Note: This chapter will be written in Jak's POV.
"Jak. Jak! Did you hear what I said?"
I nodded even though I zoned out of the conversation halfway through. It was my dad.
"When I am gone and working, it's your responsibility to protect your mother from any possible threat. The shadow-gatherer will make her vulnerable. It may attract evil towards her. Protect her, Jak. Please promise me that you will!" He spoke.
"I will." I told him
"Thanks." He replied
"Dad. Can I borrow your gun? The small one." I asked, hoping that he would say yes
"Well.." He hesitated
"To protect mum." I added
"Oh ok then. Here you go. Use it wisely, son." Dad replied, giving me the gun
I ran off downstairs to find my mum on the floor holding something in her hands.
"What are you doing, mum?" I asked, wondering why she was on the floor
"I am trying to help this poor thing. It's a bird. It's injured and I can't remember how to heal it. I used to know. I wonder how I used to do it." She told me
I looked at the bird. It looked injured beyond repair. Like it was suffering. Its pain was too much. I went closer to it and I felt something. Too much suffering. I don't like it!
"Do you want me to kill it? It will rest then." I suggested
"What?! No way! Stay back!" She said
"The longer we wait the longer it's in pain. Kill it mum or I will." I told her
Everything dies sooner or later. Sometimes another thing makes another thing die. Like my dad. He causes bad people to die. They call him death dealer. Does mum not understand this?
"We will heal it. I know we will. Have patience." She told me
To heal? That's even better than killing. Why didn't I think of that before? Oh well.
My mum remembered how to heal using her magic.
She is one of the few human magic users left.
It's a long story, I won't get into that.
My mum set the bird free then went back into the kitchen to open the fridge.
She looked at the almost empty fridge and frowned.
"We need to go. Shopping. Or we'll starve." She said
"Ok, let's go." I told her even though I knew we still had that emergency storage of food.
She got dressed to go outside and I wore a black vest, orange shorts and sandals. It was sunny outside after all. I put the gun in my pocket and I got a backpack to carry the groceries.
We were walking to the shops and everything seemed fine. No danger. There wasn't that much food but we bought what we needed and what was long-lasting.
"What is this country coming to?" A woman muttered , shaking her head
What did she mean?
"Fordos and his people feast daily like kings and what do we get? Barely enough to get by!" She complained to the man next to her
The man told her not to make a scene and to be grateful for the food they have.
Just after we paid for the food, a dangerous looking man ran into the store, demanding money and also food.
"We can't just hand over money and food to you. We can't!"
"Do you know who I am? Huh?! Give me your money! Now! Or you all die!"
I was itching to do something but another man noticed this and held me back, telling me to not get involved.
Suddenly, my mum wasn't next to me.
"Mum? Mum?!" I called out
The people in the store were cowering in fear, pretending to not notice what was going on, letting the criminal do whatever he wanted.
Even though he was getting more and more violent, kicking stuff around.
My heart jumped in fear and disgust at the sight.
My mum held by the criminal, a knife pressed gently against her throat.
"I get what I want or I'll kill her. Anyone moves a muscle, I'll kill them!" He shouted
I did not hesitate.
Like a stealthy leopard, I managed to sneak up behind him.
So I shot the man in the head.
He fell to the floor.
I hugged my mum.
People around me were too shocked.
"What?" I called out to them but they only gave me strange looks and didn't answer.
Those cowards actually called the police on me.
They took me away to a station and talked to me.
"So, what's your name and how old are you?" He asked
It was a bald man in a uniform.
"Jak Price. 8 years old." I replied
My dad taught me how to speak to police people.
"P-Price? That Price? The adventurer?" He replied
"Yeah. So why am I here?" I asked, getting tired
"You shot a man in the head at the shop. Why?"
"He was going to kill my mum. I had to! I know it's wrong to kill but he's bad! He wanted all the money and food in the shops."
"Technically, we can't put a kid in prison even if he kills someone. I'll take this up to the King. You'll be sentenced to 6 months of community service."
"Oh shit!" I blurted out
".."
"I mean. Ok. Can I go now?" I asked
They let me go.
I told dad about this and he wasn't very happy.
"..so I shot him in the head. Is that bad?" I asked him
"No son. It isn't. You did the right thing." He told me
"Why did I get 6 months community service then?" I huffed
"That's bullshit, son! They shouldn't punish you like this. I have connections! I'll get you the best defender possible! This is stupid! How dare they punish you for protecting your own mother?!" Dad spoke
Luckily, the King reduced my 6 months sentence to 3 weeks!
Thanks to my dad. He really is the greatest!
***
Unexpected run-in.
Dad took me to that same forest that we trained in last time but he had to leave for work so I was left by myself.
I am used to it.
Sometimes, I run into a few friends.
"Mr. Yellow beak! Where are you? Do you remember me? It's Jak!" I called out
No reply. Not even a whistle or chirp. How sad. Is he dead or is he too busy feeding his chicks?
Oh well. I can meet other creatures.
It's really hot.
Maybe I can take off all my clothes and go for a swim.
'If you stay here, I will hurt you too. I can do it. I have no issues with killing you.'
What did he mean when he said that to me?
That smooth voiced demon.
He wanted to turn me into a demon when I grow up.
He was so strong that dad couldn't hurt him too much.
He hurt them both and he let me go.
And this is what I had to say to him.
'I want to remain human and become stronger than all those powerful demons you speak highly about. I will be stronger than you. Much stronger and stronger and stronger and even stronger than that!'
Can I really do that? A human like me?
I don't want to think about it.
I don't want to be sad.
I-I'll go and relax in the lake.
I put all my clothes nearby and decided to go for a swim.
I splashed about, made gigantic waves and played with some of the rocks in the lake.
"Ha, this one's shaped like a carrot." I laughed, tossing the rock about.
It accidentally landed on my head. It didn't hurt.
I got tired of being in the water so I got out and used my hands to squeeze out all the extra water on my body. I was still wet but what could I do? I had no towel.
I put all my clothes back on, except my grey t-shirt.
I had orange shorts and my sandals and wrapped the t-shirt around my waist.
I felt like training so I climbed a few trees and did whatever random exercises I could think of.
Little did I know that there were two people nearby.
"What is it? Something interesting has caught your eye lately?"
"A boy, M.Gravity Flames. A human one."
"What do you see in this boy, Queen of the skies?"
"Don't get so cheeky with me, brat. It's none of your business to know why."
"He leaps so well, from tree to tree."
"What sharp eyes you have, Arkhon."
"I, the queen of the skies will make my move."
To be continued...