Matty thought that the bag of gold he had found hidden within the empty tree trunk was a sign from the gods that his life was taking a turn for the better. He wasn't sure what to make of the message the gods were sending when the band Skanish soldiers ran him down and took his belongings.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyt3B3XKGp
The one-eyed man spoke first, his grizzly face looking Matteus over with a pang of hunger. "Do you speak the Skanish tongue? You have the look of one of us."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡol7Ywf5tar
The rat-faced one spoke next, his pale hair kept too long for a man. "He spoke. You answer. This is the official business of King Ander." He raised his fist as if to strike Matty.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZ4zVrg8SN
"I am Skanish, yes," Matteus said with a whimper.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEnqc8Ae1HP
"Good, you'll live this day and our commander will be takin' half yer money."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6rNELcnW4
"Thank you, thank you," Matty cried, looking up with fear in his eyes.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2KgSEPKhD
"We take his money and he thanks us. What have they been feedin' you lot down this way," said the one-eyed man.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRs1wSvBh9
"Perhaps he's half Era, that'd explain the cowardliness," the rat-faced man said with a laugh. "The best part is that he's thanking us before we've even told him."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnAIUR6uvvs
"Har, dear boy we are no robbers. This money goes to fund yer arms and armor," the one-eyed man croaked. "You'll be joinin' the king's men, today boy. We need fighting age boys, skinny as they may be."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBuxKvual8v
"Please, I have to find my family."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuYoZLKWTbf
"What do you mean boy, we're right here."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWgPqM4ikd
The line of boys was as pitiful as it was untrained and underdressed for the cold. More boys than Matty could count walking in front of and behind him, corralled by soldiers on horseback in armors of leather or chain, with helmets that covered their cheeks and noses.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHTAHlj82H
They had been walking for hours. Matteus didn't know where they were headed and was too scared to ask. At the head of the group rode a man with a horned helmet and long brown cloak with fur that bunched at the neck. Before long he ordered the men to halt and make camp.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIPx9SQftY
Matty was told to sit in the back by the prisoners as he showed the least promise. Around him sat three men, a lean and strong-looking man with red-brown skin, black hair and high cheekbones sat down next to him by the low fire, his face sour with discontent.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ74WtWorU0g
"I hate you, people, first you take our lands then you force us to fight your wars. Tell me, can your lust for gold, power, and blood ever be satiated?"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZTol6PB2aW
"I..I don't know what that means. That word you said with an 's' I've never heard it," Matty said trying not to stare at the brown man.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7mDYEuydYB
"It's a shame I know your own tongue better than you. What's wrong with your voice? Are you some sort of half-wit?"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSkSLTAjeN
"No, I no-"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPutp7uwxNG
"Leave the poor boy alone, half-wit or not it isn't any of your concern," said the muscular boy that sat across the fire. He reminded Matty of Burrin if Burrin were to be born thrice as strong and twice as handsome. "And enough with the 'my people, you people' we're all here together now, all against our will."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKYdjMoIjia
"We shall see," the brown man said with the wave of his hand.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkIgOHQwVRu
The four sat around the fire without a word spoken until sunset. Only the sound of wood cracking and distant conversation comforted Matteus until the plump boy with black hair spoke up. "Well, I figure since we're going to be working together we might as well get to know each other, yes? I'm called Declan, what are all your names?"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMftCM9NJX
"I'm Matteus, some call me Matty."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnVzzvCbbrE
"Well met Matty, I can see why they placed the two of us back here as undesirables, but these two I don't really understand you both have the look of true warriors."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQSGeC3c5v
"You know why they put me here pig, I'll never be seen at the front unless it's to lead the van or perhaps the day my skin turns pale and splotchy like yours," snapped the brown man.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQiq3LckAd
"I'm not like them, I'm Eritanian, we hold no bad blood with any man of any kind," Declan said reassuringly. "I actually find you Apiatons and your customs quite beautiful."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KtgrKPJQx
"I did not ask," the Apiaton said, trying to mask the clear surprise that ran across his face.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ggcC2QBlF
"Well, I'll ask you then. What village are you from? I'm well-read on your people and judging by your free hairstyle I'd guess you are of the Tiagon tribe, yes?"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDlnyezfTxW
"What does it matter to you, hungry boy? You'll die soon enough anyway. I doubt you last through the first battle."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1t5n7nWoZG
The look of irritation on the muscular boy's face seeped into his voice, "Are you always such a cunt?"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwaoi4K1YLE
"I've had enough of you pale bastards, do not disturb me," he said, laying down and facing away.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbcgpUOt4h0
Declan gave a look of thanks and relief. "Thank you for that, what was your name?"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAqIp12BNQo
"Steig."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvzuRqDWf0
"Well Steig, what has a strong man like yourself back here with us? It's certainly not for a lack of promise."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ281iszk6HX
"When they came to my city they took near all the boys of fighting age, tanners and smiths, bakers and masons, even pleasure boys."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLuQphKshEc
"So you were a prostitute? I'm not sure how that lands you back here with us, I'm sure many of them secretly envy you, nothing but beautiful women all day and night."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KygC5l3iz
"I was with a man when they came for me."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9xIYFUTVZS
"I see...well I suppose you had no choice in the matter, I assume you were sold as a boy?"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujakTcvIFo
"No I joined when I was seventeen of my own free will and I enjoyed all four years of it."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHE5KAJciZ
"So you...you're-"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKDP7hbgHe7
"I enjoy beauty, the gods gave us eyes to see it and cocks to feel it; men and women both have beauty so why limit yourself to only one kind?"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡejX2mkUbeO
"I'm curious as to what kind of city would allow for such...liberties."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7hrDuJZgiH
Any brewing admiration Matteus felt now fled his body, replaced with disgust. No holy one that is certain, the gods will burn such a place in the end.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4llXnXfhgZ
"That city would be Torr," Steig said with confidence.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfvYlUaPEv4
No, no it's impossible. Torr is a holy place.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgkxn6WFFRc
"I expected as such from a place like Torr," Declan said.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3wMQ47r3Ac
"I take it you don't approve. My being upsets your gods or something?"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0efPLeqL8G
"Oh, I suppose I do sound rather standoffish, no, I have no gods and no quarrel with your...lifestyle."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcufSCGtxbe
Matteus' face was plagued with disbelief and disgust. A bugerer and a godless demon worshiper, why have the gods seen fit to place me here?
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDkdAzgGWq
"What about you Matteus? I can tell by your face-"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ed9xWJTd6
"I don't like it," Matty blurted out. "To lie with a man is unnatural, why would you not be discreet about it? and you," he said turning to Declan. "To worship demons is...is evil."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3aXMC3Syfv
"I'm not discreet because everybody already knows about me, they found me..mid thrust so to speak. I really don't care what you think is unnatural," Steig said with a glare.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqnuNK8P9oD
Declan spoke up to ease the tension. "As for me Matteus, I do not worship demons."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoiPkfk6NmW
"You said you had no gods."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC8gWAPDn8g
"I did and I don't."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHRMHS4aHmZ
"If you have no gods then you must worship demons."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1E2bl7mVgt
"The world we live in is not so black and white Matteus. Is or isn't, must or mustn't these are almost never the exclusive answers. I believe in no demons and I believe in no gods. Thus, I have no gods."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSP4kr4UJ3
"So you believe in nothing!?"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6b25XFwmuU
"Think of it in this way, I do not 'believe in nothing' I lack belief altogether. My faith is in the tangible and the testable, in reason and thought."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAleLZpCkmA
I can't believe this, such blasphemy! "Then you have no morals!"
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG2VMp4f28h
"No morals because I don't share the same beliefs as you? Morals do not come from faith, they come from experience."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOnzGm6pvG
"Aran tells us in the holy books how man and woman should behave."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8fV0RmiLq
"And yet the exact morals and rules found in Arans works are found if faith's that predate it, if-."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiV13Oqw6JW
"I will hear no more of this! How dare you mock the gods," Matty said as he laid down on his side away from the two and closed his eyes."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bcRR0CXgN
"Tell me stories of your travels Declan," Steig said.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcGm2vY7xe8
"Of those I have thousands. I have seen the Titans of Jhyr in combat when I visited the lands of Qabar to the east. I once met an Alorian woman that could make flame dance in her fingers and a Khidori scholar that had a collection of four thousand books. I have even...."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdjrdZVxoF
Matteus covered his ears and prayed until he could no longer hear their voices.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIJbhUgXHM
As quickly as his sleep came, it ended with a stern kick to the back. Matty looked up to find a soldier staring down at him. "If you need to relieve yourself go now before the prisoners."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxDgCZ37Et
Matty scrambled to his feet in the fresh morning air and began his walk into the woods alongside twenty or so other boys with soldiers close behind. His relief was cut short by screams from two different voices, they went on for some time until only one voice screamed, then none.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxZL1CXHQq
When Matteus and the rest of his group made it back to the road they looked around and made sure all were accounted for. Soldiers yelled and drew swords, attempting a formation only to be stopped by the sight of him.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGq9jwueQ4L
One of the prisoners exited the woods covered in blood and bits of bone and meat. His eyes told stories of horror and his hands were clasped together as he looked to the skies and did what Matty could only assume was pray.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDFxLF0DeqD
The soldiers searched the woods for hours with no sign of the missing prisoner and guard. They beat the man all day until the sun had begun to set, trying to get answers out of him but he only muttered one word.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhArBMuFSz
"Wilkolak...Wilkolak."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vkUFe0OfY
The Apiaton stood next to Matty as he watched the man be beaten.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEL2yH17f0q
"They're fools, you cannot beat speech from a man that doesn't speak your tongue and we've spent too much time here, these woods are cursed."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmLk9EZglv
Matty squinted in curiosity. "I wonder what he's saying."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtHuuWKOCyj
"Wilkolak, It is how his people, the Sylacians, say werewolf."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaP7A9MbvUB
"Werewolf," Matteus gasped.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9bnXrjPnpm
"These lands belong to me people, or so they did before yours came. The legends of werewolves came with you, such beasts do not roam these woods, I doubt they ever even existed. No, something far worse lurks here. Something hungry."
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROWxVas2m0
As if summoned by the Apiaton's words a scream ripped through the evening air coming from all around them as if the woods itself cried out. It was the sound of an elk, then a bear and finally a man.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡirKSERgVih
The camps quieted and the soldiers froze. Matty looked to the Apiaton to find him frozen with fear too. That's when he saw it.
285Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dUE1aJnHz
Through the treeline, just within the shadows, a pair of antlers moved behind a tree.
ns3.147.59.237da2
