Another Story

In The Shadows

It has been some time since I have left May back in Orma. I have a lingering feeling of missing her, but the ever-changing landscape is blowing my mind off every now and then. Olen is next to me steering the horses from left to right or pulling them to slow down, and sometimes even signaling to speed up. The horses are beautiful, big, and sturdy mares. One with a brown coat with some black spots as an accent, the other jet black and is very majestic. The horses pull a not-so-big carriage but are full of goods to sell off to the market in Dirya. Olen and I have been talking about how he used to be a student himself in the school of mana.

"Kiddo, ya' shouldn't put up such face ridin' with me in ma' car." he pointed out my sulking face, probably noticing that I am missing May already. A few moments went by as I rearrange my face back into excitement, "That's way better, did ya' know that I dropped out o' school 'cause I didn't have the talents nor the money to further my studies." he pointed out with a face I would regard as, disappointment.

"I thought that the school was supposed to be free?" I asked.

"'Tis so, but how'd ya' think they keep it free? The kingdom doesn't just magically poof out money from nowhere ya' know." he said in some sarcasm I can't quite point out. Although I do know what the answer is to his question.

"Oh, the students form clubs where they sell all sorts of stuff they make in the school market, The money they earn partly goes to their club and the other to the school." I answered. This information I knew as May told me so about her club back then.

"Yuh, and I do not have the quirks to make something that is worth selling. Now I jus' deliver the stuff others want to sell." he pointed at his carriage full of goods in the back. Some awkward silence went by and I go back into admiring the beautiful scenery that is passing by. One scenery reminds me of the landscape which I saw in my past life where off the distance, the mountains meet the rolling hills of grass and crop. We soon entered a dense forest that smells of pine and birch. A good smell. Something that would remind me of home with May as Orma is a town surrounded by forest just like this.

Some time went by in the forest as we sit quietly. Olen still steering the horses now and then. The horses, though, have become quite nervous, they walk at a slower pace now. This is probably due to the fact that the forest is denser, and the visibility does not go further than a few stretches away. This nervousness also began to boil inside me as the horses came into a stop.

It won't be long until we have reached Dirya, but our pace stopped. I began to feel my heart sinking as the eeriness of the forest began to take over my chest. It is suspiciously quiet, with only the rustling of leaves and branches to be heard.

A few moments went by and I suddenly heard some murmurs in a dense set of brushes off to our left of the path. I soon realized that these were bandits. They are readying their incantations.

The incantations are very much unrecognizable but from the looks of it, there isn't only one. Olen is starting to get nervous, but he remains still as if he knows what to do in such a situation. A stone the size of a table soon came flying in front of us which blocked the path. The horses reared themselves in panic. Olen trying to regain control, he started pulling them back down as we are trying to make out what is happening. The stone left a crater where it landed.

Bandits then surrounded us, they were around four or five of them. One seems to be the leader in the back, signaling the others to surround us much closer. Olen sat right in front of me starting to raise his hands and looked at me as if telling me to do the same. I raised my hands.

A bandit came towards us and began to question, "Well, y'all seem so cozy right now, aren't ya'?" he said. We did not try to answer this. "Ya' know the drill if ya' wanna go through, you gotta pay." signaling Olen to pay money. As if Olen already knew how much he needed to pay, he hands out some money to the bandit. "Aight, and now for the boy," he said pointing at me. Olen looked at me as if saying he doesn't have enough money.

I took my pouch given to me by May earlier, took out some coins which seemed to be of golden color, different than what Olen has given them but this should be enough. Olen looked at me with nervous eyes as he saw the money I took out from my pouch. "I hope we can go through now," I said towards the bandit who has taken a frown as he looked at my pouch and back at my face.

"Haha! we'll see about that; I see that you are quite a wealthy one aren't ya'." He said while pointing at my pouch. He looked back at the leader which seemed to be growing impatient and nodded his head.

Olen twitched "Please don't, we just passing through to get this boy to the school in Dirya." he said with great concern of our wellness. The hairs of my neck started to rise. A few murmurs in the back started to appear again. The winds of the forest start to be more violent; rocks began to fly again in our direction, now in smaller sizes rather than big ones. The bandits began to unsheathe their swords and the one we spoke to begin making its way towards me with a face that shows its bloodlust.

"Let's plunder all o' this!" A shout said

"Yeah!" another one said

"This boy is rich!" the one in front of me informed the others. He began to make its way closer and closer towards me which seemed to take an eternity. I do not possess anything to defend myself. Olen seemed to be praying behind me hoping a miracle would happen. He does not want his life to end like this.

As if time leaped, the bandit is now in front of me. He pointed his sword towards my neck as I began to breathe heavily. I felt a few times how the skin of my neck touched the point of his blade. "Please," I said. "Don't kill us" I added nervously.

"That depends, give us all you have." he pointed his free hand to my pouch. I do not want to give him my money. May gave this to me. May worked hard for this, and I do not want to regard all her hard work for nothing. A sudden thought came by my head, May's voice saying that I can defend myself.

With a slow breath, I began to imagine the breathing of the enemy in front of me. The way he holds the sword against my skin. The size of his body and the face that would want to kill me. "Baer Kur Nae La Kalamie Pada." I said in the same pronunciation as May taught me. I soon realized my mistake. I said a word wrong, in a panic I tried saying the incantation again but now at a faster pace. "Baer Kur Nae La Kelamie Pada" I said again in sluggish pronunciation, but to no avail. It didn't work.

"What are you trying to do!" He raised his sword which then scratched my neck. Blood now started to draw from it but not deep enough to kill me. A bunch of shouts started to rise in the back. Stones started flying past my head and Olen's.

It did not work. May's spell did not work. Now I am gonna die. The same age as I was back in my previous life. A life that's so miserable as this. I try to relish the moments as I embrace the end of me. I began to think about May and how she treated me all along. The house I grew up in. As if waiting for the swing of the sword, I closed my eyes. I soon then got a picture that seemed to be from my previous life. It is the moment when I died. A moment that will haunt me forever in this life, and probably in my next life after this. I died by the hands of my own father. A sudden tear started to flow out my eye as I take my last breath.

"Nooooo!" said Olen as he tries to stop the bandit in killing me, but it was not enough. The other bandit caught him as he tried to sacrifice himself for my sake. I appreciate the thought, but this is my end.

Waiting for the strike, I hear Olen's sobbing voice next to me. A few moments passed as I still try to keep a hold on to the pouch. I still have my eyes closed. I then felt a sudden wind on the front of my face. This is it; this is the sword. This is my end.

But no, a few moments passed. The wind has passed, it isn't my end. I opened my eyes and saw that the bandit in front of me is gone. Olen fell unconscious beside me with fortunately no blood on his body. I began to let the situation sink in. I saw an unfamiliar robe off in the distance which seemed to be a person of medium size. This person defeated all the bandits in an instant. The bandits were already on the ground, all of them, unconscious. The one in front of me is on the ground next to our carriage, with his head seemingly banged with something heavy.

The person in a long robe started walking towards our direction. I soon recognize the way they walk and the silhouette of their body. It was May. I try to reprocess what just happened. I see May walking towards my direction with the unfamiliar robe. As I see her figure clearer, I see her slowly saying something that is unrecognizable. My head started spinning, my body seems to be flying. I do not remember what happened further.