It All Falls Down (Part 1)

Opening his eyes slowly, Delmo saw a pair of feet standing before him. He recognized those shoes right away as he looked up. They belonged to one of the townsmen that fed him earlier that morning. The young boy tried to ignore him and go back to sleep but, he felt a tug on his blanket. Before he knew it, Delmo was being dragged out of bed by his wrist.

His head still felt lightheaded when he stood up and walked outside the house. He was led to what appeared to be some kind of training grounds set aside for aspiring warriors to learn swordsmanship. There were several wooden targets placed in different locations. Some of them were even hung from posts, so tall that Delmo could not reach them even by jumping.

Looking around, Delmo spotted a few people sparring with wooden swords while others were running drills with their wooden weapons or practising dodging attacks. 

Everyone looked serious; not even a hint of joyful laughter could be heard among them. Only the occasional grunt and clashing of weapons rang throughout the field. Even though the place seemed far more relaxed than any actual battlefield, these warriors certainly put their everything into training every day. At least in the young eyes of Delmo, this is what it looked like.

The silent man dragging him forward stopped at a table where many different kinds of wooden weaponry had been arranged neatly on display. From sticks made of thin wood to large hammers resembling the ones used by blacksmiths. Everything laid there was meant for use during practice sessions.

"Take your pick!" the man said enthusiastically as he started pulling out more weapons from the racks around and placing them atop the table for the young boy's inspection. "Here you go! Pick whichever one suits you best."

Delmo took a good look at each one of them before choosing a wooden sword that looked about three times too big for him. It felt heavy enough that it almost bent his arms backwards whenever he held it.

He began swinging it wildly through the air while grunting loudly like he had seen the other village warriors do. Although it wasn't exactly what he was accustomed to doing, it still felt exciting to hold such a large weapon with both hands instead of just using one. 

He raised its tip upwards, directly aiming towards one of the targets hanging overhead. His face scrunched up as he attempted to let loose with a powerful swing of the blade but ended up missing completely. Instead, the blunt end crashed with the ground below sending up dirt all over the surrounding area.

The other people sparring nearby turned to watch Delmo with amusement before laughing and pointing at his awkward stance.

"You've got a lot of spirit, kid!" the man who brought him there said with a smile. He patted Delmo on the shoulder as he continued chuckling along with everyone else. The young boy smiled sheepishly and lowered his eyes. "But try not to rely entirely on your strength when fighting," the man advised as if reading his thoughts. "It takes some skill to keep control over your movements without depending too much on brute force."

The other warriors nodded in agreement.

"We're gonna make a warrior outta ya yet, kid!" another soldier shouted encouragingly from across the field. A few more cheers echoed throughout the training field followed by more laughter. Even though some of it was nothing more than lighthearted teasing, they were nonetheless sincere in their desire to help him grow into something stronger. 

With no hesitation whatsoever and renewed energy, he jumped towards the target where the wooden sword had just barely missed earlier. With a grunt of determination, he swung the weapon forward once again. However, this time it struck dead centre above the head of the wooden dummy and left a slight dent. The men watching clapped and raised their weapons in approval.

"Go on lad!", a man shouted.

Delmo could feel himself begin to swell with pride as his confidence grew. Maybe becoming a warrior wouldn't be so bad...

***

Time passed rather quickly while practising, especially since he was enjoying himself. 

Before long, the sun had set, and it was time for everyone to call it quits for the day. The entire grounds grew quiet except for the sound of footsteps coming from nearby. Delmo turned around expecting to see one of the adults approaching but found himself facing another youngster, roughly his age or maybe even younger than him.

The child looked quite scrawny and frail compared to Delmo's larger frame. A few seconds passed as they stared into each other's eyes.

Finally, the smaller boy gave a small grin before reaching out with his hand for a friendly handshake. Delmo couldn't help returning the gesture, grinning widely as well.

"My name's Delmo."

The smaller boy responded immediately saying, "I'm...Bam."

With an exchange of simple greetings, the two strangers quickly became friends. They talked and laughed while playfully duelling each other using wooden swords. 

***

One day, as Delmo returned from training, he saw that Bam and his mother were packing up their belongings to leave town. They explained that they had been here visiting relatives for some time now and wanted to return home early to not burden anyone else.

Delmo could tell how sad the young boy looked, and even though Bam tried his best to hide it, his mother noticed his sullen expression right away. She comforted him softly as she hugged him close.

After they said their goodbyes, Delmo watched the mother and son duo leave from his room window. Once they disappeared completely, Delmo felt nothing but emptiness inside of him. Even though they only met for such a short period, Delmo enjoyed having someone so similar to him around.

"Maybe it's time for me to head home as well..." Delmo mumbled under his breath, climbing into the bed he had grown accustomed to over the past few weeks. After all, if he stayed any longer, it would become increasingly hard to leave without leaving any explanations behind. He was done taking advantage of their kindness and felt like he owed them way too much already. 

With a long, drawn-out sigh, Delmo pulled the blanket over himself and closed his eyes. His family must have worried about him enough as it were and Delmo figured he should finally go back to check up on them. His sister in particular would likely scold him to no end upon return, but Delmo decided he would just handle that punishment like a man.

***

A moment later, a loud noise broke through his senses, forcing him out of bed. Delmo jerked his head around wildly trying to see what caused the sound when suddenly, the front door flew open. A townsman rushed inside without warning with a terrified expression etched across his face.

"Get outside, quick!", he shouted.

Before Delmo could react, the man grabbed him roughly by the hand, pulling him away from his comfortable bed.

"What's happening? Why are you rushing us outside?" Delmo asked, stumbling after the man's rapid strides as best he could.

They reached the front yard where many more villagers were gathered. Everyone gathered there looked scared out of their mind. Several mothers held their crying children tightly. Others had tears streaming down their faces.

Everyone seemed to be in a state of panic.

"W-what's going on?" Delmo demanded again. But, before anyone had time to answer, the ground began rumbling beneath them. Delmo felt the shaking stop for a moment, then it resumed with more force shortly after.

Instead of trembling in fear, some of the men ran forward while carrying their weapons. "Protect your families!" they shouted while brandishing swords. Their voices filled the air with determination.

Delmo caught a glimpse of dozens of armed individuals entering the village carrying weapons of varying shapes and sizes. All of them wore armor made out of leather or metal covering their bodies completely. Their faces were obscured by hooded cloaks, making them more intimidating.

Townsfolk rushed towards these invaders wielding pitchforks and spears, but they were no match for the invaders. They fell one by one, effortlessly cut down by the invaders' blades. Screams pierced the night sky, causing Delmo's ears to ring as his heart pounded rapidly.

He watched helplessly as a group of bandits dragged the woman that had taken him into her home, into a nearby alleyway.

They disappeared from sight.

"Eva!", her husband cried desperately as he sprinted after them with fury plastered across his face. But, he was quickly cut down by a bandit swinging his sword at him from the side. 

The blade cut deep into his shoulder sending blood spilling out onto the ground below him. He collapsed with a thud, his eyes still fixed on the alley where Eva had disappeared. The bandit that killed him turned around in search of another victim and found himself staring straight into Delmo's eyes.

The young boy stood frozen in place as he witnessed this brutal slaughter take place right in front of him. Just moments ago, Rolad had been alive and well but, now he was nothing but a cold corpse lying in the dirt.

Delmo swallowed hard, not believing what he had just seen. His mouth hung wide open as he watched as bandits continued killing townspeople indiscriminately without any pause or hesitation. They didn't seem to care about anything other than killing every person they encountered.

"Run for your life!", a desperate villager shouted, breaking the spell of fear that held Delmo. "Get as far away from here as possible or they'll kill us all!"

Delmo snapped out of his trance and ran as fast as he could, hoping to escape the nightmare.