Prologue II

Everything occurred as Tark concluded before, Omari the biggest of the brothers arrived with a more frail looking Quellisten, who was called Little Quell, as it was an accurate descriptor and easier pronunciation. They rarely separated during the time they spent growing up at the Eternas household.

The pairing of the two could not have been any more opposite, the most muscular and broader of the seven brothers was clearly Omari, yet he diverted most of his attention to the youngest and frailest of the brothers. Quell stood to be a head shorter than Omari, with little color to his naturally pale complexion.

Neither brought much significance with their arrival, though it seemed Quell was developing Winter's Cough once again. Having a scrawny body at a young age always left the youngest frequently experiencing an illness and laying in a cot by the burning hearth.

No one thought anything lesser of the boy for not being physically adept, they were taught to never act in such a way. In fact, Quell's drive to keep going despite his disadvantages made him all the more cherishable amongst his brothers.

They treated him as an equal when gathered for lessons, but always gave him the biggest of picked fruit and thickest blankets to help combat his ailments.

There father was proud to see they treated each other in such a way, it was the enactment of what he hoped to see in the world one day.

Once the sun was split in half by the horizon, the stew filled with diced Hare was nearly done simmering, they melted ice and snow from the mountains for boiling the bones to broth, then in turn the meat. The dish was ready just in time for the final brother's arrival.

The sun setting at his back had made his appearance transform into a silhouette against the darkening sky. He made no noise when arriving, only when he was right at the edge of the fire's light, was he finally noticed.

The older man, said nothing to the last of his sons arriving, standing quietly and only watching him join his brethren from a rather unnecessary distance.

"Zekell, come sit with us. We are going prepare the sleeping mats after supper." Selith exclaimed excitedly. His stomach had been been gurgling all day with only a few leftover berries to digest. The smell of meat cooking had caused enough salivation to form thick pools in his mouth. He frequently swallowed the pools in obnoxiously loud gulps that annoyed the others to no end.

The brother known as Zekell did not respond, he kept walking forward and stopped just before the light of the fire could properly illuminate his face. Rather than responding to Selith, he turned his head to take a long look of contempt at the one they all called father.

"Arkerius." The eldest boy stated the man's name with a plentiful amounts of scorn in his voice. "Why waste time making us travel up hills and sit by a cozy little fire when time could be better spent elsewhere. I thought you took away our freedoms for an actual purpose, seems I was mistaken by your dishonest words once again."

It was clear to every child there that Zekell despised their father a great deal, enough to never call him anything but his own name. No one stopped him from always acting in such a way, but he did receive a few upset faces from the younger ones in the group.

Only the oldest two sons knew the reasons for such disrespectful words. They were just old enough to have remembered the day Zekell was brought into the Eternas household. It was that day that they saw at a very young age what it meant for a human to be a true monster.

"Zekell, care for stew?" Arkerius asked while ignoring the boy's rude behavior. "Everus gathered some decent game along the way, in quite a skillful manner if I do say so."

Everus only nodded at the praise, as he was more focused on pouring the stew with meat and wild onions into a bowl for the youngest of the brothers. Quill was first, as he sat in a bundle of collected coats with his arms out, patiently awaiting for his older brother to share from the metal bowl.

Despite Selith's attempt to reign Zekell into the family's gathering, none of the others supported the action, only staring intently at the bowls being passed around.

Zekell took a step forward with something tightly clenched in his fist. The sun had finished setting and the light of the fire was starting to more clearly across his face. Through the illumination of the fire, a long pink line that travelled across both his cheekbones and expanded along his nose was growing more visible.

He made a face contorted many of his negative emotions and the shadows before walking away from the campsite. It seemed he intended on placing his sleeping mat away from everyone else and skipping out on the family dinner. It wasn't he first time he'd done such a thing and it certainly wouldn't be the last.

Omari stood up to reprimand him, as their father had done nothing but nurture Zekell and the others with great effort. Yet he was stopped by the very same man with an objecting hand.

"Leave him be, Zekell knows what is to come from this lesson, and that only irks his stubbornness to show its head more often than not this next few nights. It would be best for everyone to sleep soundly tonight, tomorrow will drain a lot of energy some of you are not capable of sparing."

The gravity of such words made a few of the boys freeze for a brief moment. Knowing their father, it was not in his nature to call their lessons exhausting or even difficult.

So what lesson he have planned for tomorrow that would take such great lengths to complete?

* * * * *

Everyone finished eating their fill of the unspiced stew in dark, and packed up what few items they brought. Other than a few articles of spare clothing, they had nothing else except for animal skin sleeping mats and items gifted to them by their father.

Each one of them received a small hunting knife that carved through meat and wooden limbs with relative ease, and a palm-sized powder bag Arkerius told them not to open under any circumstances until he said so. He told them it was vital they needed to keep the items intact, otherwise something worse than failing a lesson would occur.

Very rarely did their father warn them of the dangers that came from disobeying his rules. They learned long ago that his word meant law, and not abiding by such things put their lives in great peril.

Once they were told to never cross the riverbed near their household, as it was not safe. Tark ended up chasing an injured elk too far through one day and stumbled upon a nest of something so horrid, he never told anyone what creatures he saw.

The blood splattered from the elk on his jerkin told them enough not to pressure him for answers. Father only reinforced the rule once again, stating that the river acts as a border to monsters that cannot cross water, reassuring their idea that home was forever a safe haven.

With full stomachs and a long journey now behind them; Quell, Selith, Mydron and Tark were fast asleep. The rest, including Arkerius, stayed awake for while longer.

Everus was never comfortable sleeping on his back, even in the comfort of his own bed. It seemed too disadvantageous under the event of being attacked during rest, so most nights passed sitting upright against a wall with his arms crossed and ears listening at the wildlife around him.

Unfortunately, his strained hearing was deafened by an assortment of snores near his feet, so he gave up and listened to the conversation right in front of him.

Omari was currently cleaning the soot from the boot he stomped the dying embers with, and quietly spoke his concerns to Arkerius. Their father was pulling out his last cigar for the night and sticking it to his lips while listening.

"How much of it will we feel? Will it burn while we sleep? How will we know it worked when you said effects aren't immediate?" Omari whispered, not wanting to alert any of the others with his questions.

It seemed to Everus that Omari knew a great deal about why they were tasked with climbing up this mountain

His frivolous need to pester their father for answers was not for his own concern, but at the expense of Quill's health. Hearing Arkerius being vague of the lesson, for it only being of great challenge had ran terrible scenarios across his mind, each one befalling Quill made his worry grow.

Arkerius pondered his words while searching for his tinder box for yet another time that day. He found it within a linen pocket, but he also found the contents of the box to be too scarce for lighting his cigar.

Everus pretended not to notice, as he was the last person to use it. He just let his eyelids droop to act as though he dozed off for the night, needing only his ears to partake in the conversation.

Only after putting the tinder box and cigars away did Arkerius respond.

"I would not have brought any of you to this place had I been uncertain any harm would come of you. I only waited till now because I needed to be sure all of you were ready."

"But what if- "

"Enough, the night will be wasted if this chatter continues. No sense in worrying about what is to come when you do not even know what it is. Much like the idea of dealing with the strings of fate or a unfamiliar lesson, being anxious only stops you from preparing yourself. Breathe easy and sleep."

Omari gave a look telling he was holding back his words, but ended up leaving the situation as it was. He unraveled the rest of his bed and was soon snoring as the loudest among the eight people laying atop the mountain.

Soon Everus was deceived by his own body's need for sleep, he unknowingly shut his eyes; dreaming about a hunt for boar and grinding salt rocks for preservation and seasoning. The last thing to catch his eye before sleeping was Arkerius blowing another cloud of smoke in the night air, despite a lack of tinder box.