5 Encounter with Fear

The journey back was less eventful. Occasionally some noise came from the forest, be it the birds or other animals that populated the area. With the occasional rests, they were able to reach the village before the sun set. Being back in the save harbor of the village, Jordan was more willing to let Otto roam on his own.

"You should head back home and let your mother know that we have returned." Jordan said as he released the hand of Otto. After the event that occurred in the city, Jordan was scared that something else might happen. He continued, "I will be joining you after I visit the village chief. There are still some things that I have to do." With that said Jordan turned around and started to head towards the largest building that was in the village.

As for Otto, he was excited to share the stories he had with his mother. He wanted to show off the axe he got. Moreover, there was the present that he got for her. But most importantly, he wanted to show her the coin that he had found. With that in mind, he rushed to the outskirts of the village where the house was located.

"Mother, look what I got!" Otto said with an excited voce, as he rushed in to the house. Looking inside, he saw his mother stirring a pot that was on the central fire pit. The fragrant that left the pot was filling the room with a sweet aroma.

Seeing Otto enter the room excited, Anna stopped what she was doing and looked over to him. Seeing the bright smile on his face, she couldn't help herself from giggling a bit, as she called him over."Let me see what made you so excited." Anna said gently as she signaled Otto to come over.

As Otto was closing in, Anna noticed the tear in Otto's pants and got worried. This was even worse, as she also noticed the redden piece of cloth that was bandaged on the knee. "What happen to your knee?" Anna asked with a worried tone.

"Ah, I fell in the city. It is nothing major. There were a lot of nice people that helped me out. There was even a sweet lady that stayed with me until father arrived." Otto gave her a quick recap of the story. However, he wanted to show off the axe. Because of this, he just brushed over the story and held up the axe up high, to show it to her. There was a sparkle in his eyes.

Noticing this, Anna regained her composure and concentrated back on the axe. "What a nice axe. With that you will be able to help your father." Anna said. She knelt down to take a closer look at the axe, trying to show some interest in it. As she never liked was a fan of sharp objects, she didn't know how to react too properly. Her excitement was solely based on the fact that her son was happy.

Otto started to tell the story that he used the axe, "And then, I went like this." With that he made a motion, as if he was holding the axe.

The only thing that Anna did was nod and smile towards Otto as he was explaining everything.

After the story finished, Otto pulled out the necklace that Gralmiir made for him. Before he could explain what was going on, he saw his mother's eye sparkle as she saw the gold coin. Quickly taking out the coin from Otto's hands, she started to inspect it. She only had seen gold coins from a distant. This was the first time that she actually held one. "Where did you find this thing?" Anna asked in full surprise.

As the cord of the necklace was still on Otto's neck, he occasionally felt the gentle pull, as his mother was inspecting the coin. "I found it on the street when I fell." Otto said shyly. There was a sense of shame, as he fell because of a small object.

Seeing this, Anna let go of the coin and patted the head of Otto. "Don't worry too much about it." she said with a gentle voice. "You are certainly a lucky child" she added with a smile.

The last object that Otto wanted to show was the comb. Otto pulled the object he was trying to hind behind him out. As it was meant as a gift, he tried to hide it behind him. However, as it was not well hidden, Anna had already noticed it, however she did not want to spoil the surprise her son had prepared for her. Instead she decided to act surprised at seeing it.

"This one is for you mother." Otto said with big eyes. "Father and I bought this for you. I hope that you will like it." he added.

This time, Anna really got surprised by what had happened. Hearing those words, emotions started to pile up in her. Her eyes started to water. She extended her shaking hand to accept the comb. However, instinctually, she instead went for a hug as the tears were uncontrollably falling down. "Thank you my sweet child. Thank you." She said with a shaky voice, which started to dim down.

Her happiness stemmed from the fact that even though they were not close by, they did not forget about her. This was something reassuring for her, as she never really witnessed the feeling of being loved. As she slowly let go of the hug, her mind was getting filled with happy thoughts, 'Luckily I have met Jordan. Luckily Otto is my sweet child.'

That night everyone was in a high mood. Otto was excited about his axe and could not wait to use it as soon as possible. Moreover he was also intrigued by the coin that he had found, wondering what that face was. He still could not forget the moment that the coin winked at him. There was still a lingering thought that this could have been an imagination that he just saw.

As for his mother, the fact that she received a gift from her boys made her immensely happy. This was also notable in the food that was prepared, as there was a larger portion.

As for his father, he received a nice bonus form the village chief for helping him out.

…

The following few days past uneventful. Otto started to get used to his axe. When his father wasn't home, he would occasionally help his mother with some chores, however most of his time was spent getting used to the axe. During the afternoon, when his father returned home, he would help him out. Jordan showed him certain methods that helped with holding the axe firmer. Moreover, Otto also learned several tricks in cutting down trees and wood. Initially, it took him some time to get used all this. However, as time progressed, he started to become more familiar with using an axe.

"Look at you! You certainly learn fast. I think that it is slowly time for you to actually go on the field with me." Jordan said as he was inspecting the progress of Otto. Looking at the sky he added, "The Snow season will soon be upon us, so it would be nice to have an extra hand to help out. You can also practice your skills on the trees in the forest. So, what do you think kid?"

Hearing this, Otto nodded in excitement. He would be getting into the forest with his father and cut some trees. He could not wait for morning to arrive so he would go to a new adventure. For this he decided the go to bed early.

The following morning, Otto woke up early. As for Jordan, this was his standard time to wake up when leaving into the forest. As they had a long way to travel, they decided to depart early in the morning. After having a quick breakfast and haven said their farewells with his mother, they made their way towards the forest.

Preparing the tools on a sled, they started to track down towards the forest. Normally the journey would take Jordan considerably shorter, however because Otto had to catch up occasionally, the journey took a bit longer.

After some time, they arrived at their destination. This was a location that Jordan usually visited. Here the trees were plentiful and looked strong. These trees were also perfectly suited to be used as building materials. As for the ticks, they were used mainly as firewood. Because of this, there was a good demand for them in the area. This was also the main income for his family.

Jordan approached a tree and called Otto to him. "First it is important to find the right tree, for this we look at several aspects." With that, Jordan started to explain the process of picking the right tree to cut. As he approached the tree, he started to point at several locations, as he also explained the method of cutting various trees. This also included some tricks that would help with the process.

After a moment of explaining and showing, he called over Otto and let him give it a shot. "Now show me what you have learned. It is not much different from what you practiced at home. Just concentrate at the point that you want to cut."

With that, Otto swung at a small tree with his axe. As the axe hit the tree, an echo spread out into the forest. As for Otto, he felt a strong force blocking him. His palms started to sore. However this did not stop him as he continued with the process that his father showed.

After several swings of the axe, Otto could feel the burden getting to him as he started to get tired. However, he kept on pushing on. With determination filled in his eyes, he wanted to cut down the tree in one go.

Because the tree was rather small, it did not take a long period for the tree to slowly move. Seeing that the tree actually was about to fall down, Otto felt excited. This was his first tree that he worked on and he was even able to cut down. And this all on his own.

"Impressive, I did not expect that you would be able to cut it down in one go." Jordan said with praise.

Hearing his father praise him, for a moment he forgot the tiredness as his spirit started to grow. 'If I continue like this, I will be able to chop down this whole forest before I am as big as my father.' Otto thought, feeling confident with himself. There was a big smile on his face.

With the tree down, Jordan decided that they had to take a bit of rest. Picking up a water skin, he threw it to Otto. "Drink, you need to rest if you want to keep on working."

Not noticing the water skin on time, Otto was surprised. Because of this, he was not able to catch the water skin on time. Picking it up from the ground, he made his way towards the sled to sit and drink some water. The moment, he took a sip a sound echoed throughout the forest.

This was the howl of a wolf. However, this was directly followed by another one. And shortly after another one joined them. Before long, several howls were intertwined with each other, as it was filling the forest.

"This is not good. We have to go now!" Jordan said in a rushed manner. Rushing to Otto's side he picked his hand and was about to run towards the village. "Oh… hi there."Jordan said as his muscles tensed up. Looking in front of him, he saw a wolf that was slowly approaching him, while growling. 'This is not good. We have to get away from here.' Jordan started to think of a way to get passed the wolf. Looking back at Otto, he formed a small and sad smile. 'No, just one of us is fine.'

Confused by all this, Otto froze up. All his muscles tensed the moment his eyes met the ferocious look of the wolf.

Rushing back to the sled, Jordan picked up his axe. Looking at Otto, he slowly said, "When I give you the sign, run towards the village. Try to for help." With that, he stood in between the wolf and Otto.

Having lost vision with the wolf, Otto finally came back to his senses. Before he noticed anything, he noticed that he father war running towards the wolf, axe raised up high.

"Run now!" Jordan yelled without looking back.

Hearing this, Otto pulled all his power together to move his muscles. As he felt that he was finally back in control of his body, he started to rush towards the direction of the village. He wanted to look back, however he was scared that if he saw the wolves' eyes again, that he would freeze up ones more.

Tears, which were formed of fear, started to fall down from his cheeks. The only thing he could do now was concentrating on the road ahead. The faster he arrived at the village, the quicker he could ask for help.

Tears falling down his cheeks, he just concentrated on moving his muscles and trying to make his way to the village. 20 steps, 50 steps, he was getting further and further away from the location that his father was. Tree branches passed by his face as he quickly made his way towards the village. Adrenaline started to build up with every step he made. As he was getting out of the sight of the wolf, he felt his feet getting stuck on something and fell down head first into the dirt.

This grabbed the attention of the wolf. With a loud howl, it seemed as it was calling over his friends. Before Otto had even the chance to wipe of the dust on him, he heard a growl at the distance. Looking over, a few other wolves had appeared at the location of where his father was. However, what scared him more was that one of the wolves decided to make him his target.

Scared Otto turned around, just to see a wolf dashing towards him at full speed. There it was again, the fear that he had a moment ago. Trying to slowly crawl backwards, the only thing that he could do was crying uncontrollably. There was nothing that he could do. He was powerless.

He tried to swing the first thing that his hand touched towards the fast approaching wolf. However this was all in vain, as the wolf kept on rushing towards him at a fast pace.

Scared that everything was over, the water filled eyes of Otto closed. 'Someone, please help me! Please save me!'

'As you wish…' a mysterious voice called out.

…