The hearth fire was dead again Charlotte sighed at the grey ash her breath making a cloud that hung in the freezing morning air of the cottage "I know I kept it going last night," she muttered poking the embers with unnecessary violence The iron poker clanged against the stone "It's like the cold itself is snuffing it out"
Hector, six years old now and bundled in three layers of wool that made his shoulders itch, said nothing about the fire and acted dumb as if he had nothing to do with it He was busy lacing his boots with fingers that still felt clumsy despite two years of practice The truth was simpler he extinguished it Every night after his mother banked the coals he'd wait until the house slept and then smother the last glowing remnants with the ash shovel He couldn't help it I mean you wouldn't blame him either The memory of his last death of flames and melting plastic and that sweet chemical smellhadn't faded It had just... migrated Now it lived in the orange flicker of coals in the way they breathed when the wind hit the chimney just right So he killed them Every single night
"Hector" Charlotte called not unkindly but frimly She was already walking to the hearth to rebuild the fire her hands with the automatic rhythm of someone who'd spent every day of her life doing exactly this "son could you please tell me why the hell you extinguish the fire every night you know every morning I'm having my feet and shoulders cold and for whatever stupid reason it is for god's sake stop it" and hector would just whistle pretending to know nothing "hm what was it mom? Your feet are cold?" And that made Charlotte sigh "stupid child"
Few days ago Edgawter had hosted its first midwinter celebration since the soldiers had become permanent residents some of them even had married the girls of the village families had formed through arrangements also caravans of goods and foods were coming they brought rations and food drinks and some other shi to share the villagers brought homemade wine that could strip paint and everyone pretended this was normal That the Empire didn't send soldiers to settle in villages on the edge of extinction
"Right mom I almost forgot Abraham's coming by" Hector said while quiting the house which wasn't an answer but was true Charlotte's face softened Of all Hector's friends Abraham was his favorite "That boy talks enough for ten You sure you don't want to bring Milo instead? He at least knows when to be quiet"
"Owwww about that so Milo's actually sick mom" Hector lied smoothly Milo wasn't sick Milo was just deeply profoundly boring At eight years old Milo had already accepted his fate as a future net mender and fish salter with his father
The lie worked Charlotte knew he wasn't telling the truth but sighed accepting it the way she accepted most things now with a weariness that had settled into her bones like rheumatism "Well stay close to the village and never get far away okay?"
Hector smiled such a caring mom indeed he thought Was she talking about predator animals or elves though Hector had never seen one up close and also his father has described something that somewhat to hector it resembled moose but the people here call it gallou The name was descriptive enough enormous hooves that left prints the size of dinner plates capable of navigating the deep snows of the taiga biome where human horses would struggle sometimes unlike the raggnars these lizards would adapt to anything good thing humans got their hands on them before the wrong side Hector would ask Kardinal once why the Empire didn't breed their own of this gallou His father had just laughed that hollow sound he'd perfected and elbowed hector "Because we're not allowed to have nice things Nice things require stable logistics We have rations and prayers while those giges feed on the people's blood dry and live their best Lives!!!!"
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Abraham arrived with the sun which was behind a wool cloud cover so thick He had a stick in one hand and was whacking it against every fence post he passed a steady thwack thwack thwack that announced his presence three minutes before his arrival
"Hector!" he bellowed from the yard. "I figured out how to kill an elf!"
Hector emerged, Mutt trailing behind him. The Rognarr was, as promised, twice Hector's size now—a gangly adolescent with scales that had shifted from peachy-pink to a muddy orange-brown. Its head came up to Hector's shoulder, and it moved with the awkward galumph of an animal that hadn't quite figured out where its feet ended. It still had the confused eyes, though. That hadn't changed.
"Morning Mr and ms Freeman!" Abraham shouted through standing Charlotte replied with tight smile waved at him "morning...." Hector walked past Charlotte but then intrupted by Kardinal "listen son you are all grown up and now you are a semi man take this handigun with you just in case if wild animal come across your path okey?good boy here take your axe with you and take mutt with yourself too surly he's bigger and more intimading now and you can put the chopped wood on his back to carry it home easier" hector takes the gun that looks like a pistol and has 6 rounds innit and hides it under his coat "don't worry dad you know me I'm hector Freeman I have limitless potential" Kardinal patted his head that's my boy and planted a spikey beardy kiss on hector's cheek and with that they set off
They set off toward the treeline Abraham already mid explanation "So you get a rope right? And you tie it between two trees low down Elves are tall Real tall They'll trip and when they're down " He made a violent stabbing motion with his stick "That's when you get em They can't use their magic if they're on their ass "
Hector let him talk That was the trick with Abraham you didn't engage You just let the words flow over you like water over a stone The name Ibrahim still lingering in his memories sometimes his old friend highschool classmate from Sulaymaniyah but Ibrahim or Blla as cevver called him by that title بلە یان بلە حیز they'd called him Short for ibrahim The memory felt like touching a scar familiar but wrong in this context unlike Abraham bla was actually a very unserious and nonchalant dude however
The other children were already at the usual spot a clearing just within sight of the village palisade where the snow hadn't quite buried the summer blueberry bushes Milo was there looking not sick at all showing Avina a girl of 8 Adrian and Gollz, twins who shared a single brain cell and used it primarily for mischief were building a snow fort that looked structurally unsound Avina threw a snowball directly into hector's face and the other's too began to throw snow balls at them as well hector just wiped off the snow from his face "listen I don't have time for this to go and collect fire woo—" before he finish his sentence several snow ball hits him right in the face fuckass kids anyone fucks!
Gollz "you are always so serious and boring you are no fun such dumbass trying to imitate the adults booo" hector saw no point at at this he wiped the snow off his face and looked at Abraham who was laughing at him damn what a traitor hector grabs Abraham and continue walking "come on let's go it's already late" you know? He was still Cevver underneath still a twenty-one-year-old engineering student who'd died stupidly and he couldn't muster the energy to pretend this mattered The snow was beautiful though That part was real In Sulaymaniyah snow had been a rare filthy thing that turned to slush within hours Here it was a clean constant presence that squeaked underfoot and reflected light in a way that made the whole forest glow he'd wish he had his phone and headphones to listen to some calm music with such scenery
Children played the games children play in snow Snowball fights that degenerated into fight A contest to see who could stand on one foot the longest (Avina won she had a low center of gravity and no fear of falling) Adrian and Gollz tried to convince everyone to help with their fort but it collapsed under its own weight before they could finish pitching it burying Gollz up to his neck They had to dig him out while he laughed so hard he couldn't breathe ufff childhood....
Through it all Mutt watched from the edge of the clearing his breath steaming in great white plumes The Rognarr had learned to stay out of the way of human games after an incident last time where he'd """"accidentally"""" sat on Milo's favorite wooden figures reducing it to kindling Now he just observed his yellow eyes tracking every movement with the same confused intensity he'd had as a baby
It was nearly midday when Hector realized they'd drifted further than usual The village palisade was still visible but the trees between here and there had grown thicker The snow here was less trampled and pristine except for the tracks of winter hares and something larger probably broadpaw though Hector couldn't be sure it was probably a bear walked by this place "Hey" Abraham said his voice dropping for once "We should head back My ma said not to go past the marker tree we already walked pass the tree" Hector was about to agree when he saw it Not a marker tree but a figure
Now it's Five of them moving through the trees that made his heart stop They were elves Real elves not exactly the sexy anime beauties he'd half expected not the demons from Kardinal's stories They literally humans with pointy ears they 3 of them were blonde with blue eyes and 2 with silver hair and Amethyst eyes lean in a way that suggested efficiency rather than grace Their armor was layered leather and woven bark, dyed in shades of grey and green that made them blur against the snow-covered pines. Each had a bow and and a sword across their back and surely they had some magical abilities they moved in a loose formation that wasn't quite a march and wasn't quite a stroll
Around them walked the gallou that Kardinal talked about not moose exactly but something that had evolved parallel to them damn Great shaggy beasts with antlers that branched like coral and eyes that glowed faint amber They moved with the same fluid ease as their masters their massive hooves making no sound in the deep snow
Hector's first thought was: They're not sexy what a disappointment and His second was: They're not demons either They were just... people with pointy ears Dangerous people in their element but people One was laughing at something another said the sound carrying clear and high through the cold air like breaking glass
He grabbed Abraham's arm without thinking his small fingers digging in hard enough to make the boy yelp "shhhhhhh Close your mouth don't even speak" Hector hissed the voice of a person who'd seen what happened when you made noise in front of predators Abraham's mouth snapped closed Hector dragged him and Mutt behind the nearest cover a fallen pine whose trunk was wider than Bojj The snow was deep here up to their waists and bitterly cold where it slipped into their boots Hector clamped his hand over Mutt's muzzle feeling the hot wetness of mutt's breath against his palm Mutt made a confused mrrrp? sound but didn't struggle
"We gotta go back and tell my dad and comotanos about what we saw " Hector whispered his voice barely audible "Slowly try to not make sound—"
Abraham's eyes were wide fixed on something over Hector's shoulder He'd gone pale under his winter flush Hector followed his gaze One of the elves had stopped. Turned Was looking directly at their hiding spot it made hector slid his hands into his coat reaching for his handigun goddamn it
Not at them Hector told himself Not at them The trees The gallou Anything but them But the elf's head was tilted at that angle of curiosity and Hector could see his face clearly now sharp featured pale as birch bark with eyes that were like crystals
The broadpaw nearest him made a low questioning sound The elf raised a hand l and the creature went still
Hector's heart hammered against his ribs He could feel Abraham shaking beside him small terrified tremors that were going to turn into something louder if he didn't get them out of here He tightened his grip on Mutt's muzzle and his handigun feeling the Rognarr's confusion shift toward alarm
"No mutt back off!" Hector mouthed not daring to speak He started to move one hand still on Mutt the other pulling Abraham The snow resisted clinging to their legs like wet cement The village seemed impossibly far a smudge of wood and smoke through the trees
Mutt in his infinite retarded wisdom decided this was the moment to scratch an itch He lifted one massive foot shaking it slightly and brought it down on a dead branch half buried in the snow.
The crack was impossibly loud A gunshot in the silence
The elf's head snapped toward them His mouth opened and he called out something in a language that sounded like wind through icicles
Hector didn't wait to see what happened next He shoved Abraham forward grabbed Mutt by the collar of his neck and ran
The crack of the branch echoed like a starter's pistol in a library
Instantly the air thickened I'm Not saysing a metaphor Hector felt it press against his eardrums the way water does when you dive too deep The laughing elf's smile died mid note His four companions flowed outward without discussion a five point star unfolding in perfect silence One of them raised an open palm and pushed no incantation no glow just a shove against reality itself
The fallen pine Hector crouched behind screamed Bark split sap flashed into steam and the entire trunk rolled by a meter or more uphill as if yanked by invisible chains Snow exploded off it in a white sheet revealing the three children and the half grown Rognarr like mice under an overturned box
"Runnnn!!!!" Hector croaked but his voice was buried beneath the next sound a low, rising hum the kind a transformer makes before it blows One of the silver haired elves drew a circle in the air the space inside the circle darkened light bending toward it the way it does around a black hole A bead of blue white fire ignited at the center and began to swell Abraham's legs worked faster than his brain He bolted sideways flailing through chest deep powder The blonde elf flicked two fingers A shard of ice translucent jagged longer than Hector's arm materialised between the flick and the finish travelling slow enough that Hector watched it rotate once before it punched into a birch ten centimetres above Abraham's hood The tree shattered splinters the size of knitting needles whickered past Hector's cheeks
No blood A warning shot fuck them Elves it seemed enjoyed their sport
This mother fucker mutt was hard to menegae because he wasn't moving Mutt's throat vibrated against Hector's palmconfusion shifting to prey terror The Rognarr's yellow eyes reflected the growing fire sphere now the size of a pumpkin and hissing as it drank cold air Hector knew with the sick certainty of a man who had already burned once what came next
He did the only thing a 6year-old body could do he bit Mutt's tail hard The Rognarr yelped reflexive jerk propelling all three of them backward into the deeper drift behind the shattered trunk An instant later the fireball passed overhead close enough to singe hair It hit a standing pine and pushed it back
the trunk flash boiled exploding into a cloud of super heated sap and wooden shrapnel that rained flaming needles across the clearing Snow hissed Steam roiled The elves advanced through it untouched heat bent air making their outlines waver like mirages
Hector's lungs spasmed smoke and the memory of the melting plastic He shoved the pistol back into his coat gunpowder was useless against whatever sorcery this was this What he needed was noise industrial grade wall shaking noise The fort's alarm system a dwarven built signal cannon mounted above the tower fired by yanking a lanyard that dropped a glowimg plug into a compression chamber One shot sent a red comet high enough to be seen from Fort Crag But the cannon was two kilometres away and the elves were closing
He fumbled for the hunting whistle Kardinal had tied to his coat iron shrill supposed to carry half a valley Put it to his lips no air Panic had stolen his diaphragm and Abraham was hyperventilating his eyes rolling like a spooked colt Mutt kept shaking his head scattering droplets that froze mid air
The silver haired elf raised her hand for a second sphere This time the circle widened rimmed with spinning runes that looked like frost forming on glass in fast forward Inside instead of fire a lattice of ice crystals began to grow outward 6 sided blades each the size of a scythe rotating slowly like a buzz saw
Hector found his breath The whistle shrieked an insect buzz against the vast hush of the taiga The elf's spell didn't falter if anything the blades accelerated Not loud enough
Then another sound. Deeper. Rhythmic. Drums? No Hooves Gallou More than the five they'd seen A herd twenty or thirty forty ?!erupting from the treeline upslope ridden by additional elves in white cloaks their magical bows already strung Thos a flanking force The main force The siege had started before the boys even left the blueberry clearing The blonde elf whore in front lifted three fingers A silent countdown At zero the ice buzz saw would launch probably low enough to trim everything taller than a mushroom including 6year old boys
Hector's mind the grown ass cevver kicked Signal Not sound light He plunged his hand into the still flaming underbrush the first fireball had birthed came out with a fistful of burning pine needles Pain lanced up his wrist old scar tissue remembering its origin. He whipped the torch in a circle above his head sparks spiralling into the grey sky Once Twice A third time please let Dad or anyone be on the tower please let him be looking this direction The elf's fingers dropped three… two…
From the village wall too far impossiblecame a crack no louder than a branch A red dot climbed the sky, trailing sparks It reached apex hung, then burst into three crimson stars that drifted downward like dying fireworks
The elves froze Not in fear tactical pause Their heads snapped toward the village calculating distances response times The ice spell dissolved mid launch blades sublimating into glitter that the wind swept away Hector didn't wait. He hooked an arm through Abraham's strap vaulted onto Mutt's back no saddle just handfuls of scale and kicked The Rognarr lumbered downslope toward the palisade snow exploding under claws Behind them, the blonde elf nocked an arrow not wood a crystal that hummed with its own inner aurora He drew he tracked he held A horn answered from one of the towers towers human brassy Elves panicked They see us Kardinal's voice carried on the wind: "INCOMING SOUTH-WEST! CLOSE THE F—" cut off by the thwip of ballista release A yard long bolt the thickness of Hector's leg sailed overhead, aimed not at the scout but at the ice caster behind him It struck her shield visible only as a rippling disc of air and it shattered and sent her sliding back meters Enough The crystal arrow loosed It didn't fly straight it curved chasing Mutt's galloping silhouette like a slow motion homing missile Hector felt the tingle of gathering cold at his back Twenty metres to the palisade gate Fifteen Ten The arrow gained whistling, frost forming along its shaft.
He yanked the pistol twisted and with the muscle memory of a man who had never fired a handgun in his first life pulled the trigger The report was a toy pop against the orchestral destruction behind but the lead ball clipped the crystal shaft Not enough to break it enough to tilt it holy pure plot armor bro The arrow hissed past the 3 and struck a post of the palisade and exploded into a bloom of hoarfrost that sealed the gate hinges in a block of ice thicker than a man's thigh
The portcullis half lowered jammed Soldiers screamed at winches Mutt skidded beneath the frozen teeth, dumping both boys into the slush of the inner yard Gates wouldn't close.l Wall wouldn't seal The elves forward element still about 30 elves walked unhurried down the slope now backs lit by the larger force cresting the ridge like a silent white tide
Hector lay on his back, lungs burning, hand blistered his hair singed Abraham sobbed next to him, but the sound was lost beneath the fortress bell clanging invasion invasion invasion! Over the wall the first fireball rose again this time not elf made this one was a human the signal rocket for Fort Crag already burning as it climbed... To be continued