by Ritu Ghosh
Aaron released Billy’s collar and gave him a sharp look as he walked out of the balcony banging the door open.
He was angry with himself rather than anyone else. Aaron kicked his shoes and tore his jacket open. He looked outside through his window. He saw Billy walking to the stable. Suddenly, guilt overcame him. ‘I shouldn’t have accused Billy. He had no fault in this. If anything, he tried to help me. He doesn’t even have anybody to call his own. He sleeps at the stable and ate leftovers from the house.’ Aaron felt bad as he realized this.
But he knew that he was not in control nowadays, with everything that was going on. He decided to apologize to Billy the next time he saw him.
Aaron sat on his desk chair and tried to calm himself down. ‘I have to figure out a way out to find Flynn or I don’t know what the wolves would do to him.’
He started to read the book that Mathew had given him. It read “Believe in God. There is a reason behind whatever happens in your life; have faith during the hard times”. Aaron hoped for it to be true and soon fell asleep with the book in his hands.
Next day, with the break of the dawn, Aaron, his uncle and a search party rode on their horses towards Flynn’s house. Aaron showed them the foot prints of the animal that he had seen earlier. He also showed them the damage inside the house.
“Looks like a wolf attack!” said one of the men.
“We better look everywhere in and around the village. Let me know if you find anyone wounded or dead.” uncle commanded his men. Everyone left in different directions leaving Aaron all alone. He stood there among the wreckage in the hall.
“Dead?!” Aaron never thought about such possibility. Those deadly beasts could do anything. Aaron shivered at the thought of Flynn being hurt.
He searched the house for more clues, but couldn’t find much else. He mounted his horse and rode to his house, anxious to hear some good news about Flynn from his Uncle or the search party. He also wanted to talk to Billy. He thought Billy might know something more about the wolves.
Aaron walked his horse inside the stable but Billy wasn’t around. Aaron asked many of the farm workers about Billy, but none of them had seen Billy that morning.
In a few hours, Sentas and a few men returned to the house. He immediately ran up to them and asked “Did you find Flynn?”
Uncle nodded a ‘no’ and dismounted his horse. He signed one of the workers to take the horse away and came closer to Aaron.
“Not even a sign of them anywhere!” Uncle said in low voice.
“Did you look in the forest beyond the woods?” Aaron asked impatiently.
“We looked everywhere Aaron” uncle placed his hands on Aaron’s shoulder and looked at him straight in the eye. “Nobody has seen them. I think they were taken far away.”
“What do you mean?” Aaron’s heart was racing now.
“I think the wolves took them deep into the jungles” said Sentas.
Aaron looked away as tears began to form in his eyes.
“I have my men all over Brinsar and also in the neighboring villages. The news of your friend’s disappearance has reached all around. If anyone finds them, it will be reported to me immediately” Sentas then gave him a sympathetic pat on his shoulders.
Then he said “I will do my best to find your friend!”
Aaron nodded, but he knew very well that his uncle had done everything he could already. He really appreciated that. All he wished was that he could do something too.
After Uncle and his men left, Aaron walked towards the corn fields feeling gloomy. He didn’t know what news to expect anymore. ‘Wounded or dead’ he shook off the thought from his mind.
He had come quite far from the house now. The bright sun made the corn fields glister like yellow gold. He walked among the tall corn plants. He jumped and grabbed a corn and started to eat it.
After the corn field there was a cluster of rocks. He came there often with Flynn. They would sit and speak for hours there. He felt a void as he approached the rocks.
He saw someone sitting on one of the rocks. Aaron stopped and tried to figure out who it could be. The fields belonged to his uncle and outsiders were not allowed there.
As he came closer to the rocks, he saw a boy with blond hair and a dirty brown jacket. The boy was sitting with his back facing Aaron. Aaron instantly recognized the boy. It was Billy. He was sitting with his legs folded.
“Billy!” he shouted. Billy startled and turned around.
“What are you doing here?” Aaron asked
Billy stood up instantly and stepped back as if he had offended Aaron.
“Nothing… just sitting here..” he stammered.
“I was looking for you Billy” Aaron climbed on one of the rocks and sat down.
“Why?” Billy asked. He was worried.
“Billy, I am sorry for the way I behaved yesterday. I was not myself” Aaron apologized.
Billy felt a little relieved now. He came forward and kept his foot on the rocks.
“But tell me, how did you know about the attack anyway?” Aaron asked.
Billy did not feel very comfortable at the question. He lowered his gaze and said nothing.
“My best friend is missing Billy, the wolves have taken him. You have to help me” said Aaron desperately “Tell me if you know anything about those beasts. I want my friends back”
“The wolves did not take your friend” Billy said.
Aaron came forward “What do you mean the wolves have not taken them?”
“The wolves do not take any prisoners master Aaron. They kill and leave the bodies behind.”
Aaron listened carefully as Billy spoke.
“Something else has happened to them.” Billy still avoided eye contact with Aaron.
Suddenly, they heard a few voices at a distance. Billy stood up attentively and said to Aaron “Run! Run Master Aaron.”
Before Aaron could respond Billy took off into the corn fields and yelled once more “Run and Hide!”
Aaron ran towards the corn fields as well. He looked back several times as he ran; he could hear voices but could not see anybody. He didn’t stop till he crossed the fields and reached his house. He couldn’t find Billy after that.
‘Where did Billy go? And why did he ask me to run? Who were those people and why was Billy running from them? Did they get Billy?’ he thought.
Aaron was lost in several questions. One thing he knew for sure was that Billy was somebody with a lot more secrets than he knew about.
Chapter 5
Two Strangers
Aaron spotted two horses tied near the big oak tree in front of his house. The horses were big and strong, which was not very common in the village. These horses were pure bred, one was darker brown and the other was lighter in color. Both were equally beautiful.
“Whose horses are these?” he asked a worker who was working nearby.
“Some visitors from a faraway land have come to visit Mr. Santas.”
‘Visitors?’ Aaron thought. ‘Uncle never got visitors from outside the village. Maybe they have news of Flynn’ He entered the house with great expectations.
The hall was darker than usual, all the curtains were drawn. The fireplace was lit in the day time. Aaron’s eyes adjusted to the darkness as he closed the door behind him and walked inside.
Sentas, Brandon and two strangers were sitting by the fire place. Sentas was speaking in a very low voice and the others were listening. Brandon sat on the arm chair, pretending to listen.
One of the two strangers turned his head towards Aaron as he approached and everyone stopped speaking. In the dark, Aaron saw two men sitting next to uncle. One man was huge; he was twice the size of any man and had a huge battle axe in his right hand. Aaron had never seen a Giant before. The Giant had bushy black beard and hair tied at the back. He looked like some kind of a warrior. The other stranger had his hood pulled up till his forehead and his face was barely visible.
“He is here!” Uncle said to the h
ooded stranger he was speaking to. The man stood up and pulled his hood back.
“Hello!” His voice was deep “We have been looking for you.” He said.
Aaron stepped forward to greet the strangers even though he was not sure who they were and what they were doing there.
“Can you please give us a private moment?” the man asked Sentas.
“Oh! Sure!, Aaron why don’t you show them to your room?” Sentas said, pointing upstairs.
Aaron escorted the strangers to his room wondering why they were there. The strangers did not speak till they reached the room.
“Draw up the curtains. We do not wish to be seen here” the Giant spoke for the first time. His voice was hoarse.
Aaron drew the curtains and closed the door, but he could still see the strangers clearly. The man had a short beard, a mustache and black hair. He was wearing a short cloak. Under that, he wore many layers of clothing and a jacket made of leather. He had many belts on his waist and thighs. Aaron caught a glimpse of a sword. He was tall but nothing compared to the Giant. The Giant on the other hand was much taller and bigger. He had a big round face and had made braids of his extremely curly hair and tied some of them to the back of his head. He hit his head accidently when he entered Aaron’s room earlier.
The men made themselves comfortable in Aaron’s room. The Giant sat on the side table and the man stood next to the window with folded arms.
“Sit down!” the man commanded which got Aaron irritated.
“I am ok right here” he tried to imitate the same authority.
The man looked at Aaron for a moment and then looked back outside the window.
“Do you know why we are here?” He asked.
“Not really, I am hoping that you brought some news about my friend”
The strangers looked at each other in confusion.
“No, we didn’t bring any news about anybody. We came to speak to you.” The man said.
Aaron was confused now. What would two armed men want to talk to him about?
“What do you want to speak to me about?” Aaron asked.
“Aaron, I am Dan Belcross and this is my friend Ony Thorman, we have come here for you.”
“For me?! What do you mean?”
“We mean that you are coming with us” said Ony standing up.
Dan signaled him to stop and continued “The time has come Aaron, you have to come with us.”
“Come with you?! Why? Who are you?” Aaron was confused.
Dan was stern “Aaron, We know about the attack on the village, we better go before they attack you!”
Aaron was startled, he was not expecting the strangers to know about the attack and be concerned about it. “You know nothing!” Aaron murmured under his breath.
Dan heard him. “What did you say?”
“They attacked me, they wanted to kill me” Aaron said in a low voice.
There was a silence in the room. The two men stood there staring at each other like they were not expecting to hear this.
“The wolves attacked you? When?” asked Dan.
“Yesterday, at the marketplace. My friend was with me too.”
“How did you get out alive?” Dan looked extremely tensed.
“I used my sword and had to kill one of the wolves” he said hesitatingly looking at his sword kept on the table.
“Hmm, a natural. No wonder!” said Ony with a grin.
“What do you mean by that?” Aaron asked surprised.
“This meant they found you before we did” Dan said after brooding for some time. “But, How?”
“I don’t know, but the lady at the book store mentioned something about searchers” Aaron said.
“Searchers?” Dan’s eyes widened now. “But searchers can find you only if you come across magic”
“I think I did in a way, that lady was selling books on magic”
Dan was furious “If she knows about searchers, she was a witch then”
“A witch?” Aaron had only heard of witches in stories, he could not believe his own ears.
“If the searchers know that you are here, you are not safe even for a moment. We have to leave this place as soon as we can” Dan said.
“Leave? What do you mean? Where to? I am not going anywhere. I think you should go now” Aaron got annoyed. “I don’t even know who you are. I am not leaving my home because you come here and tell me stories about witches and magic”
“Stories?! You think we are making up stories?” Ony was filled with anger. He pulled out his axe from his belt.
“Stop it Ony. Let me speak to him” said Dan. Ony sat down back on the table still holding his axe in his left hand and stared at Aaron as Dan spoke.
“Aaron, I know that you don’t know much about your parents”
“Parents?” Aaron’s eyes widened “You know about my parents?”
“Yes, we were friends, very good friends. Now listen to me carefully Aaron. It is very important. Your life is in danger here. The Evil Force knows that you are here now. It will repeatedly attempt to kill you no matter what. There could be more attacks on your village. They will not stop until your entire village is destroyed. Is that what you want?”
Aaron knew how much damage had been done to his village. He didn’t want to put anybody in danger because of him anymore.
“But why do they want to kill me? I am a ‘nobody’. Just a simple boy in the farm minding my own business”
“You are not a ‘nobody’ Aaron” Dan said raising his hand.
“You are the first born of the very respected defenders” Dan gave a gentle pat on Aaron’s shoulder.
“Defenders? My parents were Defenders? Defenders of what?” Aaron asked in one breath.
“I know you want to know much more about them. But we are running short of time. We did come here to tell you about your parents but we had no idea that the situation was so bad here. We have to leave now. There will be plenty of time later to tell you everything”
“But why do I have to come with you? Are you going to take me to a safe place” Aaron asked.
“He doesn’t even know” Ony stumped his feet and shifted his axe.
“What don’t I know?” Aaron became impatient.
“Aaron” Dan walked away from him and stood in the corner. “You are to join us. When the first born of Defenders reach the age of sixteen, they join the rest of us. Your turn has come, you have to take up your responsibility. This is your destiny”
‘Destiny!!’ The words of Mathew ringed in Aaron’s ears as he remembered them.
He never thought that this is how he would find out about his destiny. He thought his destiny is to take care of his uncle’s properties. That would have been much better, he thought. He didn’t even know what these men were talking about.
“What if I don’t want to go?” Aaron asked dejected.
“Then, you will be putting your family and your village in danger” Said Dan.
“Where will we go?” Aaron asked finally.
“To Arktor, but before that, we will make another stop” said Dan.
Aaron didn’t ask anything more. He couldn’t think clearly. Flynn was missing because of him. He was aware of the danger that lurked in the village. He knew he had to go. He didn’t want the innocent villagers to suffer because of him.
A part of him wanted to go and see the world outside but he didn’t know that this is how he would be leaving.
“What about Brandon? Can he come with us?” Aaron asked Dan.
“No, until the first born is alive, the other siblings do not join the council” Dan said calmly.
“But what if they harm uncle or Brandon while I am gone?”
“The wolves are after you and not anybody else” said Dan.
Aaron thought for a moment and asked “What should I do now?”
“Pack whatever you need for the journey. Take enough warm clothes and a blanket. The journey is going to be long and hard” said Dan.
Aaron had sta
yed in the village all his life. He had never gone out of Brinsar, neither did he have any experience of packing for a long journey. Now that he was getting pulled out of his comfortable house, he didn’t know where to begin.
Reluctantly, he got up and pulled out a big cloth sack from under his bed. He dusted it and started to look around for things he wanted to take with him.
Dan was on a continuous watch at the window. He made a small opening through the curtains and looked outside. Ony was watching Aaron’s every movement, it made Aaron uncomfortable.
“Why don’t you take a few more shirts? After all, we are going on such a fun trip” Ony taunted Aaron as he was trying to shove a large number of shirts into his bag.
Aaron flared his nostrils and stopped packing more shirts.
“What about this jacket? Oh, there is a good pair of socks there” Ony kept bothering Aaron as he tried to pack the rest of the stuff.
“I think it will be better if you wait outside till I am done packing” Aaron finally said annoyed.
“Hmm, my tummy is grumbling. I need some food inside it, is there anything to eat?” Ony asked looking around the room.
“There is plenty. Just go to the kitchen downstairs!” Aaron was more than happy to get rid of him. Dan and Ony went downstairs and finally Aaron had some time to think for himself.
He was not ready to leave but he had to. He thought ‘It is all part of my destiny. As Mathew said, if I don’t take this chance, I will regret it all my life’
He put a few books along with the book Mathew gave him inside his bag. He had a great loss as his best friend was gone now. Aaron wished that the village and his family would be safer after he left.
He packed everything he thought he needed for the journey, including his leather pouch to carry water.
He was happy that he would know more about his parents now. He would be a part of something big. But he didn’t know what his future would be, anymore.
He could finally go on those adventures he always dreamt about, like the stories he read. But if he hadn’t seen with his own eyes what he was up against, he would have been much happier. Now he knew that real life was not like in the story books.
