The Old World

I never liked the rain. It always seemed like a distant reminder that some unforseen shadowy deity somewhere had control over the weather, which of course meant one more aspect of my life i didn't have control over. it had been like this almost all day. Ground soaked with water, dark clouds which the old man would swear seemed similar to exactly how the sky looked right before their arrival. Back when the world was "nomal." i had plans, plans to leave my hole in the wall little town and explore the world with shadow once i had turned seventeen and now at almost twentyone shadow and i were still living in our well you get the idea. what's that saying about plans and gods? it was always fun being little dreaming about far away places constantly conjuring little adventures in my head about things i would do once we came of age. i mean, we were a package deal shadow, and i. Twins. the only ones in town in the whole town of exactly four hundred. Lonnar wasn't exactly the kind of town one would choose for the finer things in life. The nightlife here consisted of eating out at The Tape. once when Shadow and i turned legal, the old man took us out for our "first ale," and the whole place was held together by you guessed it tape. The tape was the towns version of a good time out. Growing up in Lonnar wasn't as bad as it could have been. Shadow and i moved here with the old man when we were both six years old. The old man was as fine a hunter as i had ever seen he always said "patience is a skill that can be transferred and utilized in all parts of life"needless to say i never learnt that, all i wanted was to leave and explore the kingdom with shadow. The Dunst family moved to Lonnar when the twins were six years old. They arrived in the middle of the night via carriage carrying inside two young children both asleep while the third passenger was an elderly man of stock build with grey beards, firm hands, and a stoic face. The driver, a man in his late twenties, stopped the carriage when they got to their destination a house at the end of the road. the elderly man whose hood was pulled to shield his face from onlookers stepped out looked around took a deep breath and walked towards the door of the house and knocked three times then waited knocked again this time a little more loudly and he received a "bugger off and come back in the morning" he smiled and responded "it is morning, Lester its Rin open the bloody door". He could hear sounds coming from the otherside of the door then he saw a light lit from underneath the crack of the door then he heard latches being lifted and the door opened revealing a vertically challenged elderly man with wrinkles all over his face brown eyes and a round belly. "Lester, she's gone, my child Helen is gone," he said coldly. "Rin the young ones? where are the twins?" he asked concerned. Rin motioned for him to follow and led him to the carriage inside wrapped in warm cottons and blankets. The light revealed two six year olds fast asleep, boy and girl hands held. the two men walked away slowly "Lester you will need this." he gave him a parchment, a legal document with the names of both children, Minerva and Tristin Dunst. "i am truly sorry about Hel. She was a remarkable woman," he said to Rin. "They took her from me, and now she won't get to see her children grow." He looked down, hiding the tears streaming down his face. "You raised her to be unyielding Rin. Even out here, we would hear about her exploits. You should be proud." "i am, i just wish she was alive to watch the little ones grow" A moment passed before either one spoke again "its been set up you know,up the hill with no neighbours easy exfil and high enough vantage view to see who or what is coming just as you requested" said Lester "Thank you old friend, and the other thing''? Lester looked up at him slightly worried but sighed and responded, "They were particularly hard to smuggle up that hill unseen Rin, but i got it done." Rin smiled and then patted his old colleague on his back. "Are you sure you are going to need all of that? i mean, they are just kids Rin' they both walked back to the carriage and looked at the sleeping infants, then he responded "they wont be kids forever thanks again, old friend''. The old man opened the carriage retrieved something called for the driver the driver walked towards the old man Rin threw a pouch of coins to the driver who couldnt catch it because it was dark Rin feigned innocence apologizing. The driver bent down to locate and pick up the pouch, and that was the last thing the driver ever saw. with one powerful swing of his sabre, the old man had separated the driver's head from the rest of his body. Lester looked at Rin with a look that one could interpret to mean "was that entirely necessary?" Rin looked at him and said as blood began to stain the ground and he wiped his sword clean, "Nobody can know where we are staying or who we are. thanks again, old friend. " The old man went to check on the kids one more time, took a deep breath, climbed into the drivers seat of the carriage, looked down at Lester with his stoic expression, and smiled. Lester stood there in the early hours of the morning watching the carriage slowly but surely ride out of sight, then sighed and wondered who was going to pick up this guys head?.