Petal Town was a place famous for their rose business. The residents of this town numbered just under a thousand, making it more of a small city than a town. The rose fields took up at least a few dozen acres. The rest of the city was beaten up houses and gravel roads. The further away from the rose fields one lived, the better their house was. Doevm's house was a shack, meaning he lived within a few miles. He saw farmers walk in groups every day. Each of them stared at his house. When his mother was around, the stares were of pity. When hank was around, they were of anger and disgust. However, even though they all stared and judged, not a single one stopped by. The most someone did for them was the doctor who delivered Doevm who was now gone. Apparently, Lord Virility had sent the man to assist as practice for delivering his own heir.

Doevm stumbled to the river to wash that accursed liquor off himself. Because he didn't want to bleed out, he had to walk at a snail's pace. When one also considered he was a tiny four-year-old, by the time he made it to the river, the sun was setting. The farmers returned to their homes. Rena was probably back home with Hank and worrying over her missing son.

While the river itself wasn't very deep, it was very wide, and the water was clear enough to see the bottom layer of silt. Since Doevm had never learned how to swim, he figured this place would be a good place to practice in the future. Both sides of the river had plenty of cover. If he needed to hide, he could easily dive into the dense bushes. He washed himself off, turning the river water a little red in the process.

Doevm shivered. He had no towels to dry himself off. While he had slowed the bleeding with a spare set of clothes, they only served as bandages. As he washed himself off, part of the river turned red. He rinsed out the bottle of liquor he had emptied and threw it in a bush. He activated his mana and, upon sensing no one, decided to use magic. While he wasn't going to rely on it, that didn't mean he couldn't use it now and again. In a pile of dry leaves, a magic circle appeared along with some sparks. It was pitiful but it worked. He breathed on the flame, letting it eat some more leaves. He stayed for a bit, letting himself dry off before he heard some voices. He scattered dirt on the flames and hid in a nearby bush.

"Doevm. Doevm!" It called. It sounded like a man, but it wasn't a man that Doevm recognized. He peeked out to see a dark-haired man in his early thirties. Unlike everyone else in the village, his posture was straight, and he had large muscles and leather armor all over his body. A dagger was at his waist. He walked down the road, squinting at every little thing.

'Who are you?' he thought as the man traveled the gravel road towards Doevm's house. He put the matter aside and left the bushes. Because his mother could never afford shoes, Doevm couldn't walk on the gravel road. Each step would send a rock's point up his feet, so he walked alongside it away from his house. He had to stop every few trees to catch his breath and cry into his sleeve. His skin was paling by the second and his vision was getting a little blurry. The blood loss, using magic, and walking around had taken its toll. He pushed onward. His goal was in sight.

A wall of plants stretched out as far as Doevm's unfocused eyes could make out. Roses of every color reached towards the sky. He picked the closest one, a blood red rose that had barely sprouted from the ground. It only had a few thorns, but he only needed two: one for Hank and one for himself.

If the field were full of normal roses, the Virility family would never be able to profit. The lethal thorns were highly valued as weapons. The poison works by paralyzing the prey. I would stop every muscle, including the heart, but if the poison was to be diluted with water, it could be used as a medicine that clogged up wounds and served as an anesthesia. He carefully plucked it from the ground. Looking back, he had a long way to go. His arms and legs dragged behind him. 'Come on,' he told himself. 'You can do this. If I pass out, I will bleed out and die.' He groaned and walked all the way back.

He retrieved the bottle of alcohol and filled it with water instead. After, he found a rock and used it to crush a thorn. A single drop of poison went into the bottle. He mixed by putting the cap on then shaking it back and forth. After the water turned a tinge of gray, he poured it all over himself. The pain stopped. He sat down in complete ecstasy. Pretty stars and other sorts of hallucinations invaded his vision.

'Maybe I used to much,' he thought. He saw a couple of Kobolds, equipped with spears, approaching the river. They lifted their snouts in the air and sniffed. They brought their eyes to him. One pointed a spear at him. Doevm laughed: 'They look so real.'

"Doevm!" the strange man called again. The Kobolds growled, crossed the river, and picked Doevm up. The man probably the splashes because he appeared right in front of them. "Drop him." he yelled as he drew his dagger. The Kobolds let out a high-pitched laugh as they circled him. It was three against one and they had a hostage. The tip of a spear was pressed against Doevm's throat. When he pressed it close enough, he felt a new wound open just short of his artery. While he was still under anesthesia, the new pain sobered him. He rubbed his eyes, but the Kobolds and the man were still staring at each other in a deadlock.

A green mist formed around each of the Kobolds, it was their life essence. They raised their spears. The man frowned: "The weak are pitiful," he said as he disappeared in a silver flash. Doevm looked around yet the man was nowhere in sight. A Kobold's head slid off its shoulders and splashed into the river. The other two panicked and got back to back. The one holding Doevm screeched out and pointed above, yet it was too late. One second Doevm was in a hairy set of arms, the next second he was in the man's arms. The two Kobolds looked at each other and then at their waists. Their legs slid off. All evidence fell into the river and floated away.

"Don't worry. Shh shh shh. It's ok. I've got you," the man kept comforting. Doevm giggled.

'This, this is what I've been longing for.' Doevm thought. 'He's amazing and he knows my name!' As the man carried the toddler to the shack, Doevm realized something. He left his rose behind. Rena was still in danger. She would see Doevm's wounds and freak out. 'Wait a second. She doesn't know where these wounds came from. For all she knows, they could have come from the Kobolds.' Doevm smirked.

"Oh my goddess you are such a cute toddler." the man tickled Doevm, who laughed and squirmed. "I love your innocent little smile. You have your mother's eyes." Since the drugs kicked back in, the next hour was a little blurry. He remembered getting carried back to the house. Rena ran outside with tears streaming down her cheeks and hugged both Doevm and the man. They talked for a while, all while still in a hug. She thanked him and the man left. Doevm was carried back inside and set in his crib. By now he was coming out of his comatose state and could hear again.

"Did you like talking to Jameson?" She asked. "He's a good man, isn't he? Isn't he?" she lifted Doevm's arms up and down.

"Rena, where were you?" Hank walked in the house and asked.

"I was looking for our missing child, Hank," Rena said as she walked up to him with the confidence she'd been missing for years. "Jameson came and helped bring Doevm back from a pack of Kobolds. We're lucky he wasn't killed."

Hank took a sip from his jug: "Jameson again huh? I thought I told him he wasn't welcome here."

"He came because of me." Rena backed away a bit. "The townsfolk were worried about me. I went out for hours calling for our son. They called Jameson because they thought the roses make me sick. I asked him to help look. He was there for me, unlike somebody!"

"Woman, you are getting on my nerves. Quit your nagging. You're supposed to be taking care of him since you're a woman." He raised a hand, ready to slap. He seemed to decide against it and stumbled off. Rena seemed to revert to her usual submissive state. She bowed her head and went back to the crib. She changed Doevm out of his clothes and reeled back. While he had washed himself off, the Kobolds moved him around enough to restart the bleeding. He laid there and acted like nothing happened. Rena covered her mouth.

"How am I supposed to protect you like this?" She gasped. "If not for Jameson, you'd be dead. What kind of a mother am I?" Her fingernails dug into herself as her knuckles turned white. Tears flooded down as she gasped. "What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do? What would Jameson do?"

Doevm internally sighed. This was one of her fits when everything was too overwhelming for her. At first, they consisted of just a few tears but over the years they worsened. She pulled at her hair and mumbled to herself. "I just need to protect you, right?" She seemed to come out of the fit because her expression froze. A fit of twitching overcame her. For the first time, Doevm felt a shiver go down his spine. She put a new set of clothes on Doevm and stood over him, just staring down at him: "Oh my cute little boy, I just want to take you somewhere safe and be happy." She reached down and wiped the blood off Doevm's neck. She brought it to her lips and licked it.

The last rays of the setting sun left the sky. The shack darkened as Rena's tired wrinkled face formed a wide smile that Doevm had never seen before. "Did you know that your lullaby is one I made myself? Would you like to hear the last verse?" She didn't wait for a response. She began immediately.

"Oh, the wind, the wind blows east.

To the edge of the earth, it runs from the beast.

Its fangs are sharp, but mommy's got her harp.

She'll lull it to sleep and count some sheep.

Oh, the wind, the wind blows east.

Until the end of time, mommy will save you from the beast."

Her angelic voice rang in his head, and he got a little woozy. He half closed his eyes but commanded them open.

"And when mommy's harp is bent and broken

She'll wait for the earth to darken.

She'll wait for a chance to come.

And when she's done waiting.

She'll stop delaying

Her heart keeps hating

and slit his god damned throat."