The Stranger

Heart beating quickly. Otto's chest went up and down as his breathing started to increase.

'Tabdak, tabdak' the sound of the footsteps of the rushing wolf started to get closer and closer.

As his hands were shaking, Otto tried to move, yet not a single muscle decided to listen. It was as if his body had already given up.

'Whoosh' an unfamiliar sound passed by him. Yet he was not sure what it was.

'What is happening?' Otto started to ask himself. After that unfamiliar sound, the footsteps of the beast seized to exist.

"Ah, it seems that I made it just in time. Are you alone? Are there others with you?" A stranger called out.

'What is going on? Who is that? Am I already dead?' Various thoughts started to fill in the mind of Otto. Slowly opening up his eyes. The world looked hazy. For some reason the sense of immediate danger started to disappear from his body. Even his muscles started to listen to his commands once more. Wiping the tears away that covered his eyes, Otto took a glance at the surrounding.

The wolf that was charging at him collapsed a few feet away from Otto. Even though everything still looked blurry, he was certain that the wolf had stopped moving. Trying to take a closer look, he saw that something was sticking at the head of the wolf.

"Are there other wolfs around?" The voice asked. It was accompanied by a long person. He could not make out details of the person that had just saved him. The only thing that he noticed was that the blurry looking person was holding a bow.

"Fath… Father." Otto said with a low stuttering voice. With his body shaking from fear, he tried to lift up his arm and point towards the direction that he came from. Before he could say another word, the mysterious stranger looked towards the direction.

Seeing that the situation looked worse, the stranger readied its bow and took out a few more arrows. As the stranger was making its way towards the direction that Otto pointed at, the stranger shot a few more arrows.

As he was looking at the back of the stranger, who was rushing towards the direction of his father, Otto could not stop himself from crying. His fear, which locked up all his muscles, started to change into anger as he looked at the lifeless body of the wolf that was rushing him. Without even realizing, he stood up and made his way to where the wolf was. On his way towards the wolf, his hand took out the axe on his side. With his axe in hand, the only thing he wanted to do was to take out his anger onto the wolf.

"Die! Die! You beast!" Otto screamed as he was burying his axe into the wolf's skull. His eyes were filled with rage. His arms moved on his own. With every hit, the skull of the wolf caved in even more. The moment he drew back his axe for another swing, blood spattered all across the area. Even his face started to get covered by the red color of blood.

The fear and anger, turned into a smile, as his face slowly started to get covered in the blood of the beast. There was a faint enjoyment in his eyes. With every swing, the smile on his face started to increase.

As tiredness started to get to him, Otto slowly started to get back to his senses. Looking at the disfigured skull of the wolf in front of him, worry started to build. The smell of blood started to fill his nostrils as nausea started to build up. Quickly running away from the wolf's side, Otto slowly started to remember what was going on. "Father!" he cried out with a shocked voice as his face turned towards the direction that his father was. Dropping the axe in his hands, he started to rush towards the direction where his father was.

As he was getting closer to where he left his father, Otto saw several other wolves lying lifeless on the ground. They all had a similar arrow sticking out from their heads. Noticing this, an image flashed in front of his eyes. It was the one of the mysterious stranger that helped him out.

Panting heavily, Otto arrived at area where the sled was. Looking around anxiously, he saw the stranger standing in front of a body. Fear struck Otto as he quickly rushed to the side of the body. "Father!" he yelled out as he was running towards the body.

Rushing to where he was, he heard a voice call out. "Don't worry, he is not dead. I arrived just in time to save his life."

He ignored the voice of the stranger as he kept on rushing to the body. In front of him, the body of his father was lying. Covered with carious claw marks, there was no movement in it.

It seemed as if the body felt the presence of Otto, as the chest slowly rose up again. Weakly opening up his eyes, a weak voice spoke up, "Look at you, all covered in blood." There was a hint of worry in the words of Jordan. But he knew that his son was unharmed. Not being able to bare the pain, Jordan fell unconscious.

Hearing his father speak weakly as well as seeing him in such a state, Otto could not help himself from crying. Hugging his father, he did not dare to leave his side.

"I have to treat his wounds, otherwise the wounds will get infected and it will become even worse." The mysterious stranger said.

Otto did not have a proper chance to look at the stranger that helped them out. However as the situation has calmed down, he finally had the opportunity to do so. There was a shocking look on his face as he started to inspect the mysterious stranger. The wait long, straight hair of the stranger was green in color. The green cloths that the stranger was wearing had an elegant, yet natural look to it.

As the stranger was pulling out remedies and herbs to apply on the wounds of Jordan, Otto saw the color of the skin. This was one of the most surprising features that the stranger had. The skin had a light green tone to it, which resembled the color of young grass.

Looking at the back of the stranger, Otto discovered another shocking feature. The ears were long and pointy. Yet for some reason the ears had a certain attraction to them, which eased up the heart of Otto. He finally could feel save with at the presence of this stranger.

Not being able to dim his curiosity, Otto asked with a soft childish voice, "You look so green. And your ears. Why are they pointy?"

Looking back at Otto the stranger spoke up a bit annoyed, "It is always like that with your humans. No wonder that my people doesn't like you lot." Initially the stranger did not want to continue answering the question. However, as the one in front was just a child, the stranger gave in and continued, "I am a wood elf from the Occirbia Confederate."

Otto understood that the one in front of him was from another race. That's why its characteristics were different. Looking back to his father, he asked to the wood elf, "Will my father be alright?"

The wood elf stood up after finishing with the application of the medical herbs and remedies. Slowly picking up the remainder of the ingredients, the wood elf spoke up, "I have used some herbs to ease up his wounds. With that he would feel a lot better, he just has to rest up a bit." Looking over at Otto, she gave a soft sigh as she added, "Do you live far from here? I will help you carry him back."

Otto pointed towards the direction that the village was and said that the village was a bit to that direction. They prepared the sled to make it easier to carry Jordan back with them. Otto tried to pick up the items that were scattered around and quickly moved them to the sled as well. After everything was prepared, the two of them slowly made their way towards the village.

As they were making their way back to the village, Otto kept on staring at the wood elf, with curious eyes. Noticing this, the woof elf spoke up, "If you have a question, ask. Otherwise, don't keep starting at me. It is distracting."

Feeling ashamed, Otto quickly looked back. But he could not hold his curiosity and started to stare at the wood elf ones more. With a faint voice, he started to ask questions to the wood elf. "How did you kill those wolves so easy? Weren't you scared at all?"

Otto saw that the wood elf looked at him as if the questions were weird. However after a moment the wood elf gave an answer, "I guess that you are too young to understand. In our culture, we learn to hunt and use the bow at a young age. Moreover we also learn to use and control our magical essence."

These were some unfamiliar words to him. "What is that thing called magical essence? Can I also kill a wolf if I am able to use it?" Otto asked.

"I am not sure if you can. Even though everyone has magical essence in them, not everyone is adapt to use it. It is first important to know if you can even use it." The wood elf said.

His curiosity started to grow. It is another new thing. At that moment, Otto realized that the world is bigger than he even thought. "Can you teach me how to use magic? As well as using the bow?"

'As you wish…' the previous mysterious voice whispered again.

The wood elf looked at Otto with a belittling look. However, the innocent face, eased up the heart of the wood elf as a faint smile started to appear on its face. With a gentle voice the wood elf responded "I can help you out a bit by showing you the basics." The voice became strong and demanding, "But I expect absolute loyalty and obedience when I do teach you. Everything else after I teach you the basics is all up to you."

Hearing that, Otto got excited. Especially for the fact that he might be able to use magic. With that excitement he said, "Yes! I will…" However, he noticed that he did not know the name of the wood elf. So he spoke up with a smile, "My name is Otto. What is your name?"

The wood elf now realized that it had not told its name yet. Having a grin, the wood elf said, "My name is Iarra. Nice to meet you."

With that the two started to get to know each other as they made their way towards the cottage. It turned out that Iarra was a female wood elf, which came from the Occirbia Confederate. The region where she came from was not that far the where he lived. According to Iarra, it was across the major river that acted as a natural boundary of the Kingdom of Redion.

While talking, they were exiting the forest. Even though Jordan started to look a bit pale, the herbs that Iarra provided helped him feel at ease during the journey.

…

Arrived at the cottage, Otto was the first to enter the building. As his mother did not know the situation that his father was is, it was best for him to enter and talk to Anna first. "Mother, we are back. I was even able to cut a tree on my own." Otto said while trying to hide the situation. Iarra told him that it was better that he acted normally, so that his mother would not panic.

Seeing his mother turn with a smile, Otto thought that the situation was under control. However, as his mother saw him, her smile froze up as she dropped the carrot in her hand and rushed over to him. With a panicked voice, Anna spoke up, "Are you alright? What is this blood? Are you hurt?"

Seeing that the situation got worse, Otto decided to stop the act. This was also because Iarra entered the house while carrying Jordan "I am alright mother. I have nothing. However father got hurt while fighting off some wolves that attacked us." Looking over to his father, he continued, "Luckily Iarra came just in time and saved us."

Hearing that, Anna looked over to the wood elf. There was a thankful look on her face. After she slowly murmured a 'thank you', he rushed over to her husband and helped him into the bedroom to tuck in.

After Jordan was placed in the bed to rest, the wood elf spoke up, "He has to rest up a bit. After a few days of good rest, he will be able to stand up again." Iarra looked first at Otto before speaking with Anna, "I have promised your son that I would help him out understanding the basics of magic and using the bow."

Hearing those words, Anna looked sharply over to Otto. There was clear anger mixed with shock in her eyes. However understanding the situation and the will to protect himself, Anna calmed down and spoke up after taking a deep breath, "If that is the case. I think that it is best that I prepare a place for you to stay. As we do not have a lot of space, I will bother you by setting something up in the common room." Saying those words, she stood up and was walking towards the door.

"That is not needed. I prefer sleeping in the woods. I just mentioned it to let you know that I will be coming by the following few days to wake your son up for training." After saying those words, Iarra turned around and was about to left the room. Before she left, she looked over at Otto and said, "I expect that you will be awake early in the morning." With those words, she did not wait for a response and left the cottage.

Seeing that the wood elf leave the house, Anna looked over to Otto and said in a soft and sad voice, "I don't want you to do such things. However seeing how the situation is currently, I feel like whatever I say will not help."

Hearing the sad voice of his mother, Otto felt emotional. Making his way to his mother, he hugged her and said, "I am sorry. But I want to protect myself and father next time. I want to learn those things."

…