A Smile in Silver Thread
Oscar's eyes snapped open, quickly jumping to his feet as he took in his surroundings.
His eyes were once more greeted with the perfectly cut grass of the clearing in the woods. Looking around, Oscar frowned, everything was the same except for the fact that the statue had vanished without a trace, as if the ground had opened and swallowed the statue whole.
Looking up, Oscar saw that the moon hanging in the sky had already passed the apex, swiftly chasing after it, the sun had started to rise. Dawn had arrived, and Oscar knew he was going to be in a world of pain if he couldn't find his way back home.
Oscar sprinted for the trees once more, recalling the side of the clearing he had come from. Sprinting at break-neck speed Oscar reached the overgrown path that had locked him in the never-ending illusion.
Oscar desperately counted the paces in his head, once he reached 97, he looked around. There only a few paces ahead of him, the path returned to gravel.
A smile forming on his lips, Oscar almost yelled out in joy, it was the joy you felt when you returned home after a long time on the road, or a guard who had been stationed far from home. In some ways, Oscar was in a similar position.
Cutting through the air like a sharp knife, Oscar made his way to the fork in the path. Returning to the main path as he continued to run. His lungs felt as if there were a scorching fire in them as he refused to rest.
There, finally showing itself on the horizon, was the village. Oscar smiled, using the last bit of his energy to push for the final stretch. Oscar raised his hands above his head as if he were celebrating a great victory as he crossed the threshold into the village.
Trip—
Oscar tripped, bracing his fall with his forearms, he looked behind him to see who had tripped him. His eyes narrowing, Oscar met the gaze of his father, Kellian.
"Did you have a nice stroll?" His father asked, grabbing him by the collar and lifting him back onto his feet. Oscar tried to force out a smile,
"I was just getting' up early for work today, Pa." Oscar's attempt at reasoning with his father was merely met with a cold glare. Oscar, knowing the best of his options chose to remain silent, his shoulder drooping.
Kellian walked slightly in front of Oscar as he led them back home, occasionally casting glances at Oscar with a frown on his face.
'Somethings… different.' Kellian thought to himself.
That didn't sit well with him, after all, with The Scourge coming through town soon anything different wouldn't sit very well with them. Shaking his head, Kellian decided to deal with the situation later.
Pushing open the door to their home, both the boys looked towards the corner. Amanda, Oscar's mother, was still fast asleep. Her legs sprawled wide, hands falling off the sides of the bed and her flame red hair in a mess covering half her face. Kellian chuckled at the sight of his drooling wife before turning back to Oscar.
"Get ready, its almost time for work."
Oscar looked up with pleading eyes towards his father, who simply turned his head. Hidden from his line of sight though, the corner of Kellian's lips turned upwards into a grin.
'This is what you get for sneaking out brat.'
Knowing that he couldn't change his father's mind, Oscar quickly changed into his work clothes. Another muddy tunic was tied around his waist with a piece of cord. Long pants with faded knee pads draped from his waist to his ankles. Putting on a pair of leather boots that his father had fashioned from a wild boar, Oscar looked towards his father.
Seeing that Oscar was ready to head out, Kellian turned around and reopened the door. The duo walked down the path that Oscar had exited the village earlier from. Once they came to the fork in the road Osar couldn't help but shiver.
Kellian glanced at Oscar before they continued down the main path. After an incense stick worth of time the duo came to an open field. To be exact, numerous open fields. Five or six plots of land stretched out on either side of the gravel. Each enclosed in now rotting wooden fences.
Hanging on the fences were signs depicting different symbols. Some were carrots, others of cattle. Oscar, curious, looked towards his father.
"Dad, why is ours the only plot with our name on it?"
"Naturally because we are one of the few families who can read in the town." Kellian face beamed with a small sense of pride, especially since his son who was so young could already read a novel front to back.
Oscar turned back to the path ahead, merely nodding at his father's statement.
They continued a few hundred paces more before they came upon a plot much like the others. The fence was in slightly better condition, but it was clear that the wood was still rotting. Weeds sprouted where the posts had been driven into the ground, scaling their way up the fence.
Hanging on one of the fence posts was a small sign,
Vael Family
Walking up the fence, Kellian planted his hand on the top before nimbly jumping over the gate. Oscar shook his head, his father's agility for his size always seemed to shock and awe others.
Oscar simply ducked his head and crouched below the fence, after all, it wasn't meant to keep 12-year-olds out.
Greeting the two on the other side was a respectably sized plot of land, nothing to scoff at for a village of this size. The fields were freshly damp from rains a few moons ago. The open expanse of nature brought a certain calm to the two.
Oscar, already knowing his duty, walked down the fence line before finding a bucket about the size of his head, laying against the fence next to the bucket were a few tools: a couple of spades, a ho, as well as a shovel. Grabbing a spade and reaching inside the bucket, Oscar felt around for a second or so before pulling out a small cloth bag slightly bigger than his palm.
Undoing the string that tied the top shut, Oscar peaked inside with one eye, giving the bag a shake. Inside the bag numerous seeds moved around under Oscar's inspection. After a minute or so, he nodded, tied the bag back up and walked over to the field.
His father had gone down to fetch water from the stream as Oscar worked, ensuring that the two weren't struck by heat stroke under the piercing sun that seemed to want to broil them alive.
Oscar began digging small holes in the freshly plowed dirt, digging the same each time, about ¾ a finger deep. Before placing a seed in the whole and lightly packing the dirt above the seed. He had long since fallen into a rhythm, not noticing when his father returned and began to do the same next to him.
In this way, the day began to pass; when the sun rose to the top of the sky the duo stopped for a few minutes to eat a quick lunch of wild vegetables that his father had gone and found while he was out for water. Immediately after, the two began to work once again.
Once the sun was beginning to set, the duo finally allowed themselves to rest. Oscar stretched his arms over his head as Kellian wiped the small amount of sweat that had gathered on his own brow.
The two walked to the nearby stream and scrubbed themselves clean of the dirt that had accumulated through the day. After which, they began their walk back to town.
Feeling the slight soreness of their muscles after bending all day caused a sense of accomplishment to wash over them. They both knew that they had worked hard, and so, they were silent. It was a comfortable silence, one that didn't need to be disturbed by meaningless words. So, with their silence, they continued.
Eventually the two saw the village on their horizon, the sun had long since sunk below the ground, the moon rising from where the two came from.
Kellian squinting his eyes, frowned. There at the entrance to the village was a small group of people. Those standing on the side within the village appeared to be placating the individuals, as they continued to bow to the other group.
Oscar, with his natural curiosity, studied the other group of figures. There were four Imperial Soldiers, dressed in the classic attire of iron shoulder pads with an iron breastplate that covered the red buttoned shirt they wore. Gold accents went down from their shoulders to the cuffs of their sleeves where they wore iron gauntlets. Each of them wore a short sword at their tucked in a freshly polished sheath.
The Imperial Soldiers were without a doubt interesting to Oscar, but Kellian had his gaze locked on the one standing quietly behind them all. There, a figure stood in a cloak of all black that seemed to be woven from shadows themselves. Silver accents lined the shoulders and ran down the cloak, giving it a slightly sophisticated look.
The back of the figure was facing the two, there embroidered in silver was a skull, the skull's mouth was open as if it was chuckling at whoever looked at it. On top of the skull was a crown that had two daggers being driven through it, continuing down into the skull.
"Stay behind me." Kellian whispered, but his hand had already found itself on Oscar's shirt, holding him back. His voice was calm, but Oscar could feel the tension in his arm, like a bow string ready to be unleashed.
The cloaked figure didn't move, but something seemed to change. The air felt heavier, the wind seemed to stop blowing as if afraid that its presence might offend. Then, slowly, the figure began to turn before looking directly at the two.
Oscar almost jumped back in fright, but he couldn't, he felt as if his body had rebelled against him, refusing to even make the subtlest movement in front of the figure.
The figure was wearing a mask, its eyes so deep that it felt one was looking into the depths of a pitch black well. Tears ran down from the corner of the mask before stretching and configuring itself into a twisted grin. He couldn't see his gaze, but everything within Oscar felt it.
'He's looking at me!'