The elk ran in a blind panic from the monstrous beast that chased it, but he didn’t care and snapped his jaws at it in an attempt to run the animal harder. It felt good to stretch his legs, to simply run at full tilt…Just as he was meant to. His claws dug into the ground and kept him from slipping as he sucked in great lungfuls of air. The sea of golden grass barely reached his knees, and hid many potential pitfalls, but nothing would keep him from his quarry.

The elk would tire soon, or it would trip over something. Regardless of what happened, he’d feast and he looked forward to the idea because not only did he hunger, but his hunger ran deep. It had transcended from a simple physical need into something more. Yet, he didn’t know what, exactly, he needed. The animal he chased, however, would be a good start.

The elk bawled loudly as it suddenly stumbled, the sound oddly similar to that of a door squeaking open. The strangeness of this went unnoticed, his attention remained solely on his hunt and the kill that was but minutes away. He leapt for his fallen prey, intent on killing it before it clambered back to its feet and…

Something harshly jabbed Joseph in the back and he jerked awake with a deep growl in the back of his throat that rumbled down into his chest. He pulled his lips back into a silent snarl then laid there to try and come back to himself. While he didn’t growl again, his breath came out as harsh huffs, as if he’d been running. Finally, he half rolled over and glared at his Father who held a broom in his hand. “What.”

Stefan simply gave his son an unimpressed look. “It’s time for breakfast. We leave for Murval once we finish.”

After his Father left, Joseph rolled onto his back and tossed an arm over his eyes, then sighed. The final bits of the dream had faded from his waking mind, leaving him yearning for something. He shifted his thoughts to the planned events of the day and made an annoyed rumbled under his breath.

Honestly, he hated the idea of going to Murval. He didn’t mind the trip, but he did mind the townsfolk staring at him. While it’d be nice to blame it on his height, he knew they did it because of his eyes. They’d always stared at him, even as a child and made whispered guesses about his heritage: Fae, Wildling, Changing, Forest Child...A few of the more superstitious people would make gestures to ask for protection from whatever gods they worshiped. He found it all to be insulting.

Finally, he dragged himself out of bed and dressed. Then he grabbed his boots and followed his nose to the kitchen where breakfast sat on the table. “What all are you planning on getting?”

“Basic supplies, really. Wound balm, bandages, flint, that type of thing. We have plenty of food here, so I can send you off with dried meats.” Stefan sat down at the table and began eating. “Perhaps a new pair of boots if we can find a pair for a decent price.”

“What about you?” Joseph finally sat down. “You can’t really go hunting in the forest anymore because of your knees.”

“Ah, don’t worry about me. I can still fish and set snares. Besides, with it being just me, I won’t need as many hens and can butcher some of them come fall.”

He nodded and quietly ate his eggs before suddenly grinning. “I promise to wander back every so often. No wild parties while I’m gone, though.”

This caused Stefan to laugh. “Oh, damn it all. You caught me. I was going to let the chickens into the house and get drunk off my ass.”

“I’m being serious about wandering back. As much as I want to explore…This place is still my home.”

“I know and I’m glad you feel that way, Joseph.”

Once breakfast had been finished and the dishes put away, the two started out on their trek to Murval. After following an old game path, they stepped out onto one of the main dirt roads where they began walking west to the small town. Already, Joseph could make out the tall roof that belonged to the temple of some god he never bothered to learn the name of.

The weather teetered on the fine line between late spring and early summer, making it a good time to travel. Despite the good weather, they encountered very few travelers; he’d only counted four by the time they reached Murval. Stefan noted, after the third person, that some of the late spring crops were ready to be harvested and people were likely handling that.

Murval also seemed unusually quiet with very few people milling about at the market. Normally, the market square bustled with activity, and for the market to be so empty on such a nice day? Very strange. A subtle tension that hung in the air left Joseph feeling uneasy and he wondered if it happened to be related to the lack of townsfolk. “We should be quick about this.”

“Nonsense! With so few people around, we can take our time getting your supplies.” Stefan didn’t share his son’s concern and waved it away as the young man’s general dislike of the townsfolk. “I’ll get you extra jerky for the trouble.”

Joseph fell in step behind his Father and made a face as he silently mocked the older man’s words. Sighing, he rolled his eyes and shifted his attention to the few people in the market. Then his focus moved to the conversation his Father and the owner of the stall, Janina, were having.

“I’m surprised you two are here, Stefan. Most people are wanting to stay away from Murval. Supposedly, someone saw troops from Triham headed towards the town. Rumor says they’re planning on taking the town.” Janina commented as she passed a small jar of salve to Stefan. Her briefly went to the man’s son, who lurked behind him. When he looked towards her, she offered a polite nod, but didn’t say anything.

“I doubt it. Murval has nothing to offer. I suppose there’s resources because of the forests, but there’s plenty of towns with more importance. Salo has a port, for example.” Stefan examined the jar of salve. “Does this one have numbing herbs in it?”

“Yes, it does.” After being handed a coin, she took the jar back and began wrapping it. “Well, it’s just a rumor. Still, everyone’s worried about the war heading north to us.”

“Have they started enlisting people?” He took the wrapped jar back and tucked it into the satchel he’d brought with him. “Because that’d be a sure sign of it heading this way.”

“Not that I’m aware.”

“Then I doubt there’s anything to worry about.” Stefan began examining a few other jars of salve to see if anything else caught his attention. While he didn’t want his son to have to carry a heavy load, he also didn’t want him to be unprepared.

Joseph snorted loudly at the conversation. “Unless there’s no kingdom left to send enlistment orders.” He ignored how the two adults stared at him and his sudden words. “We all know we’re several days away on horseback from any major city, and the capitol is further south of us. If the capitol was taken…”

“Then we wouldn’t know about it till they marched past us on their way to Kovis.” Stefan commented, grimly, as he quickly picked up on Joseph’s line of thinking. “And Kovis has a lot more resources to offer than us with it being a major trade city. I still can’t see why they’d attack Murval, but you have a good point.”

Finally, he gave Janina a nod and shooed Joseph to the next stall where he began browsing the goods on display. He knew his son hated shopping and found it boring, but he had no desire to send the young man off without the proper supplies. Besides, he felt certain that Morgan would slap him from beyond the grave if he did.

Impatiently, Joseph waited and tried to restrain himself from pacing or making quiet noises of frustration. While his Father didn’t mind the animalistic noises he made on occasion, he knew the townsfolk would. He glanced towards the older man for a moment before turning and trying to sneak off to find something interesting to do. However, his name being said sharply caused him to pause and look back towards his Father.

“Get back here.”

He tilted his head back and groaned loudly before dragging himself to where his Father stood. “You aren’t doing anything that needs me to be around. While you’re doing that, I could go do something constructive like…I don’t know. Getting those boots you mentioned.”

“No. You’re staying here. The last time I let you wander off, you got into a fight with the Woodmore’s boy and got a black eye out of the deal.”

“To be fair, he started it by calling me a ‘half-bred bastard cur’.” Joseph noted, and then added with a bit of smugness in his voice. “…I won though.”

“You broke his damn arm, that’s what you did. You’re staying here, and that’s final, because gods know I don’t need to deal with another incident like that.” Stefan absolutely didn’t see the humor in the situation.

“Fine, but can I at least go sit down on the bench?” When his Father made a slight gesture, Joseph turned and tromped off to sit on the bench. It really didn’t improve how bored he felt, but at least he didn’t have to listen to the haggling and fake claims of items being overpriced. Still, it allowed him time to quietly watch the merchants in the square. He knew they stared at him, especially with how they’d suddenly become busy when he looked at them.

Sighing, he leaned forward to rest his forearms on his knees. Honestly, he didn’t quite feel confident about leaving everything he knew. On one hand, the idea excited him. He’d get to see new places and experience different things…But on the other? He knew little about the world beyond the cabin, the forest around it, and Muval. Everything he knew came from books that had been beyond ancient when he received them and rumors from mostly illiterate townsfolk.

When his Father moved to another stall, he immediately recognized it as Aubin’s. Sitting up straight, he watched the brief transaction before getting up to intercept the older man. Before the bag of jerky could be put away, Joseph snatched it. “This is mine, now.”

He ignored the exasperated sound his Father made from behind him and dug into the bag. After finding a suitable piece of jerky, he popped it into his mouth and contentedly chewed on it. He had no idea what Aubin used to make the stuff, but it tasted like the most glorious thing ever. Honestly, it made the whole ordeal worth it. He closed his eyes, briefly, and made a soft hum of contentment under his breath.

Opening his eyes, he leaned back on the bench and watched a few more people drift into the market, including Morris Woodmore. After their fight, he’d never bothered Joseph again. The slightly older man gave him a wide berth, but warily stared. At least until Joseph snapped his teeth at him, prompting Morris to look away and find a different stall to do business at. This, however, earned him a smack to the head by his Father. “What?!”

“You know better than to do that, Joseph.” Stefan gave his son a stern look and spoke softly. “Did all my lectures all these years just fall out of your skull?

“Yes, I do know better, and yes I remember your lectures…But you also know I don’t like being stared at.” People staring always made him feel irritated and almost…Aggressive at times.

“Just eat your damn jerky and get over it.” He shook his head at Joseph and sighed. “I have two more stalls to look at, then we’ll go to the leatherer to see about some new boots, and we’ll leave.”

By the time his Father had finished with the two stalls, Joseph had nearly finished off the bag of jerky. Annoyingly, it’d done nothing to sate his hunger. Something that had become a trend as of late. He could eat to the point of feeling ill, yet deep down he still hungered. He could only describe it as a deep hunger, something that couldn’t be satisfied with mere food. Perhaps one day he’d find what would finally sooth it.

“Good morning.” The leatherer greeted them both warmly and spoke with a strange accent. He only gave Joseph and his eyes a passing glance before getting down to business. “How may I help you gentlemen on this fine day?”

Stefan gestured at his son. “I’m looking for a good pair of traveling boots for him. His are a bit on the worn side.”

“Ah, so something durable and comfortable?” When the older man nodded, he gestured at the younger one. “Come! Let me see what I can find for you.”

After following the man into his shop, Joseph looked around curiously. The scent of oils and the chemicals used to tan skins caused him to wrinkle his nose; he had no idea how he hadn’t sneezed yet. When prompted, he pulled his boot off and handed it to the man who frowned but started searching through a few boxes. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m not sure I have a pair in your size. I could custom make a pair for you, but that’d be more expensive and take a few days.” He replied as he tried to find a pair in a similar size, but kept finding boots that were too small. “It just depends on what you want.”

He frowned and considered things. Honestly, his boots weren’t in that bad of shape and frankly, he could just go barefoot if he needed to. Gods knew he’d spent plenty of time out in the forest running around barefoot. Hell, most of the time when he took off for days at a time, he simply stashed his clothes and went buck naked.

“I think I’ll hold off for now.” After receiving his boot back, he pulled it on before returning to his Father who waited outside. “He didn’t have any in my size and would have to make it custom. So, I told him not to bother.”

“A few days would hurt you to wait, but…It’s your choice.” Stefan replied as he passed the satchel to Joseph. “Well, do you want to head off right now or do you want to head home for a final meal before you leave?”

“I think a final meal at home would be a good idea.” He smiled slightly at the idea of a bowl of stew, but the smile fell away at the yells that came from the town center. Suddenly, the air felt different, a cold electric feeling that danced across his skin and caused something deep inside of him to snarl. He grabbed his Father’s arm and gave it a sharp tug. “We need to go.”

Stefan stared towards the town center where the yells had turned to screams and wondered if the rumors of soldiers had merit. The tug to his arm snapped him back and he followed after Joseph. “It’s not the screams that have you spooked. What is it?”

“It feels bad.” He glanced over his shoulder where a pale blue glow had started towards the town center. Quickly, he broke into a jog, hauling his father along with him. At least until the older man stumbled. Joseph stopped to pull him to his feet, making a quiet whine under his breath as his attention darted from the older man and then to the town center behind them. “We have to run. We can’t stay here.”

Never in his life had he seen his son so anxious and this worried Stefan as did the sharp sensation of cold electricity on his skin. It made him realize why the young man seemed so upset. He climbed back up to his feet and tried to keep up with Joseph, but over the years, his countless treks through the forest had caught up with him. He still tried, though, but with each step he took he steadily realized he wouldn’t be able to keep up with his son. Already, he felt out of breath; he stopped being a fit young man many years ago. “I don’t think I can run. Joseph, take what I bought you and run. Go to the cabin, get supplies and go north to Kovis.”

“I’m not leaving you!” The sudden cessation of the electric feeling caused Joseph to pop his head up and look behind them. While he would have considered the change to be good, the distortion of the screams caused his stomach to clench in fear. “I think we’re out of time.”

Despite his Father’s urgings to run, he stood there, rooted to the ground much like the many deer he’d hunted over the years. He felt like prey, a sensation entirely foreign to him. The explosion caused him to jolt. Joseph barely had time to shove his Father onto the ground and dive down on top of him behind the short, stone wall before the shockwave hit.

Initially, it sucked the air out of his lungs and left him gasping for air. Then, it felt cold. Cold enough to chill him to the bone as if he’d stepped out into the coldest winter day imaginable. Around him he heard a multitude of screams that steadily distorted into sounds seemed more like demonic wails than anything human.

He couldn’t be sure if he heard his Father screaming or not, just that the man’s arm felt almost…Skeletal. He buried his face in the crook of his arm and remained hunkered down against his father. Despite the desire to look around, he kept his eyes clamped shut and struggled to breath as the shockwave continued on, unending.

To his left, the stone wall began to crumble and he could make out the sound of the rocks hitting the ground around him. A stone hit him in the back, then another and another. Suddenly, the entire wall crumbled on top of him.