The Kingdom of Kupa Keep was, technically speaking, Craig's homeland.
It was the human wasteland that he was physically tied to, professing his half hearted loyalty by default. It was the largest and most significant of the human kingdoms, with a military might only rivaled by that of the High Elf Kingdom in the Great Forest. The capital of Kupa Keep was one of the largest cities in all of Zaron, with a large, overbearing castle for the ruling family. Although the royals were the official rulers of the land, much of Kupa Keep was overseen by a Grand Wizard said to be the most powerful human, if not being, in all of Zaron.
However, the city and it's towering castle itself was not where Craig was raised. Growing up, stories of the city's might were just as foreign to him as if they were from any other kingdom within Zaron. Afterall, he was born a peasant. His world was entirely made up of Sundorham, a small farming village with a population of less than 200 people, located on the very southeastern outskirts of the kingdom. It was a several day walk from the city, though to him it always seemed much further.
Still, he didn't mind his life in Sundorham at the time. It was uneventful and full of backbreaking work, sure, but even as a small child Craig didn't mind the boring life. The land was all owned by Kupa Keep, so the farmlands were shared amongst the farmers while the houses and small handful of other businesses, such as the inn, were all in close proximity dead center of the land. They had a single doctor, but he was also a farmer out of necessity, only helping with health when required. They had only minimal commerce, mainly relying on traveling merchants for required goods.
Virtually everyone in the village woke up at the first rooster's crow and worked on the fields until it was dusk. The biggest concerns in life were tending to the harvest-always making sure there would be enough for winter, especially after the kingdom came and took their ration away. It was really only their presence that reminded them that they were actually a part of the Kingdom of Kupa Keep, which naturally wasn't exactly the most pleasant reminder. Sure, they had merchants and other travelers pass by and stay at their small inn, but otherwise they were their own self-sustaining remote piece of land forgotten by the rest of Zaron.
It was a very quiet but happy life, living on the farm with his parents and sister. Craig's mother had been the daughter of a respected nobleman in Kupa but gave up her life to marry his father. She was completely and utterly disowned from her family but she always said that she never regretted her decision. She claimed that she preferred the quiet life and fresh air of the countryside to the crowded, filthy life in the city.
She didn't have the stereotypical noblewoman air about her but instead was a very down to earth woman who could be harsh and strong when she needed to be. She worked on the farm and tended to the house the same as any peasant-born woman and earned the respect of the village to be treated as such. From her noble days, she only kept an orange potassium feldspar pendant. It wasn't of any great value, she insisted, and was only a simple dull orange stone, but it had been a family heirloom, one she always proudly wore.
The only other trait that may have made her stand out in terms of her noble background was that she was educated, rendering nearly one of the only literate people of the village. Despite her husband's protests, she taught Craig and his sister how to read as well, teaching them by writing letters with a stick into the dirt. They had to be careful, however. Teaching peasant serfs to read was strictly punishable by law.
At about age 6, his little sister Patricia hoped to use her recently acquired literacy to find a path for herself far away from the village. Unlike Craig, she wasn't content with the quiet, uneventful life of a farmer. She hoped to make her way in the city, perhaps using her estranged bloodline as leverage to marry back into nobility. Despite her dainty stature that was small for her age, she was full of energy and life, wanting the life of a socialite-one who got to attend the grand parties in the castle, rub elbows with the throne, have fun in life.
Craig would catch her on the fields with a scarecrow pretending it was King Stuart, to whom she would gracefully curtsy and thank for the gracious invitation to his grand ball. She would then thank the Grand Wizard, for he made the beautiful gown she wore from his powerful magic. After the formalities were over, she would gossip away on the dance floor with the two young princesses who she claimed as her two best friends.
Craig didn't think much of her fantasies beyond finding them foolish and unrealistic. Everyone knew that King Stuart and Crown Prince Kevin were useless drunks who mostly sat around indulging themselves. The kingdom was functionally run by the Grand Wizard, a man who had a very ruthless reputation, definitely not the sort to use his magic to make dresses for peasant girls. Sure, Tricia was a pretty little girl who would probably grow up to be a beautiful young woman with her strawberry blonde hair and emerald green eyes, but a peasant is a peasant. Of course, when he pointed this out to his sister, she merely complained to their parents who in turn complained back to Craig.
Craig, even at a very young age, viewed himself as a very practical person. He was a peasant in a small village where the majority of the population, including his father, had family lineage that could be traced back to Sundorham hundreds of years. He figured it was his obligation to be content with the farm life because, chances are, it was all he was going to be able to get.
"Do you ever lighten up?" his friend Clyde had asked him when he pointed that out while working together on the fields.
Clyde was one of the few boys his age in his village and was also one of few who, like his mother, wasn't born in Sundorham. His father was a merchant who traveled with his family far across many kingdoms selling leather boots and shoes, seeing far more of Zaron than most royalty could ever dream of. However, after the death of his wife in a tragic accident, Clyde's father found himself unwilling to travel and instead took up life as a farmer. The decision, when they first arrived, led to a lot of distrust-Merchants were of a higher social standing in Kupa and he didn't have a reason to be tied to this village like Craig's mother did. Still, Clyde and his father were very friendly sorts and eventually found themselves becoming one with the rest of them.
Clyde had also become Craig's best friend.
"You mean stop actually being realistic?" Craig asked, putting his bag of sprouts aside. "Let's go through this from the top. We live on farmland owned by the royalty in Kupa Keep. Kupa Keep needs crops to sustain their government for, you know, food. They have us live here so that we can provide that food for them. In turn, they get their knights to protect us from the elves, barbarians, orcs, dragons, or even other human kingdoms in Zaron. It's a machine, and this is the role we are a part of. Simple."
"I think I wanna do what I want and not what Kupa Keep forces me to do," Clyde scoffed. Clyde wasn't the smartest person he knew and was very average in appearance with short, mousey brown hair, but what he lacked in those ways he made up in drive in a way that reminded him quite a bit of his sister. However, unlike his sister who was thoroughly deluded into believing that some nobleman would marry a peasant girl like her, Clyde's intended get-out scheme was more based on fraud, more sneaking around and working his way up to a fortune. He even talked about the idea of piracy.
"Kupa is the kingdom were we technically live, and I don't have any real reason to hate it. They take a ration of our crops, but we always have more than enough that it doesn't really matter. They own our land, but we live on it okay enough. Yeah, the King's a drunk asshole, but none of this has really impacted my life for the worse, so I don't see why I should, you know, care."
It became a topic the two did their best to avoid whenever possible.
And so the days went by in his quiet village. Season after season, harvest after harvest until Craig reached his early teen years. As such, especially being the only son, he was expected to take up more and more responsibility on their farm. He could no longer get away with wasting time on the field with Clyde, playing more than actually planting. He was expected to be focused, expected to dig up potatoes until his hands bled. When their small thachet house came apart, Tricia was expected to collect the replacement wood while Craig had the new duty of fixing the house himself.
As Tricia grew, her desire to leave the village grew stronger. She did her best to avoid having to work on the fields, so she instead took it upon herself to help at the village inn. She began to speak to more and more outsiders passing by, hearing more and more about the outside world. Hearing their stories, hearing the state of Kupa Keep, her hero worship of the upper echelons of Kupa society waned away almost overnight. She had grown more jaded, more cynical than she had any right to. The loss of her innocence upset Craig on some level, though he would never admit it.
Craig too started to realize that life as a peasant serf wasn't as easy and simple as he thought. At night he'd lay down onto his hard, bug-infested hay mattress after a hard day's work of harvesting, every inch of his body aching. His sister shared the bed with him, often kicking him in her sleep. Like most peasants, they also kept their livestock indoors at night, which one of the sheep had taken a liking to chewing his hair. He didn't like to fantasize about impossible things, but in moments like that he couldn't help but wonder what sort of bed the King of Kupa Keep slept in.
"Have you heard the High Elf King has declared war on Kupa?" Tricia asked him one morning as they dug up potatoes. Or rather, he was. She was mostly just watching. It was late fall and there was a fear that frost was imminent, leading it to be of the utmost importance to harvest the potatoes as quickly as possible. Craig had asked her to help him instead of helping at the inn, though in the end she mostly just chatted away.
"At this time of year?" Craig asked skeptically yet uninterested as he continued to dig up a potato. It was rotten. So many this year were. He sighed and tossed it aside.
"Apparently King Stuart is on his deathbed. I mean he was always useless, but Prince Kevin is considered even more inept than he is. Supposedly, there is talk that Princess Kenny is going to challenge him to a duel for the throne which could lead to instability in the kingdom. The High Elf wants to take advantage of our instability and-"
"Yeah, but that's far as hell away from us. None of that dumb kingdom stuff ever affects us at all," Craig continued to dig. His shovel had broken a while back and their family hadn't been able to afford him a new one.
"It'll affect us when the knights come in demanding double the amount of our crops for the war effort."
Craig paused.
"Aren't we always at war?" Craig broke his pause to continue digging. He had a small rock jammed into his finger that was probably bleeding, but his hands were so caked in dirt that he didn't want to attempt to get it out.
"Yeah, I mean we'll have fights with the barbarians or some lone orc invasion, but we haven't had a full on war since we wiped out the Dark Kingdom a while back. I mean anyway, the High Elf Kingdom is different than any of those. According to a bard that passed through, they got war technology that us humans could only dream of. Plus they got magic. Like, all of them not just some lame old fat wizard who uses his powers as an excuse to be an asshole. Apparently, the Grand Wizard wants to go at war with the High Elves because he's convinced that he's the most powerful being in Zaron, on account of having the Stick of Truth and all. The elves have been trying to war for ages in order to get it back. King Stuart was pretty much the only thing holding the peace, probably because he likes elven wine too much."
"Now I know you're wrong," Craig rolled his eyes, "Everyone knows the Stick of Truth is an old fairytale."
"No it's not! It's true!" Tricia pouted, "How do you think the Grand Wizard was able to completely wipe out the Dark Kingdom so easily? I'll explained it to you again: The Stick is the last remnant of an magic ancient elven tree that was destroyed by a dragon or something. Anyway, it's said that the tree was the source of all the magic in Zaron, so even a stick of it is so full of magic that it grants the wielder unlimited power. All the Grand Wizard had to do was use it and then strip all the Army of Darkness's power away."
"Then why wouldn't he just destroy the elves with the Stick then? Or for that matter, why would the elves fight someone with that sort of power?"
"Obviously, you can't use an elven stick to wipe out the elves," Tricia declared as if it were common knowledge, "And like I said, the House of McCormick liked to maintain the peace. Things the Grand Wizard could do are stifled, so that's why the immanent death of the king is kinda a big deal."
"Okay, say that it's true, how would you know any of this?" Craig asked instinctively rubbing his face out of annoyance, unintentionally getting dirt all over it. He groaned as he used the sleeve of his equally brown tunic to wipe it off.
"I actually talk to the passing travelers, unlike you who likes to pretend like the outside world doesn't exist," she retorted.
"Sorry that I don't like to listen to gossip from drunk travelers who like to make a fool out of gullible peasant kids."
"If you don't believe me, just wait and see when the kingdom sends it lackeys here. Ask them if we're at war," she huffed, standing up to leave. Craig didn't mind her going at that point, she wasn't being of any help anyway.
"Fine," he answered.
"Fine!"
"Fine."
"We're also going to need that barrel over there," the knight announced the following week. The knight was someone Craig had never seen before, a man who held himself with class and stature in a way that made it obvious he thought of himself as important. The knight had noticeably flinched when he entered his family's small, filthy thachet house, their old cow mooing in the center. It was an attitude that already made Craig hate him.
Craig's father stepped forward. He was an astonishingly tall and balding man which within the village, gave him a strong physical presence. Still, his brown peasant rags next to the shiny iron uniform of the knight stripped much of this. His father easily towered over the knight, yet somehow next to this knight Craig had never seen him seem so small. "Sir, the barley harvest was very weak this year. You've already taken more than double-"
"Do not defy me, peasant," the knight interrupted, "Every day the High Elves harken closer and closer to the outskirts of the Kingdom of Kupa Keep while our Great King lay dying. I would have thought that even someone of your status would understand the concept of sacrifice for the greater good."
"The 'greater good' is my family starving this winter?" his father hissed, his restraint fading away at the knight's insinuation, "This is ridiculous. We fought other wars, I don't remember receiving this sort of treatment when Kupa put an end to the Dark Kingdom. You have no damn right to starve out my family, my kids!"
"Perhaps we should take one of them off your hands then?" the knight smiled wickedly, "The boy here seems old enough to be useful in labor and the girl…now she's a very pretty one, isn't she? You would be fully compensated, of course. "
The statement was enough to make Craig's heart turn cold, as if ice had gotten in his veins. He could see his sister in the corner of his eye shuddering, instinctively grabbing their mother's skirt.
"Take the barley and get out," Craig's mother responded, her tone collected yet full of venom. Unlike his father, the presence of the knight did not make her seem smaller. She hadn't grown cold like Craig did. He could only see fire in her eyes.
The knight didn't answer, he merely laughed a hearty laugh and went outside their doorway to get some of his men to help cart their stored food away. The other knights had visited all the other houses, the rations far more numerous than Craig had ever seen be taken away. It was if the entire Kupa Keep army had come to seize everything they had.
"You'll thank us when we win the war and save your sad, sorry lives," a knight called out from his horse as they dashed away, the village's crops trailing behind on small wooden wagons. They were all outside of their houses as they watched the wagons disappear of the horizon. Craig could hear some of them crying.
Though before long, the people in the village slowly got back to work. It was all they could do.
"You have to be careful with what you say, Thomas," his mother warned, her voice harsh, "I know those types. They will take our children away if they feel like it. I remember seeing it."
"Why didn't you let them take me?" Craig interjected, "That would have been the practical thing to do."
Craig didn't want to leave his village and he most certainly didn't want to become a slave. He wanted to stay with his family, stay with Clyde. Yet, he didn't want him and his family to starve to death. Of course, the idea of Tricia being taken away, his little sister who actually wanted a future? That terrified him to the root of his core. Yet, if he had gone, his family would probably be compensated enough to give all of them a chance.
He would have gone instead of his sister for his family if he had to.
"Craig don't be ridiculous," his mother scolded, "Family is the most important thing we have. We're not selling anyone."
Craig looked at his mother. She was a very tall, very beautiful woman. Much too beautiful to be a peasant, Craig thought. He could easily imagine what she may have looked like in beautiful gowns, her long blonde hair done up in accordance to whatever the fashion trends were. The life she had but gave up. Now she was a lowly farmer's wife, draped in brown rags, her hair haphazardly tied to keep out of her face. Her feldspar pendant around her neck that she usually had concealed under her gown, when visible, looked very out of place. The soft hands of a noblewoman long gone, instead filthy and calloused like a peasant. Being a woman who gave up everything for this family, it made sense to Craig that she would think this way.
"We're not going to starve anyway, right?" Tricia piped in. She was still visibly shaken from the whole ordeal, yet still tried to bring forth her usual upbeat tone.
"I don't know," their father said breaking his silence, melancholy in his voice. He took one look at his two children and walked back into their small, sullen house.
"I'm sure the war won't last long," his mother tried to offer apologetically. She turned to follow her husband inside. "Perhaps when it is over, they will give us some of our supplies back and then some."
Tricia kicked the dirt in front of her. "I hate that I was right," she said under her breath. Craig could see a single tear fall down her face as she turned towards the inn, hoping that her favorite place would clear her mind. Craig was left alone, unable to think.
The winter came and, as expected, all of Sundorham struggled. A good number of people died, particularly the very young and very old, but Craig and his family had survived as did Clyde and his father. They didn't prosper, however. Like everyone, they struggled to find enough food, Craig could notice that everyone around him visibly lost a considerable amount of weight. While in the previous year they were worried that Tricia would outgrow her clothes before they could get cloth for new ones, she seemed to shrink in her little dresses.
King Stuart had died that winter. The former Crown Prince Kevin had abdicated the throne as soon as he saw that Princess Kenny had the Wizard's favor. That, at the very least, stopped a civil war. Still, it meant the Kingdom of Kupa Keep was now officially being run by a young girl no older than Craig. Of course it was what the Wizard would want, it helped him maintain power. The war with the elves would proceed.
Still, talks about the specifics of war disinterested Craig. He didn't care, he only wanted the war to be over. He wanted the knights to stop stripping his village to the bare bones. The battles had all thus far remained outside of Kupa Keep, but the death of King Stuart had the elves pressing harder than ever to get within the Kingdom's borders. It was all politics of faraway lands that had no real concern to Craig. He just wanted to have a full meal again.
"Can you believe the elves are so cruel, attacking our kingdom when we are still in mourning?" his fellow villagers would say. He shrugged. War was war, and he wanted to be focused on the coming harvest, hoping it would provide enough food for winter. This time, he would be prepared for the higher rationing percentages. He wouldn't see his sister shrivel away.
"You know, our village is actually the closest to the elven border," another had said.
"The knights will protect us," Craig brought himself to say, "That's why we give them so much." He did believe that the knights were capable fighters, if anything. He had seen with his own the knights slaying a rogue dragon that threatened the village when he was a small child. The knights were callous and arrogant, but they did serve their purpose. The knights were ecstatic that they got real action out in their boring post, while the village was saved and had meat to last them an entire winter. It was amazing how war changed their perspective on knights so much.
As August came, so did the time to harvest the first of the barley. Craig hated harvesting barley almost as much as potatoes, the large heavy scythe required made his shoulders ache. Earlier crops had been harvested enough to curb starvation, but not enough to put on weight, especially with the military seizing so much of it. Barley, however, was a big staple crop in their diet, providing bread and ale, the latter they could also sell in the inn.
He, his mother, and Clyde were in charge of harvesting the barley at the very edge of Sundorham, at the furthest reaches of the field. Clyde claimed he didn't mind harvesting barley but watching him, Craig could see that he was terrible at it, haphazardly swinging his scythe nearly hitting Craig multiple times. Both their fathers were overseeing the grazing cattle today while Craig's sister, who at about ten, was considered old enough to begin training to be the next innkeeper. Working on the field, he couldn't help but envy her.
"Clyde, pay attention," Craig's mother had scolded his friend as he swung around the scythe in a dangerous fashion. She was sitting on the ground, taking her break. The harvest was plentiful this year, much to their relief. Still, it meant much more work for them.
"Sorry ma'am," Clyde blushed.
"We should hide some of this," Craig announced, "We don't want Kupa to come in and claim they need even more because we're having a good harvest."
"We would need to be careful," his mother warned, "Hiding food is a crime punishable by death."
"Yeah, we should have enough to survive regardless," Clyde announced, swinging his scythe around with only minimally more care, "We should be safe this winter."
"No one in this village is safe with you swinging that around," Craig retorted.
"Oh yeah?" Clyde grinned, "Then watch this!" He lifted up the scythe around in a circle, cutting all the barley unevenly around him in full circles like a windmill propeller. To finish, he swung the blade directly into the ground.
BOOM!
A noise went off the second as he planted his scythe directly into the ground.
"What the hell was that?" Craig asked, straightening up.
"That wasn't me was it?" Clyde asked. It was way too loud to be from the scythe.
"No way, you're not that strong," Craig instead answered.
"Wanna go check it out?" Clyde smirked.
"Boys, stay here," Craig's mother stood up suddenly. Despite that, Craig couldn't help but instinctively follow her.
"Craig, I said stay here," she scolded. Craig could see that her tone and expression was dead serious. There was fear in her eyes.
Craig grimaced, "If something happened, I think I should be able to see what."
"If you think it's dangerous, I'll stay here, ma'am," Clyde announced, plopping himself on the ground.
Craig stretched his body upwards to try and clearly look to the village towards the horizon. From what he could see, the village appeared fine, though he could see people exiting their houses and farmers on the field running towards it to see the commotion of whatever happened.
"I don't get it," Craig said.
"Shh!" his mother hissed, her hand put on his chest, holding him back. Craig was startled but he obeyed, standing in silence.
Then he heard it. A very soft sound in the distance, coming from far beyond the other side of the village. It started very soft, making Craig first wonder if he was imagining it. Once he realized he wasn't, although he could hear something he didn't know what it was. Slowly, it grew louder until he could finally make it out. It was the sound of music. It was a very sweet melody, like something out of a dream. The type of music that never graced a village like Sundorham. Gradually, as it got louder and louder, Craig felt himself drawn to it.
"Music?" Clyde asked. His mother's face turned ghostly pale.
"Boys, I need you to run away as far as you can. Out of Sundorham, to anywhere that will take you," she very suddenly instructed.
"What are you talking about?" Craig asked. The music was beautiful, Craig wanted to go towards it.
"I'm going to try and find Patricia, and then I will be right behind you. But even if I'm not, I need you two boys to keep running."
"What? That doesn't make sense," Craig objected, "It's just some weird music. If it's something to worry about, we should come with you to find her. And what about dad?"
"Craig, listen to me."
The music grew louder and louder as his mother began to run back towards the village. Clyde stood up, unsure of whether he should run away or follow her. Craig on the other hand, made up his mind and ran after his mother. None of this made sense. Why was she so terrified?
Another boom. The ground shook forcing Craig to stumble, nearly losing his balance and falling to the ground. The music still grew louder.
From the corner of his eyes he saw bright balls of light of many colors flying up in the air. At first he wondered if they were birds. He looked to the sky so he could see clearly.
"Arrows?" he asked himself.
Not just any arrows, but fame-lit arrows, lit in unnatural colors that could only mean they were magic-infused and coming straight for Sundorham. The arose from the horizon, no signs of people who may have sent them. They were very fast, yet somehow it felt as if everything was moving in slow motion for Craig. As if his mind needed more time to register what he was seeing.
Still, in a matter of seconds, the arrows landed. They hit fields and buildings, instantly causing whatever they hit to go up into flames. People hit by the arrows dropped instantly to the ground. Even from far away he could hear their screams.
Craig's eyes grew wide. His village. His home. Tricia.
"Craig, get out of here!" his mother demanded, stopping in her place. She grabbed her son tightly, fingers digging into his shoulders.
"Tricia is in there!" Craig yelled. He could see the inn in the distance, already catching flames. He could see figures running out, but it was much to far away for him to distinguish anyone.
"I'm going to find her, but I need you and Clyde to run."
"Mom, what's happening?" Craig's voice cracked.
"The war," she told him, "The elves."
"But the knights...they're supposed to-"
"This means they were probably all killed, Craig," her grip tightened as she shook him, "I know you think knights are all powerful beings, but the elves are dangerous."
"I don't...I should help-"
"Craig, for Clyde. Run away. Find people who can get help. I promise, I'll try to get your sister, but I won't let you follow me into that. Hopefully your father has already run away. I need you to get to safety for me." Her grip tightened, but somehow was less angry than before. The music was at full blast, making her harder to hear.
"Leaving you?" Craig asked, his voice cracking. He still wasn't able to process what was happening.
His mother let go of her son's shoulders and quickly reached to her necklace as she took it off, careful to not break the chain. She placed it in his hand and squeezed his fist around it.
"Craig, you escaping is the best thing you can do to help us. You were willing to be sent away for us, so now is your chance."
This couldn't be happening. Craig wasn't one for showing outward emotion, let alone crying, but his vision clouded and he could feel tears escape down his cheeks. The village structures were made of cheap wood, it would easily burn with normal fire, let alone magic infused fire. This couldn't be happening. Fire circled the village, the barley they were trying to harvest immediately disintegrating. Flames grew and grew, and would eventually reach where he and his mother stood. All of their hard work. All of their food.
Craig had never seen so much fire. It couldn't be happening.
Another boom.
With that, his mother shoved him hard in the opposite direction, knocking him to the ground. She ran faster towards the village, though the path to it becoming more and more engulfed in flames. He could smell the smoke, the winds blowing it towards him.
"Run and don't look back!" she yelled.
Craig could see another blanket of arrows heading for the village from the sky. He couldn't watch. As if his body moved on its own, he stood back up and ran, running away from the village. He ran faster than he knew possible, his legs feeling like they were flying. His fist clenched his mother's necklace as if his life depended on it.
He approached Clyde again. He was standing, frozen in place as if in shock. His one hand covered his mouth and tears were running down his face, barely noticing his friend approaching him. Craig didn't want to know what he was seeing. With his free hand he yanked Clyde's arm as he passed him, forcing him to follow. Clyde wordlessly joined in running.
Clyde was much slower than Craig, but Craig refused to let go.
Another boom. Craig ran even faster, nearly causing Clyde to yelp and nearly trip behind him.
Craig's mind went blank as he ran, neither him nor Clyde saying anything, only huffing. All he could think of was running. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew he had to get somewhere. He wasn't even sure when he had run far enough to no longer hear the booms or the music.
They ran for hours. Although every inch of his body begged him to stop or at least slow down, he wouldn't. It was hard to breathe, but he carried on. He only slowed when Clyde's endurance failed to match his pace, as he refused to let him go.
After an amount of time impossible for Craig to tell, it became dusk. The land that which they were running on were all flat grassland, all looking the same. Although Craig kept them going beyond his limits, the adrenaline and their endurance waned more and more. Eventually, Clyde abruptly stopped, the force causing Craig to topple forward, nearly dislocating his arm.
The boys huffed and wheezed. They were too out of breath to speak, both collapsing onto the soft ground as they tried to get their bearings. Craig's lungs ached even more than his sore legs. His vision was still cloudy, but he was unsure if it was from tears, sweat, dizziness or a combination of the three. He squeezed his eyes shut, seeing stars behind his eyelids, as he wiped a layer of sweat off his forehead. He tried to breathe, trying to make his heart stop pounding as though it were about to jump out of his chest. He desperately needed water, but he had none. His canteen he had attached to his belt was empty long before the invasion.
"Cr-Craig," he could hear Clyde gasp for air. Craig's own lungs gasped even harder, rendering him unable to respond.
He was aware that his shoulder was also in pain. Perhaps Clyde did dislocate it.
A sudden memory made Craig sit up suddenly, his eyes shooting open. He opened his left fist, making sure his mother's necklace was still there. It was. It was covered in sweat and leaving indentations on his palm, but it was there. He didn't drop it. A feeling of relief cloaked him.
His eyes shut again and he collapsed back down, unconscious from exhaustion before his head hit the ground.
When Craig awoke he was sure he was drowning. Water was engulfing his face and entering his mouth, spilling up into his nose. Had he fallen into the river just beyond Sundorham? His father had always warned him about standing on the unstable rocks of its bank.
"Craig…" a cracked, dry voice called out to him.
Craig opened his eyes, choking on the water Clyde was trying to force down his throat.
"What the hell!" Craig sat up suddenly, his voice unrecognizably dry and cracky. His throat burned.
"Craig!" Clyde dropped his jug of water and hugged him, tears spilling down his face. "You wouldn't wake up! I thought you were going to die. You scared the hell out of me!"
Did Clyde rescue him from the river?
His vision began to focus, though the lower half of his vision was obscured by Clyde's shoulder, as he hugged him tightly, sobbing into him. They weren't among the trees surrounding the river bank. They were among a grass field and-
The fire. Red, blue, green, yellow, pink flames that only magic could create, flying in on a blanket of arrows. The screams from his village, becoming engulfed by them. His mother running towards it, telling him to run.
His eyes instantly flooded with tears, spilling down his already wet face. He didn't sob like Clyde or make any sound, only silently letting the tears fall. He gently wrapped his arms around his friend, lightly accepting the hug as he stared off into the distance.
"What are we going to do?" Clyde sobbed as he eventually pulled away. He was always a big crybaby.
Craig stretched his shoulders and back and could feel all of his bones crack. The muscles in his legs were extremely sore from running for hours without break and his shoulder still hurt. He tried to inconspicuously wipe his tears on his sleeve. It was then he realized he was still tightly gripping his mother's pendant.
"We need to help the village! P-People may still be trapped there. We have to find our families," Craig declared, his voice still hoarse. He tried to stand up but he felt like a baby deer on wobbly legs. Clyde reached to his canteen on the ground and offered it to Craig, a few drops still in there. Craig swallowed it all as fast as he could.
"Are you serious Craig?" Clyde's voice shook, slightly bewildered.
"Of course! Sundorham is in danger, Clyde. We have to help them!" Craig took his mother's pendant and carefully opened the clasp and put it around his neck, concealing it under his dull brown tunic.
"Craig, I don't think Sundorham exists anymore."
"I mean they probably burned down all our buildings, but maybe we could help put out the fire in the crops. I mean the people-"
"Craig, you're the logical one. Do you really think the elves would use magical fire arrows that you could just put out?"
"Well we should still meet up with the others who-"
"Craig! There were like a bajillion arrows! Straight for the town! The only reason we didn't get hit and killed is because we were at the part of the field that was furthest reach from their approach possible. Otherwise we'd be dead!" Clyde's voice cracked with the last word as a new batch of tears ran down his face.
Craig didn't believe him. His mother said that she was going to grab Tricia and run. She was going to catch up to them. Craig and Clyde just ran haphazardly straight, as far as possible from the village.
Craig had never left Sundorham before.
"We should meet up with the others in another village," Craig continued, ignoring what Clyde had said, "Do you know where we are?"
Clyde sighed, knowing better than to argue with Craig's stubbornness. His young childhood days traveling as a merchant with his parents had taught him navigation skills. He wiped his face of his tears. "We went west, and the capital was northwest from Sundorham. There's other small villages like our own that are technically closer, but that is guessing that they weren't attacked too. Plus, poor villages aren't going to want to take in young kids of no relation to them. I think the capital is the only place we can go."
"How far?"
"I would guess maybe a day or two. That's if we are going in a straight shot, which we probably won't. We could end up hopelessly lost forever," Clyde sniffed.
"It's the best we can do," Craig stretched some more, trying to get used to standing on the weight of his sore legs. His skin felt hot, and he figured he had a fever, probably from a mix of overexertion and stress. He wiped off the excess tears from his face. He wasn't crying anymore.
"Even if others survived, a lot of people died, Craig. Our village is destroyed. We will probably never go back."
"Where did you get the water?" Craig asked, dodging Clyde's statement and motioning to the jug his friend was holding. They both always carried jugs of water with them, but he knew there was no way Clyde would have a full bottle to force down his throat.
"There's a pond nearby," Clyde's sighed again, knowing Craig was hopeless, "I went looking to see if I could find anything while you were passed out."
"Take me there, and then we'll go. Walking this time."
"I want to take a break today. I think we both should, given what just hap-"
"No."
Wordlessly, Clyde resigned to his friend, picked up his jug, and started leading Craig. He was also limping from his own sore legs.
The place Clyde led them to was a very small pond that was probably not of the most sanitary water, but Craig didn't care. His thirst found him painfully picking up his pace, running directly into the meter deep water, splashing his face and drinking as much as he could possibly force down his throat. Clyde sat down at the bank, silently refilling his jug. Craig could see from the corner of his eye that he was sniffling again.
Craig floated on his back, ran his fingers through his wet black hair, and wished he could stay there forever. He knew once he got out, he would be annoyed how soaked his clothes were, but right then it didn't matter. Tricia and him both loved to swim in the river back home. They didn't get to often, most times they went to the river they only had time to stay there to use it for practical purposes, so swimming was a rare excursion. The sudden wave of nostalgia both cheered him up and made his heart ache.
Tricia was okay. She had to be.
Craig stood up in the pond, letting the water drip off his clothes. He was right, the feeling of wet clothes clinging to his skin did piss him off. Still, Clyde and him had to go.
"How do we figure what way to go?" Craig asked.
Clyde looked up at his friend tiredly. "The sun rises in the east. Given the sun's position and the time of year, it's probably about ten or eleven. We ran almost exactly straight west for hours, probably going what would be a day's walk by foot, so we need to go north, which is that way," he pointed off into the distance.
"How sure are you?"
"I'm not sure of anything, Craig. We don't have a map or compass and could be wandering forever, Zaron is huge. Kupa Keep is huge."
"You're going to need to do better than that."
Clyde sighed, "Stars are a better navigation."
"So we'll head north and once it gets dark out and we're about to go to sleep you can try and better our positioning."
Craig adjusted his necklace, making sure it was fully secure and safe around his neck, and started off in the direction Clyde had pointed. He could hear Clyde scramble up in the grass and try to follow him.
For the most part, the Kingdom of Kupa Keep was barren grasslands that all looked exactly the same. It was good for walking but very easy to get lost in. It was great land for farming, which was the main industry in Kupa, but where there weren't settlements there wasn't much food or vegetation.
"We're going to starve to death," Clyde whined several hours in, allowing himself to suddenly drop onto the ground.
"We're not going to starve to death, Clyde," Craig squatted down next to him. He figured that today they could take breaks.
"At least I'll be able to be with both my parents again," Clyde's voice cracked, tears pooling in his eyes again.
"Your dad is probably fine."
"I saw the flaming arrows. I saw them hit people. It was too far to tell, but I saw a grown man with hair like his get hit straight through the torso and fall," Clyde huffed, making himself hysterical.
"There are a lot of brown haired men in our village."
Clyde didn't answer. He merely continued to sob.
That night, they slept in a small thicket of tall grass that would hopefully conceal them from any potential elves or bandits. Craig had found a few dandelions on their journey for them to eat, but it wasn't nearly enough to fill them up. The even bigger problem was that they had ran out of water.
It wasn't a completely clear night, but Clyde had determined, before crying himself to sleep, that they should go slightly more east the next day. Craig didn't know how good Clyde's navigation skills actually were, but he figured that was their best bet.
"The capital isn't going to let orphaned peasant refugees just live there, you know," Clyde told him the next morning as they made their descent, "Unless you want slave labor."
"Well, good thing we're not orphaned peasant refugees then."
Clyde reached into his pocket and pulled out a small flattened round stone that reminded Craig of a coin. It was engraved with an intricate design as well as his name: Clyde.
"What's that?" Craig asked. His voice was rough, he needed more water badly.
"It's my merchant identification," Clyde explained, "It's how merchants are able to freely move across Zaron or even a specific kingdom without their residency and status being questioned. We were supposed to give it up once we moved to Sundorham and became farmers, but my dad hid ours. He told me not to tell anyone, but to keep it on me at all times."
"So?"
"So, I can say that I was just an unfortunate merchant who happened to be in Sundorham at the wrong time and managed to escape," Clyde said, looking sullenly at the stone. He squeezed it in his fist. "You should think of a cover story too."
"I won't need one," Craig announced.
"What if you're wrong?"
Craig's chest got tight.
"I'm not."
The third day it poured rain. Even growing up in a farming community that relied on rain, Craig had never been more thankful for it. The thick mud stuck to their shoes, however, making their pace much slower. Clyde ran around like a small child, trying to catch raindrops in his open mouth. Ordinarily, Craig would have teased him, but seeing him play around like his normal self made Craig smile. Probably the first time he did since their village was attacked.
The fourth day they were getting worried. It was sunny again, but their bodies were caked in mud from having been forced to sleep on the wet ground. The fatigue had also gotten to them, walking for days without any proper food. It was now double Clyde's projected time to reach the city and they hadn't even found an official road.
"Living was nice while it lasted," Clyde remarked dejectedly. He wasn't crying anymore, but his voice was weak. So different from the boisterous tone Craig was used to, even when he was crying. Perhaps he had ran out of tears.
Craig hadn't cried once since they began their trek from the pond. Still, even he was starting to feel that their journey was becoming pointless. He wasn't willing to admit that vocally, however.
Craig could feel the orange feldspar stone heavily against his skin. He wanted to go home. He wanted to collapse in his uncomfortable, bug filled straw mattress. He wanted his sister to kick him in her sleep hard enough to bruise him. He wanted the sheep to painfully yank out some of his hair right after he had finally fallen asleep again. He wanted his father to scold him to be quiet and let him sleep, even if Craig was annoyed that it wasn't his fault. He wanted his mother to wake them both up in the morning with a bowl of pottage and a side of barley bread. He wouldn't care if it was painfully watered down from their lack of food. Having her cooking again would be enough for him.
Craig's heart began to pound and his eyes grew misty. He bit his lip hard.
"Wait a second," Clyde exclaimed, his tone cautiously more upbeat.
"What?" Craig asked. He tried his best to sound natural, ignoring the newfound emotions that hit him like a wall.
"Is that-WE'RE SAVED!" Clyde yelled, running forward despite his exhaustion.
"What are you talking about?" Craig asked, his voice now of a more genuine Craig-like confusion.
"IT'S THE ROAD!" Clyde yelled, tears running down his face out of relief. He ran up the way a little more, and sure enough Craig too could see a long strip of brown dirt untouched by grass, extending seemingly infinitely in both directions. As soon as Clyde reached it, he let himself drop and lay down on it as if it were the softest mattress. In actuality, the rocky road hurt Craig's feet, especially given that the bottom of his shoes had worn holes. Still, it was something new. Craig had never seen an actual road before. Sundorham wasn't attached to one.
"I don't see the city," Craig commented.
"Well no, and we might still be far," Clyde answered, smile still on his face, "But I know this road! It connects to the capital! We just need to keep continuing down it, and eventually we'll hit it."
"Eventually?"
"I don't know how far, but we're on the right path! We're not-We're not gonna be wandering aimlessly!" Clyde continued to sob out of joy on the ground.
Craig wanted him to get up and immediately begin their trek towards the city, but decided after all they've been through to let his friend have his moment. Craig sat down on the ground next to him and looked up to the sky. He closed his eyes and took a much needed deep breath.
Before long, they began to head down the road. As luck would have it, it only took them a few hours down the road before they could see the city in the distance. At first Craig wondered if his eyes were playing cruel tricks on him, perhaps the thirst and exhaustion finally getting to him, but Clyde quickly announced that he saw it too. Or rather, screamed.
Craig knew the city was one of the largest in Zaron, surrounded by a very grand mote and intricate stone walls, the highest walls in any human territory. He had been told stories from his mother, Clyde, travelers, and even other villagers. But as a young person who had only ever seen a small village of 200, nothing could prepare him for this.
The two boys were absolutely filthy. Mud covered Craig's already brown, very cheaply made peasantly tunic and pants as well as his hands and face. He was sweaty, his shaggy black hair sticking to his forehead as if he had just finished swimming. Thirst and heat had made his lips chapped until they bled. Not to mention that he was incredibly weak from exhaustion, hunger, and thirst. Clyde was always one of the nicer dressed boys in Sundorham, given his father's comparative wealth, but even his own red tunic had gotten covered in mud and looked little better than Craig's. His own brown hair was all over the place, sticking up in every which way. Dark circles shadowed both of their eyes, giving them a zombie like appearance.
"We were unfortunate people who just happened to pass Sundorham when everything happened," Clyde instructed as they approached the gate.
"No, we're two citizens of Sundorham looking for our families and neighbors because hopefully they didn't get as pathetically lost as we did."
"You can just say you're a traveler or something. Just be sure to make up a name or whatever, in case they have a birth registry."
"Clyde, enough," Craig scolded. Still, his heart pounded. This was the moment of truth, to find his family. They were in the city, surely they were. They were probably worried sick about him. The villagers would find a way to rebuild Sundorham. It would be long and hard work, but they had to.
There was only one entrance to the city, given that the place was surrounded by tall brick walls and a mote. The iron gate was equally tall and imposing, located at the end of a simple wooden bridge. The gate was closed-Kupa Keep's city didn't just let anyone in. Feeling confident that he knew what he was doing, Clyde led the way and approached the gate.
"State your business," the gatekeeper demanded. He wore simple yet expensive looking cloth clothing, clearly not a knight. Or at the very least, not the type Craig was familiar with. There were armor-clad knights all around, however, defending the entrance from anyone who tried to enter the city without permission.
Clyde reached into his pocket and tossed his stone over to the gatekeeper. "I'm Clyde, son of a merchant called Roger, and this is my friend. We're citizens of the Kingdom of Kupa Keep here to give and gather information on the state of Sundorham."
The guard laughed, "Sundorham? There isn't much 'information' about that place anymore."
Craig's chest tightened. "What do you mean by that?" he asked.
The guard continued to chuckle as he closely examined the stone. After checking it out, he tossed it back to Clyde and walked over to the gate and used the lever to raise it.
"You kids are in luck," the gatekeeper said as he signaled the two towards knights, "The Grand Wizard wants any information on the attacked villages. Follow the knights here and they'll take you to where you need to go. They'll give you your answers."
Craig and Clyde were pushed along by the knights towards the city. Craig wanted to protest, to demand answers, but Clyde grabbed his arm and gave him a knowing look. A firm "don't try it, they're going to give us answers in a few minutes anyway" look.
The inside of the city made Craig almost forget himself. There were more people in the square in his line of vision than he had probably seen combined in his entire life. He saw women in elegant gowns like his mother described, women in rags equivalent to that of a farming peasant. There were smells he had never smelled before, store windows full of things he had never imagined, merchants peddling goods on the street. Little children running with toys that no one in his village could ever dream of.
Of course, he couldn't stop and take any of this in. The knights pushed him and Clyde along, going at a brisk pace. They turned to a door, a tower within the great wall, and practically shoved them inside. It was dark and damp, dimly lit by torches, and contained a large staircase that they were promptly ordered to go up in. They were led it a better lit but still imposing room, containing a large candle-lit table with two other knights guarding the door.
"Sit," a knight ordered, signaling them to two chairs, each with a bowl full of water and a wet cloth, presumably for them to wipe some of the mud off their faces and hands. Clyde quickly abided while Craig sat very hesitantly. As soon as they did, the knights that had led them turned to leave. Craig shot up from his chair.
"But what about-"
"Sit down," the same knight ordered even more harshly, "Someone will be with you shortly. You should clean yourself up first."
Craig balled his hands into tight fists but he complied. He thought it was stupid. He didn't get why they had to go through hoops to get information. He didn't get how Clyde just sat still with an unreadable expression, carefully cleaning off his face and hands. Craig left his own wet rag untouched.
They sat in silence for what felt like forever until eventually a tall figure entered. He was an adult man who didn't appear to be dressed as a knight, instead wearing intricate clothes, the most notable being a striped blue cape. He appeared to be about the age of Craig's parents with jet black hair and a mustache which, despite the apparent value of his clothes, did not appear to be neatly shaven. In fact, his entire demeanor appeared to be somewhat haggard.
"Hello boys," was all he said as he entered in room and took a seat, a slight slur to his speech.
"Listen this is stupid," Craig said flatly, "We just want to know the damage that happened to Sundorham and where all the survivors are."
"Survivors?" the man asked, his voice even more obviously slurred.
"Yes you drunk asshole," Craig's heart pounded in his chest, "That's why we're here. We want to know what happened to Sundorham."
"Sundorham doesn't exist anymore, kid," he laughed, "The buildings were all burned to the ground. They say every last person, every last child was killed."
Craig froze but his heart pounded even harder. He wouldn't be surprised if the entire city heard the drum-like beats in his chest. "I don't believe you. You've had to have had refugees that've escaped."
"Nope," the guard continued, "We had people check. They even got the animals. Damn magical elf fire, apparently, won't stop for anything. They say the current High Elf Queen is nasty, wanting to starve us out by killing our farms."
"I don't believe you," Craig repeated, his body physically shaking as the anger rose, "People can run away. People run away from things all the time."
"Not even the knights could outrun this magic," the man answered, his tone getting even more annoyed, "The entire battalion meant to guard them were slaughtered. Knights everywhere are being slaughtered."
"How would you know anything about this magic?!" Craig gritted his teeth.
Without hesitating, the man looked towards one of the candles in the center of the table that was unlit. He snapped his fingers, and from them came out a small orange flame. He brought his hand to the candle and lit it.
It was a normal flame, unlike the multi colored ones he had seen engulf his village, but it was very clear to Craig what just happened. His eyes grew wide. The man had used magic.
Unlike with elves, the ability to wield magic was an extraordinarily rare gift for humans. Within Kupa Keep, the Grand Wizard didn't want competition. Well, he claimed that too many magic users threatened the safety of the Kingdom, but Craig never bought it. The Grand Wizard had decreed many years ago that most humans, especially commoners, who showed signs of magic ability were to immediately be imprisoned or even killed. Whenever a child turned approximately one year old, they were to be tested on their magic ability. Craig had seen them come to Sundorham, he remembered as a small child his parents waiting with fear as they tested his sister to see if she had magic ability, and the relief that she did not. He had also once seen a family in his village scream as their young child was ripped from them.
There were exceptions of course. If a person was of noble blood and only had a minor connection to magic, the Grand Wizard would have them be appointed as part of his administration. That meant this drunken man was one of them, one of the most powerful and highly appointed men in all of Kupa Keep.
"You were saying?"
Craig's heart sank. He bit his lip hard, trying to stay focused.
"We escaped," Craig forced himself to say, hot tears clouding his vision, "We were there!"
The man's eyebrows raised, his attention clearly more focused, almost sober. "Is that true, Clyde?" he asked.
Clyde's eyes were also damp though he tried his best not to sob, his body low in his seat. He wiped his eyes and nose on his sleeve, but the tears continued to fall. Still, he swallowed hard, trying to keep an even voice. "Yes, I was there on business. With my dad. But I...he was in the heart of the city. I was on the outskirts opposite of the side they were approaching. We ran away as soon as we saw it, while everyone else ran towards the city to help. That's how we got away."
"You're how old now?"
"N-Neither of us know our exact ages, being c-commoners and all, b-but both about fourteen...sir," Clyde sniffed, his voice getting more and more unsteady, yet trying so hard to prevent it from cracking.
"And you two ran together?"
"Yes," they both said in near unison.
"And you," the man looked Craig in the face. His eyes were bloodshot, but they were attentive. "Are you a peasant? You should know we don't allow peasants into the city gates without reason. Unless, you're wanting 'work'."
"He's not a peasant!" Clyde interjected, standing up from his chair, "He was traveling with my family. H-He's not a merchant either though but-"
"Do you have any identification?" he cut off Clyde.
"No," Craig answered. His shaking and anger had subsided. He didn't know what he was feeling anymore. He felt cold.
He realized the feeling was numbness.
"If you don't have identification or proof of not being a peasant, by Kupa Keep law you're a peasant," the man explained, a twinge of sympathy in his voice, "And if you don't have a family to claim you, you're probably gonna be sent to the 'workforce'."
Craig blinked, but continued looking down at the wood table. He knew what he meant. The royal family outlawed slavery, but the Grand Wizard had it in everything but name. It was exactly what the knight offered to send him to. Back then, his family would have gotten a lot of money, but now it would be for nothing.
Not that it mattered anymore.
He could see his sister, working in the inn that morning. Working and hoping she would meet someone who could take her far away. She wanted to adventure, to see the world. The little girl who played pretend that the scarecrow was the king. She was going to have a future, she said.
He had scoffed at her.
He blinked again. This time when he did, tears splashed out of his eyes, down his cheeks.
"Your friend is free to enter the city, though," he said, his voice suddenly turning calm as if to comfort him.
His mother said she'd catch up to them. Yet, she gave him her necklace before he ran. If she really thought she'd be able to catch up, why would she give it to him? Did she want to be with her daughter as the fire consumed them?
"Wait no!" Clyde scrambled up as the two knights came forward and approached them. One grabbed Clyde by the arm, pulling him back.
His mother never had hope of finding their father again, Craig realized. She didn't mention him meeting up with them.
They were gone.
Deep down, he already knew it the second he turned away from his mother and started running. He just wouldn't allow himself to believe it.
"HE CAN READ!" Clyde screamed, "If he was a peasant he couldn't read!"
Craig briefly snapped out of his head.
"Really?" the man asked. Craig could swear he saw his eyes light up.
"Yes," Craig answered softly, his voice soulless. He slowly looked up.
The man rummaged through a satchel he carried and pulled out a scroll. He handed it towards Craig. "Read this."
Craig's hands were shaking, but he carefully opened it.
"By Decree of the Grand Wizard Eric Theodore Cartman, acting Head of State to Her Highness the Royal Princess Kenny," Craig read carefully but fluently through his cracking voice, "In retaliation of the destruction of Kingdom lands Sundorham, Broken Arrow, and Heatherworth, the Kingdom of Kupa Keep declares absolute war on the High Elf Kingdom and seeks the death of the current reigning High King and Queen."
Two other villages. Sundorham's destruction wasn't even an isolated incident. It was just one of many casualties. How many more would there be?
The man looked at him with big eyes and slowly took back the scroll. "Good enough for me," he announced.
Craig didn't even notice that Clyde was let go until he tightly hugged him, sobbing into his shoulder. Craig instinctively gave a light hug back. Clyde felt more relief than he did.
"Lord Marsh, with all due respect, literacy alone is not a sufficient factor in determining lineage," a knight objected.
The man-Lord Marsh's-face grew increasingly softer, his bloodshot eyes full of a look Craig couldn't describe. "I said it's enough," he said, his voice in a very demanding tone.
"You prolly just feel bad for him because he kinda looks like your dead son," the other knight sneered, "The Grand Wizard won't like that."
Without hesitating, the man with a quick wave of his hand ejected a bright light of energy that pushed the two knights back, both hitting the wall hard enough to knock them out. He walked over to them both and lightly prodded them with his feet, making sure they were out cold. Craig's eyes grew wide again and instinctively gulped. If this man was a "weak" magic user, he could only imagine the power of someone like the Grand Wizard. No wonder the knights didn't hold up against an army of magic elves.
"You haven't told me your name," he said to Craig, acting as though he hadn't just used magic to easily blast away two knights. He reached for a large book that sat in front of him at the edge of the table. "We need it for the registry."
Craig was already frozen prior, but the question didn't help. He didn't think up a fake identity like Clyde had hounded him to do and suddenly he couldn't think. How could he think? But now he was in the presence of a powerful magic user in Kupa Keep who had just saved him and had to come up with a new identity on the spot. His hand instinctively flew up to his chest, where his mother's orange pendant was hidden beneath his muddy tunic. He felt the stone against his beating, painful chest. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Feldspar," he said. "My name is Feldspar."