A DEAD MAN IN OUR VILLAGE
Far in the deep of a great forest is a village of hunters.
The sight of corpses is not unusual, many rookie hunters venture into the forest unaware of the dangers.
Grem is used to finding these corpses of strangers, he has seen every fatal blow the forest can deal, but never something like this.
As Grem patrols the village, cautious of the hungry wolves, he sees a warrior in full plate armor laying on the ground face down in a pool of crimson blood.
"This one appears to have reached our village, but I guess it was too late." Grem thinks.
He walks over to the corpse, kneels then rolls it over, his face turns pale as the smell of blood and guts hits his nose.
He quickly faces away and covers his nose mouth with the cloth of his shirt.
He look at the corpse again examining it.
The stomach area of the chest piece has been torn apart by something sharp, like a claw, but no beast in this forest can deal such damage.
"He must've been attacked by something else then," He thinks. "another human probably, or a trap. I must report this to the elder."
As Grem stands up, people gather around him.
What happened to him?
Where did he come from?
Is he a soldier from the kingdom?
If he he's from the kingdom, there will be other guards searching for him.
"Hmm, from the kingdom?" Grem thinks.
He glosses over his armor, he sees no symbols, allegiance unkown.
"Make way, I need to see this." The sound of man goes through the crowd.
Grem looks over his shoulder and he sees the village's witch doctor with the elder following just behind him.
The witch doctor kneels facing Grem across the corpse examining the wound.
The elder stands next to Grem.
- You found this? The elder asks.
- Yes, I did. Grem replies.
- How long has it been here?
- Not long, no more than an hour.
- Do you think he can be a kingdom's soldier?
- It's possible, but unlikely, he bears not the symbol of the kingdom on his armor.
- I see, so what does that make him?
- An adventurer, a mercenary, a sellsword, but what I know for sure is that he is a fool, for only fools dare to traverse the forest alone.
- So what do we have, doctor?
After carefully examining the corpse carefully, the doctor raises his head to look at the elder.
"The marks on the armor indicate the blow was dealt by a claw." The doctor says.
"I figured as much." Grem remarks.
"What beast can do such thing?" The elder asks.
"No beast, this is human doing." Grem replies.
"Or not," The doctor disagrees. "it can be a beast, but a strong one, a magical beast."
"We haven't witnessed one ever since I was young." The elder says.
"We can send hunters to scout for such a beast," Grem says. "but is it likely?"
"No, in other circumstance." The doctor replies. "But this forest is a home for darkness, it's very much possible, but it's also as likely this is human doing, someone wielding a claw weapon."
"Do what you came here to do." The elder says to the doctor. "We can hypothise as much as you want later."
"Step back, everyone." The doctor says.
Grem stepped back and pushed the crowd back too.
The witch doctor started mumbling words that sounded like gibberish to otherd, but not to Grem and the elder, they have heard it many time before.
As the witch doctor goes silent, the soul rises from the body taking a visible form.
It's eyes glow cold blue, and like sand, the color drifts away with air.
"His time isn't long here, soon he will be in the afterlife." The doctor says.
"Then make him talk." The elder says.
The witch doctor snaps his fingers and gentle magic waves ripple through the air.
The soul is animated as if it was alive again.
"The... child... take... care... of... the... child..." The soul utters.
"The child?" Grem wonders.
The soul slowly loses its form and drifts away in the air rising up through the air.
The crying of a baby hits the Grem's ears.
He looks away from the corpse and he sees a woman carrying a baby out of the forest.
The elder steps forward and gently takes the baby into his arms.
He looks upon the baby, upon his black hair, upon his light brown skin, upon his brown eyes.
"Take off the warrior's helmet." He says to Grem.
Grem slowly removes the plate helmet revealing the man's face.
His skin was white like snow, his eyes were blue, and his hair was brown.
"This man doesn't look anything like the child, he can't be his father." The elder says. "And in addition to that, he's a Krisg, all the way down south here."
"Now we know for sure he isn't from the kingdom," Grem says. "but Krisgs aren't known to leave their snowlands."
"This complicates things, but we shall discuss this matter another day." The elder says. "Grem, grab some men and bury the warrior."
"What about the baby?" Grem asks.
"Me and the doctor will make he isn't hurt, and if he is the doctor will take care of the child." The elder says.
"Can I come with you please?" The woman that brought the baby out of the forest says.
"Of course." The elder says.
Grem kneeled down getting ready to carry the corpse but the woman stole his attention.
She followed the elder with haste, she was the only woman with crimson hair, he remembers that she always had it.
Her hair was flailing behind her with each step she took.
He body was thin and her skin was tan and pure.
She was beau...
His thoughts were interrupted by the man in front of him.
"Are burying him or not?" The man asks.
"He needs a proper burial, we can't just bury him with his guts out." Grem says.
"So where are we taking him?" The man asks.
"The the doctor," Grem says. "he will saw his stomach and then we will change his clothes and out his armor back on. Then, we bury him, like a proper warrior."
Grem put the helmet back on the warrior then he and three other men lifted him and carried him to the village.
"This one is sure heavy." The man says.
"The plate armor is weighing him down too." Grem says.
"And it's some good armor too." The man said.
"True, but I've seen better." Grem says.
"You've seen everything." The man jests. "But what I am trying to say, he seems that he knew what he's up to."
"I doubt that." Grem says.
The men arrive at the doctor's hut, the set the man next to it waiting for the doctor to be done with the baby.
MAGIC WITHIN
Inside the doctor's hut, the baby rests in the red-headed woman's arms calmly, he has stopped crying.
The doctor stands next to her after examining the baby, he is healthy and suffers from no ills.
The elder sits in a chair on the other side of the bed, awaiting for the doctor what he wants to hear.
"Are we done?" The woman asks.
"No." The doctor says. "Here comes the most important part."
"And what's left to do?" The woman asks.
"To determine his magical potential." The elder says. "To determine if he is fit to be hunter or not."
"You want to keep him here as a hunter?" The woman says. "This child has a family out there, when he grows he will want to leave the village and find them, unless..."
"No, I won't hide the truth from here." The elder says. "But him leaving is what I fear. The forest may be dangerous to those who are oblivious to its dangers, but the outside world is dangerous to all, to the fool and the scholar. The child needs to be ready."
"Shall we begin?" The doctor asks.
"Yes, you may." The elder says.
The doctor starts chanting, the words he speak are unfamiliar not only to the woman but to the elder too. He usually hears about the birth of a hunter long after the child has left the doctor and reached home.
"This is... stange." The doctor says.
"What is it?" The woman asks. "Is he going to be alright?"
"I can't sense anything from this child." The doctor says.
"Is the magic within him foreign to your senses?" The elder asks.
"No, magic is all the same in essence." The doctor asnwers. "I should sense it all the same."
"Then what's the meaning of this?" The elder asks.
"I do not know." The doctor says. "This boy is powerless."
"This one won't have an easy life." The elder says.
THE BURIAL OF A WARRIOR
After a while of waiting, the woman exited the doctor's hut.
Grem watched her leave. As he stands next to the hut, her back is facing him, and again, he watches her hair move with her steps as she carries the baby.
The elder then exits, he sees Grem and goes up to him.
"When the warrior is ready for the burial, notify me." The elder says.
"As you command." Grem says, then he turns to the men as the elder leaves. "Let's get this one in."
The men carry the corpse into the hut and they set him on a bed.
The doctor comes out of a room to see the men standing next to the corpse.
"Why do you bring him here?" The doctor asks.
"His guts are spilling over, we can bury him like this." Grem says.
"Then you want me to close his stomach." The doctor assumes. "Then take off his armor.
Grem looks at the corpse then he turns to the men.
"You heard him." He says. "Take off his armor, let the doctor do his thing."
The men start by taking off the helmet, then the gloves, and finally the chest piece.
"That's enough." The doctor says.
He waves his hand over the corpse and he starts casting a spell.
"By the water that washes over our sins, cleanse." The doctor says.
Droplets of water fall on the warrior's corpse.
"This will prevent it from rotting before it's buried." The doctor says.
"I am use to the voodoo stuff." Grem says. "I completely forgot you can do magic."
"I was a mage before I became a witch doctor." The doctor says. "When I discovered I can talk to ghosts if I learned the ways of a witch doctor, I dropped out of the magic academy. But that was younger me, now my actions have consequences and I can't make such radical choices without stressing myself out."
The doctor goes back into the room then he exits with a needed and a long thread threaded into it.
His work is like magic, his hand is swift, it was as if the thread flows on its own.
As the doctor works his magic, Grem cleans the armor from blood.
Then he takes the chest piece and a silver plate. He straightens the plate on the inside of the armor where it has been damaged then he digs two bolts into it to hold the plate.
The fix wasn't pretty, but it's better than before.
"Now, one of you get a change of clothes for the warrior, the rest take the rest of his armor off." Grem says.
"And you will just watch us?" A man said.
"I fixed the armor." Grem says. "To do that, I had to bust my ass off working for a blacksmith who looks down on me because I am not from the city, so yeah, I am going to watch three men who didn't have to work seriously a day in their lives because people like me are doing all the work."
"C'mon Grem, I am just joking." The man says.
"No time for jokes, take the armor off." Grem says.
The take one boot off but the other is stuck, the two man gang up to take it off.
"Take it easy." Grem says. "You don't want to break the foot."
After struggling between trying to take the boot off and not breaking the foot, the boot is finally out, now the leggings.
All goes smoothly.
Grem looks upon the warrior, he looks upon the details of his muscles, or at least what appeared through his clothes, he was a symbol of might.
His clothes are dampened in blood, they have turned crimson.
A man arrived with clean clothes, they do not look new or shiny, but they are enough.
The men started taking the clothes off, and once his chest was naked, a symbol appeared.
The symbol was that of a human skull with no lower jaw.
The upper set of teeth looked normal until Grem noticed that it had four fangs with the left most and right most being slightly longer.
There was also a dagger piercing the top of his skull.
"Hey, do you recognize this symbol?" A man said to Grem.
"It looks like a bounty hunter symbol with that dagger." Grem said. "But it's different."
"So this one is a merc, ehh?" The man said. "Maybe we could ask about him in the city."
"I will keep that in mind." Grem says. "Now let's put the clean clothes on him."
The men clothed the corpse then put the armor on.
"It's time for him to be buried, let's take him." Grem says.
The doctor comes out of his room, he puts his hand on his shoulder.
"I need you to take this baby milk to Gartha." The doctor says.
"Gartha?" Grem asks.
"The red-headed woman." The doctor says. "I've given her baby milk but it won't last till the end of the day."
"Carry on without me men." Grem says. "I will inform the elder on my way."
The men lift the man and carry him outside.
"You take that to her." The doctor says as he points to a crate of baby milk bottles. "Keep going forward, turn on the second street, the third house to your right."
"Aye, aye." Grem jests.
Grem lifts up the crate and exits the hut, he walks to the destination and knocks on the door, the door opens and he is greeted by the red-headed woman.
"Hey, the doctor sent you more baby milk." Grem says.
"Hello, come in, please." The woman says.
Grem enters and he sets the crate aside, he hears the baby cries.
He turns to see the woman carrying the baby trying to feed him the milk but he refuses to drink.
"The baby, he is not used to me, I guess." She says.
"Let me try." Grem says.
She hands him over the baby and the baby bottle filled with baby milk.
The baby stops crying and he starts drinking.
- I think he loves you. She says.
- Your name is Gartha, right? He asks.
- Yes, it is.
- A lovely name.
- Thanks, and what's your name?
- Grem, like gremlin.
- What's a gremlin?
- A small mischievous creature, you usually find them in cities and abandoned castles.
- Aha, but your manners seem to contrast those of a gremlin.
- Thanks. are you going to attend the burial?
- Yes, I've been thinking about going if the baby stopped crying.
- We can go together, but I will be heading to the elder first.
- No problem, I might need a word or two with the elder.
Under a great tree, the three men have dug a hole and set the warrior next to it.
The elder arrives with the company of Grem and Gartha who carries the sleepin baby in her arms.
"It's your duty to take care of the baby." The elder says. "You need anything you tell Grem."
"But I have duties to fulfill." Grem says.
"That's why you will be reassigned." The elder says. "You're relieved from the duty of a hunter and you temporary assignment of a guard will be extended to further notice."
"You speak like you're with the kingdom." Grem says.
"I served my time in the army when I was young and stupid, that way of life stuck with me." The elder says.
Now they stand around the soon-to-be grave.
The men lift and put the warrior in the hole.
"This warrior," The elder says. "in his last moments, has proven himself brave by taking on an enemy that far outclassed him. Has proven himself to be a protector by rescuing a child out of danger despite his grave injury. Has proven himself caring by asking as to take care of the child even though he his soul has left his body. May his spirit rest in peace and bring upon us prosperity."
Then the warrior was buried in soil.
A gravestone was set in the ground, the words on it read "NAMELESS GUARDIAN".