Superbeing

Chapter 4 - Fordin Village

Grandpa had a look of uncertainty on his face, a faraway look in his eyes.

“Hey, are you listening to me? Why do you have a bounty? Why aren’t you telling me anything!” I shouted, anger sounding in my voice.

“Calm down,” came the quiet reply from Grandpa. “Michaela will end up waking up. I don’t want to involve her in this when we don’t know anything about her. Besides, it is my fault that her village was attacked, I don’t want her to find that part out.” He stared into the fire, the faraway look returning to his mysterious grey eyes.

“I’m not going to tell you why I have a bounty. Not until we reach our destination.”

“Why? I need to know these things you know,” I spat back, before storming off to my own tent when I heard no reply. I lay down, trying to calm myself. Letting my mind wander, I thought back to the times when it was just myself and Grandpa, his rough training and his laughter when I failed many times to do as he asked. Gradually, he taught me how to fight, how to wield a sword, how to swing it in the correct position, the stances I needed, the skills I needed to look after myself when he’s gone. My mind shifted to the thoughts of Michaela, how her village was burnt down, and how she must be so lonely right now, her family slowly disappearing from her life, with no home to return to. My thoughts shifted once again to marvel at her beauty. I thought back to the scene next to the stream, her beauty coupled with the white glow from the moonlight reflecting of the water. These thoughts went around my head until I drifted to sleep.

I woke up in the morning, and was washing my face in the stream when Michaela crept out from underneath her tent. Her brown hair fluttered in the calm breeze, and she turned to look at me. At once, feeling my cheeks burn a little, I snapped back to face the stream and washed my face again, trying to avoid her attention. After a while, Grandpa beckoned us to have breakfast, and we eat in relative silence, my eyes looking everywhere apart from at Michaela. When breakfast finished, we cleared up and readied the horses, preparing to leave. It was then that I realised it.

“Grandpa, Michaela doesn’t have a pass,” I pointed out to him.

“She can just use this spare one.”

“Why do you have a spare pass?” I asked, a puzzled expression on my face.

“In case you lose or forget yours.”

“I’m not forgetful.”

“Are you sure? Where’s your sword?”

“On my waist. Look, I’ll show you.” I reached for my sword, but nothing was there. Just air. I looked up at Grandpa and saw a smug expression on his face, and heard a soft giggling sound from behind him.

“Okay fine, you win. Where’s my sword?”

“Ask the lady,” he said, an amused expression on his face. I looked at Michaela to see whether he was lying or not, and she smiled a pretty smile at me, before producing my sword, which had been hiding behind her back. She held it out to me, and I took it, giving my thanks and showing a smile of my own. I jumped up onto my own horse and we set of down a path to the next village, which we reached that evening. As we were about to enter the village, two guards stood in our pass. Grandpa showed them the passes, to which one of them nodded an approval. “We’ll need to check your bags, for security purposes. And you’ll have to give us those,” he said, looking at the sword at my side. “For security,” he added, noticing my puzzled expression. “Welcome to Fordin Village,” said the guard as he handed our bags to us and let us through, a welcoming smile on his face.

We entered an inn and strode up to the desk. “Evening sir,” said the man behind it. He stood up, his short frame barely reaching above the desk. His balding head shone as the light from the inn bounced off his head. “Staying for the night?”

“Yes, we’ll only need two rooms,” replied Grandpa. I looked up at him, and I could feel my cheeks redden and my jaw drop a little. Michaela’s face also flushed red, and she faced down, much to the amusement of Grandpa and the inn keeper, whose laughter echoed in the large hall. “I’m joking, you two,” he said, a grin etched on his face, “we’ll need three,” he said to the smiling inn keeper.

“Linda!” shouted the inn keeper. “We have guests here, show them to their rooms!” A door behind the small man opened, revealing a young girl of about 14 years, her blonde hair held up in a pony tail, her young blue eyes shining like gems. “Come this way please,” she said, her voice high, before skipping off down a long, wide corridor. When she reached the end, she stopped in front of three rooms. “These are your rooms sirs and madam. Enjoy your stay!” she piped, before skipping back down the corridor.

“Well, I’ll be going off to bed. Lee, help Michaela with the bags. Goodnight kids,” said Grandpa, entering his room. Michaela pushed the door on the opposite side and we entered the room. “Wow,” she said, approving off the room. It was large and spacious. A wardrobe was in the corner and a large bed was pushed against a wall, which then extended to the middle of the room. It was decorated with a green carpet which covered the entirety of the room, complete with a wallpaper with fancy designs.

“We’ll, I’ll just, uh, leave your bag here, if you don’t mind,” I said, with a shaky voice. “Thanks,” she replied with a smile, and I left the room, entered my own, and fell asleep on the bed. The next day, the three of us toured the village, buying new clothes and refreshing our supplies of food and weapons from men in black hooded robes. Eventually, after much sightseeing and much tourism, evening fell, the sun setting in the horizon casting and orange glow in the sky from behind the mountains. We returned to the inn, which was full. Full of old men, young men, gossiping girls, chatty women, everyone was here. We found an empty table, where we sat, and the inn keeper’s daughter, Linda skipped over to us. “Evening sirs, and madam,” she piped, once again a smile ever present on her face. “What would you like?”

“Beer,” said Grandpa and myself simultaneously, whilst Michaela giggled. “And whatever good food you have, I’m terribly hungry,” added Grandpa. The food arrived a short while later and so did the drinks, before retiring to our rooms for the night. After a quick shower and a change of clothes, I climbed into bed, but not before hearing a muffled sound coming from the wall. Ignoring it, I tried to sleep, but in the quiet of the night the sound seemed louder. Getting out of bed, I pressed my ear to the wall. The sound stopped, but a moment later a soft, crying sound could be heard. My mind thought quickly of Michaela, and I rushed out into the corridor. I tapped on Michaela’s door, and when no answer came, I tapped a little louder. A pushed the door open a little so my whisper could be heard, then called out to Michaela. A lamp switched on and Michaela opened the door. She wore a pink dressing gown which was decorated at the hem by a flowery design. The gown hugged her features, curving nicely at the hips and chest. Her brown eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Come in,” she said, snapping me out of my trance. I followed her into the room and sat myself down next to her on her bed. “Are you okay? You look like you were crying,” I said to her, keeping my voice low and soft.

“Crying? No chance,” she said, with a smile.

“I could hear you from behind the wall in my room.” The tears rolled out of her eyes again. I slipped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to me, surprisingly without any resistance. A lovely fragrance was in the air, and I took a deep breath of it, her pleasant smell filling my nose. She rested her head on my chest and put her arms around my waist, hugging me tightly, her hands gripping my shirt, and cried. She cried for a long while, and all the while my shirt was becoming wetter and wetter. Eventually, the crying stopped and her breathing slowed down. I laid her on the bed and pulled the duvet up to her neck, watching it rise and fall rhythmically. After a moment of admiring her sleeping face, I returned to my room.

It was them that I heard it, a scream, this time coming from the window. I pushed it open and looked into the streets, to see men falling and arrows flying in the sky. Quickly getting dressed, I rushed out, meeting Grandpa in the corridors. “You heard it too, huh? Come on lets go,” he said, before we rushed out of the now empty hall, and onto the streets.