Four Brothers

Copyright 2021 by Kat Thomas

All rights reserved.

Cover design by Canva Kat Thomas

Book design by Kat Thomas

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Due to many thefts of online work This copyright notice will be there on every online posting from now on. I will also say I will take action on any person or company who posts my work without permission.

This is a first draft. When I post I do a quick review before posting. Grammar and punctuation are a secondary edit that will be corrected later during the review/editing process that will happen after the story is complete. if you will have a major issue with this please stop and wait for it to be completed and edited.

Reviews are always welcome but please remember that unless stated this is a first/rough draft. There will be mistakes until corrected which will be done at a later time. Reviews should be on the storyline/plot before anything else.

The old woman walked outside and looked over her horde of grandchildren with a sly grin. Though the light was fading and the glow of the bonfire in the middle of them was throwing different colors to their happy faces. She knew it was time. The group was gathered for her hundredth birthday. She knew her time was wearing thin on this plain. It was now up to one of them to know the family’s secrets.

“come along.” She called as she hobbled to the stone seats that were all laid out in a circle around the large area the family had made for nights like this. She sat on one of the seats and she looked around as the group of children, her grandchildren and great grandchildren sat around her. She studied their faces that were flushed from the slight chill in the air and the excitement of playing together in the sun for the day. Tomorrow it would be back to work on the small farm but tonight the truth will be said. “I have a story for you all.”

The children all settled into a place. Though the occasional fidget would happen all of them would heed her and stay still for the moments while she was talking. Her stories about life or everything else were legendary. She was so well respected that this was a treat within the family. Even the older ones like her adult grandchildren and her own all came out to hear what the old crone had to say.

“This story is before time itself so listen closely, my little ones. Before we all came to be there were groups of people who lived together. Traveling families one could say. They would all walk around the one true continent when it was together. Long before the first freezes that ended so much life. There was one group of people that was approached by a stranger. They had no way of talking to the stranger but they took him in and fed and sheltered him as if he was one of the clan. This is how they were chosen.” The older woman began. Though she had heard the story herself much in the same way, here on this land she called her home, now was even more important for at least one of the children to understand what they really were. Who they really were.

She continued, “When the stranger was full and content he watched over the younger boys of the group. There were four brothers that were the elders sons. They did everything to keep tribe running well though they all had problems of their own. One was a hot head who loved to fight with other tribes. One was the one who tended to the dying and he was left afraid of the living. One was sickly. One would starve himself to make sure the others were eating. The stranger saw all of these traits and knew that he had found what he was looking for. He met with each of the brothers alone. Then as a group he led them out of the tribes lands for the moment. He said, “I can take all your pain away and give you new life.” though the brothers had no way to really understand what he was saying they all did somehow. “This life you will have will be eternal in a way though you will have many bodies to share. Life from this moment will be different.” He said and the brothers all looked at him and nodded that they understood what the stranger was saying. “There will be certain drawbacks though. Nothing comes without risks.” The stranger said again to the boys as they looked at him with widened eyes. “Do you want to hear of them?” Again the boys all nodded. “You, the oldest, Like to fight but you are not a warrior by nature. You will be called war from now on. Where ever you go you will bring war to the land and you will watch over it aas it gives you strength from now one.” The stranger said as he looked over the oldest boy. Then he moved his gaze to the next, “You, The next in line, you make sure that everyone around you is well fed but you go without. You will never be hungry again. However you will cause people to starve where ever you go. The crops will fail in your presence but you will never be touched with that starving hunger that you have right now.” The boys eyes lit up and he smiled softly with the idea of not being hungry again. The next in line was looking at the stranger as he coughed hard, “You, the one after him, are the one who takes on all the sickness of the tribe. It is amazing you have not died yet. You shall never be sick again but you will bring sickness to all the lands forever more.” The younger boy looked at his brothers and then the older stranger before them and for the first time in his life he could breathe without wheezing. The youngest of the group looked on with huge eyes that seemed to glow. His brothers had been give such amazing gifts he wondered what was left for him. “The youngest of this group is the most important. You tend tot he dead and make sure they can cross over to the next worlds. You from now on will never have to lay your hands on them to know their pain. You will bring the conclusion for us all. You are now death.” The boys all looked around to each other and knew they had been changed as the stranger had spoken. “You will live each life the same way. You all will be together for the rest of time itself. Born and raised over and over again. The four of you will be the ones that fix the balance for the creatures now before you. The humans will need that balance at times. Over and over you will be birthed and live among them. What you do in that time is up to you. You will know what is right and wrong.” The stranger disappeared and the brothers knew they could not return to the lives they knew before. They would have to strive out on their own. For life after life the four brothers would be born and live and spread their gifts to the world when needed. Each knew what they were. They all walked among us for so long. They are your forefathers. Each one of you is a descendant of one of the four brothers in different lines that have crossed. One family is from all four line. Do not forget how special you all are. You are different, More powerful, You all will know what to do when you know who you really are.”

“Mom that is enough.” One of the older adults said as he chuckled and came to take the older woman back to the house. She looked behind her and saw the small girl sitting there by the fire. Behind her was the vison that the older woman knew well. Four horses stood there behind the tiny child. She looked up and saw the faces that haunted her dreams. The horses were nothing more than shadows as they faded into the darkness.

The girl was the one chosen. The older woman knew it now. Her great granddaughter was the one who was from all the lines. She was death, war, famine, and pestilence. The older woman sat on her bed that night and prayed for the little girl. As she opened her eyes in the middle of the night she saw the man in the corner of the room. “promise me one thing before you do your job.” She said softly into the darkness.

“Ask for your promise.” The voice filled around her ears.

“Promise me you all will be good to her.” She said as she smiled towards him as he neared.

“The child will come to no harm from us.” He said as he placed out his hand and soon her spirit was no longer in her body. She was floating and then there was nothing.

The man walked outside as he looked out to where his three brothers were standing over a sleeping bag. “She sleeps like we used too.” Famine said as he looked down to the child that was in a sleeping bag not to close to the fire.

“She is the one we have been waiting for.” One said. “We can help shape her life but she will need another as well.”

“She will have it.” Death said with a grin. “She will have it all.”