Fighting alone

"It's gruesome, it must've been done by a human being." Said Reggy, arms crossed.

The youngling was agitated. He had a fast paced speech and his hands frantically scratching the top of his skull. "It's the work of the beast that launched the wolves' attack on the village last night! Did you hear it? It sounded like nothing usual. One howl, then tens! Then everything became chaos!" Said Tom, he lived in the village and witnessed everything from his window. Because he was young, many of his feelings were burdened by it, his adventures outside had become a source of stress.

Reggy was rational, and, according to himself, always right. "Nonsense! Nothing such exists... People would've seen it, we know that bears live nearby because as soon as spring shows up, we can spot their massive shape in between trees, they are easy to spot. They mark trees, destroy furnitures around and so on. We'd spot any animal capable of this easily. Impossible."

While Oswald was busy climbing down, Adelmo said firmly. "Forget about it. It's certainly a bunch of lost soldiers who did it. The front lines are dozens of kilometers toward north, one or two deserter is enough for this to happen. Those guys are murderers after all."

It was the general thought on soldiers in the village, they had not much knowledge concerning territory owning, they had informations about the regional lord only because he taxed them twice a year.

Oswald, who knew almost nothing about war asked. "Is it this close to here? That war."

"Yes, it started like... ten years ago, the place they fight changes every day, according to which side wins." Replied Reggy, making the boy blurt out. "Not recently?"

'Wait... What was Stan's purpose again? This makes no sense...' He thought, confused.

Adelmo laughed out loud. "Why do you think your father is gone? You're so stupid!" Making Oswald yell back at him. "Shut your mouth! I am allowed like everyone else to not know everything! You don't have to insult me or comment every of my wrongdoing. Stop being a dick."

Tom was amused as much as Adelmo, but Reggy and Oswald wore a deep frown.

The boy added. "You were glad to eat fresh fish yesterday, glad to add boar meat to your stall few days ago. I'm not as old as you, I can't be perfect everywhere! Each of the little interactions we had was beneficial to you, so why do you need so badly to treat me this way? You know inside of you, you need me. First as a sort of free resource supply, second because I can track animals better than you."

Not only did he insult Adelmo, but he pointed out truth to the man's ears.

With a snarl, Adelmo took an arrow out of his quiver bag and locked his bow onto Oswald's face. The small iron head made the boy sweat bullet and Tom stop breathing.

Was he serious? Who knew.

"Stop it Adel! You don't need to act so recklessly!" Said Reggy.

As Oswald's cardiac rhythm accelerated while Adelmo pulled the string harder. He could only see a grey cross, meaning the object five meters farther was heading straight into his eyes. He was terrified. What if he was serious? He couldn't let that happen.

They were all in the middle of nowhere, and he was not perfectly integrated in the group, he was, maybe, disposable.

'Help.' He thought, lost amidst layers of fear.

Old Reggy roared."I said enough Adelmo!" While moving in between the two.

"I'm tired of your quarrels! The villagers are counting on us, people are grieving for the little Chloe, there'll be more to grief for if we can't contain the wild animals. Danger is here! The one who made this horrible scene is a mentally disturbed person. What we can do is spreading the word. That's it."

Adelmo lowered his weapon, letting Oswald end his monologue, the boy spat on the ground before saying.

"My hunting talents, you can shove them up your ass, you donkey! Figure out how to go back home yourselves."

He was gone before they could utter a word.

'We're not even. He does not understand, this isn't over.' Furious, he ran full speed until he reached his house.

While she was doing sport with Stan her sexual partner vanished into thin air seconds before her son entered the house.

Meryl was out of breath, she failed to reach climax, and the noise she made by calming down was the only one in the house.

'No! He must not see what I'm doing!' She thought, realising Stan was gone and she was alone in the living room.

Oswald ignored his own thoughts, he knew how filthy could be his mother. "Hey, what's the name of my little sister?" He asked.

"Dolly." Meryl exhaled.

"Is she doing okay? She's growing up, getting bigger? Anything that proves she's getting healthier? Why don't you talk about her? Why the heck do I have to ask for her name for you to say it?"

"Ozzy." She said with a serious tone, tears filled her eyes. "I don't feel alright. Mom is sick. I'm having a hard time accepting what you've become. I'm not saying I'm sick of you, I just need time, can you give me that? I'm actually enjoying the time I spend alone, I can't walk much, I still have to recover from giving birth."

'I still have to recover from the sport I do when you're away.' She thought.

'You're showing your naughty side too much.' He thought.

"I'll give you that. I'm heading out." He said, emptying the drawers of their kitchen knives.

He went next to the herd, dragging behind him a three meter long trunk and his axe.

He cut the wood next to it and installed more targets to practice on. Carving his rival's face in the wood, he used much more strength to throw the knives. He reached forty meters range by the end of the day.

He could still smell the rough stench around his herd. He spotted only his own color around, so he didn't investigate any further.

At night, his eyes would change color naturally, reflecting the moon's light and allowing him to spectate the forest's life.

The most peaceful part of his day was the one he had alone in the forest, deep in the woods with his enhanced senses.