I Am Death

Chapter 2: Capture

I leave the cabin

I leave in search of the ingredients for the soup that you asked me to bring. The nearest ingredient is the blueberry that grows on the other side of the lake.

I unfurl the scroll you gave me and read the ingredients again

2 Bunches of blueberry
1 dozen of potatoes
1 dozen of tomatoes
1 chicken meat
1 dozen of carrots

I read the list and grin. It's hard to know if you're making soup or Irish stew. I reach the blueberry trees and pick out two bunches. I then set off for the fields near the outskirts of Althia where the kind farmers that have no love for their lord, your Uncle John, give us any surplus vegetables we need.

The only problem would be chicken meat. I'll have to steal them from the shop in the village.

As I journey towards the edges of the kingdom I think about how lucky we have been to have peace in our little haven near the lake the past week.

*********
I reach the border and sneak past the lazy sentries. I then make my way towards the fields.

I find old man Smith toiling in his fields. I make my way towards him.

"Halloa! Who do we have here! It's been a long time since I met you Michael. What have you been up to?" Exclaims Smith

He was a man who had probably lived for at least 50 years. I never bothered to ask him how old he exactly was. He had very few strands of ash grey hair left on his head with a full grown beard to accompany it. He wore a tattered cotton shirt with a woolen coat over it.

"We ran into trouble with that bastard John a week ago. I felt it was safer to lie low" I reply

"Oh that vile devil, never had any love for him. What do you need?" He asks

I hand over the list of ingredients and he disappears into his store and brings back the vegetables wrapped in a cloth.
As I thank him and start to leave he hands me another parcel

"Pies from my wife" explains the old farmer

"Thank you for these vegetables and give my regards and thanks to Mrs. Smith, please." I say

"Oh you're such a well-mannered lad! You should be the Prince of this land!" Says he

"I'm humbled, but the greed and lust that comes with the crown is something that I don't intend to possess" I tell him quietly

He drops me off near the borders and waves me goodbye.

*********
I sneak past the border and start my journey home. The chicken meat was easy for me to get, the shopkeeper's son who tends to the meat is rarely alert.

It's getting dark, my friend must be among these tall, thick woods by now. I know he guards me every time I make this journey. It is a long journey and it's bound to be at least another 3 hours of walking before we can be together again.

Suddenly, I hear a growl behind me. I turn around with a ready defensive combat tactic in my mind. I see 2 blue eyes with malicious intent looking straight at me from the thicket. A panther. I should have known.
Before it can attack, a brief scuffle takes place in the dark where I cannot see what is happening.

Soon, the panther's last cry can be heard. In the place of the blue eyes, two purple eyes now look at me from the dark. They urge me on and I whisper a quiet thank you to my friend.

*********
I reach the lake, but something is wrong. The rabbits that flock to the cabin, lured by the smell of your cooking are not there. The light that signalled my happiness in your safety is not there.
My heart starts beating loudly as I run in fear for you towards the cabin.

I enter the cabin and am greeted by the cold air that shows that nobody has been here since the past few hours. I walk slowly to the kitchen table with despair. I see a note on the table.

It says

Dear Demon,
I have taken Evelyn back home where she belongs, far away from people like you and your father who only know a life of crime. Don't try to rescue her, she is in her rightful place. You have no right to be with her.
John Duncan III

So this is the work of that weasel! In my rage, I slam a knife into the note on his name. I scream in rage.
He will pay for this.
I know what to do.
I walk to our room.
I open the trunk that I swore I would never touch.
I take out my father's treasure that I swore I would never use.
I take out the bodysuit that my father used to murder. I put on the wolf-mask that he used to inspire fear. I then leave.

I leave under the cover of the stars, under the moon's proud gaze.
I set off for Althia under my friend's watchful gaze.

I have just one thought in mind...
I am coming for you