Daniel woke up the next day with his body aching all over, again cursing his stupidity at attacking the older boy. Why couldn’t he just keep his damn mouth shut.

“Urgggh, I feel like death” – Exclaimed Daniel as he sat up on his bed, just a pile of straw covered with a holey blanket, to look around his small hut. The walls were spartan at best, with a small wooden chest he kept most of his possessions in propped up against the wall.

It wasn’t much against theft, but then, what did he have to steal? The villagers had already taken the small amount of comfort he had. He was lucky he still had a roof over his head, and he still had a few possessions hidden where none would find them.

Daniel made an effort to stand on wobbly legs. He looked towards the broken door, and with a sigh went to the bucket of water he kept in his hut to wash up. After cleaning most of the blood of, the cool water making his bruises feel much better, he proceeded to get dressed and head out of his hut whilst propping his door closed. Giving him some semblance of privacy.

The sight that greeted him was a small village of 20 or so huts, the only contrast to the boring village houses where the bakery, a slightly larger house made of solid stone with a massive chimney protruding out of one side, the village heads house, also made of stone and a size larger than the average peasants house, a close imitation of a manor, and the ever-present church of Thalassa, primordial goddess of the sea one of the main deities of the Freelands, who have always valued the sea.

Daniel set off towards the Lake Nevikk to the north, heading towards a stretch of woodland that ran around the lake. The people of the village avoided the woods due to the monster population. It had died down in recent years, but wolves still ran rampant in deeper parts of the forest, and there had even been reports of goblins being sighted along the west side of the lake.

‘Must have come down from the mountain’ – Thought Daniel as he navigated his way to a small copse of trees. Daniel had taken this route many times before in the years since his mother died. Having little to no money, and no possession he was willing to part with, he’d had to get his food another way, or risk starving to death from the generosity of the villagers. Of course, he could always go to the church. But who’d want to join that bunch of fanatics.

He continued to head to a certain tree at the centre of the copse, a large oak older than the village. It stood towering well over 30 meters in height, its thick branches towering over most men. Defiant in the face of time, a constant in this ever-changing forest. Underneath its thick, gnarly roots Daniel went towards a small crevasse, where he’d hidden some of his most prized possessions. Within an overturned barrel were a supple fishing rod gifted to him by a kind stranger, and a strong hunting bow he’d found on a corpse nearby, he’d also managed to get a decent knife from the man. Shame, the owner must have gotten on the wrong side of the wolves.

Feeling much too stiff and painful to go hunting with the bow Daniel picked up his trusty rod and the old knife, and head towards the lake for a spot of fishing. Although relaxing you could never be too carful even in the fringes of this forest. So Daniel kept an ear tuned in to the woods around him.

After a short walk Daniel arrived at his favourite fishing spot, an outcropping of rocks that lay pleasantly in the shade of some trees, overlooking a deep section of the lake. After a quick dig about in the mud to find some worms for bait, Daniel set his rod up, and started to think about his life in the village, whilst gazing into the water below him.

A boy that many would call handsome stared back at him, a lean body built form years of hard work and poor food, long hair pulled back by a leather strip, a blue so dark it was almost black glinted in the sun, and deep penetrating black eyes that sucked the light inside of them. He had sharp features he was proud of, and thanked his parents for his good looks.

Daniel knew there were people far worse off than him, mainly the slaves of the Merchant union were treated the worst, truly poor souls that had been captured from all over the continent. Treated worse than beasts, they struggled every day just for enough food to stave of starvation. He lamented the fact that no one would do anything to help this people. At least Daniel had access to food, a way to train his skills, and a roof over his head. But this wasn’t how he wanted to spend his life. Struggling for food, beaten for others amusement, looked down upon by the world.

Daniel felt a heat rising from his chest, a familiar companion that arose and departed seemingly on a whim. He tried to hold on to this feeling, a feeling he felt would change his destiny, but then he lost all focus as his rod tugged harshly in his hands.

“WOAH!” – Exclaimed Daniel as the rod was almost pulled from his hands – “How big is this fish? It must weigh half an much as me!” – Excitedly said Daniel as he gave a rod a quick tug to let the hook catch. He could barely contain his enjoyment, if he managed to catch this fish he’d have enough to eat for the rest of the week, and he could smoke some for emergency rations. He was patient though, not wanting to lose his catch. Slowly he reeled it in, and was rewarded when a fish a meter and a half long, came struggling out of the water towards Daniel.

This truly was a magnificent catch, the biggest fish Daniel had ever caught in fact – “It must be my lucky day, I deserve it after what that prick Cale and his lackeys did to me” – He happily said as he proceeded to skin and fillet the fish. Only once he’d wrapped the fresh fish up in large ferns, and had started smoking the remainder did he notice how late it had gotten.

“I must have been distracted by that weird feeling, it feels like I’ve only been out here for a few hours, but the suns already setting, got to get back to the village quickly” – Daniel knew what sort of monster roamed the forest late at night, and he wanted no part of it.

He finished smoking the fish as soon as he could, and wished again that he had some salt to keep it preserved, but alas, salt was worth its weight in silver, and there was no way anyone in this rural village would be able to afford it. He collected all his possessions and headed back to the oak to store them, his pains of the previous day forgotten. The wind had picked up, and black cloud seemed to be gathering. He quickly put everything back in its place, covering the barrel with a layer of moss.

As he went to leave, the great oak tree seemed to shiver and let out a long moan, almost as if it were afraid. Daniel stopped in confusion, but sensing nothing nearby, quickly made his way back to the village, unnerved by the quick change in weather.

Upon approaching the village Daniel noticed a lack of activity, the farmers weren’t in their fields, and no children could be seen running around. Even the animals seemed to be eerily silent. Hearing a small noise Daniel headed to the centre of the village, worried about what he might find. He turned the corner to find most of the menfolk of the village surrounding a small cart that had been turned into a storefront. Daniel couldn’t see the man at the counter, but he deduced that it must be a traveling merchant or alchemist or sorts.

Intrigued by this unusual occurrence, Daniel decided to get a closer look at his strange man. He inched his way around the crowd, used to staying out of sight and making his presence unnoticed. As he got close he managed to get a good look at the merchant. He was dressed head to toe in black and had a dark obsidian mask on. He swept his gaze across the crowd and Daniel found himself locked within the man’s gaze, unable to look away from the twin orbs of darkness that sucked him in. The world seemed to slow down and Daniel could swear he saw the man smile under that mask.

As quickly as the feeling came it left, and the world returned to normal. The man’s gaze no longer locked on Daniel.

“What the hell was that!” – Yelled Daniel, a few people turned to look at him curiously, but quickly lost attention when they realised who it was that had shouted, returning to the small gaggle that was left browsing the merchant’s wears. Daniel felt like he had to know more about his man, but he also had some deep, primal fear that if he got too close he’d be in great danger.

Steeling himself, Daniel made his way to the back of the wagon to try and get a closer look. Once in position his eyes were drawn to a small bag or forest green, blending in almost seamlessly to the green of the wagon. It lay loosely on a nail that hadn’t quite been driven in. something about this bag drew Daniel in with a strange fascination.

‘I wanted it.’

‘I have to have it’

‘I need it.’

Drawn in by these strange unexplainable thoughts, Daniel stealthily made his way close, and closer towards the beautiful bag. He felt his chest begin to heat up, but ignored it as to get closer to the bag. By know the crowd had all but disappeared, and the merchant must surely be getting ready to move on. Quickly, so as not to let his chance fade, Daniel rushed forward and grabbed the bag. Retreating to a stack of crates and hiding amongst them. Determined not to leave until the merchant was well on his way.

He watched as the strange man’s stall seemed to almost magically revert to a cart. And then trundle away, pulled by a black mare down the road towards the setting sun. Seemingly feeling safe Daniel ran as fast as he could back to his hut, hearing what he thought was laughter on the wind. Reaching his hut, he bolted inside, propping his chest against the door to keep it closed. Now he was drawn by an almost inhuman fascination and only one question was on his mind,

‘What’s in the bag?’