A sudden jolt shook the carriage and rose Teo from his peaceful slumber. Had they arrived? No, they couldn't have, it was too soon. From the halfway-curtained window, Teo could see the sun high in the sky. It's rays caused the fresh droplets of water which still clung to the wet leaves of the surrounding vegetation to sparkle like an agglomeration of small crystals. They were scheduled to arrive only later today, afternoon at the earliest his grandfather had said. Yet they were not moving.
Teo turned his head around to look at his grandfather, Troy, while he got into an upright position. From the look on his face, he was just as surprised as Teo was. He even looked a bit scary, even more than usual; his brows arched like a drawn bowstring and his hawk eyes glaring out of the small window. Why had they stopped so suddenly? Had a fallen tree blocked the way? Maybe part of the road had been flushed away by the rain, and the thunderstorm had left a muddy ravine in its wake?
From outside, they could hear muffled voices, one of them he recognized. It was the voice of Phillip, their coachman. He sounded troubled.
"Oh damn it! Not again! What's with these frickin punks lately? Shush, mind your own business, you scoundrels! ... Ok, Ok! I get it. I'll be quiet, just get that darn thing out of my face! Troy, here are some gentlemen again that want to make your acquaintance!"
Without a comment, Troy grabbed a decorative, dark green scabbard which had been leaning against the wall, hidden from sight by a wavy curtain, and slowly got up from his seat.
"What's happening? Who is out there?" asked Teo in a panicked tone. Just what was going on here? They weren't being robbed, were they?
"Stay put and don't make any noise, I will take care of that," Troy said with a smile, pulled open the door, and jumped onto the muddy road. Worried, Teo jumped up to follow him, but the door was slammed shut right in front of his face. He held tightly onto the window frame with his tiny fingers and spied through it carefully, trying to hash any details of what was going on.
A haggard man stood beside the carriage, and his grandfather was fast approaching him. Another one stood a few steps further away and seemed to keep a close eye on the coachman. The two men were probably around the same age as Teo's father, but they looked nothing alike with their shabby clothes and dirt-encrusted hair. But the most distinguishing feature of the duo were the two slightly rusty knives which they held in front of their bodies with outstretched arms, trying to appear threatening. Shit! They were being robbed.
Teo felt the hair on his neck rise in alarm as a sudden feeling of suffocation overcame him. His grandfather was going to be okay, right?
Before Teo could decide on what to do, Troy had already walked up to them.
"Stop! Don't come closer! Get away from the carriage, and no one gets hurt!" the man yelled and motioned to the nearby line of trees at the roadside with his free hand.
"Gentlemen, can I help you by any chance?" Troy said in a relaxed fashion and took another step in their direction.
"I said, stop! Don't try anything funny, geezer. I've warned you!" the man shouted and tried to threaten him by swinging his knife around, in vain, as Troy took another step forward.
"Relax, I'm sure we can talk this out. What's your name, lad?" said Troy diplomatically with a smile.
"Stay back!" the hoodlum shouted and stabbed his blade towards Teo's grandfather, who stood right in front of him by now, wearing the most relaxed expression on his face that Teo had seen so far.
How had it come to this? Didn't his grandfather have a sword? Why has he willingly putting himself into such a disadvantageous position?
Before Teo could contemplate any of these questions, the action had already started.
With but the slightest of movements, Troy's left foot slid to the side, allowing his torso to dodge the incoming blade by a hair's breadth with a simple twist. In the same motion, he used the build-up momentum to pull back his leg and forcefully dug his knee deep into the man's crotch, sending him to the ground, vomiting, and curled up like a prawn.
Before anyone could process the events, he had already followed up with a lightning-fast lunge and knocked the second offender unconscious with a perfectly aimed blow to the neck. Everything was over in a second, and he did not even unsheathe his blade.
Teo could barely believe his eyes as he observed everything intently from his hiding place.
"Took you long enough. What if something happened to me?" said Phillip sarcastically with a grin on his face.
"Stop whining, Phillip, and help me move this one aside, they have delayed us long enough already," answered Troy, motioning towards the unconscious body right next to the carriage's right front wheel.
Soon the road was cleared, the obstacles removed, and everyone got back to their position, intending to continue their journey. However, before Troy took the last step into the passenger booth, he turned around once more and reached into one of his pockets to retrieve a single silver coin. He locked eyes with the first offender to go down, who was still in excruciating pain caused by his shattered manhood, flung the coin into his direction with a snap of his fingers and said:
"I get that you're desperate, but do try asking politely next time. Who knows what result you may obtain?" And just like that, he took the last step inside, closed the door behind himself, and the carriage drove off into the distance.
Inside the passenger area, Troy found himself eye to eye with the curious Teo.
"Who were those people? Why did they attack us like that? How are you so strong?" the boy asked, overeager and excited, barely able to contain the desire to pile up more questions.
"Easy there, we still have a few hours until we arrive, no need to rush anything," Troy replied and waited for Teo to settle down again.
"They are farmers," he finally said after a while, creating more questions for Teo than he had answered.
"Farmers? That can't be, aren't they busy with preparations for the harvest?" Teo asked, perplexed.
"Not if there is no harvest," Troy corrected meaningfully.
"But..." the boy was not sure what to say. It was almost autumn, the busiest time of the year for any ordinary farmer. He knew just how busy from observing the people living around Ritark, many of whom raised crops in differing amounts, but he could not find any similarities between them and the two men from earlier.
"Floods, Monster attacks, unscrupulous landowners; life has not been easy for the common people in this area lately. You are quite lucky to have grown up in a remote village without these troubles," Troy said, explaining the situation.
"But why did they attack us?!" Teo wanted to know. He had not experienced much violence in his life and still failed to understand the motives governing society.
"What would you do to feed your family? Winter is relentless up here, and with the meager harvest this year, many are bound to starve. Still, what they did is unacceptable," Troy explained and shook his head gently.
Teo did not answer; he just sat in silence, seemingly consumed by his thoughts. He had no idea! People were starving, and he had never heard anything about it! Everyone seemed to be fine in Ritark, so he naturally assumed...
"Don't worry about it; you are still too young to trouble yourself with these grownup problems," his grandfather reassured him.
Teo nodded and tried to make himself more comfortable, intending to rest for a while longer. They would arrive in a few hours, and he would need all the energy he could get. It was a whole new world waiting for him.