Blooded

Chapter 1

"Go and collect firewood, boy!" my father yelled at me, jumping from his grindstone. I nodded, quickly jumping up from the grass lawn and setting my book down, "if you actually listened to me once in a while, I wouldn't get angry!"

"Firewood?" I asked, turning to him. His anger didn't phase me. He gets angry a lot. My father nodded, sitting back on his grindstone. I looked around, searching for the family woodcutters ax. Not long after I had started searching, I found it resting against the side of the stairs, not but three feet away from where I was sitting.

I grabbed it, sliding my hand to just below the bottom of the ax head. Without looking at me, my father yelled out as I ran away from the forge, "and be quick about it. Bring me fifteen small logs."

I nodded, still running from the forge. The firewood stump was on the other side of the town, just beyond the town's northern and only gates. As I ran across the central bridge, one of the two that spanned the river that ran through our small town, I saw Eustace Prince, the man behind everything here. He was in charge of the guards, the construction, the workers, you name it.

I nearly bumped into him on my way over.

Yeah. I shouldn't do that.

He looked at me curiously, not entirely sure what to do. I wasn't even sure if he knew who I was. He turned to me, his two bodyguards in full metal armor curious but cautious. They kept their hands steady on their sheathed swords.

"I'm sorry, sir," I mumbled, looking down at the ground. Mr. Prince was not a very nice person and often punished 'criminals' in a way just on the verge of torture.

"Well?" he asked, expecting some reply. I looked up to him, not sure what to say. "I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean it." I told him. He sighed in annoyance.

"aren't you going to say how great I look?" he asked me. I quickly nodded, praising him.

"You are an 11 out of 10, sir. The perfect example of the male specimen." I answered, lying. I was pretty good at lying, and this was a time to lie. In truth, Mr. Prince was more around 2 out of 10. He was chubby, had a crooked face, and always stank. But he was wealthy and powerful, and that changed how people reacted to him.

"Good answer. But you, unfortunately, bumped into me," Mr. Prince said, trying to look innocent, "and we're standing on a bridge. What if I had fallen into the water?"

"I'm sorry, sir."

"Watch where you're going next time." Mr. Prince said, stepping on my feet. He didn't bother holding back his weight. Then he turned back to his guards, smiling as if something was funny—what a bastard.

I turned back to where I was headed, hoping my dad wouldn't get mad. I took so long. The stump where the village chops wood was just outside the gates, but far enough, so a few trees covered the full view of the village. I didn't understand why they had it here, of all places, overlooking a large cliff and the evergreen forest, the largest forest of Ain.

In the center of it, built to almost 1200 feet, was the giant castle. Nobody knew what it actually was called.

It's one of the most famous sights in Ain, yet nobody will go near it.

Officially, it was a school for the magics. Strange people known as mages or wizards would find themselves there. Anybody who had any potential in the unknown would find themselves at the front gate. Which meant nobody from my village ever got close to it. There was something mysterious about it. The castle's stone was dark and broken, but none of the stones had fallen off yet. It looked several centuries old, yet brand new at the same time.

It took me nearly an hour to finish chopping all the wood, and the sun had already set. I was never skilled at this sort of thing. But once the sun went down, it was even harder to see what I was doing, even more so because I had to search around the forest often to find good wood.

Finally, when I finished, I scooped up all of the firewood in a giant bucket, then carried it back to the village. I knew the way by heart because I've always liked this spot and relaxed up here often.

But something on my way back made me nervous. Firstly, there were no guards at the gates. There were always guards at the gates, so why had Mr. Prince called them off? Second, the gate was closed. Mr. Prince wasn't known for his paranoia and was never the type to go as far as to close the gate.

I managed to open the door, but it was cumbersome and loud. I grunted with effort until I was satisfied with the two feet of space between the two doors. It was enough for me to fit through, though it took a bit of effort to squeeze the bucket of firewood through.

When I entered the village, the first sight made me nervous again. There was nobody there. Not even any guards.

"Hello?" I called out through the silence, then getting silence in return. I spotted the bridge near my house immediately, even though it was darker than usual. Carefully, I walked to my home using the bridge. The floorboards creaked under my pressure, driving chills up my spine. Nothing about what was going on was natural.

"Hello?" I called out again, my eyes focused on the forge. It was still emitting its bright orange glow, but my father wasn't using it. He never wasted coals. I slowly walked up to it after my feet had left the bridge.

Once I was within about ten feet, I started hearing a strange sound. It was a lot like... choking? Like somebody was drowning in a river. It was steady but fast and desperate. I couldn't see who was making the sound, but I assumed it was my father. I walked up to the stairs, staring into the darkness.

Upon my first step on the stairs, a creak echoed through the night. The choking stopped suddenly, then I heard a gasp. I continued to stare into the darkness, and then suddenly, I could see something staring back.