Black Cloaks

Life is truly unpredictable, you cannot say with confidence that tomorrow you will be alive or the world won't end. It has always been that way, one may never know what awaits them the next hour, week, or year. We are like blind men walking down a road filled with the unknown...

They say that life is a train of choices, made from birth to death. But it is, in fact, not you who makes these choices; It is the universe that chooses for you from the parents you were born to the environment you grew up in and all the way it will do so to the way you shall die most of the times.

I am not saying you don't have control over your life, but that control you think of... Where did it come from? From the universe, it was given when you came to be...

You might struggle, fight against it even, but in the end, there is no salvation. We are all slaves to the will of the universe, whether we like it or not. Call this will god or call it devil, it makes no difference. True freedom only comes when one transcends this reality.

And how does one transcend it? Well... that is the question and we all seek the answer, everyone in his own way. Is it power? Is it death? Domination? Despair? Submission? Or Is it... destruction? What is the answer indeed... Maybe we live life to find the answer? Who knows...

It was a day like any other day, the birds sang and the wind blew. I myself was not aware it was my birthday, I was too busy worrying about how to make ends meet.

Having to worry about providing dinner for the woman that raised you from the helplessness of being a baby to the sister that I must protect no matter what... was not so easy. I had no carefree times like before...

The village was filled with others boys that searched for work, all were older than me by a few years without exception. Now, would you rather hire an 11-year-old with unusual strength or a 15-year-old with experience? The answer was obvious. Not me.

There were people that took pity on me, I despised their looks but I was at my wit's end, so I accepted their offers. Rob being a lone-wolf and my mother's relatives salty about their marriage didn't help at all.

I worked as a delivery boy, as a laborer on farms, gardener, assistant to an old woodcutter, and washed dishes in the only bar that was in the village. I worked 10 hours a day but didn't feel tired or weak at all, in fact, the harder the work was physically speaking, the better I felt for some reason.

The name Freaky Age was not one I liked, it sounded like some 3rd class video game or something. But people called me that and I decided to be neutral about it.

I tried working on our farm but it was too hard, I had no idea what to do... Neither did mother since she was a Tailor who was in grief thus not working, I didn't let her, nor did Lea know anything. I doubt Rob knew either since he hunted for a living, we just had a piece of land that needed lots of work to become a farm.

I knew that it was my opportunity so I had worked on other's farms and learned as much as I could about farming. I was ready to quit all the jobs from people that pitied me and start to work on the family farm.

I had woken up extra early every day for the past months and tended to it. Now it was time... So I set out that day to quit some of the jobs and focus more on my independent way of making money.

In any case, It was super early, so much so that it was still dark... I left the house to search for billy the woodcutter. And Man was he a bright old man, despite his age, his body worked like a machine. He alone provided firewood for the whole village...

I found him in the forest drinking milk and preparing to work, "Hey!"

"Hi, you come to help this old man?" He said in a friendly way. I smiled in response and picked the extra ax, "Why not for the last time?" I replied.

"Last time, huh? So your farm is ready? That's good news... And here I thought I was not alone anymore..." He said with fake sadness.

I snorted, "Yeah, right! You value your alone time more than anything, don't play that game with me."

Billy winked, "Of course, who likes smelly old coots who nag all day and night? I don't mind hanging around with bright younglings like you though..."

I deadpanned, "You are a smelly old coot yourself..."

He smirked, "Can some smelly old coots do this?" He concentrated for a moment and then farted very loudly.

I quickly backed away while holding my nose in disgust, "Indeed, I felt your strong vigor through the sound. Not the smell, thankfully."

He breathed in deeply, "All I smell is young vigor mixed with shit, back to work!"

He laughed and I joined him, he was the only person I liked in the village besides Lea and Lily. Being an Introvert made it hard for me to interact with random people, interact deeply of course, and having no real friends or close relatives since I was born here... I only found this eccentric old man to be a good company after weeks...

Just as we resumed, he stopped, "What is this smell?"

I thought he was joking again but then I breathed deeply and realized it was like smoke, "Something is on fire?"

His face paled, "Don't tell me some part of the forest has gotten on fire? This could be bad!"

Since it was still dark, we couldn't see that smoke so we couldn't pinpoint the location. Thankfully, Billy had a very sharp sense of smell.

He hurriedly took his ax and began running in a direction, "Follow me!"

I hurried after him, we ran back and forth a little until he got confident where the scent of smoke was coming from. I followed him as we ran as fast as we could.

A minute passed and the sound of fire raging around could be heard, I was very nervous because we were running toward the village...

My house was on the other side of the village in a straight line so we didn't split up on the way. He had no family but a grandson that was much older than me, he was very worried.

When we reached close enough to see the village from afar, I was shocked to see all the houses were on fire. My heart dropped and I felt my back go cold. 'Lea, Lily!'

We increased our pace and reached the village a minute after.

We first found ourselves near Crab-handed Rob's house, I saw the corpses of his dogs scattered around, all were badly mutilated.

"What the fuck?!" shouted Billy in disbelief.

We ran a little further and saw a pair of severed arms on the ground, my heart was racing like a race car, I was worried sick about Lea and Lily.

"These are his hands, we..." Billy said. And just then, he turned silent.

I heard screams and shouts further ahead. I turned to say something to Billy but He was not there. I was confused, I searched for him but didn't find him until I looked at the ground.

He laid there lifeless, an arrow was stabbed in his head. His eyes were still wide-open filled with rage and shock. I felt my body turn cold.

I willed myself to run toward my house but my body was frozen in fear, the memory of death was holding me back. I might not have feared it much but at the moment, the thought of dying and the pain made me feel the primal fear all feel for their life.

'MOVE!' I shouted inwardly and took a step, it was hard. Maybe harder than anything I had done before, overcoming the primal fear of death. I envisioned Lea and Lily dying and my blood began boiling with rage.

'MOVEEEE!' I took another and I felt the fear become weaker, replaced by anger.

I usually repressed my anger but I let it all loose this time...

Then another step, and another, and the fear was gone before I knew it. There was only endless rage and anger.

"AHHHHHH!" I roared without meaning to and ran, I ran so fast my surroundings become a blur. Then I heard something and stopped by reflex.

I saw the 1st living person since reaching the village, it was a man in a black cloak. I felt something bizarre about him, like a dark and sinister aura.

"Oh? Another slave for the tower? How splendid!" He said to himself.

I thought, 'I have no time for this, I need to find them and then flee!'

I ignored him and ran toward my house. The man didn't seem to like it, "Get here you brat! Guys, I found ano..." I didn't hear him as I got away sooner than I expected. My speed was faster than I thought possible.

I ignored all the people with black cloaks that spotted me, I saw some were murdering the villagers I had seen and some were raping the woman... I only got more worried.

Mere seconds later, I was in front of my home. It was on fire, in front of it, I found Lily. She laid there on the ground, not moving.

I strangely felt nothing, suddenly everything became colder than ever. Even the heat from the raging fire couldn't keep this cold away. It rushed from within me to every part of me, like some sort of energy that was always present yet hidden.

Whether I was in shock or disbelief or something else, I didn't know. I approached her and saw the pool of blood... I kneeled beside her and suddenly she grabbed my shoulder firmly, her eyes were not of rage or fear as I expected them to. They were of Despair and worry.

"They took Lea... Save her... Search under the greatest pine tree in the northern forest... You will find... Rea... Paren..." She coughed blood and then stopped moving. My heart clenched so hard, it was as if someone was crushing it with their hand. The numb feeling vanished replaced with a volcano of anger and sadness.

I blankly looked at her. 'She is dead... They killed my mother... They killed LILY! THEY TOOK LEA!!!'

The cold energy moved at tremendous speeds around me, as it sped up, it grew warmer till it was hot. I felt my clothes and hair flutter a little as the wind picked up, I felt great power flow into my being.

Something not present or rather, something sleeping within me had awakened. Some sort of energy. I was too absorbed in grief and rage to notice.

I gently laid Lily down and closed her eyes with my hand, I stood up. I was clenching my fists and teeth without wanting to. There were only 2 things on my mind, 'Find Lea, Kill black cloaks.'

I turned around and saw a dozen men in black cloaks holding staffs of sorts running in my direction, for some reason, I didn't feel fear as I should have. Instead, I felt goosebumps and a raging desire for blood and destruction.

A crazed smile appeared on my face by itself, the mere thought of slaughtering them made me feel... Desire. I wanted blood and death...

And I rushed towards them, without reason or logic. My primal instincts seemed to have taken over...