After ambling through the streets and passing the city gates, Cain finally reached the door of his house. It sat on the outskirts of the Kingdom and was just outside of twenty meter high walls that surrounded Starsk.

The walls dominate landscape, but they are just another barrier against the area known as the ‘Dark Expanse’. Only the extremely strong, or very poor would choose to live there, unfortunately Cain and his father were of the latter.

Opening the door wide he called out for his father; “Dad, are you home? Dad?””

Not receiving an answer he deduced this father was at work and hadn’t returned.

Cain’s father worked as a wood cutter on the borders of the ‘Dark expanse’. It was the only job that he could get, most employers that his father talked to were condescending towards one that could birth a cull as a son. A dangerous job was the only one that he could obtain.

It fact, Cains’ mother left him and his Father at young age once she realised that he was a cull. His father rarely ever talked about her, Cain used to casually attempt to bring her up in conversation when he was younger in order to goad his father into talking about her. Instead his father’s face would darken and he would keep silent, he wasn’t angry at Cain, rather at his absentee wife.

“I don’t need her, I only need dad,” was a mantra that he repeated whenever seeing other children bask in the warm affection of their mothers, and he soon began to believe the lie himself. Cain realised that she was like the rest of Starksian society, leaving them just because he was a cull, and stopped caring or asking about her a long time ago. It only made him more attached to his dad.

Cain slowly moved to the kitchen and began cooking for his father. After a long day of work logging trees he would be hungry as usual. Slowly bringing the pot to a boil, he chopped up vegetables with a practiced hand and threw them into the pot, along with other cheap spices. Giving time for the spices to bleed into the stew he was preparing, he sat down as a dirt-brown woodpecker flew in through the window and landed on his shoulder.

The birds eyes glinted and it tilted its head, almost as if to ask the young boy a question.

“Tell that Dad that dinner is almost ready, Bark. Get him to hurry up otherwise it’ll be cold.” Cain told the bird which was the dear companion of his father.

A slow deep warble leaked out of the bird’s mouth and it flew around the room perching on the shoulder of a large man opening the small door.

“No need, I’m already here.” Cain’s father exclaimed as he ducked his head and entered the door. He was a large man, years of wood cutting built his physique up. Thick muscles rippled across his arms as he lifted his son into a bear hug.

Tokè had been surviving for years working on the borders of the Dark Expanse, anyone could testify to both his strength and wit. But regardless of how he looked, he was the definition of gentle giant.

Θ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ Ξ

“Did you enjoy the practice for the Annual Yearly March son? I heard a commander even turned up,” Cain’s father said.

Still finishing what was left of the measly stew, the boy responded with bright enthusiasm. “Of course I did. It was a thousand man commander with a White Griffin Companion, I even saw a noble with a flying Wyvern, even though it was unranked.” Cain barely even breathed in between the sentences.

“Imagine the real march, only a little of the military forces participated in the practice.”

Chortling deeply, Tokè stroked the head of Bark his woodpecker companion. “That’s good. So how did Companion School go today morning?”

Cains eyes widened in shock; “How did you know.”

The boy was a cull. Meaning even if wanted to satisfy his thirst for knowledge, the teachers would not only reject him, but enjoy doing do. A Companion School existed in every gathering place of human beings, be it the mighty Kingdom of Starsk or even a small villages on the outskirts of the Airlenn continent. Being a cull not only meant barred access to basic knowledge about companions, but even about the world in general.

Cain wasn’t one to waste time idly when an opportunity arose. Ironically, he overheard his tormentor Jax boasting his entry into the top class of the Companion School, purely based on his companion of course.

A Golden Panther like his was an extremely strong companion. Even if Jax didn’t develop on his own, the Panther would reach at least the first stage. Not only would it be able to break into the ranked point by itself, but gain a stage in power. Potential like Jaxs’ clearly an asset to the kingdom so the instructors would give precedence and allocated many resources to fostering such a youth.

As soon as Cain realised a new batch of students entered the school, he found a path from the lower district to the upper district of Starsk were the Companion School was situated. Following alley-ways hidden in the recesses of the Kingdom in the Lower District, he reached the Upper District. Even in the lower district it was dangerous for a cull like him, the lower class and the nobles shared their dislike for the companionless.

Traversing the upper district was even tougher because of city guards, he had to painstakingly hide in the shadows and make his way to the Companion School.

“You think your father wouldn’t know when his own son was up to something,” Tokè said with a jaunty tone. “I realised the moment I came home and dinner wasn’t waiting for me. I don’t mind as long as you don’t get caught.”

Tokè wasn’t a stupid man, he knew his son would get deprived of the basic education entitled to all citizens of Starsk regardless of how he felt. So if his son wanted to rely on his own skill to ‘listen in’, who was he to deny him.

“Go on. Tell me what you learned,” he urged, smiling at his sons shocked face.

“Well after the introductions, they talked about geography of the world,” Cain began with a gleam in his eye. “According to the lecturer, the world has three continents; Faerln, Erf and Airlenn. The one we live on is the Airlenn and it had four major kingdoms. Farsi, Trejor, Estone and Starsk.”

Cain had obviously adopted the tone of the lecturer he had observed, and completely forgot that his father obviously knew this information. Even though he had a cull son, he himself had a companion and was encouraged to go to Companion School. Regardless, he dotingly obliged his son as he started to recount the geography and characteristics of each nation.

“But only Farsi, and Starsk have armies on the same huge level because they both border the ‘dark expanse’. That’s all they did today morning, but tomorrow they are going to talk about companions!” Cain finished, catching his breath from his long recount.

Getting to the Companion school was actually a huge effort for the boy. Even though he could walk the streets the abuse he would receive meant it just wasn’t worth it.

“Okay son, you better get to sleep so you can stay awake tomorrow.” Tokè lifted his son who had drifted off to sleep. Moving to the only bedroom that they both shared, he lovingly tucked Cain in before setting up the bamboo mat of on the hard stone floor.

Θ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ ΞΘ Δ ∪ ∀Δ Ξ

Tokè looked at his son’s peaceful, sleeping form and sighed. How could he be oblivious to the fact that his son was being bullied? He came home with bruises on his arms, legs and sometimes even face. Each bruise drove a needle into his heart and made it hard for him to breathe. His son shouldn’t have been accustomed to such a life.

It might not seem like it, but Tokè and his companion had broken through to the first stage, even though it was uncommon for weaker companions. After many years together, high trust and bonding, Bark and his master broke through. It should have entailed a little bit of respect in the Starskian society, but what little esteem he garnered for it was nullified by his son being a cull.

Although it was quite a feat for an untrained labourer, Tokè never told his son. He couldn’t bear the admiring eyes he would receive, not to mention the subtle hints of sadness upon realising his father was ranked. He knew Cain would feel like he was a disappointment regardless of what Tokè would say.

After staying back from work one day he observed a certain pair of tormentors.

Even though they were not even of noble status, one of the many bullies had a Golden Panther. If he was to report it to the Starskian authorities, they would laugh in his face. His first stage rank wasn’t worth a pile of horse shit in front of talent that could break through to the first ranked stage in a matter of a few months.

So, all he could do was keep quiet and love his son in place of his mother, in place of friends and in-place of teachers. All he could do was shield him as much as possible.

Tokè pulled the rough canvas covers over his son, blew out the candle on the table and laid down onto mat. His fitful sleep peppered with nightmares involving his son being tormented, as usual.

:)

Thanks for reading. I have a mirror here where I put up unedited chapters sometimes.