hilt of the sword was embedded with a bright red ruby gem. Around the gem was a gloriously carved design that shot out and formed spirals towards the metallic blade. I glanced at the slip with the price on it. 140 gold pieces!!Holy... After a few seconds of gazing at the piece again, I heard Troy call out from behind me. “Akira, obviously your not looking to buy that. I'm sure if you sold everything you owned you could barely raise a fourth of the price.” His brother let out a light chuckle at me. I turned toward Troy with my fist tight and took another deep breath. “I was looking to purchase eight arrow heads.” He let out a grin toward me, knowing that his comment had slightly affected me. “Sure Akira, whatever you want.” He turned around and grabbed the arrow heads out of a drawer behind the counter. Troy glanced at me and said, “that will be two gold pieces.” I ruffled around in my pouch and grabbed two pieces of my gold. I walked over to him and laid it on the counter. I let out a slight grunt and said, “thanks.” I grabbed the arrowheads and stuck them inside my pouch. What an ass. I really do hate this guy. I started walking toward the door to head off and leave, but Troy made a comment at me. “Oh, and Akira.. If you dare have dinner with my girl, then you will surely get a big ass whopping.” I turned my head towards him and let out a big smile. “I'm ready for you Troy. You may think your all bad-ass because you can sit around making swords, but it doesn't mean you know how to use one.” I headed out the door feeling empowered and started heading back towards my hut.
As I was walking I saw Isabella and let out a smile towards her. She stopped and greeted me kindly. “Hi Akira! How are you doing today and what are you doing around here?” I glanced away for a second and replied, “My day was quite thrilling actually, but that will be a story for a later time. And I am in town because I had to buy arrow heads from the shop.” My eyes glanced down as I thought about the conversation with Troy but I quickly pushed it away from my mind. Isabella answered, “Oh I see! I am actually headed to the shop now to talk to Troy.. Has your father arrived yet? Mine hasn't and I'm getting a little worried.” I answered calmly, “I know they both went to the arena tournament together and you know they could be a little late if it they fought longer, or if they wanted to hang around town a little more.. I am sure nothing happened. So don't fret about it okay?” She smiled reassured that I was right in my conclusion and nodded. She sarcastically said, “so I guess that means me and you are doing dinner tonight huh? I did make a promise to you Akira and I surely wont break it. We haven’t done anything in a long time anyway, since we were kids!” I grinned pleasingly and replied, “so how about you bring that tender steak by my hut, I'll have the seasonings all ready. Instead of making our meal at the main pit tonight I will start a fire myself. It'll be nice, no people to distract us from a good conversation. I have a great story to tell you about my day!” She giggled at me excitedly and said, “Definitely! I'll come to you around dinner time and you better have everything prepared!” I sarcastically said back, “and if not, what's going to happen? It's not like you can beat me up little girl.” I gave her a wink and she laughed, “My dad taught me a thing or two you know! I think I could take you on.. Anyway, I need to go speak with Troy, I'll definitely see you around dinner Akira!” I nodded happily and started heading to the hut, excited to prepare and eat a meal with Isabella.
I got to my home and started to prepare a delicious marinade for the meat. I grabbed garlic which adds a great burst of flavor, smoked paprika to enhance it into a barbeque-tasting delight, and fresh basil for a savory top-off. My mother walked into the hut after I gathered all my ingredients, and she looked at me questioningly. I looked back at her and let out a
light grin. She asked, “So what are you planning on doing for dinner Akira?” I glanced down, pausing for a moment. “Uhm, I was planning on eating a part of a steer.. With Isabella.” She looked at me in shock, then rolled her eyes. “I am warning you Akira, involving yourself with her is only going to cause trouble.” I shrugged and said, “If trouble comes let it, but it is nothing more than a friendly dinner mother.” She sighed and sincerely said, “okay, well at least enjoy yourself.” I looked at her with surprise and nodded. I then headed out of the hut carrying a pan, two plates, silverware, my marinade, and a blanket to set a cozy environment. I was thinking about telling mother about the bear attack. But honestly she would only be worried and she would try to force me to stop hunting. So what's the point? It will be a great story for tonight though! I smiled as I gathered wood and I quickly started to build the fire. After I set it ablaze, I threw a lot more wood next to it so I wouldn’t have to leave Isabella alone. I