With Blades and Flames: Awakening

by David Csontos

  “It is a fine, quiet night”he said as he looked up to the twinkling stars. They were all rotating towards one direction making it feel like the sky is moving.“Do you really want to go out there in this time of the hour? It is pretty dark out there and there could be wolves”

  “No, not really. What are you doing here anyway? There is fire, warmth, food and singing inside”

  “Looking, those soldiers that ran away might bring back reinforcements. If that is true then I can warn us” he looked a lot cleaner with his new clothes. He wore a fine armour that was nearly shining and a sword which was hidden on his side below his other clothes.

  “What are you going to do when you get back home?” asked Arkain and walked up to the man. As much as he wanted to go out into the night by himself to feel a bit alive it was dangerous and he was tired anyway.

  “Who said I have a home? Not quite sure, maybe travel. Find a place to settle down, have a decent work and a good family that loves me and I love them.”he hesitated“But then again, that is unlikely. With the way things are now, I just want to travel far away”

  “You could come with us” said the boy as he looked back towards the forest.

  “With the chosen one?” laughed Ilinoair.

  “Who said I am the chosen one?”smiled back Arkain but deep down he just didn’t want to do anything with it.

  “Let me think about it until morning. I’ll be ready by the time you leave, but thank you for the offer”

  Those were probably the last words he and the man exchanged that night, so they have split apart with Ilinoair going off to have a night sleep and Arkain towards the fire to see what the louder noises are for. As he thought, more people have joined in to the dance and were now laughing and crying both from happiness and being tired. He watched them for a while until a small girl walked up to him and asked him to join. He tried to stay away or at least say“no”but it didn’t work. The girl pulled here into the circle and he started going around with the others. A person next to him grabbed his hand and started going around in smaller circles, raise the legs and do unbelievable movements. Arkain simply, just tried to keep upright. After a time he got used to it and started copying some of the moves but every time he did the others did something else. When everyone got tired they have split up the circle and people walked back to sit down, so the others could go up. As soon as Arkain had the chance, he slipped away and walked back to the room Burdõl and Agaroth had. He sat down onto the third bed and put his sword down along with his coat. Then, he turned around and closed his eyes. Just when he was about to go to sleep he heard a sound, a loud snoring which came from somewhere in the fortress, from above. Maybe from one of the towers. He smiled and went to sleep.

  Water was dripping from somewhere. The wind was blowing into his face as he sat in one place looking around in a clear, grassy area. There was a single tree in the hills. Its flowers were bright and big. The sun was high up in the sky and the stars could be seen from everywhere. It all seemed quiet and calm but out of nowhere a lightning has struck and started a fire in the middle. The wolf stood up and started running away from it, but the grass field have caught fire fast around him and closed the wolf in a ring. Then, the tree started to burn and as it screamed the vines have stretched out from below and grabbed the wolf tightly, he tried to fight back but it didn’t work. He got pulled below with the tree itself.

  “Arkain! Wake up!”The sun was shining through the window and sounds of clanging and laughing could be heard through it. It was already morning and people were getting ready to depart.“This is the first time you have slept for longer than anyone”chuckled the dwarf“We need to go. Come on” The boy slowly sat up and tried to open his eyes. His body was aching but not as much as his eyes right now. It felt like a real battle keeping them open. He then stood up, grabbed his sword which he tied around himself with a belt and stretched his hands. A few more yawns and he started walking out with Burdõlnext to him.“Did you have a nice sleep?” asked Arkain. The dwarf nodded and started talking about breakfast which was being served up in the front. When they got outside, everyone looked at him yet again and others were bringing him bowls with plenty of supplements in it. It was a soup, with small meat squares in it and vegetables. In the middle there was a big kettle above a fire in which this was being made. The people that were eating were sitting down around the place, talking to others. The two of them did the same too, with Burdõlconstantly going up for more. By the end he had to sneak to get some because he was already told off for being fat. It was a funny sight for everyone around.“No, how many times do I have to say you have had enough?” questioned the cook while waving a wooden spoon in her hand.

  “I am hungry woman! What shall I do then? Eat grass? I need food!”came the yelp from him. This had gone on for a while until she decided to threaten him with her“spoon”which the dwarf really didn’t understood. Anyway, he could not get anything so eventually he gave up. When Arkain finished he grabbed the dwarf’s empty bowl and asked for another round. Given that he only had a bowl once, he was allowed. The boy then gave the bowl to the dwarf. Soon when everyone finished eating and the kettle had run out people started to stand up and get ready for their travel. Later on Agaroth appeared too and the villagers started to make their way out through the main gates.“Ready?”asked the traveller.“Who isn’t?”replied Arkain and the three of them walked out with the others. It was quiet and only a few of them stayed.“Care if I join you?” asked Ilinoair and walked up to the three of them.

  “Are you coming too?” wondered Agaroth “Yes, I have many places to go but, you have saved my life and I owe you that. Also, I do not want to settle down just yet. I am still young compared to the others and one like me should travel and experience the world. Especially if I get to go with people like you. Means we are not going to die from a single bandit attack”

  “Are you sure? It is still dangerous” mentions Burdõl.

  “What is life without a bit of danger anyway?” replied Arkain.

  “Exactly”agreed Ilinoair and now the four of them kept going with the groups of other people into the forest, following the dirt road. There was a small breeze and the sun was already up. The weather seemed nice enough to cheer them up.“Oh yeah, I have forgot to mention it to you but I have bought an owl”declared Arkain to which Agaroth looked at him like he have committed a fatal mistake.“A what?” he asked.

  “An owl” answered Arkain. The traveller just kept looking at him when he showed the whistle too and the book.

  “It could be useful. An owl can be taught to signal when others are nearby and they sense if someone is about to die. They give out a cry mostly according to the stories” explained Ilinoair.

  “How come you know so much?” asked Burdõl.

  “Pubs. Lots of pubs” laughed the man. They have talked for a while but eventually stopped. As the roads have split the less people there were next to them. Whenever there was a crossroad someone always took it, reducing the size of the group. By the end, it was only the four of them traveling together. They took a sharp left following a road which seemed older than any other they could see. The dirt was covered in grass and there was not much of a sign of anyone using it.“From now on, it is only us. There will not be any kind of help. You can still turn back if you want to”told Agaroth to the boy who replied with a“That is fine by me”and continued on. Trees have passed and birds have flew by but they have kept going. Each step took them further away from civilization into an infinite wilderness. Not desolated, but abandoned and the only rule there was is that the strongest survives, or those that can adapt. The terrain led up and down and eventually evened out. It became plain and easier to take. Grass has started to become taller and trees have started to become older. There were ones that stretched towards the sky and there were ones that were short but strong. Every once in a while an elk could be seen running through their vision into deep abyss. The three of them followed Agaroth and probably his directions, which time to
time could be questioned, they still lead them forward.“We are close. Probably a week away from our goal” he said the first night because they decided to settle down next to the road for the night and set up a camp. It went a lot quicker than ever before. Ilinoair and Burdõlwent to get firewood and Agaroth went to find something to make fire with, while Arkain placed a pile of rocks into a ring. He have also carried some bigger tree trunks to sit on with Agaroth once he returned with the dwarf and the man. Then, the two of them started to chop them up and place them in an evenly file. Once the fire was lazily crackling away Arkain grabbed the whistle. He held it in his hand for a while, looked at it then took it to his mouth and blew into it as hard as he could. It created a very high pitched sound from which he needed to cover his ears. Even Agaroth needed to blink twice while the dwarf and the man didn’t hear anything.“What? You didn’t hear that?”asked Arkain and received a‘no’from both of them. He looked up to the skies to try and find the white bird but it didn’t appear. He waited and waited but the bird didn’t come.“Maybe it can’t hear it”suggested Ilinoair. The boy didn’t respond, just kept looking at the flames thinking about whether the owl is still alive. That old lady must have taken care of it because he didn’t want to believe it. Then, out of nowhere a shriek could be heard and a big object has flown towards the fire, made a circle around it making everyone duck down and stopped on the tree trunk next to the boy. It looked around with its black eyes, twisted its head towards each of them, then settling on Arkain. It chirped and started jumping around, flying onto nearly all of the trees nearby.“That is one hell of a bird”said Ilinoair“What does it eat?”Arkain reached to his book and opened it. On the first page there was a drawing of a brown bird and on the next pages it talked about each part. He quickly whipped through it and stopped on the ‘Food and Eating’ page where it listed them.“Rat, mouse, bird, skunk, which I have never seen, or know what it is, and other similar type of animals. They eat nearly everything!” read the text Arkain.

  “Try feeding him pieces of rabbit. It might like it”suggested Agaroth and had cut off a piece or two plain meat from the rabbit’s leg he caught earlier. Arkain took it and tried to wave it in front of the bird. The bird looked at him with hunger and flew down once it made sure everything is clear. It ripped the meat out of Arkain’s fingers and started eating it. A few seconds later, it was already in its stomach.“Whoa, easy there”came the voice of the dwarf being surprised that someone can eat faster than him“I am the only one that is allowed to do that!”Then, it took the other two and ate it just as fast. After that it flew back to its tree but soon after it moved again, this time stopping next to Agaroth who tried to make it invisible. He kept sitting and not looking at it but the owl did the exact opposite. It kept its eyes closely on the traveller and lifted its legs closer and closer until it stopped just a few steps away from him. He looked down into its eyes then looked back at the fire awkwardly.“What is so interesting in me is a mystery”he said and looked down again. The others were trying to hold back their laughing but it didn’t work. Clearly, Agaroth could hear their suffering. Suddenly, he lifted his hand and put it onto the bird’s head which then looked away and closed its eyes.“I think he likes you” said Ilinoair with a smile.

  “Shut up”whispered Agaroth and took his hand off. The bird just kept sleeping though. That is how their first night was spent. The next day first thing in the morning was to pack their belongings and continue on. The weather stayed the same throughout their time and the wind sustained itself as a breeze throughout the day. The four of them just went forward and forward eager to reach their destination.“We are not far” the sentence echoed in the boy’s head. What will we find? Who am I really? He was hoping that he is not anything special. He does not want to be the chosen one, or anything similar to it. He just wants to feel normal, like nothing really mattered. Days and nights passed and they just kept traveling forward through dirt and land. His owl kept flying from left to right to try and keep up, and when it got tired it settled on Arkain’s shoulder. It was truly a nice feeling to have some sort of a family. Even though Agaroth and Burdõl have been the closest to him so far, Hoot still managed to carve out a special place in his heart. Every night, he would pet her to sleep and she would happily wake up the next morning pecking hic clothes for food. There were barely any complications, the owl had its breakfast and it started flying. Didn’t really stop until she had energy in her. Interestingly, the book said that owls are night creatures but this one didn’t seem like it. Or at least Arkain didn’t really see it like that. If the owl would have left his camp, he wouldn’t have known about it. She was really quiet, her gliding could barely be heard until she have landed. Sometimes, a slight breeze on your back was the only way you could determine that she is behind you or flew past. It wasn’t only Arkain that grew close to the animal, a few days later Burdõl became quite the fanatic for her as well with at least twice feeding her. I guess he appreciates that someone shares his love for food. There wasn’t much to mention about their journey. It was quiet and calm with only a few loud noises that were mostly made by birds in the mornings. It all felt perfect for the boy somehow. He wanted to get back out into the wilderness and here it is. A full on encounter with nature itself away from any kind of population. They talked mainly because after two days it became quiet and boring. Ilinoair explained that he has been traveling for quite some time as well before he got caught. He was a hunter and people usually payed him money for meat in the poorer regions. That was one of his professions, the other was delivering. He used to work with carriages that had enough money to pay him to guard them. It was kind of like a hire-for-protection job which he got bored after a while because it was mainly rich and evil people that hired him to guard their stolen gold, so he gave that up and became a hunter. Although he didn’t made much money, he was more conscious about his job. Burdõl explained that he used to live in a mountain far away from here but left for a reason he didn’t want to tell.

  “You were banished” revealed Agaroth from which Burdõlwasn’t really happy but calmed down after Arkain told him that it doesn’t matter anymore. When it came to the traveller to reveal his past he stayed quiet. When Burdõlwas asked about it he only told about a few times him and Agaroth met.“I was drunk”he explained“and as always I got into trouble. As I tried to escape I ran into Agaroth who kind of took care of the guys. To be honest they just tried to mess with him and he didn’t like it. Then, after that we spent a few days together travelling we had to split up. After we did what the king was ordering us to do, each of us went different ways”

  “Wait, you worked for one of the kings?” asked Ilinoair.

  “Yes, we were asked to get back some kind of a contract that was stolen from him. Plus, take care of a few bandits. Both of us needed a bit of coin so we went for it”he was finished and that was all they could talk about for the day. Since then, they didn’t talk as much about their pasts but what is up ahead. They talked about whether they need nightshifts or maybe have someone else hunt for food too. Wildlife was not as scarce as before but it was still pretty devastated where they stayed for the night. As a matter of fact they were a bit loud, especially Burdõl, and scared away the animals, but when they mentioned him, he went back and started talking about Arkain’s past. Particularly the fight in the fortress.“I have never seen someone young as you fight like that! How did you do it?” This time the traveller listened a bit more carefully.

  “Not sure, I guess my memories are coming back. Although if you ask me to repeat that, it would be very difficult”

  “Yeah I guess so”agreed Agaroth“But then the big question is where did you learn to fight like that before you have lost your memories?”

  As soon as it got dark, they have found a nice place to rest and did the same as before, but when they tried to ignite the fire, many howls could be heard in the distance. It was initially one, then it became many more. These howls weren’t like the ones they heard before though. They we
re a lot more devastating and terrifying.“What is that?”whispered Ilinoair while Agaroth quickly threw dust onto the fire.“Our friends, it looks like they are back. Someone really wants to catch you and that someone has quite a bit of tricks up his sleeves. We need to go now!”Even though it was dark they jumped up, packed their stuff together and started running.“Go! Don’t stop! We need to get as far away as possible!”shouted Agaroth. The howls started to get closer. Not close enough to catch their owners but closer.“This can’t be happening! I thought we took care of them!” yelled Burdõl.