1 Chapter 1 - Good Tidings
Chapter 1
The sun rises over the eastern hills, shining its bright light down upon the fields of wheat, their golden waves dancing in the morning breeze. A man is working his field, planting a new row of wheat. He hoes the ground, creating the mounds of dirt that house the wheat seeds. He reaches behind him and pulls a rag out of the waist of his trousers and lifts it up to wipe the sweat from his brow. The man looks over his shoulder to the quaint little farm house resting near the northern hills.
"Terrance! Terrance get out here!" The man says looking at the house.
A young man walks out of the house toward the older man. He's no older than 16 with sandy brown hair that he brushes behind his ears. His brilliant blue eyes shine in the morning sun, taking the attention away from his slightly freckled nose.
"I'm coming Uncle Brant!" Terrance yells back to his uncle.
"Grab that bag of seed near the wagon!" Uncle Brant says as he goes back to hoeing his dirt.
Terrance walks over to the wagon, bending down with his slight frame, picking up the bag of seed. His slight muscles pulse under the weight of the bag. His ordinary and drab tunic protects his chest from the rough material of the bag. He walks the bag over to his uncle and sets it down near the new mounds.
"Phew, that's quite the bag of seed there Uncle,." Terrance says as he wipes the sweat off his brow.
"Well, grab that hoe and let's get started, we have a busy day ahead of us boy," Brant says as he continues hoeing his field.
"Yes sir," Terrance says, grabbing the other hoe his uncle had brought with him.
The two began working the field together, each one hoeing a row of their own.
As the sun rose high into the air, Terrance and Brant stand up straight and look at their work.
"Good job today boy, looks like the wheat will be ready before the fall," Brant says surveying their work. But Terrance isn't paying attention to his uncle. He looking over the hills to the east, caught in a daze. Brant looks at Terrance quizzically, and then looks to where he was looking.
"What in the world are you looking at? Terrance? Terrance? Terrance!" Brant yells as Terrance quickly snaps out of his day dream.
"Oh, uh, just thinking," Terrance says, coming back to reality.
"What in the world could you be thinking about?" Brant says looking at him with contempt.
"I was just…" Terrance begins as he looks down at his well worn boots, "Uncle, have you ever wondered what lies beyond those hills? If we are destined for something more than plowing fields and selling wheat?"
"I will tell you what your destiny is," Brant says as he puts his index finger into Terrance's chest, "you are a wheat farmer. It's what you are, and people can't just change. It's a fact of life. You can't change who you are! Now, let's go get something to eat."
"If you say so uncle," Terrance says as he begins walking back to the little farm house. He raises his eyes to the skyline again. Once again thinking about what lies beyond those hills. "If only I could see the rest of the world," thought Terrance as he entered the house with his uncle.
Terrance and his uncle Brant are settling down inside the house after working the wheat fields all day. The small house is completely open with no real rooms. The small kitchen area of only a couple pots and a larger cauldron over a fireplace sits near the front door. A small table just big enough for the two inhabitants is located in the center of the room complete with two handmade wooden stools. Near the fireplace rests two worn down chairs, scarred and scratched from years of use and wear. A small stack of firewood sits near the fireplace alongside a small wooden ladder that leads up to sleeping area. The bed area, if you could call it that, is just two small cots across from each other. The little house creaks with the wind blowing outside as small gabs between the logs used to build the house lead way for wisps of air to find its way inside.
Brant is sitting in one of the chairs near the fireplace, chewing on a piece of wheat with a flask of ale resting in his hand, watching the fire crackle and dance. Terrance is in the small kitchen area rinsing their used bowls in a pot of water.
"Listen Terrance, I need you to go into town in the morning and deliver some wheat to the outpost there. Think you can do that lad?" Brant asks as he lifts his eyes from the fire and looks over at Terrance.
"You…you want me to go to the outpost by myself?" Terrance asks raising his gaze from the dirty bowls and turning his head toward his uncle.
"Yes. There's far too much work around here. Work you can not do on your own. So you get to go to the outpost." Brant says.
"But, I've never gone outside of our farm by myself," Terrance says, unsure of the decision.
"You will be fine lad," Brant says as he gets up from the chair and takes a big swig from the flask. "Plus, you're practically a man now. You shouldn't be afraid of doing something on your own."
"Yea…yes sir." Terrance responds quietly.
"Now, finish those bowls up and get some sleep. You leave early in the morning." Brant says as he climbs the ladder up to his cot.
"Yes sir." Terrance says.
"I'm going to the outpost tomorrow. Uncle is letting me see what's outside of our farm. Maybe what I asked him about today got through to him? It doesn't matter though, I am not going far away, just to the outpost." Thinks Terrance as he finishes cleaning the bowls. He wipes his hands dry with the rag sitting next to the pot, douses the fire some to keep it from getting out of control, and climbs the ladder to go to sleep.
As the sun begins to peek over the hills surround the farm, Terrance comes out of the small, weathered barn that sits beside the house. He's leading a horse by the reigns. The horse itself is an old mare, grey in color with a brown mane and tail. Terrance has strapped the bundles of wheat his uncle had asked him to take to the outpost on the back of the horse, just behind the saddle. He mounts the horse and walks her over toward the small house as his uncle comes out from eating his breakfast.
"You ready to head out?" Brant asks.
"I guess so. I've never been out by myself before so I'm nervous," Terrance says.
"Just follow the path. It leads directly to the outpost. It's only about a half day's ride from here, so I'll see you back here at sunset," Brant says, looking at Terrance on his horse.
"Yes sir," Terrance says as he begins to trot the horse down the path toward the outpost.
"Be careful," Brant yells as Terrance begins to ride past the blowing sea of golden wheat toward a world he didn't know.
I'm shocked that uncle Brant is letting me go out on my own. I finally get to see the world! Well, a piece of it anyway. Terrance thinks as he begins his decent into the hills.
The small outpost was bustling with activity. Traveling merchants from across the world had made a stop to sell their goods. Elixirs, weaponry, clothing, food, anything a person might need you could find from the band of merchants. Terrance walked through the crowd, having already tied up his horse at the stables right outside the outpost. With the wheat he was tasked to deliver slung over his back in a makeshift knapsack, he makes his way to the buyer.
The man before him looked old and tired. The signs of his age shown clearly on his face along with his stern dark eyes and no nonsense stare at young Terrance. The man seemed well fed due to his vast stomach. His tunic did its best to not burst at the seems trying to keep his belly under wraps.
"Eh boy," the man began, "What do ya have?"
"Um, wheat sir, from my Uncle Brant's farm," Terrance replied.
The man raised an eyebrow when Terrance mentioned Brant.
"Oh yes! I was told to be expectin' ya!" The man said as he looked over to a man to Terrance's left who walked over and took the wheat. The buyer pulled out a small leather pouch, put ten gold pieces inside, tied the top, and tossed it over to Terrance.
"There's the fee my boy. Tell that uncle of yours he better get me more than this if he wants to keep that farm afloat! Now get out!" The man said while pointing toward the exit.
Terrance nodded his head and walked out with his pouch of gold. He looked down at the pouch in his hand.
This is what I'm supposed to do with my life? Help my uncle keep the farm afloat? Terrance thought as he walked alongside many other people in the crowd. Unbeknownst to Terrance, three hooded men started following him in the crowd. Each one was coming toward him from a different direction. As Terrance was passing by a small opening between structures, he is grabbed by one of the hooded men and pulled into the opening.
"What ya got 'dere kid?" The hooded man said with a toothless grin that Terrance could just make out.
"Wha..what do yo…you want?" Terrance asked.
"We's just a band of fortune seekers, and I's spotted yer little fortune 'dere," the man said.
"Now, why don't you hand that over and," he pulls out a small knife, "No one gets hurt."
The other two hooded figures were behind the other now, both with blades drawn, ready in case Terrance broke free. The fear in Terrance's eyes is real as he looks at the blade pointed right at him. He swallows hard and looks at the three figures before him. Is this how I die? In the gutter by some other man's blade?
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" A voice said from off to the side.
The three hooded figures turned and looked at the man who spoke. This new man is taller than all of them, his fierce eyes glaring at the attackers, making them squirm.
"Trying to take a young boys gold is not a very nice thing to do," the man said as he reached across his body with his right hand, grabbing the handle of his sword, and pulling it from its sheath. The radiant blue on the handle was a sight to behold in the darkened area.
"I suggest you three leave before bad things happen to you," he said looking at the attackers with a slight grin on his face.
The three attackers looked at one another. The leader threw Terrance to the ground and took off running, his two lackeys in tow.
"Filthy scum," the man said as he puts his sword away and extends his hand out to help Terrance up. Their hands lock and the man pulls him to his feet.
"Are you okay my boy?" The man said looking at Terrance with worry.
"I'm fine. It's all thanks to you though. If you didn't show up, I'd be dead right now," Terrance replied.
"It's my pleasure to help you," the man said with a small bow.
"Alright, thank you again. I need to get going back to my uncle's farm," Terrance said as he turned to start walking away.
"Wait a second," the man said as he walked up to Terrance, "which way are you headed?"
"Um, north, I guess," replied Terrance.
"How about I tag along? There's many other dangers in this world and you look like you could use some help." The man said looking at Terrance with hope.
"Thank you, but I really have nothing to pay you for your services," Terrance said.
"Ah, but that's the best part!" The man said, "I'm going north anyway and you wouldn't have to pay me anything!"
Terrance stood there for a moment and gave it some thought.
"Well, if you're going that way, sure you can join me," Terrance replied with a smile.
"Sounds like a plan!" The man stuck his hand out for Terrance to shake.
"The name's Dario Bronchet."
