Balance

***This is the short story version. I am expanding this to novel length. I wanted to go more into depth between the relationships, add more lore and possibly new characters entirely, and give a little more breathing room to the story. Enjoy!

The sun glared down upon the land, harsh rays of light chasing away even the briefest hope of blessed shade. Moisture hung thick and heavy in the air, clinging to Velkan Brand's dirty tunic as he pulled weeds from his small, sad garden. Sweat dripped from his brow and stung his eyes, his dark hair stuck to his slicked neck and shoulders, and the oppressive sun continued to beat down upon his back. He was uncomfortably hot and wished nothing more than to join his mother inside their crumbling stone cottage. Though the house wouldn't be any cooler, he would at least be by her side. 

The weeds had been particularly stubborn that week, growing almost as fast as Velkan could uproot them. With every passing year, the vegetation took over increasing amounts of the scorched earth that made up the Brand farm, threatening to overcome what little crops Velkan and his mother were able to grow. Mother had told him that it wasn't always this way.

In her stories, there were seasons. Wet seasons with cool rain, cold seasons with ice and snow, colorful seasons where the trees matched the skies of a setting sun that Velkan had never seen. In his twenty years of life, he had never seen a rainstorm or a snowflake or a colored leaf or a sunset. He had grown up under an unending sun that burned hotter each year, with untamed vines and forests that claimed whole cities, with the Taking. Mother had told him that twenty years ago, when the sun refused to set and the summer refused to end, the Taking first came to their world. The blood plague moved throughout the cities and the country in equal measure, seemingly striking at random. But no matter when it came, it would eventually come for everyone. In the last month, it had finally come for Mother.

With every passing day, her blood turned darker until black lines stretched across her skin like vines of death. With every passing day, she grew weaker until she could no longer work the farm as she used to. With every passing day, Velkan took on more of the work, more of the strain. He knew his mother worried for him, worried that the increased labor would tempt the Taking to come for him early, but he had little choice. If he could not keep nature at bay, it would steal away their garden and their home with little care that two souls still resided within it.

After clearing the garden as best he could, Velkan returned his tools to the nearby barn and made his way to the farm's well, wiping his dirty hands on his brown patched hose before washing in the near scorching water until he was decent. He went inside, the hot air blasting him full force as he entered the doorway, and poured water from a pitcher to bring to his mother. She had felt weak this morning and refused to leave her room.

He knocked before entering and found her kneeling on the floor, his father's chest opened in front of her. She was trifling through it but gave him a small smile as he handed her the water. 

"I have something for you," she said. She pulled a brown leather-bound book from the chest and offered it to him. "Your father never filled this one."

Velkan was confused as he joined her on the floor. There were countless journals like these in the chest his mother was currently burrowing through. In their youth, Velkan's parents had been adventurers and his father had documented many of their shared journeys through drawings. It was on one of these adventures, just before Velkan was born, that his father had become Taken. He made it home with barely enough time to tell his wife he loved her and to pass along his haul before succumbing to the Taking. His last journal remained half-filled, a sharp reminder of a life cut short far too early.

"Why are you giving this to me?" he asked.

"You should start thinking about having some adventures of your own. You're a good lad but we both know I'm not long for this world. I don't want you to waste what time you have before it comes for you, too," his mother answered gently. Velkan felt his heart sink.