Awakening (Telindell Book 1) (2 page)

The healer pulled back the cloth covering the entrance to his hut and observed Ebon for a moment.  “Why, Lian must have been terrified for his life. That’s the only way such a scrawny and underfed boy could have mustered the strength,” muttered the healer as he looked back to Alrad.  “Even the smallest dog will have a fierce bite when left with no choice,” he said softly.

“Nonsense,” shouted Alrad.  “My son wouldn’t bother with hurting that little parasite!” Alrad clenched his fists and began shaking his head.  “I told the elder he was a bad omen.  Marrow should have tossed the brat down the well after that bitch left him here.” 

Lian couldn’t bear to hear any more of these hate-filled words.  He let go of Eva’s hand and turned to face Alrad, a lean man dressed in a perfectly clean white shirt and black leather trousers, so tall that he filled Lian’s sight. Alrad’s coal black hair and beard were offset by his cold, cruel gray eyes.

Lian clenched his fists tightly. “Shut up!” he shouted.  “You shut up!”  Lian’s voice was filled with fury and sorrow. 

Alrad stepped from the healer’s hut quickly and grabbed Lian by his raggedy blood stained tunic.  He lifted the boy from the ground to be eye level with him.  “Now, you listen here you little bastard.” Alrad glared at Lian, seeing the blood specks still on his face.  “That is my son’s blood on your face and on your clothes!  So help me, if Ebon does not live, I will feed you to the wolves, bears, roaches or anything I can find while you are still kicking,” shouted the furious Alrad.  “Don’t think you will scream for help, either. I’ll cut the tongue from your mouth well before you have the chance.  You will die in agony, all alone.  Not so different than the night you were left--” 

“That’s enough,” shouted Eva, interrupting Alrad’s hateful words.  “You will put the boy down, and no harm will come to him.”

Alrad turned his glare toward Eva. “And what are you going to do about it, you old wench?” he asked through gritted teeth. “You had best mind your words.  No meat left on them old bones, but I’m sure something in the forest would like to gnaw on them!”

Miss Eva snarled towards Alrad.  She clenched her staff and raised it.  The slight breeze instantly turned to a gust as Eva slammed her staff to the ground.  “I said enough!”  Eva commanded.

Alrad’s eyes widened a bit.  He wasn’t sure what he had just seen, but there was no denying the unshakeable sensation of terror coursing through his heart.  Alrad lowered Lian to the ground and released him. 

Alrad looked down to Lian. “Off with you both before I kill you here for the whole village to see,” he said as he began walking back towards the healer’s hut.

Lian glared toward Alrad. “Bastard…” he mumbled as he turned and ran back to Eva, who smiled kindly at him. 

“Now come, Lian,” she said.  “I got a special treat for you today.”

Lian grasped her hand, returning the smile.  Rare feelings of excitement and joy began creeping into his heart. 
“A special treat just for me?  I wonder what it is…”
thought Lian.

The pair came upon Eva’s modest home, a building crafted of crude stone bricks ages ago.  There were cracks in the mortar large enough to see inside her house, but fortunately, green vines and moss covered most of them.  The straw roof looked as if it hadn’t been tended to for over a decade but was still serving its purpose well enough.  Eva pulled an old rusty key from her robe and unlocked the large wooden door.  Lian followed her inside, feeling the cold wooden planks beneath his bare feet.

Eva approached her old rickety table. “Now, you come right over here and eat this sweet loaf… It isn’t exactly a birthday cake, but I think you will enjoy it all the same.”

Lian rushed over to the table and grabbed the loaf.  It was nothing more than an old lump of bread covered in an icing concocted of flour, milk and sugar.  He quickly took a bite, getting choked slightly.  Finally, Lian got the bite of food into his belly.  It had been empty for going on two days now. 

Lian looked up to Eva and smiled. “Thank you so much.  I was so hungry!” said Lian with joy.

Eva smiled back at the boy. “You are always welcome here child, you know that!” 

Lian grinned from ear to ear.  “This is the best special treat ever!” said Lian enthusiastically. 

Eva chuckled slightly. “No, no, this isn’t your special treat, that comes later.  Now, you finish eating. I’m going to start warming your bath.”

Lian smiled, nodded, and continued eating.  Eva walked into the next room and lit a small fire under a black metal caldron hanging above it.  She had drawn the water for Lian earlier that morning, planning this all along.  Lian finished his sweet loaf and walked into the room with Eva. 

Eva looked at the approaching boy.  “Sit Lian, the water will need a few more moments before it’s warm enough.”  Eva sat on an old worn stool.  Lian sat at her feet, listening as the small fire crackled under the caldron.  “You have had a dreadfully exciting birthday so far haven’t you?” Eva said softly.

Lian looked at her sadly, the thoughts of everything he had heard about his mother plaguing his mind.  “Is it true…?  Miss Eva?”

Eva studied the boy’s sorrowful expression for a moment. “What are you talking about, Lian?” 

Lian looked at the floor. “My mother… is it true?  That she just abandoned me here and left and the wolves ate her… everything except her face ‘cause she was that ugly?”

Miss Eva looked at the young boy, sensing the sorrow in his voice and heart.  She smiled, and her bony fingers wiped away a tear before it had the chance to run down Lian’s cheek.  “No boy, lord no.  Why they tell you these things… and harbor such ill will towards you I will never understand.  Would you like to hear about your Mother, the truth?”

Lian’s eyes widened.  Unable to muster words, he simply nodded his head.

Eva sighed thoughtfully. “Let’s see.  I first met your mother about 15 years ago.  Well before she left you here in our care.  She was as clever as she was courageous, and possessed with a beauty that would make most women weep in envy.  You share her beautiful blue eyes.”

Lian smiled at this revelation.  “So, my mother never lived here?”

“No, she lived beyond the Telindells, in a region to the west,” said Eva.  “Unlike most of the villagers here, I’ve set foot outside this village on more than one occasion.  They are far too fearful of the beasts and dangers that dwell in Shana’s Pass.  That is the only route from Dawn’s Grasp Valley to the rest of the world.  It’s also the reason we rarely receive visitors from the rest of the world.  The last visitor was your mother when she brought you to us.”

Lian looked at Eva in curiosity. “What’s in Shana’s Pass?”

Eva laughed lightly. “Many dangers lurk there, but usually the beasts will let someone pass. The ogres are all too happy to avoid conflict as long as someone doesn’t invade their lairs--” 

Lian quickly interrupted, “Ogres?  What do they look like?  Please tell me!”

Eva smiled at the boy’s curiosity. “Well, they are tall, very tall compared to you and me,” said Eva.  “Most are at least ten feet tall.  And they are dreadfully strong. They can sling a boulder bigger than you as far as the eye can see.  Most have green skin, but a few have brown skin.  The leader of these particular ogres is white, the only white ogre I’ve ever seen, with black eyes that would make the most skilled warrior tremble in fear.  They have black stringy hair and a mouthful of fangs to rival any of the pesky wolves here in the forest.”

Lian leaned in closer. “If they’re so strong, why don’t they attack us?”

Eva smiled at the boy’s curiosity once again, “They don’t like to leave the mountain, very territorial.  They aren’t very smart either.  Some can speak in our common tongue, but most just grunt and shout.”

Lian looked upon Eva, his curiosity far from sated, “If they are territorial and stay in their lairs why is Shana’s Pass so dangerous?” 

“Seems you share your mother’s cleverness, too,” said Eva.  “Shana’s Pass isn’t a straight and clear path over the mountains. It’s a network of caves, almost like a labyrinth to someone who doesn’t know the way.  Many people have entered and never returned.  It’s easy to lose your way and wander into the lair of the ogres.  Most never return from an ogre’s lair, and those who do usually lose their mind from the horrors they witnessed.” 

Lian’s eyes widened. He wasn’t sure if he should be afraid or excited. 

Eva shook her head, realizing she had strayed from the subject of Lian’s mother. “Now Lian, back to your mother,” she said.  “Yes, it was about fifteen years ago.  She was a happy woman, who lived in a small village in the country of Kynlynn.  Her village was in the lordship farthest east of the country.  It was a pleasant place.  She ran a bakery, and your Father hunted game for the village.  She’s the one who taught me to make that sweet loaf you just enjoyed.”

“Tell me more about my mother and father!  Please!” Lian demanded in a hail of excitement.

Eva laughed. “Of course I will tell you about your mother,” said Eva, sighing a bit.  “As for your father, I can’t speak of him, for I never met the man.  He was always away on his hunting trips when I would visit.”

Lian’s head dropped a little. “That’s alright. Tell me about my mother then,” said Lian, still excited despite the disappointment about his father. 

“Well, like I said, she ran a bakery,” said Eva.  “I met her on my journey back home while shopping for bread to take on my trip.  We talked, and she told me of everything going on in the world and how the region was thriving.  She said they had more food and stability than they had ever had in her lifetime.  She always was cheerful.”

Lian smiled. “What was her name, Miss Eva?”

“Her name was Lyssa, the most beautiful name I ever heard in all my years. The only thing to match the beauty of her name was your own,” said Eva.

Lian’s imagination was running wild.
“What did she look like, I wonder…”
  Lian quickly spoke up, following his thoughts, “Miss Eva, please tell me what she looked like. I want to see her so bad!”

Eva laughed and leaned down a bit towards Lian. “As I said, you share her blue eyes,” Eva said happily.  “Lyssa’s hair was brunette with hints of blonde weaving through it, a truly unique color.  She wasn’t very tall, not much taller than you are now.  I’d say she was about five feet and seven inches tall.  She was slim, had a figure I would have killed for in my youth.”

Lian’s eyes glistened with hope for the first time in his life. “But Miss Eva, if my mother was so wonderful why did she leave me here?”

Eva frowned a bit. “Lian, she did not want to,” said Eva.  “It hurt her more to leave you than death itself.  But you see, things changed her village.  The Lord became greedy.  He started taking more from the people than he needed.  On my last visit to Lyssa, she told me how the lord was imposing debts upon the people if they could not deliver.  She had already incurred debt, and you, her unborn child, had incurred debt as well.  She was very near to giving birth then.  So, I told her of this place and how to get here if things became so dire she must flee.

“Sure enough, a few weeks later I heard her calling my name in the village square.  I remember that night painfully well.  There was an awful thunderstorm here in the valley while the storms rain struck the mountain peaks as snow and ice.  I invited her in, but she refused and handed you to me.  You were only three days old.  Lyssa spoke urgently to me, saying, ‘I was pursued. They are at the edge of the forest on the other side of the mountains. They came into the village and started burning everything and taking the children. I had to leave.  I won’t let them have him.  His name is Lian. Please keep him safe. I’m going to lead them into the pass and try to anger the ogres.’  I hugged her, and she kissed your head and told you she would always love you.  She left the village.  I stayed with you until morning.  Then, I left you with the elder and journeyed to Shana’s Pass to search for any trace of her.  All I found were the half eaten remains of the soldiers who pursued her and this…” Eva walked over to a chest and opened it.  She pulled out a blue ribbon that matched the color of Lian’s eyes perfectly. “This was hers, all that I could find of her. It is time for you to have it.”

Lian had tears in his eyes. He was saddened to learn of his mother’s fate, but he also felt pride at the courage she had displayed and the sacrifice she had made for him.
“That was my mother…”
he thought
.  “I couldn’t want any better.”

Eva smiled. “I’ll just keep this ribbon here ‘til we are done with your bath.”  Eva lowered her hand into the water, small traces of steam beginning to rise. “This will do just fine.” She grabbed an old wooden cup that was floating in the water and filled it with water.  Eva poured the water on the small fire extinguishing it, leaving only glowing cinders.  “Now, come on Master Lian. Take those bloody rags off.”  Eva walked to the next room. “It would hardly be decent for me to see a young man’s bottom,” she called, chuckling a bit. “I’ll wait here until you are in the bath.”

Lian nodded his head.  He turned around and removed his bloody tunic.  His scrawny upper body was pitiful to look upon, covered with cuts, bruises, and dirt from weeks without a bath.  He dropped his sack cloth pants to reveal much of the same.

Eva waited to hear the sound of Lian entering the water, “Now hurry before the water gets cold!” she said sternly.