Kingdom Fallen

I remember the first day I saw them, it had been the first light of the morning and the bird were singing their first tune. Most of the children my age would have been fast asleep in their homes, however that was not to be my fate. Instead of asleep in a warm bed, I was woken up an hour before the sun rose, dragged out to the cold, dirty forest trying to be as quiet as possible, despite the heavy object thrown on my back and having no idea where I was going to stop today. This was something I had long grown accustomed to; Mister had not been the type to explain anything so my only option was to carry the heavy quiver filled with wood carved arrows trying to keep pace with the elderly man who briskly moved through the foliage of the forest with a slight limp "So, Mister, what are we catching today?" I asked "We are not catching anything," he said "Then what are we doing out in the forest this early for?" I groaned "Quiet," he whispered hushing me before he came to a sudden stop "Um...Mister? Is something wrong?" I asked noticing Mister looking around "Boy," his gruff voice said causing me to halt in my steps "Yes," I said warily "Slowly rest the quiver and come here," he commanded "Okay," I said slowly resting the bag on the tree and scurrying over him and stood in front of him. My height had only made it to the hem of Mister's tunic so he kneeled down so that we could be facing each other eye to eye. At eye level with Mister, I could see just how much he had changed over the years. His once brown hair was beginning to show signs of greying, wrinkles slowly started to sneak on his face that had previously only been blemished by the scars running alongside his left cheek and his cold piercing brown eyes had begun to sag, however it still capable of sending a shiver down my spine "Boy, look around here and tell me what you notice," he ordered "Okay, no problem," I said reaching for the covering around my right eye but Mister quickly slapped away my hand "No, do not remove the covering," he ordered placing his hands on my shoulder and turning me around. At first, I hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary, so I was confused but continued to look. What was it Mister wanted me to find? Obviously he had noticed something? What was it? "Boy, you're in your own head. Stop distracting yourself and focus," he whispered "Huh, but I'm not sure what I'm focusing on" I said softly "Boy, you already know what to do so just take a deep breath and look properly," he whispered. I tried to use what Mister had told me, so I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as I tried to calm myself down before popping my eyes back open. I looked around at the lines of trees and cherry bushes that looked mostly the same until suddenly one of them caught my eye. Some of the leaves of that bush had been dripping with red juices, there were small broken twigs and sticks and the most obvious thing was the miniature footprint "What do you see?" he asked "Something was here," I said walking over to that bush, "It ate from the bush, crushing the twigs and sticks and stepped in the mud as it was leaving," I deduced "And where did it go after that?" he whispered "After?" I asked, wondering to myself how I would figure out where it went. One would think Mister was kidding, but he was not a man that would do such a thing. So, I had to think. If I had just filled up on food, what would I do? Get something to drink of course. Though where would it get something to drink. If I remember correctly, there should be a stream somewhere around here "Boy," Mister whispered. The fact that he was still whispering meant that loud noises could affect it, which means that it's still relatively close "It's going down to the stream," I surmised "Then why are you still here?" He asked throwing two arrows at my feet "What is this for?" I asked "To catch it obviously," he said as I stared the Mister "I thought we weren't catching anything," I said "Correct, we are not catching anything. You on the other hand have a wild boar to catch," "That's not fair Mister; you could have told me that beforehand" I said "Boy, you have better things to do than to sit here complaining, the boar is getting away," he said before I groaned picking up the arrows from the ground and running through the bushes. The chase was on, I had to get to the boar before I lost its trail. Luckily it was easy to track the thing from there on, the ground was muddy, so the footprints of the boar made a clear path to follow. Running through the trees, forcing through the bushes and cracking twigs, I continued until I could hear the gentle sound of rushing water. Taking haggard breaths, I slowly looked out to the clearing and there it was. A small brown boar with mud covered foots and a cherry covered snort that was washing away in the waters of the stream. I gathered my thoughts and steeled my mind as I tried to enter the clearing as quietly as possible I had managed to make it behind the boar, and I rose my arm in anticipation as I waited to strike, but just as I was about to strike, I froze. It was a perfect opportunity to use the arrow, but the boar had stopped drinking long enough for the water to settle and I could see its reflection. Staring into the eyes of the innocent creature I was unable to bring myself to strike Letting out a frustrated sigh, I stepped back and then little boar jumped into the stream, having finally noticing my presence. I watched the little boar struggle to paddle across the stream and make its escape deeper into the forest. Having nothing else to do, I looked at my reflection in the water. Thanks to all the running my fair skin had patches of dirt, there was twigs, branches and leaves scattered in my black hair "Man, look at me," I sighed, reaching for the brown cloth around my eye and slowly removing it. In an instant the world seemed to become more vibrant and all the colors of the forest became bolder. After I had freed my eye, I stabbed one of the arrows into the ground and tied my cloth around it to wash my face, I dipped my hands in the water that now seemed to shimmer like diamond and splashed it across my face cleaning off the dirt and mud from my face. Looking at my now clean face, I couldn't help but admire my rather unique right eye. This eye of mine stayed hidden under the cloth for majority of the day so as the hide its golden hue. It was a dazzling sight most people, including myself, could not look away . ________________________________________ Published October 11, 2025