[Warning this chapter has dark themes and graphic scenes. If this does not suit you do not proceed]
A year or so has passed life's been great, Practicing magic every day with my friends and my mom, Working out and practicing swordsmanship which I'm not nearly as good at than magic but I'm working on it.
One day when I'm sleeping I here my parents talking about something I can't make out exactly what it is that they are saying but I can make out some words
"Orcs.. close?.. Halifac Forest.. Oh!.. we must leave.. No we'll.. fine.. stay for now.." Based on that I can infer that there are Orcs in Halifac Forest; and my mom wants us to leave but my dad thinks we'll be fine. Halifac Forest is about half a days trip north of us. I just hope they don't care about us.
A week later, turns out a I jinxed it. I woke up to the smell of smoke and my mom waking me up
"Kael! Wake up there's bad guys outside we must leave!"
Hearing this I get up immediately "What kind of bad guys?" I ask in a scared tone.
"These monsters called Orcs they are big and ruthless."
Yep definitely jinxed it. I get out of bed and run outside with my mother and see most of the town burning including Rowans home, I'm not sure about Carys's home because I can't see it. I hope both of them are safe, "Where's dad?"
"He's off defending the village he'll be back soon," Seraphina guides me to the forest away from where most of the other people are running.
We hide out in the bushes and trees for sometime and the noises go quiet. Eerily quiet, the only thing you can hear is the breath of the person standing next to you. Although my mom's breath sounds different. Ragged and heavy. I look at her "Are you oka–" at that moment I notice in the corner of my eye behind both of us a towering figure.
"What?" Sera asked me confused why I stopped in the middle of my sentence.
I quickly turn around and cast Air Burst shooting the Orc back about 10 feet.
"Mom, Run!" Sera and I immediately start sprinting as fast as we can but she trips. I stop dead in my tracks and run back to her and pick her up. Unfortunately she hurt her ankle, most likely sprained it and can't walk or run. I notice the Orc getting closer and closer, at that moment I remember Levitate which allows me to lift myself or an object nearby up to 3 feet in the air. I cast it and Sera lets put a light squeel as she starts floating. Because how long it took me to remember the spell the Orc is now mere feet away I'm just outside of his reach. I run as quick as I can with Sera floating next to me, me being smaller I can run much faster than the Orc I gain quite a bit of distance about 50 feet. This is great although I'm getting slower from my stamina running out and my mana depleting. I decide to leave her at a torched building where the fire is gone in hopes that they won't check a building that has already been scorched. "Stay here and don't make any noise if I keep taking you we'll both get caught" I tell Sera
"Stay safe, and find dad" she orders me.
I quickly get out before the Orc turns the corner and sees me and I start running again occasionally casting various spells to keep him away. This would've been my first mistake in the new world.
After about 20 more minutes the Orc gets tired and gives up on me. I creep around trying to find my dad, maybe even Rowan or Carys.
"Kael!" I hear a whisper from the bushes next to me, it's Carys and her family. I make sure nobody sees me and slide in next to her. "Hey, nice meeting you in Kael a friend of Carys" I whisper
"Quite the time to meet huh?" Carys's father whispers to me "What were you doing wandering alone?"
"I'm looking for my dad Thorne"
"Oh you're Thorne's boy" he responds "I last saw him fighting off the Orcs on the south side of the village I'm sure his doing fine, he's quite the swordsman"
"I'm sure he's fine too." I turn to Carys "have you seen Rowan?"
"No I haven't, if you're okay then he's definitely doing fine."
"Yeah definitely" I get up "I must go to find my father you three stay safe"
"You too" All three of them reply
At that I leave the foliage and start heading south, I notice the sun coming up which may be good but also bad, the Orcs may leave but they could also see me easier. I keep heading south and notice a few people in hiding places trying to hide from the Orcs but no Orcs in sight it seems they've left but I cant guarantee anything. I keep creeping south from cover to cover using my knowledge of videogame stealth from my past life, probably not super reliable but it's working at the moment. As I continue heading south I start to hear some clanking. "Swords?", I peer over the hill and see a group of men wiping sweat off of their forehead and Thorne pulling his sword out of a dead Orc. "Thorne!" I yell for his attention
Thorne snaps his head to me "Kael! Where's your mother?" He sheathes his sword and starts sprinting towards me
"She hurt her leg so I hid her, I came to find you."
"Where?"
"Follow me"
I show Thorne the way to Seraphina and I look inside the building I had left her in. You remember when I mentioned this would be my first mistake? Here is where it plays out. I see an almost lifeless body that used to be my mother. A hole in her chest and stomach, she's dead. Although there's a baby silent. Turns out Sera was 8 months pregnant. I had no clue, otherwise I would've stuck with her. I fall to the ground.
Thorne runs to her and picks up the baby checking it to see if it's alive or not. "Honey?" tears drip down both our faces
"This is my fault" I admit, "I should've stayed with her" this was when I realized this wasn't a game or a dream. This is reality, Seraphina truly was my mother. Thorne is my dad, Rowan and Carys are my friends, their family is their family.
Thorne looks at me "No it's not, your a kid. Kids make mistakes... heck, If you stayed you both might've died."
"But I couldv-"
Thorne interrupts me "No! Don't blame yourself"
Just as Thorne says that the baby starts crying it's alive! Or should I say she, it's a girl to what I can see at least.
"We must find Charlotte" Thorne says,
Charlotte is the towns doctor and oftentimes deals with birth. I assume this is since she came a month early.
Thorne holds onto the baby tight and we both run as fast as possible around yelling for Charlotte. Soon after she comes out of the forest asking what happened?
"Sera is dead but the Orcs cut the baby out of something like that" Thorne exclaims
"Oh no!, she'll need food soon. How long has it been since it happened?" Charlotte Questions
Thorne responds telling her "I'm not sure I wasn't there when it happened"
"We split apart about an hour ago so not too long" I say
"Okay it'll be fine for a bit do you mind if I feed her?" She asks
"Oh yes, yes whatever she needs" Thorne replies
"I'll take care of her for a bit while we rebuild the town, did you take care of the Orcs?"
"Yes we did, they're all dead. Every last one of those f*cks"
"Good" Charlotte says in a dark tone
At that Thorne leaves me to make sure everyone else is okay, and Charlotte walks away to breastfeed the baby.
I stand there thinking about my decision on leaving my mom, still believing it was my fault.
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Kael - 7 Years old
Seraphina - 30 Years old
Thorne - 31 Years old
Rowan - 10 years old
Carys - 11 years old
Charlotte - 26 years old