Chapter I
Stormy days
The rain fell lightly on the roof of the small wooden cottage. Outside, two little twin girls squealed and giggled in delight as they played an imaginary game where the forsworn were after them, and it was up too two very handsome riders to save them.
A boy inside the cottage sighed at his luck at being born blind, and dreamed of what he could have been. He could've been a knight, a scholar, maybe even a rider! He would even be happy if he could just work with his brother at the horse corral. But of course, these were just a blind boys fantasies, so he just continued to stare out the window as he always did when fantasizing about what he could have been.
There was a sigh from behind the boy. Immediately William knew who it was, his older sister who had taken over as woman of the house since their mother had passed away while giving birth to the twins. His older brother took care of them too, but he worked all day, left early, got back late.
"William, why do you stare endlessly out that window?" Cara's voice was one of sorrow and confusion for her little brother whom she so dearly loved. He merely shrugged his shoulder and continued to stare out the window.
It is all I can do. He thought, as he felt sorrow well up inside him.
"Well tomorrow the traders are coming, and we want to be earlier this time, so we don't get stuck with the leftover of what everyone else would not buy." William groaned.
"Go call for your sisters before the storm gets worse, I don't want them to have a cold."
With a groan, he stood up, and felt his way to the door. He didn't mind getting up early, he was up everyday before the sun; he loved the silence that the early morning held. But tomorrow he wouldn't experience that; his family would be up at the same time as him. Usually only his brother would be there in the morning, waking up at the same time as him to leave for the corral.
"Mathias is not going to be happy tonight." William said. "With the storm and all." Cara laughed lightheartedly.
"No, I don't think he will be."
William dearly loved his older brother, Mathias; he looked up to him as a son might a father. In fact, the first morning he had gotten up early was so that he could talk to Mathias before he left for the corral. But soon he discovered the beauty of the morning silence, and it became a routine for him. A couple of time, after Mathias had asked permission of the Corral owner, he took William with him to work. He let him stay with the horses; Mathias would even take William on a few rides out of town, now and again. It was the farthest William had ever been from home, it was like freedom to be that far away. Sometimes he wished he could jump on a horse, and just let the horse take him wherever it pleased, but he couldn't leave his family. He would miss them too much, and wouldn't be able to take care of himself in the real world.
His mind wandered back to the traders. Besides not being able to do his daily routine, he hated going to the traders. He could not see anything that the traders were selling, and it was too loud, it hurt his sensitive ears. It was useless for him to go, he was probably more of a nuisance than anything, having to hold his brothers hand so that he didn't get lost, as they ran around trying to buy whatever they could.
There was one thing he liked about going, the storytellers. He could sit for hours and listen to their stories of dwarves, elves, and dragon riders. His favorite story was of the revival of the riders and of Eragon. Everything about the story was so amazing, he didn't even care if the storytellers changed and exaggerated the story over time. Cause every time they did, the story just got that much better.
He finally reached the door and opened it with a loud creak. "Come inside, girls. We do not want you to have a cold the day before the traders come." William yelled to the girls over the rain.
"Oh come on, just a few more minutes!" Ariel yelled.
"Yea, just a few more minutes, William." Ariana yelled almost copying her twin sister.
Giving into the pleading yells of his sisters, William went back inside, and closed the door. Maybe if his sisters caught a cold, he would have to stay home and take care of them. He winced at his own greedy suggestion, went back and opened the door and called for the girls again. They obeyed, and silently marched in, soaked to the bone. He told them to go and change when he heard the drips of water on the floor, and their chattering teeth. He went back to his window, and continued his watch of the rain outside.
The storm grew worse. A few minutes later, William heard the door open, hitting the wall with a crack! The wind howled as it squeezed itself through the doorway.
"Bloody storm." He could hear his brother whisper as he pushed on the door with all his strength just trying to close it.
"Hey, William." He greeted, as was their custom, but he lacked his usual enthusiasm.
"Bad day, Mathias?"
"The worst. The storm was spooking all the horses, and while we tried to calm them down, George, bless his heart, forgot to close the gate. One of our fastest horses escaped. I had to chase him through the forest on one of out oldest horses, Gale. If you could see me now, you would only see a bloody pulp." He paused for a little bit, and nursed his wounds. George was a nice guy, but he just couldn't get anything right. It was only his first week, but he had done more harm than Mathias had done his whole career at the Corral.
"The horses didn't fare to well either. I fear old Gale might have had more than she can bare."
There was a gasp as Cara walked through the twin's door. "What happened to you?" she almost yelled at him.
"One of the horses escaped and I had to go chase him through the forest."
"Let me guess, George let it escape?" She didn't even wait to see if he said 'yes.' "Why didn't they make him go get it?"
"He's not quite fast enough. I'm the fastest rider at the corral, so everyone voted I do it, but of course I was already on a horse by the time they chose me." William could tell by the sound of his voice he was smiling.
William heard drops of water as Cara soaked a towel in a bucket of water. She took it out, and walked over to the seat that Mathias was in. William heard him hiss in pain, but he didn't say a word. There were a few minutes of silence. William knew that they were talking to each other, reading each other's lips, having a conversation that they didn't want him to hear. So it was probably about him. He turned his head from where his brother and sister probably were, and started to stare out the window again.
"Hey, Will?" Mathias suddenly said. "Your sister said that the twins are sick. Do you mind taking care of them while me and Cara go to the traders tomorrow? They will probably be asleep the whole day. So it won't require much."
William smiled. "Yea, I'll take care of them."
The next day, William was up early as he usually was, but before too long, he could hear his sister getting out of bed. He heard a yawn on the floor where his brother was sleeping. He and William took turns sleeping on the floor. There were only three beds, one for the twins, one for Cara, and one that Mathias and him switched off with in the main room of the house
"Morning William." Mathias greeted groggily. "I do not know how you can get up so early and not be tired." William smiled, but said nothing as he continued to stare blindly out the window.
Before long, the rain started again, Mathias groaned. "As much as I loved the rain as a kid, going to the traders while it's raining has never been fun."
About an hour later, Cara and Mathias left with a small bag of coins, and left William and the twins to themselves. The Twins were still sleeping, and having nothing else to do, William went back to bed. The storm outside wouldn't let him enjoy the silence the morning usually held. Usually he would have liked the sound of the rain hitting the roof. But the rain sounded more like boulders falling from the sky. And the thunder was like a cannon going off next to his ear.
After William had fallen asleep, the storm still waged on as it slowly got worse.
CRACK! Williams head popped off his pillow as the door opened. The wind howled through the house. Somewhere in the distance thunder could be heard. There was a moan.
"Wh…who-o-o's there?" William stuttered. A 'smacking' noise could be heard as a body hit the floor.
Authors Notes: I'm surprised at myself. Usually I don't have a long enough attention span to write a chapter that's three pages long. But my goal from now on is to make all the chapters at least 3 pages. Well anyway, tell me what you think so far. Review button is to the left and down a little. Please press it. Dragon in the next chapter I promise.
P.S. tell me if you see any mistakes. Constructive criticism only, no flames.
