Before I could even think of escaping or leaving chaos ensued soon after within the village ."He's insane!" A woman screamed within the crowd.
"Burn it with fire" Another scream pierced the crowd. A team of village guards in emerged from the growing crowd and walked up to my crouched form. The leader amongst them stepped up and said "I've always known he wasn't normal. We should have gotten rid of him from the get go."
He unsheathed his sword and readied himself to swing at me. All the while a strange figure in a cloak loomed over me seemingly invisible to everyone else. Who is this person? What is even going on?
( 4 YEARS AGO )
"Con !Con get down here immediately boy !" I was woken up from my nap by a shout from downstairs . 'Ugh this old man better not make me work again. I've already did everything he told me to do' with a groan I got up and picked up my apron, heading down to the store front. Going down the stairs I noticed the old man waiting for me with a...not so pleased expression to say the least. What did I do? " What's the problem Sir?"
The man I call "Sir" is Mr Jay ,whether that's his first or last name I'll never know because whenever I ask he answers with "mind your own business you nosy kid" . He looks past his 60's and that's why I call him an old man, there's also the fact that he's always wearing a scowl which is classic grumpy elderly citizen behaviour. He's been taking care of me as far back as I can remember. Well... taking care of me is a bit of a stretch , he more hired me and pays me by giving a place to live and food. He's said so himself on many different occasions. He also says having kids around is good for business. I think he may have a screw loose or something.
Mr Jay snapped his fingers Infront of my face "You have to stop daydreaming you weird kid. You've been staring into space for the past few minutes". See this old man sucks. "I need you to hold the fort . I have somewhere I need to be for the next few hours or so." I tilted my head in confusion. " Don't give me that look brat , unlike you I actually have places to be. Anyway I'll be back later, don't close the store." He grabbed his coat and left the door without looking back.
I sigh and take my chair at the counter.' What kind of Caretaker leaves a 12 year old to take care of a store at night? That just sounds like he's asking to get robbed.' I looked around the store where shelves were filled with various satchels and bags. In the back there were these rings that apparently could hold things inside them. I haven't seen the old man sell a single one of those and he refuses to show me how they work so I'm very skeptical. Which is sort of weird because he claims to have the best store in the Kingdom. His words not mine.
(3 hours later)
Night had fallen and the stars had already filled the sky .'So there really just aren't going to be any customers anymore? Earlier today customers were pretty frequent, considering the fact that barely anyone in this village puts up with me this was suprising ' I'd grabbed the book I was reading earlier. It's this month's iteration of the beast and monster almanac .It was mostly just a bit of additional information but also a few more aquatic monsters. Monsters like the seismic Ness or just "Nessie's" for short. They're giant eel like creatures the size of buildings that live in small groups. They're thought to be the cause of earthquakes. 'That's really cool'. My enjoyment of the almanac was interrupted by the bell ringing signalling a customer just walked in.
I looked up from my book expecting someone to be at the door but I was met by an empty, open door. "Well that's not creepy at all." waiting a bit and I listened for any sound before deciding to go check out what was going on . I made it into the street and looked around but there was not a soul on the streets . The only sound being the distant cheers and loud conversations from the local tavern other than that it was peaceful. A cold night breeze made it down the street and to me. ' Really should have bought a coat'. I looked up at the stars , how they seemed to light up the night sky. The moon fragment in a haphazard arrangement always seem to contrast the rest of the scenery. Apparently it wasn't always fragmented , it used to be a single structure. 'Can't imagine what that looks like'.
"Beautiful isn't it ?"
"Yeah it i-"
'Wait'. I turn around to see a figure in a cloak sitting next to me. " What's wrong? I thought we were observing the desolate remains of the moon." I took a step back and said " I'm sorry I don't really talk to mysterious cloaked figures. I'm sure you understand " Steeling myself to take action ,I lunged at the figure trying to close the distance but I didn't . 'Something's wrong'. A strange sensation came over me . ' I'm sure I just tried to attack but...I'm in the same position I started in'. Seeing my attack didn't work I tried to run away . Again that strange sensation came over me. Yet again I seemed to not move from my position no matter how many steps I took. ' What the heck is going on? Why can't I go anywhere?' panic was starting to set in, I need to think of a way to get out of here. " Hey, what did you do to me?" the figure didn't show any reaction to what I said.
Before I could say anything else the figure replied " Why can you see me child? Are you perhaps one if my Dayborn?That would explain the shade of Black hair you have and those eyes but... that's strange....there's no link between us...or maybe it's because of that? How interesting" the figure continued muttering nonsense to themselves. 'Hopefully they stay distracted long enough for me to manage to escape' Simple in theory but how do you even begin to escape this kind of magic? " The details don't matter it seems I actually had a reason to visit this area. I'll be observing you closely from now on." not even giving me a chance to be confused or ask any questions the figure held up a porcelain white hand and the world went dark.
(Present Day)
(An hour before the incident)
"He left... again... That's the third time this week. "Maybe I should ask for a share of the makings because I basically run the business by myself. It's like he knows that it's about to be a busy day and leaves me to deal with it alone. Honestly with free labour available why not use it? A small frown made it to my face 'Just because I understand doesn't mean I have to like it.' While sweeping the store I heard the bell chime. "How many times have I told you to not make that face in the store ? You're scaring away potential customers also you didn't break anything while I was away right? You better not have" would it kill him to not be a pain? I mean he just got back. Against my better judgement I let out a sigh, " No sir , as you can see everything is in tiptop shape." doing a mock salute after that seemed right so I did. " Why do I not believe you?" our conversation was abruptly ended by a rough looking man with blonde hair. The scar on his left eye didn't help with softening his expression. That wasn't the craziest thing about him, it's what he's wearing. He was in a royal guard uniform , I only know what that is because of the inspections on the village that happen every ten years but the next inspection is still 3 years away so what is he doing here? " Conleth go get those supplies that ran out a few days ago . The store might close soon." The old man is using my full name? Plus it's the middle of the day why would the store lose? Somethings going on here. " Sure thing , I was hoping to take a break soon." but whatever it is it has nothing to do with me so I'm going to just head out.
I hate going outside. This village sucks. It's always so loud. As I walked down the street I saw a group of kids playing a game. What I assume to be their mother came out and called them inside , before she headed back inside she threw a glance at me but looked away just as quickly not holding eye contact. Ignoring the stares from various villagers I finally arrived at Granny Sue's store. " Hey there ma'am , I'm here for the usual." a short old lady with white hair came out from the back of the store and sat on a chair " Saw you coming down the street, Kelly is getting the stuff already. Ignoring that would it kill you to ask how this Granny's doing? How about going outside more ? you spend all your time in your room reading , why not make friends or perhaps join the academy and actually learn how to use your magic? I'm sure that curmudgeonly guy would at least let you do that." This is Granny Sue , she means well but she really can talk your ear off. She is also the only person who Mr Jay even considers listening to. That really makes these visits worth it . " We both know that cheap geezer wouldn't let me go unless I pay for myself so that's a no plus with how much everyone thinks I'm a bad omen they would probably come up with an excuse not to let me in. I can already use magic already so it's not like I'm missing out on anything." Because of the circumstances of my birth I've been somewhat ostracised from the village. If the old man didn't take me in I don't know where I'd be. " You poor child, as long as you're fine I can't really complain" all I could do in response was let out a small smile. " Right then, onto business. Are you going to pay in coins or should I put it on Mr Jays tab like usual?" I just stared at her. " Right . On the Tab like usual. Kelly should be out soon."
It wasn't long before a girl came out of the back holding a bag full of supplies. A smile made it's way onto my face " Hi Kelly! How you been?" Hearing me say this seemed to spook the child so she dropped the bag and ran to hide in the back. 'She's so adorable'. Picking up the bag I heard a cough come from the old lady " I'm starting to feel lie there may be a bit of favouritism at play here." The smile disappeared from my face, " Don't know what you're talking about. Bye now ma'am." Before I could walk out the door Granny sue said "Be careful out there , there's something strange about the air today." she wore a sad expression. 'that's not ominous at all'. I gave her a curt nod and made my way back.
'I think I'll take the long way home. Don't want to walk in on something crazy '.Truth be told I just wanted to clear my head a bit . Can't get the lie I told out of my head. While I know that I have fire magic , I haven't been able to use it for the past 4 years or so. It's always bothered me not being able to feel something I could for a long time. It's like losing a part of myself. ' I wonder what happened'. I saw the village guards sitting at a restaurant nearby. 'They must be on break '. This was obvious due to them not wearing their hats. One of them seemed to noticed me. "What are you staring at grey eyes? You better not be trying to start some chaos." This prick is Gareth. The village guard has always been on my case but Gareth goes out of his way to bother me. 'It's best to just leave before he escalates this.'. I held up my hands and turned around to leave. I heard him shout behind me, " And you better stay out of trouble you freak."
After that infuriating interaction I walked around a bit before I headed back. As the store came up I suddenly felt a shiver go up my spine. 'why? It's not even cold outside?' Ignoring my odd behaviour I held up my hand to open the door. Pushing the door I was sent flying by a large explosion enveloping the store.