Kingdom Fall (Ethereal #1)

- Chapter 21 -

Dedicated to entralledreader

The Boy in the Well

Gentetsu

Three years ago

Bright sunlight streamed through the cracks of the cover. At the bottom of the pit, a small boy dug the damp soil beneath him with his toes, dirt crawling underneath his toe nails.

Feeling the sun was nice. It warmed his pale skin as the rays passed between the wooden planks. Gen always welcomed the sunlight in the morning. Nights were cold and humid, forcing him to curl into a ball and shiver to keep away the cold. It was worse on rainy days where water would drip down the walls of the well to form a puddle under him.

It seems the weather was in his favor that day.

And as usual, all that Gen could do was to sit and wait. He ran his nails over the stone bricks surrounding him for most of the day. He killed all the plants which grew under the well a long time ago and they didn't grow back. He regretted doing so. When the plants were over, he started to work on the rocks, pieces of wood and bones that surrounded him.

Everything he touched turned to dust when he was emotional enough. It took him months, stuck inside a well, to master his ability. He learned that it was triggered by his feelings and eventually learned how to harness it through concentration. He had been trying to break down the stone walls for a long time. But he knew it was fruitless. Stone was hard to disintegrate, and even if he did, he would only be met with more soil and stone.

Still, he kept on trying. He knew his clan was not going to let him wander around with his "curse".

He felt the day pass by slowly. The light that fell on the wall in the mornings, crawled toward the sandy pit by the afternoon. When the sun was at its peak, the cover was pulled away. As usual, a small sack was tossed into the well containing a waterskin and hard stale bread. And as quick as that, the cover was pushed over the well once again.

Gen would have given anything for a bowl full of white grain and some vegetables. Eating just bread for two whole years had taken a serious toll on his health. He used to exercise and train in the pit when he was first thrown in. But as his health deteriorated, his strength disappeared, leaving only skin and bones.

But nothing could add up to the feeling of guilt and shame his discovery led towards his family. His father who was a great kurojin warrior dissowned him and his mother and declared that he was not his son to redeem his reputation.

He felt no sorrow for his father. It was his mother he was worried about. He had no idea where she was and even wondered if she was still alive.

Once he was done eating, Gen stored the waterskin in the little hole at the egde of the well. Water was precious to him and he was not given water when it rained. But to his wonder, he was given  two dumplings as well.

It was strange since no one would send him pasties in the elder house.

Maybe there were guests, thought Gen. His consisted mostly of warriors. Kurojin warriors were born and raised in the valleys of the Go-yun mountains and the best were sent to serve the emperor. Gen wondered his the emperor made his annual visit. Also, he wondered what would happen if the emperor got to know about him.

He was not killed because the elders feared that killing him might enrage the gods who cursed him.

He also wondered if the emperor might declare his death sentence if so. The emperor was considered a god in his own right, so the elders won't argue when the decree is given.