Categories > Original > Fantasy > Memory of the four
Chapter 2 - The Journey Begins
0 reviewsDussel starts his "punishment" with the captain only to have it ruined...
0Unrated
The morning light crept into the room ever so slowly. The light encompassed a boy about the age of 17. He had a thin white blanket draped over him trying to shed out as much sunlight as possible; to no avail. He stirred awhile before opening his eyes and starring through the brightened window. His expression on his face changed from sheepish goat, to disappointed as he started to remember the events of the previous day.
Fin let out a long moan before throwing off the blanket and sitting straight up in his bed as he rubbed his eyes. As he became more used to the bright light he turned his vision to the small pile of items he had sorted out the night before. He got up off his bed, grabbed the items and buckled them to his belt. Satisfied that he had everything in check he headed out his room and down the stairs for breakfast.
As he neared the dinner table his father looked up from his meal and stared at him with a gaze of steel. He then returned to his meal without saying a single word. Fin felt a wave of uneasiness sweep through him as his father continued to ignore him. He scraped up a bowl and some food and began to eat. He ate it quickly, knowing that Thort would be waiting, and he didn’t want to anger him again. He finished breakfast, put his bowl on the counter, and strode out of the house at a quickened pace. He headed towards the barracks looking up to the sky. It was still dark but he could see the sun slowly peaking up over the horizon down the road. Life was just starting to stir as he walked down the dirt road. New tracks of the weird creatures were all over the place. There were a lot of different tracks varying from big and round to small and jagged. It poked at Fins curiosity as to what kind of creatures could have feet of those shapes. He started to imagine what some of the creatures might look like. Some of the images where funny looking while others were frightening.
“About time you showed up,” A man yelled from the barracks. Fin bowed his head and sighed. He didn’t know what Thort was going to have him do, but he knew it wasn’t going too be fun because Thort was in a terribly good mood. “Now we just have to wait for Dirk and we can be off.”
“Who’s Dirk?” questioned Fin. “And what are we doing again?” He added.
“Dirk? Oh he got in a bit of trouble just like you, and I was assigned to take care of his punishment. As for what we’re doing, you will see soon enough.” Thort’s hard face cracked into a terrifying smile; so disturbing that it made Fin shudder. A loud shout came from the distance. Both Fin and captain Thort turned to look at who was shouting. A boy around the age of 16 was frantically waving his hand. He had dark blackish brown hair, and it looked like he was starting to grow a beard and goatee, along with his already visible mustache. His skin was a light tanned brown colour, and his eyes were a strong shade of hazel. As he frantically waved, his head bobbled side to side and his mop of hair was whipped about; it was quite a funny sight.
Dirk ran up to them breathing hard from his small run. “Okay. I’m here,” he said as he started to catch his breath. Dirk looked tall and slim for his age; he looked as though he could hardly carry the weight of his own pack that he had slung on his back. Both his legs and his arms were long and skinny like his torso.
“Ok good. Now we can head off.”
“Where too?” Asked both Fin and Dirk.
“Well forest Azoth of course!” Replied Thort.
“Isn’t that where the monster tracks are coming from? That’s what the villagers are saying at least.” Said Dirk.
“Well we get to go and find out for ourselves now,” he said as he smiled. “Doesn’t that sound fun?” He added as his smile grew.
Dirk raised his right eyebrow in response and shrugged. Content that everyone was now there, the small group of three headed off towards Azoth forest. It wasn’t very far from the village, for it could be seen from the top of the barracks topmost towers. By the time they got to the edge of the forest, animals were already out and making noise. Dirk yawned, “So what are we doing again?”
“Well the village chiefs got together and decided that it’d be best that if all the boys that have come of age be ready to fight these creatures because they are ruining our crops and we will starve soon if nothing is done. We are out here today to, first of all train you two so you will be able to help with the attack, and to find where the creatures nest is and how many we will be up against.” Thort replied.
“What? You expect us to go up against an army of monsters? That’s crazy! It’s suicide!” Exploded Fin. Dirk nodded in agreement.
“So you would rather hide inside your nice warm homes and slowly starve to death?” Dirk and Fin both fell silent. “Good, now if there are no more complaints, we will enter the forest.”
They walked for what seemed like hours before they finally stopped to eat lunch. Each of the three sat on a rock and pulled out some sort of food from their packs.
“So, how long are we going to be out here?” asked Dirk between bites of dried meat.
“As long as it takes. Hopefully we can finish this small mission in a week and be back with valuable information for the chiefs,” The Captain replied.
“Oh, well that makes me feel a hell of a lot better!” Blurted Dirk, “To know that I might not be able to…” Dirk fell silent.
“Able to what?” Asked Fin, “Oh wait, is this about that girl you like? What was her name again?”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Yelled Dirk, as his cheeks turned a nice shade of red. Dirk’s head shot skywards as he tried to ignore what had just been said. He watched the white fluffy clouds slowly go by, forgetting where he was, what was happening, and just letting his mind drift with the clouds.
“I’m right aren’t I?” Fin asked.
“So you fancy a girl back in town? Well don’t get your hopes up son, you might not get another chance to see daylight by tomorrow,” said Thort. At this comment, Dirk’s mind left the clouds and came back down to earth.
“What do you mean, not seeing daylight anymore?” Asked Dirk as his facial expression turned to utter confusion.
“What I mean, is that tomorrow, we will be going into a deep part of the forest where light does not reach and creatures of darkness dwell,” replied Thort in a menacing voice, obviously trying to scare the two boys.
“That’s not funny,” replied Fin, his arms shaking as he tried to eat his lunch. Dirk beside him was wide-eyed and completely silent. Obviously thinking of what was just said. His mouth opened and closed, trying to form silent words.
“Well hurry up and eat your lunch, we don’t want to waste precious time,” announced Thort after an awkward silence. The two boys quickly finished their food and started back on their journey through the forest.
Fin let out a long moan before throwing off the blanket and sitting straight up in his bed as he rubbed his eyes. As he became more used to the bright light he turned his vision to the small pile of items he had sorted out the night before. He got up off his bed, grabbed the items and buckled them to his belt. Satisfied that he had everything in check he headed out his room and down the stairs for breakfast.
As he neared the dinner table his father looked up from his meal and stared at him with a gaze of steel. He then returned to his meal without saying a single word. Fin felt a wave of uneasiness sweep through him as his father continued to ignore him. He scraped up a bowl and some food and began to eat. He ate it quickly, knowing that Thort would be waiting, and he didn’t want to anger him again. He finished breakfast, put his bowl on the counter, and strode out of the house at a quickened pace. He headed towards the barracks looking up to the sky. It was still dark but he could see the sun slowly peaking up over the horizon down the road. Life was just starting to stir as he walked down the dirt road. New tracks of the weird creatures were all over the place. There were a lot of different tracks varying from big and round to small and jagged. It poked at Fins curiosity as to what kind of creatures could have feet of those shapes. He started to imagine what some of the creatures might look like. Some of the images where funny looking while others were frightening.
“About time you showed up,” A man yelled from the barracks. Fin bowed his head and sighed. He didn’t know what Thort was going to have him do, but he knew it wasn’t going too be fun because Thort was in a terribly good mood. “Now we just have to wait for Dirk and we can be off.”
“Who’s Dirk?” questioned Fin. “And what are we doing again?” He added.
“Dirk? Oh he got in a bit of trouble just like you, and I was assigned to take care of his punishment. As for what we’re doing, you will see soon enough.” Thort’s hard face cracked into a terrifying smile; so disturbing that it made Fin shudder. A loud shout came from the distance. Both Fin and captain Thort turned to look at who was shouting. A boy around the age of 16 was frantically waving his hand. He had dark blackish brown hair, and it looked like he was starting to grow a beard and goatee, along with his already visible mustache. His skin was a light tanned brown colour, and his eyes were a strong shade of hazel. As he frantically waved, his head bobbled side to side and his mop of hair was whipped about; it was quite a funny sight.
Dirk ran up to them breathing hard from his small run. “Okay. I’m here,” he said as he started to catch his breath. Dirk looked tall and slim for his age; he looked as though he could hardly carry the weight of his own pack that he had slung on his back. Both his legs and his arms were long and skinny like his torso.
“Ok good. Now we can head off.”
“Where too?” Asked both Fin and Dirk.
“Well forest Azoth of course!” Replied Thort.
“Isn’t that where the monster tracks are coming from? That’s what the villagers are saying at least.” Said Dirk.
“Well we get to go and find out for ourselves now,” he said as he smiled. “Doesn’t that sound fun?” He added as his smile grew.
Dirk raised his right eyebrow in response and shrugged. Content that everyone was now there, the small group of three headed off towards Azoth forest. It wasn’t very far from the village, for it could be seen from the top of the barracks topmost towers. By the time they got to the edge of the forest, animals were already out and making noise. Dirk yawned, “So what are we doing again?”
“Well the village chiefs got together and decided that it’d be best that if all the boys that have come of age be ready to fight these creatures because they are ruining our crops and we will starve soon if nothing is done. We are out here today to, first of all train you two so you will be able to help with the attack, and to find where the creatures nest is and how many we will be up against.” Thort replied.
“What? You expect us to go up against an army of monsters? That’s crazy! It’s suicide!” Exploded Fin. Dirk nodded in agreement.
“So you would rather hide inside your nice warm homes and slowly starve to death?” Dirk and Fin both fell silent. “Good, now if there are no more complaints, we will enter the forest.”
They walked for what seemed like hours before they finally stopped to eat lunch. Each of the three sat on a rock and pulled out some sort of food from their packs.
“So, how long are we going to be out here?” asked Dirk between bites of dried meat.
“As long as it takes. Hopefully we can finish this small mission in a week and be back with valuable information for the chiefs,” The Captain replied.
“Oh, well that makes me feel a hell of a lot better!” Blurted Dirk, “To know that I might not be able to…” Dirk fell silent.
“Able to what?” Asked Fin, “Oh wait, is this about that girl you like? What was her name again?”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Yelled Dirk, as his cheeks turned a nice shade of red. Dirk’s head shot skywards as he tried to ignore what had just been said. He watched the white fluffy clouds slowly go by, forgetting where he was, what was happening, and just letting his mind drift with the clouds.
“I’m right aren’t I?” Fin asked.
“So you fancy a girl back in town? Well don’t get your hopes up son, you might not get another chance to see daylight by tomorrow,” said Thort. At this comment, Dirk’s mind left the clouds and came back down to earth.
“What do you mean, not seeing daylight anymore?” Asked Dirk as his facial expression turned to utter confusion.
“What I mean, is that tomorrow, we will be going into a deep part of the forest where light does not reach and creatures of darkness dwell,” replied Thort in a menacing voice, obviously trying to scare the two boys.
“That’s not funny,” replied Fin, his arms shaking as he tried to eat his lunch. Dirk beside him was wide-eyed and completely silent. Obviously thinking of what was just said. His mouth opened and closed, trying to form silent words.
“Well hurry up and eat your lunch, we don’t want to waste precious time,” announced Thort after an awkward silence. The two boys quickly finished their food and started back on their journey through the forest.
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