A Series of Traumatic Events

Chapter Eight

Quirin knew that it was a noise that had woken him up, but he didn't know what had made the noise. Quirin glanced at the window. It was the middle of the night.

Quirin got out of bed and inspected the house, trying to identify the source of the noise. He wandered into each room, checking them off one by one.

He reached Varians room, but paused when he noticed the door was opened slightly. He found that odd. Varian always shut the door when he went to bed.

Quirin stepped into the room. He was alarmed when he didn't see Varian. He rushed over to the bed, throwing the blankets off in a panic. Varian wasn't there. He scanned the room, and found his dresser drawers opened and clothes were scattered on the floor.

Quirin ran down the stairs, desperately checking the rest of the house. Then he laid eyes on the front door, and he froze.

The front door was cracked open. Varian was gone.

Quirin grabbed a lantern and his sword, and ran out the door, calling Varians name frantically. He had no way of knowing which way he had gone, or how long it'd been since he left.

But then he looked down and saw small footprints in the mud. Quirin was thankful it had been raining.

He quickly followed the footprints, which lead to the edge of the woods, and he hesitated. It would be harder to track Varian in the woods. But Quirin stepped into the forest and continued searching for him.

-

Varian groaned weakly as his eyes fluttered open. He had an intense headache, and when he tried to sit up he suddenly felt very nauseous. He turned to the side and violently threw up.

He attempted to stand up, but toppled into a tree. He had a hard time keeping his balance, and took a moment to try and gather his thoughts.

How long had he been knocked out? It was still dark outside, so it couldn't have been long. He tried standing again, leaning into the tree for support.

Varian searched for his bag of supplies, but it looked to have been lost when he fell. He slowly started limping away, trying to find his way out of the forest.

He still wanted to try and make it to the next town over, to start fresh. He knew that if he went back and his dad saw the mess he's gotten himself into...well, he didn't want to think about it.

The more rational part of Varian thought that he needed to go back. He'd hurt himself, and he most likely needed to rest. He felt drained, and exhausted.

He eventually gave up trying to find his way out and slumped against a fallen tree, resting his eyes. Slowly he fell unconscious.

-

Quirin followed the footprints for quite some time before it led him to the edge of a small hill, and he felt a wave of fear wash over him.

He quickly but carefully made his way down the hillside, scouring the surrounding area for any sign of his son.

What he saw made his chest feel tight with fear.

It was a rock, covered in blood.

Quirins search became more frantic, if Varian was hurt, he needed to get to him, now.

-

"Hey! Kid! Get up!"

Strange voices echoed in his head as Varian slowly regained consciousness. He felt strong hands grab him and forcefully pulled him to his feet.