Onward to Adventure: Chapter 18

Brinvok felt the ashen earth as he knelt down and ran it through his fingers, it reminded him of the crops he was growing back home, he hoped that they would still be alive when he returned.  He glanced at Charred who was staring off into the distance, she seemed to know something he did not.  He stood up and asked her,

“ Will you return home?”

“Yes”, Charred replied, “ I need to make sure my shop has not been totally robbed in my absence, and I must make sure my father is alright”

“Your father, he means a lot to you doesn’t he?” Brinvok inquired, raising a soot covered eyebrow.

“Yes, shortly after I was born, my village was hit with a terrible disease, my mother got sick and my father had to raise me my entire life.” Charred responded still not looking into Brinvok’s eyes.

“Ah well, if he is half as strong as you, I am sure he will be ok”

“Thank you.” Charred said now looking into his eyes,”Now I have to go, thank you for saving my life, perhaps our paths will cross again”

With that, Charred walked away and Brinvok watched her until he could not see her anymore.  Brinvok was glad he had met her, he wished it was on better conditions but he was glad he found someone who was similiar to him.  Brinvok looked up at the sky and saw that it was early morning and the forest in the distance was waking up.  He knew that was the direction he had to go in, Brinvok walked down to the forest and made good progress on his walk home until he needed to stop for the night.  He made a shelter out of branches and leaves as well as a small fire.  As Brinvok sat by the fire he saw a rustling in the undergrowth, he readied his axe, he knew that if it was a threat that he would not hesitate.  Suddenly a small furry animal ran into his camp and charged into him, it was a pigmy mammoth, they are really rare and are often hunted for their meat which was sweet due to their diet of mostly berries, he wondered what it was doing here.  He did not need to wait long for an answer, two hunters charged into the clearing with their bows drawn, they were clearly after this animal.  Brinvok said in a cold voice,

“How can I help you gentlemen? This beast is not for hunting, go home.”

“Oh yeah? What are you going to do if we shoot it right now?” Said one of the hunters who shot an arrow near the foot of the little mammoth who let out a toot of surprise and ran behind Brinvok’s shelter.

“I’ll do this,” faster than either hunter could react, Brinvok drew his bow and shot an arrow into the leg of the hunter, “Leave. Now.”

With that both hunter’s ran away, more like one ran and one limped away.  The mammoth joined Brinvok by the fire that night and accompanied him on his way home.  As Brinvok finally found the city with his new friend by his side he found a familiar stack of hay by the gates entrance and he dug through it.  He found the skull of the Ulurugg, it was a little dusty but it was still in one piece.  He brought the skull to the huntress who gave him only 200 rables, she took 400 off for how late the skull was delivered.  

Brinvok walked out of the city and down a dirt road, it was now dusk and the stars were starting to show in the sky.  The moons were illuminating the sky and casted long shadows in the forest.  Brinvok found his log cabin, he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his crops were still green and healthy, it must have rained while he was gone.  His boar was asleep by the door, he was so happy that he was ok that he ran up to him and gave him a big hug the boar buried his face in Brinvok’s chest.  Brinvok introduced his boar to their new companion and the two got along great. However Brinvok now realized how exhausted he was and he crawled into his bed and went to sleep.  At last his adventure was over.

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 17

Shadowbacks always work in pairs, one tends to do more thinking than the other.  Much like the Baolab, they can communicate through telepathy.  One of the Shadowbacks stepped back, not taking its eyes off of Brinvok and Charred.  It raised the spines on its back and it seemed to suck the little light out of the cavern with them.  Thee other seemed to blend into the shadows, it clacked its claws furiously and molded the shadows into a shape, that shape began to resemble a humanoid that he recognized.

“Mother…” Brinvok said as though the wind was knocked out of him.  The apparition slowly walked towards Brinvok, its footsteps made no noise as it moved.  The apparition began saying,

“It was your fault, you killed me Brinny.  If you were there instead of running off like the irresponsible child you are. I would still be alive Brinny”

“There was nothing I could have done, that monster was so powerful, it would have killed me too”  Brinvok said in reply.

“We would have ran away, I was too slow on my own, but you could have gotten us out of there. You selfish poor excuse for a son.”

“No!” Brinvok yelled at the shadow, “ I made one mistake, I cannot let this memory define me.  I have put all of this blame on myself. I think I finally understand that there is no point in reliving the pain of that moment.  I Brinvok, have hunted beasts larger than a mammoth but those do not compare to the might of my inner monsters. You embody a moment that has caused me such discomfort in thinking about that I shut it out and did not think about it. Now I smite the”

With those words Brinvok unsheathed his axe and charged straight at the apparition, piercing through its torso.  Brinvok kept charging until he hit the underbelly of the Shadowback, the monster let out a screech and the shadow it created disappeared and all Brinvok saw was the crimson blood of the Shadowback.  After almost penetrating right through the Shadowback, Brinvok turned to the other shadow back who was now trying to escape to the outside world, Brinvok charged after the beast at an alarming speed as he was closing in on it he heard an arrow whisp by and saw it sink deep into the back of the neck of the Shadowback.  This caused the beast to slow down enough for Brinvok to whack the beast in the side of the neck.  It fell with a thud and Brinvok dislodged his axe from its neck.  He turned around to see Charred with her bow drawn, it was her who shot the Shadowback, he looked at her and nodded, she nodded back.  For the first time in a long time, as Brinvok stepped out of the Cavern that he finally felt as though he truly conquered a monster.

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 16

Brinvok drudged up the cavern carrying the woman in his arms, he knew he had to move fast but the extra weight of this woman was preventing him from gaining any real speed.  Suddenly he felt something hitting his back, it was the woman, who then began screaming for him to let her go.  Brinvok ran to the side of the cavern and sat her down against the wall.  

“Who are you? Where am I? How did I get here? Where is my father?” the woman began pelting him with questions, after a few minutes Brinvok finally was able to answer some of her questions

“My name is Brinvok, you are in the Far North in the birthplace of the Guardians, I am not sure how you got here or where your father is.  Now, who are you?”

“My name is Charred, I guess I should thank you for saving my life, the last thing I remember was fighting that Swamp Monger and it knocked my father down and I just….”

“Was immobilized by fear? Yeah, I’ve been there, you can’t let it get to you, now I hate to cut this short but we need to get going, when I killed that monster, the rest of them began bellowing, it stopped a little while ago but I don’t know what it signaled and I don’t want to stay here to find out, sound like a plan?”

“Yeah, it does.”

Brinvok and Charred began running through the cavern, Brinvok had his axe unsheathed incase any monsters jumped out of the holes in the walls.  Charred was slightly behind Brinvok but was keeping good pace.  It felt as though they had been walking for hours, in a nearly pitch black cavern.  They needed to stop to rest, so the two of them ducked behind a large stalagmite to catch their breath.  Brinvok decided to take this time to learn more about this mysterious girl named Charred, she had bright green eyes and hair that was gray like ash.  She had a muscular physique, like someone who has spent almost their entire life doing manual labor.

“So where are you from? I never saw you in my village of Dracoro.”

“I am from Slydrec, it is in the South, we are known for our honey.”

“Ah, so are you a beekeeper?”

“I am, I also work with my father in the iron mine that he runs.”

“You seem very capable of holding on your own, that monster back must have had a tough time getting you down.”

“I could say the same thing about you, I don’t know what could have taken you down”

“It is a long story, it was a monster that used mind control to manipulate me”

“Wow, that seems a lot worse than being taken on physically, something that can get into your head truly knows more about you than anyone else.”

“Yeah, so we should get moving again, I’m beginning to feel uneasy just sitting here.”

As if  on que, the cavern began to shake and two Shadowbacks walked down the cavern, they appeared to be looking for something, or someone.  Brinvok grabbed Charred by the hand and crawled along the edge of the wall, in the shadows out of the line of sight of the two monsters.  Suddenly, Brinvok felt the cold rush of air, and saw the opening of the cavern, he saw this as their chance to make a break for the outside.  When they began running, Charred knocked into a stalagmite and toppled it over.  The two Shadowbacks glared at Charred and Brinvok with their orange eyes.

Onward To Adventure: Chapter 15

“Well well well, we have a lively one don’t we”

With that, footsteps shook the entire volcano and even the Guardians seemed to be nervous as the footsteps became louder.  Suddenly, at the top of the volcano stood a being so mind-bendingly large that it covered the entire mouth of the volcano, its voice, or voices spoke in a weird harmony that sounded both terrifying and mesmerizing.

“Yes master, it seems as though she wasn’t killed at all, but knocked out” the Swamp Monger gurgled out.

“You know the rules, the ritual will not work if live animals are put in, cave her skull in and be done with her” the “Master” said

“Well, I’ve always like playing with my catches and you’ve been fun, but this is how it ends” the Baolab turned to Brinvok and scooped him up with its inner arms and began squeezing his skull.  Brinvok felt the increasing pressure on his skull and was now experiencing a whole new world of pain, he had no idea what to do and began panicing that his life is now over.  Suddenly, he had an idea, he forgot about the knife he kept in his boot, he unsheathed the knife and dug it deep into the chest of the Baolab and it immediately let go of Brinvok who then rolled under the Baolab and grabbed his axe that was clutched in the beast’s tail.  He then bolted up the wall of the volcano to where the Swamp Monger stood with the girl.  

The beast had her underneath one of its heavy feet and began to squeeze her between it and the ground.  Brinvok felt that same fear he felt when he lost his brother and mother, that fear of inaction that in the end made him do nothing, that guilt then he realized, he carried with him since those days.  That is why the Baolab used those memories to immobilize him, eventhough he pushed those memories and feelings down, they still were left unresolved in his brain that made him into the hardened man he is today.  Now when faced with a similar dilemma, he finally realized this.

“I will no longer, be a slave to my past!” Brinvok yelled in such a voice that startled the Swamp Monger. As Brinvok unsheathed his axe and charged towards the monster catching it off guard, he landed a blow in the monster’s leg which made it move it from the woman who was now unconscious.  The Monger swung its big meaty hand at Brinvok who dodged the swipe.  The beast limped towards Brinvok, it snapped its beak and roared in a frenzy, Brinvok saw his chance and lodged his axe deep in the side of the Swamp Monger.  The heathen fell to the ground and breathed its last.

Brinvok then ran to the now unconscious woman, he began to try to wake her up but suddenly a chorus of roars, squawks and moans echoed in the volcano.  He knew that he needed to get him and this woman out of here and fast, so he did his best to pick her up in his arms and began running down into the darkness of the cavern.

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 14

The cave was dark and smelled like rotting flesh.  What Brinvok found astounding is that despite the ungodly smell in the cave, it was spotless, there was not even cobwebs on the corners of the tunnel.  The Baolab seemed transfixed by an unknown force deep within the volcano.  The smell began to grow stronger and stronger as they ventured farther into the lair.  

Brinvok looked forward down the passage and flickering in the distance was a purple flame that while faint seemed like a beacon in the darkness of the cave.  He then looked up into the eyes of the Baolab and saw that its eyes were radiating the same purple as the light.  As the beast marched onward the flame grew in size and intensity until it appeared to be the size of the tunnel.  

Is this some weird suicide pact? Or perhaps I will just be thrown into the fire as some sort of sacrifice.  Brinvok thought these questions and many more as all of a sudden they were answered.  I was not that the fire was as big as the tunnel, the fire was bigger than the tunnel and was at the end of the tunnel in a big central chamber.  There was thick purple lava at the bottom of the chamber that erupted purple plumes of purple fire up into the air and back down again.  

“It is as if the volcano wants to erupt again” Brinvok said aloud.

“More like, we want it to erupt again, and we are doing everything we can to get the volcano to erupt again”  the Baolab said to Brinvok in such a way that sounded like he had just snapped out of his trance.  

‘How many of you are there…?” Brinvok began asking but trailed off as he saw hundreds of other Guardians lining the walls of the chamber throwing things into the fire.  At first Brinvok could not make out what they were throwing in, but as he strained to see he saw that they were throwing rocks mostly into the lava, as if they thought that they were raising the level of the lava which could be true, Brinvok pondered.  He also saw them throwing animals, livestock mostly into the lava.  

Suddenly, Brinvok’s concentration broke as he heard the scream of a young maiden.  He looked into the direction of the scream and saw that a Guardian, a Swamp Monger had a woman by her leg and was about to plop her into the lava when suddenly a deep booming voice that seemed to resonate within the volcano saying.

“Well well well, we have a lively one don’t we”

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 13

Several days had passed in similar fashion as the first, sleeping during the day and moving under the cloak of night. The two rarely talked after that first day, spending sometimes hours with just their own thoughts.  The air grew gradually colder and colder. The animals they saw changed as well, they became animals the likes of which Brinvok had never seen before.

Suddenly, the snow began to fade to a hard volcanic rock.

“This must be the Far North,” Brinvok pondered “I had only heard legends of this place, the birthplace of the Guardians”

The air seemed to smell of evil, as if it oozed out of the ground, infecting anything that tried to grow there.  There was a massive volcano that loomed over the entire area, when the sun passed behind it the land had the appearance of night.  Brinvok thought back to the legend that his father used to tell him when it was time for bed.  The legends told that at one time many eons ago, the now massive volcano was once a tiny hill.  One day, the earth began to shake with such force that the hill split down the middle and out crawled the Guardians, beasts that devoured anything they could and ruled over the other beasts with an iron fist.  That was until man crawled from the caves and fought the Guardians back from whence they came.

Now Brinvok was faced with that very legend.  The volcano oozed not lava, but a thick black substance that reminded Brinvok of blood. When light reached the liquid, it did something that baffled Brinvok, the liquid retreated back into the volcano as the light seemed to chase it back up.  

“What is that stuff?” Brinvok asked the Baolab,

Startled, as he was not expecting Brinvok to speak replied “Oh um that? You will find out in due time”. This was followed by a series of low chuckles that never failed to run a chill down Brinvok’s back.

The creature placed Brinvok on the ground and pushed a large boulder out of the way which revealed the large maw of a cave, the Baolab motioned for Brinvok to walk in.  The Baolab followed behind Brinvok as he entered into the volcano.

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 12

It was now sunset and the Baolab began to stir, it let go of Brinvok in order to stretch itself out, its four arms flailing to and fro.  Brinvok dared not to run away, he knew that the beast would surely catch him and would probably do unimaginable things to him if he ran, so he stood up and too stretched out his limbs.  The Baolab looked down at Binvok and exclaimed,

“We must move soon, they grow impatient.”  It leaned down closer to Brinvok, he could feel its hot breath on his face as it said “They are dying to meet you,” and with a slight pause he said “Or perhaps you’ll be the one dying when you meet them,”  the Baolab said  with such malice that Brinvok could feel it seep out of his mouth and into his nostrils.  

The creature carefully grabbed Brinvok with its smaller set of arms and carried him like an infant, it glared down at him and said mockingly, “How funny is it that someone who is known for slaying what he deems as ‘monsters’ but now, they are in my arms like a small child.”  B

Brinvok retorted, “What do you mean? You are monsters, you slaughter those who have done nothing to you.  You chased us back into the caves we emerged from all those millennia ago.”  The anger leaked from his mouth as he said this.  The monster set his eyes on Brinvok and snarled back in a voice that shook Brinvok down to the core, “Humans are no different then are they? They hunt not just our kind but their own, now that is something that we would never do, we were here when your kind crawled out of the filth and slowly drove us to the corners of the earth.  How dare you, who is held against his will and surely going to die tell me about how your filthy race has a sense of morales.”

Brinvok was speechless, he felt that this monster was insane, that it was thinking some dogma nonsense that these monsters were somehow in the right in all this.  

“That could not be right could it?” He thought as he gazed into the night sky.  The spiraling nebula in the sky seemed to put Brinvok in some sort of cosmic peace.  He knew that no matter what happened to him on this ‘adventure’ that the nebula would still spin and the sun would rise the next day.  He became drowsy watching it spin and eventually through sheer exhaustion, he fell asleep as the Baolab walked further and further to his unknown destination.

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 11

Brinvok was left alone with his thoughts as the beast slept.  He watched as the sun’s journey through the sky, the sea of blue getting more blue with each hour that passed.  Birds began chirping and various animals awoke from their burrows in the forest.  Boars, wooly rhinoceros and mountain bison began  grazing in the field by the outcrop that had quickly become Brinvok’s prison.  Sometimes Brinvok dreamed of becoming an animal like those before him, they have no burdens, no cares and no concept of hatred.

“If I had to pick an animal, I would want to be a rhinoceros,” Brinvok said to himself, eyeballing the small herd of them in the field. “They are so big and strong, but they always seem so calm, well unless they get attacked”

Brinvok then began to think about the memories that the monster made him relive,

“Was it just to get a reaction? Or was there something more there?” A thousand questions like those flooded his mind. “I never think about those events, after a while I just stopped thinking about them.”  He then began thinking further “Maybe I have some unresolved emotions about those events, but what?”  Brinvok pondered this question for what felt like hours, thinking about what emotions he felt through both memories, guilt, anger, uselessness stood before him in his mind like stone monoliths.

Hours must have went by as it was now late afternoon and the sun was on the verge of setting, the herbivores that he had previously watched earlier were now gone and what was now in the field made him shake with rage, hunters.  Brinvok believed that hunting animals that had done nothing wrong for sport was wrong.  Brinvok only hunted monsters that intentionally harmed mankind such as Trolls and Uluruggs that were common in the mountainous areas.  These hunters had their bows drawn and were ready to shoot into the woods, Brinvok was about to call out for help when suddenly he heard the distinct “shooom” of the arrow flying through the air and the “shunk” of it hitting the meaty target.  A wooly rhinoceros charged through the bushes and into the clearing at its attackers who dodged its charge and shot a few more arrows into it until it fell to the ground.  One of the hunters withdrew his sword and carved its head off.  They left the body there for the flies.

“Such a waste,” Brinvok thought “They left so much more they could use rather than taking that head for a trophy.”  Brinvok now knew that he never wanted to be an animal, for while he faces monsters like the one holding him captive, he felt that man was worse sometimes.

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 10

As the fire engulfed Brinvok he heard a thumping, it sounded as if it were coming from everywhere, getting louder and louder as if the whole world were vibrating with this now deafening thumping sound.  Suddenly he awoke, the thumping sound ended up being the footsteps of the Baolab thudding on the ground, his whole world was turned upside down.  He then realized he was upside down, he was flung over its shoulder and saw the burning remnants of the city in the distance.  He began to try to wriggle free of the beast who has him held by the legs, the beast noticed Brinvok stirring and said,

“At least the baby awakes, do you like the view back there? Don’t be upset, there's no one there to be sad for.”

“You killed them all? How could you do that?”

“You give me too much credit, a few did run, but those who did not flee, who were paralyzed by terror or tried to fight the inevitable, yes did perish.”

“I will destroy you, your group have done nothing but terrorize us.”

“Us, terrorize you?” The Baolab said with bitterness that Brinvok could taste. “Ever since your kind crawled out of the caves we have been driven to the farthest corners of the earth, and now that we are finally returning the favor, we are the villains?”

The city grew dimmer and dimmer as the beast carried him farther and farther away,  he also noticed that they were not going in the direction of civilization, they were going farther and farther away.

Soon dawn began to break and he could tell that the Baolab, being a nocturnal animal was growing fatigued, the beast found a cliff that overhung a just enough to shield the beast from the rising sun, the beast released Brinvok and clutched him in its tail as it went to sleep.  

Brinvok looked around frantically for his axe, which was not on his back, he noticed that it was clutched in the beast’s second pair of arms, there was no way he could reach it without climbing out of its grasp,  he stretched as far as he could until it felt as though his upper body would separate from his lower half, he could only get close enough to touch the hilt.  Brinvok felt hopeless and it seemed as though there was no way out of being stuck with this creature until it took him wherever it was taking him.

Onward to Adventure Chapter 9

Brinvok stood there, motionless as a flock of birds erupted from the trees where his mother fell.  The only sound that he heard was the flapping of the monster’s wings mixed with the ringing in his ears as his extremities went cold, she was gone, he knew this was just a memory but it felt so real, it was as if this were the present. The Qucsceradeinos lowered itself to the ground and stood before Brinvok, it brought its massive head down to Brinvok’s level, its hot breath made him sweat.  The beast stunk of smoke and decay, a smell that was so distinct that it too ingrained itself in his memory.

Brinvok now felt fear, one of the only times in his life that he had ever felt totally helpless.  This time was different however, it was more than a helplessness, it was the feeling of complete failure, he had failed his father, wherever he went, he failed himself but he failed his mother the most.  She was gone and if he had not run off into town then maybe he could have saved her.  After standing there for what seemed like centuries the Qucsceradeinos finally spoke.

“I have waited for this moment Brinvok, or should I say Brinny?”

“How do you know my name creatan?”

“You underestimate the knowledge and power of a Guardian?  We sense when great heros are rising, generally our timing is a little more precise.  I was planning on you being here earlier, then maybe, just maybe, your mother would have been saved”  After saying that, the beast let out a low laugh that sounded like pure evil.  “ Anyways, now that you are here…. I believe it is time for you to join her, we wouldn’t want you getting any stronger would we?”

With that the Qucsceradeinos swung its tail at Brinvok and hit him with a force he never felt before.  It sent him toppling into the forest and right into a tree. He heard the clinking sound of the Qucsceradeinos rubbing its claws together, sparks flew from them and landed among the dry leaves on the forest floor, the leaves ignited and soon enough the forest was ablaze.  As Brinvok’s vision faded to black the beast said in a foreboding voice,

“This is the end for you”

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 8

As Brinvok ran through the village, the people who not a few minutes before were such happy sights were now obstacles in his way as he raced through the busy streets.  The crowed blurring into what Brinvok perceived as almost a huge person, with a thousand pairs of eyes and one big inaudible voice.  Once he finally burst through the old wooden gate, he raced up the dirt trail through the forest until he got to the clearing where his house now formerly stood.

There in the clearing was the smoldering remains of his family's house, countless questions flooded Brinvok’s mind.  He wondered where his parents were and if there was anything he could have done to prevent this.  Suddenly all of his questions were answered as a giant shadow blocked out the sun and the only light he could see was the last few embers that had yet to die from the spot where his house stood.  He looked up and saw a sight that would be singed into his memory like a hot iron.  A massive Guardian, the famed Qucsceradeinos, for years its legend was passed through the lands, that it could destroy an acre of land in a heartbeat,  and yet it only targeted his house.  

The Qucsceradeinos was covered from head to claws with emerald green and black feathers that seemed to be so dark that they appeared to trap sunlight.  It had a long reptilian face with brilliant orange eyes that flickered like torches in a cave.  It had long black wings that sounded like thunder when they flapped, the trees moved with each gust, they ebbed and flowed like a big green ocean.  The Qucsceradeinos has long thick legs that end with a foot that has four clawed toes on each foot.  A long tail that ended with a thick bushel of feathers that blend from black to bright green.  These mighty beasts of the sky started massive fires by rubbing its claws together near a combustible surface, such as hay or a thatch roof of a house, the sparks that can fly from the claws would then ignite the desired object and spread.  

The legend goes that the Qucsceradeinos only harms humans for sport.  While it is told to eat meat, it is told that they resent humanity for driving their population to a few dozen.  These mighty beasts hunted mankind in their early years, until the day that humanity invented metal weapons to combat the Qucsceradeinos and other such Guardians.  

Brinvok stood motionless staring at the behemoth in the sky, the beast did not even seem to notice his presence.  The woods were silent, all that was heard was the deep sound of the monster’s wings flapping and a distant scream.  Brinvok looked up at the monster and saw his mother in the beast's clutches.

He watched in horror as the Guardian looked down, it had noticed our hero and gazed into his eyes.  Brinvok later would swear that the monster smiled as he let one claw loosen around Brinvok’s mother. Two claws loosened, then three, she was holding on for dear life to the last claw of the monster.   The beast flicked its claw, like a human flicking a louse off of its finger and Brinvok’s mother plummeted to the earth, crashing through the trees and hit the ground with a muffled thud.

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 7

Brinvok awoke in the warm familiar warmth of his childhood bed, he was now a young man and it had been several years since his brother's tragic death and he was now almost an adult.  He walked into the dining room of his father’s house, which essentially was also the kitchen and the living space.  His father was a carpenter for the village and due to the recent drought in the area, all of the trees were wilting, making it hard for his father to find enough living trees to make into pillars for the town.  

Brinvok walked up to his mother and father who were sitting at their table eating their oatmeal and drinking milk from their cow.  Brinvok asked of them,

“Mother, father? Am I able to go into the main village and visit Jarvin at the blacksmiths?”

“Oh I don’t know Brinny, I have to go really far today with my workers to find any living trees, your mother needs help around the house with fields, don’t you dear?”

“Oh yes, an extra pair of hands would be wonderful ever since…” his mother petered off, she had always been a bit off since Bjorn died, she still sometimes she still leaves an extra plate at dinner for him, both Brinvok and his father constantly would worry about her health.

“Alright, I’ll stay…” Brinvok moaned, he had no intention of staying home, his friend would be sailing away for a few months and this would be the last time he could see him for a while.

After him and his mother said goodbye to father and he was out of sight, Brinvok waited until his mother fell asleep after breakfast, she always was so tired, to run down to the village.  By now the village was vibrant with life, the people were running to and fro with baskets of breads, meats, arrows and all sorts of goods.  The blacksmith’s forge was a big stone building that had several smokestacks that billowed black smoke like a dragon.  Brinvok then knocked on the door and a scrawny man with big goggles on and an apron stained with soot answered the door.

“Ah Brinvok how have you been? Jarvin is in the back smelting more copper, we have a big shipment that needs to be sent to Valkria tomorrow night.”

“Thanks Brahmon.” replied Brinvok, Brahmon was the town’s blacksmith. For what he lacked in physical standings, he made up for in his vast knowledge of smithing.  “Hey Jarvin”, Brinvok called into the store.  There was a loud clang as several copper blades hit the floor.

“Hey man I am really swamped with work, I appreciate the visit but I promise I’ll come by your house and say goodbye to you and your parents,alright?”

“Yeah… see you around…” Brinvok said as he dragged himself out of the blacksmiths.  As soon as he exited however, he looked into the distance and saw dark smoke clouding up the horizon, in the direction of his house.

Onward to Adventure: Chapter 6

Suddenly, as though he was kicked in the chest by a horse, he was sent back to the night he decided he would fight the monsters of the world. He smelt the ashy air all over again, the warm campfire on his face. The long horned ants were chirping and the wolves were howling in the distance.  He remembered this night very well, it was the third week of the Harvest and the whole village was abuzz.  This night however, his brother Bjorn took him out camping in the woods, Brinvok and Bjorn always took a few nights around this time of the year to get away from the town.  He opened his is to see his brother sitting on the opposite side of the fire roasting their dinner.

“Hey there brother,” his brother Bjorn said, “You just dozed off, wouldn’t want you to fall into the fire wouldja?”

“No haha no we wouldn’t, I prefer the food to be cooking rather than me.” Brinvok responded.

“Yeah Brinny, say, isn’t the night sky magical? You can see all of the moons in the sky tonight, the sky is a blend of purple and black, I knew I picked a nice night to go camping.”

Brinvok felt a chill run down his spine, Bjorn was the only one who ever called him by his nickname.  Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the forest and Bjorn began to grow uneasy.

“Maybe we should get out of here, that could be a bear.” Bjorn said.

“We can take a bear, relax brother, is the dinner almost done cooking?” Brinvok stated.

“Um yeah it’s done, let’s dig in,” Bjorn said, who took the bird off of the skewer and handed one of it’s legs to Brinvok.

Suddenly there was a closer crash, it sounded like a whole tree was knocked over.  Bjorn ran to the tent and took out his double edged axe and threw Brinvok his quiver and bow.  The two crept behind their tent and prepared for whatever it was that would be that would attack their campsite.  Then out of the darkness came a forest troll.  The troll had stubby legs and a thick, stocky body.  Forest trolls have four long huge arms that end with big meaty hands that have three fingers as thick as three fingers of a normal person.  The whole body is covered in coarse brown hair.  They have long ears, almost resembling a foxes and has two short horns on its head.  The face almost resembles a human however, it’s nose is hoggish and the face is wrinkly.  

Suddenly the troll let out an earth shattering roar and charged towards their tent.  Brinvok dodged and shot an arrow into the troll’s back.  Bjorn however was unable to dodge and was thrown into a tree by the troll.  Then the forest troll picked up Bjorn with two of his arms and beat his chest with the other set.  Brinvok felt completely cold as he watched the beast rip his brother in half like he did all those years ago.  The sheer anger washed over Brinvok again and he went to the upper half of his now dead brother and took his axe and ran at the creature.  The troll was not paying attention to Brinvok as it was throwing around Bjorn’s torso.  Brinvok sunk the axe deep into the troll’s back, the beast let out a deep, low groan as it slumped to the ground like a ton of clay.  

As the adrenaline went away, Brinvok felt cold again, he felt as though his mind was removing himself from the situation.  As he went higher and higher into the night sky he saw the face of the Baolab on one of the moons.  It sneered at him and said in a voice of pure malice.

“The fun has just begun Brinvok, I am going to break you.”

‘Why are you doing this?” Brinvok shouted in response.

“I am doing this because you are the biggest threat to our plan.  If I am successful in bringing you to insanity, then there is nothing stopping us from taking back our land from you filthy humans.”

With that Brinvok felt the familiar feeling of being cold and was flown through to another memory.