"Daddy, I saw a man lying over there," Liliana said to her dad as she pointed to a corner. The father at the time had been working on the wheat field, working to the harvest in before the first snow.
Litta regarded his little daughter for a moment before saying, "Show me where." If a man was lying somewhere where the children could see him, he had to investigate before the children did anything stupid. Who knew what his eight-year-old would do.
He put down his tools and followed his daughter, but he took the machete he had been using on the farm. Whatever the reason, he had to be cautious especially since his little girl was involved.
Liliana did as she was told. She led her father to the spot she had been on the road and pointed saying, "he was lying over there."
"Run back home to mother now," Litta said as he approached the area he had been shown, but not before making sure his daughter was clear. When he went further in, he found a man was indeed lying there.
Looking at the guy, Litta was shocked, wondering what sort of clothing the man was wearing. He had never seen anyone dressed like that. Moreover, the man had paraphernalia all over his body and mysterious metallic tools hanging over his body. He also noted the sword and the bow and arrows.
The man was lying face flat on the ground. Litta was not even sure if the man was alive or not. Upon further investigation, Litta determined the man was alive. Then came the next big question, what to do with him?
Had he been dead, he would have just dug a shallow grave and buried the body, but now the man was alive. His whole life he had never done much killing, and even so, why would he kill an innocent passer-by?
Litta decided to do the next good thing, so he picked up the man and carried him to his house. He had to admit the man was quite heavy. Before he did, Litta made sure to hide the man's weapons, he couldn't have them in his house.
Litta's wife and daughter received the man and washed him, inspecting him for any form of injury. Even if they did find any, all they could have done was wash the wound since Nalu city had closed the local apothecary.
Luckily, the man had no apparent injury. What Lydia found odd was the fact that the man did not even bear any scars or any form of past injuries. Moreover, it was as smooth and soft as a baby's.
That evening, the Somar settlement head came over to see him. Word had gone round that Litta was seen bringing a strange man to his home.
"You know we cannot stand for this!" Juliana shouted, "You must return that man where he came from."
"He is a visiting relation," Litta defended himself.
"That is a lie, the man was passed out on the side of the road, you think we did not hear about it?" Kumasi demanded.
"Ever since we were little, my cousin is known to be a drunk,"
"Cut the crap Litta, I have known you my whole life, you think I don't know all your relations?"
"This is my relation, respectable elders," Lydia cut in. She was a foreigner, and she understood her husband's intentions.
"So, it is not enough that we accept her into our community, she is going around bringing more people to the community as well?"
"Worse off, drunks and dregs of society!"
Litta was not well-liked since he was a free thinker in this xenophobic society. However, they would not oust him on account of accepting strangers.
***
Lydia was wiping the man's brows while her daughter watched. She turned away to rinse the cloth she was using, but on turning back, she found the man staring at her.
Barda did not understand where he was or how he had gotten there. One moment he was on the castle summit, and the next he was making up to a woman cradling him. Worse still, he was nude and unarmed. Not the best of conditions to wake up to.
"Liliana, quickly, go get your father," Lydia said as she returned Barda's look. She then put her best smile and greeted the man.
It took Barda a while to catch up to what had been happening. Unfortunately, with only Litta and his family's testimony to go by, Barda could not figure out how he had gotten there. He did figure out where he was though.
Litta and family lived in a small establishment known as Somar. It was more like a village with no walls or fancy buildings. The people here lived simple lives, and the Littas were wheat farmers. None of this helped Barda figure out why he was here and what this place had to do with Thogodan the great.
He had a few theories, one being that the Key was required to open a portal that led here. Here could be the dimension that Thogodan created, or not.
After hearing what the Littas had done for him, Barda was very grateful and resolved not to make any trouble for them. He introduced himself as Lincoln, after noting their fondness for names that start with the letter L.
The following morning, Barda went with Litta to the farm. Though he was not a farmer, Barda excelled at all physical work, and by mid-morning, he was done with his assigned portion for the day.
Litta was pleasantly surprised to see the man that he had been coaching that morning outdo him in farming, something he had done his whole life. This just confirmed his suspicion that the man was not what he claimed to be.
Litta did not dig much into the man's life. People who ended up here did not come due to good things happening to them. For now, all he could do was add him more work. If this kept up, he would be done long before the first snow. It felt good to have someone to help around some.
"Daddy! Daddy! Come quick, Monica's in trouble!" Liliana's voice sounded distressed as she ran to her papa.
Without much thought, Litta put down the tools and picked up his daughter. Barda followed suit.
"What happened?" Litta questioned his daughter as they ran.
"We-We w-were playing and t-then something bit her!" Liliana sobbed as they ran.
"What bit her?"
"I don't know!"
By the time they got to the scene of the incident, there was already a small crowd gathering. A woman was cradling a little girl about Liliana's age. The little girl had 2 small wounds around her cuff.
A burly man came out of the bush and tossed a carcass on the ground. He looked at a nearby child who was also weeping and asked, "Is this the thing that bit her?"
"Yes," The girl answered.
Barda recognized the creature for he knew it very well. Matter of fact, he had been fighting it just a few days ago. It was none other than the river-snake.
As a boy, these things had been rampant in the area, and there was a simple weed they used as an antidote in case someone got bitten by these things. It was also far cheaper than the medicine bought in pharmacies, so it was preferred by young rascals.
Barda had seen the same weed on his way here, something that stunned him. It couldn't be an accident, could it? Barda quickly ran to where he had seen the weed and plucked as many leaves as he could.
When he got back, he cleared the people and took out 2 stones. Using them as pestle and mortar, Barda ground the leaves into a fine paste and started applying the paste over the child's wound. Since this was his first patient, Barda was very generous with the paste.
"Are you an apothecary?" Litta asked. At the time, Barda was busy with his treatment. However, something about how Litta asked caught his attention. On looking up, he was shocked to see the looks he was being given.
All this while, Barda had not known the commotion his actions had caused. Everyone was looking at him as though he was a ghost. Come on, he only said apothecary, not magic. He couldn't be expected to know that that was a shocking thing.
"Well, are you?" The burly man prompted Barda impatiently.
"I know a few things," Barda replied honestly. He had a resigned look as though he had been caught with his hands in the cookie jar.
"Please come with me," Said the man. He didn't even wait for Barda's approval as he dragged him off. The crowd followed behind, having forgotten about the child.