Chapter 1: The Day the Earth Became Ash
The day is warm, as the sun stretched over the mountains near my village. It was a normal day as Olswillow woke up. People washing clothes, kids running around playing games. The village of Olswillow was small, everyone knows their neighbors to the fullest. The town is surrounded by three mountains and a river that runs through it to supply us with fresh water. My story starts here, at nearly 16 years old, my destiny would change on that day…
Like every other morning, I helped my Dad work the corn field, though I did not like being a farmer, my true calling was to fight for the king and become a warrior. Becoming a fighter is not easy for a simple farm boy, I only recently became old enough to join their ranks. I am determined to learn the ways of the sword. “Felix, go help you mother get breakfast ready” Father said tiredly, as he snaps another corn stalk and sets it in his satchel. I can tell the long morning farm work is getting to him. “Okay father, will you be out much longer?” I asked as I finished up the last of the corn I was pulling. “I shouldn’t be much longer, just need to finish this row.” Father answered short of breath. While walking towards the house from the corn field I can hear my mothers’ songs with a voice that is a gift from the gods. “Hello Mother! Father sent me to help, where should I start?” I said excitedly. “You can set the table with plates and silverware darling”, she said in a calm soothing voice. Mother is a gentle person, never shouts or raises her voice. Her calm nature is always scary, as I never wanted to see her upset, so I never found out.
As I set down each bowl with a clunk on the old wooden table, I could hear my mother humming a melody as she always does, though I have never heard this tune from her before. “Done!” I said proudly as I set the last of the bowls and spoons around the table. “Great, now go wash your hands and get ready to eat” she said quietly while she finished prepping our soup. I hurried to the water outlet outside, there I saw my father at the water outlet. For some reason I felt something was off today, both parents seemed to have a serious demeanor about them. Usually my parents always had a humorous personality and more cheerful. More than likely my father is under pressure to produce harvest this year, our crops are not doing as good as it should be. After washing my hands, I asked “Father, is everything alright? Mother and you don’t seem to be your normal selves today.” Father responded with a force of will, like he struggled to speak after a large gulp of water, “Everything is fine Felix, just tired from a hard morning, the far corner of the field flooded from the rain a few days back and I was unable to get back there to harvest the rest of the corn”. I thought about how long it takes for corn to grow, I patted my father on the back and said “No worries, the corn should survive long enough to harvest it. He looked at me with a smile and sharp eyes as if he felt relieved.
Father and I walked in and sat down at the table; mother had already finished filling each bowl with fresh soup. After grace, silence surrounded the table as we ate, all you could hear was the clinking of spoons against wooden bowls as we tore into the soup. I hope to be good enough with a sword to be drafted into the kings army this year, I thought. As my stomach growled loudly like it talking in its own language. My father casually too anther sip of his soup and looked at me. “Felix, I don’t want you to practice sword fighting this afternoon, it’s a stupid idea to go and fight” with a look of resentment, or distaste, while he continued to scold my dreams. I frowned and looked down at the floor to not look him in the eye, he knows that’s what I want to do with my life and yet he doesn’t want me to pursue it. After a moment between soup slurps, he said “I know you go out in the fields to practice; you should be farmer and one day, take over the family business”. I immediately thought about being a farmer. My mind briefly imagined myself farming for the rest of my life, and quickly shut it out of my thoughts. Farming is not for me, although that is all I know, my dream was to do more, to be a man for people to look up too, like the king’s warriors. Warriors that protected and won every battle they came across, renowned for their fierce fighting skills and battle tactics.
“By why Father? You know I want to join the king and serve. Bring honor to our family. More honor than supplying our small village with corn.” I said with a hint of agitation in my voice. Father looked at me and then took a deep breath before answering my question. I have a feeling I won’t like the answer. “Because, you do not know what hell looks like…you don’t know what hell feels like and the battlefield is where hell is at. Trust me boy you do not want to see this with your own eyes.” His voice sounded like it had a sense of despair. “Yes father” I responded, gritting my teeth. I don’t care what he says, I heard the kings recruiters will be in the looking for new young men to join in the town near us. I will go and learn to fight, then become a warrior, I thought aggressively. Then I realize I was squeezing the spoon in my hand so hard started to bend. I quickly released the death grip I had on it. After taking a few breaths to try and forget the topic my father and I were on. I decided to try and change the subject.
“Mother…what was that song you were humming earlier?” I asked. “Oh, why that is a song I got from your grandfather long ago when he was in the great war.” she replied softly. Father quickly spoke up with a loud and annoying intent, as if I didn’t hear him the first time. “Yeah and he received what ALL soldiers did in the great war, a spear through the heart, covered in blood”.
The great war was the longest war between the different races of the land. Humans, elf’s and dwarfs all fighting for territory, which is now separated out between the races. Humans control most of the seashores along the east and south. Dwarfs preferred the caves to the north among normal sized mountains and the elf’s control all the forest to the west. Between all these lands stands a large mountain, not the same as the ones to the north, this one is known as Hell’s Peak. Local story tellers say Hell’s Peak was created by the great war. Olswillow is located near the south base of this titanic mountain, it serves at one of the three surrounding my town.
I don’t see how a war can create a mountain but much of the stories are just myths. “Father can I go into town for a while, I can help you finish the crop tomorrow?” I said with hopeful gaze when I looked at him. He did not say anything, but rather paused to think about how he was going to say hell no to me, as he knew I would go practice swinging my wooden sword. “Sure, thing son, there is not much more work to be done today since the last part of the crop is flooded.” he said to my surprise.
After lunch, I raced outside turned and waved to my parents and in grate cheer said, “Be back before dark!”. It is a treat to not have to work this evening; I made my way towards town. After a short distance I turned off the road and ran to my own training grounds, equipped with a makeshift tent and wooden dummy for sword practice. This is where I can practice my skills with a wooden sword I carved. Even though it is against my fathers wishes, I did not care, my dream of being a warrior is going to happen whether he liked it or not. After running through the woods and out on to a large grassy plain, I arrived at the grounds.
“Clink, clack!” cried out as I slashed the wooded dummy with the wooden sword. You can hear me practicing from the grassy land around me, disturbing all creatures alike. With each swing of the sword and vibration of the wood colliding together I found new vigor in my dream. I pondered what it would be like as a warrior, all the gold and food at your fingertips, and the pretty ladies to go with it, sounded like a dream to me. My father is a farmer and did not understand fighting. ‘‘Mud washes off easier than blood’’ my dad always says. Mother always taught me to protect myself, but never wanted me to become a fighter. My parents know how much my dream is to me, but they still want me to spend the reset of my days on a farm, in the dirt all hours of the day. No thank you, I said to myself.
The grassy plains I use to hone my skills is a good distance from the house, with a large oak tree and a small forest halfway from the house. In the afternoon the sun is highest in the sky, keeping an eye on the it to watch my time in between practices. I stopped to catch my breath, wailing my sword at the dummy for so long my arms felt like they were a hundred pounds heavier. I sat on an old tree stump and thought about my progression with the sword. As I sat there, I heard some birds taking off from a tree nearby, flying over me. I gazed at the birds for a long time before they disappeared in the horizon. What a wondrous ability to have, just to jump and fly away some where when ever you wanted to. If only I could fly like a bird, I could become the greatest warrior this land has ever seen. I sat up instantly on top of the stump and struck a warrior pose with my sword held out in front and my chest pushed out. Resting my free hand on my waste ready to be a hero of the people. I slashed the air, then jumped off the tree stump to act as if I performed an aerial sword move.
As I continued practicing, I could feel the crisp cool air coming from the mountain side towards me in a rather odd way. With each gust of wind, all the trees leaned on its side in sync with the strong current as if a titan was inhaling and exhalating. The hair start standing on the back of my neck, I could feel the wind getting stronger as each gust poured over the land, a kind of recurring wind that felt like cold fingertips across my skin.
The sun was no longer in the sky, a sort of dark cloud stretched over sky, as if a black hand was reaching out to snuff the sun and its light. I looked over my shoulder in the direction of my house, then I heard a loud screech billowing from the other direction, coming from the source of the strange wind. The screech was so loud my ears started to ring violently. I dropped my sword to cover my ears from the noise. Pain shot through my head as if the noise was coming from within my head and desperate to get out. I hunched over, holding my head together, Vision started to blur. I had no choice but to run. So, I started to run as fast as I could, still covering my ears and with each step fear came over me, all focus is getting home. I ran so hard and fast, I thought I could grow wings and fly. What I heard scared me so bad I could not think; all I could do is run towards father and mother. I reached the large oak tree, “Halfway point” I thought.
As I ran around the tree with the final stretch towards my house, my body started to slow down, almost as if each leg was getting stuck in mud. Forcing my legs up off the ground to complete another step took every ounce of energy I had. I felt so heavy. So heavy my arms and legs forced me to come to a complete stop. My breathing is heavier, it feels like something large is stepping on my chest, letting all the air in my lungs and not letting me inhale. A burning sensation started to course through my head, my head was splitting from the inside. I choked gasping for air and fell to my knees. Sweat is pouring off my face now, the ringing un my ears is more intense, too much for me to bare. I wanted the pain to stop but didn’t know what to do. My eyesight started to blur as the colors of the world faded around me, then the world went dark.
