A scowl could be seen on Ari's face when he approached the crude village walls of Oaktown.
Oaktown can barely be called a town anymore and the villagers are just too proud or lazy to change the for a long time outdated name.
He hated this place, hated its ignorant people and hated how they treated him. In his heart he said to himself once more that he had to leave this place one day. A farmer outside the crude village walls got big eyed when he saw Ari coming back with a wolf on his back but was shocked when he saw that the wolf the boy was carrying was actually a venomous wolf. A beast feared by these villagers. He made a circle above his heart using only his thumb and pinky the universal sign to protect from all kinds of evil used by the locals. Immediately after that he ran into the village to spread the news. Ari just snorted: "Ignorant fool."
Inside the village walls there were already quite a few people waiting for him whispering to each other thinking he couldn't hear them. "What has this cursed thing done this time?" "He really killed a venomous wolf!" "Impossible, last time the village needed 5 grown men to kill a single one of them and he is only ten years old." "You forget he is one of the cursed ones. There is probably some dark magic inside him that helped him!" "That is a bad omen, the crescent star shines dimly today!" "We should get rid of this curse, too long did we allow this thing to live here with us"
Ari ignored the whispers and hatefull comments of the villagers around him and headed straight to his home in order to rest. The day left him tired and exhausted and he just wanted to lay down. Tomorrow he would decide what to do with the corps of his first real prey.
In front of the house Mary was just saying goodbye to her friends when she spotted Ari coming up the cobbled road to their house with a wolf hanging around his shoulder. With a disgusted face she sneered: "What have you done this time you little shit? Isn't it enough that you curse our whole village? A monster like you living amongst honest people like us it's disgusting!"
Ari ignored his sister. He was used to her saying these things to him but he was powerless against her. Once he snapped and beat her up in front of everybody and the villagers had to literally drag him off her but that only made things worse. His sister finally had the proof she wanted that he was nothing but a wild beast and since then Ari ignored her as much as he possibly could ignore his older sister. Even his parents seemed to distance themselves after the incident and probably only allowed him to live in their house because his hunting skills were like nothing the village has ever seen.
He was a blessing and a curse to his family in equal measure. Not that he really cared anyways he just needed the roof over his head.
Mary's friends snickered and made some comments of their own. The boys especially tried to suck up to Mary but Ari couldn't care less about them.
Inside the little house he dropped the corpse of the wolf next to his matrace and went to sleep in his corner of the living room.
On a dusty road a few kilometres away from the village where Ari lives a small group of heavily armed soldiers with a few mismatched men behind them is marching in the direction of Neraz, the biggest town in the north of the republic. At the front two men stood out from the rest. One man wore a heavy robe embroidered with dark chains and crystals while the other men wore a shiny plate armour that only the super rich could afford with a family crest above his heart.
"My son tell me why you still insist on dressing like a wizard that just fled from the armies of hell. You are my son and the heir to the dukedom of Nerez for gods sake start acting like it. The man in shiny plate armour who just spoke to the other much younger man in the heavy robe sounded tired and more than a little bit annoyed. However, given the guards' expressions this wasn't the first time the man said this.
The younger man apparently his son only shrugged and said in an even tone: "I will start acting like a duke as soon as I am one and no moment before that. Concerning my choice of clothing, I will have a better chance of survival in case of an ambush wearing my robes instead of this cumbersome and for the most part useless piece of ceremonial armour. Besides, my horse doesn't look like it's about to collapse beneath me.
But tell me again father why we have to visit every little shithole of a town and village around Neraz"
"It is important to visit your subjects once in a while in order to understand their problems and worries better. This is your responsibility as the future duke of Neraz."
"As you say father" the youth answered his father with a hint of well hidden frustration finding a way into his voice.
"We will continue to Oaktown and spend the night there tomorrow we will move towards Neraz and visit as towns and villages as possible on our way back there
Ari woke up not long after he fell asleep due to the sounds coming from outside his hut and decided to check out the ruckus. What he saw instantly jolted him awake. A group of soldiers that looked like they were led by a noble and another important looking man in a heavy cloak.
His first instinct was to hide, if the noble decided that he was a threat or a monster his imprisonment or more likely death would be certain.
Ari decided that he had seen enough and ran in the opposite direction looking for somewhere to hide and figure out his next move. The dark shadows of the butcher shop gave him some hope. People rarely found him when he was hiding in the shadows and the smell of the butcher's waste would mask his smell. He knew this wasn't a long term solution but out of options he decided to hide there.
He hid where the shadows were the thickest and sank in them as deep as he could.To his surprise he saw the robed man together with two soldiers approaching and was shocked when he saw the robed man step out of the shadows directly next to him looking straight into his silver dotted eyes. And as if to add to his miserable situation the other man in heavy armour appeared on the street as well having followed his son here.
"You, my shadowy friend, are interesting. Very very interesting. Let's step out of the shadows and talk shall we. My father, the old man in shiny armour will soon find us anyway."