Despite being situated near the Great Mountains, Central Taru was relatively flat land. The kingdom stretched out for miles, dense in nearly every corner, and the villagers only managed to trip over themselves. The central city was, funny enough, the least dense area, as only the rich were situated here, and the economic divide between the rich and middle class was as prevalent as the setting sun.
Right then, Jilton watched the sun set behind those giant landmarks. It blotched the sky red like blood, and orange near the top like a melting ice cream. Jilton had ice cream once on his birthday, but the delicacy was too expensive to afford another taste and ( well, besides, ) it was around the time Suri began catching more attention from Mother and Father.
He threw another stone and watched it tumble over the edge, falling into the small chasm below.
"So what?"
He turned to his friend, mouth gaped a little.
"Sodding hell Jilton, don't tell me you weren't listening."
"Oh I…uh…"
"Makers Above, this is why your marks are so sodding low in class. You can't keep your head straight," Reagon flicked his tongue, then carried on gnawing on the apple. The two had an agreement that every week, Jilton would bring a bag of apples to school and they'd hide it behind a tree. They'd both have one after school and during breaks every day until it ran out and Jilton would get more.
It was less of an agreement, really, since Reagon was the only one that benefited from fresh, red apples. But Jilton knew what he really gave back in return and was honest enough to face the truth.
He spat the pip out and watched it idly fall down the chasm, then looked back to Jilton with dazed eyes, "wanna go to the market?"
"I don't think that's a good idea. School's, uh, starting soon."
"And?"
He blushed, then turned away. Reagan laughed.
"Are you that scared of a little scolding? I wake up to the sounds of demonic screaming every morning. You'd think I was in the pissing underworld. And no doubt do the others at the district. This is why they think you're weak, Jilton. You can't handle a little shouting."
It was true he couldn't. He ran anytime anyone raised their voice. They used to call him flicker in the pre-learning district, because of his ability to burn low, hidden, then flush out as soon as the winds arose.
Still, being told this upfront was embarrassing, no matter how much his friend ridiculed him, and they were friends for a little over four months.
Still, the longest he'd ever held a friend.
"I'm not scared. I-I don't know. We only have five minutes anyway. I'm not sure."
Reagan looked away, as if thinking about the possibility. He had brown hair but the dying sun made it look red-flecked, like a ginger, and no matter how much he tanned, tiny freckled marked spaces beneath his eyes. It was a good thing Reagan was tall like the other boys, and just as rude, otherwise he would have been considered 'peculiar' like his little friend over here. Still, it was hard hiding his features, and as much as Jilton himself covered his receding jawline, blond hair and large nose, his eyes- both brown and green in color- were hard to hide. He couldn't walk around with a blindfold, and as embarrassed as Jilton initially was, he wasn't ready to go blind just yet.
Of course, with Reagan's constant ridicule and sly suggestions, the possibility didn't seem improbable.
"If you aren't scared, then skip school tomorrow, after the first break. Me and the others are going to the fish market."
"The others?"
"Boys in our class, I forgot their names."
Of course he did.
"I don't know about that…"
"Come on. I know your mother and the worst thing she'll do is give you a hiding. Didn't her spatula break? I don't suppose she could whip you."
Jilton blushed furiously, "I-I do NOT get whipped by my mother."
"Why are you so offended? Makers above. People don't even express this much fear of lightning."
Jilton said nothing. Lightning was a sensitive topic in Central Taru and they both knew, but he was never afraid to tread on thin lines. Boys were like that. More specifically, teenage boys. And both were fifteen years old. Men got married at this age, but only if they were inherently wealthy. Otherwise, they grew to their mid ages and waited to buy a woman off with a dowry, and that's if her father hadn't died from polio yet.
Decisions were harsh on the poorer sides of Central Taru and both boys were acquainted with its harsher rulings. They lived on the outskirts of the kingdom, on the pastures near the forest, along with many other ridden children, and even in this was an economic divide. Those who worked in mines earned more than farmers, and being the son of both a milkmaid and a hunter, Jilton was left little possibilities for a future.
Still, he thought greatly about it and even found himself drifting to further possibilities while the silence lingered between the two.
School was going to start soon, but he doubted Reagan cared much.
"Do you think he's going to show up in the clouds, like some say?"
He didn't want to ask who; the answer was obvious enough.
Reagan leaned back, letting the rock lay against his chest, "Or is he gonna sprout from the ground, from the underworld?"
"I-I don't know."
"And you think I do? It's a rhetorical question. Nevermind, don't answer," he sighed. "Some say that he'll arrive from the sky, in those horse contraptions that pull you along. Instead of horses, there'll be hounds pulling him. Black hounds with red eyes."
Jilton shifted, growing uncomfortable.
"Then when he lands, the sky will close up and become gray and all, like a storm. He'll use his powers to lure all humans towards him, and from the crowd he'll pick a woman. A virgin."
Reagan wasn't smiling anymore, and such a statement could get him grinning like a dog.
Not even he could smile when talking about him.
The soon-to-be bringer of their death. Humanities death.
Izaraaths death.
The Stormbringer.
Reagan reached out, lifting a hand to the sky.
"Then he'll call to her. He'll use mind control to move her. He can do that. And when he has her between his fingers…"
His hands twitched.
"He'll crush her throat."
His hand fell.
Not even Reagan would bring himself to enact such a scene.
"He'll drink her blood like a nymph, then he'll use the rest of them as slaves. He'll have them kill each other…
They say his laugh is like a thousand thorns splintered between the ears. They say that on the day he arrives, it will be on the day of a festival, so that when people stop in horror to see him, he'll laugh and laugh and leave their ears bleeding…"
A splintering silence fell over them, and Jilton dropped the rock. The chasm still echoed back their last last throw, despite being only a few meters deep. Or perhaps that was a ringing sound in his ear, trying to act out an imaginary call from the stormbringer.
A long while later, Reagan stood up and dusted his shins. He stood a foots length taller than Jilton, and with shoulders breadth that exceeded this as well.
"We should be heading back. School starts soon."
Jilton said nothing and followed his friend back to the large rustic building at the end of the field. It was an old farmhouse that was now used to teach students on basic astronomy and healing.
Of course, being on the pastures, there was little use of knowing these things, as sons took their fathers professions and women worked at home. Most kids didn't seem to dream any bigger than this, and school offered nothing more for free.
Still, Jilton walked towards the old barnyard, trying to forget about the conversation they just had, and seeing hope in their next lesson. He liked astronomy and… maybe, just maybe, another neighboring kingdom would need an astronomer. Or maybe a traveling merchant would call upon the kingdom to bestow their finest sky watchers.
Maybe then, it would save him from ridicule, from this cycle.
Maybe then, he could escape this tedious life.