Michael's Story Of Sorrow

My name is Michael. I live in a town with my mother, father, and three brothers. I help my dad as a stone mover. I help move large stones from the countryside to be used in building homes somewhere far away. My dad is paid by the king for his service and he pays me for helping. He and I have been doing this for a few years now since I was 11.

My mother takes care of our home while my brothers aren't old enough to help work yet. My mom tells me that her job is important. Once my brothers get old enough and strong enough to help, we'll be paid more and able to live a more comfortable life.

She also tells me that being the oldest, she relies on me the most to make sure that dad is taken care of. As a reward, she made me a journal out of some spare leather she had from making dad some clothes. I had to go with dad to town the next time to buy some paper and something to write with using the penance that I have. I got home and realized that I don't know how to write.

With me helping dad, mom has the time to make sure that my younger brothers can learn to a degree. She assured me that she would teach me one day. For now, I will have to make do on my own. I came up with my way of telling myself stories so I can at least remember these days when I look back at them. Mom did share a story with me though. She told me she named me Michael after her favorite angel.

It was when I turned 13 that my dad called me in and told me I was finally a man. He let me know that he had been talking to a local farmer. He wanted me to marry his daughter so we could clear his farmland of stones and have the ability to grow our own crops. I was too young to understand the impact of the decision but I agreed. She was one year younger than me. We had a small celebration but it seemed as though nothing changed. Her dad offered up trees to build a home for us but I would have to build it. I didn't have the strength or knowledge to do it.

It was years before I was able to build us a home. We didn't live in the house for years after that. We were both too vested in making sure that our families were taken care of that it wasn't good for us to live together. By the time we did finally move into that home we were both considered at the age where we should have children of our own. Her dad let us know that he hoped for a grandson to pass down the farm to. My dad is also hoping for a boy to carry on our family name. Mom is the only one who just wants us to have a healthy baby.

It was around the time that she and I moved to our house that I became sick.No treatment seemed to work. No doctor knew what to do. My parents sat by while they watched me seem to slowly die until one day I was just better. I woke up with no illness. I didn't think anything of it. I just stood up, put on my clothes, and went to work. My dad nearly dropped a rock on his foot at the shock of seeing me standing once again.

My wife and I lived a simple life. Once my sickness had passed she realized that we should start a family as soon as possible. I think it was her dad pushing that on her but I went along with it. We had two daughters before our firstborn son. Janine, then Lily, and Maxwell. My wife and I made sure to spoil the girls while the grandparents spoiled our son. We knew it was going to happen. I'm just glad that she didn't take her dad's idea of how to raise our children. She wanted them all to have a chance at happiness.

Happiness… I thought I was happy. It did feel like something was missing for quite a while until he showed up. He called himself a hunter of sorts and that he was looking for me. But what he hunted wasn't to take my life but just to find me. He asked very odd questions about me. They all seemed oddly specific. Finally, he let me know his true purpose. He asked that we talk alone before he told me that I was something special. I told him that I knew I was special. I had a family with a loving wife. My family was supportive of our life but he stopped me and told me that none of that mattered to what he was referring to.

In this dark room, we hid away in he showed me something that was both astounding and terrifying. He made light from nothing. His smile matched my excitement of mine before I stopped. I had to tell him that I come from a God-fearing family and that what he showed me was something that would have me persecuted. And he agreed. It would undoubtedly have me hanging in a public square. But it was what I was born for.

He did not press the issue. He told me to consider his offer. His offer was that he would show me how to use this ability that I have hidden away. He tried to tempt me with the idea of power and wealth. With this ability, I could help our families with both their ventures. The farm could be easier labor and my dad wouldn't have to move stones by paw any longer.

His words ate at me for days. I never once mentioned it to my wife. I never told anyone about it. But I caved. The idea that we could enjoy a life we never thought possible was too much. I said to myself that I didn't care about the blasphemy if it meant that I could provide us with a better life. As though he knew, he came back, and we hatched a plan. He trained me in the middle of the night. One of the first things he taught me was to rest without resting.

I could sleep for maybe one hour a night and be as though I had a full night of sleep. That gave us more time to train. He spoke words that I didn't understand but pointed to points on my body and told me what they could do. It didn't take long before I was able to begin doing the things he was showing me. He taught me things that I could have never imagined.

But one thing he didn't prepare me for was progress. As I started to master these new skills, I could feel my body changing and adapting. Until it manifested as a physical change. I grew a second tail. My wife noticed it and she did what she could to help me hide it. She made new clothes where it would hide the new tail from prying eyes and at night, when I was relaxed, I could let it relax as well. It scared her at first but she grew to love it as she loved me. It was just a part of who I was.

But the more I progress, the more powerful I became the harder it became to hide. My third and fourth tails showed rather quickly. The man who trained me finally told me some of my unknown history and what I was. He called me a nine-tailed fox meaning that I was going to get more powerful but also grow more tails. I became scared. I wouldn't be able to hide these. If I'm found out that means my family would be in danger.

It was when my fifth tail arrived that the consequences of my actions showed themselves. The more powerful you become, the more powerful you become the more your spells reach and affect others. The church came to my door one day. The clergy asked if they could bless my home as they have heard about my hard work in helping unite two rural families.

I was so awestruck that they came to visit that I was blinded to their true intentions. They came to follow rumors of my odd growth in the community. I had begun using the knowledge that I was trained with to help crops but when I started helping those who were sick, the church took notice when they were being called into assistance less and less.

They found nothing as I had nothing. My learnings were kept in the paws of the one who trained me. But they didn't stop. Their visits became harassment to my family. And not just my home. My parents were constantly harassed and threatened. The more they pushed the harder it became to hold myself back.

The day came. My wife had taken the children to my parents at my request. Something told me that it was for the best that they are out of the house. My instincts were correct. I had gained knowledge beyond just the basic education that someone like me should have. I may have never learned to read or write the written word but I learned to read the world around me. I became attuned to my surroundings and quickly learned to sense when that was disturbed.

Five tails of power. I should be able to defend myself from anything but they came prepared knowing what I was and what I could do. Step by step, fight for fight. They knew my next move and took me away from my home.

They restrained me and my power. They let me write my final thoughts so they could laugh at me. The scratches that I leave on this paper may never be understood but there are a few things I need to ensure that are preserved.

First, at the beginning of my marriage, I was unsure of my wife but as we lived and learned together, we grew to love one another in a way that I never expected. I can only hope that these last few notes can reach her. That I love her with all my heart.

Second, the power that dwells within me will not die with me. I have felt this since it manifested that it was something foreign to me. And as it came to me, it will leave me and move on to another. I just hope that whoever it goes to handles it well.

Lastly, the man who trained me is to never be trusted. The only way that they knew so much about me is that they learned it from him. I don't know why or what kind of deal they worked out. I do not doubt that they know about his prowess but decided to overlook it at the promise of more.

I face the gallows for the blasphemy I have committed but I know that what I have done is only blasphemy in their eyes. Those who I've helped, those who I brought new life to, only say it as God's grace. I'll be brought up to be branded a traitor. I'll be made an example of and my body paraded as an example. May my wife and children never know of my fate. I would not wish that knowledge upon them.