Life and Death

Death has been apart of you since birth. It saw you come screaming and crying into the world from the corners of the very room you were born. Death, fascinated by your will and sheer force of life, took from you, stole from you, anxious to get you all alone. And yet, you lay babbling and laughing, looking up at its dark, gruesome face. It is not your time, but Death will surely follow. Mira I walked briskly through the corridor, passing multiple stalls full of fresh fruits and vegetables. A soft grumble flitted through my stomach as I eyed the fruits and vegetables. How long has it been since I ate anything other than hard bread I wondered. My eyes followed the flow of people as they trailed through the corridors, bargaining with merchants for the best price. At 12 years old I stood just a shy bit taller than most boys my age. Though my hair was usually braided, long black tendrils escaped it, making it more of a loose ponytail than a braid. And while most veiwed my eyes as a dark brown thanks to Daunte's glamour, it was an impossibly beautiful shade of purple. Hidden to escape those who would love to capture me just to sell me off to the highest bidder. Eye's like mine were beautiful yes, but extremely rare. Yet, I have no idea where I got them from. The smells floating through the corridor made it hard to concentrate and Daunte's small fox was nowhere to be found. I tried desperately to focus, but found my mind wandering to my companion waiting on the outskirts of the city. Daunte was as pale as could be but his tattoos were even paler in comparison. Most people would describe them as scars, but they were just beautiful white designs flowing across his body. Even his hair, which was actually a bright blond, seemed to shine white in the rays of the sun. Blessings were usually limited for the poor country folk that we grew up with. Even the nobels typically only recieved one blessing. Rarely a child would recieve two blessings, however, Daunte... had three. Incredibly blessed by whatever Gods seemed to be looking down on us. Perhaps they felt bad. Perhaps they wanted to give him a fighting chance in this world. "Psssst... Nico?" I rounded corner into a dark alleyway trying to quickly escape the busy market street. "Nico!" I chided a little louder and, as if right on time, a small dusty colored fox came bounding around the corner staring up at me with his big brown eyes looking up his slender nose. "Oh good! Nico, I need you to help me with this load. I did good this time!" I beamed, feeling rather triumphant in my stake of food that I had expertly stolen from multiple stalls. "We could surely last the next week with the spoils I got today, we just need to hurry back to Daunte so we can head to the next city." The small fox let out a small noise resembling a squeak and waited patiently for me to fit the satchel around his slender body. I double checked the knots and gave it a small tug. Deciding that it was good enough, I let go and shooed him off. He padded away slowly and stealthily, looking back as if to say see ya at camp. I watched him turn the corner and then quickly gathered up the rest of my things and started walking east. The sun was finally starting to set as I reached the outer east sideof the town and set off on the main road heading north to the next city. A big and slightly rotting wooden sign hung from a post slanted to one side and read in big black letters Sommeiler 25 miles. I smiled, again thinking of my handsome companion when a sense of paranoia struck through me. I walked on and slowly observed my surroundings. Everything was quiet. No birds sang, no bugs chirped, and even the sound of the wind seemed rather muted. Feeling a small sense of dread I started into a jog, the camp wasn't very far and it was better to get back before dark anyway. I had jogged maybe 5 minutes and the hairs on my arms stood up, my skin prickled, and that feeling of dread intesified into pure terror. Every feeling in my body told me to run and hide as quickly as possible. And as I disapearred into a thicket of shrubbery flanking the side of the pathway, I heard them. Ogres. I didn't dare peek through the shrubs, I could only slowly writhe in the mud underneath me, hoping and praying that it was enough to hide my scent from them. The creatures of the damned. I thought back to the last unfortunate encounter I had with an Ogre and bit my lip to keep from whimpering. The terrifying beasts were huge with skin green like moss but felt more like rough, moist stone. I sensed them parading ahead, their feet pounding the earth below them as they made their way through, seemingly unaware. It felt like a life-time before I felt the vibrations fade away, only then did I dare to let out the breathe I was holding. Even then I waited in my hiding spot until long after dark, when I could finally hear the crickets chrip and the wind whistle by unrestrained.