Sweat dripping down his forehead, Edward dragged his feet along the dirt road. He was so tired. Who knew the next village was so far away from Patho?
Edward screamed in frustration, "Damn it! Why is Patho in the middle of nowhere?! I barely had anything to eat in the past two days. The next village is so far away! Maybe I should... just stop... NO! *gathers composure* I decided to venture the world! So I'm not backing down! Not when I've gotten this far!" *punches air with fist*
Edward treaded the long road, anticipating that he would get somewhere but with each step he took, that hope seemed too far fetched from reality as his vision was getting blurry from the exhaustion.
THUD!
As he fell to the ground with his eyes half opened, he saw a glimpse of what appeared to be soldiers along the horizon. This could either end in one of two ways... Either he gets captured as a slave and gets sold off or they help him get to his next destination. With both of these possibilities running through Ed's head... he had forgotten the worst possibility yet... His death.
The aroma of roasted wereboars permeated through Ed's nostrils as he took his time opening his eyes. It was blurry. He could see a glimpse of men drinking beer around a campfire not more than thirty feet away from him, and beside them was their weapons. Axes, spears and swords, all sorts of gear meant to end the life of an individual or perhaps protect one's own life; depending on how you look at it. Once Ed had completely opened his eyes and realised the situation he was in , his heart started to beat furiously as if it were to break free of his body. He knew his life was in danger.
Ed slowly tried to get up so, trying not to make a single noise, his life depended on his escape. He knew that he could not approach the men by merely speaking with them. His instincts told him so. They were burly built, muscles popping out of their shirt, almost as if it were to be torn off. These do not look like the guys you can negotiate with but rather, resolve disputes by the metal. As Ed had gotten up on his two feet, he was ready to run for it.
*turns around instantaneously*
A big man was blocking Ed's field of view, there was no escape. No weak spot that Ed could exploit to warrant him his escape. Trembling in fear, Ed ran towards the other direction, towards the campfire; he had no where else to go. He either had to beg for his life before the men around the campfire where his likelihood of survival was more than minimal or challenge the beast that was before him. If he were to beg before the beast, he would only have fifty percent chance of survival but if he were to beg before the men around the campfire, it would be higher as there would be conflicting ideals when dealing with a child; whether to let it escape or let it suffer. That sense of morality was what Ed had been depending on. Best case scenario was that the men would let him walk free, worst case was they would fight among themselves in deciding whether or not they should let him walk free. No, worse case scenario was... Death.
Ed screamed at the top of his lungs before the men, "Please let me live! I am of no harm to you or your comrades! I am but a mere traveler, an adventurer! I am willing to be your slave or your comrade but please just spare my life!"
Ed cried as those words came out of his mouth.
The men around the campfire all gazed at Ed, their eyes didn't seem too friendly. Ed gulped, and clenched his fists. He readied himself for the worst case scenario.
*sigh* One of the men got up from the log and started stretching. He was of lean build and relatively fit but not as bulky as the men that sat beside him. He stood at around five feet ten inches, the shortest among the bunch. With the tallest being the beast that was behind him, who stood at a massive seven feet.
The man grabbed a bowl and filled it up with food from the cauldron. He then walked towards Ed , offering the bowl with his hands that looked as if they had never gone through the hard work of labor.
"Eat.", said the man in a stern voice.
Ed looked into his eyes and he could see despair in them, as if he had never seen the light of day. It was very contradicting. His eyes and hands, one that has gone through hell and one that has not. His rather smaller stature compared to the other men seemed to indicate that he was perhaps not a front liner; perhaps a scout or medic but the latter would not have made sense as his hands were not proof of it. All these analytical deductions from Ed's observations raced through his mind that he had forgotten the fact that his life was in danger.
*slap!* The man slapped Ed in the face, causing Ed a red mark on the face.
"How long are you going to space out for? Don't you think it's rather disrespectful for someone like you who is of lowly importance, even lower than that of a pig to stand there and disregard my generosity?"
The man grabbed Ed by the collar and looked him in the eyes.
"There are only two types of people in this world kid, those who eat and those who get eaten.... now... which one are you?"
*moves the bowl towards Ed's face*
Ed was shaking, he had never felt such a presence before, his appearance was not at all frightening but his whole demeanor was nothing to scoff at despite his size. He looked at the bowl before him and pondered his previous statement... was this stew made from the lives of his enemies? Or was it all a figure of speech? Either way, he had no choice, his next decision would determine whether he lived or died.
Ed took the bowl from the man's hands and looked into it. It smelt fragrant as the aroma of the spices seduced Ed's nose and stomach as he had not eaten in quite a while. He slurped down the contents of it, there were meat pieces that were tender and delicious and the potatoes and carrots added for nutritional value. It took him a minute- no half a minute to gulp down half the bowl. He couldn't believe it, it was so good that it even put his mother's cooking to shame. As Ed was chewing and slurping down the final contents, his teeth came across something that was hard to chew, like an odd shaped bone. He spat it out and to his horror...
It was a human finger.
Ed could not believe it, he had almost eaten a human being... Or has he already done so?
*thomp!* The man punched Ed in the stomach and grabbed him by the hair.
"Did your mother not teach you table manners? If there is a piece of....*punces Ed* food... *punches Ed* that... *you have trouble ... *continues to punch Ed* with... you leave it in the plate or better yet offer it to someone else!", the man said angrily.
Ed groaned as he laid down on the floor, he cried as his body ached. He probably had fractured some ribs. He tried to crawl away from the monster that was tormenting him. He looked up and saw the man's comrades averting their gaze, its almost as if they had no power over him, even though they were all bigger and could probably kill him in a one on one battle.
"Why! *Ed's tears dripped down his face* Why don't you all stop him! Ah!", Ed screamed as the excruciating pain had affected his rational thinking. He curled up into a ball like an animal being attacked by a predator; defending his vital organs. The men continued to stay silent and avoided eye contact with Ed.
The beast suddenly emerged from behind and looked over Ed, his eyes were gentle and calming. His hands were all roughed up and blistered, Ed could tell he was fighter and a good one at it.
"You wanna know why none of us will stop him?", asked the beast calmly.
"Why?..", Ed asked in a scared voice.
"It's because he's the strongest among all of us here.", said the beast in straight and firm voice.
"Strongest? *laughs softly* How so? He's the smallest one amongst all of you and you all can out number him... Plus, he does not even have a weapon on him! Are you all just insane right now or have all of you lost your sense of morality?!"
"Guess you won't believe it till you see it.... Let's fight Lohk! You against me, Saarle and Kofke! No holding back, you only win if all three of us die or else this brat will think we are faking it!"
Lohk looked at him in the eyes and sighed, "I don't want to do it Tholgaius, I won't sacrifice my men over a mere child."
Tholgaius, laughing, "You don't have a choice. *Dashes towards Lohk* If you won't come at me, then I will."
Tholgaius unsheathed his sword that was as tall as a man and swung it towards Lohk.
*klang* Tholgaius' blade nearly sliced open Lohk. But to Ed's surprise, Lohk had blocked it perfectly with a dagger. Ed was wrong about Lohk. He was carrying a weapon. Lohk's reflexes were too fast that Ed was unable to see him take out his dagger. It was as if Lohk was a wizard or had superhuman abilities, the latter of which would not be at all surprising. What was even more shocking though, was that Lohk had not at all used his free arm to support the other which was blocking Tholgaius' blade and also the fact that Lohk was just standing straight, with his legs close to each other.
Ed, with a look of bewilderment on his face, "How..."
He was still surprised at the fact that Lohk managed to block Tholgaius' attack that he had forgotten that there was a battle ensuing in front.
*klang! kling! klang!* Before Ed had realised, Lohk was already fighting three men, one of them was Tholgaius and Ed recalled that the other two men, standing only an inch or two below Tholgaius, were Saarle and Kofke. Both were wielding a spear and an axe respectively.
It was spectacular. Lohk continuously blocked all incoming attacks flawlessly. Logically speaking, this feat would not have made sense.
Ed, questioned the fight before him.
"How is he doing this?"
It was not possible. Three against one. Smaller stature. Lesser reach. The only advantage that he would have would be speed and agility... But would that be enough? And in terms of stamina... It could be said that Lohk's and the others' would be limited. More so for Lohk as he had to constantly evade and block the oncoming attacks.
*kling! klang! klong!* The fight ensued on for another five minutes. Tholgaius, Saarle and Kofke were panting and sweating. But to Ed's surprise, Lohk has not broken a sweat at all and neither was he panting. It was a superhuman feat. After evading and blocking all those attacks one would think that any human being would have broken a sweat.
"How... his reaction time, his speed, his strength despite his size. But he hasn't gone on the offensive yet. He might lose...", Ed thought to himself.
Tholgaius, Saarle and Kofke were panting heavily. Their movements have gotten sluggish and had lost its strength.
"You guys should give up. You all know how this ends. I win. All of you lose.", Lohk said to the three of them.
Tholgaius, shouted, "It's not over yet! Saarle, Kofke! One last push!"
In that moment, all three men pointed their weapons at Lohk, standing in a spindle like formation. They charged at Lohk simultaneously. There was no way out, Lohk was trapped, if he were to dodge, he would be open to getting pierced by the spear and sword on the left and right side. He also could not dodge as if he were to do so, he would be open to the remaining weapon. Running would be the worst option, as he would be open to having a weapon being thrown at him.
"Heh, there's no way he'll win... Not li-"
As Ed said those words, Lohk stood his ground firmly and flipped his daggers, holding the tips of it. He then threw the daggers in a swift and elegant manner. The daggers spun in a vertical manner swinging relentlessly through the air and landing accurately in Tholgaius' and Saarle's shoulders, causing them to drop their weapons. As the spindle formation broke, there was still one enemy remaining.
"There's no way he'll survive this one, he has no weapon and if he tries to escape... he'll die..", Ed said in a desperate voice.
But to Ed's surprise, Lohk ran straight at Kofke. It was insane. No mad man, especially an unarmed man, no matter the size, would run straight at another man with a weapon. As both Kofke and Lohk ran at each other, thoughts raced through Ed's mind. Why did he run away? Is his life in danger? What's going to happen after this fight? How was this possible? Why are these men following another man? What is... life? As Ed pondered these questions...
BANG!
Lohk's boot had met with Kofke's chin. The impact from them running towards each other was violent. Kofke fell on the ground motionless.
Tholgaius scoffed, "Heh.. we're still alive you know..."
"I left you alive for a reason Tholgaius. *walks to Tholgaius and stands over him* You still owe your life to me and my ambitions.", said Lohk, reaching his hand out to Tholgaius.
"Yea... My bad... Went out of control there...", said Tholgaius, grabbing Lohk's hand.
Ed was still in a state of complete shock. The events that occurred in the past half hour was more thrill than all he ever had in his last eight years of life.
"How... how did you get this strong?!", asked Ed.
Lohk slowly walked towards Ed after helping Tholgaius. His presence was something ominous. Something evil. Ed did not like this feeling at all.
Lohk, looking at Ed, "Why, do you wish for this strength as well? Do you really want to go through I went through? *grabs Ed by the shirt and looks him in the eyes* I would give everything away to have a normal life, to have a family and never have to bother about anything else. Now... answer me... do you wish for this strength?"
Ed looked into his eyes. It was like staring into the void. It was captivating. Corrupting. Ed did not want to experience whatever suffering Lohk was in.
Ed, looking away from Lohk's eyes, "No... I do not..."
"A wise answer. Now answer this next question very carefully... Because your life depends on it."
Ed gulped and looked back at Lohk in the eyes, he knew Lohk was not kidding nor was he the type to do so.
"Sure... What is it?"
"Do you know the way to Patho?"
Ed's eyes expanded as he realized that there is no good answer to this question.