North Brim

Brim Village, Veradir

17th day, Month of the Chilling Water

Year 433

"Hey."

"Hey."

"Hey!." I shouted as I shook the boy sleeping on my cot. Golden hair covered his forehead. MY COT!

"Mmm."

Hand on hips, I angrily waited for him to move. "Hey! Boy! Move over." Sleeping so comfortably at MY bed! He did not even think of sharing it to me. ME! The owner.

"Uggh." He opened his deep blue eyes sleepily and lazily. He moved a little to give me room to lay down and maybe later, sleep.

"You're so tiny." He said as I made myself comfortable.

"Don't you know its rude to insult the person sharing you her bed so that you can sleep properly in this weather?" I said as I gave my back to him, I merely heard him chuckle in response.

"You want to share this wool blanket with me or you do not want wake up tomorrow?" He said, teasing me. I did not reply but let him put the blanket over me.

So warm. And I almost immediately drifted to sleep.

>>>>>

I am standing in the middle of the large body of water.

Where am I? The ocean? Is this what the ocean looks like?

Everywhere I turned it was water. Water so still it looked like mirror.

Just a short distance from where I stood, I saw a woman, clad in black leather and Nylphiric Steel knives strapped at her belt, and forearms. I suspect, there are more tucked in her boots. Her hair is as black as mine, braided tightly on her head and touched just above her lower back; and her eyes, her eyes caught me. Swirls with different shades of silver and ocher, moved like a void within. As I tried to take a step closer, I sank.

When I opened my eyes, I stood inside an ornate hall. Colors of red, violet, gold, and colors I have no name for colors that danced in front of me. Paintings of lively scenes and scenes no child should see. Vases, and sculptures of varying sizes, full body armors displayed by the wall, elegant rugs so immaculately woven it felt like sin just to touch it. As my eyes finished roaming around the hall, my feet moved in its own accord. Walking across the hall, I felt like I should be looking for something, no, someone. The body that my eyes can see through, but a body I cannot control, stealthily hid in the shadows, shadows clinging so close around the body like skin.

I walked further down the hallway. I looked around and noticed that there's no one around but me. I turned in the corner and still saw the similarly decorated hallway, I focused my magic to find the door I am looking for. I continued to walk further, There it is.

A door of gold with ornate carvings of swirls and flowers decorated door, with two unknowing men as guards sleeping as they stood beside it.

Easy prey.

I could feel the shiver of pleasure down my spine, a feral smile etched on my face. An easy kill.

I soundlessly moved in the shadows, taking my knives at both hands, I wondered how many years they had been guarding this very door to perfect sleeping like that. I swiftly cut the throats of the two men. Blood sprayed from the wound, they gurgled, and sounded like fish out of water. No one heard. I almost laughed.

"May your sprit fly to Hell." I sneered at the dead bodies as I said it. There bodies fell to the floor without a sound as I created a faint magic circle to absorb it.

I opened the door and hoped it did no creak. But creaking or not, the earl's death is sealed.

I heard a woman calling me, a voice I was familiar with. I looked back and saw my mother, angry at my deeds.

Then... she hit me with a laddle.

>>>>>

"What do you think you're still doing, sleeping so soundly Reika." She looked quite annoyed with me.

"Huh?" Sat up confused as a bunny rabbit.

"Wake up and eat. I prepared a rabbit stew from the rabbit your father caught." She said as I hurriedly stood up from my cot and helped her set up at the table.

"Now boy, eat. You shouldn't starve yourself and get sickly. When my brother comes back, he will take you to your parents." Mother put a hearty bowl of stew on the table for the boy to eat, then she gave me mine. "What should we call you? We can't always call you boy." She asked as she sat down with us.

A long silence went on but the boy only looked down at his food. His deep blue eyes looked darker.

"Honey, don't stress the boy. Let him eat first." Father said as he smiled at mother then to the boy.

"You can call me Ven." He answered quietly.

"Where are you from boy?" My father asked, not pushing the boy to tell. Everyone has a secret. He used to say.

"I- I don't remember. I don't know what the place is called." He said then took a spoonful of hot stew in his mouth. Cringing as he realized how hot the food is.

"Be careful, or you'll burn your tongue." Mother chuckled and gave him a cup of milk.

"Thank you." He sheepishly said.

We finished the meal while talking about different things.

Father, and Sparrow, our hunting dog was able to catch quite a game at the forest. We have a deer meat hanging at the hook near the fire place. The boy sat quietly at the bench outside our house staring at the vast snow-covered field.

"It must be hard for him. Living a life he is not used to, dear. Why don't you ask him to help you with your chores or play with you after? Then maybe sometime soon he may want to open up to you." My mother suggested with a soft smile on her lips.

"Maybe I can ask him to help he fetch some water at the well. It gets quite heavy for my stick arms to bring a pail of water inside the house. And its cold. I don't think he gets cold" I said with a pout.

Mother gave a small laugh. "It is cold. And I think he does get cold. Go on now. While I finish this quilt I am making for you and him."

I nodded and got the pail from the kitchen and walked towards the front door.

"Want to help me fetch water from the well?" I asked him.

"Sure. Where?" He asked, sitting up almost immediately.

So, he was just bored.

He immediately took the pail from me. "You lead the way my lady." A made an extravagant bow. I flushed and turned towards the icy well.

"You do weird things boy." I told him.

"We do that all the time from where I came from. And it sounds odd for you to call me 'boy' since you are younger than me." He said and walked beside me.

"Where exactly did you come from? I'm not as young as you think. I am six red moons old." I looked up since he is taller than me.

"Well, the memory is quite fuzzy for me. But I can remember walls of stone and huge halls where there's a lot of food, and they have doors as tall as giants, and towers where you can see the eastern sea and harbors through long tubes with glass at the end. Well, I am still older than you are, I'm eight and a half red moons old" He said proudly.

My mouth gaped open. "Is there such a place? You don't act like your age though." I asked incredulously.

He nodded happily. "U-huh. Of course there is. I think that is where I lived. I'm just not that sure though. It might just be a dream too." He finished dreamily. "Come on now. Let us hurry. We do not want your mother to look for us and find us as huge ice statues." He smiled then ran ahead of me towards the well.