In The Dark

6. The Brother

"I definitely need to see it. That's why I'm doing this. If I don't get there, I walked all the way in vain."

The boy was walking slowly on the dusty road, looking like he wouldn't be sure where he's going. Despite his slow pace, he was heading to a well set destination. He had the target in his mind and nothing could be able to stop him.

Walking alone through darkness wasn't something unusual for him. That kind of trips used to busy his whole life lately. In fact, he wasn't even walking during the day. The boy knew his routes so well that he was always able to find an inn or a building where to rest, exactly before the sunrise. The rooms with windows in North positions is what he's always looking for, and not lastly, windows with thick opaque curtains.

Now the moon is the only light to shine his way. Even without it, he would know where to walk, step by step. He'd be able to go with his eyes closed. However, he was walking slowly, unhurried. He needs time to think before he arrives, because this is not going to be a usual trip. He's going to see something he didn't see for ages.

Towards morning, his face looked very tired. The darkness was still set over the village, when he knocked at the door of an old wooden house. The first knocks didn't bring any result, so he tried again, without saying anything, though. He looked patient, able to knock and wait until someone would open the door. Finally, after the third time, a voice was heard from inside, a thick voice, more like a snore.

"Who's there?"

The boy raised his head, looked at the door, waiting to see it opened, but didn't say anything.

"If you're not going to say your name, you're not going to see the door opened, boy! We're not taking strangers, not after what happened two years ago."

The boy raised his head again, looking interested of what the old main said. He cleared his throat, and then started to speak.

"What happened?"

"Do you prefer talking with the door closed? That's not going to happen. And I'm not going to ask you to introduce yourself again. I guess we're just wasting time. I'm going back to sleep, there's an hour until the sunrise."

The old man's steps were low paced, proving that he's very old, barely able to carry his body.

"I'm the brother!"

"The brother?"

The boy didn't answer again. Though, the old man pushed the knob and opened the door. When he saw the boy, he remained speechless and stared his little eyes at him.

"Now could you please let me in and tell me about what happened two years ago?"

"Sure", answered the house keeper, very abstracted.

The boy made his way through the room and was seated on an old chair.

"I'm waiting to hear that story"

The old man lit a candle, put it on the table, and then he was seated on a chair too, on the other side of the table. After a couple seconds of silent, he started to speak, with a low tone, almost whispering.

"We used to be happy here, in this little town. We had everything we wanted. We had water, vegetables, pigs, and most importantly, we had peace. Maybe it was too god to be real. The rumors came from the old men of the village that something bad would happen soon, because we started to live a dream, instead of living a real life. They said that the life isn't supposed to be lived that way. We need to see what the suffer means, that's what they thought. Not long after I heard the rumors, the prophecies fulfilled. One day, after the sunset, we started to hear beats, somewhere far away, and no one knew what was happening, and where those sounds come from. They became more and louder, until they overwhelmed the village. Suddenly, black horsemen on white horses invaded our little houses. They killed all our animals, poisoned the wells, killed many children and destroyed all the gardens. We were not prepared for something like that, and even if we were, we wouldn't have had enough people to oppose. So we just watched and cried. After the riders finished their job, they surrounded my house. One of them dismounted, headed to the entrance and broke the door. All of them were wearing black masks, so I couldn't see a single face. The man started to shout in my house, I still hear his words: <<Where's the young servant? Bring it here right now or I will set fire to the whole village!>> The young boy was hiding, and I wasn't going to surrender him, but he gave up himself. He showed up, and couldn't say a word, until the man took him, tied him, and put him on his horse. Then they disappeared and never came back and we never knew who they were or why they wanted my young servant. Now, may I ask you, are you his brother, the one he told me about?"

After a couple seconds of absence, the traveler answered:

"Yes, I am. And I'm going to see him again, maybe for the last time."

"For the last time? What do you mean? Where are you going? Who are you, boys?"

"My brother has become the leader of the riders now."

The old man wanted to say something, but he suddenly stopped and headed his head through the window. Deaf beats were hitting the ground in the distance.