No Ordinary Child

The sun shone down bouncing rays off the water in front of Von. He was sat on a rock at the entrance of a cave above a lake outside the city. He came here to meditate and to find quiet. Closing his eyes he felt the warmth hit his skin, the peace of this place allowed him to think clearly. Opening his eyes he watched the lake sparkle as the sun caused the water to sparkle and shine. His peace was quickly interrupted by a piercing scream, a small child stood with his trousers rolled up with the water lapping his feet, but where seconds ago he had been enjoying the cool water, he was suddenly stricken with fear and grief. His mother lay unmoving nearby, an arrow piercing her chest and her basket of fish lay cast aside. Von watched motionless as two men slowly approached, one bent to check the mother was dead whilst the other approached the small child drawing his string back slowly. Von stood up, grabbing his staff and let the anger that had built within him in the last few seconds flow from his heart to his fingertips, feeling the energy begin to burn in his fingers he smashed his staff to the ground fixing this man with an unwavering glare. The rock beneath his staff cracked and he directed the energy with his mind into the mans bow, which shattered in his grasp.

‘Leave’ Von shouted. The second man rose from the mother and went to grab his own bow, but Von raised his arms to the sky, closed his eyes and allowed his growing anger to consume him. The sky which had been so clear seconds ago begun to darken as thunder clouds closed in. The men began to shout and scarper, Von did not stop, he drew on the energy of the clouds above and feeling the chaos in the sky he began to mix his emotions in with the drama above him, very quickly there was a boom of thunder and he caught the electricity in his mind. Opening his eyes he grabbed his staff with both hands, swung it around his head, and pointed it directly at the fleeing men. A bolt of electricity fired from the sky at their feet. Both men were flung high into the sky and landed unmoving a few feet from where they were running.

Von’s anger subsided, the sky began to clear again and he looked around to see the child was now lying across his mother, weeping and begging her to get up. Von climbed down from his cave and made his way over to the child and his mother. The child looked up at Von, he could not be more than 5 years old.

‘Wake her up’ he demanded. Knowing it was hopeless, Von reached out to comfort the child, but he pulled back and repeated forcefully ‘wake her up!’.

‘I cannot my child’ Von told him as kindly as he could.

‘Try!’

Von took his staff and lay it next to the mother, he bent down and slowly and gently removed the arrow that pierced her chest. Placing both hands over the wound, he called on any energy he had left within him willing it to transfer to this lady who lay unconscious beneath him. However, there was no soul left to receive it. He tried again and again for several minutes, before he felt the child slump down and begin to weep again, finally accepting it was hopeless. Von allowed the child a few minutes, whilst he covered the mother's face with her shawl and went to wash his hands in the lake.

‘What is your name?’ he asked the child

‘Lemmuel, and this is my Mother, Eleanor’

‘A beautiful name, for whom I am sure was a wonderful mother. We should take her to your father Lemmuel.’

‘I have no father.’

‘Then an uncle?’

‘I have no family but my mother.’

Von turned and looked at this child. There was something about it that Von could not put his finger on. Some inner strength or wisdom, something not entirely plain and normal about him. Von walked over to the two men still laying still on the ground. He searched the bodies and found a mark on their forearms, it was fading slowly but still quite clear. These were members of The Blackwood. Von pulled the sleeve down quickly and stood up to return to the child, however as he turned around the child had moved over to him and was stood behind him staring at the mans forearm where the mark had been.

‘Lets go Lemmuel’

‘What was that mark?’

‘Its nothing child, we must move. We are not safe here’

‘Where are we going?’

‘Away. Now gather your things, we are going.’

Von marched over to where the mother lay and scooped her up and walked into the nearby woodland, he lay her down respectfully and covered her with foliage to hide her body. Quickly he marked the closest tree with a circle, a sign of a completed life, and marked a letter E underneath. Lemmuel had followed him over and lay his hand on his mothers shoulder, Von heard him whisper to her ‘Thank you Mother’ before Von swept him away. Von began walking quickly across the plain, with Lemmuel trotting behind him to keep up. Von Whistled loudly to call his horse to him. He had no love for the stead who was not a gentle beast at all, he was far to big and far too powerful for what Von would usually choose, however this horse was obedient and intelligent. It bounded towards them from further across the plain. Von stopped, to wait for it to get to them. However as he stopped he heard cries from behind him, close to the river. Voices talking loudly, looking back he saw 3 more cloaked figures inspecting the area where the two men still lay. Bending down he scooped up Lemmuel and began sprinting towards his horse. They collided with power and he grabbed the horse's neck and propelled himself with energy up and over onto the back of the horse. Lemmuel whooped with the adrenaline, but Von grabbed the reigns and wielded the horse around to sprint in the other direction. There was no way he was not seen, but Von had no time to sit and ponder the situation. He knew, although did not entirely understand why, that needed to get this child to safety.

The journey was fast and furious. His horse did not let up, he had probably felt the urgency and energy from Von. It was a sprint all the way back to the city of springs. Von was uncomfortable and concerned that the child would fall, however Lemmuel did not slip, he had a balance that told Von this was not the child's first time on a horse. The child was moving with the horse's movement, ensuring that he stayed in place and worked with the momentum. He leant forward and kept his eyes on the horizon to ensure his balance. As the walls came into view cut into the mountainside Von signalled for the horse to slow, but it didn't. Frustration grew in him, he directed the horse to the main gate, however the horse cut left early and headed towards the entrance to the slums. As they approached, still at speed, Von noticed that there was lots of movement outside the main gate. He did not have time to assess what was going on or who they were but he no longer questioned the decision of his horse to stay away. Slowing to a halt quickly he pulled his hood up and covered Lemmuel with his cloak, and dropped some gold coins in a young boy's hand. The gate opened quickly and without question and Von slowly made his way through the narrow crowded streets. Ignoring the requests of food from the street kids or offers from young ladys soliciting on the corners. His stead took him through the streets and as they began to come out the otherside of the slums, he dropped down and walked next to his horse. Within a few minutes he was at the bottom of his tower. He lifted Lemmuel down from the horse and directed his horse towards the stables across the road. The stable boy would sort him out from there.

‘Upstairs quickly Lemmuel’ Von’s rooms were at the top of the tower and accessed through a staircase on the outside that spiralled around the circular building. The stairs were steep and Lemmuel struggled with them slightly before getting in a rhythm. At the top Von pushed open the door, Lemmuel went straight to the window to see the view from so high up, but Von pulled him back.

‘Tomorrow Lemmuel, right now you should rest’. He directed him to some cushions on the floor and found a fresh cloak to cover him in. Von then went himself to the window and glanced out the side. There was indeed still activity at the main gate. Von closed the shutters and turned his attention to making some tea. He had a feeling that whatever he had intervened in, was more than just the mugging of a young lady for coin or food. Something had just happened and this child was no ordinary child.