“Chasius, you overslept
again!” Katarina yelled, “You know Mentor doesn’t like it when you’re
late!” Leaping out of the simple straw
bed he shared with his loving wife, Chasius threw on his crumpled shirt,
leather tunic, and simple linen pants and ran to the kitchen soon after
buckling on his blunt practice sword.
Reaching the kitchen in a whirlwind, Chasius found Katarina sitting at
the kitchen table with a cup of herbal tea in her hand and another held out for
him. Taking the tea he sat down across
from her at their plain wooden table in the rustically furnished kitchen. Sipping the tea because it was very hot,
Chasius and his wife chatted for a moment or two before he got up to head out
for the day. Katarina got up as well, “Be
careful and work hard, my love,” she whispered in his ear. After a quick kiss, Chasius headed out the
door to get to Mentor’s house on time.
Blinking
in the rush of sunlight that filled his piercing blue eyes, Chasius looked
around at the simple village he called home.
Small wooden houses with smoke rising out of the bare chimneys told him
that his neighbors were up and about; everything as it should be. Brushing forward the short, dark hair that
covered his head, Chasius began walking down the packed earth that acted as a path
for the villagers. At one side of the
village the path led to a grassy field where crops thrived and animals rested
in their pens. On the other side of the
village was a dense forest; the gleaming eyes of dangerous animals peeking out
of the shadows. Mentor, the only know
inhabitant of the dark forest, lived in a small wooden cabin, not unlike the
ones that the villagers lived in. This
is where Chasius headed.
Stopping
before the edge of the forest, Chasius did some basic exercises and stretches
that prepared him for the day to come. After
he felt suitably warmed up, he headed into the forest, taking the hidden path
unknown to all of the villagers except him.
Pushing his way through the tangled undergrowth he knew all too well,
Chasius finally reached the small clearing where Mentor resided.
-Top Lee
Excerpt from my new short story, Hell and Back
Excerpt from my new short story, Hell and Back
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