Terra, Frontier Village in the Kingdom of Stilyra- Autumn 10 years AR

“Come on!” Andrew yelled, pulling hard on Jon’s sleeve. The two squirmed their way through the villagers lined up along the only proper road which lead from the only gate in the north to the Magistrate’s manor upon a hill to the south. Andrew didn’t actually need to pull Jon but they were both excited as they came to the front of the crowd a moment later by crawling through a farmer's legs. “Where are they?!”

“Calm young one, the rider said they would be here today,” The farmer they just crawled under said, despite his words he too looked excited. Most of the people who lined up along the road were talkative and jittery because of the events of the day.

Terra had its planting and harvest festivals and there were multiple religious festivals throughout the year such as the summer solstice festival, not that much of it was meant for Jon’s family. A Fate-seer or a band of adventurers would wander into the village every few years but most couldn’t afford the former and the latter was considered a nuisance by the adults but the children liked the stories they told. The thing was those happened relatively often in the small village, today was a day that only came once a decade or two. Something interesting and new was coming to the village.

Jon looked on with his friend and watched as a column of tall men and women in armor walked into the village. A hush fell over the crowd and only gasps could be heard. The dark gray metal chain-mail covered their midriff and hung down across their waist, a steel gorget covered their upper chest with metal pauldrons on either shoulder, leather vambraces over their arms, and a strange open-faced helmet with a piece of metal on their forehead and a large plume of red fibers sticking straight up from it. Erased memories would have labeled the helms in Jon’s mind as Praetorian Guard helmets. Below the waist, they wore simple leather pants and stiff leather boots. Upon their backs, each carried a pack larger than Jon with various weapons slung over the back or in scabbards at their sides. Only a few carried shields but the ones they held looked extremely heavy.

Behind the tall, strangely armored warriors was a second column of shorter warriors wearing leather armor over their tunics, leggings, and cloaks. Each had two weapons mounted to their belts, either swords, axes, maces, or daggers. Each also carried a bow slung over their shoulders. Their clothing and packs looked more refined than the warriors that towered over them and everyone else in the village. What made them stand out the most was their fair complexion and pointed ears. It was the first time Jon had ever laid eyes upon an Elvanni.

Finally came a group of young men and women wearing armor similar to the tall warriors but far lighter. Even the ones with hair on their faces were a head shorter than the ones leading the column. Their armor was less ornate and didn’t have the plume on top of their helmets. Their packs were smaller and four were leading pack mules heavily loaded with a wide variety of supplies. Pots, frying pans, canopies for tents, bedrolls… It looked like what the hunters brought with them on long hunts but in far greater quantities.

“What in the hells? I thought they were supposed to be knights?” Andrew blurted out, a tall woman glanced over towards him with a smirk but turned her eyes on Jon, she let them linger for a moment before moving on.

“Shut your mouth!” the farmer behind them whispered harshly while grabbing Andrews's shoulder. As quiet as the road had been most heard it but the 100 warriors and archers didn’t pay any attention. He quieted down before continuing. “Those are Knights of Ederath and Elvanni Rangers.”

The village seemed worried for some reason but Jon didn’t notice. As the armed group marched up to the Manor, he simply watched. He knew his mother was half Ederathan and his dad was born in Ederath but He’d never met anyone from there before besides them. He waved at the less armored end of the column, none waved back but he did notice one girl look at him with a smile on her face and give a wink. ‘I wonder if any of them knew my da… or granda?’

“What are they doing here though?” Jon turned to the farmer behind him, he said it quietly more to ensure he didn’t get in trouble than the knights hearing him, “Are you sure their knights?”

“Aye, they are but they’re different than the Knights down here,” he said before bending down with a grin on his face, “They’re monster hunters.”

“Don’t blaspheme Gerald,” a portly woman who stood next to the farmer the entire time slapped him in the arm. Terra only had around 800 people in it but Jon didn’t know everyone by name. He just knew her as the lady that lived next to the bakers.

“It’s not blaspheming,” Gerald looked at his wife, “The only reason those lot would be down here is if there was trouble in the forest. Those young bucks that were strutting around this summer went in but never came out.”

He was speaking of a group of adventurers that had passed through looking for riches and fame. They’d gone into the forest hoping to find it but no one saw them again. Everyone in town knew where they were going and when people started talking about them still being gone everyone figured they’d either died or got lost. Aethred swore he’d heard howling the night they went into the forest, Jon had guessed something ate them.

“Pfft, those fucks were bragging bout how they could take a Wendigo, probably got chased out by a pack of wolves. An’ not the dire kind neither, just a normal pack of grays,” She scoffed, “the little pricks wouldn’t dare come back ‘ere after they done shit their britches. Now would they?”

The crowd quickly dispersed now that the excitement was over. Many villagers returned to work, while some wrangled their children together and forced them inside, other’s went to the shrine to pray; the closest thing the village had to a temple of the southern pantheon.

Jon just turned and ran home with a dozen questions to ask his mother. Her father was a traveling merchant from Ederath, so he hoped she’d answer the questions burning in his mind. None truly important but why the weird helmets? Why were they so tall? Did you have to be really tall to become a knight in the north? Were they really monster hunters? The last scared him a bit, if they were, then why were they here.

**********

Leofrith stood tall as any young noble of 12 years should. His father had instructed him to wear a light padded doublet for the occasion. Meant to depict both the start of his martial training and his family's wealth, or at least as much as a noble on the frontier could muster. Beside him stood his sister Jaesmin in a simple white dress with a flowing white smock over it, her hair wrapped in a tight bun on the back of her head. A style commonly found within the temple, although usually not worn by a 9 year old. His mother was not in sight, she refused to meet their guests. She had simply stated she would not stand in the same room with so many heathens and locked herself in his father’s study.

His father of course was standing in front of them in his finest outfit. Green and silver silk, poofy shoulders, pantaloons, and a lumpy hat with an azure feather sticking out of it. Even Leo thought it was a strange outfit but his mother had insisted it was the dress of nobility in the city and if Terra were to ever grow its people must be sure to know who’s land it truly was. ‘but wouldn’t we need more people to grow bigger? Why would someone move to Terra because father wore strange clothing? And wouldn’t the fact they live in the manor let people know who his father was?’

The procession could easily be seen moving through the village, with its denizens watching from either side and into the compound that separated his family's manor from the rest of the village and came to a stop. Two people broke off from the formation and walked up the flagstone steps before saluting in a foreign way. The male knight simply put a hand over his heart in a fist while the woman bobbed her head up for a moment. This confused Leo, a Magistrate was equivalent of a knight in the hierarchy of nobility, so the man’s salute would be considered foreign but acceptable. He’d learned that when equal in title, always salute the person whose land your feet stood upon. The issue remained with the Elvanni woman; Rangers were commoners, not knights. He wondered if that was considered a bow to them.

“W-welcome to my home and lands,” Ellis said with a stiff, low bow, the gesture was quickly mimicked by Leofrith while his sister curtsied. “I trust you’re travel was both safe and c-comfortable.”

“As comfortable as these backwood lands can be,” The woman responded, seeming annoyed at the formalities. The knight gave her a glance with a glare that only lasted a fraction of a second.

“It was quite the enjoyable trip Magistrate,” the knight said with a forced smile, “Allow me to introduce myself and my companion. Ser Erik of the Order of Ederath, Lady Kyanna, Ranger Captain of Selasari.”

“Hmm, Hgnn...Well met, Magistrate Ellis of house Barling. My Children, Leofrith and Jaesmin,” Ellis was clearly nervous, “I apologize for my wife’s absence but she has been feeling a bit ill. May I offer you some refreshments while you provide details of your visit?”

Ellis turned and extended his hand in invitation to enter the home. Both visitors agreed but insisted Leofrith and Jaesmin had to stay outside as the matter was confidential. A quick handoff of copper coins and instructions to go to the village market to find some fruit or other snack and the children were quickly on their way, past the heavily armed company and into the village proper.

“What do you think it’s about?” Leo asked as soon as he was out of earshot. He had a bit of a skip to his step, a mixture of excitement on the day's events and the idea of an afternoon that didn’t involve tutoring, sword practice, or reading scripture. He turned to see his sister just shrugging. “You’re no help Jaes.”

The duo walked along, Leo light on his feet in front while Jaes followed behind holding the hem of her dress up. The village was moderately busy and the people kept stealing glances towards the manor as if they’d miss something by not checking every 30 seconds. The market itself was near the gate and only had a handful of stalls with meager offerings. Bags of grain, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, and herbs gathered in the wilds, a handful of wood and metal tools, finally, the occasional trinket carved of wood or bone meant to be bought as a gift. The farmers and artisans usually peddled their wares using a barter system but none of them would turn down actual coin.

Leofrith walked through the stalls and quickly found a farmer with an assortment of fruits and berries. He glanced at the lack of variety, blackberries, apples, some pears. It was autumn and winter would soon be upon them, so what was available was a bit of a disappointment.

“Do you have any mangos,” Leo asked with a trained smile, one even his father couldn’t pull off. He already knew the answer though. It’d turned into an inside joke ever since a strange young healer appeared two years prior, she cured the village of a pox that was spreading and when asked, the only thing she asked for in payment was mangos. His father had told her they’d never heard of it and offered her pears instead, she took them but walked off muttering about how they couldn’t compare to the god's gift to mortals. She disappeared into the northern grove and was never seen again. Leo would occasionally ask as a light joke to make small talk with the people he would one day rule and because he hoped to one day figure out what a mango was. They had to be rare if they were gifts from the gods.

“Young lord, you know I don’t! Maybe you should ask the Knights, maybe they’ve got them in the north,” the lady next to the stall said with a laugh and gave a slight bow, “But no more word about some crazy roving lass looking for made-up fruits. A joke aside, what can I get you? I’m here to serve.”

Leofrith spent a couple of coppers on some pears and berries for him and his sister before walking over to her. She was looking at a small-time traveling peddler hawking his wares. The man was showing off various trinkets including ones made by the people of the village. Most of it looked like something that was pulled out of a rubbish pile, considering that some traders did that, it was possible. After all, to a noble in a city, a velvet doublet with a stain or small tear wasn’t worth the space it took up in a wardrobe. Yet to a commoner, in the towns and villages it was the height of sophistication. Leo wordlessly handed off the jute bag to his sister as he ate a pear. The peddler was now holding up a copper necklace with a near ‘priceless’ gem embedded in it. It was clearly just an uncut piece of quartz.

As they watched a group of three boys rushed by, all around his and Jaesmin’s age. They rushed towards the northern gate with a girl running behind trying to keep up and yelling at them to slow down. They all had sticks in their hands and the shorter one leading the way had an old barrel lid tied to his arm like a shield. Jaesmin had noticed them too and followed, trying to see where they were headed. Leo shrugged, picked up the jute bag, and walked after her. Better than watching a man trying to sell junk.

**********

“Hah, you’ll never catch me you fucking heathen, you’re no true knight,” Aethred yelled as he ran from Jon through the underbrush of the northern woods. He wasn’t making much headway as Jon had both longer strides and wasn’t carrying a foot and a half wide barrel lid through bushes.

“Shut up, you dumb little shit, we're not playing that!” Jon yelled back at him, “What if one of them hears you!”

“They’re all at the manor, how would they hear me?” Aethred smirked like the fact alone would win him the argument.

“Ummm…. Aethred, we’ve been out here for a while, they could have left or maybe some stayed in the woods while the rest went in.” Andrew helpfully pointed out in a rare moment of input from him. For his part, Aethred stopped in his tracks and nearly fell over. He quickly looked around nervously. They continued on after seeing the coast was clear for a few more minutes before they heard something moving quickly through the brush.

“AAAAAH! They heard you!” Erin burst out of the bushes from the direction the boys had just come from, running as fast as she could, “They’re coming!”

Aethred threw down his stick and makeshift shield and bolted as fast as he could move, diving through bushes and brambles, he made it a good distance before he realized he was alone. He turned around in circles looking for the others or a place to hide. Suddenly something big jumped on his back; he screamed. His scream of terror was only met with laughter. He gathered his wits and rolled over to see Jon, Andrew, and behind them Erin all with smiles plastered across their faces. Erin was laughing so hard tears were in her eyes.

“What the fuck? Stupid heathen cunt! Why’d you yel- oof!” Jon’s boot had just impacted Aethred’s stomach, the laughter died down a little. Andrew still giggled but covered his mouth to try to hold it in, Erin’s mouth was hanging wide open with her brow’s furled in anger.

“Quit calling us heathens!” Jon yelled and with a glance at his sister added, “and she ain’t a cunt! Pain in the ass, lech, or tattler, yes. But not a cunt.”

“Oh, thanks little brother,” Erin rolled her eyes at Jon, “How’d you know?”

“Know what?” Aethred asked, still rolling on the ground holding his stomach.

“That it was a fib? You didn’t run,” Erin said dejectedly, scaring all of them would have been better.

“I’m not dumb and I know you’re not that dumb, if we WAS being chased, you’d just hide and let us get the beating.” Jon said like it was the truest thing in the world, it was probably up there, “and quit calling me little brother, you’re only a moment older.”

“But still older!” she smiled and looked at Andrew.

“Jon didn’t run, so I didn’t run,” Andrew piped in.

“You’re still short,” Jon mumbled at the same time, gesturing the height difference with his hands.

“You’re all a bunch of pricks, I’m gonna tell my da,” Aethred said as he got up, brushing the dirt off himself and only then noticing the burrs that covered his tunic and pants.

“You won’t, your da will take a switch to you as soon as he hears you’re calling us heathens again,” Jon said and gave meaningful looks at Erin and Andrew, “we ain’t gonna say nothing either.”

“Thanks,” Aethred grumbled before walking through the bushes to a path, picking the burs off his clothes. Andrew picked up his newly acquired ‘shield’ and followed behind, leaving Erin at the rear.

“There’s no need to tell, I’ll take a switch to you myself if you keep on,” Jon grinned as Aethred made a rude gesture in front of him.

The four friends continued through the woods before coming up to an old oak growing up near a rock outcropping. The tree itself twisted and bent around the stone and was one of the reasons the valuable wood had never been chopped down; no woodsman wanted to chip the edge of their ax trying to cut it, bow saws were impossible to use, and braced by the rocks the only way it could fall was also the only place you could stand while cutting it.

Andrew climbed the 12-foot tall outcropping and looked around in every direction before giving a thumbs up to the rest. As he climbed down, the others moved some brush from the base of a tree to reveal a hole, only a couple feet around, one at a time they crawled in, while Erin crawled backward to pull the brush back over the hole.

The passage itself wasn’t very long but opened up into a small cave below the stone of the outcropping above. The area was only about 15 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 5 feet high at its peak. It wasn’t much but to four children it was a manor-sized hideout. Much better than the hollow tree they used to play in. A small hole in the roof of the cave, only 6 inches across provided a little light but Aethred was already using a flint and steel they had tucked away to light a small fire, from there they lit a half dozen tallow candles and the darkness became more than bearable.

They spent the next few hours in there. Stowed away the new ‘shield’, pulled out trinkets and toys, told jokes, and had one scuffle after Aethred made a comment about Hild’s ‘utters’. All in all, a normal day for the four. Jon had made most of the toys they had in the hideout. A small wooden toy with two fat wooden disks connected by a short axle, then a string wrapped around the axle so when you threw it down it’d come back up. A couple of wooden animals, a small bow, and a top that you could spin; granted with the latter there was only one spot in the cave that was smooth enough to use it.

He was busy on his latest project and ignoring the others and he carved, He was careful not to cut himself with the boot knife he’d ‘found’ a couple of years ago. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to use a knife yet or not. He felt his ma would take it if she saw it though so it stayed in the hideout.

It was a small bow connected to a block of wood that he’d carefully carved out pieces from. Inside he put other chunks of wood he’d shaped, one was a wheel with a quarter of it gone and a notch on the other side that made a hook, the other was simply a piece of wood that fit in it. He could picture what it was supposed to look like kind of but this was the fourth time he tried to make it.

“You know you’re never going to get that thing to work,” Aethred had been watching him as he put all the pieces together, “why would a bow need a handle anyways?”

“This works!” Andrew chimed in while playing with the yo-yo.

“Just give me a moment and it will,” Jon said while concentrating, trying to get all the pieces in place. Once he was done, he drew back the string over the hook. It held!

A little shakily he placed a makeshift arrow and notched it. A quick squeeze of the lever on the bottom and the arrow, without tip or fletching, loosed and splintered on the stone wall across from him. ‘HAHA, it worked!’

“Fuck! Let me see that!” Aethred’s tuned changed and he tried to take the newly completed crossbow. Jon was quicker and snatched up a couple more makeshift arrows before crawling through the tunnel towards the exit. Aethred and Andrew were right behind leaving Erin to blow out the candles before scampering out as well.

“Think we could shoot a deer with it?!” Aethred asked as he climbed out of the hole.

“Think we want to hang?! We’re not poaching!” Erin’s voice could be heard from the tunnel, “Andrew move your big butt!”

“No, but we could probably pick off a few rabbits,” Jon said with a grin. He knew if he brought home a weapon to show his mother, he probably wouldn’t be able to sit right for a week. That’s why he’d already devised a plan if he could ever get the crossbow working; point out he’s already 10 and show her it’s not a weapon but a tool for putting meat in the stew. It probably wouldn’t save him completely but one smack upside the head was better than a switch or wooden spoon across the ass over and over. Even if his ma didn’t pull down his trousers to spank him anymore it still hurt.

“It’s already midday, let’s head to the meadow, there’s always rabbits that way,” Andrew said cleaning dirt off himself.

“No, fuck that. I know where a badger den is by the creek!” Aethred blurted out and started walking down the hillside without waiting for an answer. The other three started after him.

“Why would we want to eat a badger?” Erin asked but got another idea and sped up, “Oh while you idiots are doing that, I’ll look for shiny stones in the creek! I vote badger, meats meat, right!”

“Why would you want to look for rocks?” Jon asked skeptically. He knew his sister was rather shrewd and probably had a way to use them but he would rather ask than try to figure her out.

“That trader in town was trying to sell rocks and crystals to people and saying they were valuable, I’ve seen the same ones down by the creek,” she said grinning at the thought of earning some coppers.

“He’s a fake, they’re worthless!” Aethred called back, trying to scan the area for prey even though he didn’t have the new bow, “But a badger pelt should be worth a little coin!”

“Kay, first, you’re a horrible hunter, shut up. How’s Jon supposed to even try to hit anything if you scare it away,” Erin countered as she caught up to Aethred, now walking directly in front of Jon, “Two, I know they’re worthless, so does he. But if he’s selling he’ll have ta buy some. He can’t admit he’s a fake or the Magistrates guards will run him out the village by spear point.”

Jon couldn’t help but agree with both. If the guard called him out for peddling worthless rocks as gems, he could pretend he didn’t know and had been scammed himself but if he refused to buy more of the ‘priceless’ gems for a fraction of what he was selling them for, he’d lose his defense and would be flogged and thrown out of the village. He made a mental note to both listen more closely to his sister's schemes and make sure he never ended up on the wrong side of one.

They continued on down the hill, it was only a few minutes to walk to the stream. Aethred had shut his mouth after getting called out, Erin marched along with her head held high with a cocky grin on her face until she almost tripped, Jon was watching the side looking for something to loose an arrow at, and Andrew, who had been paying attention, was walking at the rear already holding a couple of pieces of quartz he’d spotted on the trail. When they reached the stream they split, Aethred lead Jon to the burrow that supposedly had a badger in it but it dawned on them they had no way to lure it out. That led them to run around looking for mushrooms and berries to place as a lure. Once it was done they just had to wait.

Andrew and Erin just started walking up and down the bank of the stream. Andrew even took off his boots and started walking in the chilly water, grabbing fistfuls of stones, picking out the good ones, and moving on.

“Isn’t that cold?” Erin asked with a curious eye on Andrew. The stream was only around 10-15 feet wide and not even a foot deep but it was the middle of Autumn.

“A little but it’s not bad, I’ll get out before my toes go numb,” Andrew replied, he bent down and picked up a stone, “besides, look at this.”

Erin glanced over and saw an oval stone glittering with pink and white pieces of quartz. What made it unique was it had been worn smooth from years at the bottom of the stream. Andrew tossed it to her.

“You don’t want it?” Erin asked incredulously as she caught it. None of them starved but Andrew and his dad could use the coin just as much as her family.

“Nah, don’t want that trader to ‘spect anything. Better if only one of us tries to sell it to him,” he shrugged. Erin just thought bout it for a moment.

“Kay but we’re splitting the coin, I get a bit more than half because it was my idea,” She decided.

“Fine by me, you can keep all of it if you get Jon to make me a wheel and string toy for home.”

“Deal,” Erin said with a grin. She couldn’t help but think about how much the trader would pay for the toy too. Despite how it may have seemed, she wasn’t greedy, she just had plans and one of her bigger ones required more coin than a 10 year old could easily come up with. It’d probably take a few years. It wasn’t a grand scheme but there was a trader that came by every few months selling wares from the north, he always had the most beautiful tunics, she wanted to buy one for her and another for her ma one day. Jon could eat dirt, he’d end up putting a hole in it on the first day wrestling with the boys.

“YEAH!!!! OH SHIT!”

“GET IT, The rock, the rock!!”

**********

Leofrith and Jaesmin were wandering the trails of the north grove, the area was regularly patrolled by guardsmen after a bandit attack years prior. They’d lost the four children they were following and decided to explore. Normally Leo wouldn’t just wander like some common child but Jaesmin had been running about enjoying herself. They talked about the knights and rangers, pointed out unique things in the woods around them, laughed about the pathetic excuse for jewelry the trader that had come to town was trying to sell. It was so bad even the commoners knew it was worthless. They found their way to a meadow and just laid there, enjoying the day, Leo had removed his doublet so Jaes could sit without getting her dress dirty. Neither cared for the garment but knew better than to cross their mother when it came to anything that could remotely be considered religious.

“So when do you think we should go back?” Jaes asked breathing deeply with a smile on her face. Their mother's zeal didn’t allow her much freedom or time to relax.

“In time. If mother is angered, I’ll tell her it was my fault. You were following me and I got lost in the wood, can’t expect a young priestess in training to know her way in the wilderness after all,” he said with a smirk.

He loved his mother but at times she made him worry for his sister. His days were usually filled with training and study but he also needed to learn about the lands he’d one day inherit. Which meant he’d accompany his father around the village, talk with the people, occasionally ride along the roads with his father and the guard on patrol. Jaesmin however, was his mother's project to appease the gods, or the Temple at least.

She was forced to copy scripture all day, every day. Beaten if she spoke out of turn, forced to go without a meal if she couldn’t recite passages their mother expected her to, and at one point she was locked in a cabinet and told to pray because she was caught daydreaming and staring out the window instead of praying. She stayed in there crying until Leo heard her and got his father. That night was a long one, Leo had never heard his parents fight like that before but at least his sister was never treated like that again.

In a few more years and he hoped he could “escort” her to the Temple in Ebrus like a good older brother and find a way for her to escape. Even joining the temple might be an escape for Jaes. The few priestesses he’d met had always been strict but also fair and kind. They didn’t seem like the type that’d lock a 7 year old in a dark cabinet. ‘Maybe I’ll curse the gods' names next time mothers upset… No, she doesn’t spank me, she’ll tell father and then be in a foul mood for Jaesmin… Maybe we should just leave.’ Leo put the thought out of his head, he couldn’t, she couldn’t. They were far too young to be on the road alone. He couldn’t help but sigh.

“What’s wrong?” Jaesmin had heard the sigh and was looking over at him.

“Nothing, just a bit dull here is it not?” he lied trying to throw her off, he didn’t want to upset her when she was enjoying herself.

“Then let's walk!” She sprung to her feet and started heading for a trail leading east, “There’s plenty left to see in the forest. Besides those commoners and heathen children must be around too.”

“Heathens?” Leo quietly said shaking his head but following after. He wasn’t sure if she believed that, if it was ingrained into her, or if she was worried that he’d tell mother that she referred to the villages only northerners as anything but heathens. He hoped it wasn’t the latter, he’d long since decided that one day he’d help her but she needed to trust him when he figured it out.

They walked along the trail, spotting bird nests, fat squirrels, and limber rabbits that Jon would have loved to try to hit but would have failed. They started walking down past a great oak tree, Jaes was surprised by its size and thought it was beautiful the way its trunk and branches seemed to intertwine with the pillar of rocks next to it. They spotted a line of footprints in the soil here and there heading downhill and decided to follow it. Both were so preoccupied with keeping the trail they hadn’t noticed the sudden lack of the animals they’d watched for the past hour. They started hearing running water ahead and-

“YEAH!!!! OH SHIT!”

“GET IT, The rock, the rock!!”

They reached the rocky clearing near the stream just in time to see two boys running after a badger with a stick in its back. Both boys were trying to run and throwing rocks. A boy and a girl came running from the other direction and started doing the same. It all ended when the tallest boy ran up and kicked it in the side before the shortest one stomped on its head.

**********

“I fucking told you there was a badger in there!” Aethred yelled and bent to pick up their quarry but decided against it, Jon noticed the action, “Better you get bit, your ma’s the healer.” Jon ignored him a moment while he recited a thank you to the gods his mother had taught him. It was thanking the gods for a successful hunt and a promise that the slain animal would not be wasted, they would use all of the god's bounty they had received. He whispered it so only he could hear but his ma told him the gods would hear it no matter how quietly he said it.

“It’s dead alri-” Jon started as he bent to retrieve his kill but was interrupted

“WHY would you kill it? It was beautiful!” a girl's voice erupted from the treeline. Jon and Aethred looked up to see a young girl with reddish-blonde hair wearing a white dress, beside her was a taller older boy with similar features wearing a blue padded vest with a dagger on his belt. They recognized the two immediately.

“Oh shit,” Aethred blurted out.

“Shut up!” Jon harshly whispered before speaking up sheepishly, only remembering to bow at the last moment, “Umm.. we were just hunting, it’s all we could find.”

Aethred got the hint while Andrew and Erin quickly ran up to stand next to Jon and bow as well. They were all cursing themselves internally for getting caught by nobles acting so foolishly and hoping that badgers weren’t like deer and boars. They all knew certain animals could only be hunted at the Magistrates' discretion. Hunting them without permission was a serious offense, hunters have been executed for it.

“All you could find?” Leofrith asked, looking at Jon curiously, “We passed game all through the for-”

Everyone glanced at Leofrith who seemed to be pondering something while looking around. He held one hand on his dagger and another on his sister’s shoulder. The four were tense but he wasn’t looking at them, he wasn’t looking at anything in particular. He was just looking around the forest and listening.

Erin was the first to figure it out when she suddenly shut up from her bowing position with wide eyes and, like Leofrith, started staring at the trees around them. She motioned for them to get up and started moving towards Leofrith.

Jon and Andrew confusedly followed but Jon noticed Jaesmin. She was staring at him... no. She was staring past him, at the other side of the creek. Jon gulped, she looked terrified.